The Invincible Full-Moon System

Linthia didn't understand the reason for this.

She didn't know why Rex wanted to intervene and save the Verdant Ivy Village.

Even though the village gave them the three quotas to enter the Aurelian Fortress in ten days-time, now less—it isn't worth fighting another stronger village. Not only doing that would fish out more trouble, it would also potentially expose Kraken.

In addition to that, there's also the chance that there are stronger people here.

One that might even be near the Master Immortal Spirit rank.

However, Linthia didn't question his decision—he must have a reason to help the village.

Pah!

Suddenly, a crisp, resounding slap reverberated through the air.

In a fit of anger and humiliation, Rakha stepped forward and slapped Casey across her face hard in front of everyone. He was fuming in anger as if this went on, he would also be troubling his senior, which he couldn't afford to do.

Bringing his senior here in case the person responsible did show up, not for this humiliation.

"Bitch, tell me who it is right now. Know that my patience has its limit," He warned again.

For a second there, Casey's eyes widened.

She could feel the burn from the slap stinging his cheek.

Once she blinked and recovered from the slap, Casey slowly turned to look at Rakha.

A surprising amount of life energy began sizzling out from her form—her aura increased by the second, and her gaze was completely different. Rakha had beaten her before as she was a new talent that picked the scouter's attention, so he was her senior.

Initially, during her first few days—she was overbearingly prideful.

Even when given the chance to be a part of the Onyx Lotus Village, she declined.

Instead, she chose the weakest village, the Verdant Ivy Village—believing that she could turn it around.

Because of that, Rakha needed to teach her a lesson and he did.

However, for some weird reason, the gaze she was giving him right now like a silent brewing storm, caused him to flinch. Even several days ago, when he attempted to kill her, she didn't give him this kind of unsettling gaze.

Something about him changed, it was evident.

But realizing that he was the center of attention, he couldn't show any weakness.

"What?" He leaned forward tauntingly. "What's with that look? Are you trying to pick a fight?"

As those words came out of Rakha's lips, they fell instantly.

Despite wanting to seem certain and strong, once those words came out, everyone could tell that he did not want to fight. He doesn't sound convincing, almost like a kid—who wanted to act strong and menacing when in reality, he wasn't.

Casey didn't answer, she only looked at Rakha dead in his eyes.

She let the words hang, increasing the static tension in the air to an unbearable degree.

Everyone's eyes were locked onto them.

Any moment now, they could feel it—Casey was going to strike first.

Even the villagers of the Verdant Ivy Village for some reason believed in Casey to wind this fight against Rakha. It was weird, none of them knew Casey that well, and yet her back somehow was assuring enough to shoulder their hope.

Just then, as her muscles twitched to move—a voice rang and stopped her move before she did it.

"I'm the person you're looking for,"

Upon hearing this voice, all eyes turned to look at Rex along with Meklo—and Linthia emerging from the cover of a tree. Casey and Kody were surprised, not expecting Rex to show his face here, and as for Rakha, he instantly turned to his senior, Joren.

Joren, who was silent all this while, turned to look at Rex and narrowed his gaze.

He was confused as to who Rex was, he had never seen Rex around before.

"Is he the group that the guards let in to rest?" Joren asked.

Beside him, a woman with a crop combat outfit and blonde hair nodded, "It must be them"

"I'm the one who knocked you out," Rex stood a couple of paces away from Rakha. "But you cannot blame me for that, you're actually trying to kill Casey. Even though—I'm not from here, I'm quite sure killing is not prohibited"

"Hmph! Do you have proof for that accusation?" Rakha scoffed and turned towards Rex.

"Rex…?" Casey muttered, surprised to see him come.

Not even glancing at her, Rex raised both of his hands—in a pacifying gesture, not wanting things between him and Rakha to escalate than they already were, "No need to be like that, I'm not here to cause trouble. If it'll help, I apologize for doing that,"

"An apology like this wouldn't cut it," Rakha crossed his arms. "Say it to me properly, on your knees. And I want the Verdant Ivy Village to hand over the Life Gem. Those are my terms, I don't expect any less than that"

Upon hearing this, Rex nodded his head and chuckled while he walked over to Casey and Kody.

Linthia didn't follow him, she could tell Rex was planning something.

"Is there really no other way to resolve this amicably?" Rex asked again—as he stood right in front of Casey, facing Rakha and also the group of Onyx Lotus ahead. "After all, I could've hurt you back then but I didn't"

"You ambush me, coward! Don't act like you're something!" Rakha roared in anger.

Rex paused for a second, he didn't immediately answer.

He glanced at Rakha's behind, focusing on Joran.

Hurting this annoying guy would only insinuate a fight between me and Joran, I can't afford that. On the other hand, if things escalate, there might be a battle between the two villages and that would attract the guards which was not a good situation to be in.

Considering that Joran might be stronger than Garvain, Rex would need to turn into his Werewolf form in order to beat him. From the days of contemplation, he realized that he must hide his Werewolf form as that could tie him down to the Arcalen House's destruction.

