Chapter 1102: The Replica of Death (3)
He had been keeping it a secret all this time.
Upon awakening to the new era with the help of Rex, he meditated and expanded his senses and found that his brothers—or even the other strong entities from the empire were nowhere to be sensed, the Executor was isolated in a time when those he knew were not around.
Realizing this, he instantly attempted to track down the Supremacy of One.
A treasure that unlocks the power of the strongest weapon—forged by the Supreme One.
It turns out to be in the possession of a civilian within the borders of the Human Territory.
Only those who are in the possession of the Supremacy of One could wield it.
The Executor spent every single second of his waking moment imprinting his aura inside the Supremacy of One, and he did it discreetly when nobody was looking. He took extreme care of this gem as if it were his own life or even offspring.
Back in the past, he could only view it from a distance.
However, in this new era that he was awakened in, he had the opportunity to wield its power.
Now that he had imprinted his aura, he was ready for the supreme weapon.
Nobody knew that he was in possession of the Supremacy of One—he made sure of it as not even Edward, Brigitta, or any other people around him knew about it. But he wasn't surprised that the Witch knew about the Supremacy of One.
Since he was aiming for the Symposium, it was clear that he was in possession of it.
Going through all of this without possessing the Supremacy of One would be foolish of him.
He wanted to keep hiding the gem until the very end, but when the Passue Matriarch dug her hand into his chest, the Executor knew that she was trying to retrieve the gem from him, and despite being reluctant—he was forced to take it out and toss it to the Witch.
It was better for her to hold it rather than surrender it to the Passue Matriarch.
Had he lost the gem to her, recovering it would be close to impossible.
Crash!
Upon crashing a mile away from where he was earlier—the Executor sits up and finds that he was slashed across his body. A clean-cut wound could be seen crossing from his shoulder—all the way to the left side of his waist.
Additionally, no matter the amount of chaos energy he puts in, it was healing very slowly.
Once again, a testament to the Passue Matriarch's power.
Despite the excruciating pain, the Executor quickly gets up and dashed back into the fray.
Since he was already close to his goal, he couldn't afford to lose the gem.
Meanwhile, the Witch's eyes flickered at the sight of the gem.
An eerie smile gradually smeared across her lips as she caught the Supremacy of One with her trembling bare hands. She looked at the sublimely carved—multi-faceted gem and was mesmerized by its appearance.
Immediately, she channeled her cursed energy with delight.
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But as she was doing that, her body stiffened as she remembered the Passue Matriarch.
Raising her gaze, she found the Passue Matriarch was facing away from her.
With a deliberate and sinuous motion, the Passue Matriarch shifted her gaze toward the spot where the Executor had been hurled, then slowly turned her attention to the Witch. Almost in an instant, the Witch felt her entire world shaken entirely as their eyes met.
A sudden pang infiltrated her mind as she sucked in a cold breath.
Upon her shocked eyes, the Witch could see a white essence being pulled out of her body.
However, she quickly snapped out of her daze when she realized what was happening.
Shaking off the immobilizing effect—the white essence hue—swaying as if it was the Witch's own shadow retreated back into her being. Clenching her jaw, the Witch felt her heart race in her chest, "Did... Did she nearly knock my soul out of my body with a single look?!"
At that realization, the Witch's body took a step back unconsciously.
She was utterly horrified at what the Passue Matriarch was able to do.
In addition, her eyes were also forced to bear the sight of the Passue Matriarch's entirety.
Now, the Witch could see the true form of the Passue Matriarch as the shadows covering her were blown away by the Executor's attack earlier—and her appearance was now bare to see, one that was able to easily take the Witch's breath away.
Like Rex, the Witch knew the existence of the Passue Matriarch in the Dead Man's Creek.
Even then, she only knew that the Passue Matriarch was a homunculus.
Scant details existed regarding the Passue Matriarch, save for her ominous reputation as the replica of death itself—a spectral guardian of the creek that was tasked with warding off the unbelievable amount scores of formidable humans back in the ancient era.
Uprooting from that information, the Witch has a picture in mind of the Passue Matriarch.
However, her imagination failed to represent the horror of the actual entity.
Veiled in the shadowy folds of her hooded robes—the Passue Matriarch don a chilling figure amidst the darkness of her power. Her attire, a somber ensemble of all-black medieval garb, seemed to swallow the surrounding light, casting her form in an eerie silhouette.
As she moved closer, the fabric whispered ominously, a macabre symphony of souls.
But it was her visage that struck the greatest terror into the hearts of those who beheld her.
Even the Witch—who was an entity of the damned herself could feel fear at the sight of the Passue Matriarch's face. The lower half of her face bore the skeletal light grin of death itself—a half-smile frozen in eternal memorable scares.
Above, her extremely pallid skin stretched taut over hollow cheeks.
Her bleak white eyes gleamed with an otherworldly intensity that seemed to pierce the soul.
Perched atop her hood was a circlet of pale gold chain, a stark contrast to the darkness that surrounded her. And clutched tightly in her pale hand was an unmistakable scythe, its edges aglow with ethereal white light that seemed to cut through the very fabric of reality.
But perhaps, the most unsettling of all were the crimson tears that flowed from her eyes.
