Chapter 1122: Kill Them All
"I am well aware of anything that might threaten my life," the Witch muttered.
From the moment she met with Rex alongside Edward when confronting the Executor earlier, she could feel that there was this heat of animosity that Rex exudes. It was hidden, Rex tried to hide it—but its presence was too clear to not garner the Witch's attention.
Of course, the Witch's role in the fight was not done smoothly, there were hiccups.
She knew that there were some things that she could've done better.
But nevertheless, the Witch had a legitimate reason for going about her decisions earlier.
Most of the time, she feared that the Fifthborn might suspect her.
It goes without saying that the grand plan to take down the Executor took priority—and that was what the Witch exactly prioritized. Keeping the Fifthborn's attention away from her was the best way to maintain the clarity of the grand plan.
Due to that, the Witch wasn't exactly sure why Rex harbored ill intent towards her.
A confusion that was clearly depicted on her face.
"You realized, but you didn't get why the animosity, didn't you?" Evelyn followed.
Upon hearing this, the Witch turned to look at her and found that she was smiling knowingly as if the reason should be obvious. But the part where the Witch guessed that might rubbed Rex in a bad way was when she didn't help Gistella escape the enemy's camp.
Since Gistella was intercepted, she was then captured and used against him in the battle.
Then again, it happened at the very start of the battle before the plan was in motion.
Going about helping Gistella would bring her to the Fifthborn's suspicion.
"Are you being serious, Witch?" Evelyn asked, her eyes sparkling with ferocity as she pointed and swept her finger across the entire, battlefield. "What do you think all of this was for? Did you think Rex faced the Executor because of some manly pride? No—he did all of this for the sake of mine and the others he deemed important"
"Killing the Executor is a priority, but it still falls short compared to us" She added, cackling.
It was only then that the Witch became troubled.
She was too focused on the Executor and forgot that Rex had a different priority list.
Observing the Witch's increasingly troubled countenance, Evelyn shook her head, "When the Executor fired the Chaos Nova that almost decimated us you weren't there to help. I may not be able to read minds, but I'm pretty sure Rex didn't take that well"
"For now, l suggest you lay low, or else you'll find yourself buried alongside the Executor,"
Despite her impatience, the Witch decided to heed her warning.
Regardless of the opportune moment set on Calidora, she was walking on really thin ice.
Make one wrong move and she would get on Rex's bad side.
Now that Rex had proven himself once again by killing the Fifthborn, getting on his bad side would not be good for her well-being. Because of that, the Witch could only nod and did not pursue the matter any longer.
Evelyn averted her attention away from the Witch, straight back to Calidora.
She seemed to be grieving beside Nezera.
'That being said, why did Calidora act weirdly?' Evelyn squinted her eyes, prying Calidora.
But then, her eyes landed on a feature she doubted Calidora had before.
'Did she always have those small vampiric wings? I don't think she had them the last time'
On the other hand, Calidora was sitting on her knees, surrounded by Vampires.
Located opposite of her was her mother, Nezera, who had Solomon lying on her lap weakly.
Even though Calidora and Solomon, had never been on the same page, considering that both were constantly on edge whenever the two met, their usual tension dissipated. Beneath their conflicts, there was still a familial bond that transcended their differences.
Now that Solomon was mortally wounded, Calidora could feel regret climbing inside of her.
It was a menial strike from the Fourthborn, but the effect was still devastating.
Almost half of Solomon's face was already bulging with corrupted veins, that were infiltrated with chaos energy. His blood energy was also drained to the pit, because of the gaping hole in his stomach.
Just from the grip alone, his spine cracked, threatening to break.
Had Rex not come in time, Solomon would undoubtedly get killed on the spot.
"Don't regret what had happened, my daughter," Solomon suddenly whispered weakly.
He broke the silence that had enveloped them for a couple of minutes.
Upon hearing this—Calidora raised her gaze and found that Solomon was looking at her with tender eyes, "It turned out you were the one who was correct, and I am in the wrong. It turns out to be true that your presence was really needed here, despite your condition,"
"I'm just glad that I'm also here with you" He added with a frail smile.
Although he initially thought that coming here was reckless of her, he admitted his mistake.
If Calidora wasn't here then Rex would've died by the Fourthborn's sneak attack.
Solomon was only thankful that he was here to take the vicious blow instead of Calidora.
Had it been any other time, Calidora would've been excited to be in the right—but there was not an ounce of satisfaction on her expression. She did manage to help Rex at the last straw—but the unforeseen severity of the aftermath left her disheartened.
Fighting back tears, Calidora hold her father's hand firmly, "Stop talking and rest,"
As time passed, the corruption began to take hold of Solomon stronger.
Even until now, Calidora was uncertain whether her father would be fine or not.
But as soon as she said that, she felt a gritty sensation on her hand.
Looking down at her hand, Calidora's eyes widened when she saw Solomon's hand was now stiffening, and there were these weird—sandy substances that began to fall off from his skin that felt exactly like dry sand.
At the sight of this, Calidora's heart tightened as she feared for her father's well-being.
She had never seen something like this before, "Father!"
