Rex has his fair share of entities he faced.

Most were kings and queens, adept in the art of stoicism and politics.

Reading someone through their faces alone was something he learned and was now good at, and coupled with the System that could tell him exactly what other people were feeling deep within, he knew Viora was on the edge of a complete meltdown.

She was only keeping her appearances.

Of course, now that he is a Master Immortal Spirit, he dared to check Viora’s stats.

As expected, Viora was at the Master Immortal Spirit 5 rank, nearing a breakthrough to the next rank.

But since she has a support-type Soul Artifact, she wasn’t personally strong.

Unconsciously, when Rex asked that question, a tear managed to slip through her defenses and drizzled down her face. Viora quickly wiped it and shook her head, “It’s nothing that I can’t handle, Lord Rex. Please, do not mind me.”

Rex was curious—he wanted to know, but he didn’t push further.

I don’t think she would be this emotional if it weren’t about Kei Xun. It’s fine. I can find out about it later.

Moments later.

Rex stayed inside the cubicle, waiting for a response from Rosa.

Inside, he met with Amanir and Kraken—who had been spending their time together away from all the conflicts. Naturally, the question about Linthia immediately came from Amanir, and Rex had to explain that she was taking a different path.

From the moment she left the tower until now, it has only been a day.

But for Rex, that memory was almost like it came from his previous life—almost forgotten.

Having to spend ten years inside the tower allowed him to accept the fact that Linthia had left for good.

Of course, he could’ve given her an item that would tell him where she was at all times.

It would be useful in case she got into trouble, but Rex didn’t think she would like that.

All he could do was wish her the best.

Amanir wasn’t surprised about this, knowing full well that Linthia doesn’t want to be a burden.

In his opinion, however, Linthia was probably already back in the Mortal Realm.

No chance she could make it with her damaged Soul Artifact.

Deep down, Rex was probably also thinking the same thing, but he didn’t say it out loud.

Once that heavy topic was done, Rex spent his time contemplating his next moves while looking at the fireplace. No distractions, he only sat in silence and stared into the fire for hours. On the second floor, April glanced at him before turning to Viora.

Just like Rex, Viora was also unusually quiet.

“Is there something wrong, priestess?” April asked gently.

Upon hearing this, Viora smiled weakly, “Will you believe me if I said nothing is wrong?”

“Does this have something to do with the Divine Saintess?” April leaned forward and whispered.

Glancing at Rex and the others sitting on the first floor, Viora channeled her life energy—and created a blockage around them, muffling their conversation. Once she did, she looked down at her hands, clearly hesitant to speak what was in her mind.

Eventually, she inhaled deeply and said, “I don’t know if I want to help Lord Rex anymore.”

“Hmm?” April frowned. “Where is this coming from?”

“Something… happened,” Viora replied—the stress from talking about this made her fidget her fingers, one that was extremely unusual for someone like her—who was training in how a noble should act. “I can’t say much, but the Divine Saintess got into trouble because of him.”

“Because of him?” April chuckled in disbelief. “It’s been ten years for me, so if my memory serves me correctly, it was the Divine Saintess who meddled with our battle, killing Dame Crimoria, and almost killing Lady Linthia. Had it not been for luck, I would also be dead by now.”

“What are you saying? The Divine Saintess would never hurt you,” Viora argued.

“Really?” April leaned back on her chair in disbelief. “Are you there, priestess? Did you see how your Divine Saintess yanked me from the tower and kept me suspended in the air while she heartlessly killed Dame Crimoria?”

“Because as far as I’m concerned, had it not been for Lord Rex, all of us would die…” She added.

April couldn’t believe this.

She didn’t know what could happen in the span of a day to change Viora like this, but this is wrong.

Rex didn’t do anything other than go through with Rosa’s test.

It was the Divine Saintess who came and caused problems.

“You know what…” April leaned in, her voice cool and clipped, eyes locked on Viora—with a searing calmness that bit the skin. “I was going to spare you the worst of it, perhaps offer Aunt Rosa a diluted account of what happened here. But I’ve changed my mind. I’ll tell her everything. How your precious Divine Saintess killed Dame Crimoria in cold blood… and very nearly killed me as well. You can rest assured. I will see to it that my brother hears this.”

Viora tried to calm her down—this was not the reason she shared this with April.

But April was having none of it.

She stood up abruptly and walked away, intending to head downstairs to sit with the others.

Before she could get away, Viora caught her hand and stopped her.

“All I’m saying is, you shouldn’t be near Lord Rex,” She said softly. “He attracts problems.”

Not even entertaining what she said, April freed her hand and walked away.

Viora was left behind, sitting alone on the corner, rubbing her throbbing forehead as she didn’t know how it ended up like this. Frankly, she still couldn’t believe it, still processing what happened.

Telling April to stay away would be much easier if she could talk about the Scions.

But she couldn’t, and all she could do now was accept her mistakes.

Soon, the response from Rosa came.

Composing herself for this, Viora took a couple of seconds to breathe—before she headed downstairs and went over to Rex. Her emotions were all over the place, but she must keep going, “Lord Rex, it’s time. Great Elder Rosa is ready to talk to you.”

