Chapter 1010 Harmless Air
It's been said that a dream is the reflection of one's soul.
A natural platform that could give insight into the person's current state of the soul.
Unresolved anxiety, symbolic representation, and past trauma, all could be blended together to create a nightmare that was capable of destroying even the strongest of mind. Only a few can stop the onslaught of dreams as it comes from one's self.
Rex knew that this was all a dream.
He was aware that none of this was real, but seeing it didn't diminish the effect it brings.
Being aware of the dream world made everything feel even more real than it should be, and he was in emotional agony. He witnessed the Executor slitting the others' necks one by one, with a slow and sadistic movement.
Just the gushing blood that came out of their necks turned his feet cold.
At that moment, he was in total shock.
Like listening to a speaker right beside the ear, his sensitive hearing provides him with every detail of the gruesome sound created. Starting from the skin being sliced open, the tearing of flesh, and eventually the sound of blood hitting the ground.
It was ringing inside his ears, rattling his eardrums like the loudest war drums.
Thud!
Thud!
One by one, the others fell to the ground lifeless, leaving only the Executor and his smile.
"Power... the power you speak of, is nothing. Relationships, trusts, mortality... none of it can beat individual prowess in this world" the Executor said hauntingly, his voice echoing inside this hollow darkness. "Deep inside, you understand. Ultimately, one is for one's own, and the weak would be rooted out naturally. A natural selection..."
"No matter how much you tried, you can't watch over them forever" He continued raspingly.
Upon hearing this, Rex lets out a menacing howl as he makes a quick dash forward.
He tried to reach the Executor viciously.
But no matter how much he tries, how fast he dashes, he never reaches the Executor.
It was akin to him running at the same spot.
Soon, as the realization of his futile attempt started to seep in, his speed gradually turned slower and slower until he halted on his spot. He has both of his fists clenched, there is evident conflict in his expression.
"In the end... the only one capable of surviving is you alone," The Executor said finally.
Rex's body trembled uncontrollably when he heard this.
Is that how it's really going to be...? Will I, in the end, be destined to fail?
Due to the depressing environment in this hollow darkness, he began second-guessing his resolve, if the end will not change no matter what. As if his current state was not the worst, another voice penetrated his ears.
But this time, it came directly from his front.
Naturally, Rex lifted his gaze before he found two figures with featureless faces.
Silhouetted against the void, a man and a woman stood hand in hand, and even though both didn't have any face, the haunting familiarity struck Rex like a chilling revelation—they were none other than his biological parents, casting a pallor upon his countenance.
Just the sight of them made his heart skip a beat.
Flashes of what had happened to them, that he had already let go flood right back to him.
His legs felt weak, and he fell to his knees with watery eyes.
Overwhelmed by the spectral visage of his biological parents, Rex instinctively averted his gaze, a subconscious reaction as looking at both of them drained the very essence of power within him.
Yet, a gentle hand defied his retreat, delicately lifting his chin.
Rex is forced to confront the haunting apparitions and utters, "Mother... Father..."
With a somber grace, his mother Nabila inclined towards him. Although devoid of a physical mouth, an ethereal voice came out hauntingly, "In the end, no matter your strength, or how strong you managed to become, those dear to you will share our fate. All will end up like us"
"The Executor will win, and you will fail to protect, just like you always did..." She added.
Deg!
Upon hearing this, Rex could hear his own heartbeat thumping.
"No... No, no, no, NO! I will not fail! If I become stronger, a little bit more stronger! With my power, the Executor will lose! I will win! I will not fail again, this time... yes, this time will be completely different!"
Despite his jumbled words, it was obvious that he was doubting himself.
His face was that of a madman.
Rex said that while looking at both of his biological parents, he was trying to convince them that this time would be different. But his attempt was met with silence, the only silence that he will get when he loses against the Executor.
"Let me out, let me out, let me out!!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.
...
"LET ME OUT!!"
Just then, Calidora was startled when she saw Rex suddenly jolted awake with a shout.
After engaging in conversation with the royal Vampire guard, she later sought solace in Rex's chamber, seated by his bedside, lost in her thoughts. Her reverie was abruptly shattered in an instant when he unexpectedly bellowed, prompting her swift attention.
It was then she realized that Rex's entire body was drenched in sweat.
He seemed to be woken up from a nightmare.
"No, this time will be different. This time will be different, I know it, I will not fail again"
As she scrutinized his appearance, Rex mechanically echoed the same phrase over and over again. His gaze fixed vacantly on the bed sheet. In response, Calidora extended her hand to steady his shoulder, only to meet his abrupt recoil.
She rubbed her hand that was swatted away with an evident frown.
Obviously, Rex was still trapped in his nightmare.
Knowing that he was in a shaky condition, Calidora approached him carefully to bypass his instinctive defensive mechanism. Surprisingly, she managed to lay her hand on him before she lightly pulled him back down to the bed, laying in her embrace.
Calidora needs to do this very slowly as a sudden move would trigger him.
