Chapter 1297 Shadow Pack Members
Rex plunged his fingers into the royal corpse's third eye socket on its forehead, he extracted an eyeball from it that was still humming with a sliver of energy. It was heavier than it looked—the dense energy inside of it was evident through its weight alone.
It was the eyeball manifested through Yulthar's celestial energy.
His consciousness might not be in the mortal realm anymore, but it left behind marks.
One is this eyeball, a limb created entirely for the previous battle.
...
<Notice: the user has obtained Ashen Oculum>
<Ashen Oculum>n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Equipment Rank: Origin (Eleventh-rank)
Durability: 21/100 (All abilities and bonuses from this equipment are 60% weaker)
Rune Slots: -
Equipment Ego: Divine Ash Sand
Description: A limb created through the descent of the Yule Moon Lunirich God to the mortal realm, a piece of a God's power. It could be attached or merged to a target, giving the target a sliver of God's power. Enchanted with the Divine Ash Sand, this eyeball, would truly bring a mortal to the door of godhood.
Bonus stats:
→ +275,000 Intelligence
Abilities:
→ Flare of Destruction: Instill a fragment of Divine Ash Sand into any energy attack, adding a small effect of energy erasure, below the celestial realm, turning another being into a pile—of ash if the gap in strength is wide enough.
→ All-seeing Eye: Able to see any energy clearly other than curse and chaos energy.
...
Rex read through the description for this eyeball and was not surprised to see that it was an Origin-rank equipment, it came from Yulthar, so he already expected it to be strong. He also expected the eyeball's abilities as he experienced it first-hand.
On top of that, he also expected this eyeball to be worn out.
But what he didn't expect was the decrease in quality from low durability points.
It was so bad that the decrease in quality reached 60%.
"60% decrease on the bonus stats is still above one hundred thousand points, it's still a good item—but I don't think it's good enough for me," Rex pondered aloud. He had already roughly taken into account all bonuses and abilities, but it wasn't on par with his strength.
Flare of Destruction ability is interesting, but with the decrease, it's not good enough.
Other than that, the All-seeing Eye is also tempting.
Being able to see any energy is a powerful ability yet he didn't know how low effective it was with the decrease, it's simply not good enough for him to take it for himself. Rex also worried that the ability would overlap with the System's scanning feature, he doesn't need the ability if the System's feature was way better.
"I could give it to Kyran—he's birthed on the Yule Moon so he's perfect," He mused.
Placing it away into his inventory, for now, Rex went to the others to rest a bit more.
He was pushing his body right now.
Since all threats in the area were nullified, there was nothing wrong with resting a bit more. Your next chapter awaits on empire
A moment later.
Rex had moved to the surviving trees nearby alongside Adhara and Gistella, they were still in a drowsy state from the exhaustion. But then, Rex turned sharply when he noticed a pair—of figures approaching them from the side.
Looking at them, Adhara squinted, seemingly finding them familiar.
"Rex..." She called, tapping Rex's thigh a couple of times.
Rex narrowed his gaze towards these two figures, a sign of early warning, "I know."
Instead of approaching them, the two figures that looked like Humans placed several objects on the ground, before they turned around to leave. Seeing this, he stood up and went over to check the objects.
Nearing the spot, Rex looked at the backs of the two figures, walking away slowly.
He then glanced downward and found these objects were severed heads.
Judging from the decayed features, stretched taut over grotesque—Rex recognized them as the heads of Undeads—not regular Undeads, but Death Knights considering the energy that they emanated.
Black-plumed helmets crowned their disfigured skulls.
Hollow, lifeless eyes gleamed faintly with remnants of death energy, while their cracked, dark skin seemed to pulse with an eerie glow. It was hard to mistake the race of these heads—but this prompted a frown to creep towards Rex's face.
In his confusion, another figure approached him—it was Vivian.
After she had done her part against the Werewolves—Vivian ran to a safe distance alongside Delta, the battle was beyond the two, and getting away was the best choice for them. With a hushed voice, she said, "I saw them earlier, they fought bravely..."
"Explain," Rex commanded, turning his attention towards her.
...
Moments earlier when the battle between Rex and Yulthar was at its highest.
Several miles away from the battle, there was another battle.
Vivian and Delta came across it and were confused as to what was happening here.
Considering that all—of the Werewolves in the area were summoned to battle Rex, alongside the entire Silverstar Pack being there, the battle should've concentrated there. But weirdly— another ongoing battle happened here.
Peeking from a safe distance, Vivian recognized that one side was composed of the Undead.
A legion of Undead, to be exact.
From a glance, there should be hundreds of them and were led by four powerful Undeads.
Amongst the four, two of them are Death Knights in the early ninth-rank realm.
But as Vivian swept her gaze from the Undead to the opposing side, comprised only of two figures, Humans to be exact, her eyes widened completely—in shock. She saw the glowing marks on their foreheads and gasped.
"Isn't that the Silverstar Pack mark...?" Vivian uttered.
Crash!
One Death Knight holding a massive one-handed battle axe slammed it onto the ground.
Cracks spread under its might, forcing the two figures to leap back.
Raising its deathly gaze—with the other Undead leaders standing beside it, the Death Knight lifted, and pointed his battle axe, at the two figures, "I've heard the whispers of you two—the fallen ones. Once—your power was undeniable but in this fragile, new flesh you now cling to, you are shadows of what you once were. Step aside. The battle calls for us or we'll be forced to tear you down"
"I offer you this chance out of respect, don't take it for granted. You're still adjusting to those frail bodies, and in this state—you are no longer stronger than us," He added, each word that came out was laced with malice.
