“In that case,” Dorn straightened his posture. “I’ll be starting what I came here to do.”

Rex was in deep contemplation, but offered a nod and gestured for Linthia to bring them to where Devo and Amanir were. All three of them walked away into the blurriness until their silhouettes disappeared, leaving Rex alone again.

Once both of their aptitudes were upgraded, he could return home.

In fact, he already made preparations.

Considering how strong he had gotten while he was in this realm, crossing his soul back to the Mortal Realm doesn’t cost the same. The price is still in the millions, but it was damn near the billion-mark, sitting at exactly nine-hundred and seventy million gold.

Rex’s current gold doesn’t even reach half of the required amount.

He was hoping that the still-calculating rewards from the System would push him near that.

But if it doesn’t, he already sent Varya and the Shade Crawlers to locate and mark hordes of monsters across the entire area and beyond near the hideout. Rex could come and slaughter them to push the last few hundred million golds.

As for the demands he made to Dorn, those are for duplicating his soul and making this body permanent.

It would require a strong soul to retain this body.

Davina said that the Sky People were in possession of a few strong souls. Elders, when they died, left behind a soul remnant that the Elders and the Gatekeepers used to bolster their life energy absorption, helping them age faster and grow their strength rapidly.

Of course, a Supreme Elder’s soul is a bit of an overkill.

But Rex could strengthen his soul using the remnant and use the rest to take over this body.

That way, he’d have two bodies working separately.

For the voidal monsters he demanded, he needed it to gain enough energy to make binding limiters that he would place on the body in the Spirit Realm. His original soul needed to be stronger to dictate the other body’s behavior and purpose.

It was practically completed through absorbing the Supreme Elder’s soul.

But to make sure the second body couldn’t strengthen its own soul and overtake Rex’s original soul, the System recommended that he set limiters. And these limiters required enormous energy, which could be supplied through the body and soul of voidal monsters.

As for the portal, it was Davina’s idea.

She didn’t object when he decided to leave his second body behind while he returned home, back to the Mortal Realm. But she did demand one thing. A one-way portal. One that allowed the people from the Mortal Realm to enter the Spirit Realm.

Rex found this to be an odd request.

It would be more logical for her to ask for a one-way portal for her to enter the Mortal Realm.

But it’s her ego speaking.

She wanted him to be the one to return on his own, not the other way around. Having a one-way portal connected to Dargena City would at least remind him constantly about her. And since he made a promise to fulfil her high standards, he has no choice but to agree.

Making the portal on his own would require complex, tedious preparations.

He decided to let the Sky People handle it instead.

For a faction that oversees the entire Spirit Realm, they must have enough resources and manpower to make the portal as quickly as possible. Now, with those things handled, Rex should be leaving, but he stayed seated on the coffin in deep contemplation.

Just earlier, Dorn told him about what Dominar realized.

About the fact that Chaos was after him.

“Chaos… Is it Edward trying to reach me through Dominar?” Rex thought aloud, hoping that it was the case. But his mind never allowed him to be hopeful. “No, it can be that damn slithering damnation that wanted to drag me to its realm.”

Rex gripped his knees hard at the thought of that abomination.

His claws dug into his skin, but the sting from this didn’t make him flinch.

All he could think about was what he’d do once he got his hands on that thing.

For kidnapping Edward, he’ll make sure to bring the pain of Hell to that monster and watch it squeal.

“Nivellen reminded me of what I am,” Rex recalled her words about the fact that he’s a Demigod now, and that he’s in a higher realm than the Mortal Realm. “Kaiser could reach me here easily, and he draws less backlash from doing so since I’m a Demigod. I can assume it’s the same for that thing.”

He didn’t know exactly whether the rule that was effective on Gods would also apply to those from Chaos.

But right now, he could assume so.

If that wasn’t the case, the abomination would’ve slithered into this realm and attacked him already.

“Kaiser, Ignatius, and now Chaos,” Rex scratched the back of his head as he stood up and reverted to his human form again. “System, at least block the other two so that I can focus on one. How is this fair for me?”

<Invincibility is a brutal and demanding achievement>

“Yeah, yeah. You and your obsession with invincibility.”

Rex turned around and dropped to one knee, leaning close to the coffin he was sitting on earlier. He inhaled deeply through his sensitive nose. A thousand scents flooded his senses, but his mind seized on one particular scent.

“A sanctified corpse doesn’t stink. But it has a scent,” He rose, eyes sharply looking to the Angel statue that towered before him. “I can find you easily.”

…

Roar—!

A dweller of the darkness, an ink-black chimpanzee, screamed in pain as a hand pierced through its chest like a sword, bursting from the back. More swung from branch to branch and dropped to help their friend in trouble.

Before they could come close, nature’s veins burst from the soil and impaled them mid-air.

And with a sudden yank, their bodies were torn apart.

