As soon as he received the news, Rex's mind paused for a second, stumbled at the words uttered by the person that he really hates right now. 'Wait, what...?' the possibility of that happening never crossed his mind, he hasn't taken it into consideration.
For a moment there he was shocked, Giana can tell from the sudden silence.
Endless possibilities entered Rex's mind as his mind was forced to consider the possibility that Kyran was not held hostage by humanity. Due to the bias that he has against Giana, he never considered that possibility, and even now he's still reluctant.
'Her heart beat and even her breathing are normal, I can hear it. It doesn't seem like she's lying'
As he was considering the possibility, he quickly shook his head, making an effort to dispel the notions that had been implanted in him by Giana. On the surface, it seemed like she was telling the truth, but he wasn't ready to take her words at face value considering there's still a chance that she's lying.
"I'm not going to fall to such a blatant lie," Rex said with a cold tone, not believing Giana at all.
Rex knows from way back that Giana puts a heavy priority on the continuation of humanity, therefore he was not going to believe what she's saying. If she can dissuade him from thinking that Kyran was not with them, then humanity will be safer, 'That must be her goal.'
Nothing she can say right now will be able to change his mind, he doesn't trust her at all.
But from the looks of it, Giana already realized that everything she says will be useless. It's not like Rex would be easily convinced either, "I know you wouldn't believe me. The reason I'm saying this is because at the very least, consider the prospect of Kyran is not with us. You are a smart guy, Rex. You can figure it out"
In response to this, Rex turns his face away reluctantly with lingering hatred inside of him.
A moment passed as Giana cooked the mutated animal by the bonfire and started eating herself, there was no other conversation after that, only complete silence. Rex wanted to leave but he can't, he wanted to go back but the wounds he suffered is too much.
The system estimates that he would be stuck here for two hours before he regenerates enough.
"Leave, Giana. Don't be naive, I will kill you the moment I can move properly" Rex whispered from the back, holding his torn chest while looking at Giana's back with immense murderous intent. Even though they exchanged friendly conversation, it doesn't wipe out the fact that there's a big tiger between them.
From Rex's perspective, she was nothing more than his parents' killer.
Without even turning around despite feeling the murderous intent poking her back, Giana sits still unwavering while eating the roasted mutated animal, "Go ahead, kill me if you can. I'm going to stay here until you recovered, and you can't stop me" she replied stubbornly.
"Kehkk!" Rex grinds his teeth in anger, he doesn't want to be near this damned woman.
Even her presence makes his blood boils to the absolute limit, the only thing he saw in her was his parents' death. The more he nears her, the angrier he gets. Rex decided to try and ignore her, it would only worsen his condition the longer he looks at her.
Seconds turns to minutes, the place was only filled with the cackling sound of the bonfire.
A moment ago Giana cast a detection spell that covers a huge radius around them, she did that to anticipate any threat that might be approaching them right now. The Executor, for example, might just arrive here in seek of Rex.
After casting that spell, she sat with her legs crossed before she started meditating.
Knowing that Rex is probably very pissed at Brigitta for using him to awaken the Executor, Giana decided to protect him in his vulnerable state until she can regain back some of his strength. As she and Brigitta already agreed with Edward to restore Rex's trust, she doesn't want this to worsen their situation.
It was the reason she told herself, but really, she was just here to ease the guilt.
Giana feels immense guilt emerging inside her soft consciousness whenever she lays her eyes on Rex, she felt like she caused all of this. Because of that, she decided to do as much as she can to help and do the right thing.
While she was meditating, her mind was unclear, she was stuck at the sight of the Executor.
'For the Executor to be able to injure Rex to this state, and even make him slowly recover like this unlike the usual, he must be very strong. At this point, he can be considered a tenth-rank realm if he can best Rex' Giana thought with her eyes closed.
Not only that, the Executor even ignored Giana's presence passing by.
It's clear that the Executor is a prideful individual that gazes at everything as a lesser being, the way he treated Brigitta shows that clearly. Giana feels a bad premonition from this, the reason president Sebrof wants to awaken the Executor was for helping the war against the Supernatural.
Using any method possible to ensure humanity's victory against the Supernatural.
But he was probably not expecting the Executor to be this mighty and has his own twisted view of the world, there's no saying what would the Executor do to the current construct of humanity, he might just completely change it.
As she was thinking that, her eyes jolted open when she sensed something from the back.
Rex who was trying to ignore Giana to the best of his abilities suddenly appeared behind her, his timing was perfect, right when Giana was troubled with the thoughts inside her mind about the Executor's awakening.
Slowly glancing to her back, she saw Rex fueled with nothing but killing intent.
With his claws cloaked with the power that he has recovered thanks to the moonlight above his head, Rex intends to decapitate Giana right here and right now. He already tried his best, but he simply can't sit idly while his parents' killer was right in front of him.
Looking at Rex's towering figure, Giana's heart started thumping fiercely in her chest.
Most of the deceased saw this kind of scene before their deaths, and it seems she was going to be joining them. Becoming one of Rex's victims. But instead of struggling or even fighting back, she only accepted her fate.
One way or another, she would probably die by Rex's claws either way.
