The Invincible Full-Moon System Chapter 1807: Never Personal

Rosa lifted her gaze.

Nightfall had descended at last. The full moon appeared before her, glowing crimson like a basin of blood.

Her mission was complete. Great Elder Rosa permitted herself to shut her eyes—and relish the chill wind brushing her skin like soothing, kneading palms. Sweat had left her flesh tacky, sharpening the cold's sting, yet it failed to bother her.

"You don't need to handle this," Marquess Aurelius wrapped his arm around her waist and pressed a kiss to her shoulder. "I'll request the emperor to assign it to me instead."

He interpreted her ease as anxiety.

He assumed she felt uneasy with the execution drawing near, yet he was mistaken.

"If His Majesty commands me, then I must perform it." She faced him, giving a smile—so delicate it resembled fragile crystal. Her fingers grazed his cheek in a brief touch, though her eyes avoided his. They dropped low. A nuance he caught. "I will... execute April."

The words rang hollow even as they left her lips.

Rosa sensed her husband knew she concealed something.

Relief washed over her when he chose not to probe deeper.

The Soul Crusher stood exposed at last.

A royal knight tugged away the silk shroud, unveiling the concealed device beneath.

It formed a round platform of ebony basalt, its top etched with ten nested circles of glowing, constantly morphing runes. A twisting inscription in the arcane tongue of agony. Right at its heart sat a recessed spot, perfectly fitted for one pair of feet.

Arcing above this core were four supports of shadowy iron.

No, not iron. Rather, ebony timber that shone nearly like metal.

Each curved like the hooked digits of a giant claw ready to seize its trophy—from overhead. Their ends met, halted mere inches from the recess, poised for ignition. A vast final ring also emerged in the ground ahead of the Soul Crusher.

A energy nucleus: a compact, pulsing orb of condensed vital force.

It resembled a trapped emerald star that would soon channel its might through the runes, along the talons, and into the victim on the recess. With the unveiling came the captives, hauled forth from the dome. Four shapes were yanked out.

Most wore shackles, one did not.

Leading was Amanir.

He writhed fiercely to escape. Hurling profanities at whoever crossed his stare.

Jagged injuries scarred his frame, yet he remained full of vigor.

Following was April.

Like Amanir, gashes and contusions covered her, obscuring her noble lineage. She didn't struggle as guards pulled her by the hair over the ground. She held a brave facade, but it began to fracture.

Rosa averted her gaze, unable to behold the nightmare.

Marquess Aurelius drew her nearer, allowing her to hide her face against his chest.

April's siblings, nearly twenty in number, observed without a twitch. Most eyed April with icy detachment, deeming her fate just for allying with the rebel. Just one opposed. Prince Edward. His slight build let him linger behind the group, but he glared at his kin.

Family must remain united, so he tugged his siblings, urging them to act properly.

Amanir and April were compelled to kneel under the nobles' watch.

Then the atmosphere stirred.

Warmth infused the air as every gaze shifted to the shadows past the dome's entrance. Twin crimson eyes gleamed forth. Rex stepped in. No steps echoed since he remained in his wrappings. Enveloped in bandages, pierced by spears, and restrained by the Reap and Sow Echo as a pink bloom.

Rex appeared to many for the initial time.

Simply labeled the usurper rendered his reputation enigmatic. It elevated the nobles' perceptions of him; they likened him to Mirza. They viewed him as a fiend. They saw him as a savage, beyond human. Some deemed him a foe to the holy Angels, a Devil.

He was merely a youth.

Yet when his gaze scanned the nobles, numerous shunned it completely.

Chiefly, the junior nobles dodged his look.

Listening to Althea's tales of his deeds made them grasp their own shortcomings vividly.

Just the Crown Prince and Princess Davina could rival his prowess.

Though the youths reacted strongest, the veterans too sensed the peril.

Rex lay shackled, his power quelled, and flanked by four royal knights primed for any twitch. Still, in such condition, his stare carried a menace that pierced their essences. It felt as though they faced a corporeal Void Sovereign.

A sensation that left them diminished and powerless.

Trailing him came the fresh captive, Althea. Far more composed than before.

All were made to kneel, save Rex.

Rex now confronted the daunting throng of nobles, with known faces woven among them. He regarded them like a predator before his eyes settled on Duke Lorcan. Among the assembly, he least anticipated Duke Lorcan opposing him.

Opposing the one with whom he had bared his weaknesses.

Rex had witnessed his tears, and now, as if that shared instant counted for naught, he stood adversarial.

It disappointed more than it wounded.

He had hoped for better from Princess Davina's sire, but it shocked him less than anticipated.

Coercion had swayed Duke Lorcan previously, and here it repeated.

Now Rex grasped why Princess Davina despised him. Or at minimum, this aspect of him.

He lacked strength.