Rex nodded and stood up from his seat.

“How are we going to communicate?” He asked.

Instead of answering with words, Viora waved her hand, summoning a swirl of brilliant sunlight.

Slowly, this light formed into a person—into Rosa.

It was similar to the holographic communication back in the Mortal Realm, but this was using energy.

Once Rosa was connected, appearing at the center of the room, she turned to face Rex.

“You don’t need to tell me what happened, I already knew,” Rosa declared, staring at Rex with mixed feelings. “Dame Crimoria was killed. You failed to protect her. So, instead of one favor, it’s fair for me to ask two favors from you.”

Upon hearing this, Rex’s chuckle slipped out.

He raised his index finger and wagged it slowly in the air with a crooked smirk—half amusement and half disbelief, “I thought we already came to a mutual understanding, Great Elder Rosa. Despite what I said to you… You still decided to test me through this. But hey, I don’t mind.”

“But this… this is extortion, and I do not work well with bad faith.” He added with a tinge of threat.

<Notice: the user’s berserk stat is increasing!>

Not even a day outside of the tower, and Rex’s anger was already lured out.

“It’s completely up to you, outsider,” Rosa shrugged. “In case you forgot, you needed me.”

April, who heard this from the side, glanced at Viora.

She was waiting for Viora to step in and dissuade Rosa from extorting Rex’s situation, but there was no sign of wanting to help from her. April couldn’t believe it—Viora was actually being serious about not wanting to help Rex again.

Rex placed both hands on the table, veins could be seen bulging on his forehead and arms.

Clearly, he was holding back anger behind his silence.

Pausing for a second, Rex eventually nodded his head repeatedly, “What do you want from me?”

“It’s my daughter’s birthday next week, and I want you to prepare a gift for her. Of course, one that is suitable for someone special like her,” Rosa finally said. “You can do this favor first, and then I’ll do my part of the deal.”

Rex wanted to scream or laugh, but he kept it all inside and forced out a smile.

“And what does this princess want for her birthday?” He asked, lips curling into a smile as if he wasn’t obviously holding back his rage.

“I’m sure you can figure it out on your own,” Rosa answered. “Considering you like gifting people.”

Upon hearing this, Rex forcefully closed his eyes and exhaled roughly through his nose.

He could instantly tell where Rosa got this from.

It was certainly Crimoria.

Back in the Aurelian Fortress, he wanted to create a friendly tie, so he decided to gift Crimoria an Echo from the Blue Selection Ticket. He gifted it to her, and obviously—she told Rosa about it, even though he made it obvious that he didn’t want anyone to know.

But who could blame her? I’m nobody for her, and Rosa is Rosa.

Rex could only laugh inside—his patience was tested once again.

Just then, April stepped forward, “Aunt Rosa, isn’t this unfair for Lord Rex? He took on your test and even taught valuable lessons to me and those three. He even saved my life. I don’t think it’s right to use him like this.”

“How dare you speak directly to me?” Rosa snarled. “This doesn’t concern you, so don’t meddle.”

April could only bite her lip and stay silent.

She wanted to help, she really does, but this is beyond her status.

Glaring at April for a few seconds, Rosa eventually turned back to Rex.

“Do that for me, then you can start your hunt,” She said with finality. “Contact me when you’re done.”

Swish!

Upon saying that, Rosa dissipated into nothing.

All that remained after Rosa disappeared was a choking silence that enveloped the entire place.

Nobody uttered a single word, watching Rex standing with his hands still on the table, seemingly deep in thought. Viora looked down, avoiding eye contact. She didn’t say it directly, but this was enough to tell Rex where she stood.

BRAK!

Out of nowhere, Rex slammed his hands hard against the table, breaking it apart.

It startled everyone, causing them to flinch.

“Guess we know where we will amass the blood to create our Blood Moon Echo,”

Suddenly, the Invincible Apparition appeared—leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

Rex nodded his head as bloodlust crept into his heart.

He spoke the truth to Rosa, telling her that he was having an emergency and needed to complete what he came to the Spirit Realm for within a month. A gesture to build trust, but Rosa used it to exploit him instead.

Since he was in trouble, she could practically demand unreasonable things of Rex.

Rosa knew that Rex couldn’t afford the other option, failing to get what he came for.

It seemed like he was destined to go at it alone in this realm.

Every force here seemed to be power-hungry, exactly the same as those at the Mortal Realm.

I’m out of selection tickets. I don’t have any more Echoes. How can I go through this?

Just then, as he thought of doing the worst, he saw a figure approach.

It was Kraken.

Kraken was the only one to move—climbing down from Amanir’s back and heading toward Rex.

He reached out his tentacle arm and held Rex’s arm, as if trying to give strength to Rex.

For a second there, Rex looked at him.

Then, he shook his head.

Although Kraken couldn’t speak, it was clear that he was trying to appease Rex’s anger.

Rex decided to pick up Kraken and hold him, but as he did that, he paused as he remembered something.

Wait a minute, I should be able to extract back the Echo I gave to Crimoria, right?

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