NOVGO.NET Chapter 1776: Dead in Time
Chapter 1776: Dead in Time
It was unexpected, truly.
From the day Rex appointed his three future generals, he was determined to make them stronger.
But his expectations lay highest on Gelmar or maybe Dindora.
Both of them were older, more experienced, and simply more determined. People with their kind of past either broke or ascended to the highest, and Rex knew they would ascend. Having him support them basically guarantees that.
Either way, those two were the kind who would soar highest on the path of power.
Rex was certain of it.
After all, he was living proof of that belief.
In comparison, Linthia couldn’t quite match them in terms of determination.
Had the other candidates not been so bad, she wouldn’t even be chosen as one of the three future generals of the Clarentium Empire. Rex’s expectation of her was the weakest—though he was hopeful since her bloodline prospect was quite good.
Rex never thought she would be anything spectacular, at least not in the near future.
For most of the time, Linthia proved that he was right.
She could barely keep up with the others.
During the battle against the Fifthborn, she was the only one who couldn’t achieve an evolution.
It was… disappointing.
But Rex wasn’t someone who wouldn’t give credit when it was due.
He noticed the calluses and bruises from all the training Linthia did to catch up with the others.
And that at least didn’t make her situation entirely hopeless.
Following their brutally-earned victory over the Fifthborn, Gelmar and Dindora had shifted their focus slightly. Both were now focusing on tackling missions and acclimating to their new body and powers, a natural and necessary progression for their strength.
For Rex, this signaled the end for Linthia.
Her progress would be left in the dust by the two leading captains without a doubt.
Unable to evolve, and now deprived of Dindora’s coddling—as her big sister grew busy, Linthia would be finished. He expected her will to fracture and her spirit to dim. Certain of her impending breakdown, he quietly scouted Liliya as her replacement.
Liliya is someone he could trust, and her power is unique even in comparison to Gelmar and Dindora.
As for Linthia, she would be demoted to a permanent captain.
No longer a future general.
But when Dindora died prematurely, which was a blow to the empire’s future, Rex became a little bit—more reluctant to let Linthia go. It would be a waste to let her go since he already invested in her to rise in power.
So, he decided to give her one last chance.
Hoping that perhaps Dindora’s death would be the perfect catalyst for her to rise.
He was going to the Spirit Realm anyway.
It’s a perfect opportunity for him to give Linthia this last chance, as the location where she could attain her strongest evolution—the Dark Drifting Spirit—lies in the Spirit Realm. And seeing her now, basking in her newfound power, it seemed he made the right decision.
Of all those who might have come to his aid, Rex never imagined it would be Linthia.
“No, wait… I’ve seen her before,” Alana muttered inwardly, staring at the dark entity kneeling—before Rex like a loyal servant. “I’ve seen her back at the Forsaken Tower. I was wondering whether she died or not since she disappeared from his side, but to think she came back like this.”
Alana’s lips curled a little.
Even the people around Rex transformed into something beyond expectations.
Linthia was a weakling before, and now—she came back with the power to take out a Voidal Lord with ease. Regardless of the blood and anger surrounding Rex, there was no denying that anyone who could enter his circle would benefit.
Rumble—!
Just then, the ground began to shake again from the charge of the horde.
<Notice: the Countess of the Banished Dark Moon is vanishing!>
<She will die in two minutes.>
Noticing the change in Rex’s mood, Linthia immediately stood up and levitated again.
She swiped her arms in a hugging motion, summoning a vicious and massive dark vortex that wrapped around them. Even without needing to touch this vortex, everyone knew that it could easily protect them from the horde.
Linthia then snapped her gaze to the side and stretched her hand forward.
Her palm sucked an intense amount of voidal energy.
It didn’t take long before another figure was drawn from the earth, appearing between them.
Amanir.
Realizing that he was summoned without consent, Amanir was shocked, but he quickly snapped out of his daze when he locked eyes with Rex, “We need to take the Phoenix Feather! More and more voidal monsters are aiming for it!”
“Linthia,” Rex turned to look at Linthia again. “Take the Phoenix Feather.”
“Yes, Your Majesty…” She nodded firmly.
Like what she did earlier, she pointed her hand at the flaming spectacle like she was reaching for it.
Then, her fingers curled as if she was gripping something.
Voidal energy coalesced in her palm, condensing into a single, dense point. The next instant, it erupted, a controlled splash of eternal flame that filled the vortex’s interior without spilling beyond its bounds— unseen from the outside.
She held the blaze perfectly contained’ a roaring firestorm touched nothing but its intended void.
Once the flames receded, the Phoenix Feather lay fully manifested in her hand.
Linthia handed it over to Rex like she was handing a relic, knowing how important it was for Rex.
<Notice: the user has obtained a Phoenix Feather!>
…
<Sudden Quest!>
Objective: Heal the Countess of the Dark Lunirich from her Chaos Corruption!
Find the Divine Chalice: 1 / 1 √
Find a Lotus of Lunar Heart: 1 / 1 √
Find a Phoenix Feather: 1 / 1 √
Gather 10,000 Strands of Divine Energy: 12,000 /10,000 √
…
<Follow the instructions in order to create the cure for the countess!>
“Protect me. Don’t let anything disturb me.”
“Yes.”
Even without Rex instructing her to do so, she would still do it fervently.
Obtaining her newfound power was good, but she still felt a tinge of guilt for leaving Rex’s side.
Rex sat down in a meditative position and quickly prepared to go to the Banished Realm.
He had relied on Alana to reach Amanir earlier—because he was focusing on absorbing Nightfall Stars to replenish his life energy. In order to reach the Banished Realm, he needed to summon the Mask of the Banished Eclipse.
