The Invincible Full-Moon System Chapter 1874: My Realm

Rex waited patiently for Jessie to show up.

He lingered behind the portal, having confirmed that Shadow was not in direct view from it. The instant Jessie passed through the portal, she failed to spot Rex, while he had a perfect view of her. Like a lurking shadow, he eyed Jessie, his gaze sweeping across the realm with indifferent curiosity.

Quietly, he closed in on her from behind.

As a seasoned assassin, she stayed vigilant against any threats that could approach.

Yet the space behind her created a sensory blind spot due to the portal's warping. Breaching space from the Primordial Meadow required tremendous energy and could only be done using a Permit.

Their combined effect generated steady energy pulses that twisted the space around.

This concealed Rex's presence completely.

Jessie detected nothing of him.

Abruptly, two hands grabbed her from behind—one clamping the top of her head, the other seizing her chin.

Rex wrenched her head forcefully. A crack like a breaking tree branch rang out as her neck snapped.

"Bastard!" Shadow bellowed at the top of his voice.

Terrified that Rex might inflict horrors on Jessie, he had responded to Rex’s questions and submitted. Yet Rex didn’t hesitate to slay her anyway. With icy eyes, he watched her body crumple to the ground before slumping sideways.

Rex sneered upon seeing tears stream from Shadow’s eyes.

For a veteran assassin, Shadow proved somewhat lacking by forming such a deep bond with Jessie. Such emotional attachments only hampered his profession, and he ought to realize that. "Really?" Rex stepped over the corpse and fixed Shadow with a stare. "Tears...?"

"You gave me your word!" Shadow snarled, teeth clenched in fury. His tears blazed with a vengeful love, not passion. "You promised to spare her if I answered all your questions! What is this?!"

His voice cracked toward the end.

Pitiful. Desperate. But such emotions failed to touch Rex’s frigid heart.

"And you believed me?" Rex laughed lightly. "You approached with malicious intent, expecting me to, what...? Be merciful?" He yanked a fistful of Shadow’s hair, jerking his head back. "Your intense reaction shows you were very close to her. Though it seems you weren’t intimate enough."

"Wh-What?" Shadow’s eyebrows knit in confusion over Rex’s words. "What do you mean?"

Rex shoved Shadow’s head aside roughly and rose to his feet.

He turned to Evelyn and Gistella, who observed silently, realizing he’d neglected to instruct them earlier.

"Here," A silvery lotus appeared from Rex’s inventory, its petals blooming to the width of four spread adult hands. The Realm Fertilizer, gained from the Strength of a God achievement. "Set it on the ground," he instructed, passing it to Evelyn. "Then channel your energy and Silverstar Mark into it. It will handle the rest."

"Rex..." Gistella pulled at his arm, glancing toward the weeping Shadow. "Does he truly merit that?"

"I figured he was a spy at first. But he’s an assassin, so he earned it." Rex spoke without regret. He stroked her pale back and brushed her moist cheek gently with his knuckles. "What’s this? Just a few days for you, and my Gistella’s grown soft once more?"

"Of course not," Gistella clasped his hand. "If he seeks to kill you, then he deserves it."

"Whether back home or wherever you stand now, it’s always the same, right?" Evelyn shook her head. Power struggles dominated everywhere, regardless of the realm. "Anything truly new in there? I’m beginning to think you thrive no matter what."

"Mostly identical," Rex shrugged. "Just more intricate here. And our realm outshines these places by far."

Evelyn and Gistella moved to plant the Realm Fertilizer.

A few paces on, Evelyn halted and glanced back at Rex.

"One more question," She hesitated, weighing her words carefully. "Since this realm belongs to you and serves your growth, is it truly okay for us to plant this and nurture it? Does it matter if it’s us or you doing the cultivating?"

Rex smiled to himself.

Evelyn always posed the perfect questions.

Though bound to Rex, the Silverstar Genesis realm remained utterly pristine.

Rex hadn’t interacted with it yet, so it likely lacked his imprint.

An entity as grand and complex as a realm couldn’t exist without its creator’s mark. Evelyn felt sure of that. Despite her ignorance of higher powers and Rex’s silence on the matter, she trusted her instinct.

A realm transcended mere land and sky. It mirrored its master. Like a cherished pet. Or a child.

An entity that soaks up the essence of its creator, intended or otherwise.

It mimics and learns primarily from the individual it's most bonded to.

Since Rex wouldn't be that person, Evelyn feared it could hinder his development somehow.

"You’re right. A realm instinctively recognizes its owner, yet it molds itself after the initial cultivator in its formative phase." Rex averted his eyes from hers. "That’s precisely why I can’t be the first to cultivate it. Someone else must take that role."

Evelyn gazed at him, her eyes gradually widening.

Melancholy laced his tone, she detected.

At first, she believed Rex's choice to let them cultivate this empty realm stemmed from pity. They were both stuck now—unable to return to the Mortal Realm or join him in the God Realm.

Rex assigned them the duty of molding the realm to occupy them until a path back opened.

