The Invincible Full-Moon System

Chapter 1671: Show You The Great Filter (1)

Rex blinked, and the world changed.

Time was suspended; he tried blinking a few more times, hoping that somehow the world would return to normal, but it never did. His pupils dilated as his instincts immediately flared, expecting this to be an attack from an unknown entity.

Perhaps the one who had been messing with him all this time.

His reflex was deathly fast.

The very moment he saw time was halted, he used the System to scan the surroundings.

Whoever this entity was, he’s extremely fast.

Back then, when he was within the Aurelius House’ domain, Rontera, he also scanned the surroundings right when he snapped out of his daze. But he found nothing—he couldn’t find the one who controlled the knife, and there was no trace left behind either.

Learning from that incident, he immediately scanned the surroundings.

He tried to react faster.

But he soon realized that it wasn’t an enemy he was dealing with right now.

It wasn’t the entity that controlled the knife.

<Notice: the sun has entrapped the user in the Sun Domain.>

“Sun Domain…?”

Rex’s brows knit into a deep frown the moment he read the notification, but he was given no time to process what he had just read as the sun suddenly glared at him; its brilliance seared across the sky and crashed down on him blindingly.

It forced him to squeeze his eyes shut and turn his face aside.

Once the light dissipated, Rex hesitantly opened his eyes again and noticed that he had been teleported.

No sight of the legions and horde, only him and a scorching light coming from below.

Freezing in place, Rex looked down and gasped in shock.

Underneath him, the ground was no earth at all—it was a living sea of fire. Waves of molten light surged and broke like an ocean, each cresting flare spitting embers the size of boulders into the air. Countless solar prominences coiled skyward in blazing arcs across his vision, roaring with a soundless violence that rattled his bones and made the very world quiver beneath him.

Rex watched as the surface shifted endlessly, no solid ground, only fire that refused to be tamed.

And yet, he was standing on it like there was a ground, and he didn’t burn.

For a moment, his mind forced a thought that it was an illusion, but the heat was real and it pressed hard against his skin like countless blades, and the System also told him that it wasn’t an illusion—No, it is the Sun Domain.

“How have you been holding up? Have you accustomed yourself to your Invincible Apparition?”

Rex heard a voice from behind him, and he instantly recognized who it was.

He looked over his shoulder and saw a flaming figure, curvy and graceful—Kei Xun.

System, has time stopped here?

Before entertaining Kei Xun with whatever she was doing here, he needed to know the answer to that first, as he was in the middle of an important mission. It would be stupid of him not to check whether this summons was with good intentions or not.

Noticing his doubt, Kei Xun smiled, “I’m not interfering with your mission, don’t worry.”

<Notice: time has been slowed down drastically within this domain.>

Upon reading the notification, Rex nodded and turned around.

He folded his arms and raised a brow.

“For what reason did you summon me here into your… domain?”

“Did you forget our arrangement? I’m continuing where we left off, of course.”

“I thought you liked making schedules, but this…?”

“I will be caught up in something and wouldn’t be able to meet with you for a bit.”

Rex’s eyes narrowed; he didn’t trust Kei Xun.

Since he couldn’t rely on the System to verify everything she told him, trusting her grew even harder. Yet Rex couldn’t afford to reject her aid either—it was the only way to test whether Kei Xun was truly on his side or not.

Deciding on what he was going to do, Rex nodded.

“I’ve been giving a chance for my Invincible Apparition to take control, as you said.”

“Good, that’s good. It’s essential to feel the emptiness of not having control to become a Blank.”

“So,” Rex averted his gaze to look around. “Did you bring him here for a particular reason?”

“Yes…” Kei Xun approached closer until she reached a few meters away from Rex. “I have something to show you. Last time, I talked about what’s next for you. Now… I’m going to show you what you’re going to deal with to become a Blank.”

Kei Xun pivoted to the right and closed her eyes.

For a moment, she remained still.

It was starkly the same as when Rex saw her the last time they met.

She’s activating her Invincible Apparition.

Soon, Rex looked down again when the flames coming from below shimmered—and changed from a bright golden light to blue. In a heartbeat, what should be the sun turned blue—almost as if it became another star entirely.

Once Kei Xun opened her eyes again, the same otherworldly blue tears slid down to her cheeks. Official source is ovelfire.net

“Becoming a Blank is the first step toward the Highseat of Invincibility, but it’s not the easiest. In fact, many Scions consider it the hardest step of all.” Her gaze shifted forward as three fiery strands spiraled skyward, twisting—and swelling with each breath. “The Disconnect is often called the Great Filter. It’s the trial that eliminates the most Scions from the race.”

Kei Xun raised her hand and split the blackness of the sky into three fiery parts.

“And I’m going to show how it went for the other failed Scions…”

Upon hearing this, Rex gazed at the three fiery screens ahead.

His eyes glistened with curiosity.

As the fiery screens formed, a symbol began to manifest above each one of them.

