The Invincible Full-Moon System

All of their ethereal forms twisted and writhed as they surged forth with an astral roar.

Each soul bore the weight of its untold anguish—unleashed in a cacophony of cries that rent the air with their otherworldly plangency. As the spectral horde descended upon the victims trapped within their relentless onslaught, the air crackled with palpable intensity.

Instead of attempting to pull Rex and the others' souls, these souls aimed for another goal.

As opposed to doing that, they aimed to share their suffering instead.

Like a tidal wave of torment, the souls crashed against the barriers of flesh and bone, giving the taste of the pain they suffered at the end of their lives by the Passue Matriarch's hands, and it was dreadful—their spectral forms intertwining and passes through Rex, Edward—the Witch, and the Executor's bodies.

Overwhelmed, the four found themselves consumed by the souls' agonizing memories.

Many would find it easy to succumb to the pain and crumble.

However, the aspect of pain was not a troublesome thing for both Rex and Edward.

Compared to the other Awakened, or even comrades from the military, these two had honed their pain tolerance to a terrifying degree—being tortured by the instructors, was one out of many things that they needed to go through in the past.

Rex, especially, had a freakishly high pain tolerance.

Since he had experienced a myriad of pain that could crumble a person a hundred times over—the pain was hardly a challenge for him. Instead of succumbing, he had trained his body to react differently to pain.

He became maniacal and excited instead of wailing in agony, it has become a reflex for him.

A natural reaction his body had to pain.

Judging from the unwavering smile etched on his face despite enduring excruciating torment—be it the sensation of decapitation, the severance of his tongue, or the gouging of his eyes by the summoned souls, it was evident that the pain failed to rattle him.

It hardly did anything, the two are in a league of their own in terms of pain tolerance.

A sight that even prompted a frown from the Passue Matriarch's face.

On the other hand, the ones that were feeling the most were none other than the Executor.

Despite creating a barrier to protect himself from the souls that were charging at him—there were some stronger souls belonging to a devastatingly powerful Awakened who managed to pierce and shatter the barrier.

Upon being brushed by the pain shared by the souls, the Executor screamed in madness.

He was swept in the world of agony as his knees threatened to bend.

Looking at this, a sinister grin crept into Rex's face as he already expected this to happen.

Being one of the strongest in the ancient era with a very high position amongst the Ancient Humans, it was obvious that the Executor was hardly suspected of pain. He always took on the role of a general, and generals don't roll in the mud.

Pain is foreign to him as there are only a few that could reach him and cause him pain.

Now, trapped in this situation, the Executor was the first one to break.

"It's our moment! He's crumbling, we can destroy him!" Edward exclaimed with excitement.

Agreeing, the Witch also nodded, "I'll carve a path, the two of you will do the striking"

Just as they were about to make a move, their senses alerted them.

Swoosh!

Despite being aware that the Passue Matriarch provided the perfect moment for Rex and the others to severely injure the Executor who was crumbling in pain—they weren't able to make their move when they realized the Passue Matriarch was aiming for them.

In a flash, she appeared behind the trio and cleaved her deadly scythe.

Time dilated and Rex saw the souls splashing their astral bodies into the scythe rampantly.

Visibly, the white gleam on the sharp edge of the scythe trembled stronger.

Sensing that this attack was even stronger than the ones before, Rex quickly pushed the two away from the scythe's trajectory and channeled his own kingly energy—gathering it into his free left arm.

Not hesitating to take a swing, Rex met the scythe with his Brutal Impulse Moon Ability.

Clang!

KABOOM!!

A powerful shockwave rippled through the ethereal haze, casting aside the spectral horde of souls with its sheer force alone. The collision between the two created a condensed circle of raw energy before blasting shockwaves, reverberating through the very fabric of reality.

Edward and the Witch crossed their arms when they saw the shockwaves expand quickly.

It uprooted the terrain in a chaotic frenzy of destruction.

As the clash reached its crescendo, a blinding flash of light erupted from the point of impact.

Compared to the force brought by the shockwave earlier that could be managed by Edward and also the Witch—the force brought by this explosion was on another level. Both Rex and also the Passue Matriarch were hurtled backwards—their bodies propelled away from each other with an otherworldly force.

Edward, the Witch, and the Executor rolled across the earth for miles due to the impact.

And so does the horde of souls summoned by the Passue Matriarch.

But even then, the horde of souls returned and continued with their onslaught relentlessly.

Leaving behind any hesitation, Edward climbed to his feet—ignoring the wounds he suffered from the collision and scanned the area with his eyes in search of the Executor. He found the Executor soon sprawled across the creek before his eyes flashed.

"Go and deal with the Executor, I'll help Rex," Edward commanded with a firm tone.

Upon hearing this—the Witch bristled with irritation—for she detested being ordered around, but for this moment she decided to swallow her pride and did as she was told. Going against the Passue Matriarch would be too hard for her as only experts in combat could fare well.

The Witch definitely doesn't fit that category, and she could at least admit that.

As she made her move, Edward also disappeared from his spot.

Meanwhile—Rex vomited a disturbing amount of blood as his abdomen got sliced cleanly. He poured everything into that Brutal Impulse, but nevertheless, the Passue Matriarch proved to still be superior in a duel.

