Morgana flapped her wings one more time and then landed on the flat.

She caught her weight with a hand and a knee, but paused when she saw a glimpse of a person as she descended. ’I must’ve seen it wrong. Yes. That must be the case,’ Slowly, she raised her gaze, expecting that it was only her paranoia.

But it was not.

A man was standing with his arms crossed.

His posture. His dominating aura. His unshakable back. Everything made her recall the man who pushed her into this situation. A man who is stubbornly resilient and managed to do the impossible. A man who was the last person Morgana wanted to see right now.

’H-How in the world did he find me?!’

Even before doing anything, she made sure to fortify the entire swamp to the absolute limit.

Others might even say that it was overkill on her part.

And yet, somehow, this man managed to go through the traps unnoticed and found her base.

Morgana wanted to run away as far as possible, but her legs weren’t listening to her. Fear has taken over her body, and now she is rooted in her spot. Just his presence alone was enough to turn her from an empress to a cripple.

“You’ve been busy,” Rex said, staring at the cave on the other side. “As expected of a rat.”

He watched the glowing, pale blue thin layer of energy that covered the cave’s mouth.

Its energy was siphoned into the nexus, where it started to slice open the dimensional fabric. One could faintly feel the foreign energy coming from the other side of this layer of energy. Extremely faint—but it is undeniable.

Rex didn’t need to ask the System to know that this was a portal tied to another realm.

If he had to make a guess, it’s tied to the Mortal Realm.

Engraved around the cave mouth were numerous symbols. Ancient runes. Some of them were familiar to Rex, which made it even more certain that it was tied to the Mortal Realm. He touched the ancient runes and was pleasantly surprised at the scanning result.

<Notice: It’s a method for crossing over realms similar to the Spirit Conversion method called the Light Tunnel method. It allowed the creation of a one-time use tunnel to enter another realm. It’s generally a lot safer due to its stability>

“A portal,” Rex was slightly impressed.

Even attempting to make a portal on her own was a commendable effort.

An attempt that Rex didn’t expect Morgana to make.

But then again, with her life on the line, it was natural for her to take on desperate methods.

Rex looked over his shoulder and found her on her knees. She was in a state of absolute shock. Hadn’t blinked. Eyes wide, fixed on him like she was staring at a ghost that wasn’t supposed to be here.

He turned to face her properly.

“Right,” A chuckle escaped his lips. “I ought to commend you for putting those traps for me. Impressive work. Really. You put a lot of thought into this. Anyone in the Divine Spirit rank would be killed easily if they wandered into the swamp recklessly.”

Morgana could hear it.

He meant every word, and that somehow made it worse for her.

Even after her paranoid trap-setting spree, it was still not enough to stop Rex.

“I have a very acute sense of anything that might threaten me, so expected traps aren’t going to work,” Rex explained with a nonchalant shrug. “And my nose can single out a scent from a million scents. Your next mistake was bringing that…”

Rex pointed to the side where a sanctified corpse lay on the ground unattended.

It was the Angel Origin’s corpse; the First Light.

Making the meeting with Dorn in the Tomb of Heroes wasn’t random, but a deliberate decision.

“One way or another, I will eventually find you,” Rex said with certainty in his tone—as if nothing she does would allow her to escape him. “You’re not stupid enough to risk bringing the corpse like this, so my bet is that you have to bring him. And that’s why you can’t escape me.”

“Leave me alone!” Morgana charged.

She wanted to kill Rex once and for all, but a heavy knee drilled into her stomach.

Saliva bursts from her mouth as her body involuntarily bends forward.

“Your rank is higher than mine, that’s for certain,” Rex whispered into her ear. He sounded like he was amused by this situation where Morgana was left helpless. “But you did accept Kaiser’s power to land a sneak attack on me.”

Slash—!

Rex’s claws raked across the back of her kneecaps, severing her tendons and forcing her to kneel.

“Your internal energy is messed up now—because of it,” He continued, circling around her with slow and deliberate steps. “You’re barely as strong as a Divine Spirit now. A far cry from your normal power, especially without your status as the empress.”

Morgana whimpered in silence.

She tried standing up again, but her legs refused to straighten.

Not to mention, Rex’s knee struck a vital point in her Spiritual Veins, scattering her life energy.

Rex stood before Morgana and looked down at her small frame.

“Ironic, isn’t it?” He muttered venomously. “That now I’m the one looking down at you.”

“You think you can defeat the entire world, can you? How arrogant can you be?” Morgana forced out a chuckle—despite her face twitching from the pain. “You pissed the Gods. You offended the Sky People. And now, you’re going to offend my master. Do you think you can survive by the end of this?

“Men like you… Their reign is always short-lived precisely because of this,” Her bloodied lips curled cruelly higher. “Spectacular rises are reserved solely for those destined for spectacular ruin. You’ll learn this soon enough.”

“Perhaps,” Rex didn’t argue.

It was possible for her words to come true, but that doesn’t scare him. Not anymore.

