Chapter 537 Issue Of Trust

"...I will force you to work for my pack!"

Rex's eyes glistened with purple energy from the King Mark as he declared that he was going to make the prideful Arnulf one of his pack members, it should be a heavy penalty worst than death for someone as prideful as Arnulf.

Anyone that lived a life as long as Arnulf will inevitably develop a huge ego.

Surviving countless battles that can even shred a normal Werewolf into little pieces is surely an achievement in itself, and it was shown clearly from how Arnulf acted despite the Dark Prince beside him before.

Sure, he's at the rank still lower than the Dark Prince, Zegrath.

But how he's leading Zegrath and the other Werewolves he brought, coupled with the way he fought with an insurmountable amount of pride shows the arrogance he developed through the years of his life.

While declaring the words Rex said earlier, he emphasizes the word 'For'.

It's a subtle hint but Arnulf himself instantly knows what he meant by that. There will be no redemption for him even if survived the ordeal, his time under the Silverstar Pack will become a strainful and gruesome endless of work.

Rex could've just used the word 'with', but he didn't use that just to emphasize this.

An endless work with the suppression from Rex that will have an even greater impact on himself when he was forced to join the Silverstar Pack is more like hell, Arnulf rather dies than become like that and it's clearly stated in his unwilling expression.

Knowing exactly what Rex is going to do, Arnulf clenched his jaw strongly.

Out of all those who he converts to join the Silverstar Pack, he has never really forced anyone of them. At least they didn't fight back this unwillingly. Adhara, Kyran, Evelyn, and Gistella, none of them resist joining his pack.

In addition to that, they also don't know how Rex can turn them into Werewolves.

From Arnulf clenching his jaw shows that he knows that in order to force him into the Silverstar Pack Rex needed to feed Arnulf his blood, but this is already expected from the oldest Werewolf around.

Showing a gruesome smirk, Rex grabbed Arnulf's muzzle while staring right into his soul.

Despite wanting to say something the crushed throat that was caused by Rex earlier didn't heal even the slightest bit, the black purplish energy from the King Mark is too strong even for someone like Arnulf that is terrifying in his own way.

Knowledge can be a terrifying weapon, and Arnulf shows that in real life.

From tracking down Rex's whereabouts from nothing but a howl, using the Vampire powers to hurt a ninth-rank Awakened, finding the entrance Rex used on the Great Barricade. and even the myriads of abilities he uses from ancient times.

Although it's hard to confess, Rex can definitely use his knowledge.

It's another reason why he decided to force Arnulf into his pack, it will be his punishment, and also has the knowledge that is already ripe and dwelling inside of his brain waiting to be used. Rex knows that the system should know much more than Arnulf, but there's a flaw with the system.

Not that it costs gold to gain the information, Rex doesn't mind that at all.

But the huge flaw was that Rex needs to know something a bit to gain further knowledge of it, while Arnulf can simply digress words on top of his head which will help deal with the Supernatural problem he's dealing with currently.

'No matter what, I need to get him into the Silverstar Pack'

Rex confirms his intention before grabbing Arnulf's muzzle, he then wanted to brand Arnulf with a rune that was recommended by the system's shop. It's a double effect rune that is quite perfect for Arnulf and the situation he's in.

<Rune of Compliance and Weakened Will>

The rune will take effect when the branded target and the leader target have been set. Upon completion, the rune will weaken the will of the branded target by weakening 50% Mental Stat of the target's mental stat every time the leader target deems so. But alongside this effect, the branded target will have the same amount of increase of the deducted Mental Stat added to the Endurance stat.

Without a doubt, this rune is the perfect fit for Arnulf.

It will help him in suppressing Arnulf with his Alpha's aura easier, and the added Endurance stat can also be amplified and be used in many scenarios that require a strong shield. Even thinking about what he will use Arnulf for brings a smile to his face.

But of course Arnulf knows this, he uses this momentary remiss to carve a rune.

Exposing a ridiculing smile towards Rex that just caught the small rune created by Arnulf, a vacuum in dimension was created just on their side. It sucked Arnulf's body into the other part of the vacuum and disappeared from the place.

Rex looks at the void with a straight expression before lowering his arm.

Using yet another of those runes that Arnulf likes to use very much he managed to flee the scene into another dimension it seems, the rippling effect of the vacuum is still there dissipating slowly. Without much thought, Rex touches the ripple.

<Scanning...>

While waiting for the system's scan, it seems the others have recovered slightly.

Evelyn leading Adhara and Kyran approaches him from the back while also looking at the ripple, they saw how Arnulf got sucked by the vacuum and eels his way out of Rex's grasp proving yet again that he has abilities that are out of reach from the current Werewolf Race.

Seeing the new form, they all are a little bit awed by him.

It's the first time seeing this kind of form and even sensing this dense energy coming from an individual being, the energy coming from Rex is very thick but at the same time calm. It's not violent but calm as water, it almost feels like Rex has full control over it.

King Mark is the most eye-catching as it's pulsating energy across Rex's body.

Even the pulsing black purplish energy coming from the King Mark travels visibly to his horns, it's like a beating heart that is in sync with Rex's calm breathing that doesn't seem tired at all. Obtaining the King Mark cleanses him of the fatigue he's going through before.

Just like any ninth-rank Awakened, he seems to have an endless amount of energy.

If Giana doesn't get poisoned by the sinister creature before then she can keep fighting for as long as the battle continues, the terrifying part of a ninth-rank Awakened is their ability to keep on relentlessly fighting.

Black ashes are also worth mentioning as it only appears around Rex like snowflakes.