Sitting in a makeshift chair of rubble, he lifted his gaze and saw a figure shadowing him.

"Come on now, we're on the same team here," He commented nonchalantly.

Gazing down at Rex from a higher vantage point, the Passue Matriarch's tears flowed harder as she narrowed her eyes. "Please," she implored, her voice thick with emotion. "allow me to end your life—Werewolf. Your sacrifice will spare you from the painful fate you would endure at the hands of the Supreme One,"

"I don't care about the Supreme One, I only want the Executor, then I'll leave," Rex replied.

Despite the chilling tendrils of death from the Passue Matriarch—he remained composed.

Such defiance made the Passue Matriarch cry harder.

In her biased experience, the most defiant one would crumble the hardest when captured.

"I will handle the rest, so you can die in peace before the Supreme One notices you,"

"HAHAHAH~!"

Listening to the Passue Matriarch made Rex laugh maniacally.

He glared at her with a pair of bulging defiant eyes, the blood that drizzled down his lips also made his appearance daunting to see, alerting the Passue Matriarch, "Tell this Supreme One to fuck off then. If you are bent on standing in my way, I'll put you and him on my kill list"

Upon hearing Rex's harsh words, the Passue Matriarch's expression instantly darkens.

Her tears stopped and her countenance contorted hideously.

"What did you say, Werewolf...?" the Passue Matriarch asked, her tone deep and threatening.

Unperturbed by the abrupt shift in demeanor, Rex raised his hand defiantly and extended his middle finger toward the Passue Matriarch—"I said tell the Supreme one to fuck off," He said dauntingly, "Or he'll find himself on my kill list as well"

Almost the instant he said that—a loud explosion devastated and engulfed them both.

"Huaarghhk!!" Rex's eyes bulged as he grunted in pain.

Moving at a speed faster than the eye's ability to track—the Passue Matriarch clutches her scythe with both hands and drives it vertically—skewering Rex through the stomach. Even though he tried to block the attack, it was simply too strong.

Looking at Rex, eyes dripping with murderous intent, the Passue Matriarch scoffed.

"Nobody disrespects the Supreme One..." She said and riled her power stronger.

Feeling his soul being pulled out slowly into the scythe, Rex groaned in pain but he kept his eyes locked onto the Passue Matriarch. Eerily enough, the maniacal smile returned to Rex's again despite his current condition.

Grabbing the handle of the scythe, he cackled, "I was losing too much blood earlier,"

"But thanks to the pain you inflicted—I'm wide awake. Passue Matriarch... Let me show you that I'm someone worthy enough to mock the Supreme One—or anyone that has ever lived," Rex added before his hands burned with a weird energy that reacted strongly to the death-like white energy that belonged to the Passue Matriarch.

Raising an eyebrow, the Passue Matriarch looked at Rex with a hint of shock.

It seemed she could feel the oddity of Rex's energy.

"You're not the only one with the power to manipulate souls. Decimation Fervor!" Rex roared.

Swoosh!!

Almost instantly, the white energy that cloaked the Passue Matriarch's scythe was tainted by the crimson color. It happened in mere seconds before the tainted energy exploded—rippling throughout the area.

Scanning the area, the Passue Matriarch could see that the souls she summoned changed.

Once pristine-white colored, the souls she summoned now glowed with a crimson hue—they were tainted and twisted by the unknown malevolent force that now gripped them. Following that, the tide of red souls turned upon their summoner.

Not all of them were turned, only the ones near Rex were affected.

Edward and the Witch didn't sense what was happening, only the Passue Matriarch did.

Jolted awake from his foggy state because of the pain—Rex remembered an old skill that he gained earlier in his journey—a skill given by the Whiro Necklace. He gained access to a skill called Decimation Fervor—a formidable skill that judged one target and summoned the souls of those slain by the target directly.

It was a perfect skill to use against the Passue Matriarch.

She was the guardian of the Dead Man's Creek, and never left the place in her entire life.

Naturally—the entire creek was also the burial of all her adversaries in the past which didn't include the ones she had the appetite to absorb their souls. As expected, the skill was quite effective as the Passue Matriarch was being torn apart by the red souls.

Splash!

Roar!

Splash!

Phasing through her corporeal form, the red souls unleashed a barrage of spectral attacks.

Caught off guard by the betrayal of her own creation, the Passue Matriarch recoiled in agony as the tainted souls assailed her with relentless fury, angry at her for killing them. Each strike was a stark reminder of the atrocities she had committed behind the excuse of mercy.

Despite attempting to retaliate, there was too much of the red souls for her scythe to handle.

Her screams of anguished mingled with the anguished wails of the red souls.

Giving no time for the Passue Matriarch to recover—Rex climbed up to his feet strugglingly—ignoring all the pain he was feeling and strode towards her slowly. As he nears her—he grabs her face with both hands and smiles sinisterly.

"I don't want to do this, but you ask for this..." He whispered before in the next second.

Bam!!

Rex headbutted the Passue Matriarch right on her face viciously.

He did it a couple of times, breaking her skull and drawing blood as the red souls continued.

Following those successful strikes—he exhaled roughly and made a dragon tail sweep which knocked the Passue Matriarch from her feet. With a chilling gesture—he controlled the souls as they began to torture her.

"Even the Passue Matriarch will not stop me..." Rex muttered hauntingly.