"I want to continue my grandfather's legacy," April added. "I have to live and get stronger for him."

Her eyes stared profoundly at the ground as she walked—and Rex could tell that she wasn't staring at the ground but something deeper instead. A memory from the past that she deeply cherished even until this moment.

Snapping out of her trance, she cast a smile at Rex, "I'll tell you about it after the mission."

"No problem, I was only curious." Rex shrugged.

Due to the incident earlier, the horde had been reduced greatly, so it was easier to manage.

And since there's still plenty of road ahead, Rex decided to break the silence with a bit of small talk.

His senses were still fixed on Haxel, calculating every move—and he only asked about that since he'd been meaning to ask her—but hadn't gotten the chance to. And this moment seemed as good a moment as any.

April covered her mouth and chuckled.

"Hmm? What are you chuckling at?"

"You, of course. It's the first time you genuinely feel curious about me."

"What are you saying? I asked you some questions in the Forsaken Tower."

"Yes, but you mostly asked about the empire. And even the questions that aren't about the empire, you asked only to keep the flow of the conversation going. Never once did you genuinely ask something about me like this."

Rex scratched the side of his face with a finger.

Now that he recalled the time he spent in the Forsaken Tower, he couldn't refute what she said.

"Don't over-analyze it." Rex gazed ahead again.

"Yes, yes," April flaunted her hand. "Seems like your talking battery has died. Back to serious again."

In the next hour, the horde had made progress toward the destination.

Nothing happened in the first hour, and Rex was thankful inside as it allowed him to really rest his mind and brush away the fatigue. His wounds would heal and his life energy would be replenished, but that doesn't mean the strain in his mind is also healed.

Sigh… the downside of not having a Luna's presence in this realm.

Had Evelyn or even Calidora been here, he could easily overcome the mind fatigue.

Just being close to them would be enough to ease his mind.

But then again, it wouldn't be ideal either, as their presence soothed him and his senses—which would warrant catastrophic implications if he failed to sense or react to danger. It was also the reason why he didn't use the Symphony of Souls ability.

Rex needed to be alert, and the Luna's presence would be going against him.

Also, to make sure that Haxel's next attempt would be rendered futile, Rex also made use of the System.

Activating the scanning feature, Rex instructed the System to make the surrounding area—pinpointing their exact position as well as revealing the varied valleys and peaks of the terrain hidden beyond the Black Rift's shroud.

Since the Black Rift had always been a problem, the System's scan feature played a bigger role.

It could cut through the obscurity with precision and tell Rex exactly what lies ahead.

System, can you also scan the monsters around and mark them on the map?

<Notice: Scanning accuracy compromised due to Voidal Monster's range from the user. Opening their status window would be unavailable. However, exact coordinates for them remain unaffected—and can be marked on the holographic map.>

Reading this, Rex contemplated for a moment.

What about the short version that only includes the important information?

<Unavailable; the user's senses, power, and mind aren't strong enough to exert that much power from the scanning feature. Forcing it would come with heavy side effects.>

Rex clicked his tongue.

Even though the System had never specified that about the scanning feature up until this point, Rex was aware that it was tied to him. Since scanning people that are too strong would hurt his mind—and cause physical damage, he was subconsciously aware of this.

Fine. Just mark their locations and immediately open their status windows when they're at range.

Limit the status window to include the important sections.

<Affirmative. Physical stats and detailed power scan will be excluded.>

Rex nodded firmly.

He didn't need to know the physical stats as long as he knew roughly how strong they were through the power section. And in order to know exactly what Haxel was planning to do, all he needed to know was these Voidal Monsters' locations.

At this point, the soldiers are already on high alert. Even his own soldiers are on high alert. He can't utilize the horde again, or else his own soldiers would realize that it was him. If he wanted to sabotage the mission, he would have to outsource muscle from outside.

Since there are countless Voidal Monsters around them, there's no shortage of muscle.

Rex only needed to pay attention, and he would be able to anticipate Haxel's move.

"Come on…" He thought aloud, staring at Haxel with a sharp gaze. "Make your move. I'm waiting."

Just then, Rex heard a dinging sound from the System as a red haze appeared on the map.

Seeing this, his brows dropped into a frown as it was starting.

Meanwhile, about a mile ahead of the legions and the horde, the nobles were holding back the White Mask desperately. All of them were locked in their own tasks except for a few that held the duty to only supplement weakening positions.

Princess Davina was one of them; she viewed the situation from above.

She paid close attention to find the nobles who were getting tired.

However, so far, the nobles were going strong.

Princess Davina glanced to the side and fixed her gaze on Empress Morgana.

It was obvious from her features that she had something to say, but was hesitant to go through with it or not. 'I already told them to be careful of a traitor, but I haven't told them that it was Haxel. I should tell Empress Morgana, but is that a good idea?'

Empress Morgana holds the key to suppressing the White Mask.

Naturally, Princess Davina was afraid that telling her the fact would damage her focus.

"I should tell her…"

Deciding that it would be better to tell Empress Morgana, as she might know exactly how Haxel thinks, Princess Davina descended. But halfway through, she stopped and turned to look ahead, noticing small frictions within the Black Rift.

