The Innkeeper

Chapter 1973: Two unexpected figures

Lex did not pay much attention to James. This Destiny Devourer was going to be immobile for a few years at the very least, if not centuries. Although he knew very little about their race, he knew enough about destiny in general to understand that not even a race specially equipped to deal with it could do so easily.

On top of that, James had his power percentage dropped to 0. Basically, he was as weak as he was at the moment of his birth. So for him to digest the destiny of hundreds of immortals, all associated with a Deity, many of them probably harboring great secrets, was not going to be an easy endeavor.

To his credit, Lex tried to give him some Blessing Stones to increase his power percentage to no avail. He had probably used some less than a century ago, so he would have to wait a long time before he could do so again.

To be honest, Lex had no plans for James originally. He only even focused on him because of how curiously he reacted to Lex. However, later on, he had a few ideas about how James could be useful, not only in hiding his tracks, but as a contingency against Vox.

It was only after everything was over, and he was on his way back to Rohas Fort, that something occurred to Lex.

During his spiritual tribulation, he was faced with an obelisk that was trying to warn him that someone was targeting the human race. Now Lex could not tell the nature of the harm, but he imagined it was something akin to the human race’s destiny being stolen.

Of course, this was mere speculation, and there was no evidence to prove that this was the nature of the threat plaguing that obelisk. But it was a possibility, and the first one he encountered. Furthermore, it wasn’t just the humans. Even the fairies were being affected by some curse, and Lex could tell that once the curse plaguing them deepened to the point where all fairies ceased to exist, they will essentially be replaced in the universe by whomever was cursing them.

While such actions did not necessarily align with Lex’s understanding of stealing destiny, he could see how a particularly powerful Destiny Devourer might be helpful in creating such a situation.

James claimed that he could only steal the destiny of a dead being. So theoretically, if an entire race was killed, their destiny could be stolen too. Not to mention, there were probably other ways to steal destiny, he just wasn’t aware of them yet. Perhaps even James himself didn’t know.

So, for research purposes, he decided to keep James- no, eh, he decided to help James grow stronger. Through him, Lex intended on studying the race a little more and discovering what he could about them.

Even if Destiny Devourers were not involved in these conspiracies, through them Lex might be able to learn a whole lot more. The universe was a complex place, and he needed to take every opportunity to improve and better equip himself.

The journey back was just as smooth as their arrival, and Lex, fortunately, encountered none of the issues one might face on a ferry. Fenrir actually enjoyed the return more because he treated James’ bloated body like a ball. Even at 0% power, he was more than durable enough to at least roll around without getting hurt, so that’s when Fenrir did.

Lex thought about stopping it, but then reconsidered when it occurred to him that the exercise might help with the indigestion. Also, he had only just won back Fenrir and Mango and didn’t want to face their tantrums again.

Speaking of, Fenrir and Mango both absorbed a tremendous amount of the Blessing Stones that Lex had gathered, making it even more obvious how absurd Lex was. Fenrir managed to raise his percentage by 0.25% while Mango seemed to experience no tangible increase in strength at all despite the absurd amount of stones they used.

After that they lost interest in the concept entirely. Mango asked for a few more stories from Lex, and somehow managed to misinterpret all of them incredibly well.

All in all, the return journey was quite calm, and when Lex returned to the fort, enough time had passed that he expected the Heavens Puppet to have arrived.

Lex had full intentions of heading directly to Vox as soon as they returned, yet when the ferry landed back at the fort, Lex found two unexpected people waiting for him there.

"What’re you doing here?" Lex asked as he walked up to the figure.

"You see, when someone enters the fort through official means, I get a proper notification," answered Vox with what Lex assumed was a smug smile. It was hard to tell with the absence of any and all facial features. "I’m glad to see you held up your end of the bargain completely. As you can see, so did I."

Lex turned from Vox and looked at the figure standing beside him.

Just as he remembered from his tribulation, this Heavens Puppet had four arms, four wings and a halo made of pure light. His legs, during the tribulation, had been obscured by the tribulation clouds, but he could see them now: two normal legs. It was almost sad, Lex kind of expected four legs, making the Heavens puppet into a centaur or some other taur.

Regardless, more important than his appearance was the power he was giving off. It was none. It was, as if, standing in front of Lex was an empty shell. Its lack of eyes could not hide the fact that there seemed to be no sentience hidden within its body.

"What’s wrong with him?" Lex asked. "Was he injured during my tribulation?"

Vox shook his head.

"This is not a good place to talk. Come back to my office, I’ll explain things."

Lex raised an eyebrow, but followed without protest, observing the Heavens Puppet as he did.