The Invincible Full-Moon System Chapter 2016: Coming to Terms

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Previously on The Invincible Full-Moon System...
Aylith, the Goddess of the Greater Moon, is betrayed by her children, the Lunirich Gods. Rex Silverstar arrives, intending to make a pact with her against her children. Aylith, however, shows no anger or desire for vengeance, only a mother's love and a desire for peace. Rex reveals his own intent to kill her children for harming his family. Despite Aylith's powerlessness, she tries to defend them. Rex proposes a pact: he will spare her children if she bonds with him and convinces them to surrender.

Rex studied the Goddess of the Greater Moon’s face and understood that his method was working.

His attempt to coax her into being on his side worked.

Some might say that this method that he employed on Aylith was nothing more than coercion. And in a way, it was. But individuals like Rex and Aylith—who were seated high in the pyramid of power clearly understood how the world worked.

It was that the weak would always be under the strong.

Normally, anyone who was in Rex’s position, standing before a greatly weakened Goddess, would most certainly take advantage of the situation through worse means. A living and weakened Goddess was a rare supply to ascend to Godhood.

And considering that Aylith was helpless, she was basically free for the taking.

If Rex wished, he could simply sacrifice her to devour her divinity and grow strong enough to hunt down every last Lunirich God. And because he’d already told Aylith exactly what he intended—that he’d torture the Lunirich Gods—she would suffer anguish and far worse pain than death.

Knowing the strength that Rex gained from her would be used to kill her children would be devastating.

So, this offer was not coercion, but a fair alternative.

Aylith would give up something as the weaker side, and Rex would show mercy as the stronger side.

Perfectly balanced.

She was not foolish enough not to know that this was mercy from Rex’s side, and refusing it would be a mistake that she couldn’t take back. In her eyes, at any moment—Rex could change his mind entirely and retract his offer.

Of course, it was all made possible thanks to the Warden.

Rex had learned of her circumstances—and the long, bitter history of her downfall. With that knowledge in hand, he could safely adapt a method to make sure that he could get rid of Aylith’s desire to die—and also pressure her to be absorbed into his side.

Naturally, he wouldn’t forget the help he had gotten from the Warden.

"I need an answer, Aylith," Rex said sternly.

Judging from her face, he had clearly managed to coax her to be on his side, but he also remembered what Nivellen said to him about her. That she was old school. So, he should get her to give her word to him that she would be on his side.

It was a mental guarantee to make sure that Aylith would not try to do anything later.

He needed to hear that she agreed to this term with her own words.

Only then would he be able to safely believe that she was on his side without worry.

"How are you going to let me try to convince them to surrender?" Aylith asked with a softer voice.

Right now, she understood that the Lunirich Gods no longer saw her—as their mother. Or even if they did, the title meant nothing. There was no respect left in their eyes. She was a shadow of what she’d once been. A fraction. A ghost of former divinity.

Convincing her children to surrender would simply be impossible.

And she wanted to know how Rex was going to let her approach this.

"Of course, I won’t let you run off and potentially betray me to side with them. I’m not that stupid." Rex walked past Aylith, inspected the floating crescent moon artifact, and then sat on it—without even asking for permission. "I’ll let you convince them first before I come in for the kill. I’ll let you convince the Lunirich Gods one by one. How’s that? Is that fair enough for you?"

Aylith was surprised by what he said.

She paid no mind to his disrespect and solely focused on his words.

Initially, she thought Rex would let her speak when the Lunirich Gods were gathered in one place. Just a moment before Rex came in for the kill. It would be impossible for her to convince the Lunirich Gods to surrender to Rex if all of them were in the same place.

Even if one fervently refused to bow down, then the Lunirich Gods wouldn’t surrender.

Considering how long she had lived—she had seen how that would play out time and time again.

For her to have any chance of doing that, she would need absolute strength.

One that she had before, but not anymore.

In order to win a vote, the real work was never done in the open. Public pressure would only make any potential ally recoil, afraid of being blamed—or worse, isolated. But behind closed doors, fear vanished. In private, they could be coaxed or bent without consequence.

Just wait until the voting day came.

Naturally, if that was the case, then Rex was simply being disingenuous.

That would be the same as setting Aylith up for failure.

Since he didn’t seem to be planning to do that, then she felt like she could trust him more.

’That question was a test. If he had failed, I would have taken my life. Better to die than let him use me to grow stronger and hunt down my children. But he succeeded.’ Aylith’s gaze drifted to Rex, sitting on the crescent-moon artifact as if he were resting after a walk, legs dangling with maddening ease. ’Or is he only saying this because he knew it was a test? Just to lower my guard? Either way, I should at least trust him for now.’

"And you don’t need to worry about being overwhelmed by them, either," Rex added. "I have the power to get you back on your feet. Even your Sovereign Realm... I can help you avoid it being shredded by the God Realm."

"Hm?" Aylith’s brows furrowed together. "I don’t believe that you could."

"Why not?"

"You’re not a God. You’re not even a strong Demigod. I doubt you could do anything to help me with that."

