The Invincible Full-Moon System

Chapter 1775: Return of the Weakest

Clank—!

Amanir stumbled backward and breathed heavily in stillness.

He stared at the treasure chest, specifically the lock, which was now open.

“I… I did it?”

Just earlier, when he was captured by Empress Morgana and kept as a hostage, he was determined to bring the treasure chests away with him the moment he broke free. Lockpicking the lock is harder than he anticipated.

Surprisingly enough, it was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

Amanir has experience in lockpicking things that are coming from the royal bubble.

It came to a point that he even became good at it.

But this treasure chest was fortified with more things than he thought it would.

Empress Morgana might bring the items Rex requested—but she doesn’t seem to have any intention of handing it over from the start. Even if the situation was handled perfectly and Rex was here, there’s no chance he could open this lock with brute force alone.

Had it not been for Amanir, today would be tragic.

But the treasure chest was now opened.

“I did it!”

Amanir scurried to his feet and placed his ears on the chest, intending to open it.

But then, he paused.

“Oh, no…” A bead of cold sweat ran down his face. “Is this the Phoenix Feather one—or is it the Maw of Oblivion one?”

He was too frantic earlier that he didn’t check.

Instead of properly checking which chest contained the Phoenix Feather—he opted to open the biggest one out of reflex. And now, he didn’t know whether this chest was the right one, “Please, please, please… Don’t do this to me.”

Amanir pushed the lid open and looked inside.

Upon seeing the item contained inside, a surge of relief washed over him.

Encased within a sphere of shimmering energy suspended at the center, by four energy chains was one impossible feather. Its core was the ink-black of extinct stars—a deep, lightless void. But from its edges bloomed a corona of unrestrained flame, so thick and dense it flowed like liquid crimson.

Amanir watched the flames swirl in a contained, furious ballet against the prison that held it.

It was magnificent and beautiful.

Considering how rare it was, this doesn’t come as a surprise.

But it’s no time for marvelling at its beauty, Rex needed him desperately.

Amanir yanked the sphere of energy and looked up.

He made sure there were no voidal monsters hiding in the nearby shadows before he threw it skyward— as high as he possibly could. Then, with a pulse of his own life energy, he grasped the sphere again and crushed it.

Shatter!

Freed, the feather did not fall.

It detonated.

A furious, blazing spectacle erupted where it hung, unfolding like a sun being born in reverse.

A cataclysm of violent crimson and liquid gold that swallowed the sky.

Even though every living being within ten miles could see and marvel at the flaming spectacle, Amanir did not. He ignored the inferno tearing through the heavens above him. Instead, he looked around like a frantic hound.

His gaze pierced the shadows that draped around him, searching for a trace of Rex.

Amanir went in a random direction earlier.

Nothing crossed his mind other than opening the treasure chests.

Fortunately, with nobody on his tail and his speed, he was able to cover a lot of distance.

And now, he could only hope that Rex could see this signal he was sending.

“Come on, Rex…” Amanir’s voice was a tense rasp.

He gritted his teeth, eyes sweeping the consuming Black Rift as his heart hammered against his ribs.

This was a gamble. The spectacle from the Phoenix Feather held only two outcomes; it’s either Rex’s arrival, or a swarm of voidal monsters drawn to the unleashed power. Considering the power from the Phoenix Feather, the voidal monsters that are lured would certainly be a Voidal Lord—or even a Voidal Prince.

Either of them arriving would be catastrophic for Amanir.

Even if Rex arrives first, they would still be at the mercy of those voidal monsters.

Amanir could only rely on Rex to bring them to safety somehow with his unnatural magic.

“Show yourself,” He demanded, the words sharp with fraying control. “I did what you asked. Now, it’s your damn turn to take the feather!”

“Amanir—!”

“Hmm?!” Amanir snapped to a direction, hearing a distant call that was barely audible to his ears. “Am I hearing things or was there someone calling for me? Should I help? It could be a voidal monster that could read my mind.”

Just then, Amanir saw a moving silhouette within the shadows.

From how massive it was, there was no doubt that it was a voidal monster.

“Amanir—!”

Again, the voice resounded, clearer now.

It was the voice of a woman, and she sounded desperate and weak.

“Fuck, that’s certainly a voidal monster,” Amanir gritted his teeth, staring at where the voice came from, eyes bulging in uncertainty. “Is it a voidal monster or not?! Should I wait or help?! What the fuck do I do?”

At the height of the moment, his eyes widened when he saw a flickering light.

It came from where the voice came from.

Simultaneously, the massive silhouette that Amanir saw began to move.

Swoosh—!

Amanir’s pupils dilated in shock when the silhouette leapt skyward.

He could even hear the roar of its massive stature tearing through the wind like a bullet.

“No, shit, the voice is not from a voidal monster?!” The shock ripped through him sharply. In that very moment, instinct overrode thought. Amanir blasted forward, a streak of desperate motion toward where the voice came from. “I have to reach them first!”

Cursing his paranoia, Amanir wanted to reach Alana and Rex first.

But who is he kidding? He was a few seconds behind.

Crash—!

A loud, thunderous crash resounded from across.

Amanir didn’t slow down; instead, he picked up his pace, but his body froze when he finally arrived.

