Chapter 949 The Traitor's Power
Despite the bright day and the radiant white sphere in the sky from the First Breath, the barrier expanding from the city's walls obscured everything in a mile radius, saturating the entire area around with intense moonlight energy.
It created an otherworldly domain, tailor-made for Werewolves.
Not stopping at that, the spark of change that happened in the city began to spread.
Undergoing a metamorphosis that comes from an ability unknown by all, the walls began to grow even higher which surprised the archers who were also lifted higher. In addition, at fixed points on the walls, moonlight energy gathered at a rapid pace and manifested into turrets.
Automatically, the turrets turned on themselves and aimed their barrels at Edward.
Several wolf head statues also jutted from the body of the walls.
Each of them wore a vicious expression and bared their fangs, and their gleaming eyes fueled with blue moonlight energy not only made the wall more imposing but also made the wolf head statues look alive.
Usurpers that saw such walls would think twice before attacking.
All of the onlookers gasped at the sight of this chance, none of them knew what this was.
However, even to this current moment, the entirety of the city's prowess and functions are still being explored by them. Most of them are still unknown. For all they know, it might be that this change on the walls, amplifying the city's offense and defensive capabilities, is another defensive mechanism that the city has.
Flunra and Adhara turned their heads around and saw this surprising scene.
It was a sight that caught them off guard.
But both of them instantly knew that it could only happen when a certain figure had arrived.
One of the three crucial formations that the city has is the Kingdom of War.
It has the mechanism to turn the entire city into war mode, enhancing both its defensive and offensive capabilities by harnessing the moonlight energy the city naturally absorbs during the night when the formation is inactive.
Depending on the stored moonlight energy, it could last for days or even years.
At first, Edward marveled at the rapid development of the city, considering the relatively short time it took. However, now, he was captivated by the city's exceptional synergy with the Werewolves, marveling at its remarkable compatibility.
Then again, if Rex was the one who built it, then this all makes sense.
Edward slowly raised his gaze to the peak of the wall and saw a figure, standing proudly.
Looking down at the unexpected visitor coldly, Rex stood motionless.
In contrast to the onlookers who had witnessed Edward's altered visage and reacted with surprise, Rex remained unperturbed, exuding an air of unshakable calm, as if he had previously encountered Edward's transformed appearance. A nonchalance that suggested that Rex was no stranger to such a sight.
This nonchalant demeanor slightly puzzled and made Edward's throat dry.
'Have he seen me before? How come his reaction is lacking...' He pondered in questions.
Having known Rex for an extended period, Edward thought that he would go one of two routes of reaction. Either Rex would be taken aback by his profoundly altered appearance, or he would look upon him with revulsion at the extent of his corruption that was hardly human.
But instead of those two routes, Rex doesn't show any kind of emotion.
Rex looked down at Edward from on top of the wall for a full minute, his lingering gaze somehow dilated and stretched time to feel like an eternity. Suddenly, a dark portal materialized, and from within it, Edward drew a gleaming grey lance.
It was the lance he had gotten from the Executor, the Soulreaver Lance.
Upon summoning the lance, his mind was instantly filled with the whispers of damnation.
Sensing the danger from Rex's presence, his body moved on its own.
On the other hand, the sight of the dark portal that Edward used to draw his weapon contorted Rex's expression into a deepening frown as he pondered.?That dark portal he summoned, it's very similar to the System's inventory.
Although he has a question in mind, he knows that Edward got it from the Executor.
"Both of us came from a similar background, and we know better than anyone else that it's forbidden to attack the messenger!" Edward shouted from below with a stiff smile, he was warning Rex to not attack him out of nowhere.
Even in war, there are rules that need to be followed.
Since they were in the military, the rules of war were ingrained in their minds deeply.
A sly grin crept across Rex's face as those words reached his ears. In the past, it might have been an order to abide by and honor the rules of war, but today, he stood as a force of his own. He no longer followed, he was the architect of the rules now.
Essentially, he could do whatever he wanted.
Phoosh!
In an instant, time slowed down as Rex blitzed through the distance between them.
For a fleeting moment there, Edward found himself momentarily unable to react to Rex's descending claws, charged with vicious red force and laced with the crackling elements of his black lightning. Fortunately, his adaptive, layered skin moved instinctively to shield him.
Clang!
Crack!
Rex's claws connected with the black substance that was as hard as a rock.
Despite blocking the attack, Edward could feel the force through the black substance clearly.
It also traveled through his entire body and sunken his feet into the ground.
Upon realizing that he was being attacked despite being a messenger, he quickly retaliated, controlling the black substance to his right arm before brandishing his lance in a horizontal manner, creating a whistling sound.
A sound that was created from the sharp edge of the lance slicing the air cleanly.
Edward's attack was fast, faster than ever, but Rex's reflex was even faster as he blocked the attack using his arm. Not a change in his expression could be seen, he was completely expressionless in his attack.
Following that, the two engaged in fierce, head-on combat.
Just like back then when they were equal in power, now as the First Breath dominated the entire world, shifting the balance in favor of physical prowess, Rex and Edward found themselves locked in an unyielding stalemate.
