The Innkeeper

Chapter 2248: Reactions II

Time was too sensitive a matter to play around with. Giselle immediately activated one of her time related abilities to quickly end the fight, even if it left her in an exhausted state. After confirming the skill and searching the body for any spatial treasures, she quickly activated her Henali token to be teleported away from the planet.

Since she was taking part in the tourney, the Henali were responsible for teleporting them to and from their destinations. But instead of heading off to her next target, she retreated into a cultivation room and observed the grain of sand.

It was reacting to something, but no matter how she observed it, she couldn’t tell what it was. It was as if the grain of sand had lost a connection to something, but that made no sense.

One by one, many of Lex’s acquaintances learned news that he had been detected fighting against a formidable foe - one so strong that it was difficult to imagine that Lex could survive at all. Perhaps, if he was lucky, he could escape.

Eventually, the workers from the Inn learned the news as well. Anita was especially distraught by the news. She knew Lex well, and had a feeling that if it weren’t to protect Almira, he would not have gotten caught.

That guilt plagued her day and night, and at the same time it lit a fury in her heart that had extinguished long ago. For many years now, even before she arrived at the Inn, Anita had put the path of conquest behind her. She wanted to raise a family and live a different kind of life. She was no longer interested in warfare.

But this debt she owed, she could not let go. She was not the only one who felt that way. Qawain thought about the little human who had come to him to learn about sword intent, and how far he had grown since. Meanwhile, he himself had barely grown at all.

His mind turned to the Nine Swords Sect. He had looked into it, if only so that he could avoid them in the future. Surprisingly, it was not a weak sect at all!

The sect was controlled by nine Dao Lords, all of them swordsmen! Going to such a sect would be extremely dangerous for Qawain, for while he fought using sword intent, he himself was a sword. If a stronger cultivator forcefully suppressed him to make use of his body, he would lose his freedom!

However, there was actually precedent for swords joining the sect before! Three of the nine Dao Lords could be said to have a nefarious reputation, but five of the nine strongly associated themselves with righteous path - or so they claimed.

More importantly, the one remaining Dao Lord accepted any and all who could use sword intent to join his section of the sect - including sentient swords themselves! Although it was dangerous, Qawain resolved to get stronger.

As it happened, Qawain was not the only one who requested to leave the Inn after hearing the news. To everyone’s great surprise, Harry closed his barbershop the exact moment he heard the news and went home to discuss certain matters with his wife.

An hour later, he walked out of his home and requested the Midnight Inn for an indefinite leave.

"Harry, think this through," said Gerard who had come over as quickly as he had heard. "There is a great gap in power between you and Lex. If even he is having trouble, there is nothing you will be able to do against this enemy. You will be needlessly throwing away your life by going out now."

Harry sighed, and shook his head.

"I know. You don’t need to tell me - I already know. I don’t consider myself some kind of hero who will go save the day or something. But my heart won’t let me rest if I don’t do anything," he said, showing a sorrowful expression. "You know, Lex was the one who invited me to the Midnight Inn? He tried to be clever about it, and at the time I didn’t realize, but what are the chances I just happened to find a golden key in my apartment after cutting his hair?

"He changed my life, introduced a whole new universe to me, and allowed me to step onto the path of the Glamour Sorcerer. Even if I cannot rescue him, I can at least cause some trouble for his enemies, right? I heard that the one who acted against him was called an Agent of Chaos. I’ve looked into it - there are weaker agents as well, agents who I can face.

"Even if it’s a pointless endeavor, even if it won’t save Lex, even if nothing will actually come out of it, I must still go. A bond between a barber and his dedicated clients is special. I can’t explain it."

Harry only shook his head, and then moved past Gerard without explaining anything else. In the distance, Z watched the interaction, and then turned around. His heart also yearned to go out but... but he could not abandon his responsibilities. That’s how Lex had always trained him to be. He had to look after the Inn, and those in it.

Somewhere far away in the universe, inside a ship traveling through the Void, a cultivator who had been in a coma for months suddenly woke up and found himself in an unusual room, surrounded by medical incense and healing formations.

Everyone was surprised by his sudden and abrupt recovery, but merely a few seconds later, the mans master appeared in the room.

"How are you, child? What happened?" he asked, concerned.

The ’child’ honestly, didn’t know how to answer.

"I don’t know but... I suddenly stopped dreaming about the warbringer. The dreams just... vanished."

Everyone in the room looked at each other, confused about what that could mean. Just as they were beginning to wonder if something had happened to the so-called warbringer, the man continued to speak.

"Now, instead of dreams, I can hear his laughter even while I’m awake," the man said as his body trembled. "It’s such an evil laugh, devoid of all warmth. It’s almost as if... as if he is about to unveil his grand plan."

Everyone in the room looked at each other, unsure of how to interpret that.

The so-called Herald of the Warbringer, though, did not care about what others thought. He simply tried to close his ears, but the laughter wouldn’t stop. For a moment, he thought he was going crazy, because he could swear the laughter sounded like the laugh of someone who was about to make a whole lot of money.

"Child, you were asleep, which is why you don’t know. However, after a long investigation, I concluded that this warbringer must be connected to you through your home planet. So, we are returning to Earth."