The Invincible Full-Moon System

Rex hasn't checked his haul from the Lunar Bees.

He had tasked Prof. K, and Giana to loot the treasures, so it was probably where Prof. K was able to obtain the spirits—and give them to Calder and the other Awakened. But then again, this made Rex frown.

Did he give it away without telling me?

It was true that Prof. K didn't obtain his permission but he wasn't that pissed about it.

As long as it ended well, he wouldn't be pissed.

Since Calder and the other Awakened surpassed his expectations, he wasn't pissed.

Swoosh!

More than that, Rex witnessed a surprising spectacle.

Calder and the other Awakened showed the hidden result of their training.

A flaming red aura steamed out of their bodies.

Rex watched their red force swaying above them, turning them into a human candle.

"How in the world...?"

Back when he was still in the university—he was the only force user in history that managed to reach the realm of red force. He needed a couple of months to reach that realm even with the System's help so the fact that they were able to have the red force was shocking.

...

<Calder Bennett>

Race: Human

Potential: 35

Power: Seventh Rank (Early) - Dark Elementalist

Mental: 800

Strength: 2,050

Agility: 3,300

Endurance: 1,400

Intelligence: 2,800

...

For merely an early seventh-rank realm, Calder's stats were quite high.

He was comparable to the mid-seventh-rank realm.

Now Rex knew why is that, he had achieved the red force realm albeit only the tip of it.

Just like him, the others Awakened were also the same.

"It's the academy, Your Majesty, it is magical. Our hard work was repaid in full" Calder said.

Upon hearing this, Rex nodded, the force academy was not something cheap so he expected it to be this potent. Even the time he spent training in this academy was way more significant compared to training outside.

He could feel his red force was becoming stronger steadily.

Pleased with their progression, Rex leaned back and decided to help them further.

Since he needed to rest, he'd see what these Awakened are made of.

Just as he was about to say something, he sensed someone approaching the door.

Rex raised an eyebrow, he knew who it was.

Soon, the door was opened and a figure stepped inside nonchalantly.

"Can't I join this group?" the person said as she approached.

Seeing this, Rex turned towards Calder questioningly.

It was only then did Calder apologized, "She found out about us, forgive me"

Upon hearing this, Rex waved his hand in dismissal.

Although he preferred this group to be unknown, and unseen by the normal people—as their sole task was to protect Evelyn, he didn't mind if the one knowing was this figure. He looked at her with a cheeky smile, "Bored already? Isn't your place beside Prof. K?"

"My place is to serve the Green Messenger, and isn't that supposed to be you?" She replied.

Naturally, this figure was Liliya.

She was as relaxed as ever and since she and Rex shared a history, she was nonchalant.

Liliya didn't feel the same pressure as the others in his presence.

"I don't think you'll fit in this group"

"Then give me something. I hadn't even gained a thank you from you for helping subdue you"

"Fine, I'll give you a position. But first, let me deal with them first"

Returning his focus to Calder and the other Awakened, he channeled his lunar mana subtly.

All witnessed a blob of light appearing beside Rex.

It wobbled for a bit until it fully formed into another person, another Rex to be exact.

Using his lunar mana, he created a clone of himself.

"Since all of you surpassed my expectations, I'll give you all another chance to become even stronger," Rex said before he pointed at his clone. "I'll limit his power to the sixth-rank realm, and he could also only use red force. If you can wound him within ten minutes, I will give you all a reward"

Listening to this, Calder and the other Awakened exchanged a look.

Even the weakest of them was at the sixth-rank realm so this shouldn't be that hard.

As soon as Rex declared that, the clone moved to the center of the room.

It stood there with both hands to his side and a cocky expression.

Naturally, intrigued by the reward from the Emperor himself, Calder and the other Awakened stood up, and went to circle the clone. All of them were excited, this should be very easy for them—a piece of cake.

But then again, this was too good to be true.

"Your Majesty, are we also limited in using red force only?"

"No"

"Pardon? We can also use our spells?"

"Yes, use everything you got, there's no rules binding you, only for my clone"

Upon hearing this, the Awakened were elated.

Rex, on the other hand, smirks at the sight of their elation.

Standing beside Rex, Liliya also gazed at the scene.

"Aren't you being too cruel? Look at them. At least give them a warning"

"If they are underestimating me then they could underestimate anyone, and what better way than teaching them a lesson through actual pain?"

Liliya could only shake her head, she pitied these Awakened.

Gaining the confirmation nod from Rex, Calder—and the other Awakened began channeling their powers, starting mildly by coating their bodies—with elemental aura first. One of them stomped the ground before dashing at the clone.

Fighting in front of the Emperor himself, the Awakened aspired to gain his attention.

Making the first strike would definitely give him the spotlight.

Since all of them were new Dark Elementalists, they didn't have any spells yet and had only been training. Due to that—the Awakened could only created a blade on his hand with dark mana, using only an elemental weapon.

As he reached the clone, he stabbed forward with strength.

Deciding that he would use his all, he also activated his red force to enhance his attack.

But the clone only tilted his head a little, looking at the Awakened without worry in his eyes.

He seemed disappointed for some reason.

Just then—the Awakened's eyes widened.

Soon, everyone saw the clone activate his red force energy but in the next instant—the red force gathered in his hand. It was a seamless motion, every strand of red force from across his body got pulled onto his hand in a fraction of a second.

