The Invincible Full-Moon System Chapter 1989: You’re Going to Behave Right?
Previously on The Invincible Full-Moon System...
"Are you serious?!"
Lilliana gasped in shock; the news was almost like a physical blow that pushed her body back.
Earlier, she noticed that the enemy warriors were much stronger than them.
Rex, with all his strength, had a weaker aura compared to those warriors, not to mention Davina, who wasn’t even a proper Demigod. She might be as strong or perhaps even stronger than Rex once her transformation was completed with her own form, but right now, she was the weakest.
It would be hard for them to take on one warrior from the opposing side, much less more than one.
But at this point, she knew Rex was no idiot.
Every move he made was well-thought-out and had a high chance of working to achieve the intended goal.
In the Purgation Duel’s context, he must’ve had a plan to rapidly grow him and Davina stronger.
Just that Lilliana didn’t know how.
Now, learning how he would achieve that, she couldn’t help but be shocked.
From how Rex was drinking, she could tell that their next step would be a really bad one, but she didn’t expect it to be this bad. "Are you sure you are in your right mind?" She blinked—and leaned forward again. "You can’t even deal with Demigods, and you’re suggesting to mess with a Goddess? An actual deity?"
"Something like that." Rex poured himself a drink again.
But it was snatched by Lilliana the moment he raised it from the table to chug it down.
"I can’t believe it. Did you perhaps make this plan while you were drunk?"
"Don’t worry—the Goddess we’re meeting is someone who was robbed of her full power. She’s not as strong currently as whatever deities in your mind right now. And it’s not like we’re going there to really mess with her. Just to ask for help."
Nivellen suggested the Goddess.
She said the Goddess’ power, specifically her dominion over the full moon, had been completely stolen by the Lunirich Gods. Robbed of her strength, she was a shadow of what she once was. And the hatred she carried for them burned deeper for it.
Or at least, that’s what Rex assumed.
A perfect Goddess for him to coax to be on his side.
It was probably why Nivellen suggested her to him from the start, knowing that he could do it.
"Robbed or not, she’s still a Goddess! And how would you even convince her?"
"Something about having a common enemy," Davina replied, with a speechless sigh. "I’m guessing the one who robbed this Goddess’ power is the God that he wanted to kill. What’s his name again? Kaiser? That Lunirich God of the Blood Moon."
"And?" Lilliana continued. "What’s the plan if this Goddess didn’t want to help?"
"Be positive," Rex chuckled. "She’ll help us."
"She can be in a bad mood and infuriated when someone brings up the topic of her stolen power."
"I can be really persuasive."
"Persuasive? You resorted to your claws when things were dire in the banquet. That’s not persuasive."
"She knew how persuasive I can be," Rex nudged his chin at Davina. "I won her heart with it."
"That’s different!"
"It’s not really that different."
"How is it not different?"
"A nobody approached a woman with the power to crush him instantly to gain something in return. Just replace the nobody with an unknown Demigod and the woman with a Goddess. I can die with a snap in both cases, so it’s not that different."
Davina rolled her eyes at Rex’s answer.
And Lilliana scoffed as she couldn’t believe how nonchalant Rex was about this.
Seeing the concern on their faces still persist, Rex smiled inwardly and decided to stop playing around. He leaned forward, "We are only going there to negotiate with the Goddess. Nothing more than that. If she lashed out, then I can expose my identity, can’t I? That I’m a part of the faction."
Being a Scion of Vertex would help him pressure the Goddess more.
Just the way he did to the Cluster Custodian.
Rex was quite sure that even the Goddess wouldn’t be that brash when dealing with a Scion, especially with one who came with no bad intentions. Just as long as he didn’t provoke her too much, then things should go smoothly.
"You’re gambling that your status would keep you safe?"
"Among other things, yes."
"Sigh... Since you already planned to do it, I guess it should be fine. As long as you’re not planning to destroy things or kill anyone in her realm, I guess it makes sense for her to be reasonable. No need for another enemy in her situat—"
"Err..."
"Huh?"
Lilliana paused and saw Rex hissing through gritted teeth, brows raised, and eyes looking elsewhere.
Her eyes narrowed, and so did Davina’s.
"Y-You’re going to behave, right? You’re not going to destroy things or kill anyone in her realm, right?"
"Maybe a little. Just a little."
"Just a little?"
"We need to get her attention somehow, right? So maybe destroying a few things is necessary."
"..."
Lilliana chugged the wine, gulping down the liquid as the words Rex said settled in her mind.
She handed the glass to Davina, and she did the same.
Even after the first bottle ran dry, Davina rose to fetch more behind the bar.
The burning alcohol was a necessity—each of them needed at least this much to quiet the nerves coiled tight in their stomachs. They were about to possibly ransack a foreign realm, raise chaos in the domain of a Goddess who had her power stolen.
It was reckless, but there’s not much choice when the Purgation Duel will be held in three days.
Moments later.
Henry finally called them when the other part finally arrived.
It arrived later than anticipated.
A portal tore open in the middle of the street that was already separated into another pocket dimension.
One could see that they were isolated from the still blue that encompassed the area like a dome.
From it, out stepped a group of old enforcers flanked by a unit in pristine white uniforms.
