So, she held her palm high into the sky. A massive blue sphere surged to life above her, pulling the undead in like a black hole. Bones cracked as hordes were drawn into its core, yet not a single living soul was touched. It was a testament to how far she had come—how much time she had spent mastering the delicate control needed to wield Blue with such precision.
Only the undead were affected, their bodies twisting in agony as they were crushed by the sheer force of her spell. The sky shimmered with pressure, the air dense with power, but she remained calm—her breathing steady.
But even amid the chaos, her thoughts drifted—her mind pulled away from the battlefield to a memory far more difficult to control. The day she met Rex.
Boom
Antilene dropped from the sky like a thunderbolt, slamming into the ground with enough force to crater it, only to find that Rex had already moved. He'd stepped aside at the last possible moment, effortlessly avoiding the strike without even sparing her a glance.
"Sharp instincts," she muttered with a smirk, her tone laced with both amusement and challenge.
Without hesitation, she launched herself forward again, her speed and power unmistakable. Her strength easily matched that of a level 80 player, and in the Slane Theocracy, there was no one stronger.
To understand her true capability, one only needed to compare her to Shalltear. Even at level 100, if Shalltear were using her standard gear instead of the scarlet armor, she would find herself on the losing end. That's how fearsome Antilene truly was.
Yeah, even with such power, Rex smoothly dodged every attack while looking at her with a curious look. Seeing just how relaxed Rex was, Antilene jumped backwards, looking at Rex with a curious gaze.
"Thanks," Rex said with a calm smile, brushing dust from his shoulder. "But can I know why you're attacking me? I don't recall having enemies. In fact, I take pride in the fact that no one out there wants me dead."
Antilene raised an eyebrow, her lips curling into a mocking grin. "With that pretty face… I highly doubt that," she replied, voice laced with sarcasm.
Rex chuckled softly, the sound light and disarming, as if none of this truly bothered him.
"Thank you," Rex said cheerfully, his easygoing tone lighting a spark of irritation in Antilene.
Without warning, she vanished in a flash of speed, reappearing in front of him with her scythe already mid-swing. The air cracked with force, but Rex slipped past every strike with flawless ease, his movements fluid and perfect, not a single motion wasted.
The sight only fueled her frustration.
"Agility Boost! Greater Agility Boost!" she snapped, her voice sharp as she activated her Martial Arts. Her speed surged, and in a blur, she closed the distance again, aiming to strike.
But once more, Rex casually avoided the attack—this time sweeping his leg beneath her with perfect timing. The world tilted as Antilene lost her balance and hit the ground, dust kicking up around her.
"You're strong," Rex said, standing calmly over her. "Easily the strongest non-dragon I've seen… yet with all that power, why do you seem dead inside?"
Antilene, who had just started to rise, froze for a brief second. Something in his words hit deeper than she wanted to admit. But she quickly masked it, leaping to her feet and activating another flurry of Martial Arts techniques, stacking them with spell-based buffs. Her body blurred with speed and power as she launched a relentless assault.
Rex, however, evaded it all effortlessly—his movements perfect, elegant, and entirely relaxed.
"Let me kidnap you," he said casually, and with a lazy flick of his finger, he knocked her scythe out of her hands. It clattered to the ground with a dull thud, as if it had been nothing more than a toy.
Antilene's eyes widened in disbelief. A single finger? That was all it took?
Gritting her teeth, she dashed for the fallen weapon, expecting resistance—but none came. Rex didn't move to stop her. In fact, he looked almost amused, like he was waiting to see what she'd do next.
'He's a monster…' Antilene thought, eyes narrowing as she studied his relaxed posture. 'I wonder what kind of monster we could birth if I had his seed.'
The thought came unbidden, and she quickly forced it away. As tempting as the idea was, her lifelong dream had always been to find someone strong enough to sire a powerful child… but her loyalty to the Slane Theocracy outweighed everything else. Desire was a fleeting indulgence. Duty was eternal.
"You want to kidnap me?" she asked coldly.
Behind her, a spectral clock hand materialized, its slow, ominous ticking counting down. She just needed to wait. Once the time was up, she would activate the skill—[The Goal of All Life Is Death].
No matter how powerful he was, no matter what tricks he held… before the power of the God of Death, no one could survive.