Despite Zero being the one that killed Rex's parents directly with his own two hands, he did that because of Giana's negligence and emotions. If it weren't for that, then Zero wouldn't be taking that reckless route.
There were no other people to blame except for her, it was ultimately her that caused all of this.
Alongside the awakening of the Executor that might stir chaos in humanity, there's not much to live for in her view. 'So this is how I'm going to die. I always thought that I would die in battle, fighting Supernaturals. I wouldn't have guessed I would die like this. It's not the worst, death by the hands of the Silverstar Pack Alpha is not a bad way to go...'
Closing her eyes once again, a weak streak of a smile was plastered across her face.
Giana embraces the last of moments of her life, waiting for Rex's sizzling claws to slice through her and send her on her way. But even after waiting for that moment through the insufferable seconds, the end never arrived, her eyelids trembled as her eyes open slowly.
Upon opening her eyes, she was greeted by Rex's claws sizzling with crimson zeal.
Rex's claws stopped a couple of inches away from Giana's neck, the kingly energy was close enough to kiss the skin of her neck with its powerful burning property. A shock can be seen on Rex's face, as he was also in disbelief finding his own body stopped his swing mid-track.
But oblivious to Giana's eyes, there was a hand made of golden light stopping Rex's arm.
A golden hand that completely cripples Rex's body from all senses and power, it was akin to a hand from heaven despite the sky being shrouded by the abyssal darkness. For a second there, Rex's entire world turns bright by the rays of golden light.
Only one person can bring light to his world, and he can't possibly mistake this golden arm.
With a sense of longing and sorrow, he raises his gaze to lay eyes on whose this golden arm belongs. There, he finds a vague resemblance of a person smiling pliantly at him, a smile that soothes his entire soul.
It makes Rex's eyes widen, "M-Mother..." he uttered in absolute shock.
Albeit it's vague Rex can tell that it was his mother, Mrs. Greene that stopped him from delivering an ending blow to Giana. Realizing this, he looks down with a darkened face, "W-Why are you doing this..."
Confusion and despair crept inside of him, he couldn't get why his mother's spirit is doing this.
Giana was looking directly at Rex and saw the change in his expression, she has never seen his face containing anything other than coldness and anger. It surprises her, and it makes her wonder what could make him put on such a face.
Under her surprised gaze, Rex lowers his claws and turns his body around.
Looking up briefly to the sky where his mother's spirit slowly dissipates once again, Rex takes a deep breath before exhaling it all in one go. Taking a sharp breath to take his mind back to reality, he then said, "Your time will come Giana, but it's not going to be today"
After saying that, Rex feel his body for a bit before he dashed away.
Rex is still very much wounded but he can start to make his way back right now, the others must be worried about him especially since he lost all power back then due to his physical and soul exhaustion.
On the other hand, Giana was still looking in a daze at where Rex has just left.
Something surprising just happened, and her mind was not able to wrap around it fully for a solid half a minute. Eventually, she blinks her eyes before she sucked in a sharp cold breath, "W-What happened...? D-Did he just decided to spare me?"
It was shocking to him that Rex actually decided to spare her.
Knowing how ruthless the man called Rex Silverstar can be, being spared was the last thing she expected. She also heard of what Rex mutters earlier, something about his mother. But she was not going to waste this chance.
Edward was the one that wanted to restore Rex's trust, and the chance has presented itself.
Although she was already accepting her own death a moment ago, turns out fate has other things in mind and she was left still alive right now. Her heart is still thumping strongly, the lingering effect of how close she was to death earlier.
Giana's eyes spark with resolve, 'I won't waste this chance, no matter what lies ahead.'
Meanwhile, Rex has started to make his way back.
'Why has mother stopped me from killing her? There must be a reason, it couldn't be just an empty facade' Rex thought, remembering the golden hand of his mother that prevent him from killing Giana right there.
Deep inside his heart, he knows that there's a meaning to this. But he doesn't know it now.
Rex decided that he would definitely find the meaning behind his mother's spirit action, but now, he needs to get back and regroup with the others first. With the awakening of the Executor, everything was about to change.
Preparations and adjustments must be made, or they will fall to the Executor's power.
At this point, Rex knows that he was not able to beat the Executor. The difference between them is simply too much, and there's nothing else to do but to become stronger and stronger until he can put the Executor to his knees.
'I need to master Brutal Impulse...' Rex thought, remembering the damage he did to the Executor.
Out of everything inside his arsenal, the Brutal Impulse is the only skill that can potentially hurt the Executor. And that is what he was going to focus on. 'On top of that, maybe it's time I focus back on training my elements. I have the system, and that is my advantage over others, I need to exploit it more'
Firming his resolve, he finally decided the path to power he was going to take.
With the system by his side, there are endless possibilities for him to get stronger. Rex needs only to actually do it, and the system will help just like it said earlier. 'My goal right now is to protect those dear to me, and create a peaceful world... the Executor is getting in the way of that. I don't believe anyone to stand at the very top to do good, but I believe that I can be good when I stand at the top'
'In that case, I'm not going to let anyone sit at the very top except for me, over my dead body. I don't care what lies ahead, the Executor, the Humans, the Supernaturals, or any new threats... I will not let anyone of them reach the absolute top, I'm going to dominate them all!'
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