The Innkeeper

Chapter 1192: Creatures of flame

After taking care of his problems and returning to the hotel lobby, Lex was sent to the next round. He had also taken this break period to look into how long exactly these rounds would last.

All of his plans were, more or less coming together, but there was a catch. The longer he took to execute his plan, the more variables that came in, which meant there was a greater chance of something going wrong.

In fact, Roland had already passed him certain news about bank Versalis which made the situation slightly complicated. He did not know the exact relationship between the Henali and the bank, but apparently the bank had sent someone over to mend the situation with the A.I.

Obviously that had nothing to do with Lex, but it had much to do with the Fuegan, who were closely connected to the very people he was targeting.

For now, this was not a bad thing, but the more time went by, the greater the chances that something could go amiss. So Lex felt the need to rush. But these things were not in his control. He needed to be calm when there was nothing he could do, but act decisively when he felt he could make a change.

This was especially when he found out that the Champions tourney would be at least ten years long, and the preliminary tournament was also expected to last a year.

As he was teleported to his next trial, Lex almost resigned himself to the fact that this would take some time.

That was fine. He would, in this time, help Moon build a connection to her planet and help her move to the Inn. The search for Liz and Belle would be slowed down, but maybe being streamed live across the realm would help them find him instead.

Yet that thought changed as soon as he was sent to the giant's graveyard. To pass this trial, all he needed to do was cleanse this graveyard of all abominations born as a result of accumulating yin energy - a type of energy that was abundantly found in dark and cold places, but as well as in places where a lot of death had occurred.

Besides Lex, thousands of others were sent to the graveyard as well, this time including Earth Immortals. All those who managed to stay alive by the end, and killed at least 100 abominations would move onto the next round. Based on the number of contestants, the size of the graveyard, and the estimated number of abominations, it was guessed that it would take around five months for the trial to be completed.

If the completion of this trial was dependent on the elimination of abominations, could he end it quicker if he cleared it quicker? Did that mean the next trial would start sooner? Did that mean that the preliminary tournament, as well as the Champions tourney were not on a fixed timeline, but rather they just had estimated time frames?

He could not answer these questions, but he could definitely test his hypothesis. Lex looked out at the dark, endless plain covered in corpses in front of him.

There was no sunlight, or moonlight, for a thick layer of clouds hung high above in the air, and though the sound of thunder occasionally rumbled in the clouds, he never saw lightning.

But such a darkness was fitting, for as far as they eye could see, the only thing visible was corpses.

There were no hills, just mounds of dead bodies. There was no dirt, just more corpses underneath the ones on top. The wind that blew did not whisper, but wailed and cried like that of a billion suffering souls.

It was almost like he had come to the underworld - a place not to damn the souls of the evil, but to welcome each and every one of the dead.

The sight was unnerving for many, though Lex only wondered if he was going to encounter more zombies. He looked, and around him he saw countless other contestants, most of them courageously looking out at the horizon for their enemies. Some of them looked concerned. A very few looked excited.

Lex cracked his neck and began to walk forward. He did not need to spread his spirit sense out to see that in the darkness, the abominations had already begun to rise. They hid in the shadows or bodies, and in corners and in pits and holes. They traveled through the wind, unseen and unheard, and attacked like assassins in the night.

They were formless and shapeless, yet they were absolutely lethal. Fear and horror were their strengths, and they had no weaknesses in this place. Or atleast, they did not until now.

Slowly, a powerful aura began to spread from Lex's body, attracting the attention of not only all the abominations, but all the contestants as well.

Everyone had been waiting for the first move. They wanted to see what the abominations could do. Since they would be here for months, they would first get a sense for the strength of their enemies, and then they would make their plans. Of course, if the others wanted to probe the abominations first, they would happily sit back and watch.

But Lex had no intentions of probing. His right eye glowed with a red light as he used his new eye technique. But this time he was not using his eye to search for things - instead he was using a unique combination of Glyphs and arrays to use his vision to control flames.

Then, he opened his mouth and let loose dragonfire. Thick and roiling flames or yellow and orange suddenly illuminated the darkness, revealing all the hidden abominations for a split second before they burned to ash.

The flames, under the control of his eye, began to take shape, and mythical creatures born of flames appeared before him. The aura his body gave off became stronger. Domination was no longer just the simple theft of Dragons Might. It had been fueled and elevated using his own convictions, and it carried a weight like no other.

Just like that, Lex started his massacre.