"Is that so?" Rex rubbed his chin, and then curled his lips into a smirk. "Do you even know why your daughter sided with me? Yes, she’s being isolated by the other Lunirich Gods, but do you really think— she’s sided with me simply because I’m the one who was kind to her?"

It had been a long time ago, but Aylith remembered her daughter’s personality.

Remembered how Nivellen was.

She was not one for open words or loud company. Solitude suited her far better, which made her really compatible with the Dark Full Moon’s power. And within that quiet nature lived a peculiar, demanding taste.

One few could ever satisfy.

Even her own siblings found it difficult to draw close.

In fact, Aylith vividly remembered that she only tolerated one person.

She was only close to the second son, Purnamar.

He was the one who stole the power of the Super Full Moon from her—and Nivellen was not bothered by his presence because he was direct and never played around with words. And more importantly, he was also a strong-willed person.

For Nivellen to take a liking to Rex and even favour him enough to be on his side meant that she saw something in him—that made him worth supporting. Something that enticed her. And as Aylith thought about that, she began to see familiarity between Rex and Purnamar.

Both were strong and no-nonsense men.

"She sided with me because I can help her get what she wanted. I am the one who broke the Lunirich Edict that exiled her to the Banished Realm." Rex said, not to brag, but to state the facts. "And I should remind you of this, but she was no longer a Demigod under you. She was now a Goddess. She was now the Countess of the Dark Lunirich.

"What do you say?" Rex’s crimson eyes sparkled with intent. "I need you to give me an answer."

"Yes..." Aylith nodded firmly as she rose to her feet again. "My answer is yes."

Rex wasn’t surprised by her answer.

Now that she had given her word to bond with him, the path was clear. He could begin the third—and final race evolution quest and ascend to Origin. All that remained to do was to forge a connection with a deity.

One powerful enough to bolster the Greater Lycan race.

After that was complete, Rex would then begin the First Blood Claim ritual.

Of course, Rex had already asked the System how to do the second part of the quest.

However, the ritual required immense energy that would directly impact the origin-rank bloodline.

Considering that the Purgation Duel was approaching rapidly, Rex thought that he would use whatever he got in order to complete the last race evolution quest. No matter what—he needed to achieve his origin-rank bloodline and be done with it.

He needed all the strength he could get.

Later, once he won the Purgation Duel, he could start fixing his new origin-rank bloodline.

Knowing the System, there must be a way to do that.

But even though Rex already made a decision to do exactly that—he didn’t start the process to complete the last race evolution quest. Heck, he didn’t even move from where he was sitting. He gestured for the sisters to come with his hand instead.

And then, his crimson eyes fixed on Aylith again.

"I was planning to help you regain your strength before convincing one of the Lunirich Gods. After all, once you bonded with me, having you stronger would also benefit me." Rex said calmly, and then lifted his gaze to look at the spot beyond Aylith. "But it seemed I wouldn’t be able to do that for you this one time."

"This one time?" Aylith tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"Don’t insult me by hiding," Rex ignored her and fixed on the space not too far away. "No matter what you do, there’s no hiding that disgusting scent of yours. I can smell you even when I’m already at death’s door."

"I can see why Kaiser is having trouble with you," An astral voice crawled through the air.

Hearing this, Aylith’s eyes widened.

She turned around slowly, recognizing this voice.

No matter how different, there’s no way she would mistake her children’s voices.

Before she could understand what was happening, claws tipped with sickly green light tore through the boundary between realms and stabbed deep into the Sovereign Realm. They raked downward—splitting the sky all the way to the moon’s surface. Then another set came from a different angle, carving a second wound to form a monstrous X.

Through that impossible gash, the entity stepped into her realm.

And what came out of the gash was nothing Rex had expected. Not even close.

A bulky, hulking silhouette pulled itself through the wound in reality, blocking out the pale light behind it. Long green fur draped its entire body from head to toe—matted and wild, hanging in tangled ropes that swayed with every slow, deliberate movement.

Only its clawed hands, face, and feet were completely bare.

Sickly green fingernails curved from each finger, glowing faintly like venom given form.

Its build was familiar. Broad shoulders. Long arms. Powerful hind legs built for leaping—and tearing. The build of a werewolf. But the face was different. No elongated snout. No muzzle. Instead—it was disturbingly human.

Flat, almost placid skin stretched taut over heavy bone.

Thick fangs jutted from its mouth at irregular angles.

The lower canines were longer than the rest, curving upward like tusks in a permanent, hungry snarl.

Rex could feel that this entity was something divine, ancient, and utterly dangerous. The air around this creature grew heavier and colder, as if its presence was draining the warmth from reality itself. Nearby, Davina and Lilliana tensed.

Both of them felt their breaths quickening.

It was their blood of a werewolf—it was riled by the very sight of this entity.

Primal fear, older than memory, screaming in their veins.

Then Rex saw the mark. A greenish full moon emblazoned on the creature’s chest—burning through the fur with a sickly glow. It was a brand of something familiar. Something that he recognized with nothing but a glance.

Another Lunirich God.