Rex has a relationship with these black ashes materializing from absolutely nothing like a thunderstorm and rain, wherever he goes or moves the black ashes follow like his best friend.

For Rex to show this kind of energy and calmness, he definitely reaches a new height of power.

Snapping out of their dazes, they then focus on the matters at hand.

"Did he manage to escape...? I was hoping that this will be over"

Having seen the ability Arnulf uses from afar, Evelyn knows how deadly that Werewolf can be.

It's like opening a surprise box that can literally contain anything as long as it fits. Fighting Arnulf is very similar to that, they don't know what he will use next with the variety of abilities in his arsenal.

Flying is impossible for a Werewolf, but Arnulf has shown that he can if he wanted to.

"W-We need to find him... we can't let him escape"

Adhara who has fought against Arnulf directly mutters with heavy breaths, she's already back in her human form as she has already way past her limit in using her Werewolf form. If she used it anymore she can feel that something bad will happen to her.

Because of this feeling, she realized that she was still far from mastering her Werewolf form.

Since she has also experienced directly fighting against Arnulf that can somehow still able to outwit her ability to shift through objects, Adhara also has the most impactful impression of how dangerous Arnulf can be.

Letting him flee right now is like asking for huge trouble in the future.

Arnulf has been actively helping Zegrath and even actively messing with Rex, but if he decided to hide then it might be near impossible to find him with god knows what more abilities he has. It's definitely going to be close to impossible.

Instead of replying to their concerns, Rex only takes out a couple of elixirs from the inventory.

"Each of you drinks one and gives the remaining to the Awakened that can still be saved, it's only been a day but they have contributed greatly in stalling the Werewolves in pursuit of Giana. It's the least we could do for their effort"

Upon hearing this the others nodded their heads and chugged an elixir.

Looking back at the other part of the destroyed plain they saw Awakened lying on the ground. But they are not only gathered in one place, some of them are scattered across the plain. Of course, the ones that have their bodies cut into two or have visible severe damage will be checked the last. The possibility of them being alive is small after all.

As the others left to help the Awakened, Evelyn stayed behind a little bit longer.

"What are you going to do"

"Finding Arnulf of course..."

Rex's purple eyes glisten subtly as he looks at the leftover ripples left behind, it's not the obvious ripple that Arnulf got sucked into but small ripples that lead in a direction to his front. It's like a track left behind by something.

Without a doubt, it's the track left behind by Arnulf that is running away.

'So he went into another dimension and use that dimension to escape, it's an escape pocket dimension. It should be an escape plan used by the Werewolves during ancient times, Twilight Dimension...'

But shifting his gaze elsewhere, Rex also realized that the other two has gone missing.

'They escaped huh... but with the power coursing inside of me, I doubt that I can't find them in a bit. Ruston, you're dying today right after I kill Arnulf that needed to be taken care of as soon as possible'

Just as Rex was about to follow the track, he sensed someone approaching.

It was Giana that came from the rumbled mountain direction with her legs completely blue, it's somewhat hard to look at just how grotesque her legs have turned into. But looking at her expression, Rex realized that there was an even greater problem.

"What kind of creature manages to hurt you?"

Upon hearing the monstrous Werewolf that has an energy that surpasses even hers asks her, Giana stutters a bit scrambling for words before she replied, "A creature called Blood Infant, summoned by the Blood Devourer"

Rex nodded his head while still facing Giana that is looking at him up and down.

There was a choking silence covering them as Giana is still in disbelief while looking at Rex's current form right now, she was definitely surprised that the person she sometimes praised turned out to be a Werewolf.

"S-Since when..."

Raising his eyebrows, Rex can only sigh helplessly, "Way before the Supernatural finds the way to turn humans into Supernaturals if that's what you're asking for, I'm no threat, Giana...", with their equal power, Rex surrenders the formalities.

It didn't bother Giana more than his form though as she kept looking at him in disbelief.

Despite the hatred that she bores for the Supernatural she can't deny that Rex has just saved her from the Werewolves' pursuit and even kill the Dark Prince, it's a feat that is worth the praise of humanity for decades.

Something that has never been achieved by any of his peers, a great contribution to humanity.

"Before the Supernatural Emergence?"

"After I almost died during my time serving in the military"

Without hiding anything, Rex decided to tell the truth as this is the first time his secret is known to someone as influential as Giana. It's going to be catastrophic if she misunderstands him and decided to stand against him.

Although it's wrong, there's a thought of killing Giana right here.

Since the others can be silenced by him by also turning them into Werewolves, Rex is not that bothered by them knowing his secret. But now Giana knows it, and he can't possibly turn her into a Werewolf for Arnulf as well as her own strong will.

But taking her out right here right now which he's more than capable of has consequences.

Right now humanity only has 3 ninth-rank Awakened from the death of one ninth-rank Awakened back when the Great Barricade is attacked and breached, including him there are four ninth-rank equivalent beings to stand against the Supernatural.

On the other hand, Supernaturals have six ninth-rank realm beings.

The King of each race has the power of a ninth-rank realm excluding the Demon Race which has two ninth-rank realm beings, one of them being the King while the other is the blue Archdemon that attacked Rex before.

If Rex decided to kill Giana right now, he will be weakening humanity's force.

Even without that consequences, he doesn't know if he can kill a ninth-rank Awakened despite having the power to do so. It's a big deal after all and he doesn't really want to do that. But then Giana's eyes flickered snapping Rex back from his thoughts.

Showing a serious expression, Giana then takes a deep breath before her gaze turns sharp.

"Can I trust you, Rex...? Or should I say the new Dark Prince?"