Rex had absorbed and digested the memory from his clone.
He knew about the Undeadâs ambush.
But across the entire thing that unfolded last nightâa question lingered persistently.
How did the Undead get to the forest without anyone knowing?
Albeit the stark weakness of the Elves as a mid-rank Supernatural race, the forest was their territory, they are one, with Mother Nature. Anything that moved should be detected by the sentries scattered throughout their land.
On top of that, there were also Flunra, Gistella, and his own clone stationed there.
It would be hard for the Undead to sneak with them being there.
So this question was troubling Rex the most.
Now, he knew what had happened.
"How do you come to that conclusion?" Adhara asked, puzzled by the connection.
Other than Rex, Evelyn also realized what he realized.
She sat down on her chairâwith her hand on her forehead, covering her face, "I am guessing the Undead created a diversion through the living dead, prompting Rex or rather, his clone to come back and check on the city while they sneaked into the Verdantveil Forest"
At this moment, the name Rex Silverstar was known and was considered a lethal threat.
For the Undead who had tasted Rexâs power, they viewed him highly.
Seeing that Rex was within the Elven Kingdom mustâve been a shock for them.
Fearing that they were going to be caught, wanting to take on Shadow, the Undead mustâve reported backâand asked the others to make a distraction that would pull Rex away even if itâs only for a moment.
Once Rexâs clone went back to check, the Undead slipped into Verdantveil Forest.
"But if thatâs the case, the Undead mustâve been there for a long time" Adhara frowned.
Evelyn nodded, "Yes, I believe so tooâwhen exactly we donât know"
"It doesnât matter whenâthey couldâve gone through the sentriesâ senses with Shadow and its minions running amok in the Elven Kingdom," Flunra intervened and crossed his arms. "It was a perfect opportunity for them to strike"
As expected, the Undead planned this.
Perhaps none of them anticipated finding the Silverstar Packâas well as the Alpha Primes to attack Shadow but the Undead adapted and made use of the situation. Flunra turned toward Rex, "The real question is how did the Undead use a Blood Spell to resurrect the dead?"
"Itâs nothing surprising," Evelyn replied, crossing her legs elegantly. "shouldnât you know?"
"Hmm...? What do you mean?" Flunra tilted his head in puzzlement.
Recalling that Flunraâwas only recently awakened, not even a year ago, Rex filled him in, "It was a new breakthroughâby the high-rank Supernatural races, they were experimenting on the possibility of using other raceâs spells"
Flunra frowned harder, he wasnât expecting this to be the answer.
"Such a thing is taboo and dangerous," He retorted in disapproval.
Hearing this, Adhara shrugged his shoulders, "All of them have a common goal, itâs normal"
Several months ago, when Rex was still in Human territory, the news was keeping the people updated, on the Supernaturalâs breakthrough. It has been some time since his departureâhis knowledge wasnât up to date.
None of his subservient kingdoms were also a part of the upper echelon.
Rex was basically in the dark regarding this.
And now, because of that, he was caught off guard by the Undeadâs capabilities.
"Shouldnât we confront the Vampires? They indirectly caused this," Adhara suggested.
But Rex shook his head, "No, this might be done long before. Itâs no use confronting them"
"So weâre going to do nothing...?" Adhara asked in complete disbelief.
As much as Rex wanted to do anything right now he had a lot on his plate, "Go and prepare, it would be dishonorable if we take longer. Flunra, announce to the peopleâwhat happened and do it this instant"
"As you wish," Flurna nodded and exited the meeting room.
Rex then turned to Evelyn, "Can you accompany Linthia? She needs a console"
"Adhara..." Evelyn called without looking at her. "Can you accompany Linthia instead of me?"
"Me?" Adhara was confused but she didnât have a reason to refuse. "Why me?"
"She died in battle, arenât you, as the Female Alpha supposed to be there first?"
"Now that you said it like that, I feel obligated to be there"
Adhara decided to go over to check on Linthia, leaving Rex and Evelyn behind.
Once the door closed behind her, the room fell into silence.
Rex could feel that Evelyn was waiting for him to do something but he did not know what she wanted from him. Hesitantly, he turned towards the door, "Guess Iâll leave too, thereâs a lot of things I need to do"
"Wait a minute," Evelyn called, stopping him as he took a step toward the door.
Standing up from her chair, she went over to him with graceful steps.
Evelyn went around the table and stood in front of Rex.
She locked eyes with him intensely for a moment before reaching out, wrapping her arms around his neck, and pulling him into a hug. Rex was stupefied in place, caught off guard, until she whispered softly, "You just got hereâand you didnât even hug me? From now on when you come back, I expect at least this much"
"Are you asking or telling me?" Rex hugged back and chuckled.
"Iâm the Empress and this is my castle. Iâm not asking, Iâm telling you"
"Alright then, Your Majesty. Iâll do that"
"Good, at least you know when to listen"
"Hahah~ You do know that I would need to also do this to Adhara, right? Jealous and all"
"Yeah, you probably should. Or better yet, you can do it sneakily like now"
Rex parted away while still locking on Evelynâs fiery red eyes.
She then smiled, "Welcome home, Iâm happy you came back safely"
"Iâm back..." Rex returned the smile while rubbing her head gently.
Moments later.