Rex looked aside and scowled upon spotting Althea.

Each encounter with Althea brought clashes and chaos. Her proximity startled him. She caught the look and flashed a grin. "What?" She questioned, smirking even with blood at her mouth's edge. "Don't go falling for me. I'm here for my own sake."

"Every word from you makes me itch to strike you," Rex rolled his eyes.

Behind, the royal knights readied the Soul Crusher.

A keen pulling noise arose upon activation, followed by an agonized cry.

Rex had examined it and grasped its purpose as a soul-tormenting apparatus.

His soul had just healed, and this contraption would fracture it far worse.

"I must admit," Althea glanced about. Her pulse hammered in her chest. "I'm relying on you completely now. Whatever scheme you've got better free us. I'm still young and lovely, after all."

Rex stayed silent.

His instincts blared warnings to his mind as his hearing caught distinct steps.

They were whisper-soft.

In truth, Rex was certain these treads were so subtle only his supernaturally keen ears could detect them. To others, the figure advanced in utter quiet, more floating than striding.

And unbeknownst to him, the nobles' murmurs faded.

Now only Rex and his breathing filled the space.

He twisted his head as much as possible to catch sight of the intruder.

A silhouette neared from the rear. As it emerged, Rex instantly knew this individual surpassed him vastly. Far superior. Emperor Dominar halted smoothly before Rex, hands folded behind him.

Due to the cocoon, Emperor Dominar peered upward to match Rex's eyes.

Nevertheless, it seemed he gazed down upon Rex.

"Let me venture a guess, you must be..." Rex looked down at this striking figure. "Emperor Dominar?"

Emperor Dominar waved his hand, and a tendril shot from the pink flower, stabbing Rex's foot's sole and injecting venom. It took effect swiftly. Moments later, veins in Rex's neck shifted to a dingy green.

He aimed to erase Rex's smirk, but the torment changed nothing.

Rex didn't even wince.

"Such rebellion..." Emperor Dominar shook his head gently. "Even at this point, you defy. Death holds no fear for you."

"Where's the charming empress?" Rex inquired, scanning for her. "She's nowhere in sight. Frankly, I'd expect her to slay me personally. Considering I ended her cherished Archangel of Knives. Do you know about that?"

Silence met him.

A scowl formed as he sought fury in Emperor Dominar's gaze, finding none.

Meanwhile, the System finished its analysis.

<Notice: the person the user seeks, Empress Morgana, is absent from the vicinity.>

Rex's eyebrows knit upon reading it. He had heard guards say Empress Morgana had rejoined the empire, so she ought to join this triumphant event. Beyond that, she should deliver his death.

Her absence felt strange.

"You..." Insight struck Rex. "She's still gone, right?"

"Does it signify anything?" Emperor Dominar replied. He marveled at Rex's quick deduction, though his expression revealed nothing. "You've stirred sufficient chaos—already. Time for you to depart to your proper domain."

"Allow me to pose this," Rex's eyes tightened. "Why...? Why shield her?"

At first, Rex believed Empress Morgana hid due to her treasonous acts.

Yet she had returned, or so the empire declared, reunited with the emperor.

Now he saw he overlooked a vital detail.

Spirits, particularly those in this realm, venerated Angels.

With the Silent Consort devoted to Angels, Empress Morgana need not dread traitor labels—she could disclose Stelios to the empire. Thus, Emperor Dominar's response should have blazed with wrath.

He now held two unpardonable truths: Empress Morgana's link to an Archangel, and Rex's slaying of it.

Any loyalist would harbor furious, near-mad rage against an Angel's killer.

But this rite lacked wrath.

Rex once thought it fueled by it. Facing Emperor Dominar directly now, he discerned—rage played no role. Something profounder than mere revenge lurked. And he yearned to uncover it.

He had deliberately invoked the Archangel of Knives earlier to provoke.

Yet Emperor Dominar stayed impassive.

This was bolstered by the System withholding a Killing Intent alert.

His demise served as mere empire requirement.

But the cause?

"The deceased lack claim to the living's secrets, yet I'll indulge your query once," Emperor Dominar stated. "For you're attracting notice. You won't cease until her blood flows. We cannot permit that."

He signaled the royal knights to proceed.

Among the four, April was first hauled to the Soul Crusher.

It had to be her.

Emperor Dominar feigned outrage, so April must perish.

Again, no grudge. Pure exigency for some hidden motive.

But Rex tired of unraveling the motive.

All that counted was saving those dear to him.

"This holds no personal grudge," Emperor Dominar declared and departed. "Remember that."

"Not personal...?" Rex's voice sliced the air, stopping the emperor. His gaze fixed on April, pulled toward the Soul Crusher, and fury ignited like flames. "You've simplified it for me. Then, razing your empire... carries no personal weight for me either."