Chapter 1769: Reaping the Aftermath
Chapter 1769: Reaping the Aftermath
Ambrosial meat.
Clamp!
Pungent.
Slurp!
Full-bodied red wine.
Sensation sharply stung his tastebuds the moment his body regenerated from the vicious battle.
It was revivifying.
Rex was thrown back to his time on Humanity’s side, when everything was still normal.
He had been too focused on dealing with his enemies—that he had already forgotten when he had a full and succulent meal like this. Perhaps he could have been doing this a long time ago, but an intrinsic habit cannot be erased that easily.
Time was essential.
And now, there was no more shame and guilt in him for devouring like an animal.
Especially when the food was this good.
One would call what he was doing right now disturbing, feral—a Human or a Spirit is not designed to eat like this. But he was more than that. He was also a Werewolf, a royal one at that—and devouring others is no longer different than eating a meal.
“Haah…”
Rex pulled back, gasping for air as he gulped down a big chunk of meat.
He looked down at his body and found his wounds were not as bad as a minute ago.
Earlier, when he was still in the Blank state, his wounds weren’t bleeding, almost like the power from being a Blank was keeping his blood from slipping out. But the moment he reverted to normal, the bleed started, and it was painful.
But now, the wounds were healing already.
One that Rex was worried the most about was the stab he suffered from that purple sword.
It was filled with profane energy, and it also tore a hole in his stomach.
Fortunately, it was already way smaller than it was earlier.
Nourishment from Stelios’ body was great, but it would still take time to fully heal his battered body.
<Devouring in process…>
<Notice: the user’s regeneration is being boosted!>
<Notice: the user has devoured the Archangel of Knives!>
<Level up!>
<Level…>
<Congratulations, the user has reached level 70!>
<Decree of Knives(Partial) has been devoured!>
<Obtained 2,500,000 Spiritual Points!>
Rex scanned the notifications that flooded his vision, still out of breath from how eagerly he was doing this. He was planning to devour Stelios for a bit to recover his strength and then save the rest for later— but he had gotten over himself.
It was too delicious to stop.
Like eating the meal made with his mother’s hand, there’s no way he could stop.
As he looked down at Stelios, all that remained of him was his head, which was still attached to his spine.
If any ancient Werewolf had beheld the spectacle of Stelios being torn apart and consumed completely by another Werewolf, it would have howled in savage triumph. A fitting end to the Werewolf Hunter to die by the creature he had hunted from the moment he came to be.
In this, Flunra captured with brutal clarity the depth of loathing Stelios had earned from their kind.
Just earlier, he was the one excited the most excited to see Stelios out of the entire Silverstar Pack.
So much so that he broke his normal calmness.
Seeing Flunra like that even made Rex remember the first time they met, the savage side of him.
But that was to be expected.
From Flunra’s perspective, seeing Stelios having a fight with Rex meant his end was near.
Nobody can defeat Rex.
And that thought was pure and unbridled, long-awaited excitement.
<Notice: the user’s soul is starting to heal…>
Rex raised an eyebrow, “My soul?”
<Yes, an Archangel’s holy energy is incredibly pure. It has a healing property that works on anyone and anything.>
“Huh… The First Light’s doings,” He mumbled, knowing exactly that this must be the traits of Angels that were inherited down from the First Light. “After all, he’s someone who used everything he has to protect the weak. It’s to be expected.”
Throb—!
“Rrghhk…” Rex hissed in pain.
He was suddenly assaulted by a throbbing sensation in his hands.
No, not his hands, but his Soul Artifact.
“The Red Dawn of Kaiser is reacting to something,” Rex muttered—through gritted teeth, squinting as he stared at Stelios’ remains probingly. A quick scan with the System flashed a panel, and a realization cut through his messy mind. “Right… I still have that to take.”
“System, show me how to take it,” Rex instructed as he leaned forward.
Holographic instructions appeared, telling him exactly what to do.
Rex followed the instructions.
He pried open Stelios’ mouth slowly, gently, as if he was not ravaging the body earlier.
Then, he thrust his hand deep into his mouth, closing his eyes to focus his senses, like he was searching for something. A moment later, his eyes snapped open with sudden clarity. He withdrew his arm. Earlier, his hand had gone in empty, but it emerged clenched in a fist; from between his fingers spilled a blinding, radiant light.
Once it was out, Rex stared at it with a satisfied smile.
<Notice: the user has successfully harvested the Major Law of Radiance!>
“Law will not disappear easily even if the host dies,” Rex stared at the blinding light with a smirk; his body shook with excitement as he couldn’t wait to let his other Laws devour it. “Thank you for this, Stelios. I never wanted a fight, but at least killing you gives me lots of things.”
Rex put the Major Law of Radiance away into his inventory.
He then stood up and headed to the Tomb of Heroes, not forgetting to bring Stelios’ head with him.
It was quiet now.
Only the wind was the inhabitant of this plain, moaning across the devastation.
Everywhere his eyes shifted, he was greeted by the swirling ghostly plumes of dust.
He was the only one in this tableau of ruin.
Before him stretched a wasteland of fractured earth. What once was a sacred, hollowed plain has now turned into chaotic disruptions. Deep cracks split the ground like scars. And Rex remembered when each one was formed.
