The Innkeeper

Chapter 1938: Illusions

Zagan lazily opened his eye and looked at Lex, realizing that he was now a Heaven Immortal almost instantly. The monster resisted the urge to roll its eye. This Spiritual Tribulation was becoming increasingly unbelievable. The last time he saw this human in his tribulation illusion, he had been a weakling who had been requesting Zagan’s help to contact one of his subordinates. That, at the very least, was a believable illusion.

How could the human already be a Heaven Immortal in the span of a single nap? Ridiculous. He could already foresee that the illusions he would see from now on would stray farther and farther from reality, yet his heart was firm. He would not waiver or give in to the ludicrous dreams this tribulation conjured up.

"You know, when you left the Crystal realm all those years ago, you became one of the first Monsters to gain an opportunity to surpass the Earth Immortal realm. Now, you’re in limbo while the rest of your kind has already moved on. There should already be millions of Monsters in the Primordial Garden now," Lex said, trying to provoke some kind of emotion from him. Yet the Monster was entirely indifferent.

"Do you need anything?" Zagan asked through his spirit sense. "Otherwise, I believe I am still on break until I complete my tribulation."

Lex looked at Zagan, and sighed. At his level, a mere glance was all it took for him to read through his thoughts, which gave him a slight headache. Since Zagan was convinced that he was in an illusion, convincing him this wasn’t an illusion would be tough. In fact, the more that Lex convinced him that this was reality, the more that the Monster would believe that this was, in fact, not.

So, Lex made the very simple decision to play into his fantasy of this being an illusion. He would make things more dramatic, larger than life, and do his best to not get the Monster killed along the way.

"Yes, Zagan," said Lex, his voice turning solemn and filled with the weight of purpose. "The Innkeeper has given strict instructions not to bother you until you are done, but there is a matter of utmost urgency that requires your help. The fate of the Inn itself hangs in the balance, and only you can save us."

Thunder roared in the sky as lightning flashed in particularly menacing patterns abovehead, as if an ominous indicator of the task ahead.

Zagan almost sighed. Such things almost never happened in reality. Why would the weather coincide with a random chat? Well, this chat didn’t seem to be so random as it was pertaining to something important, but it was still too fake. Zagan could have seen through the illusion even with his eyes closed, let alone now that he had one eye open.

If it were up to Zagan, he would do nothing and let the illusion pass, but that would probably cause the tribulation to fail. He needed to maintain a strong and clear heart, his purpose unwavering, for him to survive this obstacle. Nor could he hide from the occurrences of the illusion, lest he develop the heart of a coward.

"Tell me how I can help, and I will be of service," Zagan said, finally standing up for the first time in a long, long time - at least for the surrounding guests. He was the ocean king, master of the water, and lord of the depths. While he may not be the strongest Monster out there, he was by no means weak.

"The task I have for you is dangerous, and could possibly risk your life. Think carefully before agreeing. Do not let the weight of the consequences of inaction guilt you into helping out. You must be certain this is something you choose of your own free will," Lex said heroically, as if even in the face of possible disaster, he did not want to force Zagan.

"I will not shirk from my duty, human. I am a noble Monster, not a feeble Frio or Sol bird. Come, tell me my mission," he proclaimed with confidence.

"I must bring you to a place where you will have to endure a second tribulation immediately. But that is far from everything - in the middle of your tribulation, you will need to rip open a portal in the tribulation clouds themselves, leading to the fabled Arch-Heaven where I must enter promptly. However, opening that portal is not something you will be able to do on your own. I will have to aid you, but if I do that, the difficulty of your tribulation will multiply. You must be certain of your actions. As a reward, however, once you complete your tribulation, you will skip Heaven Immortal level 1, and directly become Heaven Immortal level 2."

The massive Monster, with its body towering over Lex, did not show an ounce of hesitation. Internally, he scoffed. Level 2? Ridiculous. Yet externally he showed nothing.

"Let us not delay this matter," Zagan said, urging Lex to hurry up. The quicker they got on with this, the quicker he could return to his slumber.

Lex did not drop his act. Instead, he nodded towards the monster, as if appreciating his noble decision, and teleported the both of them out of the Midnight Inn. He felt bad for making use of Zagan like this, but at the same time, at least he was awarding him an opportunity to rise in strength. Most Heaven Immortals aren’t even able to trigger their tribulations for centuries.

They appeared on a relatively scarcely populated planet in the Origin realm - one of the many planets that were now connected to the Inn - from where Lex began teleporting the both of them away.

As a Heaven Immortal, Lex’s strength had increased so much that he could basically teleport incredibly vast distances casually. Without the spatial coordinates of his destination, Lex could not use long-range teleportation. Instead, merely by using Blink a few times, which teleported Lex anywhere within a certain range around his body, he brought them to an entirely uninhabited, desolate planet within the same star system.