"It's okay..." She whispered directly into his ears lightly. "It's only a dream, none of it is real"
Under the soothing voice and air that she was emitting, the repetitive words that came out of Rex's mouth gradually became lighter. His body was still tense, Calidora could feel it clearly, but he was slowly returning to normal.
Looking at his state, a deep frown appeared on her face.
'His biggest battle is not the Executor, but it's inside his head' She pondered, the state that Rex was in right now was very surprising for her. 'So that's the real reason that he refrained from sleeping, his mind is playing tricks on him'
It hasn't been that long since he was asleep.
An hour at best.
But during that hour, when he was not in deep sleep yet, he was assaulted by a nightmare.
Obviously, such a state would take a toll even on someone like Rex.
Despite not being able to steady his mind directly, Calidora decided to help in other ways.
Channeling her vampiric powers, she slowly and gently influenced Rex's bloodstream and helped him calm down. She did it for more than ten minutes before she realized that Rex slowly came back to his senses.
Rex slowly rose up before he looked around with an evident frown.
Memories started coming back to him and his mind clicked that he had fallen asleep.
However, when he looked to the side, he was surprised to find Calidora was on the bed with him. She was thankfully still dressed, so nothing happened between them, "Since when are you here, Calidora? I thought this is my chamber"
"Is that your way of saying you don't like me on your bed?" Calidora asked back teasingly.
Upon hearing this, Rex could only let out a long sigh.
Since he had woken up, he felt extremely awful and wasn't fully awake yet. He went silent for about two minutes before his mind clicked again.?Wait a minute, how come she managed to lay next to me without waking me up? I've never been a heavy sleeper before.
Just as his mind clicked, another question popped inside his head.
Having a military background as well as possessing multiple enemies that wanted him dead, there hasn't been a period of his life where he became a deep sleeper. Rex has always been a light sleeper.
Even the smallest of sounds could probably wake him up from his sleep.
Taking one look again at Calidora who didn't know what he was doing, Rex frowned deeply.
Hmm...? That's weird, she doesn't emit any threat.
Now that he had taken a good look at Calidora, there was something odd about her. Not that her appearance was different, but the air around her was different. Anyone who possesses the power to harm others always emits this air of threat.
It includes as low as even a third-rank Awakened.
Rex's instincts as a predatory Werewolf have always sensed this air of threat, helping him discern those who don't have any ounce of power and those who do. With this ability, he could effectively tell which one was a civilian or not.
Due to that, someone as strong as Calidora should emit this air of threat.
But at this moment, that air of threat was absent from her.
No... Now that I think about it, I think her air of threat disappeared a couple of days ago.
From his predatory perspective, Calidora is completely harmless, and his senses also treat her the same and ignore her. It was probably why he didn't wake up when Calidora got on the bed with him.
However, the weird part was it wasn't supposed to be that way.
Calidora's air of threat shouldn't have vanished like that, she shouldn't be harmless.
It was his natural senses that told him otherwise.
"Did-" Rex clears his hoarse throat before he continues. "Did you do something using your cursed energy to sneak inside my bed? I'm not angry at you or anything, but I just want to know. I just want to know how you did it"
Upon hearing this, Calidora tilted her head a little in confusion.
Looking at her expression, he elaborates, "Nobody has ever sneaked up to me like that, you are the first person to do that. My senses seemed to ignore you too, so I'm asking if you do something using your cursed energy to come here"
Knowing that her cursed power was way stronger, Rex assumed that she was using that.
It was the only logical answer.
When she heard this, there was a brief pause before her eyes widened a little bit.
Rex noticed her lips curling a bit and this made him suspicious.
"Calidora... Are you hiding something from me?" He asked suspiciously, there was obviously something behind that twitch on her expression. "If it's something important, then you must tell me right now. Don't hide it from me"
Finding that Rex noticed her expression, she quickly got out of bed.
"Where are you going? I'm asking you a question" Rex called out to her in vexation.
Stopping in her tracks, Calidora turned her torso to look at him before she gave him a playful smirk, depicting that she wasn't going to give him an answer, "Since you're not going to be training for today, let's go somewhere. I'll wait for you outside in two minutes"
"Two minutes? This is not the army" Rex retorted back.
But Calidora didn't mind him and quickly walked out of the chamber, closing the door loudly.
A moment later.
It was already completely dark, nighttime had come, and the two had been walking towards the south side of the castle. Both of them are walking at a normal human pace, taking their time along the way.
Soon, the two of them reached a small hill.
"We're going to go up there. I want to show you something, so follow me" Calidora said.
Upon hearing this, Rex reclined and channeled his energy.
However, just as he was about to do that, Calidora already turned around to give him a disapproving look, "No... No power. We are going to climb the small hill normally, you are prohibited from using any energy"
"Huh...?" Rex raised both hands in utter confusion. "O-Okay?"
In the end, he decided to do as he was told and follow Calidora closely from behind.
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