The Invincible Full-Moon System

Chapter 2045: Expected Initial Phase

Darkness loomed across the infant realm.

Both moon and stars were present, but the clouds blocked their full radiance like a torn curtain.

Ahead—hollow hail was carried by the wind and slammed into High Lord Rashal’s body and shattered into tiny fragments. And on the side, the dark ocean sprawled. Its waves were carried by the current and splashed against the shore, reaching his feet.

The sound of the waves and the hail seized the moment, muting everything else around.

But High Lord Rashal could still hear his own heartbeat.

And though he couldn’t hear the steady breaths of the others behind, he knew that they were there, ready to fight alongside him in this grand battle. In the battlefield of darkness, he didn’t feel isolated or alone; the people he trusted for this battle were there with him.

For that, there was no need to be afraid.

In his all-white, High Lord Rashal didn’t bring any weapon—he didn’t need to.

His pupils then narrowed to see the figure leading the other group across the beach—standing with a trident in hand. Despite the cue from the Cluster Custodian, High Lord Ursa also didn’t move to attack. Instead, he kept his gaze forward, kept his gaze on High Lord Rashal.

"It didn’t have to end this way!" High Lord Ursa broke the silence, raising his voice enough so it would reach High Lord Rashal. "I never once wanted this to go this far. All I wanted you to do was vacate the Cavity, and you recommended the position to me!"

"You’ve had your chance!" High Lord Rashal replied. "I won the position fair and square. I did not win it at your expense. You have been a High Lord for countless years. What more do you want? By now, you should understand it already—that the Overseer refused to hand the Cavity to you because he cannot trust you. Even if I recommended you, you won’t get it."

"That’s what you want to think!"

"No. That’s the harsh truth about you, Ursa. You’re too power-hungry. Easily corrupted."

"Madman..." High Lord Ursa glared at High Lord Rashal. "You brought ruin for your family—because you don’t know when to compromise, to bow your own head. What would your own wives think? What would your subordinates think? All of them would pay the price for your arrogance."

"All of mine would understand that I’m fighting for my survival and honour." High Lord Rashal’s gaze shifted to the enemy warriors. "You should look in the mirror more often. Your subordinates and family were dragged to risk their lives—because of your ambition. Because you cannot stand someone younger accomplished what you couldn’t in a thousand years."

High Lord Ursa squeezed the trident in his hand.

Even the warriors behind him cast an uncomfortable glance, finding High Lord Rasha’s words to contain a small dose of truth. Unlike him, who was fighting for survival after being politically assassinated, High Lord Ursa was fighting for his sole ambition.

It spoke of a selfishness that most were too loyal to see, too blind to see.

Now, he was exposed for what he was.

"Yes..." High Lord Ursa’s eyes sparked with power. "You and I would never get along."

Just then, he looked over his shoulder.

It was a signal for his warrior to move.

At High Lord Ursa’s signal, the air churned like he was the master of the world.

Behind, two enemy warriors began to rise, levitating upward like entities summoned from another world entirely. The first was a bald man with a snake tattoo coiled around his skull; its scales wound from his temple to the base of his neck.

And the second was a man with a robotic eye and arm; its deep blue light gleamed and flickered.

Both radiated power—not the raw, explosive kind, but something much more controlled.

Unlike those whom Rex had encountered through his time—within the Primordial Meadow, these two warriors were much more skilled. Just the flow of their energies within their bodies suggested that they were masters of their inner energy and spirit.

Immortal energies churned through the air, and the hailstones around them began to shift.

Rex watched as the ice shards were pulled toward them, drawn by an invisible force.

Each hailstone gathered, spun, then shattered a few meters from the enemy warriors’ bodies, reforming into a barrier that shimmered only at the edges—a wall of cold so thick it could only be seen at an angle. A bubble of protection.

And then, the man with the robotics moved first.

<Notice: the Major Law of Coldness is enveloping the entire area.>

Rex read the notifications and immediately braced his body for the full brunt. A Major Law is coming, and he had already seen how powerful one was, so there was no reason for him to dwindle. Of course— he made sure to tap the back of Davina’s hand with his.

A gesture telling her that something was coming.

Swoosh—!

An expanding dome of blue—expanded outward from the man’s body, swallowing the entire battlefield and beyond. It carried no force—No kinetic energy that would devastate their bodies. It simply passed through flesh and bone like a chilly wind, and the temperature plummeted sharply.

One second, it was cold.

And the next? It was freezing. Deadly freezing.

More than that, the air turned a faint, ghostly blue, and Rex felt the cold settle into his bones.

A gnawing chill that made his breath plume from his lips even worse.

Rex endured the cold, but his eyes caught something happening to Davina. She was shivering from the coldness; that much was expected, but his gaze wasn’t fixed on her trembling. It was locked on her right hand.

It kept moving, curling and uncurling, an attempt to keep her fingertips warm.

But the longer she did that, the stiffer her fingers became.

System, scan the Major Law.

<Scanning...>

<Notice: the absolute coldness maintains a temperature at deadly freezing, even when a heat source is present. Additionally, the cold stiffens the body in proportion to movement—the more the target moves, the more the body locks until it can no longer move at all.>

Rex’s brows narrowed as he read the notification.