Following that, the clone struck, punching forward.

His knuckles fired a beam of red force that clashed with the Awakened's elemental weapon.

Upon clashing, the elemental weapon shattered into a million pieces.

And the beam kept on going, hitting the Awakened right on the chest and flung him away.

Crash!

Seeing one of their comrades get flung—and bounced off of the wall, Calder and the other Awakened, gasped. None of them could believe what just happened, the first Awakened to strike was at the peak of the sixth-rank realm.

Compared to the clone emanating an aura at the early sixth-rank realm, the gap was big.

It should've been the clone who got flung away by the clash.

But that didn't happen.

"Y- Your Majesty, is that clone really in the sixth-rank realm...?" Calder asked, sweating.

Rex chucked when he heard this, "Of course, do you think I'd lie?"

"All of you might reach the red force realm because of the help from the academy that aids your body—to achieve that, but all of you have zero experience in using force. None of you could be considered as a force user" He continued.

Gesturing to focus back on the clone, Rex made the clone activate red force again.

Psshh...

Steam of red sizzled across the clone's form.

"Force is the product of a high physical prowess—allowing even a normal person to compete with an Awakened. Because of that, new force users tend to treat it as part of their body but it wasn't, force is energy—like mana, rely on control" Rex lectured.

He was still tired so teaching these people about force would make his time more efficient.

Not a single second was wasted.

Controlling the clone again, he expanded the heat from the red force across the room.

Redness covered the entire room because of that.

Following that, the clone condensed the heat back slowly with focus.

Soon, the heat was pulled back to the clone's body until it created a very thin layer above his skin. "Increase your control over mana and your spells would have a higher output and similar to it, higher control of force would result in a higher output"

Swoosh!

Calder and the other Awakened gasped when they saw the clone emanating a stronger aura.

He was still in the sixth-rank realm but their senses deemed him more dangerous.

It was all because of the very thin layer of red force across its skin.

Looking at Calder, Rex then said, "You try,"

Upon hearing this, Calder tried to mimic what the clone did and expanded his red force.

Despite not being able to cover the entire room, his red force was still quite big.

Once it reached its peak, he slowly condensed the red force to create the thin layer.

It took more than two minutes for the red force to near halfway.

But before he could even reach halfway through, his red force dispersed.

"Huarghhk!"

Calder vomited a disturbing amount of blood as he fell to his knees, breathing heavily while covering his mouth. His veins, and muscles were bulging fiercely—and the other Awakened quickly came to his aid.

"Are you alright?"

"What happened? How did you injure yourself?"

Assuring the others that he was okay, Calder raised his gaze to look at Rex again.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

'It takes me minutes to condense my red force—and His Majesty needed only a fraction of a second? Not to mention the pain. If I quicken the process, forcefully, my body would give up first. And the same goes for condensing it further, it becomes harder the smaller it gets, the strain would be too unbearable'

Feeling the sensation first-hand, Calder couldn't help but be in awe.

Compared to him, Rex's control was unbelievable.

He knew Rex's feats but he didn't know how strong he actually was in theory.

Now, he got a glimpse of it first-hand.

"Mana strained your core, spirit energy strained your spirit core, and with that logic—force energy strained your physique," Rex explained—there was a reason that force users are as rare as Awakened. "train until you can make, the thin layer, only then would you be called a force user"

As he said that, however, a thought came to mind.

I also needed to train, my force has gotten stronger. It was harder to control it.

Compared to Calder, Rex thought that the clone's control over the red force was slower.

Giving a task to achieve, Rex turned to Liliya, "Come, walk with me"

Leaving the room, Rex went out of the academy with Liliya walking beside him.

"So, is it really because you were bored that you came to me?"

"I've been hunting and helping the people feed the Forest's Overseer from cursed creatures, it's not really boring. What I said earlier was an excuse. I came to you—because I heard from the guards that the captains were going to deal with the Angels"

"Hmm? What makes you interested in the Angels?"

Rex glanced at Liliya, she seemed to know something.

Averting her gaze away, Lilya paused for a moment.

But then she decided to be truthful.

"Giana was still in contact with President Sebrof, and I heard the Angels already reached the human cities. I wanted to help but I didn't want to be under John's influence—I want to bring your name with me"

Upon hearing this, Rex was mildly surprised but he understands where she comes from.

King John sided with the Fifthborn and brought chaos to humanity.

It was understandable that she didn't want to be a part of the SCO again.

"Is that everything you knew?"

"No, President Sebrof also said that from the survivors' story, the Angels raided the cities not for the fun of it—but to search, a location. He said the Angels were searching for the location of the Fifthborn's death"

Rex nodded, he already knew about this from Catherine.

But the reason behind it was still a mystery.

"If you wanted, I could make you a captain. You could replace Linthia"

Just as he said that the two reached the castle.

"What are we doing here? Am I even allowed to enter?"

"Checking my treasury, I haven't gone there. Also, I'm the Emperor, remember?

Both of them entered the castle before a notification suddenly appeared.

<Notice: the Demon Full Moon is approaching...>

Oh, right... I forgot. I still have the Great Luna's carcass, and the time is quite perfect.

Let's see if there's anything in the treasury that could help me invite her down.

Rex smirked cunningly as he made his way to the treasury.