“But don’t use that as a sword to stab me when you’re certainly not the one wielding it,” He shook his head, finding it funny that Morgana resorted to an empty threat. “I have a lot of enemies. Right now, or back then. It has always been the case,

“Don’t you understand?” A slow smile spread across Rex’s face. He raised his hands, palms open, and flexed. “Bloody vendetta. A battle to the death. Limited options. Rage… I excel in exactly this kind of situation.”

It was simply unavoidable, no matter how hard he tried.

His path to invincibility demanded the blood of others. Nothing he does would help him avoid it.

Only one seat at the top, and everyone desperately wanted it.

Just then, however, his forehead creased into a frown, “Master…?”

Rex feels something else. Something he has never sensed before. And the scent, it’s also unique, unlike anything he has ever smelled. It was warm and sharp like dying embers before they catch flame again, mixed with the overbearing sweetness of clove.

Every being has a unique scent.

He never tried to remember them all, but his senses automatically memorized each one.

Instinctively, he always knew who he was fighting against through their scent alone.

But this… His senses hadn’t registered this at all.

Morgana claimed proudly that she now has a master despite still wearing the crown of an empress with the emperor as her husband. And her fascination gave the only hint Rex needed to know the being that owned this scent.

A presence that seemed distant, and close at the same time.

Rex threw away his aloofness and arrogance, wearing his battle armor once again.

His back straightened, and his face turned into a stoic one.

Upon turning around to face the cave’s mouth again, he saw the thin layer of energy shift into a thin glass. And beyond it was an astral being that matched the picture-perfect of an Archangel, but far more sanctified and holy than any other Rex has ever seen.

It doesn’t shy away from showing skin, exposing the perfectly sculpted body of a celestial being. White and red of a fine linen scarf wrapped around his form. Heavy-lidded eyes of the darkest color of purple amethyst that matched its divinely neutral face.

But what caught Rex’s attention the most was the four pairs of blood-red wings behind this being.

Each one has a different corruption level of purple.

“Let me guess,” Rex pointed at the being. His voice dragged, and his eyes squinted like he was thinking hard, “You must be the infamous Void I kept hearing about. Such a pleasant surprise—for a figure of your caliber to come see me personally.”

“Rex Silverstar…” Void muttered his name, “You’ve heard of me?”

For someone who was supposed to be an Archangel, he sounded more endearing than expected.

His voice was more like the voice of an astral monster from another realm.

It was mildly surprising for him to know about Rex, but then again, Angels are invading the continent.

He must’ve done his homework already.

“Yes, I have…” Rex nodded nonchalantly. He was still relaxed despite the situation. “You’re sloppy in your reign. I’ve heard of you from the rebellion forces that managed to scout the continent before you did. Maybe try slowing down on your expansion.”

Void’s gaze shifted to behind Rex, fixating on Morgana and then the area.

“Ah, I get it,” Rex pivoted sideways and stared at Morgana with a knowing look. He then took out a pure corpse from the inventory, the Angel Origin’s corpse. “You’re searching for this, aren’t you? Is that why you became her master?”

Based on what he knew, Void is not of the Angel species anymore.

He is a Dark Angel.

Even so, he must still have a myriad of uses for the First Light’s corpse.

It’s unknown how Morgana could contact Void, but it’s not important right now.

“Give him back!”

Morgana fought back the pain and charged at Rex, trying to snatch the corpse away.

But she has no chance. With his back hand, Rex slapped her across her face hard, and used the Aegis of Moon Sentinel to catch her stumble, and brought her back to him. “If I kill her right now, how would that make you feel? I’m sure the corpse of your previous Origin is important for you.”

A long pause stretched between them as Morgana struggled to break free.

Rex’s iron grip was clamping down near her neck, even cracking her collarbone.

Eventually, Void opened his mouth again, “You are mistaken. I want the corpse, but I’m not here for it.”

A frown slowly formed on Rex’s face.

He was certain that Void wanted the corpse, which was the reason why Morgana was trying to make this portal. Is he trying to deceive me? An Angel’s tendency is good, but now that he’s a Dark Angel, he can lie.

Noticing the doubt, Void raised his index finger and then pointed it straight at Rex.

“I’m here for you.”

BOOM!

Faster than lightning, a holy beam bursts forth from the portal and flies straight at Rex’s heart.

It was extremely fast and surprising, but Rex’s reflex was faster.

Even though he hadn’t summoned the Mask of the Banished Eclipse, the Law of Foresight was active; thus, he saw the attack seconds before it came. The Red Dawn of Kaiser materialized, thrumming with the Law of Misdirection, and he managed to raise it in time.

Despite his preparations, the beam still drove him back.

Step after step, heels scraping the earth, until the edge loomed behind him.

For a good few seconds, Rex was rooted in his spot. Motionless.

His eyes were wide as he gathered his scattered thoughts.

System… Didn’t you say the portal isn’t completed?

<Yes. It’s still in the early process, and would need a vast amount of energy to complete>

Are you sure?

<Positive>

In that case, how did his attack reach me…? We’re separated. Away. So how did it reach me?

Slowly, Rex looked back at Void.

He didn’t even bother to hide the clear shock that was evident on his face.

And worse, that actually hurts.