The Invincible Full-Moon System

Chapter 1774: A War of Wills

Depressing. Bleak.

It had been some time since the world seemed to be this black and white.

Losing those around him meant losing pieces of him and pushed him closer to non-existence.

Becoming stronger, becoming a Scion, becoming closer to the height of invincibility, those aren’t the things he came here for. He came here to protect the others, and now that he failed, everything turned black and white.

However, for once, the world finally looked at him and pitied him.

It’s a pity formed into a blazing great bird that possessed radiance that could pierce through the Black Rift.

A phoenix’s fire is eternal, and nothing can hide its radiance.

As the flames rose in a breathtaking, theatrical flair—easily one of the most beautiful phenomena Rex had ever witnessed—color rushed back into his world. The pulse of fire expanded in waves of crimson and gold; its heat summoning forth the vibrant hues of life once more.

Anger. Hatred. Resentment. All negative emotions were washed away in an instant.

Rex felt like his body was drenched in purifying water.

And alongside it was a flicker of strength that made his back a little bit more upright.

“You’re finally useful for once.”

<Notice: the Countess of the Banished Dark Moon is vanishing!>

<She will die in four minutes.>

Growl—!

Several Long-limbed Void Ghouls emerged from the shadows and pounced at them like feral animals.

All salivating at the prospect of the energy-rich flesh before them.

“Rex!” Alana called, reaching out her hand as she dashed towards him in reflex.

Her remaining energy swirled around her legs, charging for something.

Rex grasped her hand as five Long-limbed Void Ghouls were upon him, their lethal claws and fangs were inches away from reaching him.

Boom—!

At the last moment, right when Alana’s fingers wrapped around Rex’s wrist, an explosion of sunlight launched them away—like rockets. Both barely avoided the dangerous grasps of the Long-limbed Void Ghouls.

Had they been a second too late, they would’ve been surrounded.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of these monsters.

As they passed overhead at the speed of sound, Rex and Alana saw a swarm of these creatures moving below—a river of long-limbed monsters flowing over the rocky terrain, all climbing to where the two were seconds ago.

It seemed they hadn’t only stumbled into a hostile territory within the Black Rift.

They had stumbled into the heart of a den, a labyrinth of caves teeming with these monsters.

Going through those monsters forcefully would be suicide.

Flying is out of the question for either of them, who were beyond wounded and exhausted.

Leaping high is the only plausible thing they could do.

Alana gathered the last of her strength and launched both of them in a desperate, arcing leap toward the distant theatrical flair from the Phoenix Feather. The distance between them and Amanir is at least two miles, and Alana was trying to devour as much of that fatal distance as she could with this leap.

After all, she knew, they would be extremely slow on land.

Swoosh—!

“I can’t lessen our fall! Brace for impact!” Alana roared.

She exhausted her energy with that leap, so the descent would be brutal for them.

Rex’s blurry gaze scanned the surroundings, relieved to see that there was no sign of voidal monsters where they were going to land. But this also made him notice the cut on Alana’s stomach that was gushing with an uncomfortable amount of blood.

It drained her vitality fast.

Even her face was now significantly paler.

As they were about to crash, Rex wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close.

Crash—!

“Huarghk!!”

Blood exploded from Rex’s mouth.

A big crater was created upon impact, blowing dust and debris everywhere.

Alana blinked her eyes and sat up.

For some reason, the impact didn’t hurt as much as she thought it would.

Falling from almost touching the cloud back to the earth without protection—should have shattered her bones or worse. But the impact was not bad. She only got the air inside her lungs pushed out—nothing that would cripple her.

But as she turned, she realized the reason why.

Rex protected her, using his stronger body to absorb the impact and minimize the damage to her.

“W-Why did you do that?!” Alana grabbed him by his collar. “You shouldn’t have done that!”

<Warning!>

<Warning: the user is in a critical condition!>

<It’s recommended to bathe under the moonlight to quicken the user’s recovery!>

Rex lay on the ground weakly.

He stared at Alana, but it was hard to look at her properly.

Not only was his vision blurry, but the warning notifications kept appearing, blocking her face.

She was saying something to him.

Shouting at him.

But Rex couldn’t hear what she was saying, drowned by the sound of ringing in his ears.

Ignoring her completely, Rex opened the Shop and searched for something to heal him or Alana.

Considering that the Shop has everything he needed, there should be something to help him right now, but finding it was hard. He managed to filter the Shop to potions, and then by rank—before he reached out his blood-coated hand, scrolling through the items.

One scroll at a time.

Rex wanted to ask the System for a recommendation, but he couldn’t form a single coherent thought.

Attempting to do so only made his head throb in pain.

On the other hand, Alana gritted her teeth when the ground began to shake.

From the very depths of the crater, from the lowest point, she looked up—seeing nothing but the edge, yet certain—the Long-limbed Void Ghouls were closing in on them fast. Having no other choice, Alana pressed her hand against Rex’s chest.

“Hold on, I’ll give you my vitality. I’ll sacrifice my soul if I have to. Just don’t die…”

Just as her hand began to glow, Rex grabbed her wrist.

It startled her.