Upon hearing this, one of the two figures, a muscular man with reddish skin chuckled.
A disrespect to the Death Knight's words.
His demeanor was meek earlier, confronting these Undeads without much fire.
But that suddenly changed when he heard what the Death Knight said.
"A tall talk from the pampered," He said, grabbing his face to cover one of his maniacal eyes. "you Death Knights are chosen ones—by your source, cheaters in the eye of power, thereby weak. I may not be what I was, but you...? Stronger than me?"
Boom!
In a spectacular fashion, the man's aura exploded, a mix of red and blue.
His aura alone was capable of faring against the deathly air from the gatherings of Undead.
"Did you forget? Demon Lord is a position that needs to be preserved, constantly challenged. It doesn't matter if I'm ready or not. What about the Death Knights, how do you preserve your position? By reading books?!!"
Remembering who he was, the man leaped and clashed against the Undead army brutally.
...
"Huh... I didn't expect those two to help me like this" Rex mused.
It was a pleasant surprise.
As it turns out, the Undeads nearby came to reinforce the Werewolves, when they heard of a battle against him. Just as expected, the Werewolves—and Undeads kept a close tie, having the same enemy.
Vivian described the two humans who were attacking these Undeads.
From the description, Rex recognized them as Demon Lord Aructh and also Mazel.
Both of them confronted the Death Knights and brought their heads to Rex—as offerings, an unexpected token. Other than confronting the main army—the other armies, were also hit by them through ambushes.
Vivian saw the remains, which was why both of them looked to be in a bad state.
Naturally, they were wounded in the battles.
"Maybe it's good to have them around roaming about, I'll keep it in mind," Rex nodded.
Even though they started out badly from Rex's perspective, he might change if they keep up with this and bring him more benefits. He turned them into what they are now, as a form—of brutal punishment, to shatter their pride as Demons, but that might change.
Just like that, Rex had dealt with his most immediate threat.
He took down the Werewolves alongside their kingdom without an all-out bloody war.
From this victory, he secured the banishment of Yulthar from the mortal realm, Prince Leif's demise, and also domination of the Scarlet Banes Kingdom. Kyran and Flunra managed—to eliminate the nearby Werewolves, thinning the mouths of potential witnesses, that could be the destroyer of their alibi.
It was going smoothly, though they couldn't find Princess Selene.
She disappeared without a trace.
Before returning to Dargena City, Rex made his way to the Scarlet Banes Kingdom's capital, immediately after Prince Alaric recovered from his injuries. Rex walked side by side with the domesticated prince, carrying Prince Leif's corpse with solemn respect.
He presented the corpse to the castle where the high-rank Alpha Primes received it.
Of course, the most hysterical was Prince Leif's Luna and concubines.
Some of them, out of grief, killed themselves to reunite with him in the land of endless night.
Surprisingly enough, the Luna herself didn't follow the concubines' trail.
Afterward, Rex gave the Werewolves their space—but he lingered nearby—leaving behind a cursed clone to ensure Prince Alaric held up his end of their agreement. If he didn't, Rex has no qualms about destroying the capital city alongside the people.
Blaming it on the Angel again wouldn't be a problem.
However, fortunately for the kingdom's sake, Prince Alaric held up his end of the deal.
He publicly placed the blame for the destruction of Bloodstone Crater as well as the death of Prince Leif on the Angels, that had arrived in their continent, and rampaged through the land, deflecting any suspicion from Rex.
Of course, there were questions about the phenomenon of the destroyed moons.
Prince Alaric handled those difficult questions while keeping his alibi straight.
It seemed there would be no problem leaving Prince Alaric to handle things here.
Step by step—Rex intended to draw the high-ranking Supernaturals into his fold—though he hadn't entirely ruled out the option of destruction should they squander the kind chances he offered with them in mind.
Right before he leaves, his mind briefly wanders to the idea of bringing Agatha with him.
But he restrained himself, opting to observe how the Werewolves responded first.
It was a unique circumstance for them, and their reaction will be unpredictable.
Giving unnecessary attention to Agatha might put her in a lot of trouble—he wasn't the same person as she last saw him so he has to be mindful. Additionally, he understood that it would take time for the Scarlet Banes Kingdom to give in—this was merely the first step.
Rex had also detected Princess Selene's scent in the western region of the capital.
If he wanted to, he could find her from this but he chose not to confront her.
Instead, he left the task of convincing her to Prince Alaric, trusting his ability this one time.
Only after doing all of that did Rex and the others head back.
As opposed to going straight to Dargena City, he decided to stay—in the Dwarven Kingdom for a few days, allowing time for his energy and the others' energy to fully replenish. He had business there as well, Caraptaros needed to be addressed and brought back.
Before staying, he contacted Evelyn to ensure that all was well in Dargena City.
Her response was reassuring, the city remained peaceful in his absence.
Due to the momentary peace after the triumph, Rex had his mind at ease.
Now he was topless, pushing open a gate leading to an expansive and fancy, icy room.
Just as he entered, a figure was already waiting for him inside.
"Come, let's enjoy ourselves, you promised me~"
"No need to tell me twice, I'm here already"
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Hey there, the author here. Sorry for the typo, an honest mistake, will never happen again.