The Innkeeper

Chapter 1172 Rise

Lex sat in the Innkeeper's office, looking out at the Inn, though he didn't really need to do that. As long as he didn't block it out, he was always aware of what was happening in the Inn. He could feel the subtle excitement in the air.

Most people didn't even know what to expect from the upcoming event. Even the awards from last time had only been briefly mentioned. Lex felt like there was a very subtle desperation that each of the guests carried. Life had been very tough recently, and they all wanted something to celebrate.

Lex closed his eyes and stretched his fingers, as if he was getting ready to play the piano, or write a long report on the computer. When he closed his fingers, Naraka's handle was there waiting for him.

The sword still had not tasted its first blood, but it could feel the coming war. It was ready. Damian had been very bold in his goading of Lex. Did he know Lex's background when he did that, or was he targeting something else?

Maybe he was trying to understand why his parents had hidden Lex and no one else, and was only trying to lure him out. Maybe working with a terrorist no one could find or catch boosted his confidence. In that case, Lex wondered how he would react now that he was finally about to properly respond?

Lex opened the event panel, and spent 21 Midnight Tokens. That meant, he spent the 21 trillion Midnight Points he had accumulated in the past fifteen years from the Midnight realm, almost wiping his entire accumulation. He only had about 200 billion MP left.

But such wild expenditure was necessary. After all, the venue for the Midnight Games this time around was the Origin realm itself. The participants were more, the venue was larger, the stakes were greater, and so naturally, the prizes also had to be that much grander.

Suddenly all activity inside the Midnight Inn stopped. In the Origin realm, all activity on the countless planets that had signed up for games seemed to come to a halt. More importantly, anyone and everyone who had a golden key in their possession felt a tingling feeling coming from it, and when they grabbed the key, they could see a vision in their minds.

It was the same vision that filled the sky of the Midnight Inn, and covered the skies of all the planets that were taking part.

In the vision there was an ant carrying a piece of meat in its mandibles, crawling through a field of pebbles.

"Power…"

It was a single word, itself filled with power, and it reverberated through the realm, through space, through time, through the very minds and souls of all who bore witness to the grand visions, and it gave them goosebumps.

They could feel something, something hidden deep within them, maybe in their bodies, in their souls, in their memories. With the voice something awoke, and even though they did not know what it was, they felt that it was important.

But while all the guests were entranced by the vision and the word, the workers, those who had been at the Inn for a while, were filled with uncontrollable and unsuppressable excitement. That was the voice of the one and only Innkeeper.

"Everything in existence has power, and at the same time is ruled by it."

Another insect, a larger, more fearsome one, appeared in front of the ant, causing it to stop in its tracks.

"There are those with more power than others, and they use it as they please…"

The insect attacked the ant, flinging across the pebbles and injuring it. Yet, tenacious as it was, the ant did not let go of its prize. It scrambled back onto its legs, ready to face the charging insect.

"Yet they forget that they are not the only ones with it. There is also strength in numbers…"

Just as the larger insect was about to smash into the ant once more, a larger guard ant appeared in its path, blocking its way. Then another, and another. Before the insect even realized it, there were ants crawling on its back, and other ants pulling its legs right from underneath it, until it was swarmed.

"There are the weak, the strong, the winners and the losers, the fighters and those who just give up. Sometimes, fate makes a mockery of them all."

Just before the ants could win the fight, a big metal boot stepped on the rock and then went away, leaving behind nothing.

"In the hands of those unbeatable, unfathomable forces, whether its destiny, or fate, a deity or an immortal, your life can seem just like a game."

More boots stepped on the pebbles, and the vision zoomed out over an ever growing army, all garbed in full body armor, carrying their swords and shields with them, ready to go to war.

"Not knowing that even their lives are game in the hands of another."

The scene zoomed out even more, and it became apparent that not only were the soldiers going to war, they were coming from one as well. Beat and battered, some of them had broken armor while others had broken swords.

As the scene kept zooming out it became impossible to see the finer details of each soldier, but at that point different things came into view. The soldiers were marching away from a conquered castle, its walls broken, its armies slayed, its king dead.

