CHAPTER 1614: CONFIDENT TRAITOR KNIGHT

Rex looked around; the room was empty.

He was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice the room had already emptied.

Only he and Sir Haxel remained behind.

"If you’re going to question my competence to keep us, rest assured, Sir Haxel—I will try my best not to be a burden. I will not undermine your reputation with my failure," Rex averted his gaze and headed for the door, not wanting another round of condescending chatter about his knighthood. "Let’s work as one unit for the betterment of the mission."

"I’m afraid that’s not possible."

Thud!

Rex stopped as soon as he made his first step, his forehead creasing into an evident frown.

He turned to look at Haxel again, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you mean it’s not possible?"

"Both of us were aiming for two different things. Of course, working together isn’t possible."

Haxel looked down at the table, playing with the blue flag marker nonchalantly.

Rex, on the other hand, eyed him with a clear sharpness.

It was clear that Haxel was hinting at something, but Rex didn’t want to assume right away.

"Don’t fret too much about it. You’re first thought is correct." Haxel said—turning to look at Rex again with a playful smile on his lips. "I don’t want the mission to succeed. I’m the one you’re looking for— Sir Rex. I’m the one who was sent here to sabotage the mission."

As soon as he heard that, Rex eased a bit.

Just as he suspected earlier, Haxel was the traitor.

It was the right thing to become the other volunteer so that he could be close to Haxel.

He now didn’t need to guess who the traitor really was, and that’s relieving.

Even though he wanted to say that his stunt earlier was successful in luring out Haxel from hiding, the nonchalance in his expression suggested otherwise. He’s not revealing himself to me because what I did threatened his plan. He’s doing this out of amusement.

Something dark could be seen behind Haxel’s eyes now that his bravado had disappeared.

Clearly, he’s not the kind and approachable man Rex thought he was.

"While the others are focusing on the briefing, your eyes keep darting left and right, scanning the room." Haxel continued, dropping the act of a righteous knight. "You’re making it too obvious for me. You’re the black sheep she sent to ensure the mission’s success, am I correct?"

Haxel didn’t even wait for Rex to answer as his smile widened, "No need to answer. I know I’m right."

"Who sent you?"

"Ask proper questions, Sir Rex. You know I’m not going to answer that."

"Then why are you exposing yourself to me like this if you know I’m sent by her?"

"Now that’s a proper question."

Before Haxel could even answer that question, his eyes looked towards the door.

Soon enough, a soldier knocked on the door and stepped into the room, slightly out of breath.

His eyes flicked past Rex—whom he clearly didn’t recognize—before landing on Haxel, lighting up with unmistakable recognition. It was obvious who he had come for. "Sir Haxel, the others are waiting for you and your orders outside."

For a good two seconds, Haxel looked at the soldier, and then smiled.

"Of course," He nodded before he gestured for the soldier to approach him. "Come here for a second."

"Do—" The soldier glanced at Rex, then back at Haxel. "Do you need anything from me, sir?"

"Yes, but it’s a secret." He nodded firmly.

Hearing this, the soldier was ecstatic as it was his desire to be one of the favored soldiers of Haxel.

Once he stood before Haxel with a straight and strong posture, Haxel placed his hands on the soldiers’

Hiding his excitement, the soldier stood tall before Haxel, spine stiff as steel, anticipation gleaming in his eyes. He waited, silently eager, believing he’d been summoned for something confidential—which should certainly be something important.

All he did was stand there, ready to receive orders.

Haxel stepped forward, placing both hands on the soldier’s shoulders.

His touch was firm, almost fraternal.

Smiling pliantly, he leaned in, lips brushing close as though preparing to whisper a covert command.

Crack!

A sickening crack echoed.

It ripped through the room like a thunderclap.

Before the soldier could even flinch, Haxel’s hands shot up, seizing the man’s head in an iron grip.

And in a single, brutal twist, Haxel snapped his neck cleanly.

Rex’s eyes widened as he saw the soldier’s body jerk.

His face wrenched backward at an unnatural angle, eyes wide with shock.

For a fraction of a second, as his body crumpled, the soldier locked eyes with Rex directly behind him.

His expression was frozen in horror and confusion.

Like a broken doll, he collapsed in a heap on the floor, dead.

"I apologize on his behalf," Haxel said smoothly, brushing his hands together as if he had merely dusted off a minor inconvenience rather than executed a man. His tone was calm—disturbingly so. "Some of my soldiers lack proper decorum. They tend to speak out of turn and fail to read the room."

He offered a faint, civil smile as he focused on Rex again, "Now then... where were we?"

Rex remained composed as he looked at the dead soldier.

Reacting would only encourage Haxel to do more things like this in front of him later down the mission.

Even though it was a shame that the soldier was a victim, he couldn’t react.

Just like Haxel, he, too, needs to seem detached.

Noticing Rex’s lingering gaze on the fallen soldier, Haxel tapped his index finger lightly against the table—a sharp, deliberate sound that snapped Rex’s attention back to him. "Don’t trouble yourself over that," Haxel said with a cool smile. "Surely, you’re not thinking of reporting this... unfortunate accident, are you, Sir Rex?"