No matter the calculated strikes Rex threw, he used the perfect defense in return.
Similarly, Edward couldn't land an attack.
Compared to last time, Rex's attack has grown even more ferocious, providing no weakness.
"Are you sure you want to attack me? The Executor is not going to like this at all" Edward mused between his breaths, dodging the attacks that were coming at him in bullet-fast speed, leaving red trails behind.
Ignoring his remarks, Rex pressed on even stronger, overwhelming Edward's defense.
While watching the fight, Evelyn suddenly frowned.
Seeing her seem to be troubled, Flunra asked from the side, "What's wrong, Lady Evelyn?"
"Edward... He has gotten a lot stronger. Last time, his awakened power was barely at the seventh-rank realm. Adhara, elemental power-wise, is stronger than him. But now, he could even keep up with Rex, the corruption effect is greater than I thought" Evelyn replied, pouring her thoughts aloud.
Upon hearing this, Flunra nodded his head, "It's the Executor, he has his own ways"
Before Rex even set foot in Faraday University, Edward had already established himself as an extremely competent figure in hand-to-hand combat skills. His proficiency in this discipline propelled him through the ranks, earning him a fearsome reputation.
Compared to Rex, his hand-to-hand combat skills are equal but polar opposite.
However, the gap between them keeps widening.
It widened so much to the point that their equal combat skills became irrelevant completely.
Rex would always be the victor of the bout due to his physical strength.
Now, Edward has somehow closed that wide gap and is able to make his combat skills relevant again. Evelyn was troubled by this as essentially, the Silverstar Pack would have an opponent that is as horrifying as Rex in terms of combat prowess.
'Just why did he have to accept the Executor's corruption...?' She pondered.
Meanwhile, back to the fight.
Despite being the polar opposite and knowing that it would require a huge amount of effort to take the others down, the battle continues. In the midst of it, Edward realized that he couldn't keep on relying on his turtle-like defense in this confrontation.
'I can't stay on defense, I need to strike back or this fight will never be over until I slip up'
Edward's eyes glistened, he decided to end this fight through force.
Swerving his head to the side to evade an oncoming strike from Rex's claws, he tightened his lance, seizing the opportunity to turn the tables and reclaim the offensive. In an instant, his lance whirled, launching a series of rapid, well-coordinated strikes from various angles.
In return, Rex was being pushed back, yet his expression remained the same.
Leaping back to dodge a circular motion of the lance that threatened to disembowel his stomach, Rex gazed up and saw Edward rotating his body and swinging his lance with two hands, a trap he had set for a perfect blow from above.
During his attacks earlier, he deliberately instilled Rex's mind with rapid singular attacks.
It sets the perfect chance for him to catch him off guard.
Now that Rex had leaped back, expecting a single attack, he was opened for a follow-up attack that was fueled by the momentum of the previous attack. Pulling no strength back, Edward puts his entire weight and power into one swing.
However, as he did that, a smirk appeared on Rex's face.?A wide swing.
Bam!
"Krrghhk?!"
Edward was caught off guard when an uppercut kick somehow landed solidly on his jaw.
It propelled him upwards, vanquishing his attack mid-way.
Following that successful attack that wasn't even anticipated by the black substance, Rex jumped and pierced his claws down using the Sharp Lightning spell that bolted the speed of his attack in an abrupt manner.
Slash!
Boom!
Rex executed another flawlessly aimed attack, driving Edward forcefully into the earth below.
Landing on the ground gracefully, he gazed at Edward in contempt.
I'm not the same as back then, Edward. My combat skills have grown way stronger.
Due to the battle that happened within the Blood Moon realm under Kaiser's dominion, during his ascension trial, he found himself locked in combat with multiple of his own blood clones, capable of mirroring his ferocious offensive tactics.
In response, he was compelled to master a more defensive fighting style.
He was overwhelmed at first.
Being on the receiving end against his own aggressive attacks, it was very difficult.
However, like any living being that was pressed into the corner, he found some way to meddle through and quickly grasped a way to defend against aggressive attacks. Since he could defend against himself, his defensive capability is also terrifyingly strong.
Edward, who was not exceptional in offense is nothing compared to his own offense.
Due to that, Rex was capable of countering him.
"Seems like I underestimated your defense too much, I was too hasty there," Edward said as he stabbed his lance on the ground and stood up, emerging from the cloud of dust with an approving smile. "You got me good" He added dejectedly.
Despite his improvement in power, Rex is more adept at fighting, as he always has.
However, Rex doesn't feel elated at all.
I successfully landed an uppercut kick, and it seemed that the black substance didn't intercept that move. However, when I followed up with another attack, despite my swift execution, the black substance managed to react. It appeared to have a selective defensive mechanism, able to discern whether the attack would be fatal for Edward or not.
Yes, the reason Rex decided to attack Edward was not because of anger.
He did it because he wanted to size up Edward's new power and gain some insight into it.
Now, he knows more about his corrupted form and his new ability.
Gazing at Edward with icy eyes, Rex then asked raspingly, "What did you do to Gistella?"
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