The revelation struck me with a force I hadn't expected.
King, the enigmatic figure who loomed over us like a shadow, had played a role in Fleur's past as she had admitted back on the boat—a role that was both saviour and destroyer.
But now the revelation that Rex was a part of it all too changed things.
"Yes," Fleur admitted quietly. "He did save us, but at what cost?"
Rex's expression softened, a flicker of vulnerability crossing his features. "There was no cost," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper. "When King killed my parents in front of me, I felt nothing but bliss."
The weight of his words hung heavy in the air, a stark reminder of the trauma that had shaped his life. My gaze shifted to Lucas, his jaw clenched tight, the turmoil of emotions evident in his eyes.
"My tycoon parents," Rex continued, his voice tinged with bitterness. "They held me down, suffocating me with their expectations. They wanted me to follow in their footsteps, to inherit their wealth and power. But all my life, I wanted to cast them aside, to make something of myself without the suffocating pressure of familial lineage."
A sense of understanding washed over me as Rex's words resonated some of my own.
"King appreciated my desire," Rex continued, his voice laced with a mix of reverence and defiance. "He saw the potential in me, in us. And he gave us the chance to break free from the chains of our past."
Fleur's voice cut through the silence, her tone sharp with disbelief. "Rex, King was nothing more than a new weight. He was the exact same as your parents," she insisted, her gaze unwavering.
Rex let out a weary sigh, his shoulders slumping as if burdened by the weight of his past. "After that day, King made the impossible, possible for us," he confessed, his voice tinged with a mixture of bitterness and longing. "And now you want to take that away? Interfering with the Black Rose, it will only destroy what King has built."
I watched Fleur closely, knowing that she had just made the connection. Rex's affiliation with The Black Rose suddenly made sense, aligning with the list of names we had discovered and now Rex being the bridge between King and the Rose.
"This has nothing to do with The Black Rose," Fleur retorted, her voice firm and resolute.
Rex raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing at the corners of his lips. "Well, your friend on your shoulder might want to admit something then," he remarked casually, gesturing towards me.
Fleur's gaze shifted to me, and I could feel the weight of her scrutiny. Leaning against her, I met her gaze with a mixture of resignation and determination. The truth hung between us, unspoken yet palpable.
"I never wanted any of this," I confessed quietly, my voice barely above a whisper. "But we can't ignore the danger that The Black Rose poses."
Lucas started to walk over to Fleur and I, "Elias, this isn't what we had planned."
Fleur was still looking up at me and I gave a simple look as I tapped my chest, indicating I had the pages we came for.
Rex continued to pace toward us from the staircase, his movements measured and deliberate. "I can't let you leave this place," he declared, his voice tinged with a mix of authority and concern. "As I said before, this is for your own good."
As he drew closer, his figure began to distort, a subtle shimmer rippling through the air around him. I narrowed my eyes, recognizing the telltale signs of spacial manipulation at play.
An illusory figure, half-opaque and ethereal, began to split apart from Rex, its form shifting and wavering as it separated from him. In a matter of moments, the half-opaque being took shape, mirroring Rex's appearance with uncanny precision.
As the clone took shape, Lucas moved closer to Fleur and me, his voice tinged with both concern and disbelief. "Tier 6 of the Forger Pathway, Doppelganger. My next advancement." he murmured, his gaze fixed on Rex with a mixture of wariness and respect.
"Doppelganger," I repeated. Not only was that was Rex's ability, but the next one for Lucas. This also meant that Rex had both his Doppelganger and similar abilities to Lucas too.
Fleur started to let me go and I began to stand on my own if only barely. "Darius seems to be half out of commission back there from the use of an artifact. While Lucas and I take on Rex, you go find Caius."
I nodded between laboured breaths.
Caius was still back up in Rex's office, probably still knocked out. That blow he took, even from being hit by me, was enough to take any non-Arcanist out.
As the first rays of dawn pierced through the hall's windows, casting a warm glow across the room, the doppelganger shimmered in the sunlight, its form becoming almost translucent amidst the golden hues. The shifting light made it difficult to discern the true Rex from his illusory counterpart, adding another layer of challenge to our already daunting task.
