Chapter 974 Shock of His Life
Gistella also sat up in surprise when Rex suddenly sprung up.
She saw the horrified expression that Rex was wearing and her heart began to thump even faster. His look was akin to him seeing his own nightmare coming true right before his eyes, and the pure shock was palpable through his eyes.
It was even more worrying knowing his usual demeanor.
Across his journey from the bottom all the way to here, he faced numerous impossible problems that were thrown at him by the world. He managed to overcome them all, and through those hardships, he developed himself to become the man he is right now.
His stress tolerance was inhuman, way beyond the normal because of that.
When facing a problem, he's usually indifferent.
But it was completely different this time, Gistella could see him reacting strongly.
Despite being unaware of the circumstances, as this came suddenly, she could sense the gravity of the situation from Rex's intense reaction alone. More profoundly, she felt extreme heartache knowing that she was the one that caused this.
'What have I done? I shouldn't have accepted his request without thinking it through!'
...
A couple of days ago.
Maintaining a composed demeanor, she was granted the liberty to explore the room despite the restraints. She could now peer out of the window, where she noticed the return of the Executor from the Great Barricade.
Gistella saw him giving the spear to Edward who was waiting for him near the castle's gate.
lightsΝοvεl ?οm In addition to that, she also heard their conversation.
"Why three days? Is there something going on in three days?"
"It's going to be the Hare Full Moon soon..."
Even though the exchange between them was short, it was insightful, and now Gistella could deduce that the Executor had ominous plans involving Rex during the Hare Moon. A talk about the Full Moon undoubtedly linked to the Werewolves.
Rex is definitely at the top of the Executor's hit list, so it must be for him.
But she was surprised when a moment later, the Executor barged inside with wide steps.
Dismissing the Awakened from the room with a mere glance, the space cleared, leaving only Gistella alone with the Executor. His grin stretched from ear to ear, suggesting a malevolent agenda lurking within his thoughts, poised to be unveiled.
"It's time for you to perform, Gistella..." the Executor suddenly said.
A frown appeared on Gistella's face, "I haven't seen you fulfilling your end of the deal"
"With these hands, I've killed countless high-ranking Vampires" the Executor replied, raising both of his hands facing up to his waist level. "Killing Calidora is nothing more than a mere child's play for me, as easy as killing a lesser human. I could do it right after you fulfill your end by assisting me with this"
Gistella kept an indifferent look despite frowning inwardly at this.
However, the Executor approaches slowly, his feet thudding against the soft carpet floor.
Many would be scared shitless at the approach of the Executor, but Gistella stood on her spot unwavering, her countenance remains indifferent. As the Executor towered over her, casting his imposing shadow, he reminded her, "In case you forget, you came here voluntarily, seeking my aid..."
"I am power, I am the Executor, and I really can dictate our deal however I want" He added.
Having no other choice, she decided to follow along.
Anything more than this then the Executor would be unstable, and she would be in trouble.
"As per our accord, you volunteered to assist me in incapacitating Rex, rendering him no threat to me in exchange for sparing him and eliminating Calidora. Now, I know the perfect thing to do, one that only you can do" the Executor explained, his malevolent smirk widening.
Upon hearing this, Gistella asked, "What do you want me to do?"
"I want you... I want you to make Rex admit that I am his rival. Make sure that he says it clearly. I will provide you with the place and time to do that. Employ a subtle approach, don't be direct, and don't fail or our deal will be off" the Executor replied, his tone containing a tint of mystery that Gistella couldn't grasp.
...
Gistella did as she was told by the Executor.
In fact, she was even excited that she would get to meet Rex as she missed him badly.
Aside from meeting with him, she also initially dismissed the Executor's request as nothing but a yearning to stroke his own ego, wanting to be acknowledged by Rex as a rival. But it seems that was not the case at all.
Judging from Rex's horrified expression, it was definitely not the case at all.
On the other hand, Rex was tunned.
During this moment of trance, all of his senses become numb as his attention solely fixed on the notifications from the System that was appearing in his vision. Compared to the normal, the writings were now written in crimson red, depicting the severity of his blunder.
He let his guard down with Gistella, and he realized that it was a mistake.
Target: Fifthborn, the Executor.
-> Acknowledged by the System as a rival
-> Acknowledged by the user as a rival
In recognizing the Executor as the user's rival, a resolute commitment to an all-or-nothing endeavor has been made. Former quests linked to the Executor have been annulled, and replaced by the System Relaying Bet Quest. All features of the System shall be temporarily suspended until the resolution of this quest.
Potential outcomes of the System Relaying Bet Quest is listed as follows:
-> Victory against the Executor - the user will retain the System and will be eligible to pursue Absolute Invincibility once again, gaining a substantial boost to reach the next stage of invincibility as a reward from the System for overcoming a rival.
-> Tie against the Executor - the user will retain the System with a shared function with the Executor, both would vie for absolute invincibility together until the last step where the user and the Executor will be pitted against each other for the zenith of existence.
