The Invincible Full-Moon System Chapter 1803: In and Out of Darkness

Rex emerged from the enveloping shadows.

Agony wracked his entire frame.

It felt like countless fiery ants were parading savagely through his veins.

He attempted to shift his legs—they refused to respond.

He tried flexing his arms—with identical failure.

His extremities remained whole, yet an unseen force blocked them from following his will.

The final memory that surfaced was the brutal thrashing from the royal knights. The sharp aches on his cheek and abdomen confirmed it wasn't some nightmare; he'd been rendered unconscious. Now, his vision swirled in chaotic haze.

Those relentless blows must have damaged his sight.

Yet the system alerts shone with perfect clarity.

Blindness wouldn't matter; he could still perceive the System's messages vividly, no matter the distortion.

<Warning: the user is in a critical condition!>

<Archaic Scorpion Venom has been detected inside the user’s bloodstream!>

<All healing or regeneration effects are blocked, and the user’s body is suffering from paralysis.>

<Dark Silver has been detected inside the user’s bloodstream!>

<The user is now suffering from the Curse of Veil.>

<It’s a curse that trapped the user in a limbo between Human and Werewolf, leaving the user too weak to fight and too beastly to have a clear mind.>

<Curse Resistance passive skill is activated!>

<Curse of Veil is being repelled...>

Clearly, the poison was what immobilized him so thoroughly.

Beneath that, he spotted jagged vines piercing his arms and legs, anchoring him firmly. A vibrant pink bloom hovered directly between his thighs, draining every bit of natural vitality his body generated.

It rendered him feeble and vulnerable.

However, voidal energy evaded this flower's notice.

Rex suspected it wouldn't if he dared to summon it.

Blood trickled over his lips. Sounds began filtering back into his awareness. Muffled voices reached him, and he swiftly identified one. Before he could lift his eyes, April entered his fuzzy sightline. She clutched at him desperately, almost scratching.

Tears streaked her cheeks, and her mouth twisted as if shouting urgently.

Rex couldn't decipher her words.

Not by sound, nor through his hazy view.

Only as his foes yanked April away did the royal knights come into focus.

Imposing fiends with demonic visages. The feathered royal knight knelt low. He caressed Rex's head while leaning aside, ensuring Rex witnessed April slammed face-down, a knee grinding into her mid-back and a palm forcing her head still.

She fought back wildly, rejecting the cuffs and chains.

The largest royal knight, shoulders as vast as Rex's own, lost patience.

He seized April's head and smashed it against the earth.

Instantly, her struggles ceased. Unconsciousness claimed her, or perhaps the agony overwhelmed her senses. Regardless, the brutal display jolted Rex fully awake. He strained against his bonds with renewed fury. His gaze locked onto the massive knight like a predator's.

Etching the name from the nearby status display deep into his memory.

For laying hands on April this way, mercy would be absent.

The feathered royal knight clamped his armored palm on Rex's shoulder.

It pressed with mocking feebleness, yet held him pinned.

All Rex managed was pointless writhing.

"I heard you're some emperor in those depths," he taunted Rex. No clue where that intel came from. He leaned near Rex's ear, words slicing clear. "So you know the fate awaiting traitors, don't you? It's grim."

Even through the visor, Rex sensed his vile smirk.

"Death," he whispered like a serpent's hiss. "She's doomed early—who's to blame for that?"

The feathered knight halted his words there.

A sinister smile spread over his features. He allowed Rex to supply the answer inwardly, then tapped his cheek with patronizing ease.

A sinister smile spread over his features. He allowed Rex to supply the answer inwardly, then tapped his cheek with patronizing intent.

Suddenly, the royal knight jerked back.

Rex fixed him with an intense stare.

His pupils stretched wide, holding a frozen calm that chilled to the core.

"Spare her, or your whole lineage perishes, Woody Lingkrona."

His voice rang utterly even and icy.

Not a warning, but an undeniable truth he declared.

Zero hesitation in tone or expression.

Woody, the feathered royal knight, gaped at Rex in disbelief. How had Rex learned his name? Unfathomable. That ignorance amplified the terror. Rex's eyes seemed to pierce his heavy plating.

As if exposed bare, every secret laid open for Rex's judgment.

Rex had no time to lose. He interpreted Woody's pause as defiance.

Slaying Haxel had yielded an Invincible II artifact.

He'd intended to save it longer. Such rarity made hasty use feel squandered.

Yet certain duties overrode all.

Safeguarding April topped that list.

<Notice: the use of the Invincible II item cannot proceed.>

Rex froze at the alert blocking his vital Invincible II activation. Unprecedented refusal. He couldn't fathom fate's harshness, stripping this lifeline when he needed it most for someone so dear.

Bam—!

Yet another fist crashed into his jaw.

"Still blind to your plight?" Woody growled, then smacked the nape of Rex's neck. "Pity I can't end you personally, not after your bravado in this state. But etch this in: your demise won't be clean."

That's when the serpent slithered in.