Yet that wasn't true. Far from it.

Just as he explained, a realm adopts the shape of its early cultivator. Hands accustomed solely to bloodshed and brutality would transform this pristine realm into a sea of carnage and gore.

Though Rex envisioned a serene world, crafting it lay beyond his capability.

Too much blood stained his hands to paint in any other hue.

Another must do it.

"I say this with certainty," Evelyn gripped the Realm Fertilizer tighter, its sudden heaviness hitting her with the truth. She suppressed a tear. "We’ll shape this realm into the most stunning paradise possible. That’s my promise."

Her response caught Rex off guard.

Somehow, she pierced his facade and grasped his inner turmoil.

A smile tugged at his lips as he pivoted, heading back to Shadow.

"Stop crying," Rex folded his arms while positioning himself next to Shadow. His piercing stare fixed on Jessie’s body. "She’s not dead. Your partner... Jessie possesses two lives. I figured you were feigning ignorance, but apparently, you truly had no clue."

"Huh?" Shadow blinked in confusion. "She’s alive?"

"How long will you keep faking death?" Rex demanded, raising his voice.

In an instant, as if strings from a puppeteer yanked her upright, Jessie’s snapped neck realigned, and she rose steadily to her feet. Brushing her hair back, she eyed Rex cautiously. "How did you know my name? And how did you know I’m not dead?"

"See?" Rex brushed off her queries. Turning back to Shadow with a grin. "Crying over her was your initial blunder. You should’ve focused on your own precarious position rather than her. Too late now."

Shadow parted his lips to respond, only for blood to erupt forth.

His eyes bulged; a gurgling, fractured noise slipped out as he glanced downward at his torso.

A fist jutted from his chest, clutching a throbbing red organ. His heart. Pulsing its final beats in an unfamiliar grasp. "You possess what I require," Rex murmured into his ear. "And I’m claiming it."

Splash—!

Rex yanked the heart free, shot a look at Jessie, and stowed it in his inventory with a smirk.

Witnessing her comrade’s demise drove Jessie berserk.

"No!"

A piercing shriek ripped from her as she surged forward at blinding speed. Quicker than Shadow could ever manage, yet still too slow to evade Rex’s senses. Her energy sword ignited with a hum—she aimed straight for the lethal strike.

Motion blurred around Rex, forming a barrage of assaults from every direction.

Within a mere second, dozens of blows had landed.

Yet Rex’s claws deflected or countered every single one.

’How...?’ Jessie pondered amid the frenzy, still attacking, still scanning, still hunting for vulnerability. No clue how Rex parried so effortlessly. It was as if he anticipated her every move. ’We’ve preyed on countless intruders. Many elite with deadly aces up their sleeves, but this guy... he’s toying with me?’

’His mask?’ Her gaze sharpened. ’Covers just the right side of his view. A flaw.’

A gleam flashed in Jessie’s eyes as she divided into a duplicate form.

Suspecting the mask—shielding only his right facial side—held the secret to his flawless guard, she decided left-side strikes offered her breakthrough chance. Precisely her plan.

While her duplicate orbited Rex, the original retreated to a safe range.

Balancing on tiptoes, one leg extended rearward to flaunt her agility, she poured energy into her sword. Moments passed before it morphed from blue to crimson.

Then, in a fierce lunge, she sliced the gap as if bending reality itself, stabbing ahead.

Her velocity made her flicker like a phantom.

Swoosh—!

Rex peered over his shoulder and dodged his head just in the nick of time.

He saw the red energy sword slice past him by a mere centimeter before staring directly into Jessie's eyes.

Few could withstand her devastating strike. Only warriors with blistering reflexes or the power to warp space managed to evade her piercing lunge, and such elites were exceedingly rare. That deadly prowess was exactly why clients hired her for assassinations.

Yet her trademark assault was dodged with perfect precision.

Rather than retaliate, Rex clamped down on her wrist.

She fought to wrench away, but the fiercer her resistance, the tighter his grasp grew, shattering her bones in the process.

"Shadow had only his Stealth Oustification to negotiate with." His tone rumbled in a sinister hush. Then, ignoring her will entirely, he manipulated her hand and the red energy sword, thrusting it toward his own throat.

One brush from its edge meant instant death.

Yet he never even flinched.

As her energy blade closed in on his flesh, she grasped the source of his ironclad assurance.

An invisible reddish energy barred the blade right before it made contact. No fighter from the lower realms should command anything akin to this force, but Rex possessed it fully.

"And that’s not enough to buy his life," Rex's gaze drilled into the depths of her soul.

BAM—!

A savage fist plowed into Jessie's abdomen, forcing blood from her lips while mangling her organs and shattering her energy circulation. She was yanked skyward by the throat next. "How...?" She gasped past constricted airways. "How are you this strong?"

"Haven’t you noticed it already?" Rex's mouth twisted into a cruel smirk.

His spare hand swept across the surroundings, compelling her to survey the area.

"You’re not in the Primordial Meadow," He yanked her face inches from his. "You’re in my realm."