Chapter 1936: Spared from Death
Chapter 1936: Spared from Death
Before tonight, George had been bottling up his desire to overthrow the emperor, his own brother—and have him publicly executed. He was beginning the first motion of a plan that he had been developing— for years upon years.
Corrupting a few powerful nobles, amassing an army, and even making a secret base within the empire’s territory.
It was everything that had been inside his mind for a decade panning out into fruition in reality.
And then suddenly, this happened.
Out of nowhere, a figure infiltrated his military tent and told him that the entire world was at stake.
Everything after that was surreal, and frankly, he doesn’t want to believe it.
He desperately wanted to believe that this was a sick joke done by the world, but Rex’s strength and the other powerful figure paying his military tent a visit made it crystal clear that this is serious. Somehow, when he was about to make a move against his brother, the entire world was in trouble.
In the sheer presence of the world’s annihilation, his plan of overthrowing the empire is insignificant.
"Come outside. Let me show you something. It seems the fun has already begun."
George watched Rex walk out of the tent with measured steps.
He blinked and flicked his eyes to his wives on the bed, searching their faces for guidance, as right now, he was completely at a loss. Everything was too hard to grasp. Both of them answered with a nod, telling him to follow Rex outside.
Only then did he stand up and head out.
Behind, the two women covered in thick animal hides also followed.
Even before stepping outside, George could feel his heart pounding inside his chest.
Rex wanted to show him something, and he didn’t feel like he was ready for it.
Just then, he paused when he saw the tents were flapping harder than normal outside. There was pressure building inside his ears, making it harder for him to hear properly. Underneath, there was a clear vibration that shook the soles of his feet.
"What is happening?" the first wife paused at the entrance of the tent, scared.
"A natural disaster?" the second wife tried to answer, but she, too, didn’t seem to be confident about it.
However, once the wives stepped out and raised their gazes, they gasped at the same time.
Before them, the horizon was on fire.
All of them looked around the horizon to check and realized it wasn’t coming from one direction—but from all directions. Rings of cold, shimmering light that shone brighter against the muted grey backdrop of the realm.
Each direction pulsed with an aurora of detonations.
Emerald, corpse-white, bruise-purple—each thunderous flare sharpened the silhouette of distant forests, mountains, and hills before they drowned in darkness again. The cumulus clouds above caught the glow like it had no other choice.
"North... South..." the first wife swallowed harshly. "It’s coming from everywhere."
"What’s going on?" George’s eyes finally fixated on Rex.
Instead of an answer, Rex imbued them with energy and brought them up skyward without their consent.
None of them could fly, so this was nerve-wracking.
But their panic was drowned immediately by shock and dread when they saw more clearly what was going on in the entire continent. Clouds of smoke began to rise. And in under one minute, there were at the very least ten more clouds of smoke that appeared.
Chaos and mayhem could be seen everywhere across the continent.
"As I told you before, your entire world... is on the brink of destruction," Rex said with a calm voice, as if what he was saying was completely normal. "Every single kingdom, city, and town is seduced to chaos. If we don’t stop it, then life in this world would cease to exist."
It’s an exaggeration, but Rex didn’t need to clarify it.
If the enemy forces managed to steal—or destroy the Divine Sources in this realm, then that means the world was already reduced to chaos. And this chaos would breed a new, darker world order that would maintain war for generations to come.
Gaining access to power that doesn’t belong to this realm would encourage people to be rash.
A normal village head would be inclined to seize neighbouring villages or even occupy big towns.
And the governor of a big town would most certainly aim higher; topping the capital city or even going as far as taking down the kingdom that governed it. Power that was given for free, not earned—would be far more dangerous.
Naturally, these deaths would create blood feuds that would continue for generations.
It would undoubtedly cripple the realm for a very long time.
Even though High Lord Rashal would send people to restore order, it won’t be easy.
Order can only exist through resolutions made by the inhabitants of this realm.
One that’s forced by a higher being wouldn’t last long.
So, while life might not end exactly as Rex had claimed, it still could—the possibility isn’t low.
"Help me handle the situation across the continent," Rex finally turned to face George; his crimson eyes glowed with absolute strength—that could assure anyone on his side. "Push aside your differences with the emperor, and work together. Best believe that’s the best thing you can do right now."
Rex waited for an answer.
If George is a good leader, then he would accept this term.
He would understand that this was far bigger than his blood feud with his own brother.
Only a dumb and selfish person would not help Rex.
"For the world, I’ll postpone my vengeance," George finally nodded. "I’ll work with the emperor."
"Good," Rex flashed a small smile and brought them back down.
Frankly, he had been prepared to slaughter George and his entire force. Wiping them out to ensure that the emperor’s work continued without interference, as even as of now, the empire’s forces were on their way to give Rex’s message to the nearby factions.
