The Invincible Full-Moon System

Hunting the remaining Special Voidal Knights went smoothly.

Other than the hiccup from having to go around the Immortal Slugs, it was rather uneventful.

Rex has only been amassing Nightfall Stars without progressing his rank, absorbing only the necessary amount to keep his body operational, and not regressing in rank. He was quite pleased with the amount he had now, as these Special Voidal Knights dropped a lot of Yellow Nightfall Stars.

And from those at the Master Immortal Spirit rank, he got one Red Nightfall Star.

It was his first time getting it, and it would certainly be a great use.

He hadn't started progressing to the Eternal Spirit rank because his Soul Artifacts weren't ready.

From April, he learned that he needed to make his Soul Artifacts solid enough to withstand the merge with their associated Echo. Doing so prematurely would only be harming himself, and Rex can't afford to do that.

"I have no time…"

Rex sighed heavily, staring at the notification in front of him.

<Solidification (Red Dawn of Kaiser): 77,11%>

Now that his plan was changed from reaching the Divine Spirit rank to creating—an Original Echo, a Unique Echo—he needed to reach Solidification. Reaching Manifestation for two of his Soul Artifacts was already extremely incredible for someone new like him.

His Soul Artifacts were now denser and stronger, capable of containing more life energy than before.

But to accommodate his new Echo, he'd need to reach Solidification.

A higher form of Soul Artifacts above the Manifestation state.

Anything less would cause his Soul Artifact to be overwhelmed, and possibly break.

Despite them being SSS-grade, a new Original Echo would be unstable and needed to be tamed.

Based on the System, the only way to have a good chance of sustaining the process is through reaching the Solidification state, but that seemed impossible. Rex was roughly 23% away, but the problem was that as long as he was stuck here, he couldn't grow.

He would stay at the same rank.

Though he wasn't aiming for the Divine Spirit rank anymore, power would still help.

And he was running out of time before he had to participate in the tournament.

"But even so, no use of me to idle around. Let's create the foundation."

Rex looked at Viora inside the carriage with the others.

"Viora, inform everyone to get inside their carriages. I need a private space."

Instead of answering, Viora went to inform the others.

She was the leader during this hunting mission, so the guards helping them only listened to her.

"Amanir, close the window curtains and make sure nobody peeks out and sees what I'm doing," Rex continued before he turned to Edward, eyes narrowing. "Especially you, young prince. If you peeked, I will feed you to Kraken."

Hearing this, Edward leaned back on his seat and stared forward.

He didn't cross his arms like others who don't want to be told, but this was his way of pouting.

"I need an answer, Edward."

"Yes, I promise not to peek."

"Good, a man's word is everything. Don't break it."

Soon, Rex was the only one outside, standing in the middle of nowhere.

Accompanying him was only the black wind, rushing from ahead, which made his raven hair flutter.

Rex inhaled deeply, sucking in as much air as possible, before his body slowly transformed.

As muscles bulged, bones shifted, and weapons sharpened, he walked forward.

"I know you are banned from tampering with the mortal realm because of your little stunt on me that failed miserably, but I'm sure you can still hear me loud and clear, especially with the days counting away to the Blood Moon."

Once he reached a suitable distance from the carriage, he extended his arm forward.

Suddenly, huge piles of Voidal Monsters appeared from thin air.

Carcasses of special Voidal Knights—and normal Voidal Knights stacked against one another to create massive hills in front of Rex. All of them were the results of the hunting mission, and all of them were still freshly bleeding.

Rex has been gathering them in the Inventory, holding his desire to devour them.

Had he not needed them, he would've devoured them already.

But he can't.

He needed their blood.

"I'm going to do something that might make you angry… No, it will make you angry, but I was hoping that you'd have an open mind about this. You could take this as being forceful, but if you give me your permission, it might help us turn over a new page."

Rex was now drawing something on the ground.

He dragged a finger around the piles of carcasses, stopping for details to perfect what he was doing.

It was deep enough that it was akin to small trenches, able to be filled with liquid.

"Several times already. You already tried to kill me several times, but you failed. Not even your sacred enforcer could kill me, the Yule Moon," Rex scoffed at the mention of that. "You're a brute, but I don't think you're stupid enough to try me again. Like I said, inside me, there's something stronger than all of you combined."

Once he was done with what he was doing, he straightened his back.

He clapped his hands together, dusting his palms, and nodded.

"Instead of being a follower, why don't you be the one to initiate? Work with me, and show your peers that it's much better for us to work together than be enemies. If you're in, I'm sure the others would be swayed to also do the same thing."

Rex clasped his hands in front of his crotch and looked skyward.

Despite the sky being blackened by the Black Rift, he could still vaguely feel the moon's presence.

"Either way, I'm going to do this. So, what's your answer?"

Rex crossed his arms, waiting.

From a bird's-eye view, he was now standing below a spherical formation.

It was circular and looked like a rune formation, but it wasn't.

Instead, it was a ritual formation that Rex purchased from the System for 1 million gold.

