The Invincible Full-Moon System Chapter 1991: The Sundial Arch (1)

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Previously on The Invincible Full-Moon System...
Henry murders Romana after he provides the coordinates for the Great Pale Court. Rex confirms the coordinates are genuine, and Henry takes the Primordial Permit, adding a tracking and portal law to it before Rex embeds a key into the orb. Rex decides to meet with the Weaver of Time before going to the Great Pale Court.

Rex wanted to focus on the priorities that would push him closer to taking down Kaiser—but since he’s now in possession of the Primordial Permit, he could afford to take preventive measures to protect those in the Mortal Realm.

Adhara and the others managed to fend off the invasion.

It was already confirmed by High Lord Rashal, but that didn’t mean he could relax.

Due to his elevation to Awakened Demigod, the Silverstar Pack members were now Demigods through indirect means, and Kaiser might have leeway that he could use to do more. And Rex wouldn’t want the Blood Moon God to have any chance to do more.

Not when he has the means to prevent it.

He was also going to meet with the Weaver of Time—the God that could control time more freely than Rex could control the pure blessing of the full moon. It was true that Rex only had three days to prepare for the Purgation Duel, but he was confident that the Weaver of Time could do something about that.

So, before going to the Great Pale Court, he was going to stop by the Sundial Arch.

"Weaver of Time?" Davina’s forehead creased with hard lines.

She wasn’t quite sure about the Goddess that Rex was aiming to win over to his side—but this Weaver of Time sounded a lot more powerful and domineering. A God who could control time, Davina wouldn’t even know where to start in dealing with such an entity.

But even so, Davina was excited.

If Rex could actually win the Weaver of Time’s aid, then their possibilities would be endless.

High Lord Ursa and his warriors wouldn’t stand a chance.

"Just a quick stop."

"What’s your plan?"

"Honestly? I don’t really have a plan for this one. We’ll leave if things go awry."

No matter the realm they entered and no matter how powerful the owners of said realms were, Rex and the others had free rein to leave anytime they wanted to with the Primordial Permit in their possession. The power of the Overseer reached every corner of all realms, and that’s their advantage.

Entering the God Realm through the Primordial Meadow has its perks.

Rex questioned inside his head.

The Hourglass of Chronus Loom in his hand was an item he had purchased back before he even entered the Primordial Meadow. It was an item that would help him directly meet with the Weaver of Time. It had cost him a fortune, but back then, he had considered it a necessary price.

It was necessary for the safety of his people.

He could evacuate a few like Evelyn and Gistella, placing them in the Silverstar Genesis.

But the others who were separated and the rest of the empire would still be in danger.

Rex had always known; he carried the obligation to protect them. Meeting the Weaver of Time had felt inevitable. Just another necessary step on a road paved with impossibilities. So—he had purchased this item, fully convinced that it was essential.

Now, knowing Romana’s gift, he began to feel that purchasing it had been a waste.

He could simply ask Henry to also demand the coordinates to the Weaver of Time’s realm too.

And that made him feel worse.

<Does the user want to purchase the information for 50 million gold?>

<Affirmative.>

Given where he stood now, gathering that amount should not be as hard as it would be in the Mortal or Spirit Realm. He didn’t balk at the number—Not when the Hourglass of Chronus Loom had demanded far more from him.

What gnawed at him wasn’t the price. It was the answer. He needed to know.

<Notice: No, the user didn’t waste gold by purchasing the Hourglass of Chronus Loom item.>

<Powerful Gods have multiple layers to their realms—set to make it even harder for any hostile Gods to take them down. Romana’s gift can only locate the rough coordinates of any realm. In this case, he can only locate the Weaver of Time’s outer realm, the Paradox Labyrinth of Aveum.>

<As for the Hourglass of Chronus Loom item, it contains the inner layer of the Weaver of Time’s realm where the user can meet with one of his Wardens, the Sundial Arch.>

"Sir Rex."

A voice snapped Rex back to reality.

He turned and saw Henry tossing something at him.

It was a badge that had taken the shape of a triangle within a circle with messy steel strokes above it.

"Embedded it into your skin," Henry said, pointing at the back of his hand. "It would help you on your way. You will be entrapped and disoriented through multiple dimensions without a doubt, and that will help you deal with it."

Rex paused for a second and did exactly that.

Before his eyes, the badge sank into his skin, merging with him as it vanished beneath the surface. Yet its shape remained, glowing with a faint blue hue from within. Another gift from High Lord Rashal, it seemed. Only this time, Henry had been entrusted with the authority to decide whether Rex was worthy of receiving it.

Several notifications appeared before him.

<Notice: the Dimensionality Sheer Badge has been engraved into the user!>

<Obtained Space Breaker skill.>

...

<Space Breaker>

Rank: Transcendent

Description: Allows the user to make a savage strike with any weapon that cracks the shell of any pocket dimension. The dimensional fabric screams as it splits open, vomiting the user back into true space. It can be used to break pocket dimensions and lesser dimensions. It distorts the space when used to break a realm.

...

Rex gave an acknowledging nod and then moved to the Primordial Permit.