News of Dindoraâs death was spread throughout the entire Dargena City, as well as the other subservient kingdoms under the Clarentium Empire. She died honorably, Flunra said, dying in battle for the betterment of the empire.
It was a mutated animal that killed her so there would be no war from this.
She died after making sure that the mutated animal died alongside her.
And today, Dindora would be buried in another cemetery, exclusive only for heroic individuals of the city, it was a cemetery on the south side of the city. It was still empty and Dindora was the first one to be buried there.
Since most of the citizens were Humans, the burial process adopted that of Humans.
Adhara addressed a ceremony with the governorâs aid, and close individuals to Dindora were then allowed to speak of their memories. Rex was among the close individuals and the burial ended with the help of the few Dryads in the city.
Other than Dindora herself, there were only six Dryad citizens.
And these Dryads told Linthia to bury Dindora after placing a seed in her hand.
In Dryad customs, a life must be replaced by a lifeâso Mother Nature can thrive.
Dindoraâs death should mean another life and that life would be a tree.
It would sprout from her and for her.
Everyone gathered, including Burton and also Laurenâsadness enveloped the city.
Rex tried to make it rain today by altering the sky, changing the sunny weather, into rain, but he couldnât. Not only was Devo not with him but with the worldâs awakeningâmanipulating a big thing such as the weather became harder.
However, surprisingly, dark clouds appeared seemingly out of nowhere and it started to rain.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
On the side, Rex watched the Dryads and Linthia burying Dindora.
He stood under the rain and watched the process attentively.
Influenced by the atmosphereâhis mind began playing tricks on him.
As opposed to Dindora, he saw himself being brought down and buried in the ground.
For a moment, he was enthralled by the peaceful expression he makes in death.
So much so that he didnât realize that Dindora was already buried.
Evelyn nudged him to snap him out of his daze and it was only then did Rex blinked his eyes.
"Whatâs on your mind? What did you see?" She asked.
Rex shook his head, "Nothing, I was caught up by the moment, thatâs all"
As the two were whispering, Linthia vented out her sadness through her tears, she cried on Dindoraâs grave under the onlookers. Once the burial process was completed, the governor as well as Flunra escorted the people to disperse.
And also, at that exact moment, Linthia stood up with tears still streaming down her eyes.
Her expression was dark, her mind was in a very dark place right now.
Evelyn was sad to see her like this, she knew that the relationship between both Linthia and Dindora had developed into something more, sisterhood. It mustâve been hard on her to see their relationship ended prematurely.
But even then, Linthia steadied her breaths and composed herself.
Under the rain, she approached Rex.
Linthiaâs legs were trembling, she was very weak and emotional right now but she held on.
She had a promise to keep to Dindora and she was going to see it through.
Continue your journey on empire
"Rest and recover your mind, no need to think about your post. Flunra can take over," Evelyn said, trying to be understanding, to the devastated captain. No matter how Evelyn looked at it, Linthia needed some time to process this.
"Iâm grateful for your consideration but Iâm okay," Linthia replied and turned towards Rex.
Seeing the conviction behind her gaze, Rex smiled inside.
I thought Gelmar would be the one, who would realize it soonerâthe perk of being a captain, under me but from the looks of it, sheâs going to be the first one. Dindoraâs death was a pure catalyst for her to grow.
"Do you have something to say to me?" Rex asked with a questioning tone.
Upon hearing this, Linthia nodded, "I want to be stronger, help me become stronger"
"Oh...?" Rexâs lips curled into a smirk. "What makes you think I could help you?"
But as he realized the smirk, he quickly erased it.
It was a bad habit, and it wasnât the time for him to smile or smirk casually.
"Your Majesty awakened our bloodline and is the strongest in the world, I am sure thereâs a way I donât know that Your Majesty could use to help me become stronger," Linthia replied, holding onto the pain she felt inside. "I want to fulfill both my and Dindoraâs obligations"
Rex couldnât hide his smile anymore.
He was waiting patiently who among the three captains to be the first one to come to him.
Even though Rex was planning to cultivate them and make them the generals who could be strong enough to bear the empireâs name, and also represent him and the pack, he was not going to give it on a silver platter.
So far, Dindora and Gelmar have been able to utilize their bloodline to get stronger.
Coupled with the cityâs facilities, their growth was rapid.
Linthia, although didnât experience an evolution in her bloodline, was also the same.
But even though their growths were rapid, compared to the escalating situation, the harsh world that demanded more, they shouldâve realized that their growth was still not enough, they needed to become stronger fasterâthey needed to become hungrier.
And itâs not like they couldnât find a solution to their situation.
Rex was there, they saw how he pulled valuable stuff from thin air as if it was nothing.
All three of them knew that he had hidden powers that could help them.
Because of that, Rex was waiting for them to come to him and ask for help.
He would give them a task and in return, he would reward them.
However, so far, the captains were still oblivious to this.
It was only now did one of them came to realizeâLinthia was the first one to realize.
"As you assumed, I can help," Rex confirmed. "but what makes you think Iâll help you?"
"When Dindora died, I inherited her will and courage," Linthia replied, solemnly. "If you show me the way, youâll not regret it because... I now have the determination, of two people. Your second captain didnât die, she lived on in me. And I can assure you, I can handle anything in order to become the greatest general of our empire"