Frowning, Princess Davina hovered to the edge of the Seeker Flare and peered into the Black Rift.

She thought she was seeing things at first, but she wasn't.

Just to confirm that she was undeniably correct, she stretched her hand beyond the protective bubble and felt the outside. Almost instantly, she felt the chaotic surge of voidal energy and how the smoke of blackness swirled outside.

Lifting her gaze, one of her eyes glowed with an emerald hue as she stared through the clouds.

Her eyes locked on Esmeravon above.

Foreseeing something like this happening, she instructed Esmeravon to stay above the clouds.

'What did you see from up there?'

'Hmm, a rift hurricane?'

Realizing that there was a rift hurricane forming ahead, a rare phenomenon born from a violent change or disturbance of voidal energy in the air, Princess Davina wasted no time. She hastened to Empress Morgana's side, her voice urgent as she spoke. "Your Majesty…"

"Yes, I sensed it." Empress Morgana nodded and turned towards her. "We're going through it."

"Go through it?"

"It's still forming, and we can't make another detour."

Upon hearing this, Princess Davina swallowed hard—as this could be very bad, but Empress Morgana was completely in the right. Her judgment—was unassailable. Right now, they were already deep into the mid-section of their journey, passing through a stretch known as the Pits of Life.

A place where jagged cliffs stretched for miles—their light green faces carved into an intricate labyrinth of gaping chasms and towering spires. The land resembled a colossal wound in the earth. Between the jagged ledges, the basins brimmed with the fabled Water of Life.

From above, these ledges looked like pits—hence the name.

In the distant past, when the Black Rift's reach was still far from the realm, this place had been a magical place that could help spirits grow stronger faster by soaking in these pits. However, once the Black Rift swept the realm, the Water of Life froze over.

Now, the life energy it massively emanated was contained.

And the leakage was turned into nutrients for the Black Rift, raising the voidal energy level in the area.

The Pits of Life are differentiated into three zones, and the third floor was the lowest one at the center, where they were traveling right now. There are multiple bubbles on either side of this stretch, so the nobles settled on going through the lowest floor.

Making a detour to avoid the rift hurricane is possible.

Even though there are a lot of bubbles nearby, they could go around those bubbles.

But to do that, they would need to go back from where they came, as climbing the cliffs was impossible.

It was slippery due to the ice, so there was no choice but to continue onward.

Despite their current conditions, vigorous, the nobles wouldn't be able to sustain that long travel.

Right now, the only reason they were still vigorous was that they had made a stop earlier to rest.

Had it not been for that, they would be exhausted at this point.

Making another stop was impossible, either, as Empress Morgana could only stun the White Mask once.

"But Your Majesty, there's a traitor among us that don't want to see you succeed," Princess Davina said, thinking that they should take the risk of making a detour rather than going through the rift hurricane where voidal monsters gathered. "And I've learned that the traitor…. The traitor is Knight Haxel."

Upon hearing this, Empress Morgana's eyes flickered.

Her lustrous dark red hair rustled against the wind beautifully as the name sparked something in her.

"Haxel?"

"Yes—it's Knight Haxel. I saw him doing basically nothing during the earlier incident. He must be the traitor."

"I see…" Empress Morgana nodded, then raised a brow. "You found it? Not your fiancé?"

Princess Davina paused for a second, caught off guard by the question.

But she eventually nodded, "Yes, it's me."

"Nevertheless, we're still going through the rift hurricane." Empress Morgana said after a pause. "Tell Althea to inform Knight Rex and Knight Haxel to prepare to pick up their pace. We're going to go past the hurricane before it forms."

"As you wish." Princess Davina nodded and flew away.

…

Rex noticed a red haze marked on the holographic map ahead.

It was translucent and faint, but slowly, it became a bright red color that signifies danger.

Before he could ask the System, a figure entered their Seeker Flare.

Althea.

"I brought an order from Her Majesty," she declared, her voice ringing like a war drum across the legions. "A rift hurricane lies ahead, and the empress has chosen to face it head-on. The path will be brutal, but we will endure—and we will prevail."

Almost instantly, the legions broke into chaos as the soldiers were shocked at the decision.

Even now, it was already dangerous for them.

Going through the rift hurricane is basically a death sentence to them.

"Don't worry, Marquess Darius will add an extra layer of protection for you. All you need to focus on is to push the horde to move faster," Althea assured with the grace of a noble. "The rift hurricane is still forming, and as such, we're going to go through it before it forms."

Upon informing that, Althea cast one last look at them before leaving again.

"Rex…" April whispered warily.

"I know," Rex nodded grimly as the unease inside him rose to his chest. "It's a perfect opportunity for Haxel to make a move. Help Ethan and stick close to him, and never suppress your aura. I'm going to get closer to Haxel."

"I was about to do that," April nodded and walked away. "Be careful."

"I will as long as you stay safe," Rex looked at her firmly. "Now, go."

As he watched April headed to help Ethan, and he couldn't help but look at the red haze on the holographic map once again. "Though this is a good opportunity for Haxel to strike, this is also a good opportunity for me. I can finish the Blood Moon Echo if I play it right."

<Sudden Quest!>

"Oh...?"

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