"Of course. We players aren't inherently special compared to people like you," Rex said, his tone light, almost amused. "We just had better opportunities—advantages handed to us by a system we didn't earn. Yet here you are, already stronger than most players I've met… and still, you worship the weakest of us as gods. It's funny, really."
He laughed softly, a sound that made Antilene's eyes narrow.
"I can see it in your eyes," Rex continued, stepping forward. "That hunger for battle… but also a deeper craving—one to be more than just a weapon someone else commands."
He paused, his smile softening but never losing that dangerous charm that seemed to radiate from him effortlessly.
"So let me be your bad guy," he said, voice low and coaxing. "The one you blame… as I take you away from everything you're chained to. We could live as travelers, as farmers… as kings and queens. Does it really matter, as long as we have each other?"
Each step he took felt like gravity pulling her in, his smile warm enough to make empires fall and cold enough to make loyalty feel like a prison.
"I love you," Rex said softly, his voice carrying a calm certainty that made it hard to doubt him. "And although we just met, I know for sure—you're the one I want beside me every morning when I wake."
He didn't falter, even as Antilene instinctively stepped back. Her heart raced, and heat crept up her cheeks as her back finally pressed against a tree. There was nowhere left to retreat.
Unbothered, Rex moved closer with that same unwavering warmth. Then, lowering himself to one knee—more out of necessity than dramatics, given their height difference—he looked up at her with eyes that made the world seem quieter.
"Would you make me the happiest man alive… and let me kidnap you?" he asked gently, his tone playful but sincere.
Antilene hesitated. Her heart wavered. A part of her longed to say yes… but then, the image of her mother flashed in her mind, followed quickly by the bitter memory of her bastard of a father. Her breath caught, her gaze hardened, and she steeled her heart.
"No! [The Goal Of All Life Is Death]!" Antilene cried out, activating the infamous skill. At the same time, she cast the 8th-tier spell, [Death].
The Goal Of All Life Is Death was no ordinary skill—it was a deadly buff that made one's next instant-death spell absolute. It ignored resistances, bypassed immunities, and tore through even the strongest defenses. Against it, even the gods had reason to fear. It was, in essence, an unstoppable attack execution.
She watched as the swirling black aura of death surged toward Rex, engulfing him completely in its overwhelming power. But then… the impossible happened.
The death magic slowed, collapsed, and flowed into Rex's hands like a harmless stream of smoke, like a child's toy, lightly grasped between his fingers.
Her eyes widened, disbelief clawing at her chest.
"You call the Six Players gods? I'm their god. After all, I'm the strongest player. Magic bends to my will," Rex said with a gentle smile.
Antilene's heart dropped. Horror crept up her spine as she struggled to process what she had just witnessed. Something that should have been absolute had been reduced to a parlor trick. Her faith in the rules of power, in the certainty of magic itself, shattered like glass. Her hands trembled. She had never felt so powerless.
"Come, let's talk," Rex said softly, almost disarmingly, as he pulled out a few snacks from his storage and offered them to her.
Still shaken, Antilene hesitantly accepted. Her instincts screamed at her to do as he said, or else the monster might just kill her. When she tried to bite through the plastic wrapper, Rex reached out and gently stopped her hand.
"Like this," he said, peeling back the wrapping with care before handing it back to her.
She took one bite, and her world shifted again. The explosion of flavor overwhelmed her senses, far richer and more decadent than anything she had ever tasted. Her eyes widened as her body froze in surprise, unable to comprehend how something so small could hold so much pleasure.
She stood frozen, her mind struggling to reboot from the overwhelming sweetness that had just flooded her senses. It took a moment for her thoughts to realign. When they finally did, she quietly finished the rest of the sweet, only to be met with a small pang of disappointment as she realized it was already gone.
She glanced toward Rex, hoping he might offer another, but instead, she found him watching her—not with arrogance or smugness, but with a warmth so intense it left her breathless. His eyes, unwavering and sincere, looked at her as if she were the most important thing in the world.
Her cheeks flared red. She didn't know how to respond to a gaze like that.
"Now you're calm," Rex said softly, his voice carrying none of the teasing bravado from before. "So we can talk. My apologies—I didn't realize how much that would affect you."
"…Why are you so nice?" she asked quietly, still unsure how to react to his presence—his words, his gaze, his patience.