Upon seeing the worry etched on Calidora's face, Nezera's lips curved into a gentle smile, as this was an unusual display of care, from Calidora, towards her father. It unconsciously made Nezera smile, "It's okay," She assured, her tone softening. "It's a typical reaction among high-ranking Vampires like us.
Your father's depletion of blood energy due to the corruption made a natural response in his body activate, thus—leading to a form of mummification to mitigate the damage and preserve his life force"
Calidora could feel her worry easing with her mother's assurance.
However, even then, she was still worried as the time until Solomons' recovery is unknown.
"Morrigan or Dusk," Solomon suddenly whispered amidst his stiffening lips.
Raising her eyebrows in surprise, Calidora looked at Solomon questioningly before Solomon elaborated, "Morrigan if it's a girl, and Dusk if it's a boy. Both are the names of the strongest Vampires in mine and your mother's time,"
It was only then that Calidora realized what her father meant by those names.
Smiling in tears, she nodded, "Okay... I'll keep those names in mind,"
As she said that—the mother and daughter duo stayed by Solomon as he mummified.
Due to the scale of the wounded from the great battle, it took a full day to even manage.
On the next day, Rex was already on his feet again.
Many eyes were prying at him, the entity who managed to defeat the Fifthborn.
Even though Gistella, and Adhara tried to conceal Rex's outbreak earlier—there were a lot of people who saw what had happened to Edward. Most don't know Edward's relationship with Rex, but they assume that he was extremely important to Rex.
Losing Edward must've been very hard, and it was shown clearly by his rampage.
Flunra constructed a barricade to give Rex some space from others.
Rex gained some personal time to digest what he had experienced—but everyone expected him to break, or show weakness one way or another. Surprisingly—Rex didn't show any form of breaking aside from yesterday's rampage.
Just like any other time, it didn't take long for Rex to return to his normal composure.
His only change was that his expression was icier than normal.
"Edward wouldn't break, I know he wouldn't. I shouldn't be lamenting and began moving,"
It took a considerable amount of time before Rex affirmed his mind.
Lamenting would only prolong Edward's suffering inside the chaos realm—being emotional is rarely the best course of action in any situation, thus Rex decided to put his emotions on the back of his mind and start doing what he needed to do.
Knowing Edward, he would've probably cursed Rex if he stayed idle and lamented.
Even though Edward wouldn't break, the torment is still excruciating.
Getting back up to his feet, Rex looked into the horizon.
"Not one of the Elders came, that's unexpected of them," He muttered to himself.
Aside from processing his next course of action, he decided that he would stay here until the problems—namely, the other Elders were resolved. Rex expected them, or at least the Storm Prince to come and attack him when he was in this vulnerable state.
It was too good of an opportunity to not strike him.
Rex remembered Elder Rancaladra's words of warning vividly in his head.
'Even a weary heavenly dragon can still be slain'
Back then, Rex wasn't sure what Elder Rancaladra meant by that, but now he understood it.
Call it a form of respect for his bravery—but Elder Rancaladra was cautioning that regardless of how strong an entity was—if they are weakened, they are susceptible to death. Whether it was Rex or the Fifthborn who won the big battle—the other one would follow the path to Hell tomorrow.
Due to that, Rex was fully expecting an attack from the Supernatural Elders.
Even if Elder Tilrith and Nolacula joined, he wouldn't be surprised.
With the Fifthborn taken out of the picture, the throne of the world was free for the taking.
Naturally, the temptation of power was able to sway the Elders.
Unfazed by the situation—he found solace in the fact that despite the System undergoing an upgrade, it appeared to recognize his relentless efforts to survive the ordeal, by allowing him to make use of one feature, and that is the inventory feature.
Due to that, Rex gained access to the Invincible Item once more.
Having the Invincible Item in his possession again, dissuading the Elders would be easy.
Considering he killed an Executor, intimidating them is going to be easy.
Even though the Invincible Item was only a fluke, it was more than enough for the situation.
But it seemed there was no need, none of the Elders showed up.
Rex still remained vigilant, he didn't want to go back home and potentially bring a destructive fight to their doorstep. It would be better for him to stay here until he was sure that no attack would come to him.
Glancing to the side, he heads over to the others while his gaze is fixed on the Human Army.
Seeing Rex approaching, Adhara's eyes flickered in gladness.
"Are you okay now...?" She asked lightly.
Upon hearing the question, Rex raised a hand, signaling that he didn't want to talk about any stuff relating to Edward. He instead pointed his attention to the Human Army—circled by the Supernatural Army who kept watch on the vigilantly.
Following Rex's gaze, Adhara then said, "All of them collectively surrendered earlier,"
"Flunra has already organized the Supernatural Army, to oversee the captive human forces—and ensure they remained unharmed. Also, Lyra and the Vampire general have devised some sort of formations that restrict their mana which took their abilities to retaliate"
Adhara knitted her eyebrows, "Sending them home supervised is a way to deal with them"
"What do you think? Should we do that?" She turned and asked Rex.
On the other hand, Rex gazed at the Human Army with the same iciness for a brief moment.
He remained silent as he observed the army for a full minute.
Eventually, his lips parted before shocking words came out of his mouth, "Send them home?"
"Kill them all."