In mere seconds, Lex had traversed the distance between planets like it was nothing, but he did not stop there. No, now came the hard part of inducing Zagans tribulation. The reason Lex had decided to work with Zagan, instead of anyone else, was because Lex was sure he could tolerate the increased difficulty of the tribulation after a portal was opened inside it. He began by focusing a tremendous amount of power, and channeling it into Zagan’s body, temporarily sealing it.

"I have sealed a powerful attack in your body," Lex told the Monster. "It will stay sealed until you use the activating phrase which I will pass to you shortly. As soon as your tribulation begins, and the tribulation clouds form, you must use the attack to cut open the portal. Once open, I will go through the portal while you can take the remainder of your tribulation here. You do not need to follow me - you won’t be able to help, and your tribulation will continue on even in Arch-Heaven if you come, which will attract unnecessary attention. This single act will be a tremendous contribution on your part."

Zagan merely nodded, so Lex began with the tribulation induction. Through Vinei, Lex’s understanding of Monsters had increased tremendously. Through his own experiences, he had understood tribulations tremendously. Unlike humans, who needed to further their understanding of laws, or the application of their tenets, or meet such criteria to trigger a tribulation, Monsters were more straightforward. When a certain amount of darkness fused with their body, their connection to the laws associated with darkness would strengthen, triggering a tribulation. Lex, using his Supremacy, began to forcefully control the surrounding darkness and channeled it into Zagan’s body. Above head, dark clouds began to form already, slowly building pressure all aiming down at Zagan, almost as if a real tribulation was about to begin.

In truth, the tribulation clouds felt so real that Zagan was amazed. He almost would have believed that this was not an illusion and was, instead, a real tribulation. Almost. If only there wasn’t one very significant flaw in the story.

Why couldn’t the tribulation occur within the Inn? Why did they need to leave? In truth, the reason they left was becuase Lex didn’t know what to expect once the portal opened, and didn’t want to bring any unnecessary troubles towards the Inn. But Zagan did not need to know that.

Zagan did not display any indication that he doubted the illusion. Instead, he did as was told. Surely, he would need to face the entire fake tribulation within this Spiritual tribulation. That would lead to a situation where he would feel like he had genuinely become a level 2 Heaven Immortal. But no, that would merely be the illusion. In truth, his tribulation would still be going on.

This was a tricky situation, for sure, but Zagan was not deterred.

"What is the activating phrase?" Zagan asked as he looked up at the clouds, unflinching as they darkened. The lightning snaking through the cloud did not scare Zagan at all.

Lex passed the phrase to Zagan through his spirit sense, and prepared himself to pass through the opening.

In truth, Lex had done some research on Arch-Heaven, but hadn’t found much on it. Even Velma could not get her hands on too much information relating to it, as if this were a topic most actively avoided. Asking Licanderoth was out of the question, so Lex was going in more or less underprepared.

Even so, he was not afraid. With the mighty Bathroom Slippers at his disposal, Lex was ready to face anything.

Finally, the first lightning bolt was beginning to build strength, so the time had come.

"The Innkeeper is most handsome," Zagan recited the activating phrase, instantly causing the power sealed within him to break free.

Yet the attack did not just travel through his body and unleash itself. Instead, the power dissolved with Zagan’s body, becoming his power, granting him a one time power boost - one that was absurdly powerful and far beyond even ordinary Heaven Immortals.

Since Lex didn’t know how easy or tough it was to cut open the laws and reveal an opening to Arch-Heaven, he hadn’t held back at all. What he gave Zagan was the most strength Lex could provide without blowing up Zagan’s body.

Zagan opened his mouth, unleashing a black beam that shot into the clouds, cutting through the first bolt before it even fell.

A hole was torn open in the tribulation clouds, revealing another world of its own, though the hole began to close as soon as it appeared.

"Thanks. Try your best to survive," Lex said, before rushing through the opening, leaving Zagan behind. Lex was certain that Zagan was strong enough to survive a strengthened tribulation. As for any severe injuries he might suffer afterwards...

Well, as long as he was alive, Lex would eventually heal him.

Zagan, meanwhile, looked at the clouds solemnly. The increase in difficulty... wasn’t it a little too much? Was this Spiritual tribulation messing with him? How was he supposed to survive this?

Then it occurred to him. This was merely a Spirit tribulation. That meant no matter how badly he was wounded, he wouldn’t actually die until he gave up mentally. All he needed to was maintain a strong state of mind. In that case, he was ready.

Meanwhile, the moment Lex entered Arch-Heaven, a man and a woman who were resting inside a cave within Arch-Heaven both opened their eyes and looked at each other with surprise, as if they had both sensed the same thing.

"Lex?" the woman muttered, confused. How could he be here?