Alana turned to look at him and saw him shaking his head lightly.

He then reached out with his other hand, and something materialized within it.

A vial, glowing with the faint light of a potion.

“What is this vial?” She asked, but could see that Rex was gesturing for her to drink it. “You want me to drink it?”

Alana wasted no time.

She grabbed the vial, opened the lid, and chugged the entire thing in one go.

Almost instantly, she felt a rush of energy spread across her entire body—recovering not her life energy but her stamina. It’s not that great. She was still out of breath and tired, but it was a lot better than how she felt a few seconds ago.

Upon savoring the vial, Alana saw that Rex was already on all fours.

He was still trying to stand even though his left shoulder hung dislocated, grotesquely out of place, and several ribs protruded through torn skin and cloth. For everything he had endured, it was pure insanity for him to stay conscious, much less moving like this.

Alana dared to say that there’s no one she knew who surpasses him in endurance and willpower.

Not even the Divine Saintess.

“Come on,” She wrapped his arm around her neck, and helped him stand. “I’ll help you.”

Both of them struggled to climb out of the crater.

Once they were out, Alana looked around in a panic, realizing that she had lost her way—not knowing where to go.

Almost like he could feel her panic, Rex pointed in a direction.

Immediately, Alana turned toward where Rex pointed and moved while she supported Rex.

She pushed for speed, but the best she could manage now was a little more than a fast walk.

Ahead, Amanir was still a distant marker—at least half a mile away.

<Notice: the Countess of the Banished Dark Moon is vanishing!>

<She will die in three minutes.>

“Come on, come on, come on!” Alana urged her legs to move faster, but she simply—at her maximum speed right now. She looked skyward, finding that there was not a glimpse of sunlight piercing through the darkness.

Even so, she still called for aid, “Divine Saintess… Please see me. Hear me. I need help. We need help!”

No matter how futile it was, she kept calling for Kei Xun’s aid.

Kei Xun couldn’t see them with the thick Black Rift around them, but Alana kept on hoping.

Roar—!

Alana snapped over her shoulder when a thunderous roar echoed through the air.

It sounded close, too close for comfort.

Meanwhile, Rex scraped together the last dregs of his life energy as he absorbed a handful of Nightfall Stars in his palm. He drew on their energy to mend his own life energy, while before him, the Aegis of Moon Sentinel flickered weakly, barely holding its form.

Keeping it tangible required a small amount of life energy.

But even that is still too much for him.

ROAR—!

One of the Long-limbed Void Ghouls charged from behind like a feral beast—roaring and salivating as it pounced at them with its claws flared and ready.

Clang!

Alana pivoted her body and took the attack.

She felt her internal organs shake from the impact, but she quickly recovered and slashed the creature in half with her great sword. Not wanting to wait for the others to arrive, she inhaled deeply and leapt once again.

Compared to the first one, this one was a pitiful one.

But it at least propelled them a hundred meters or a little bit more than that.

“Arrghk…” Alana whimpered, clutching her stomach as tears drizzled down her face.

The wound caused by Empress Morgana was excruciatingly painful if she exerted herself too much.

Blood poured from her stomach as she closed her eyes tightly and bit into her arm.

“Let me…” Rex’s voice seeped into her ears. “I… I still have my right arm.”

Hearing this, Alana raised her tear-filled gaze and nodded.

Even though she was the one who could move better—her body couldn’t endure another attack. On the contrary, Rex couldn’t move his body much due to over exhaustion, but his body is far stronger than hers and could endure more attacks.

Gallop—!

Alana rose to her feet and helped Rex stand.

And the instant they get on their feet, another creature is already upon them.

But this time, Alana tilted away, allowing Rex to take the attack.

Both of them were pushed forward and skidded across the ground.

A Long-limbed Void Ghoul clamped its fangs on Rex’s right arm hard, but it could barely break the skin.

In a single, exhausted motion, he seized the creature’s tongue and tore it from its mouth.

A painful whimper exploded from the creature’s mouth before Alana decapitated its head with one swing. Both of them continued, fending off attack after attack that only progressively grow more intense as the actual horde was not far away by now.

Rex blocked with his right arm, and Alana dealt the finishing blow.

His left arm was dislocated, but his left hand can still move, and it clamped on Alana’s stomach.

More blood was pouring out from her wound, and she would collapse at any moment.

It’s a battle of attrition.

“A-Amanir…” Alana called, though the name escaped her lips like a whisper. She raised her other hand that was holding the great sword and flickered it with sunlight, giving a cue to Amanir, who shouldn’t be that far away by now. “Amanir!!”

Not too far away, there was a silhouette that moved behind the dark smoke.

A sight that made Alana push a little bit more.

Just a few meters away, and her voice should be able to reach Amanir.

“Amanir!!”

Surprisingly, the silhouette moved when she shouted, which meant it wasn’t a rock.

It must really be Amanir.

Swoosh—!

Alana’s eyes widened when the silhouette disappeared, seemingly disappearing out of nowhere.

She thought she was hallucinating until a shiver ran down her spine.

In reflex, she looked up and saw the silhouette descending down on her like a meteor.

“Amanir…?”