The Innkeeper

Chapter 2351: Zenith

A dry husk lay on the ground in a white chamber, as it had been for eons untold. Though it was a mere husk, it had such an intense Dao radiation that even other Dao Lords could not easily approach it. Perhaps that was the very reason it was within the white chamber to begin with - to isolate its aura and prevent it from affecting reality outside the chamber.

For the first time since the husk had been brought here, it twitched, and then moved, standing up and adopting the form of a female Primal.

The husk did not even move from its position when a figure appeared in front of it, wrapped in a distortion of space, making it impossible to determine his or her identity.

"Elizabeth, you have finally emerged," the figure said, looking at the husk, sounding pleased. "Did you get tired and decide to break free, or did your father really allow you to leave on his own?"

The husk looked at the figure and, despite the distortion, seemed to recognize the figure’s identity.

"Father let me free on his own," she said, sounding extremely pleased. "Someone really pissed him off with the destruction of those four Major realms. He says that Vaelûn will release the Tribulation Fiends because of it, and he doesn’t sound too happy about that."

The figure paused, as if surprised by her words.

"Tribulation Fiends? How come I’ve never heard of such a thing?" the figure asked.

The husk shrugged, as if it too had no answer to that question.

"Who cares? I’m finally free, and there’s a lot of things on my todo list," she answered with a hint of anticipation in her voice.

The figure studied Elizabeth for a while, and then shook its head.

"How ironic is it that the only prison capable of holding you is made from your father’s love?" the figure asked, and chuckled, as if there was a huge joke hidden within those words.

For a moment, Elizabeth looked melancholic, as if she had gotten lost in her own memories.

"You know, I’ve never met anyone else who dares to talk to me like that," Elizabeth said, shaking her head. "No one else who is still living, at least. Besides, who can doubt the capabilities of my father?"

If there was a threat in Elizabeth’s words, the figure seemed not to hear it.

"It’s good to have you back. The universe has changed a lot while you were away, so try not to die - that would be awfully awkward considering all the hype around your name."

With that final message, the figure disappeared, leaving the husk alone inside the white chamber.

At the same time, around the universe, a single name was repeated again and again, though so many did not know or understand the significance of it. Elizabeth, the Wrathful Queen of the Primals, daughter of the Primal Monarch. It sounded impressive, but how was she different from any of the other Kings? Surely being the daughter of the Monarch did not give her too significant an advantage.

Too few knew the real reason, and they did not reveal it to others. It was for that reason, the significance of her arrival was lost on most, for there was other news that was far more easy to understand the significance of. Primal armies had marched out of their realms, and they were none too polite to any who crossed their path.

The peacekeepers were determined to keep the peace, even if they had to kill everyone to do it! Between the countless deaths caused by the destruction of three realms, the slaughter resulting from the war, and the furious cleansing of the universe carried out by the Primals, the universe had, for the first time in eons, suffered a decrease in total population.

To be fair, the Primals didn’t just go around killing anyone they found. Instead, they killed any and all who had a hand in furthering the war, which was quite a lot of people.

Their ruthlessness and their resourcefulness could not be underestimated, and they quickly found leads on those who had planned the destruction of the four realms, not to mention learned of plots to destroy even more realms!

Their unstoppable march, despite leaving a trail of destruction, began to give some people hope that the war would soon come to an end. The peacekeepers were truly bringing about peace, even if their methods were just as terrifying as the war itself. At least this way, an end was within sight.

Or so the naive thought.

One day, without warning, a new terror was unleashed upon the universe in the form of monsters. Some of them were ethereal, while others were made of fire, or lightning. The most terrifying of all took the form of spirits, affecting the mind directly, leaving behind only a body or soul, devoid of all spirit - a form of living death!

It did not take long before someone recognized that the ones made of lightning took the shape of the ancient Farham race! The ones of fire were from the long lost Ignivar race. The ethereal and spirit monsters seemed to take the shape of a race that none could identify, yet that did not change their terror.

These monsters, which quickly gained the name Tribulation Fiends, targeted one and all who bore some form of negative karma towards the universe, even if it was the slightest bit. Suffice to say, that list included almost every living Dao Lord, simply because they had been alive for so long that committing a universal crime or two was absolutely normal.

Unfortunately, Dao Lords weren’t the only ones on that list. A majority of Celestial Immortals - at least the longest lived ones - were on that list. The number of Heaven Immortals who bore such sin were fewer, but that was only relative to the percentage of Celestials. In actual numbers, they were even more!

As the cultivation level dropped, the number of sinners also decreased, simply because it was too difficult to commit a sin against the universe if one was too weak - difficult, but not impossible.

Only the mortals seemed least affected by the appearance of these Fiends.

The existence of the Tribulation Fiends would not have been an issue if they were just ordinary monsters. The problem was that they were empowered by the universe, making them especially lethal against Dao Lords!

The level of chaos across the universe reached its zenith, unsurpassed in the current and previous age. Thus, the Dream Master considered this the best time to initiate the next level of a plan that had long been set.

The Dream realm no longer restrained itself to only trapping Dao Lords within the realm itself. No, an army of Sandmen exited the realm unannounced, and began targeting those Dao Lords weakened or wounded by the Tribulation Fiends!