"For long they have been spreading chaos. They have been spreading havoc. They have been playing with the lives of others all for their amusement. But they have forgotten that they are not the only ones who can play this game."

The army passed by villages and towns. They passed by cheering crowds of women and children. The army grew bigger as farmhands and laborers joined them, as blacksmiths melted down metal gates and ornaments to make armor and shields, as merchants and lords gathered their coins to buy them food.

"They will put you down, so today I am here to tell you: rise!"

A wall appeared in front of the army. Void creatures and monsters ill suited for the world of the living lined the wall, and behind it stood a tide of death and corruption in the form of countless hellions.

"They hide behind a veil of fear and lies, so today I am here to remind you: even monsters can die."

A flaming stone, thrown from a catapult slammed into the wall, breaking off a piece of it and killing countless monsters.

The battle began, and the vision seemed to constantly go through various scenes of battle. At one moment a team of humans were fighting against a monster. A sword slash covered the image, and revealed beasts, elves, devils and angels fighting against monsters made from a cloud of darkness.

The ground tore open and the hells were revealed, opening the gates to endless horrors. Yet they had barely crawled out of their hole when a beam of light shot down from the sky, eviscerating them all.

The clouds spread apart as the light tore through them, revealing countless spaceships, fighting in the skies. Green and red lasers filled the air. Winged creatures and insects alike attacked, roaring with bloodthirsty cries.

But magic shimmered in the air. Fairies zoomed through the air, their glittering fairy dust eroding all the corruption. Wizards and witches flew on brooms, shooting through wants. Spacetroopers garbed in white body armor shot their blasters.

"Today, I am here to remind you, even in the face of death…"

Above the planet, consumed by a raging war, hung a lonely moon, clearly visible. Yet the moon suddenly started to shatter, and large chunks from it flew out, revealing a skeletal claw.

The war momentarily stopped as everyone looked up at the dying moon. More chunks of it were torn free, until the moon suddenly exploded, revealing an undead dragon.

Wearing black armor, the dragon roared, its black flames threatening to burn all of reality and its roar extinguishing the souls of the living.

The light dimmed and darkness spread as the dragon looked towards the planet with its green, flaming eyes deep within its skeletal face. A soldier dropped a sword to the ground.

The dragon spread its wings, its mighty aura encompassing the planet, and then took flight towards the planet itself.

"...the game can suddenly change."

In the vision a single figure came into focus.

As the whole world was losing hope, a single, defiant figure stood in the air with his arms folded, looking up at the sky. The figure was wearing not armor, but a black suit.

The undead dragon closed in, and just as it opened its maw to drown that lone figure in its black flames, a space tear opened in front of him, and from it dove out an even mightier Kun Peng, and clashed against the dragon.

"The damned and the wicked aren't the only ones who can play games. So can you. I hereby announce the start of the Midnight Games. So rise! Rise to the occasion. Rise against the tyranny and fear that has gripped countless worlds. Rise, and build your own legend!"

An overwhelming surge of courage, pride and ambition burst in the hearts of a trillion beings. The tiny, small thing they had felt wake within them was hope, and passion, and more importantly, the fantasy that life could be worth living.

Across the Origin realm, it was not the rich worlds that had been targeted by the Midnight Games, nor was it the powerful ones. Instead, it was the ones scarred by war, by tyranny, by greed. It was the planets that had known suffering and pain. It was the planets that had suffered at the hands of terrorists. It was the planets ready to evolve into something more that had heard the call of the Midnight Games.

Thus it was that long forgotten, forsaken worlds felt the might of the Innkeeper, as portals opened, leading to other worlds in dire need.

Since they had all registered for the Midnight Games, they knew that this was not an individual competition, but rather one of worlds. How many worlds could they save? How many terrorists could they foil? How many heroes would they give rise to?

As they felt the Innkeepers words resonate within them, their armies roared as they rushed through the portals. When they needed help the most there was no one to hear it. But now that they had heard a call for aid, they would not leave it unanswered.

The second ever Midnight Games started off with a war that spread across many galaxies. As it happened, each army landed on a planet being invaded by insects.

Lex's eyes gleamed, and Naraka in his hands trembled. Soon, it would be their turn to act as well.