Morgana stood in the dark, gloomy forest that felt like it was pressing in around her. She pulled her arm free from the chimpanzee’s chest with a wet sound. Blood dripped from her fingers as she scanned the surroundings with her eyes.

She reached down. Grabbed the monster’s head and twisted it brutally.

A crack echoed through the trees as she killed the biggest one.

All of these chimpanzees are voidal knights, while the one before is a voidal prince.

Feeling exposed and unsafe in this forest, she quickly took out a holy feather. Its pristine whiteness was now marred with spots of red. And with a glow, all the corpses around her were broken down into energy fragments and absorbed by the feather.

Morgana knelt down and placed her hand on the ground.

A ring on her finger hummed with a greenish glow, and then it dimmed again.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

“Hmm?” She looked down at the ring for a moment longer. Emotions bubbled up inside her, threatening to burst. Even her face was now red. “After all that happened, I was hoping that you’d at least last a bit longer. Until I settled what I needed to do…” She bit her lower lip until it bled. “Weakling.”

Morgana clicked her tongue and stood up again.

Even with the onslaught she carried in the last couple of days, she still needed more.

She still needed to gather much more energy and secure her future.

Her ring was a key aspect of her success. It was a gift from Dominar—and contained a fraction of the Reap and Sow Echo, which she stole from him and hid it with immense suppression. But the echo is not responding anymore.

It could only mean that Emperor Dominar is no more.

An emperor who reigned

Her ring was a gift from Dominar. It contained a fraction of the Reap and Sow Echo, which she stole from him and suppressed heavily so he wouldn’t notice. But the echo is not responding anymore. It could only mean that Emperor Dominar is no more.

And without the ring, finding a strong enough horde of voidal monsters would be hard.

Morgana couldn’t hunt without the help of the Reap and Sow Echo.

Even if she was forced to hunt, the energy gathering rate would exponentially decrease from what it used to be with the help of the ring. Ineffective. Instead, she called it a day and headed out of the gloomy forest, needing a moment to think about her next move.

She cuts through the Black Rift with steady speed.

No need to go as fast as possible and risk being found by others or voidal monsters.

It took her about an hour until she finally descended into what looked to be a swamp.

Everything here was wet. Faint mist coiled through the unnaturally bending trees, thick enough to make it hard for anyone to navigate. Native voidal knights lurked in the haze, armed with the unnatural power of an Eternal Spirit rank.

One wrong move and these monsters would strike.

Not long ago, Morgana knew nothing but silk, comfort, and warm halls. Royal life. Soft beds. Meals.

Now, she was in a marsh.

Dirty, wet, and with murky water threading through the mud like veins through skin.

Some places looked shallow, but were actually really deep.

It was fortunate that Morgana could fly over the water and use life energy to keep herself clean.

Her status was that of a noble, an empress, so nobody would’ve expected her to hide in a dirty and wet swamp. Before making way to her base, she went around the swamp aimlessly for almost half an hour, checking whether there was anyone tailing her.

Along the way, she made several stops.

Even though she had been passive within the royal castle, that doesn’t mean she’s not doing anything.

She read countless books in the imperial library, making herself adept in various areas.

One area is fortification.

Morgana didn’t want to be found by anyone, or else that’d be the end of her. So, she made this swamp her fortified fortress. Tiny bees—and fireflies riddled key points of the swamp, watching closely when there was an intruder.

Thousands of them were spread throughout.

Randomly across the trunks of trees or water, there are minor trap formations.

Anything with life energy other than Morgana, who stepped on them or hovered over them, would trigger the taps. It wasn’t specifically designed to kill, not really. Just to slow. Just to wound. Make it incredibly painful so that she could flee again.

It could kill, sure. But that wasn’t the point.

And then, in case the intruders have a Law in their arsenal or have a Spirit Genesis that allows them to phase through the distance, Morgana also planted about one hundred blue roses across the central part of the swamp.

Not only would it tamper with the usage of abilities, but the scent would also daze the mind.

Losing a sense of direction is an immediate effect of it.

Not to mention, the voidal monsters within the swamp would be physically stimulated by these roses, making them stronger. Unless it’s Emperor Dominar himself or the big shots from the Sky City coming down to search for her, nobody would be able to find her, even if she’s meters away.

Once she checked all preventive measures, she looked at the dwarf mountain at the center.

And with her will alone, feathered wings sprouted from behind her before she flew up.

Angel wings. And the feathers were pinkish with red spots here and there.

She also placed a formation here that prevented anyone from using life energy, so she needed the wings.

Its stone surface was chillingly cold and smooth.

Morgana went about fifty meters up, and saw a small, circular-shaped flat on the mountainside where she stashed most of her things and also where she was living for the time being. ’Soon enough, this will all be in the past.’

She flapped her wings and landed on the flat.

But the moment she raised her gaze, her heart skipped a beat.

A figure was standing ahead with his back against her.