Summoning what little strength I had left, I pushed myself upright, my muscles protesting with every movement. But there was no time for hesitation or weakness.
Fleur and Lucas exchanged a brief glance, their silent communication speaking volumes. Without a word, they moved forward, their movements synchronized as they closed in on Rex and his doppelganger.
The doppelganger with movements eerily reminiscent of Rex, glided along the floor in a stance and motion mirroring the one Rex used that had caught me off guard earlier.
With the practised skill of a Tier 7 Blinker, Fleur dodged out of the way by a hair's breadth with speed that defied logic. And with a swift counter, she aimed a blow at the side of the illusory figure, her fist poised to strike with deadly accuracy.
Meanwhile, Lucas moved in sync with Fleur, his own abilities coming into play as he joined the fray. Rather than targeting the real Rex, he focused his efforts on the doppelganger too, recognizing the real threat it posed.
Fleur's fist swung strongly, but as it was about to make contact, her hand started disappearing from the top of her fist, down to her wrist.
But the doppelganger, infused with Rex's Tier 7 Dictancer abilities, was no ordinary opponent. With a flicker of its translucent form, it warped away before Fleur and Lucas's counters could land, vanishing into thin air with an unsettling speed.
Before any of us could react, Rex materialized from seemingly nowhere, his presence suddenly looming behind Lucas with an ominous thrum resonating through the air. With a calculated swing of his fist, he aimed a powerful blow at Lucas's exposed flank, his movements swift and precise.
Fleur's hand which had disappeared, began reappearing mid-swing next to Rex and made instant contact with the side of his head.
And with only a mere few seconds of conflict, Fleur had made the first strike.
Her blow, knocked Rex to the side a few meters, saving Lucas from the eminent attack from Rex. But it wasn't enough.
Rex shook his head and looked over at me as I was starting to make my way over to the stairs.
As I attempted to quicken my pace, a sudden force pulled my legs back like an accordion, knocking me off balance and falling face-first back onto the carpeted floor with a thud.
That was the ability of a Tier 7 Distancer that Rex had already mastered. An ability to distort space like an accordion, pulling or pushing it for their benefit and making short distances farther or closer to them. Such as my own legs.
Pain shot through my limbs, my ribs, and my deeply wounded hand as I struggled to regain my bearings, my gaze darting upward to the ongoing battle.
Fleur and Lucas fought with a ferocity born of desperation, their movements a blur of speed and precision. But Rex and his doppelganger were formidable adversaries, their every move calculated and lethal.
Helplessness washed over me as I realized I couldn't compete with the sheer power and skill of those engaged in combat. My heart pounded in my chest, a sense of frustration gnawing at my resolve.
Then, as if a shard of clarity pierced through the chaos, I remembered my own abilities. They weren't physically capable, but Fractured Sight could turn the tides with information. With a desperate hope, I focused on the carpet beneath me, willing the fractures in reality to reveal their secrets of the future.
Blinking once, I saw the familiar webbed fractures surrounding my vision, the world around me shifting and warping in response.
Through the fractured lens, I glimpsed up to the ceiling of the room, the ornate chandelier casting a soft glow against the shadowed corners. But my attention was drawn to the railing on the second floor, where a hand poked out from above, and a shiny object mid-air—my pocket watch.
Determination surged within me as I blinked again, my gaze fixed on the carpet below me. Through gritted teeth, I called out to Fleur amidst the chaos.
"Fleur! It's Caius!"
Fleur's head snapped up, her eyes locking onto mine for a fleeting moment before returning to the fray. But even as she fought, her mind processed my words, piecing together the puzzle with lightning speed.
In a split-second decision, Fleur altered her trajectory, dodging an incoming strike from Rex's doppelganger. As she did, her gaze swept upward, following the direction of my call.
Caius had become conscious and had made his way to the railing.
With a swift motion, he extended his arm over the railing, clutching both my gun and pocket watch. The objects must have fallen during the altercation before in the office, and now, with a determined resolve, he sought to return them.