"What in blazes is this?!" Ethan surveyed the chaos, stunned.

His gaze dropped pointedly to April, restrained on the dirt.

"Fine job, lad," Woody clapped his back. "Keep at it, and knighthood awaits someday."

The rest of the royal knights chuckled under their breaths at Woody's remark.

No shot a rural runt like Ethan would rise to knight, though fantasies ran free.

"April... or any nobles tied in are off-limits—that was the bargain!" Ethan asserted himself unusually. His vow covered only Rex. "Release her now! Lord Kaine pledged it to me. I've sealed a pact with him! She's outside th—"

Pah—!

A savage backhanded blow hurled Ethan several paces away.

Several teeth scattered as he hit the ground, moaning in torment.

"Who do you suppose you're addressing, maggot?" Woody ground his heel into Ethan's torso, immobilizing him. "Struck a bargain? Lord Kaine pledged? Traitors face public disgrace and death." He bore down fiercer, nearly splintering Ethan's ribs. "Spare yourself—back off. You've served your purpose. Don't sabotage it with idiocy."

Woody signaled the group with a flick, "Haul them off."

A single tear traced Ethan's face as he watched April slung over a royal knight's shoulder and carted away.

Her form dangled slack, no resistance left.

Ethan tracked the sway of her head until it vanished into the barrier.

Only then did the truth hit: the city's vista inside the bubble was mere deception. Beyond lay a horde of hundreds of elite troops, royal knight backups, ready to surge if chaos brewed.

Following closely came Rex.

Borne and bound by the life force of three royal knights.

Those thorny vines now swaddled him like a chrysalis, baring just his face.

His head drooped, locks veiling his features.

But Ethan swallowed hard upon glimpsing Rex's crimson eyes boring into him wordlessly through the dark tresses.

A harbinger of doom.

…

Within the profound gloom of his mental realm, Rex lingered solitary amid tormenting recollections.

Bright moments did exist. Watching his pack flourish, the empire's rise, diverse races joining the quest for harmony, or the rush of surging strength. But now, anguish shrouded them all.

By now, his form should have reached the royal barrier.

Whenever his essence wavered from this inner void, enemy chatter pierced through.

Woody discussed shuttling him covertly.

About injecting extra venom before silence returned.

And whispers of the shadow, which Rex deduced meant Linthia.

Bound to the Well of the Untold, she alone might evade and flee the trap.

Rex caught their gripes on tardiness.

Weeks ought to have passed. Extended transit days—yet for Rex, it dragged like unbroken slumber. The obscurity evoked the Ghoul’s Den ordeal. Shadows his sole ally. Corpse reek filled his nostrils—he inhaled. Death's frigid embrace clung like a worn, ragged cloak.

Yet amid that obscurity, sprawled nearby on the soil, lay April.

Unlike Edward or Kyle, her eyes fixed upward. A trace of tedium lingered there.

Rex glanced to follow her gaze.

A stunning nocturnal canopy. Pristine as never before. Full moon and twinkling stars formed a heavenly masterpiece.

Back then, rage clouded his thoughts, blinding him to such splendor.

To imagine it wearied her.

Then, her soft hazel gaze shifted to him, brimming with affection.

A glint of curiosity widened them beyond their usual poise. As if he alone stirred emotion in her. She extended her fingers, tenderly brushing away his hair locks, unwilling to let them obscure any portion of Rex's visage.

Rex stretched toward her, but corrupting shadows devoured her silhouette.

His psyche proved relentlessly harsh.

There, April cherished him, but upon stirring, he recalled her current loathing. Worse still, peril engulfed her. Urban clamor echoed now. He lay in a narrow alley bordered by shabby peasant dwellings.

Common folk and dregs crowded the lane.

He pieced together the scene in fragmented visions, summoning resolve through sheer effort.

<Scanning...>

Rex finally forged a focused intent, invoking the System.

"That physique is a wonder. He's rousing once more."

"Regrettable we won't witness its peak."

Before the scan finished, a prick stabbed his neck, and oblivion seized him anew.

Splash—!

Reality returned through torment.

It coursed his bloodstream. A stark, crackling surge leaped from nerve to nerve without mercy, hauling him from blackness via raw brutality. His frame bowed like a strained bow, muscles seizing in unyielding spasm.

For ten interminable heartbeats, his thoughts weren't his domain.

Paralyzed.

Then, quiet. The surge faded, its echo thrumming faintly in his bones.

Rex's torso rose and fell sharply. Breaths rasped harshly in and out.

Moisture clung to his flesh—a chill, slick layer.

Battling the lingering glare, he assessed his locale. Not urban sprawl, but a vast, hushed cavern hewn from underground rock. Dimness prevailed. Torches ringing the dais provided the sole illumination.

As his unsteady eyes lifted, a woman stood revealed ahead.

She gripped a pail, motionless as stone, observing his revival.

Rex knew this woman.

But her eyes held no prior tenderness or recognition. Just piercing frost.