“What…?” He rasped, eyes widening completely. “Is that who I think it is?”

Just as Amanir expected, the massive silhouette was none other than a voidal monster that took the form of a massive flesh golem with two oversized hands. It was not a Voidal Pawn, or a Voidal Knight as he initially thought, but a newly promoted Voidal Lord.

One feel of its aura was more than enough to confirm that.

Across from it was Alana, who was supporting Rex, staring up in utter fear and also confusion.

Fear at the realization that it was a Voidal Lord, and confusion as something blocked its attack.

It leapt and descended like a meteor from above, aiming to crush Alana and Rex with its hammer fists.

But a dark, chilling energy that seethed like smoke emerged from the ground and blocked the attack.

Amanir watched in horror as the dark smoke wrapped around the Voidal Lord’s fists.

It thrashed, pulling desperately against the dark smoke, but its fists remained locked—in that ice-cold grip. Biting, kicking—nothing broke its hold. And with every second the smoke clung to it, the worse and worse its fists became.

Each second ate deeper into its flesh, dissolving form and strength alike.

Even from a distance, Amanir could see that the Voidal Lord’s fists were growing thinner and thinner.

Like the dark smoke was absorbing its life force.

Roar—!

A mighty Voidal Lord that came for the prize was now whimpering like a scared dog.

Its resistance was now much weaker than it was a few seconds ago.

And then finally, a figure emerged from the earth.

Amanir, Alana, and Rex bear witness as the ground itself seemed to exhale.

From the earth, a figure slowly ascended like smoke resurfacing from deep water. First came her hair, a torrent of black flames, blazing upward in a silent coronation. Then her eyes emerged—twin pools of imperial purple that fixed upon the Voidal Lord with the weight of a death sentence.

It was a chilling stare, one that even scares the Voidal Lord.

Swoosh—!

Like a vortex, the figure spun, fluid and unhurried, pulling herself fully from the embrace of the earth.

Her body was a silhouette of absolute blackness, a living shadow sculpted from dark smoke. She bears no face, no distinct features—only the elegant, sinister outline of a woman carved from void and ember, standing like a living enigma.

Everything about her from head to toe was ink-black.

Only her naturally curling mouth, blazing eyes, and horns have a tinge of the imperial purple.

In hindsight, she looked like a ghost that seized the body of the devil.

“Is this that thing?” Alana rasped, staring at the woman of darkness who protected them.

She distinctly remembered that there was an entity that swam inside the earth like a living shadow, one that was also attracted by the trial that Rex underwent. Initially, she thought this figure was a monster, a voidal monster sent to check.

But she wasn’t.

’I can’t sense anything from her,’ Alana swallowed harshly. ’Like she was never here. Like my eyes are playing tricks on me.’

On the other hand, the figure slowly hovered towards the Voidal Lord like a phantom.

She tilted her head a little with unnatural slowness.

Just the mere sight of her sent the Voidal Lord into a frenzy.

It threw everything it had into one final, desperate struggle, as if her presence was the only thing in all creation it feared. The only thing it has to fear. But like its earlier struggles, the dark smoke remained fast and unyielding.

Slowly, the figure stretched her hands forward and cupped the Voidal Lord’s face.

And the moment her devilish fingers made contact, the creature’s eyes flooded with violent purple light.

Its body went rigid. All struggle ceased in an instant.

Then, it began to shrink—collapsing inward as the figure drained it, devouring every shred of vitality and essence it possessed, aging it rapidly until it was nothing but bones. It took only a few seconds for the Voidal Lord to be reduced to nothing but aged bones.

Once the figure was finished, it turned to face Alana and Rex.

Seeing her probing stare, Alana gripped Rex’s hand tightly out of instinct.

Alana didn’t know who or what this figure was, but she was certain that it was nothing good.

“Don’t come closer!” She roared, taking a step back when the figure descended and landed a few steps away from them. “I don’t know who you are, but attack us—and you’ll be making yourself the enemy of the Divine Saintess!”

Even if she needed to die today to protect Rex, then Alana would gladly do it.

She was certain that Rex was the Scion the Divine Saintess needed.

’No matter what, Rex will live through today!’

“It seems you’ve found your strength at last.”

Rex’s voice was weary but clear.

It prompted Alana to look at him, surprised to hear that he seemed to know this figure.

Slowly, Rex lifted his gaze to the smoke-woven figure before him and stumbled forward to approach.

Even though a lot of things about her changed, he could recognize her.

He approached the figure and tried to stand straight, before her, staring at her in the eyes without any regard to how she completely drained the Voidal Lord to aged bones seconds ago. A name surfaced in his mind.

“You made the right choice, leaving. And now, are you ready to serve me again?” Rex tilted his head a little questioningly. “Linthia…”

Just then, Alana’s eyes widened completely at what this enigmatic figure did next.

“Your Majesty,” the figure murmured—her voice a blend of smoke and memory. She lowered her head, then went smoothly to one knee upon the broken earth. “I left without your leave. Now I have attained what I needed… and I have returned. I am yours to command again.”

Her head lifted slightly, the purple embers of her eyes holding his gaze.

“And this time,” She said with conviction. “I will rise to your every expectation. Always.”

“Good,” Rex nodded firmly. “Dindora would be proud.”