The Invincible Full-Moon System Chapter 1830: Almost a God (2)

A sense of tranquility enveloped the expansive, golden woodland.

Each tree gleamed with a rich golden tint, derived not just from the sun's rays, but from foliage oozing with radiant, pure honey essence. This luminescence pulsed with a constant inner light. Leaves and stems shone brilliantly, as though infused by celestial force with endless vitality.

The atmosphere brimmed with a profound, cozy golden shade.

Sturdy trunks ascended high and uniformly arranged, creating organic columns. Every shadow in this place appeared deliberate.

A dirt path sliced through the verdant golden expanse, littered with shimmering golden gems, both dispersed and lodged along the route like tributes. Strange bees thrust their stings into these crystals, injecting nectar that caused them to expand.

One large bee heading toward a close crystal got seized mid-air by a pair of fingers.

The insect wriggled desperately while being drawn toward the mouth of the golden werewolf.

Yet resistance proved useless.

With added pressure from her grip, she squashed the bee and lapped up the escaping honey.

Meloriana swallowed the nectar and licked her lips, savoring the intense sweetness overwhelming her palate. Within her domain, serenity reigned—silent, tranquil, and brimming with natural vitality, just as she envisioned. Restoring her spirit worked best in this personal sanctuary.

In contrast to the aggressive Lunirich Gods, she and two others bore distinct responsibilities.

Her domain focused on providing power, so she stayed in complete security at all times.

Yet peril managed to infiltrate via an unseen fissure.

Swish—!

Meloriana's eyes shot upward to the dense foliage overhead. A ripple in the air caught her attention, detectable despite the sacred barrier of her domain. "Strange..." she whispered—aware that no intrusion should penetrate, yet worry etched deep creases across her brow. "Is another battle underway?"

Rising gently, she ascended and burst through the woodland's treetops.

In a flash, the pitch-black heavens confronted her.

Sunlight graced only the forest below, while beyond its borders, eternal darkness prevailed.

Looming above was a gigantic full moon, the Honey Full Moon—surrounded by lesser full moons orbiting it. Eleven in total. Luminous limbs linked the golden central moon to its companions, though one limb throbbed erratically, pulsing weakly and fading bit by bit.

That was the link binding her to the Blood Full Moon.

The connection to Kaiser's domain.

"Kaiser is drawing in excessive energy," Meloriana's eyebrows furrowed in concern. Without delay, she ventured into Kaiser's domain, dissolving into specks of light as she passed through a crimson gateway revealing shallow blood pools on the far side.

The moment her feet touched the ground in Kaiser's domain, an overwhelming heat assailed her, unlike any she'd encountered before.

Fury, yet fiercer than usual.

"What's happening...?" A lump formed in her throat. An overwhelming wrongness hung in the air, making her hesitate to uncover the truth—especially alone here with Kaiser. "This feels completely off."

Meloriana scanned the distant horizon.

In the distance, she spotted the peak directly beneath the Blood Moon, Kaiser's typical location.

However, an urge pulled her in the opposite direction, since the disturbance originated elsewhere, not from the peak.

Transforming once more into golden moonlight, she headed that way and halted over a settlement.

The inhabitants of Kaiser's realm—werewolves and beasts under his care—formed a ring around their cherished blood city. Innumerable in number. The metropolis sprawled vastly, a wound of scarlet glow and ebony metal etched into the soil for endless stretches.

Towering mountains, four in count, surrounded it like jagged spires of a crown.

Each summit bore a tiny blood moon floating overhead.

Unaware of Meloriana's aerial presence, despite their keen instincts that should have detected her. Reality proved otherwise. It took Meloriana only a moment to notice they all faced one massive mountain, tears streaming down their faces.

Their grief went beyond simple tears.

Many lashed out wildly, slamming fists into the shallow blood pools.

The reason lay in the flickering miniature blood moon atop that specific mountain.

Meloriana sensed its strength ebbing away.

"Is something siphoning its sacred power...?" she gasped in disbelief, observing the fiery veins crisscrossing the mountain fade to dullness. Driven by reflex, her form sparkled with golden motes as she unleashed her divine force from her palms.

At last, those below acknowledged her arrival.

They all recognized the Lunirich Goddess of the Honey Moon had arrived to aid them.

Her sacred energy slammed into the mountain, wrapping it completely.

Though the contact jolted her, Meloriana pressed on, probing every crevice of the enormous peak with her divine perception to hunt the intruder. Yet, despite covering it fully, the origin of this anomaly eluded her.

Multiple scans of the mountain yielded identical outcomes.

Frustration mounted.

From below, myriad eyes fixed on her with pleading anticipation, yearning for her to halt the drain.

Yet she failed.

A roar of exasperation burst from her as she fled the scene, speeding toward Kaiser's location.

Positioned above the peak under the Blood Full Moon, Meloriana watched. Beneath her, Kaiser raged like a feral beast. He butchered his own conjured creatures—reveling in their spilled blood to release the scorching fury boiling within him.

