It was the next day.

    "How is the situation outside?" the scholar asked.

    He was standing on the corner with a maid of the pavilion in front of him.

    "It’s bad, my Lord," the maid reported, hugging the intricate wooden tray tightly against her chest. "Lord Istvan sent a few dozen of our soldiers to trace out into the Black Rift—and crossed the people from the Arcalen House scouting our surroundings. Four survived but three got eaten by the Voidal Monsters"

    Upon hearing this, the scholar sighed.

    People were dying even before the real battle started.

    Since he was stuck here babysitting Rex, he needed to rely on this maid for information.

    Just as he was about to dismiss the maid, she had more to say.

    "Also, I heard Lord Istvan talk with the Young Mistress," the maid started, leaning closer to whisper. "Lord Istvan wanted to ask Lord Garvain for a duel but someone has to duel Lord Franklin too. He was still deliberating whether Young Mistress—and you are going to be enough to fight Lord Franklin"

    As she said that, the maid’s body began to tremble visibly.

    She was afraid.

    ’If all of us fought and died, there will no rulers left to govern Dragna Land and Dragna Sea,’ the scholar pondered gravely. ’But Lord Istvan must know that so the duel... Is he going to reveal Young Mistress to Lord Garvain? No better time than now but he must earn Lord Garvain’s respect first by being almost equal in combat’@@@@

    ’But with me and Young Mistress alone, Franklin will still be too strong,’ He added gravely.

    However, a face crossed his mind.

    Almost instinctively, the scholar turned to the door at the end of the corridor.

    It was where Rex was detained.

    ’He could help us,’ the scholar pondered and headed for the door.

    Recalling the amount of killing intent oozing out of Rex’s body—palpable even to the naked eye, the scholar knew that Rex was a formidable spirit. If Rex was added into the mix, they would no doubt be able to match or perhaps beat Franklin who was in the Immortal Spirit 2 rank.

    In hindsight, the Young Mistress who was in the Immortal Spirit 1 rank should be able to match him.

    But her Soul Artifact was a support type while Franklin is an attack type.

    She wouldn’t be able to hold her own against Franklin because of that.

    It’s not that support-type Soul Artifacts couldn’t fight but Selvaris specifically has no battle prowess. Enjoy new chapters from novelhall.Co?m

    Possessing a cauldron as a Soul Artifact, she was more of a woman behind the scenes.

    Rushing towards the door, the scholar pushed it gently and stepped inside before he gasped in surprise.

    He was instantly greeted with the metallic tang of blood and the acrid sting of sweat.

    Inside his mind, he painted a vivid picture of what he would find—Rex broken, trembling, his spirit shattered under the relentless hands of Narsa House’s finest executioner. But the scene before him was a grotesque inversion of his expectations.

    Someone was broken, trembling, and had his spirit shattered but it wasn’t Rex.

    As opposed to him, it was the executioner instead.

    For starters, the executioner was a man renowned for his unyielding precision, someone who was able to extract information from even the most loyal was now slumped against the stone wall. His face was pale and slick with sweat.

    Both of his hands trembled as they clutched a bloodied knife and a bloodied whip.

    Even though he was the one doing the torture, his chest heaved up and down though he had run a long marathon. Additionally, his eyes, wide, desperate, and haunted—darted to the scholar like a drowning man sighting land.

    On the other hand, Rex was a monolith.

    His body bore the brutal artistry of the torture devices.

    Jagged lacerations, burns, and bruises mapped a landscape of pain and suffering.

    However, his expression was ice, his gaze steady and unflinching.

    No scream escaped his lips, no plea for mercy.

    He only turned to gaze at the scholar as though the concept of pain didn’t take hold of him.

    As soon as he heard that, the scholar stood up from the chair, "As soon as you agree"

    Upon hearing this, Rex nodded—giving the green light to the scholar.

    Smiling, the scholar hurried outside but he stopped as he was about to reach for the door.

    "I hope you could forgive the Young Mistress," He said whisperingly. "She’s stressed"

    As soon as those words came out of his mouth, he opened the door and exited the chamber.

    Rex was left alone again inside the room.

    He took a deep breath through his nose and exhaled through his mouth, easing the pain across his body.

    Even though the torture itself was something he could endure quite easily, the Gradual Penalty made it ten times harder. His face remained stoic and cold but he wanted to scream inside. Fortunately, that dark moment had come to pass.

    Moments earlier, Rex had checked his Divine Upgrade and asked the System if he could use it here.

    Surprisingly, he could.

    Rex has access to the Moon Order skill, now added to the Honey Moon Order skill.

    Knowing that he would be in multiple tough situations such as this one, he checked his Divine Upgrade and found that it was sitting roughly at 15 points. It increased but the rate of increase was very slow, he needed a lot more.

    But to do that, he needed to upgrade his Oustification or increase his divinity.

    Each one was an interesting path he could take.

    ’Remember, this is my world, not yours so you don’t need to think about repercussions’

    "Right..." Rex mumbled inwardly, recalling what Amanir said to him a couple of days ago. "Like he said, this is not my world. I have less responsibilities here... I’m free. Just like when all of this started, I only needed to protect myself. I don’t care what happened to this realm so why am I hesitating?"

    Nodding his head, Rex had a change of plans.

    Once his mind was settled, he recalled the scholar’s explanation.

    "The Obelisk of Life...It was what empowered the bubble protecting these small lands where people could live in. To recharge it, one needed to obtain a special material called Life Gem that is dropped by special Voidal Monsters," Rex thought aloud, assessing the Narsa House’s situation. "To do that, they need help from the Arcalen House and that’s where I came in"

    "But what special Voidal monsters would drop a Life Gem? I bet that dragon snake has one," He uttered.

    Recalling how powerful that dragon snake was, Rex was sure that it has one.

    Perhaps, the Life Gem that the dragon snake has would empower the Obelisk of Life for both the Arcalen and Narsa House for thousands of years. After all, that woman, Davina mentioned that the dragon snake was a Voidal Prince.

    "I’ve tasted its meat but what if I’m the one who killed it?" Rex cracked a grin of anticipation.

    Killing that Voidal Prince would certainly yield him a Nightfall Star.

    He might gain a red one or maybe even a gold one.

    Just as he thought of that, however, his eyes bulged as a searing pain assaulted his neck.

    "Kahkk!" Rex coughed a mouthful of blood as the vein bulging in his forehead began to blacken.

    His mind throbbed hard like a vicious migraine.

    Rex tried reaching for his burning neck but he couldn’t, the chains stopped him.

    Mercilessly, the burning pain intensified.

    But his neck, nothing was happening to his neck—it was as if what he was feeling was an illusion.

    It wasn’t real and yet, it was very much real for Rex.

    Warning!

    Warning!

    Notice: the Father Dominator has his attention on the user

    Father Dominator? Who’s that?