"Catch!" he called out, his voice cutting through the chaos with a clarity that echoed in the tension-filled room.
Fleur reacted instinctively, her agile form darting towards the pocket watch in mid-air. But before she could reach it, an unseen force intervened, pulling the watch away with a sudden jolt.
A ripple of confusion washed over us as we watched in disbelief. With a distortion in space, the pocket watch warped, hurtling through the air until it landed in Rex's outstretched hand.
Rex's grip tightened around the watch, his knuckles turning white with the effort. A furrow formed between his brows as he stared at the watch with a mixture of bewilderment and growing concern.
"What in the abyss is going on?" he muttered, his voice strained with a hint of panic.
As if in response to his distress, the watch in his hand began to emit an intense heat as I could hear the searing of his skin. Rex's expression twisted in agony as he struggled to maintain his grip.
Fleur landed gracefully on the ground, her gaze fixed on Rex, her brow furrowing in concern. "What's happening?" she murmured, her voice barely audible over the mounting chaos.
Rex's expression contorted in agony, his hand clutching the watch trembling with the effort to maintain control. Heat waves began to radiate from his palm, shimmering in the light of the room. With a guttural cry of pain, he stumbled to his knees, his arm convulsing uncontrollably as if possessed by some unseen force.
"What the fuck is going on!" he shouted, his voice strained with anguish as he grappled with the intense pain wracking his body.
But the torment didn't stop there. As we watched in horror, Rex's skin began to crawl and writhe, as if a swarm of insects skittered beneath the surface, clawing their way up his arm and across his neck.
His left eye turned a sickening shade of red, blood trickling from the corner as the veins bulged beneath the surface. Rex's cries grew more desperate, choked off by a sudden gagging sensation as if something were constricting his throat.
Fleur's instincts kicked in, her eyes widening in alarm as she realized the gravity of the situation. "Rex, stop!"
But before she could reach him, I grabbed her arm, holding her back with my weak hand. "No, Fleur," I said quietly, my gaze fixed on Rex as I took a struggled step closer, my heart pounding in my chest.
Ignoring her protests, I approached Rex slowly, my footsteps echoing in the silence of the room. His screams reverberated off the walls, filling the air with a cacophony of pain and desperation.
With trembling hands, Rex reached up to his bloody eye, his fingers clawing at the socket with a frantic desperation. My stomach churned at the sight, bile rising in my throat as I watched him tear at his bloody flesh in a desperate bid for relief.
And then, with a sickening squelch, Rex extended his arm, ripping his eye from its socket, a wet, gory mess of blood and aqueous fluid oozing from the wound. I stumbled back in horror, my mind reeling at the grotesque spectacle before me.
As Rex gasped for air, his breath coming in ragged, ragged gasps, I saw the full extent of the damage. His left side was a patchwork of scar tissue, vine-like tendrils snaking across his face and neck in a grotesque tapestry of pain and suffering.
For a moment, our sight met, his gaze pleading for understanding amidst the agony. And in that moment, I saw the depths of his torment. This was a fight to stop from turning, from going insane. From becoming a Lamentor.
Despite the scene I was witnessing, a sense of compassion stirred in my heart at Rex's plight. The crawling sensation beneath his skin had slowed, but it did not vanish entirely.
Like giant centipedes, his skin began trembling and coiling up his arm again.
With a soft exhale, I reached out for the watch in Rex's trembling hand, my fingers brushing against its warm surface.
"Elias!," Fleur shouted as she began to rush towards me.
So did Caius, as I could hear him running as fast as he could down the ornate stairs despite his injuries.
But my focus remained fixed on the watch as I felt its warmth against my skin.
With a sudden resolve, I looked up at Rex, determination burning bright in my eyes. Without a word, I used the glass bowl within myself to create the same feeling as when I activated Fractured Sight, channelling the power of a Tier 8 Watcher into the Pocket Watch.
In the instant I blinked my eyes, the surroundings shifted.
The world around me warped and contorted into an endless landscape of illusory matter, and the indescribable distance was covered in a sea of colossal interlocking cogs once again.