Since his senses were pushed to the limit, he could remember how even the smallest crack formed.
The air felt thick, humming with the volatile after-echo of immense power.
A scent of ozone, scorched earth, and something metallic mingled together, adding to the thickness of the air. It was the stench of a devastating battle that had torn this place apart. And now what was left is the profound and eerie silence.
Even the Black Rift was pushed further away, like they shuddered to come close.
It wasn’t me. It’s them.
Rex recalled the figures he saw in that throne room.
Scions.
Surely, the reason the Black Rift shuddered away further was because of their presence, or maybe it was the Highseat of Invincibility’s presence. Either way, it was not him. “Only a few Scions are below Kei Xun…” Rex looked up—and recalled that moment. “And there are many of them above her. How strong are they?”
“No, more importantly, where are they?” Rex added as a frown formed on his forehead.
Stronger beings exist out there; he knew that already.
But what he didn’t know was where they were.
In the Spirit Realm, Kei Xun was almost revered as a Goddess, the backbone of an empire.
Even now, Rex was quite sure she was still stronger than him, and yet she was still one of the very weakest Scions in that throne room. It begged the question, where do the rest of them live? Neither the Spirit Realm nor the Mortal Realm could possibly contain them.
Do they live in their own realms or domains? Or are they in the realm where Gods are?
At this moment, Rex didn’t know anything about them.
However, he had a feeling that he would be soon enough.
I don’t even know whether there is only one Mortal Realm. There can be many.
Rex kept walking at a fixed pace with Stelios in his hand.
Not that he doesn’t want to move quicker, but he didn’t want to tear his wound bigger when it was only closed seconds ago. His own footsteps were the loudest sound in this area, each one a solitary proof in the quiet.
He then swept over the cracked earth ahead; the shattered stones, the absence of the foe.
In his entire ascent to power, he had seen this kind of situation before.
But only this time, he really felt the silence after his triumph.
“Hmm…?” Rex’s gaze snapped to the left, drawn to a flicker of presence in the distance.
A cluster of shadows melting into the void of the Black Rift.
Miles away.
But even at that range, their number and nature were starkly clear to his senses.
“Shade Crawlers,” He muttered, recalling that they were present earlier for some reason. “I caught their scent earlier, but they weren’t important at the moment. But now… Remembering how they reacted to me, I think they can be useful.”
A smile crept to his lips as a thought came to mind.
It would come after he heals Nivellen, though.
Rex inhaled deeply, branding their scent into his nose before he continued forward.
Other than the main platform, the entirety of the Tomb of Heroes was shattered.
Ancient construct, tales of custom, everything was reduced to rubble.
“Everything in this realm is incredibly dense thanks to the very high level of energy concentration that was higher than the Mortal Realm,” Rex observed, his gaze sweeping the scarred landscape. Just then, a thought came to mind as he scratched the back of his head. “I couldn’t even destroy much not too long ago, and now look at what I did….”
He clicked his tongue, “Let’s hope the Origins aren’t holding a grudge for this.”
Even though they were statues now, the Origins are very much conscious.
Having their home shattered might bite Rex in the back.
The Demon Origin was trouble enough; he wouldn’t survive if the Dragonman and Shapeshifter Origins were drawn into the fray. “Maybe I can ask for help from the First Light,” Rex mused with a shrug. “I did, after all, teach his traitorous Archangel a lesson.”
Rex glanced at Stelios’ head that he was bringing, “Maybe a bit more than that.”
Upon reaching the end, his eyes narrowed.
He stared at the central platform ahead and realized that Amanir was inside the dome along—with the two chests. Rex walked across the bridge, carefully sizing up the statues in case any of them would try to take him in his weakened state.
Fortunately, none made a move.
But some were flickering their eyes at him, almost like they were saying something to him.
It was especially so from the Dragonman Origin’s statue.
“Amanir,” Rex called as he stepped onto the platform. “Give me the Phoenix Feather, I need it right now.”
Rex has wasted a lot of time fighting Stelios when he needed to save Nivellen.
He was exhausted, but he needed to go through this first before resting.
Since his soul was healing, he should have more time to stay in this realm.
Not that he wanted to, as he was already homesick by now, but in case of an emergency, he could stay a bit longer. However, as he approached, his brows furrowed at the sight of Amanir sitting on the floor in complete stillness.
It was only then that he noticed a translucent rope binding him.
Restraining him as well as covering his mouth.
Swoosh—!
Like a blurred wind, a figure emerged behind Rex with a gleaming royal sword.
Her arm was already pulled back, charged, ready to make a clean slice that would decapitate Rex.
Giving no time for him to react, she swung hard with all her strength.
Even when the sword reached a few inches away, Rex still didn’t seem to realize what was going on.
He might not know it yet, but he was already dead.
Clang—!
Empress Morgana’s eyes widened when her sword was halted mid-track.
In the last fraction of a second, Rex’s head snapped toward her. An unseen, palpable force surged forth, arresting her blade mid-strike as if seizing it from the air itself. In that frozen instant, she saw it—his eyes were no longer his own.
They blazed with a molten, liquid gold, a gaze that she had never seen before.
“Once again, Evelyn is correct about you…”
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