A perfect sphere etched into the earth lay surrounded by ten crescent moons facing the center and two full moons. Each was carved by hand, but the details were still impeccable. At the center, the piled remains of Voidal Monsters festered in silence, their thick, carmine blood having filled the intricate trenches of the ritual like molten ink.

From above, the blood highlighted the shape of the ritual formation even more.

Precise, ancient, and terrifyingly alive.

He waited for a moment.

Just then, a reddish hue could be seen lighting up the darkness of the Black Rift right above.

It was an answer, and the rumbling of thunder told Rex what Kaiser's answer was.

"No? Fine," Rex chuckled. "I was hoping you'd say no anyway. Doing this would be even sweeter."

Rex sat down in a meditative position and closed his eyes.

He was going to create an Original Echo, the Blood Moon Echo.

To do that, he would need to start with the foundation first, creating the very first layer that would hold the Echo together. Normally, the ritual formation would need to be created by the associated figure who wanted to create an Original Echo.

But with the System inside him, all he needed to do was provide the details.

Other than that, the System would guide him through the process.

And for the permission from Kaiser, he doesn't need it.

As the bearer of the System, he could bypass something that mundane without a hitch.

Swish!

Rex closed his eyes, and slowly, the ritual formation began to glow.

Then, it exuded heat that melted every last carcass he placed at the center, turning each one of them into crimson liquid that mixed with the blood. Immediately, once the mixture was completed, the blood in the trench began to churn.

It started mildly at first, but gradually increased in intensity.

So much so that it splashed multiple times, sending splashes of blood vertically.

But whenever it fell back down, it never splashed outside of the ritual formation.

Like a volcano shimmering within the throat of a mountain.

Chaotic, bubbling with untamed force, yet always returning to stillness as if held in check by someone.

By Mother Nature.

Once it was ready, Rex summoned another thing, a spherical orb with a chaotic energy inside, rambling like a thousand serpents twirling inside one another. It was the Blood Moon Echo's concept, which Rex already thought of while he was still in the Forsaken Tower, and created exactly yesterday.

Unlike in the mortal realm, spirits needed sleep more than normal.

Awakened could stay awake for days or even weeks without exhausting their mind.

Supernaturals don't need any sleep except for a few exceptions.

As for spirits, they needed sleep more than even normal Humans.

Even Immortal Spirits could only go on without sleeping for two days straight.

Not that they were weaker, but because of the environment the Spirit Realm was in right now.

The Black Rift is harsher than expected.

So, yesterday, when the others were sleeping, Rex developed this concept without anyone knowing.

Once the orb entered the ritual formation's range, the blood surged toward it like starving vines to light, clinging to its surface as if it were salvation itself. Rex watched intently as the chaotic energy within began to settle, soothed by each drop it absorbed.

Minute by minute, the turmoil dulled.

Until, after five long minutes, the trenches ran dry and the orb pulsed with a newfound balance.

Its once-frenzied core is now eerily serene, in harmony.

As soon ass it formed, a powerful beam blast skyward, unleashing a shockwave—that rattled even the carriages that are quite further away. Rex looked up, observing the beam as it pierced the sky and struck what lay beyond, Kaiser to be exact.

Rex sat up—the process was done.

He now has the first layer, which contains the acceptance of Kaiser for having his power used.

Of course, it was a forceful takeover, but Rex didn't care.

<Congratulations, the user has created the first layer of the Blood Moon Echo!>

<Original Echo achievement has been completed!>

<1x Immortal Blood Pool has been awarded!>

Rex checked the item he obtained and realized it was literally a pool of blood.

It can be used to further the Blood Moon Echo's layer, but that could be done some other time.

He can't stay for long—the Black Rift already made him dizzy by now.

Just as he turned, he saw Viora was standing right beside the carriages.

She was outside, watching him silently.

Rex put the concept away and walked back to the carriage.

"If you have something to say to me, say it. I know you're angry at me for some reason."

"You hurt the Divine Saintess…"

Upon hearing this, Rex raised a brow and laughed dismissively.

"And you're angry at me? In case you forgot, she was the one who attacked me. I was only defending myself."

"She was trying to show you something. She only has good intentions."

"Good intentions? Is that what you call attacking Linthia and even killing Crimoria? Good intentions?"

Viora bit her lower lip.

She was trying so hard to hold back, but seeing Rex going about his business, as if nothing happened, made her angry inside. Though she was usually good at keeping his emotions in check, at this moment, with the situation at hand, she couldn't.

"What you did crossed the line! The fluke you did, it's uncounted for!. You escalated the situation!"

Rex raised a brow.

He inhaled deeply through his nose, trying to suppress his mounting anger.

At the moment, dealing with Viora's tantrum was the last thing he wanted to do.

"It's not a fluke. I can access that power whenever I want to."

"Because of you, everything is in shambles! Why did you need to stretch that far?!"

Rex paused, studying Viora's expression.

Though he knew something was off with Viora after Kei Xun's visit, he thought nothing of it.

He only thought that she was uncomfortable in the position she was in.

Being in the middle of him and Kei Xun is certainly not fun.

But this… there's something he didn't know.

"Tell me the truth, Viora. What happened?"