But it’s good that he didn’t need to go that far.
He didn’t need more corpses. He needed their influence. Their reputations. Tools to strangle the chaos.
Strength alone wouldn’t cut it.
"Go spread the words," Rex landed and walked over to the two guards that were still unconscious right outside the main tent. Both of whom had a mark on their necks the shape of a crescent moon. "Keep an eye out for any unnaturally strong figures that don’t wear a red skull mask. If you come across any faction that doesn’t want to listen, suppress them."
No need to show mercy.
And George agreed with it as their realm was on the line right now.
"Suppressing all rebellious factions would be hard even with the empire’s forces," George said; there are factions out there that are strong enough to resist the empire. "If we’re talking about days, suppressing the stronger factions if they refused the message would be hard."
"No need to worry about that," Rex pointed his hand at the two unconscious guards. "Use these two."
Swoosh—!
An enormous amount of moonlight energy seeped into the two unconscious guards.
Both of their auras climbed to an impossible level, breaking the very power dynamic of the realm.
Soon, the two guards rose to their feet and stood straight.
Even though they were flaring with powerful auras, their gazes were empty. Hollow. Blank. Fixated on some point beyond the world. And then George saw the mark on their necks—surrounded by throbbing veins, one that made him understand something.
Both of his elite guards were no longer his anymore.
Rex had already claimed them.
Naturally, this was the Divine Tainting skill that he learned recently.
Just as the description stated, those bearing the heresy mark would become a puppet to him. It was quite convenient to use; all Rex needed to do was bite them, which he did earlier—but becoming his puppet also meant they lost their source of power.
Rex needed to infuse his own energy into them.
However, since the level of power in this realm is pitiful, he wasn’t troubled at all.
He brought their powers up to the early ninth-rank realm with moonlight energy.
And even that barely dented his energy reserve; he could have ten more puppets without a problem.
"Listen to what he said," Rex pointed at George. "Kill everyone when he gave the command."
Like a word from God, the two elite guards nodded their heads and went to George’s side.
Rex was about to leave as his work here was done, and the hunt for more enemy Demigods awaited—but as he prepared to launch himself skyward, his eyes caught sight of a notification right above the two elite guards; one for each.
His eyes sparked with sudden surprise.
Huh...? How is this possible?
None of the inhabitants in this realm is a Demigod.
Had that been the case, the level of power wouldn’t be this low for them.
And since that was the case, then no one here should possess even a single divine point. Only those who had already shed their mortal skin could host such power. Even Davina and Lilliana—bound to him as they were—barely held any divine points at all.
Rex couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Just then, he took a proper look at the status windows floating around him.
Since he had been telling the System to continuously scan the area, he started to ignore the stats windows of the people nearby and only focused on the anomalies. And he hadn’t realized that every single person in the area has divine points.
Everyone here has divine points? How...?
Does that mean the older the living being in this realm was, the more divine points they have?
Upon reaching this realization, there was a change in Rex’s mind.
He needed ten thousand divine points, and he was planning to obtain it through the Demigods.
But it seemed he might be able to amass that much before meeting the Demigods.
After all, through the Divine Tainting skill—he could absorb the divine points from those who bore the heresy mark. Rex’s eyes scanned the area with a newfound malice, and his lips curled into a smile as a devious thought came to mind.
George and his wives could feel the change; a shiver ran down their spines.
Maybe... Maybe I don’t need these people. I have the empire working already.
Rex pivoted back towards George, and his eyes betrayed the killing intent behind them.
But as he was about to do something, a voice seeped into his ears.
It was Lilliana.
’Rex, where are you? Things are developing quickly.’
Hmm? What’s going on?
’Still no reaction from the enemy forces, and Alexander is getting restless. He’s on the brink of going to deal with the Divine Sources instead of waiting for a little bit. And the soldiers in our group managed to come across some of the enemy Demigods. Some won, and some died.’
Alright, I’ll be there. Just tell Alexander to wait.
Rex clicked his tongue in displeasure.
He wanted to stay for a bit and harvest these people, but things are developing too fast.
It hadn’t been that long since they arrived, and problems are already arising left and right.
"Hey, is there any old beast—in this world? A monster or a creature that’s known to be really old?" Rex asked quickly, catching George and his wives off guard. "I do not care if it’s very strong or if the beast only stemmed from rumours."
"I think so," George nodded and gestured for the tent again. "I can mark it on the map."
"Do that quickly," Rex entered the tent. "I have no time."
Naturally, George followed him inside.
On the other hand, the two women could finally breathe in relief, knowing that they had escaped the hands of death. Somehow, the killing intent behind Rex’s eyes disappeared, and they knew that made it clear that they were now in the clear.
FWF