Swoosh!
All of the people outside the city walls had their eyes opened wide—when a dark blue energy wave shot out from the forest suddenly. It was very fast—most saw only a glimpse of it while others only sensed the wind brushing against them.
But each one of them without exception got flung away upon impact.
Rex, who also was not suspecting such an incident got slammed into the wall viciously.
His strong impact created massive web-like cracks in the city wall.
Gasping a breath, he looked up at the forest with a frown, "What was that...?"
Crack!
Just before he could recover fully from the impact, he saw Ugrok getting slammed to the wall meters away from him. His big body made an even bigger crack. Since the city wall collapsed—that means the dome barrier protecting the city also collapsed.
Nothing obstructed their path and thus, they slammed into the wall directly.
Checking the others, Rex found that the city guards were in a worse condition than them.
A lot of them were sprawled on the ground—groaning in pain as their formation shattered.
Not to mention, the energy surge from earlier managed to slip inside through the breach and blast those who were near the breach away. Stopping at nothing, it shattered the barriers of the buildings inside, causing unbelievable damage.
Another one would certainly topple a lot of buildings near the breach.
It was only then that Rex sensed a bad premonition coming their way again.
Expecting another lethal wave of energy like earlier, he quickly got up and stood at where the breach on the wall was. He couldn't let the second surge of energy, hit them again, and since he was the only one who could react properly, he would confront it himself.
Just as he expected, the same energy wave came out of the forest.
But this time, Rex was ready to confront it.
Taking no chances whatsoever—Rex smoothly changed into his Werewolf form and anchored himself firmly into the ground. Protection is not his forte, so he decided to take on the energy wave with an attack of his own.
Activating his King Marks, he cloaked his claws with kingly energy and grunted heavily.
"Executor Slash!"
Swoosh!
Boom!!
Rex met the energy wave with his claws, and surprisingly, he was locked in a power struggle.
He expected to shatter through the energy wave, but it proved to be harder to do.
Gritting his teeth, he added his red force into the mix.
Splash!
Upon the usage of his red force, the energy wave bent outward before dispersing instantly.
"My power is already back to the eighth-rank realm and climbing, and yet I couldn't disperse it with ease? Whatever that made this energy wave, must be as strong as a ninth-rank realm and is now regaining back its power," He mused with an evident frown.
Even though he managed to block this one, his frown deepened as more came out.
Splash!
Splash!
Pushing forward, he clashed head-on with the energy waves, slashing and hacking at them.
As he took control of the situation, none of the energy waves reached the city.
However, while he was dealing with the energy wave, Rex noticed a pattern that he found to be odd, "I don't think someone, or something is attacking the city—it lacks killing intent, and the energy wave came at a fixed gap from one to another, half-a-second to be exact"
For those reasons, Rex deduced that this was not an attack on the city.
Had it been an attack then the attacker should bore killing intent—and the attack should not have a fixed gap of half a second—like this. Something was creating this energy wave inside the forest, and this should be the roar he had heard earlier.
Naturally, since this was the Second Breath, it must've been a mutated animal.
Caught off guard, the city guard quickly recovered and ran back inside.
On the other hand, Linthia didn't waste time idling and went after Rex into the forest.
Rex tore through the forest and headed to where the mutated animal was located.
He was completely concerned about this phenomenon as the mutated animal was very close to the city—in fact, extremely close. The fact that it could trigger such a phenomenon—even though it was the Second Breath now and the world already evolved—this mutated animal is definitely very strong. Worst-case scenario, it's breaking through to the tenth-rank realm!
Now that the world has evolved, the dynamic of breaking through has also evolved.
A sixth-rank realm Awakened wouldn't incite the same effect as prior to the Second Breath.
Naturally, the phenomenon they initiate would become weaker than before.
So since the lightning strikes were destructive, shaking the ground with each strike, it was an indication that this mutated animal might even be breaking through to the tenth-rank realm—a realm that even Rex himself hasn't achieved.
Closing from the back was Linthia, flying with all her might.
She managed to catch up to Rex and voiced out her concern, "We should wait for the others"
"No, we need to stop it from breaking through," Rex replied swiftly.
Linthia's request for Rex to wait for the others, was not due to the fear of the mutated animal they were about to face. It stemmed from her concern, for Rex's well-being. Even though the chances were slim, she couldn't shake the worry that his recent battle with the Fifthborn had left him with less than full power.
So because of that, the possibility of him getting hurt was higher than normal.
Regardless of her concerns, she followed Rex closely behind.
A moment later, the two reached the place where they saw the mutated animal.
Both of them knew that they were getting close—because the heat of energy in the area was increasing rapidly, and also, the sound of lightning strikes hitting could be heard, close by. As expected, the same figure could be seen in the distance through a maze of trees.
Now that they were closer, they also saw a peculiar sight.
Located at the center of the mutated animal's chest was an orb, glowing with vicious fire.
It was getting brighter and brighter with each struck from the lightning strike.
More than that, spikes were protruding from the orb, and it was already covering most of the orb's surface leaving only a little spot left. Naturally—Rex could tell that the orb was its core, and it was nearing completion.
Also, there was this light bronze energy coating the mutated anima's entire body.
Cursed energy...?
Upon seeing this sight, Rex's frown deepens, as the mutated animal has fire affinity and also cursed energy—empowering it. He had never seen something like this before. Normally, one would only have either cursed energy or fire affinity.
But this mutated animal has both.
Almost instantly, Rex activated all of his power and made a powerful, light-speed dash.
Since the world has already evolved, then I should be able to use my full power.
Nodding firmly, Rex decided to use one of his strongest skills apart from his moon abilities.
Both Devo and Amanir were still asleep—from giving their last bit of spirit energy to fight the Fifthborn, but aside from them, his powers were all activated. Piercing the distance between him and the mutated animal with a step, he raised his mighty claws.
Rex bore the heaviness of the world with his claws and struck down.
"Unholy Claws of the Reaper!!"
Immediately after that chant, his claws burn with vicious energies, added with Origin energy.
Kaboom!!
Hitting their mark—a powerful shockwave exploded, as Rex's claws made contact with the mutated animal. The shockwave rippled through the forest and beyond, hitting Linthia who was not far directly.
Trees quivered as the energy surged, leaving deep scratches on their trunks in its wake.
Just as the shockwave receded, Rex's eyes widened.
He found the long tail of the mutated animal blocked his claws.
Moreover, despite his rigorous strength, he couldn't knock the mutated animal away.
"Shit... I knew that it was strong but not this strong"