As Rex approached the threshold of the ancient door, an unseen attacker unleashed a flurry of fists. Thanks to his sharp instincts, Rex dodged the blows, but no one was in his sight to lock on.
"Show yourself, you filthy scoundrel!" he muttered. "What's the matter, huh?" he shouted. "You're scared of a fair fight or do you love hide and seek, huh? Come on, face me like a real man!" he demanded. "You think hiding will scare me? Pathetic!" he added, trying to sound brave even though he wasn't.
In reality, Rex was so terrified that his legs were trembling badly, and he was on the verge of peeing inside his pants. The memory of facing the archdemon during their previous encounter flashed through his mind. He had been terrified then too, barely managing to keep his shattering willpower from collapsing. His fear reached its peak when he suffered the brutal attacks of the archdemon. If it wasn't for his divine powers, he would have died of a heart attack long before facing him, just at the sight of the archdemon.
One time Rex stopped the incoming attack, caught the creatures attacking part and threw it away, it came back again and started to shower its assault. The blows pushed Rex back, but he knew that using light-based attacks as a means of counter or use of a good portion of his divine power could alert his enemy and put his mission at risk. Trusting his instincts, Rex blocked the attack, trying to find his hidden enemy using only his senses. Somehow, a wave of energy radiated from his body, spreading through the surrounding walls to a depth of two kilometers and had the ability that allows the user to detect the heat signatures to reveal any living organism in its area of effect. Rex, now fully aware of the attackers' coordinates, clenched his fists, prepared his body, assumed a warrior's stance, and delivered the fatal strike perfectly. His fist, enveloped in a protective yet aggressive shell of light, rendered the invisible creature lifeless and motionless, revealing it to be a wraith demon.
"Well, look who finally decided to show up," Rex mocked the lifeless figure. " Anyways, it's too late now." He lightly kicked the demon's body. "Next time you sneak up on someone, come up with better defenses as well."
But, how could this filthy creature's body remain intact even after such a deadly blow? "Wow, not only are they invisible now, but they are apparently indestructible," he muttered. "What's next, an invincible one? And since when did these demons get so fast and resilient? Why aren't they visible and fragile like the ones I slaughtered before?" Rex pondered these questions as he decided to dig deeper to solve the mystery.
He searched the walls for a torch but couldn't find one. The place was shrouded in an oppressive darkness. "Just great," he grumbled. "Who designs a dungeon without any light source? Should've packed a flashlight." Surely a warrior of light, a god general, could use his own divine light. But demons, humans, and other creatures would notice his alien aura and presence, making it inappropriate for the situation.
Even though from the outside it appeared like a large house, it now seemed like the ancient sign-imbued, heavy door, even after being sanctified with divine energy, had somehow reacted and transported him to an otherworldly dungeon. "Fantastic," Rex muttered, "I've always wanted to explore a creepy, ancient dungeon with zero visibility. What could possibly go wrong? Maybe a hex demon will have me for dinner, or maybe I'll be lost in oblivion. Yay, so much fun, isn't it, Rex?"
"Maybe I should start taking bets on what will attack me next," Rex added with a smirk. "I mean, it's not like I have a whole lot of options here. Explore the dungeon blindly or just face death."
Rex had discovered many of his powers, but he questioned whether any of them were usable at this moment to illuminate his shady path. "Aha!" he exclaimed, "I almost forgot about the divine vision. I normally used it to see over great distances, but can it pierce through the darkness? Maybe this is the perfect time to test it out," Rex said aloud.
He began channeling the divine energy from his solar plexus chakra, a gift from the Eternals, into his mind, into the very depths of his brain, and tried to delve deeper into the darkness with a clear and unrestricted view. He noticed something strange—all his body chakras were activated at that moment and glowing from the very inside of his body in that darkness-filled dungeon room, according to their colors. The divine energy flowed from the solar plexus chakra to the uppermost, third eye chakra in a spiral and coiled manner, entering the third eye chakra. It was the brilliance of this that he had never seen before and which marked the very beginning of his new power that Rex discovered unknowingly.
His vision now cleared up, and he could see right through the darkness. Rex synchronized and swapped his normal vision with his newly advanced divine vision temporarily. Though he noticed one flaw: his vision now couldn't penetrate through objects, limiting it to the exteriors but allowing Rex to use it whenever needed, quickly and efficiently. With a sword made of light, he floated slightly above the cracked floor, avoiding any chances of exposure due to the creaking noise of footsteps.
The path was devoid of living creatures, filled with a thick malevolent aura that could have choked a normal human being, and lined with cracks oozing vile liquids that seemed capable of melting human skin. Rex moved on, searching for any signs of the Protectors and the common people of the Hollowvale settlement who had gone inside.
He reached a place where the path split into four routes, and above the opening were drawings of four demons. "Oh, fantastic, a demonic amusement park," Rex muttered. Could these be clues to the routes? Who knows.