Linthia has absolute trust in Rex.
As she promised to Dindora, sheâs going to dedicate her entire life to Rex and become the best general under the Clarentium Empire. Achieving that dream wasnât going to be easy, the roadâwould be filled with endless obstacles that would break her over and over again.
Unfortunately, the first obstacle seemed to be the hardest.
But backing out now would be a blatant disrespect to her promise.
At this point, nothing would stop her from going through with this.
Even if Rex wasnât confident in her, she would still go through and do her best.
Now that she knew that Rex was confident in her, it was even better.
"Fear not, I will also do my hardest to assist you in your path," Rex assured, his gaze akin to a torrent of energy that fueled Linthia with confidence. "I brought you here with me therefore I am responsible for you. No matter what, Iâll take care of you"
"Yes!" Linthia nodded, her smiling face brimming with energy.
She wasnât worried anymore.
However, Rexâs countenance wasnât the sameâhe was still serious and tense.
It gave the air that he wasnât finished talking and the next part was going to be an unpleasant one.
"What is your impression of me, Linthia?" He suddenly asked, staring through her.
Caught off guard by the question, she paused for a secondâcontemplating her answer inside her head but it didnât take long for her to recover, "Youâre the savior for thoseâwho have no home, a ruler with a vision to change the world, and the strongest entity in the new era. Although you looked scaryâand might seem to be cold, in truth, you care for others the most. Above all, youâre my Emperor"
Upon hearing this, Rex smiled weaklyâit was heartfelt.
Linthia said all of that without a pause, everything she said came from her heart.
But her expectations were only more burdens for Rex.
"Regardless, you must know that Iâm not a good person," Rex said finally.
Of course, Linthia wanted to refute but Rex didnât give her the time to intervene, "Iâm also the one who crippled the Human race, killed a lot of Supernatural races, someoneâwho was capable of doing some of the most atrocious things. Donât forget, Kyran became who he was because he learned from me"
His words were akin to a slap from reality for Linthia.
Just the sheer mentioning of Kyran was enough to know the atrocity Rex was talking about. Stay connected with NovelBin.Côm
As the third captain, she heard rumors of what he did to the Dark Elves.
So for Rex to say that Kyran learned from him showed how wicked he could be.@@novelbin@@
"Whyâ¦" Linthia mumbled with slightly trembling lips. "Why are you telling me something like this?"
"Iâm here to handle some important things, the kind of things that dictated the fate of my empire, along with those close to me," Rex sighed, looking down to the wooden floor as flashes of blood and gore he did throughout his life were reflected in his eyes. "Failure is not an option so forgive me for ruining the perfect image you have of me because⦠Iâm not going to play nice"
Linthia gulped down her saliva when the last words escaped Rexâs lips.
From his baritone tone alone, she could tell that he was going to be extremely ruthless in his ways.
It was the kind of tone one used before destroying kingdoms.
One that could spark fear in those who stood in the way of Rex and what he wanted to achieve.
Rex then lifted his gaze to make eye contact with Linthia again before he raised his hand, pressing his index finger against the middle of his lips, "Keep what you saw in this journey to yourself, bring it all to your grave. Can I trust you to do that, Captain Linthia?"
"Y- Yesâ¦" Linthia nodded hesitantly. "Nothing would make me spill what I saw here"
"Good," Rex nodded as he hovered to the center.
He sat cross-legged on the bed, preparing himself to start cultivating his Soul Artifacts.
"Go wake up Amanir and ask him to teach you how to cultivate your Soul Artifact," Rex said as he closed his eyes, the Nightfall Starsâwere still in his inventory, ready to be absorbed. "Once night comes, weâre going to the Void Hub"
Answering with only a nod, Linthia went to do as he instructed.
On the other hand, Rex closed his eyes and opened the stat window for his Soul Artifacts.
Even though he had tried two of them, he didnât know the details.
â¦
Grade: SSS
Type: Attack (Absolute)
Nickname: Red Claws that Hungers
Realm Progression: High Spirit 1 (0%)
Description: Stemmed from the red haze of the Lunirich God of the Blood Moon, Kaiser of the Scarlet Garland, the Red Dawn of Kaiser is a divine Soul Artifact that commands primal and blood powers. Its activation exacts a heavy tollâthe userâs hands would be coated in a blood-red aura, amplifying their physical strength to unnatural levels and reshaping the userâs fingernails into razor-sharp crimson claws. Anyone bearing this Soul Artifact is cursed to be bloodthirsty and savage.
Basic Ability: Summon red razor-sharp claws that increase strength stat exponentially.
Special Ability: Locked. (Need to reach the Ascendant Spirit Realm)
Spirit Genesis: Locked. (Need to reach the Ascendant Spirit Realm)
Assimilated Echo(s): Locked. (Need to reach the Immortal Spirit Realm)
â¦
Grade: SSS+
Type: Hybrid (Attack and Support)
Nickname: Forsakenâs Visage
Realm Progression: High Spirit 1 (0%)
Description: Originating from the depth of the Banished Realm, the Mask of the Banished Eclipse is the representation of the Lunirich Goddess of the Dark Moon, the Countess of the Dark Lunirichâs love and dominion. Itâs a divine Soul Artifact that grants the user unparalleled clarity, being able to see through anything and everything relating to the dark and also the power of banishment deception. Its activation would create a black mask that covered the userâs face. Anyone bearing this Soul Artifact will never be and feel alone.
Basic Ability: Summon a black mask that enhances the userâs vision greatly.