The fur at his neck had lengthened and thickened now, billowing like a fiery crest.

She understood the implication.

Fury had consumed him fully. Thankfully, it hadn't crossed the threshold of no return.

Invoking her divine essence anew, she directed it at Kaiser, encasing him wholly—and soothing his turmoil with honeyed calm. Though he resisted, she subdued him swiftly before his might escalated.

A snarl ripped from Kaiser's maw as he whirled to confront Meloriana.

"What's happening here?" she demanded sharply. "What's afflicting your domain?!"

Lucidity flickered in Kaiser's gaze. His thoughts sharpened, grasping her inquiry, though voicing a reply proved challenging. The blaze of his wrath scorched away any chance of easy speech.

Finally, one word slipped out, "Mortal..."

The term made Meloriana recoil. Initial suspicions pointed to disorder or assault by a rival deity exploiting the widening vulnerability among the Lunirich Gods.

Greed and ambition's taint lingers everywhere.

Even so, she struggled to accept this.

"The Royal Black Prince...?" she pressed, reading confirmation in Kaiser's stare. "The Royal Black Prince caused this? We're divine beings, and he's merely human! Impossible. I won't accept it. This must be some deception!"

Her words rang hollow, lacking true conviction.

Memories flooded her of Rex breaking free from the God Realm's bonds.

Compared to gods' vast might, mortals resembled mere droplets in an ocean. No torment or resistance should allow a human to impact deities. Yet here it unfolded before them. Whatever set Rex apart remained a mystery, but he consistently achieved the impossible.

'How...?' Chaos swirled in Meloriana's mind. 'How does he reach us and render us powerless like this?'

To pilfer strength from Kaiser required some breach.

The Lunirich Gods guarding the perimeter ought to detect any intrusion.

None had reported a thing.

The theft resembled a void born solely from Rex's determination.

"No, hold on..." Meloriana's eyes bulged. "If he's drawing straight from you, then that implies—"

Kaiser let out a furious howl.

Surrendering to wrath, he pounded the earth with his enormous paws.

Crimson liquid sprayed upward, unleashing a downpour of blood.

"I've searched from the Gate of Divinity to the void's edge!" Kaiser bellowed. His trembling form, fueled by fury, triggered tremors throughout the domain. "Exhausted every method, even offering up divinity to uncover his backer, but zilch! ZILCH!!"

Crack—!

His explosive cry of dismay shattered the summit into rubble.

Meanwhile, Meloriana reeled from her revelation.

Rex claiming so much of Kaiser's divine essence that a core support of the domain started to dissipate pointed to one conclusion: his rise toward divinity. By this point, he'd probably advanced deep into Demigod status.

Such developments spelled disaster for the Lunirich Gods.

Kaiser drew in a deep breath, filling his lungs to bursting, before unleashing a yell.

"WHO?!!"

The cry lingered until pain rasped his throat and roughened his voice.

"What's your next move?" Meloriana shook off her daze and questioned. "Will you allow him to continue escaping justice? Sure, some hidden force backs him, but does that change anything?"

Her words prompted Kaiser to pause his breathing. His form froze like carved stone.

"No," he murmured softly.

Not a trace of rage colored his speech. Absent was the typical animosity of the Blood Moon. A sharp undercurrent laced his tone. Meloriana sensed a shift inside him—something dormant for ages now stirring.

Numerous deities feared the Lunirich Gods for their diverse strengths.

Kaiser's wrath served as the blade that could wound fellow immortals.

Yet Meloriana understood him deeper than the surface fury others mistook for his essence.

That blazing temper wasn't true anger. It marked his baseline existence. When genuine ire emerged, the aggression chilled to crystalline frost. At this moment, Meloriana witnessed the real fury rising. It had built slowly, but now it burned true.

Kaiser stood tall, straightening fully.

The crimson mane at his neck extended further. Resembling locks, it lengthened down to his waist.

"Regardless of his actions, the scheme progresses," Kaiser lifted his scarlet talons and dragged them over his torso, slicing divine skin and spilling sacred blood. He raised the claws to his face and inhaled the scent.

Foul. Just as expected.

Kaiser extended his blood-smeared talons toward the Blood Full Moon.

It vibrated and brightened.

Shutting his eyes, he let the luminous blood trickle back onto his tongue.

Reacting to an enigmatic force, his coat rippled as though caught in a breeze. In that instant, a dormant power within him stirred. Kaiser reopened his eyes, revealing a deeper spirit gazing out, free of any chains.

Kaiser pivoted to regard Meloriana.

His transformation brought a grin to her features.

"His shadowy patron disregarded us entirely," Kaiser stated. "There's no reason for restraint anymore."

...

Rex channeled the surging energy within, letting it surge outward in a dramatic blaze.

Gazing upward, Rex's stare burned with unbridled fury and loathing. His soles left the soil behind. They floated inches above, as if the planet recognized its inadequacy to bear his weight.