-> Defeat against the Executor - the System will be transferred to the Executor, making the Executor the new user that would be burdened to reach absolute invincibility. While the user would be revived, but lose all power gained from the System.
Rex's breaths instantly became rapid when he read this long notification.
W- Wha... I never knew, wait- the Executor knew this much about the System...?!
Completely flabbergasted, Rex couldn't catch his breath as he realized that the Executor had been aiming for this from the moment he was requested to be here. He didn't expect the Executor to know about the System to this extent.
Judging from the past cues, the Executor wasn't the one who wielded the System.
It was someone close to him.
But to actually know to this extent, even better than Rex himself is completely unexpected.
Rex now comprehended the Executor's strategy—why he didn't resort to attempting to kill him instantly, considering that he was gullible inside the enemy's territory right now, after he took care of the Supernaturals in the shifting realm.
Turns out, it was because he was aiming to trigger the System Relaying Bet Quest.
He would do that before killing Rex.
With this, if he won, then he would gain possession of the System!
Something that Rex wasn't expecting, he was completely speechless at this turn of events.
Additionally, he regrets the fact that he let his guard down when he was with Gistella, as now that he thinks about it, whenever the System mentioned the Executor, it always hinted specifically that only the System acknowledged the Executor as a rival of absolute invincibility.
He should've known that if he also acknowledged the Executor, something would happen.
Now, it was too late, the Executor got what he wanted.
With a slow movement of his head, he turned to look at Gistella with an absent gaze.
Gistella appeared extremely distraught, consumed by guilt and fear as she witnessed his expression was pale. Sweating profusely, she clenched her hands together in anxiety. "R- Rex... Something is happening, isn't it? C- Can you please tell me what's going on?"
In that moment of shock, Rex's eyes burned with anger as he looked at Gistella.
A gaze that terrified Gistella to no end.
Just the mere sight of it triggered memories of the past when Rex had been furious at her for revealing her identity as a Werewolf to his mother, Mrs. Greene. Yet, in comparison, this time his fury seemed fiercer, as though he was staring at the killer of his parents.
She was utterly terrified, and her body froze in complete shock.
But that lasted only a few seconds as in the next second, Rex grabbed his head painfully.
"Arrghh..." He groaned in pain.
Upon seeing this, Gistella quickly grabbed him, fearing for the worse, "Rex?! What's wrong?!"
Despite the gravity of the situation, the Hare Moon was relentless and continued to inflict agony upon Rex's body due to his resistance to engage in sexual intercourse. He found himself immersed in a realm of pain as the night grew darker, and the Hare Moon was at its zenith of power.
It was a sensation rivaling the torment he experienced when his soul was being torn apart.
Every fiber of his being was screaming pain at him.
However, this is not the time to be like this, time will not wait for him.
I need to get out of here, the Executor is going to kill me if I don't leave right now!
Fearing that the Executor would realize that his plan has worked and quickly come to kill Rex when he was like this, he quickly forced himself to stand up, veins bulging across his body, almost as if his body was about to explode.
Rex cast one last look at Gistella, conflicted severely.
No, I can't blame her for this. She doesn't know anything about the System.
Although for a moment there, in the heat of it all, he was furious at Gistella for causing this, he quickly realized that it was not her fault. It can't be her fault. She was probably doing as planned, and the Executor wanted her to do this which was light since she didn't know about the System.
For her, it's probably a selfish request from the Executor, and he's spot on in assuming that.
"I need to go," Rex said before he quickly left the place.
Even though Gistella tried to reach out to him, she couldn't, and could only see him leaving.
Knowing that she had done something terrible to cause Rex to look at her like that, Gistella felt her heart being pierced by a knife slowly. She didn't know what was in Rex's mind and assumed that he was furious at her.
Meanwhile, Rex quickly ran out and headed back into his quarter with extreme alert.
Barging inside, he saw that there was only Mavenna.
Seeing him coming back with a pained and pale expression, Mavenna felt her throat dry up. She stood up and looked at him with a peculiar look. It was obvious what had happened, "Did... Did it already happen? Did the Executor succeed?"
"Yes..." Rex replied heavily, he should've trusted Mavenna to not meet with Gistella.
Upon hearing this, Mavenna turned away and sighed.
Even though she tried to warn Rex very hard, it was simply impossible to convince him, especially since she came from the Executor's side. Basically, this was inevitable, and Rex would need to deal with it.
"We need to go, right now" Rex said quickly, he was struggling with the pain.
In a hurry, Rex grabbed Mavenna's hand and pulled her outside. He then took a deep breath, ignoring the pain his mind was experiencing to let out a long howl, signaling to Ryze that it was time to leave.
...
A moment later.
Rex and Mavenna materialize somewhere, teleporting away from the encampment.
Out of the two, Mavenna was the one to stand up as Rex was on his knees, being influenced by the Hare Moon. She scanned the place before a frown appeared on her face, realizing that the place they were in was not as she expected.
"A castle...?"
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