Special Ability: Locked. (Need to reach the Ascendant Spirit Realm)
Spirit Genesis: Locked. (Need to reach the Ascendant Spirit Realm)
Assimilated Echo(s): Locked. (Need to reach the Immortal Spirit Realm)
â¦
Grade: SSS
Type: Defense
Nickname: Halo of Golden
Realm Progression: High Spirit 1 (0%)
Description: Blessed by the Lunirich Goddess of the Honey Moon, Meloriana the Golden Heart, this Soul Artifact radiates divine protection imbued with her unwavering compassion. Itâs a Soul Artifact that serves as both shield and guardian, a testament to the goddessâ watchful grace. Its activation would create a crescent-shaped halo that hovered behind the user. Anyone bearing this Soul Artifact will have divine protection by their side.
Basic Ability: Summon a crescent-shaped halo that increases the endurance stat greatly and protects the user from magical, physical, and mental attacks.
Special Ability: Locked. (Need to reach the Ascendant Spirit Realm)
Spirit Genesis: Locked. (Need to reach the Ascendant Spirit Realm)
Assimilated Echo(s): Locked. (Need to reach the Immortal Spirit Realm)
â¦
Upon asking the System to show him the stat windows for all Soul Artifacts, three panels immediately appearedâeach representing one Soul Artifact. Rex was overwhelmed by informationâbut he slowly grasped it all.
As the setting he set, the Soul Artifacts represented his King Marks.
It costs him a fortune to transfer all of them to the Spirit Realm but it was certainly worth it.
From the basic understanding he has of the power system inside the Spirit Realm, he knew that the Soul Artifact could be summoned once a spirit broke through into the High Spirit rank. Any spirit that was still at the Foundation Rank wouldnât be able to summon their Soul Artifact.
Fortunately for Rex, the moment he stepped into the Spirit Realm, he was already in High Spirit rank.
He could instantly summon his Soul Artifacts because of that.
Scanning the Red Dawn of Kaiser Soul Artifact, it was more or less within his expectations.
Considering that it originatedâfrom the Blood Moon King Mark, the effect it provided was spot on and the description didnât scare him a bit. He expected Kaiser to tamper with it, but there doesnât seem to be anything stated in the panel that hinted at that.
However, his attention was drawn to the type section.
System, what does the word âabsoluteâ mean in that section?
Abnormal? Is Kaiser trying to show off even in the Spirit Realm? No, that canât be right.
Rex shrugged his shouldersâhe didnât mind this.
Moving down from the type section, Rexâs attention landed on the special ability section.
Once a spirit reached the Ascendant Spirit rank, their Soul Artifact would evolve further and create a special ability that was an enhanced version of the basic ability. Every normal Soul Artifact has only one special ability that is unique to itself but the number of special abilities would increase depending on the grade of the Soul Artifact.
From what Rex knew, SSS-grade Soul Artifact would have three extremely strong special abilities.
Preparing to come to the Spirit Realm, he knew at least this much.
But his knowledge fell short in the two following sectionsâSpirit Genesis and Assimilated Echo.
It wasnât a problem for him though, the System was always there to help.
Oh, right, Andreas used a Spirit Genesis earlier.
Hours earlier when facing the Giga Skull Crusher, Andreas summoned his hammer and cast his Spirit Genesis, sending the fat creature hurtling like a ragdoll. Considering that the fat creature was at the Immortal Spirit rank, that was impressive.
Just to show how powerful a Spirit Genesis could be.
Rex wanted to ask Amanir about it but he forgot, and now he remembered.
Andreas has an A-grade Soul Artifact, a defense type too.
Recalling Andreasâ stats, Rex couldnât help but be amazed the more he thought about it.
Despite having a defense-type Soul Artifact, his Spirit Genesis was almost like an attack.
More importantly, Rex was becoming more curiousâas to what kind of Spirit Genesis his three SSS-grade Soul Artifacts would provide him with. Shaking his head from fantasy, Rex moved onto the Mask of the Banished Eclipse.
It was the Soul Artifact from the Countess and it was also within expectations.
However, several things caught his attention.
First of all, the Soul Artifact wasnât SSS grade but SSS+ grade instead.
Rex didnât know if there was even an SSS+ grade but the System would never make a mistake.
Nevertheless, its meaning should be straightforwardâitâs stronger than the SSS grade.
On top of that, Rex also felt a sinking feeling in his stomach when he read the description, especially the last part, "Anyone bearing this Soul Artifact will have divine protection by their side? I donât know what that means but why is my chest aching inside?"
It felt similar to when he lost his parents or something important, the sensation was unnerving.
Since nothing should be happening, Rex dismissed it entirely.
He didnât need to ponder too much about it since he needed his focus to be on his goals.
Lastly, the Aegis of Moon Sentinel.
Knowing that Meloriana, the Honey Moon Goddess is known for her protectionâRex wasnât shocked to see that the Soul Artifact she provided was defense-type. Not to mention, with this Soul Artifact, his kit was perfect.
He has one attack type, one defense type, and a Hybrid type that also consists of the support type.
Rex has a perfect build, one that he unintentionally achieved.
I havenât had the chance to summon the Aegis of Moon Sentinel but itâs a crescent halo?
Despite not having a good relationship with Meloriana, a crescent halo was quite cool.
If his Soul Artifacts were all activated, he would have red claws, a black mask, and a crescent halo.
He would be very eye-catching but that was exactly what he wanted.
Now that I know each one of them, which one should I cultivate first? What should I choose?