The Innkeeper

Back when the A.I. had invaded the Inn, Lex had taken an attack from an immortal head on, and survived. It was an experience he was not eager to repeat, for every bone in his body had been crushed almost into fine powder. Moreover, the only reason he survived was because the robot had lacked something fundamental that other immortals had, which made it weaker.

So, although Lex of course needed recognition for the event, one could also say a lot of luck was at play. If the robot had not been fundamentally weaker, if the force of the attack had not been channeled into the ground through his feet, and if Impervious hand had somehow not taken control of the robots soul, there was a good chance Lex would have died, or at least been seriously injured beyond what he had been already.

That was why, Lex did not dare utter out his plan to once again face an immortal, lest his resolution waver. But, unlike last time, Lex did not intend to take the attack head on. No, this time, Lex only wanted to divert the attack into the otherwise massive army of insects to clear a path for his escape into the formation. That should be easy, right? He only needed to accomplish two impossible feats back to back.

Lex entered the flow state, getting rid of any distracting thoughts and allowing himself to focus on the task at hand. He honed in on any guidance his instincts provided, while at the same time started using all the new advantages he had gained with his new cultivation technique.

He used a familiar array, and summoned the lightning from immortal tribulations to herald his arrival, and attract the attention of an immortal. If he was going to do this, he absolutely could not allow himself to cower or do things half heartedly. Even a hint of weakness, even if it was in his thoughts, or the aura he had accumulated, could result in his failure. Therefore, he had to act as if he already knew he was bound to succeed.

No, he could not act. His success was a foregone conclusion, he just had to act it out now.

There were no clouds in the sky until Lex used his array, or rather, until he repeatedly used the same array. Although his arrays were not delivering the same level of attacks he was used to, he would just go for quantity if he failed in quality.

Like divine judgment, lightning slammed down on the ground, destroying everything in its path. The insects were decimated, and those that were lucky enough to survive the first lightning strike were done in by the second, or the third, or even the forth.

Behind Lex, Gisele stood with a sword in her hand, a stoic expression on her face. There weren't any good solutions, so they had to go for a bad solution. Since Lex seemed decently confident, she allowed him to lead. Secretly though, she retrieved a small blue orb and clenched it in the fist of her free hand.

As lightning fell, as the earth shook, as the insects wailed, and even as an immortal insect attacked, she did not flinch. If Lex could not handle the situation, she would. But the orb in her fist remained unused.

As the attack descended on them, Lex, with such perfect timing it seemed like he had practiced it a hundred times, reached out with his right hand and, ever so carefully, diverted it to the insects in their path.

He had done it so smoothly it seemed like he barely used any effort, and with the devilish mask hiding his expressions, one could not tell if he was even in any pain, for the mask seemed to be laughing.

Lex kept standing, but the ship they were on seemed to have suffered greatly from just being in the proximity of the attack. It began to slow, and eventually began to fall.

"Follow me," Lex said in a seemingly calm voice. He stepped onto the bow of the ship and then took another step forward, landing perfectly on the ground as the ship itself crashed into the ground.

Gisele, too, had exited the ship calmly, and continued to walk behind Lex. Though, at the speed they were moving at, walking only referred to how casually they moved their legs, not the distance they were covering.

In a few seconds they crossed the macabre red carpet that marked their path and reached the formation. Just as there was hope that they could enter the formation without the need for any fighting, a devastating attack was launched from within the stronghold.

Instantly the nature of the formation changed, and instead of blocking the insects it allowed them to enter, so that the soldiers could fight in a terrain that suited them rather than the enemy.

Amidst the roar of the soldiers' battle cry, and the wailing of a sea of insects, Gisele could have sworn she heard Lex sigh.

Gently, Lex tucked his right hand into his trouser pocket and lifted his left hand.

"Shall we see whose close combat is better?" he asked casually, as if standing in his own backyard.

Gisele rolled her eyes and lifted her sword.

"If you're injured, just follow my lead. No need to try and show off," she said, before beginning her ballet performance.

A few thousand tonnes of insects were falling on top of them now that the formation had changed, and there was no more time for talking. Yet even then, for some reason, she could clearly hear the sound of Lex chuckling?

Injured? Oh Lex was most definitely injured as his right hand, arm, shoulder blade and rib cage were crushed. The muscles in that half of his body were also shredded. If someone poked Lex on his right side at that moment, they would discover that his body was more like jelly than its usual self.

It was in anticipation of such a level of injury that Lex had blocked from his right instead of his left, lest his heart be crushed as well. It was not the injury itself that was the problem for Lex at that moment, as he could control his body using just his spirit energy. No, it was the soul ripping pain that he was in that was overwhelming his senses.

The reason he had so calmly descended from the ship, the reason he so casually walked to the dome formation, and the reason he was doing everything with such serenity was not because he wanted to look cool, but because sudden jerks shot pain all through his body.