Staining her pale cheeks with their vivid hue.
The Passue Matriarch levitated slowly towards the Witch with pity in her watery eyes.
She was the perfect picture of the Grim Reaper in the flesh.
Truly, she was the replica of death.
"Fate will be unkind to you," the Passue Matriarch whispered. "You can not undone what you have done. Surrender the Supremacy of One, and I'll grant you a painless death. Please," she sobbed amidst her words. "It's better to receive death by my hands than him..."
Upon hearing this, the Witch swallowed hard as she knew that she was in trouble.
Even with the grimoire she inherited, she knew that she could die in this ludicrous exchange.
'Royal Black Prince, where is he? It's about time you show up' She mused inwardly.
Meanwhile, a mile back from the Witch's position.
Having accomplished a breakthrough in his power with the help of the Blood Devourer—Rex sprinted through the obstacles of the terrain, following the Executor's trail of energy. He was moving as fast as he could.
As he got closer, however, he began to lose track of the Executor's aura.
It's the creek, the trails are slowly being wiped by it.
Coming to the conclusion that he couldn't pursue the Executor through his trail of energy any longer, he veered to the side and bolted in another direction. Rex made a sharp left—heading to Lyra who was connected to him through the link she made.
Just as predicted, it became handy.
Despite the disturbance from the terrain, he could pinpoint her location exactly.
Sensing that he was approaching, Lyra's telepathic voice rang inside Rex's mind in distress.
'Royal Black Prince, I request you come faster,'
Upon hearing this, Rex frowned as he was not expecting her to contact him first.
Nevertheless, knowing that Lyra proclaimed herself as experienced and notorious in her time—asking for him to come quickly must mean that she was facing something difficult thus Rex quickened his pace to reach her.
A moment is all it takes for Rex to reach where Lyra is.
Even as he approached the location, he could tell that there was a conflict going on.
Initially—Rex thought that it must be the Executor or another summoned being that attacked Lyra and the Shapeshifters under her. But as it turns out—it was not a summoned being. Rex could see a figure clashing against dozens of powerful Shapeshifters.
Regardless of the Shapeshifters' versatility and adaptability, the figure was rock solid.
He blocked every attack and countered attacks fiercely.
Many Shapeshifters had become his victims, and the corpses scattered show that clearly.
Boom!
Landing in quite a fashion, Rex cracked the ground and blew dust around his landing area.
Almost in an instant, the battle stopped when he landed.
Upon realizing that Rex had arrived on this small battlefield, the Shapeshifters retreated back—seizing their fight. In a slow and deliberate poise, Rex straightened his spine and raised his eyes to gaze on the figure ahead, who remained facing away from him.
It didn't take long before he recognized who the figure was.
Old friends turned bitter adversaries, standing on opposite sides of this massive conflict.
Rex bore his eyes onto Edward's foreign back, corrupted to the core.
Also recognizing his arrival, the traitor glanced over his shoulder before their eyes met.
"Took you long enough to get here..."
"I'm sorry that I kept you waiting, Edward, but it seems you found something to fill your time"
Palpable tension between them crackled in the air like lightning before a storm—memories of their shared past flashed between them, overshadowed by the weight of their current enmity—hard to fix under normal circumstances.
As the dust settled around them, the background noises faded into the background.
Edward and Rex were hung between the tension akin to a suffocating fog.
Smiling lightly, Edward pivoted his body around to face Rex with his eyes squinted into slits.
"Please, I am only defending myself," Edward brandished his spear lightly, brushing the blood tainted on its blade on the ground. "Seems like fate had put us against each other. Tell me, is a fight between us necessary?"
"Indeed. If the situation is true, perhaps a fight is the only way," Rex replied meaningfully.
Post their brief exchange, both stood poised on the brink of confrontation.
Despite the bond of friendship they once had—it didn't matter anymore as the two stood on opposite sides of the battlefield. Not to mention—Rex couldn't afford anyone standing in his way to reach the Executor.
On the other hand, the onlookers slowly backed away as they listened to their exchange.
From the mood and exchange, a fight between them is imminent.
Knowing how powerful Edward was as he easily defended himself from the onslaught of the Shapeshifters Army, Lyra signaled for the others to make room for their fight lest they got hit by the crossfire.
Amongst the Executor's entire force, he must've been the strongest of them all.
It was the seconds before a big fight happened.
Most of the onlookers could hear their own heartbeat due to how silent the entire place was.
However, in the next second, a powerful shockwave came rushing towards them.
Swoosh!!
One could instantly tell that the shockwave was caused by the Executor—it was infused with the essence of chaos. Alongside his energy was another prominent energy—unfamiliar to the majority but as strong or even stronger than the Executor's energy regardless.
Crash!
Being struck by the shockwave, the Shapeshifters created a means of protection from it.
Rex and Edward didn't need it though as the two ate the shockwave bare.
Upon sensing this unfamiliar energy, Rex glanced at the source with an evident frown.
Is that the Passue Matriarch...?
As he thought of that, still at the peak of the shockwave's devastation—Rex's attention was drawn to a resounding clang—prompting him to cash another glance toward Edward. It was then that what he beheld caused his eyes to widen in disbelief.
"What are you doing...?" Rex asked, his tone in disbelief.