Rex walked along the road with Linthia, his expression seemed to be vacant—in contemplation.

    Earlier, the man introduced himself as Blue and he came from the Arcalen House.

    Being new around the area, Rex did not know about the Arcalen House.

    Your next read awaits at novelhall.Co?m

    But from the way Blue gloated about the house as well as how he handled the situation earlier, using nothing but his words—it must certainly be a strong and also reputable faction. Blue confessed that he was a recruiter, poaching strong people for an unspecified task for the house.

    Seeing the stunt Rex pulled from earlier, it was natural for Blue to be interested in him.

    His offer was quite alluring but other than saying that it involves fighting, Blue said nothing more.

    Naturally, Rex tried probing for the details but as opposed to answering his questions and clearing the mystery, Blue instead glorified the riches and status that Rex would obtain if he accepted. It seemed he picked up that Rex was very interested in status and decided to go with this approach.

    But this only made him shadier.

    No matter how many times Rex tried asking for the details, Blue always changed the topic.

    He was guiding the conversation away from telling Rex about the details.

    Because of that very reason, Rex refused the offer.

    Other than being shady, this was still only his first day in the Spirit Realm.

    He should at least familiarize himself with life here before accepting such an offer so he declined.

    Additionally, from Blue’s expression, Rex knew that the offer would remain open.

    If he ever chose to, he could seek out Blue at any time—another reason why he declined.

    Since he was a recruiter for the Arcalen House, he should be staying in the Void Hub at all times.

    Once Rex listened and declined the offer, Blue kept his word and left him alone without even using what he had done earlier as leverage. Rex expected that Blue would insist but it didn’t seem to be the case, he stepped away without looking back.

    I expected him to be pushier but he’s not.

    Focusing on the mission, Rex picked up his pace with Linthia following behind him.

    Based on the guards he crossed earlier before walking through this Life Vein, the Obelisk of Life that hosted Arbitgea has seventeen Life Veins that branched outward like tree roots. Since the Life Vein that he went through earlier has the Giga Skull Crushing, a strong Voidal Monster, Rex took another route, another Life Vein.

    No need to risk a battle against that Giga Skull Crusher if he wasn’t ready.

    "Rex, why did you kill that man earlier? Wouldn’t that bring more trouble?" Linthia suddenly asked.

    Upon hearing this, Rex shrugged, "He looked at me the wrong way,"

    Of course, that was a lie—but he couldn’t possibly tell Linthia that the System gave him no time.

    Despite her surprise, Linthia remained silent.

    "Why do you ask? Are you afraid?" Rex asked back, that move was undoubtedly risky.

    He wouldn’t deny that it was risky.

    Linthia nodded her head and answered, "Yes, I’m afraid of us failing to reach the Well of the Untold"

    As soon as she said that, a chuckle escaped Rex’s lips—as he was not expecting her to be worried about that. But then again, it was understandable. For Linthia, that well was her last redemption, "No need to worry. I told you earlier, didn’t I? I’ll take care of you"

    Soon enough, both of them reached the edge of the Life Vein.

    Along the way, they passed several people but here at the edge, there was only them.

    Rex took a killing quest from the Void Hub, he and Linthia would need to hunt 10 Voidal Pawns called the Floating Heart. Based on the quest details, the Floating Heart is a power source for some machinery and was always desirable and needed.

    Since the Shadow Hounds were also Voidal Pawns, they should be at the High Spirit rank too.

    Easy kills but still worth it.

    Rex could obtain more White Nightfall Stars from the kills while Linthia could train to use her power.

    "I don’t see anything outside, we should be fine" Rex murmured.

    Getting the heads up, Rex lowered his stance.

    Just as she informed, more arcs of darkness flew towards him—but since he was ready, his golden halo moved quickly and protected him. It spun and created a barrier on its hollow center, blocking one of the arcs but there were more coming.

    In a swift motion, Rex summoned both his other Soul Artifacts and channeled his life energy.

    Clang!

    He used his claws to parry an arc of darkness but was surprised when the impact numbed his claws.

    It’s so strong! I’m sure... the one who cast this must be in the Immortal Spirit rank!

    Just from the force alone, he could tell that the one responsible for this was way stronger than him.

    An entity in the Immortal rank or perhaps even higher.

    Regardless of this surprise, he has no time to lament as more arcs pierced through the shroud.

    Swoosh!

    Almost instantly, Rex shifted into action, his battle-honed reflexes driving him to parry an incoming arc of darkness. His golden halo then whirled to intercept another, buying him a fleeting moment, a fraction of a second to reposition—just in time to deflect yet another deadly arc.

    Rex was forced onto the defensive.

    He moved with ruthless efficiency, each clash of claw against energy igniting a shower of sparks.

    And like his claws that were the bulwark from the incoming rush of energy arcs, his golden halo hovered around him like a relentless guarding—intercepting attack after attack, weaving between his movements to shield him from the onslaught.

    In less than ten seconds, Rex had deflected seven arcs—his halo blocking eight more.

    At this point, his Red Dawn of Kaiser bore deep cracks, its once gleaming surface was now battered—and failing. Beneath it, his actual claws were shattered, the pain searing through him like fire but even then, his focus was still high.

    He was unwavering, this amount of pain was nothing to him.

    Just then, however, as he took a breather—one more arc of darkness flew towards him like a bullet.

    Despite his alert senses, he didn’t send this one coming as it caught him off guard.

    In the nick of time, the halo was able to move fast enough to intercept but it didn’t go as planned.

    Crash!

    Rex’s eyes widened when the dark energy arc pierced through the halo and sliced his arm clean off.

    Blood spurted out as the momentum threw him backward.

    "Arghkk!" He fell to his back, screeching a couple of meters before coming to a halt.

    Under the barrage, two of his Soul Artifacts—the Red Dawn of Kaiser and the Aegis of Moon Sentinel shattered, returning back to the mark on his back. Rex sat up—and wiped the blood drizzling down his mouth.

    He glanced at his left arm and realized that it was non-existent, severed cleanly until the shoulder.

    It was lying several meters away from him.

    "Just what’s happening?" He murmured, grabbing his bleeding shoulder in pain. "Its attack was strong enough to kill me so now that I’m wounded, whatever attacked us should have come to deal the finishing blow but it didn’t"

    As he was frowning, another explosion occurred.

    KABOOM!!

    A massive explosion echoes, its light even piercing through the dark haze of the Black Rift.

    Rex stabbed his claws into the ground as the ground quaked hard and following that, a shadow blurred past him like a bullet. The forceful gush of wind it left behind—blew on his, causing his hair to flutter hard.

    For a second, Rex froze as he tried to register what he saw earlier.

    He slowly glanced over his shoulder with wide eyes, "Is that a person that blew past me...?"

    Due to the darkness, he didn’t realize that behind him was a body of water—a lake from what it seemed.

    And soon enough he caught sight of a mesmerizing figure emerging from the water like a goddess.

    "Who is that?" Rex murmured inwardly.