The Innkeeper

Author’s Note: For Chapters with song recommendations, I recommend playing the sond at a low volume on repeat in the background for maximum immursion.

"Be at ease, the Alliance has taken this transgression extremely seriously," spoke the Celestial, forgoing all intentions to fight against this enraged agent of the Midnight Inn. It wasn’t because he felt like he couldn’t put up a fight, but because he honestly did not support the kidnapping of Z to begin with. In fact, the Celestial court itself had commented on the foolishness and shortsightedness of this action.

Lex looked from the Celestial to the human soul that he was holding. Due to the fact that he was a Celestial Immortal, the soul itself was strong enough to take on the shape of the body, making it look like he was still clamping his mouth shut.

"Oh? How seriously? Has Z been returned to the Midnight Inn? According to his memories, that does not seem to be the case," said Lex as he raised the soul in his hand. Immediately, the expression of all the others distorted as they realized that Lex was searching through his memories.

Naturally, his memories were protected by seals and formations set in place by the alliance, however that seemed to be no obstacle for this human. He hadn’t even shown any signs of struggling with them, nor had any of the contingencies of a memory search been triggered.

In truth, it wasn’t that Lex was some kind of expert at reading memories or navigating the spirit. It was just that the brute force of his energy, augmented through his partial Primordial Dao Body, completely and directly tore through all restrictions in his mind.

The only thing that Lex wouldn’t be able to tear through was a seal placed by a Dao Lord, and he was smart enough to steer clear of that. There were quite a few of those in the human’s mind, but even avoiding them he’d gotten a pretty good idea of what had happened.

First he was kidnapped, then enslaved to use for the sole purpose of attracting a legacy. Dammit, even Lex had never worked Z that hard.

"The alliance has sanctioned the Dao Lords responsible for planning these actions and..."

Lex snorted, his disdain extremely apparent on his face as he heard those words. The Celestial wasn’t even worth talking to anymore if that’s what he considered ’taking very seriously’. To begin with, Lex wasn’t actually interested in talking to him. Instead, he was waiting for the human reinforcements. He had, on purpose, allowed that call to go out. He had, on purpose, not hidden his location.

He looked towards the other two humans and felt like their request for backup wasn’t urgent enough, so he put some more pressure on them.

"Tell me, have you ever experienced a slave collar? The kind that you had put on Z?" Lex asked.

That question alone caused the two humans to immediately pull out a defensive treasure, encompassing them in a metal sphere to protect them from Lex’s influence. Yet Lex peeled apart that sphere as if it was made of foil.

What awaited him was an attack, yet before it even reached Lex’s body, the attack sizzled away.

Lex was deliberately slow in his attack, letting the humans savor in the inevitability that was their forthcoming demise. The more they struggled against him, the more they felt afraid rather than reassured. They couldn’t understand why everything they did was so ineffective. How could the gap in their strength be so great? They were all peak Celestial Immortals!

Lex raised his left hand and one of the humans was pulled into his grasp despite how far he was. Lex had said nothing, he had done nothing, yet the human was pulled in without being able to put up the slightest resistance.

"What the hell are you?" the human muttered in horror. Unfortunately, he did not live long enough to hear a response.

Through his hand, Lex channeled the law of Anchor with such intensity that not only did it immediately destroy his body, it also eviscerated his soul. This one Lex did not need to save since he already knew what had happened.

Lex looked at the soul in his right hand - the one who was stained with the aura of Z’s blood. This one would not get such an easy end, so he curled up his soul and tucked it away inside the necklace, leaving only the one Celestial, the one very frightened human, and the young couple.

Fortunately, the human’s reinforcements finally arrived, and they were not a few. Four other Celestial Immortal humans, and a dozen other Heaven Immortals appeared in the team, all fully equipped to deal with Lex.

The moment they arrived, though, all their previous confidence vanished. Feeling the oppression in the air alone let them know that what they were dealing with was far from a normal threat.

"He’s from the Midnight Inn!" the human yelled desperately as he rushed to hide behind the group. "He’s after Z!"

Upon hearing the words the group seemed troubled, but the advantage of numbers gave them a bit of confidence. In the back, the Celestial shook his head, and slowly distanced himself from the group. The summation of all the wisdom accumulated across his life as a Celestial led him to believe that if he tried to defend the alliance any further, or provoked Lex in any way, he would seriously regret it.

Lex, however, looked at the new group as if they were already dead. Their biggest mistake wasn’t bringing too few people. Their biggest mistake was bringing another person with the aura of Z’s blood on them.

"There’s no need to fight between us," said one of the reinforcements cautiously as he observed Lex. "I can see you’re a very powerful human. In that case, you should understand the difficulty our race has had to endure due to our weakness. What we did was for the sake of the human race. Your friend’s contribution can bring our whole race a bit closer to once again reclaiming our spot in the universe."

He was appealing to the struggle Lex no doubt endured as a fellow human.

"The Humanoid Alliance is working for the betterment of the entire human race. Do not make a mistake that you cannot take back. Your situation can still be salvaged if you stop fighting and agree to work with us. But if you persist in your current actions, the alliance will not let you off."

River, Pearl and even the Celestial looked at the speaking human as if had suffered head trauma.

"For the sake of the human race?" Lex asked, his voice hardening a little as he finally let loose the strict control he’d had over his anger. "I alone am enough to restore the glory of the human race. And you... you are the personification of the rot and corruption that has stained the legacy of humanity."

With every word he spoke, Lex stepped closer to the group, and with every word his voice rose until the ground shook and the skies trembled.

"As for the Alliance? My name is Lex William of the Midnight Inn, and I dare the Humanoid Alliance to not let me off, because no matter what, I will not let off those whose hands are stained with the blood of my family."

Lex was a regular sized person, but for some reason, in that moment, the entire group could not help but imagine Lex as some infinitely massive behemoth because the rage that oozed off his body was so intense, it froze the group, leaving them unable to respond or retaliate in any way. All they could do was tremble.

Even in the grip of his anger, everything Lex did was tinged with strategy. He could not show an ounce of weakness. He could not show the slightest hint of restraint. Lex needed to show the universe exactly what kind of nightmare they would face... if they crossed the Midnight Inn!

"I DARE," Lex bellowed, his voice alone shattering the bones of the group who had come and threatened him, "the Humanoid Alliance to send their Dao Lords one more time! Let the universe see the dawn of the day the Midnight Inn is no longer neutral. Let them taste the fear of knowing that nowhere is safe.

"Where will you hide? In what corner of the universe will you cower after provoking the Innkeeper one more time, knowing that he will always find you? What formations will you use, what realm will you hide in where the Innkeeper cannot reach you?

"When you discover that your allies can no longer save you, and that even your worst nightmares run away to hide, you will know you have entered the darkness of midnight, and there will be no one to save you."

With those words echoing far and wide, Lex finally attacked. Yet he did not attack to kill, not yet. Death was too easy an escape. They needed to live, or else how could they become examples?

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