It would be impossible to do if his life energy reserve were empty.
Fortunately, he still has a lot of Nightfall Stars.
Might not be able to completely fill his empty reserve, but it’s more than enough to summon his weakest Soul Artifact. In a few seconds, the mask made entirely of darkness covered one side of his face, which was another Soul Artifact that he didn’t use often.
Even Alana was mildly surprised to see this.
Not that she didn’t know he had three Soul Artifacts, but she forgot about the third one.
A crystallized, shining object then appeared before Rex.
It contained an immense amount of moonlight energy, one that even the others could feel vividly.
Two minutes left.
Rex wasted no time and let the mask absorb the Tear of Moonlight he already purchased in advance.
His eyes turned black almost instantly, and then came the black runes that crawled across his skin like living symbols. And oblivious to the others watching him, his soul was wrenched from his body—and blasted out of the Spirit Realm.
<Notice: the user has entered the Banished Realm.>
Once he felt the familiar coldness and muteness of the world, Rex opened his eyes.
Rex was back in this depressing realm, but this time, he came with a beaming excitement and urgency.
He wasn’t gloomy like his previous visits since he could now create the cure.
But as he looked around, his heart pounded as he couldn’t find Nivellen anywhere in this empty void.
“Nivellen!”
Rex roared, calling her to show herself.
His hoarse voice barely stretched far from him, amplifying the note of desperation.
Like the realm was trying to silence him.
“Nivellen, where are you!!”
Receiving no answer, Rex wasted no time and used the System to scan the entire realm, only to find one panel that flickered into view not too far away from him. It was Nivellen. Her presence was faint, and her body was so translucent that his own eyes couldn’t even perceive her in the gloom.
Like a madman, he sprinted toward her.
Or tried to.
All he could muster was a limping, broken shuffle, barely faster than a desperate walk.
His soul should have healed further by now, but the quality of the Soul Artifact he’d rushed to summon had bled into his very presence here—tainting it, thinning it. A critical detail was missed in his race against time.
“Rrggh!”
Rex stumbled and fell when he was a few steps away from her.
His eyes widened to see that Nivellen’s body was now fractured, and half of it had been reduced to ash.
It was clear that she was on her last thread.
“I… I got the cure!” Rex crawled forward and sat on his knees beside her.
He quickly focused on the holographic panels telling him how to create the cure, and followed it.
First was squeezing the Lotus of Lunar Heart of its essence onto the Divine Chalice.
Then, infusing the essence—a translucent, shimmering liquid that almost spills over the chalice’s rim—with raw divine energy. Rex worked as fast as he could, his gaze locked on the water as he poured more and more divine energy into it, impatiently waiting for the telltale to shift to violet.
<Notice: the Countess of the Banished Dark Moon is vanishing!>
<She will die in one minute.>
Rex’s eyes flicked to Nivellen and saw her last leg dissolve into ash and disappear.
His eyes bulged as he stared at the liquid, “Come on!!”
Anger mixed with desperation coursed through his veins.
He pushed more divine energy into the liquid, but the water was still barely turning violet.
<Fifty seconds.>
Swish—!
Blood spilled from Rex’s mouth as he tried to go even faster.
<Notice: the user soul cannot sustain a higher circulation speed of divine energy!>
<Your soul will start to break again.>
“I don’t care! Come on!!”
<Forty seconds.>
“Violet! Show me violet!!”
<Thirty seconds.>
<Notice: the user’s soul is suffering from Divinity Overload.>
Swish—!
Rex’s eyes sparked as the liquid finally shimmered with a faint tinge of violet. But the color was weak, pale in comparison to the deep, royal hue displayed on the instruction panel right beside it. He needed to pour more divine energy.
As he gathered his will to push, a fresh burst of blood welled in his mouth and spilled over his lips.
<Twenty seconds.>
Crimson tears drizzled from the corner of his eyes.
And his veins throbbed beneath his skin as his very soul visibly contracted, shrinking, paying the price.
<Ten seconds.>
Once the liquid turned, the last step was to put the Phoenix Feather in, and the cure is done.
So, this was the only crucial and time-consuming step.
<Nivellen, the Countess of the Dark Lunirich, will succumb to Chaos Corruption in nine seconds.>
<Eight seconds…>
“Please! I can’t fail here… not like this!>
<Five seconds…>
“Come on… COME ON! I’M THIS CLOSE!”
<Three seconds…>
<Two seconds…>
<One second…>
As soon as the color solidified into a deep, unwavering violet, Rex plunged the Phoenix Feather into the chalice. He lifted it instantly, positioning it above what remained of Nivellen—her entire body had been reduced to ash already.
Only her head remained; the final fading remnant.
As he tilted the chalice to let the liquid touch her lips, her head dissolved into a cascade of dust.
<Notice: Nivellen, the Countess of the Dark Lunirich, has died.>
Rex stared at the notification, his entire body frozen completely still.
He read the notification again and again, making sure that he was reading it correctly.
Even though there was no mistake, he kept reading the notification as his vision turned watery.
Below, the last remnants of dust began to fade away.
A silent testament of what happened.
Just then, another notification appeared.
<Notice: an entity has entered the Banished Realm.>
<The Dame of Snow takes pity on the user.>
“The Dame of Snow…?”
Before he could properly process what was happening, a swirl of ice-blue energy descended. It gathered the last remnants of Nivellen’s ashes, and before his widening eyes, the dust began to reassemble—her head was reconstructed from nothing.
He blinked, and instinct took over.
Tipping the chalice, he poured the cure into her newly formed lips.