"I've walked your world for over a hundred years now," Rex replied, his tone soft but heavy with experience. "And in that time, I came to see things differently. I became a pacifist. I realized how even the smallest actions can send ripples through the lives of others… and those ripples prove just how valuable every life is."
His voice carried the weight of someone who had seen too much, who had chosen restraint after understanding the cost of power.
"That's why I made the decision never to fight again…" He paused. The silence that followed was heavy, until he added with a calm finality, "…Until today."
The moment those words left his lips, Antilene's body tensed. A cold chill swept down her spine. Something about his voice—gentle, but resolute—sparked a deep-rooted fear.
"When you were hesitating," Rex said softly, "I saw it—hatred buried deep inside you. For a moment, you recalled something, and the anger in your eyes... I thought I will no longer hold hatred for anyone… but seeing your pain made me hate them too, without even knowing who they were."
He gently reached out and took her hand. The warmth of his touch made Antilene freeze for a moment, her heart pounding in her chest as a deep blush spread across her cheeks.
"M-My father…" she said, voice barely above a whisper. "He raped my mother…"
The words escaped her lips before she could stop them, and she immediately felt exposed, vulnerable in a way she hadn't been in years. She didn't understand why she was saying this, why she was opening up to someone she had only met today. And yet, the moment the words were spoken, Rex's expression changed.
His gentle calm was shattered. His rage erupted—not loudly, not violently, but like a silent inferno that burned behind his eyes. He was furious on her behalf. Not out of pity, but something far deeper… something personal.
"That bastard dared do what to my mother-in-law?!" Rex said angrily, his fury shaking the air around them. The sheer conviction in his voice left Antilene frozen, her mind blank for a second.
'Mother-in-law?'
Her face turned crimson. "W-What are you saying?" she asked, flustered and wide-eyed.
"What I'm saying," Rex replied firmly, his tone deadly serious, "is that I'm going to make that bastard pay… No, you're going to make him pay. This is your battle, and I'll support you in whatever way you need. As your man, it's my duty to stand with you, give you everything I have, and never let you face that darkness alone."
Antilene blinked rapidly, heart racing at his words. A deep blush painted her cheeks again before she caught herself, shaking her head and trying to regain composure.
"Y-You're not my man," she muttered shyly, turning her head away to hide her burning face. Rex only laughed in response, clearly amused by how cute she looked in that moment, which made her want to dig a hole and disappear.
He sat down beside her and casually pulled out more food from his storage. Without saying much more, the two shared a quiet meal beneath the open sky… and just like that, their first date began.
Before Antilene even realized it, that night unfolded into something unforgettable—a night that would be etched into her heart forever. A night she hated… but also loved deeply, for more reasons then one..
That day, she had opened herself up to someone, completely. She gave Rex her trust, her heart… everything. But the next morning, when she woke to find he had vanished without a trace, the weight of reality hit her like a hammer. She meant nothing to him. Just another woman he spent the night with and then moved on from without so much as a goodbye.
She was crushed. She had never cried like that before, never known a pain so raw and consuming. The betrayal cut deeper than any wound she'd ever endured. For days, she felt like she was drowning, gasping for air under the weight of emotions she couldn't push away.
Weeks passed. She told herself it was possible to forget. Little by little, she forced Rex from her thoughts. The nights were still hard—memories of that blissful night haunted her like a ghost—but she began to train herself to forget, bending her will like a blade until even her memories dulled.
And it was working. Rex was becoming nothing more than a mistake. A betrayal. A fleeting regret. That is… until she found out she was pregnant.
It was cruel—unforgivably so. She wasn't even allowed the mercy of forgetting that bastard.
She hated herself for it. Hated that, deep down, a part of her still held onto the hope that he might return if he ever learned she was carrying his child. She despised the way her carefully built wall of indifference had shattered in an instant. All the effort, all the pain she'd buried—it meant nothing now.
And she hated that her baby boy looked just like him. The same eyes. The same smile. The same look that appeared when their gazes landed on her. How they looked at her like she was the only thing in the universe... Every time she looked at her child, she saw Rex, and it tore her apart.
Even now, standing in the face of a Dragon Lord, with danger all around her, she found herself wishing… wishing that Rex would appear out of nowhere, smile like he always did, and kidnap her like he once promised.