He fed it with the Hourglass of Chronus Loom—and the destination coordinates were locked. Everyone could see the Primordial Permit begin to pulsate with energy and then fire a beam from its core, which split the space behind it and manifested a portal.

Unlike the normal portal that Rex had used, this one was not a kaleidoscope of colors.

It was a long white tunnel with the destination at the other end.

Since this was the highest level of Permit, enforcers had no power in the portals that it created.

Portals created by the Primordial Permit were untraceable by design, as it was reserved solely for High Lords and the Parliament. As the highest authorities in the Primordial Meadow’s social structure, they wielded the power to move without scrutiny, their actions shielded from any observing eye.

Of course, they were still monitored.

Just not by the enforcers—they were monitored by the Cluster Custodians instead.

And since those beings had more urgent things to do, the security was more relaxed.

High Lords and the Parliament basically have free rein.

In this case, Rex didn’t need to worry as the Cluster Custodian from earlier wouldn’t disturb him either.

Rex took the Primordial Permit and slipped it into his pocket. A quick scan revealed its remaining fuel—exactly three uses. It should be more than enough. All he needed right now were two uses. One for them to enter the Great Pale Court, and another to return to Larta City.

But regardless, it was good to have an emergency use in case something happened.

He took in a deep breath and stepped into the tunnel.

Behind him, Davina and Lilliana followed—there was nervousness in their steps.

As soon as the three stepped through, the portal behind them collapsed into nothing, sealing their retreat, leaving only the path ahead toward their destination. At the far end of the tunnel, the exit portal glowed a pale white, edged with a faint greenish hue.

No details yet.

Just a big, wide portal.

Soon, the three of them stopped before the portal.

Beyond its threshold, there was still only white—a blinding, luminous veil that refused to part. No clues of what lay beyond. No shapes. No shadows. Nothing that could help them determine what waited on the other side.

Only a slow churn of condensed light.

Rex frowned.

He used the System to scan the space ahead, searching for hostiles, for threats, or even for the simple reassurance of solid ground beneath his feet. Once the System confirmed that it was only a landscape that was strange but stable—he nodded.

Rex glanced at Davina and Lilliana.

"Stay until I call for you."

Once he said that, he put away the Primordial Permit and stepped through the portal.

For a moment, white devoured his vision. He was blind. And then, the glare receded like a tide pulling back from shore, and the Sundial Arch materialized before him. His pupils contracted, adjusting to the brilliance that saturated the air.

<Notice: the user has entered the Sundial Arch>

And soon he found himself standing in a vast desert that stretched from his feet to the horizon.

It went far in all directions, vast and silent and utterly alien.

One thing that he immediately noticed was the sand—it wasn’t cream-gold of familiar dunes, but it was green. A pale, powdery green like crushed emerald. It shifted under his weight with a soft, sighing sound that combed the eardrums.

And the breeze that stirred it had no scent.

Nothing at all, which made it more unnerving considering how acute his senses were.

The landscape ahead was uneven, broken by rocky hills and weathered mounds that rose from the green like knuckles. Some were dark, jagged outcroppings of basalt. Others were smoother, rounded by eons of erosion with surfaces that were streaked with veins of darker stone.

And in patches, the sand gave way entirely to something else.

A thick, translucent surface of green glass that gleamed with an inner light.

The glass stretched in uneven sheets, cracked and refrozen, as though the desert floor had once been a molten surface that had cooled in a single, catastrophic moment. "Huh... It’s not hot in here." Rex spoke aloud at the realization.

Despite clearly being in a desert with the harsh sunlight above him, the air was temperate.

Not hot and not cold either. Somewhere in between.

Rex knelt down and pushed his hand into the green sand. His fingers dug past the warm surface layer—past the cool stratum beneath—until his knuckles met resistance. He scraped away the sand and found a surprising sight.

Underneath the sand was ice.

A glacier, ancient and green and utterly impervious to the sun that beat down from above.

The desert was not born of heat. It was a frozen thing, buried and forgotten, wearing a mask of sand.

He straightened and looked skyward—the sun above looked normal. Perhaps a shade brighter, but not to the point of being obvious. And even if it did, the sky held something stranger than seized Rex’s eyes almost instantly.

Crystals.

Not big, but big enough to be seen even though they were high up.

Massive, translucent formations that floated in the high atmosphere, nearly invisible.

Rex could see one clearly due to its surfaces catching the sunlight and throwing it back in scattered, prismatic flashes. Every time he moved his head or body, the sky glittered differently, a shifting mosaic of refracted light.

"Davina, Lilliana, come on in. It’s safe."

The portal behind rippled as Davina and Lilliana stepped through.

Her starlit eyes adjusted almost instantly to the brightness, while Lilliana needed time, as Rex did.

They stopped at Rex’s side while their gazes swept across the green desert, the glacier ice, and the glints in the sky above. Neither spoke. The awe on their faces was enough. Being in the Primordial Meadow was already surprising, and they thought they were used to the different realms by now.

But this realm took their breath away again.

"Come on, let’s look around."

Rex took his first step forward, and the air suddenly shifted. He took another, and his body became a bit heavier than it was. And then another, and something pressed against his skin. Before he knew it, he couldn’t move.

Static. Trapped in time.