Lingering traces of cursed energy envelop the entire place.
Rex could tell that one of the main perpetrators of this incident was the Witch of Chaos.
He knew that there was some form of an altercation going on between Calidora and Evelyn—but he didn't know the exact details. He only knew that they were fighting in the background, evident by the faint shimmer of Luna energy that Calidora possessed.
It seems like this started fairly recently.
Maybe due to desperation or frustration, Evelyn decided to work with the Witch.
Knowing Evelyn's temperament in dealing with things, Rex could easily accuse that doing the plan right now during the coronation day was probably the Witch's idea. Now, not only did he learn of a substantial fact that Calidora was pregnant with his child—but Rex was also forced to deal with an embarrassment in the eyes of many.
His coronation ended on a bad note, but that was not the worst part.
"Should I go there, or would you come here and face me?" Rex asked, his tone was icy cold.
Upon hearing this, the Witch chose the latter and came out.
If Rex was not focused on her, she might be able to escape—but that was impossible now.
"I've never properly thanked you, for your invaluable aid in the battle against the Fifthborn—have I?" Rex asked, still not facing the Witch, he rested his hand over his chest. "My apology for forgetting about that. Witch of Chaos, you have my gratitude. Without you—I may not be able to win against the Fifthborn,"
Despite gaining gratitude, the Witch's expression was nothing but tense.
As Evelyn said, she was walking on thin glass.
"No need for that, I did it without any emotions attached. I also want him dead," She replied.
Rex nodded his head repeatedly in affirmation, but before he could say anything further, the Witch already intervened, as she could feel the high tension in the air, "Look—if this is about when the Fifthborn fired the Chaos Nova at the others, I can't help. If I did that, he would be suspicious and our plan would fail. Know that it's the logical move to do for me,"
"But if it'll make it better, I am willing to compensate you through other means," She added.
"Oh, no, no, no... I didn't fault you for that," Rex replied shaking his head. "I understand."
Even though it was bad, Rex didn't blame the Witch for that.
Despite his emotional bias, towards the others, he acknowledged that they had accepted the possibility of death by coming to the battle. Rex was angry, but his anger, was not justified. If he was put in the Witch's position, he was also going to do the same as her.
It would be worse to help the others and risk ruining the entire plan.
Regardless of what would happen, the Fifthborn needs to die no matter what.
However, in the next moment after a few seconds of silence, Rex's face contorted hideously as if he was the Devil himself, "But I do fault you for the fact that you tried to hurt my child..." He was furious, his entire being was shaking. "MY CHILD!!"
The Witch's entire body jolted when Rex suddenly shouted, forcing her to look down.
As of this moment, nobody was a match for Rex.
Facing Evelyn, Adhara, Flunra, or any other individuals under Rex's forces was not a problem for the Witch. But Rex was an entirely different thing. His Werewolf prowess was beyond the peak, his Awakened power is also at the highest realm—and now, his cursed power is also at the ninth epiphany.
It was safe to say that he was truly the strongest at this current moment.
One and the only one who could take down the Fifthborn.
Not to mention, the Witch knew that Rex took the mind path for his cursed power.
She could feel his cursed energy coalescing in his brain.
Having multiple sources of power that could trample over anyone—choosing the mind path was the best move for Rex as that would make him invulnerable to cursed attacks. It would also make most of the Witch's abilities useless against him.
Naturally, with all of those reasons, she couldn't go against Rex.
Doing so would only spell her own doom quicker.
All of her senses were also telling her to run, but she couldn't move faster than Rex.
It was not an exaggeration that she was under his mercy right now.
"No amount of effort or compensation will make right of that transgression," Rex added.
She didn't know what Rex wanted her to do with the weird small knife and the Jar of Malice.
But in the next second, her heart skipped a beat.
"I want a quarter of his soul, and I want it to be done by yourself,"
"W- What...?"
Upon hearing the request, the Witch couldn't help but look at Rex in utter disbelief.
Her eyes were pleading for him to not make her do this.
Reluctant to see his mother take such barbaric action, Dealkandrax attempted to flee, only to be effortlessly pinned to the ground, by Rex's cursed energy. Nothing it does, could remotely help it to come close to escaping.
"Nothing you can do would ease my wrath, but I decided to compromise—for the sake of this day as my coronation. This would ease my wrath enough to not do the unthinkable," Rex was saying this calmly, but this calmness showed the Witch that he was serious.
He really wants her to carve a quarter of Dealkandrax's soul to amend for her mistake.
Unconsciously, the Witch turned to look at her child.
It was born from her ascension as the Witch of Chaos, so it is really her child, not a monster.
Aware of their dire predicament with no avenue for escape—Dealkandrax offered the Witch a subtle nod—signaling to her to just do what Rex wants. The Witch had not anticipated this to be the outcome, but now their situation had taken a bleak turn.
"An eye for an eye," Rex said, raspingly. "A pound short, both of you will die here,"
Clenching the small knife tightly, she looked down at the floor in silence.
But then again—despite the act would primarily inflict mental anguish as Dealkandrax's soul would recover eventually, she found herself struggling to proceed. It was too painful, for her to do this to Dealkandrax, and her heart was twisting.
It was only after a significant passage of time that she managed to rise to her feet.
The clock is still ticking, it was not waiting for her.
Due to that, it's better to do this before Rex's patience runs out and kills both of them.
...
A couple of days have passed since then.
Even though the triumph should brought peace to the castle, it was now dead silence.
Only the sound of the bustling city echoed within the castle walls.
It was not the atmosphere after a coronation should be like.
Maids, and guards alike could feel the tension in the air inside the castle that was suffocating them. None of them saw any of the female Silverstar Pack members—leaving their chambers—only Kyran and Flunra could be seen around.
For better or worse, the Emperor also hadn't been seen these last couple of days.
Kyran even prohibits the guards and maids from going over to certain parts of the castle.
It was a warning as the others were currently very sensitive.
Naturally, with the rumor of Calidora's pregnancy with the Emperor's child, this was natural.
All of them were surprised by the news, and that was understandable.
Despite the public was not aware of this fact, some were beginning to question as to why the Vampires' caravans, and envoys came to the castle numerous times. It seemed like there was something going on, but all of them could only wonder.
However, regardless of the situation inside the castle, the world was not aligned.
It follows only its own direction.
The bustling crowd in the streets paused, their gazes drawn upward to the clear sky.
Something peculiar was unfolding with the white sphere of the First Breath—its energy could be seen circling itself, a spectacle that was out of the usual. All of them were confused, but it was only then that they felt something changed.
With a splash that expanded throughout the entire sky, the white sphere transformed.
A sign was happening, and all could think of is it was nearing the Second Breath.