Above the left one bloomed the symbol of a twelve-petal flower, delicate yet radiant—a mark that Rex assumed to be the symbol of happiness. The middle strand bore a grotesque symbol, a snarling mouth lined with bloody fangs, the unmistakable representation of anger. And above the right one—a chilling symbol took form; it was shaped in the skeletal outline of a hand clutching a perfect circle.

Rex wasn’t sure about the last one, but he reckoned that it must be representing fear.

He still remembered vividly everything that Kei Xun said to him.

Since she intended to show him the failed Scions, the symbols must represent the five drives that the Highseat of Invincibility recognized. His gaze lingered the longest on the middle one. So that’s how the symbol of anger looked; my symbol. I don’t know about what the other thinks, but that fanged mouth looked like it belonged to a Werewolf.

Just as he thought of that, the symbol of happiness glowed brightly, and the screen activated.

A sudden pull claimed his form like he was a steel that was being pulled by a magnet.

He looked down and found his body was fading, turning into dust of glowing blue that went straight to the left screen. At that moment, Rex instinctively turned to Kei Xun; his face vividly depicted the very question he had in mind.

“Don’t fight it,” Kei Xun said assuringly. “Let yourself be pulled.”

As her final words faded, her form dissolved into shimmering blue dust, vanishing where she stood.

Eventually, Rex let go, and the moment he did, he also evaporated.

Rex watched the world around him fade, the light bleeding away until only absolute darkness remained.

Sight vanished first, then sound—leaving only the rasp of his own breath in the void. He didn’t know where he was or what was happening, only that some unseen force was carrying him onward. Time lost all meaning until, with a jarring impact, he hit the ground and panted heavily.

For a moment there, he adjusted to what had happened and finally focused on the moment.

He was now standing on a wooden floor, and the muffled sound of people seeped into his ears.

Raising his gaze, Rex realized that he was inside a small room.

Judging from the plushies and the book about fairytales, he could tell that it was a kid’s room—a girl’s room, to be exact. “Am I inside the room of a failed Scion? Kei Xun said she wanted to show me, so it must be the case.”

Rex snapped his gaze to the side when he heard the sound of laughter outside.

He stood up properly and headed towards the window.

Looking outside, he found a young girl twirling in the sunlight right beside the house.

Her laughter seemed to be bright enough to chase away shadows.

A wide, infectious smile lit up her round, rosy cheeks, and her deep brown-hazelnut hair gleamed like polished chestnuts, catching every golden thread of daylight. She ran in carefree circles, her short skirts fluttering as she chased a pure white bird that darted just out of reach, as though the bird itself was also playing with her.

There was something about her presence.

An air so radiant it seemed to make the whole world brighter.

But then she spun toward the window, and Rex’s breath caught.

Her eyes were unlike anything he had ever seen—shimmering with a prismatic glow, a cascade of colors that formed rainbow hues that seemed almost alive. The sight struck Rex speechless; their otherworldly brilliance unsettled him to his core.

But before he could gather his thoughts, a figure slipped soundlessly to his side.

“Rine Aloma, a Scion from the Happiness stratum,” Kei Xun uttered, looking at the young girl laughing without a care in the world. “She’s born partially deaf—and blind. She sees the world in silhouettes of color—and hears the world in uncomfortable static. Despite her condition, she’s always happy because her mother always said happiness always comes from within. As long as she looked at the world brightly, then happiness would shine brighter.”

Upon hearing this, Rex glanced at Kei Xun.

She must be using her powers… She can see the past of anything; that’s her Blank’s power.

As he turned to Rine again, he saw her covering her ears when a nearby carriage brushed past.

She seemed to be irritated by the sound.

“If she hears the world in uncomfortable static, what’s with the bird?” Rex asked.

Even from behind the window, he could hear the bird singing as it played with Rine; a sound like that should also be uncomfortable for her, but she didn’t seem to be bothered by it. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying the chirps.

“I’m not sure how, but the bird, which was a gift from her late mother, is the only thing she found pleasing to her, so she kept it. Raised it,” Kei Xun’s eyes narrowed—as a group of kids approached Rine from the side, clearly with bad intentions. “Until it was taken from her.”

Rex watched closely as the kids bullied Rine, and finally settled their eyes on the bird.

One of them caught the bird as it tried to protect Rine and break its wings.

Desperately, Rine tried to help the bird when she noticed its color was fading, but she was helpless.

Rine was left alone, kneeling on the ground beside the carcass of the bird, watching with her rainbow-colored eyes as the color was drained from the bird’s form. She was more devastated than angry, like a piece of her soul was taken from her.

For once, tears streamed down her cheeks—shading the happiness that seemed permanent on her face.

“In this moment, she realized her happiness was fake.” Kei Xun’s eyes glistened as the surroundings—the village that they were in faded, leaving Rine alone in the darkness. “It was finite; thus, it wasn’t true happiness. To preserve happiness, she has to be strong enough to protect it, and that… that sets her on the path toward invincibility.”

Slowly, Rine faded as the scene around them changed into something else.

“For a while, she done good. She made a family and surrounded herself with friends who admired her resilience that could withstand everything.” Kei Xun flicked her fingers, and reality settled into the alley of a slum. “Until her test to become a Blank came…”