Of course, there shouldn't be any witnesses but it's better to be safe than sorry.

In public, Rex should remain in his Human form.

He could only transform when no one was watching or when he was inside the Black Rift.

Glancing over his shoulder to look at Casey, he sighed.

She saw me in my Werewolf form, I need to do something about her. I'll talk to her after this.

And I wonder… What would she do when a battle broke out? Hmm, I don't know.

But still, there doesn't seem to be any other choice to get out of this very sticky situation.

Rex returned his focus back to Rakha again.

"So?" Rakha smiled tauntingly, he could tell that Rex was worried about Joren. "Are you going to fulfill my first requirement? Or should we skip that part and start with the consequences? I'm not sure if you could tell but my senior could be quite impatient at times. It's not good to keep him waiting"

"How about a bet?" Rex finally spoke, loud enough for Joren to hear clearly.

"Oh?" Rakha raised an eyebrow. "What kind of bet?"

"Simple," Rex said as took off his sandals, the one Javier gave him, and also his tunic, leaving him with only his black undershirt. "If you win, I'll go down to my knees and kiss your feet while I apologize for what I did. I'd also promise to hunt the most dangerous mission for your village on top of also giving you the Life Gem"

Upon hearing this, Rakha's eyes sparkled.

He was clearly tempted by the offer, which would be extremely great for him.

"And what if I lose?" Rakha asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If you lose," Rex smirked. "Just drop this problem and go back, you got nothing I want anyway"

Rakha grinds his teeth when hears this, he can't believe that Rex would be this arrogant.

"Since we don't want to hurt anyone in the process, let's do it in a sparring way," Rex continued as he stretched his muscles—the scars covering his body caused the onlookers to gasp, it was clear to them that he has lived an unforgiving life. "We're going to suppress our power to the Immortal Spirit 1 rank and would only use our fists"

"Fine, you arrogant bastard," Rakha rolled his sleeves. "I'll take you on"

Observing from the side, Casey and Kody frowned.

"Rakha is extremely good at martial arts, he came from the Sakura Valley and trained under the Wicked Seven for two hundred years," Kody mumbled, finding Rex's decision to settle this problem through a spar reckless. "I don't think he could win against Rakha"

"I don't know," Casey shook her head. "He's young but something tells me he's quite capable himself"

Kody shrugged his shoulders.

He doubted Rex would win this spar despite his confidence.

There was a reason why Rakha was one of the strongest here, even with his current rank.

In any case, Kody needs to think of what he needs to do if Rex indeed lost.

'That being said,' Kody glanced to the side to look at Linthia, who despite the battle was about to start, had her focus on somewhere else. Instead of focusing on the battle, she was warily stealing glances at Joren. 'She's not watching the battle. She doesn't seem to be worried, which means she has absolute confidence in Rex's victory'

'Or am I reading too much into it?' Kody shook his head and focused on the battle again.

As Rakha was preparing to fight, Rex nodded his head.

Instead of going at it for real, this would settle the problem without destroying both sides.

Standing firmly on his spot, Rakha gets into his fighting stance, crossing both his arms—in front of him, a tight defense to his torso. On the other hand, Rex only stood nonchalantly, cracking his neck as if he already knew that he was going to win.

'Just what is he doing? Get ready or else he's going to lose instantly,' Casey thought inside.

Kody also thought the same thing, 'He doesn't know any martial arts, he's going to lose'

It was the same thing on the Onyx Lotus side.

"He's gone through a lot but he thought he could rough up through this situation," the fit woman beside Joren placed both hands on her hip and sighed. "I was excited to see the person who was able to easily knock Rakha but he's not all that"

"Hmm…" Joren hummed, keeping close eyes on Rex.

Crack!

"Not attacking first? Then, do not mind me making the first move!" Rakha stepped on the ground hard, cracking it under his strength—as he lunged forward at a speed faster than most people present could perceive.

He was instantly going to end this battle.

Once he was near, he ducked down low and spun his body.

In an instant, he made an uppercut bac kick that was backed with the strength of his entire body.

Just from this move alone, it was clear that he was extremely trained.

But at that moment, as he was about to throw the kick, Rex threw down his hands and for a split second, his expression turned serious. Almost instantly, Kody, Casey, the fit woman, and Joren could feel a cold shiver running down their spine.

All of their eyes widened, feeling the change in Rex was drastically erratic.

Earlier, he was aloof and seemed full of weak spots but in this split second, all of that disappeared.

It was almost as if he could turn his battle intent on and off, hiding it to catch the opponent off guard.

Bam!

Rakha's eyes widened when he saw Rex block his foot easily.

In a slow manner, Rex gripped Rakha's foot and pushed it away—revealing a perplexed face.

"What's with the theatrical move? It's too much-wasted movement and I can see it from a mile away, it is not good," Rex said with a raised brow, he was genuinely confused as in a battle without power, one needs to be practical, not theatrical. "Do you train? Can you even fight?"