Each soldier was armed with an immaculate white sword in one hand and a gun in the other. Rex had zero clue who these people were, but he assumed the soldiers should be from a special force unit—that was tasked with guarding the other part of the Primordial Permit.
Considering that the Primordial Permit gave access to any realm, it couldn’t fall into the wrong hands.
"Now that I think about it... is this even allowed?" Rex murmured to Henry. His eyes were still fixed on the soldiers as they worked. Layer by layer, they peeled open a prismatic ditetragonal dipyramid, a crystal forged from pure light, sealed within a cubical containment shell dark as obsidian. "Can a High Lord really lend the Primordial Permit to anyone?"
A standard Permit granted passage only within a single cluster, the one it was made in, or to the lower realms. The mid-level Permit extended far beyond, opening paths to neighbouring clusters, realms that were ruled by Lesser Gods, or realms ruled by Higher Gods willing to open their gates to anyone.
Some Gods were friendly and welcomed anyone to visit their realms.
But a Primordial Permit is another thing entirely.
It can be used to open any passage to any realm.
And in some cases, even the realms that were deliberately isolated by their owners.
Even other Gods would fight over this Primordial Permit, so having it in his possession felt wrong.
"What do you think?" Henry chuckled. "Of course, not."
"No?" Rex raised a brow.
"Yes, it’s highly illegal. But you don’t have to worry about that. Something illegal is only a problem if it was caught, and High Lord Rashal already made preparations."
At the same time, the special forces had finally opened the last layer and taken out an orb of concentrated light that was entrapped inside three rings. Each ring had a moving sphere of energy that made it look like a big atom.
Carefully, the leading soldier took it out and placed it on a floating cushion prepared beforehand.
Once it was out, he turned to Henry.
"It’s done. All you need to do is the other part to activate the Primordial Permit."
"What about the realm coordinate? What if we don’t know the coordinates?’
"That’s fine. We brought a person for that."
From the side, a man in a flowing, silky white robe that brushed the ground stepped forward. A pristine white blindfold with grey trim wrapped across his eyes. He cupped his hands—and inclined his body in a small, respectful bow.
An acknowledgment of Henry’s station as the High Lord’s personal assistant.
"Romana here has the blessed gift to locate any realm through his third eye. As long as you know the name of the realm or the owner of the realm, then he can locate it."
"I will be happy to serve you with my gift, Sir Henry."
"I see... That’s great."
"Yes, but Sir Henry, I don’t see High Lord Rashal anywhere."
Henry offered a pleasant smile. One that was slightly chilling to see.
"No need to worry about that soldier."
"I’m sorry?"
Instead of answering, Henry turned to an old enforcer beside the leading soldier and nodded.
A silent signal.
Almost instantly, the air seemed to tighten. Thirteen enforcers drew their blades in a single, fluid motion.
A chorus of steel rang sharp and short, a single note sung by thirteen throats. The leading soldier’s eyes went wide. Understanding flickered in his gaze, a desperate spark of awareness that arrived far too late to save him and his men.
Too late to scream, too late to move, and too late to do anything but surrender.
The swords swung in a violent arc.
Thirteen blades, but only twelve carved thirteen arcs in perfect, merciless unison. A geometry of brutally clean execution rehearsed to the point of artistry. The soldiers’ heads left their bodies at the same instant, tumbling upward in grotesque halo before gravity seized them.
And they also struck the ground as one.
A dull, wet chorus of ending.
Blood sprayed in a fine mist—painting the air crimson and then splashed against the ground in patterns that overlapped and spread like dark flowers blooming in fast-forward. Thirteen soldiers from a special force unit had come.
In the space between one second and the next, twelve were dead.
Only Romana remained.
The blindfold was still bound across his eyes, but he did not need sight to know what had happened.
He felt it—the sudden absence of familiar steady heartbeats, the wet thud of bodies crumpling, and the warm spray of blood that speckled his cheek. His heart dropped like a stone into a bottomless well, and he stood alone amid the silence of the slain.
Blind and surrounded by death.
One of the enforcers, the one who was tasked to contain Romana, held his sword ready at his side.
Even though he didn’t make a move and the sword was by his side, Romana could feel the cold blade against his throat.
"S-Sir Henry—?!"
"Relax, we won’t kill you. We still need you for the coordinates."
Rex smirked at the sight.
He immediately realized what preparations High Lord Rashal had made when the air suddenly became heavy in a fraction of a second. From the start, he also had found the formation to be slightly odd as the soldiers were cramped on the inside.
Initially, he thought this was because they were being escorted by the enforcers.
But as it turns out, it was because they were going to be killed like this.
"From the start, they should’ve known not to be involved with a High Lord who was currently in a bad situation," Rex said, crossing his arms while looking at these soldiers with pity. "Didn’t they hear about the Cavity being attacked?"
"Well, their faction is isolated. News arrived to them a bit later." Henry shrugged.
Then, he approached Romana, stopping only when he towered over the isolated man.
"Don’t tell this to anyone, and you’ll be fine. Do you understand?"
"Y-Yes..."
"Good. Now, I want the coordinates of two realms. Tell me what I want, and you’ll live."