Just the cold alone would already make him sluggish, but to think that it was absolute and would stiffen the body regardless of heat source sounded like trouble. Fortunately—this situation was already within High Lord Rashal’s anticipation.

He already expected High Lord Ursa’s side to make great use of their Major Laws.

Swish—!

Sensing the coldness, the all-white uniforms they wore—a robe for the women and a fitted long-sleeved fur shirt for the men—reacted instantly. They hummed with power; their fabric was woven with something that had cold-resistant properties, capable of converting the freezing air into heat.

It was engraved with a Major Law of its own, one that High Lord Rashal asked from a friend.

And through that, the temperature regulation was precise, efficient, designed for exactly this particular kind of warfare. But it wasn’t perfect, so the coldness still seeped in at times, causing them to flinch at the touch.

Once the effect settled, the man with the tattooed head began his work.

I’m tempted to attack now, but I need to stick to the plan.

During the strategy meeting, High Lord Rashal had told them one trick that they need to focus on.

Since their enemies mostly have power revolving around ice and water, in the initial phase of the battle, they should solely focus on letting their bodies adapt to the change—in temperature. Doing that would mitigate a mistake during the main battle later on from flinching at the touch of coldness.

So, their first task was to get used to the coldness.

Fortunately, Rex and Davina had a supportive constitution that allowed them to adapt quickly.

But regardless, Rex couldn’t attack them right now, so he readied the System and watched.

Not stopping at dropping the temperature—the hailstones carried by the wind shattered. Not into small fragments, but into dust. The fragments broke again and again before his eyes, splintering into particles so fine they vanished from sight entirely.

Rex inhaled, and the cold stabbed into his lungs, almost making him cough.

He held it in, doing his best not to show weakness, but he could feel the tiny shards entering his body clearly, and then burrowing into his chest, his throat, and even his blood. He exhaled slowly, trying his best to keep the intrusion to a minimum, but it was impossible.

Now, the air itself had become a weapon going against High Lord Rashal’s group.

<Notice: the Major Law of Ice is enveloping the entire area.>

System!

<Scanning...>

<Notice: the Major Law of Ice has ground the hailstones into fine particles, making the act of breathing and moving difficult. These particles would puncture the user’s lungs, blood, energy vessels, and other viscera. In the user’s case, regeneration will keep pace but never overcome the damage, trapping the user in a suspended state of unending pain. And due to this invasion, energy-based attacks would be slightly weaker and take longer to activate.>

I doubted that an area ability would be so strong, but I stand corrected.

Rex couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Normally, an ability that spanned an area would be weaker than a directed ability, as one would require more energy to activate it. But he had forgotten that he was now dealing with a Major Law, and such a power has no limitation.

Earlier, High Lord Rashal had warned them.

He had warned them about the likelihood that the enemy warriors would use their numbers to create an area effect, layering their powers until the battlefield itself became hostile. And it was working really well.

Even though their clothes fought back, generating heat, the particles still found their way in.

Davina’s face was pale, but she quickly recovered.

As for Vadyn, she had it worse, as she didn’t have regeneration like Rex or Davina.

And that meant her condition would only worsen.

Rex’s eyes then settled on the other enemy warriors and found them readying to battle.

So, those two are going to maintain their Major Law active while being protected inside their invisible bubbles, and the rest would go and clash with us? Even though the terrain is bad, this is better than we initially thought.

Rex had planned to take on three at the same time.

It was what they decided upon since Davina would stay back and cause mayhem across the battlefield.

But now, with two effectively out, he would only need to face two.

A far better situation than earlier.

"Everything had been going as we anticipated," High Lord Rashal mumbled—staring at the enemies on the other side with a small smile on his lips. "Not that they need to change their plan since it was already so strong. But knowing Ursa, he would prepare one or two trump cards in case things went south."

Even though everything went well, they couldn’t be confident yet.

Only when High Lord Ursa showed his trump cards would they find any certainty in this battle.

Just then, High Lord Rashal turned his head towards Davina.

"It’s our turn," He muttered. "We’ll start at your signal, Davina."

Davina nodded, her expression calm despite the cold biting into her bones. She had been circulating her power from the start, coiling it deep within her core, preparing for this exact moment. She would move first. That was the plan.

And once High Lord Rashal gave the signal, she began.

Swish—!

An emerald cloak erupted behind her, woven from starlight and shadow—its fabric rippling like a living thing. Her eyes blazed with the power of moonlight and starlight that swirled together—in her irises, a cosmos contained in a single gaze.

Light gathered on her palms, spinning, churning, forming a tornado of pure radiance.

She looked skyward with gritted teeth as she tried to contain her power, and then thrust her hands.

Boom—!

The tornado of light erupted upward, a pillar of emerald and silver that tore through the freezing air and shattered the falling hailstones in a cascade of steam. The cold recoiled. The blue tinge in the atmosphere flickered, then faded, pushed back by the sheer brilliance of her power.

Across, the enemy warriors watched as two pillars of light climbed to the sky.

Suddenly, dread crept to their stomachs.