Rex swallowed his saliva, wetting his dry throat.

He has no intention of reporting what Haxel did to anyone.

Not because he doesn’t want to, but because he couldn’t.

Everyone would believe Haxel, a respected knight, more than a new knight like him.

Attempting to report this incident would only put more problems on his plate, and Haxel knew that.

"Why are you exposing yourself?" Rex repeated his question.

Haxel smiled an eerie, controlled grin that didn’t reach his eyes. "If you’re asking formally, then I would say it’s because overcoming you would also undermine the Empress’ credibility. But if you ask for my personal answer... No reason at all. I did this because I want to."

Slowly, Haxel walked towards the door and stopped when he was right beside Rex.

"I heard great things about you. I’m looking forward to your attempts, and I wish you good luck. You’ll need it." He said and walked past Rex, waving his hand nonchalantly as he headed for the door. "Oh, and if I were you, I’d clean up the mess."

Soon, the sound of the door closing with a subtle click echoed.

Rex stood inside the room, not expecting it to turn out this way.

He was expecting to play cat and mouse with the traitor, not be confronted directly like this.

Glancing towards the dead soldier, Rex’s brows dipped into a frown as he exhaled through his nose.

Not even hesitating, he placed the dead soldier into his inventory and glanced over to look at the door.

"He’s very confident. He must have a plan." Rex contemplated aloud, treating Haxel’s confidence as something to worry about rather than a simple gloat. "I don’t know what he had prepared to sabotage the mission, but since he taunted me, he’ll show it to me. Someone like him wouldn’t waste the chance to rub it on my face. All I need to do is pay attention."

Before leaving the room, Rex stood beside the table and looked at the map for the second time.

Other than the blue flag marker Haxel played with, the rest was still in position.

"If he wanted to diminish Empress Morgana, then his target must be big bubbles."

Rex’s eyes scanned the map, noting only the high-priority bubbles.

"It’ll be better if I know what each of these cities produced to be listed as high-priority—but it’s fine," Rex headed for the door with calm and steady steps, determined to destroy Haxel’s plan. "Ethan must know more. I should ask him about it."

Even though Haxel was confident and outright condescending, Rex paid him no mind.

He was glad that Haxel exposed himself, as that saved him a lot of trouble.

All he needed to do now was focus on Haxel, and since both of their legions are going to be shadowing the Voidal Monarch and the nobles, paying close attention to him would be easy. Rex coursed through the corridor and smiled cruelly.

I don’t know how he knew I’m the one sent by Empress Morgana, but I’m sure of one thing.

He didn’t know how strong I really am. And for that, he already lost.

All that remained was to keep his eyes on Haxel.

Since both their legions would be shadowing the Voidal Monarch and the nobles luring it, staying close to him would be easy, effortless. Rex strode through the corridor with wide steps, a cruel smile curling on his lips.

Despite all, Haxel overplayed his hand.

Be it confidence or madness that drove him to do this, he underestimated Rex greatly.

Perhaps his stunt with Gallick hadn’t been the true reason Haxel let his guard down, but it certainly was not a waste either. It helped give a false prediction of strength. That performance painted him as capable, yes, but nowhere near as dangerous as he truly was.

He saw strength, just not enough to be concerned.

And very soon... he’d be in for a big surprise when Rex showed his actual fangs.

Upon stepping out of the building, Ethan, who was waiting outside all this time, approached him.

"Here," He handed Rex a scroll. "An odd soldier told me to give it to you."

Rex took the scroll and scanned it.

Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.

He then lifted his gaze, eyeing Ethan with a curious, unreadable expression.

Seeing this, Ethan quickly raised and waved both of his hands, "I didn’t read it, I swear!"

"Of course you didn’t read it, but did you check if it’s dangerous?" Rex raised a brow.

Ethan smiled awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head.

He forgot to check if there was something dangerous about the scroll or not.

Rex shook his head and headed for his legion, opening the scroll to read it as he walked.

Since the message came from an unfamiliar soldier, he couldn’t be certain of its contents, but there was one thing he was waiting for: Empress Morgana’s response. Just before departing, he had sent a message through Rick, detailing exactly what he wanted in return.

The Phoenix Feather, the Maw of Oblivion, and a meeting with the Spirit Emperor.

All of the things he was aiming for by coming to this realm.

Of course, he was willing to do more in exchange for those three demands.

And now, the answer to his message arrived.

Rex unrolled the scroll and read through the content.

Behind him, Ethan stole glances at the scroll, curious as to what was in there.

His eyes widened slightly, his curiosity deepening, when he saw Rex grinning from ear to ear—for the first time since they met. Until now, Rex had come across as cold, disciplined, and intensely serious. The smile didn’t just stand out—it unsettled him.

Smiling shouldn’t be in his vocabulary, but he was smiling right now.

As soon as Rex read through the message, he stopped mid-track.

Rex lowered the scroll and looked up at the sky, closing his eyes with a profound smile on his lips.

Finally... After this, I’m done. Wait for me, Nivellen. I’m going to save you.