The Innkeeper

Chapter 2474: Missing work without leave

It was a solemn affair. An Archon had been crushed to death. Even though none of those observing from the fog had any real context for how powerful an Archon was, it was obvious at sight that she had not been an ordinary person. The very fact that each grain of sand that emerged from her body felt more powerful than most Dao Lords was a clear indication of just how powerful she had been.

Beyond that, Eclipse had achieved the impossible. She had brought back the dead by opening a portal into the past. There were, no doubt, countless complexities involved in the process beyond what those in the fog could see.

Heck, the very fact that the portal to the past had been shut, but the Nullith continued to work on the ritual clearly indicated that things were far from over, or nearly as simple as they appeared.

Although most had no context for the oath Eclipse mentioned, for it was so long ago that no record of it had been kept, the mere fact that she mentioned it was enough. That she honored that oath was extremely noble. The fact that she valued this man... meant that he must be extremely honorable.

After all, though Eclipse had a history of her own, and that history was not always pleasant, she had always adhered to her principles, which made her incredibly well looked upon - even if most were too frightened of her to show it.

She was the Primordial Queen, strongest in the universe, vanquishers of Archons, and the author who rewrote history. Who dared to talk to her so casually?

Lex, apparently.

Lunareth looked at the human with incredible surprise, seeing how casual he was in his request. It was clear that he must have some history with Eclipse, which made Luanreth even more curious about the human.

"Who’s that?" Lunareth asked Eclipse as he assessed the human. He was quite decently strong, even by the standards of the Primordial Age. Going by the traditions of the human race from back then, he must have sired a large and noble cultivation family by now, and would be a respectable patriarch. To be able to behave so casually despite such heavy responsibility demonstrated the strength of his character and inner self.

"The son of a friend, although I like chatting with him myself from time to time," Eclipse told him. "He has a knack for being a nuisance to others which is very entertaining to watch, but when he starts being a nuisance to you it’s a sign that the conversation should end soon."

Lunareth nodded.

"Yes, friend. How can we help you?" he asked the human, wondering about Lex’s parent. To be qualified to become Eclipse’s friend, he must have a very interesting personality himself.

"I realize you probably have a lot that you need to do, and I don’t mean to take up your time, but I was wondering if I could ask for a small favor since I’m already here. You know, considering your expertise in karma, and the Dream realms extensive reach."

Eclipse raised an eyebrow as she listened to the request, and could not believe that the first thing she was going to do after reviving Lunareth... was this. Never in a million, trillion years could she have foreseen it. But it was exactly for that reason that it was also perfect.

*****

"You!"

Bang!

"Shouldn’t!"

Bang!

"Have!"

Bang!

"Spoiled!"

Bang!

"The!"

Bang!

"Ending!" Z roared as he smashed down the rock one more time, finally killing the jackal that had been acting as his prison guard.

Upon seeing that the task was done, Z allowed himself to fall down and rest, his body covered in blood and wounds from the fight he had just been through.

"I can’t believe you did it," whispered one of the slaves who was a part of Z’s slave legion. They had been sold alongside Z, which is why they were altogether. For months they had suffered, thinking that they had no future, all the while Z was silently and quietly training.

Although his primary purpose in this prison was to translate the legacy of King Zarek, that did not stop him from using it for himself. His captors didn’t stop him because that would only make Z a better fighter for them.

But now, today, Z had finally managed to break free of his imprisonment and kill all his guards. Considering that most of them were peak Heaven Immortals, with one Celestial Immortal meant that he should have had no way of defeating them, but he did it.

The fact that they had spoiled the ending for one of his favorite shows may have had something to do with it - he honestly didn’t know, he had blacked out during the process.

"Yeah, it’s about time," said Z as he picked himself up and began unlocking the rest of the legion. "If my boss was here, he’d probably give me a very low evaluation in performance. Kidnapped for so long and I barely managed to free myself."

The other slaves looked at him dumbstruck, unsure how to respond to that.

"Don’t be ridiculous. No one could have done any better than you. But the task is not over. You may have defeated the guards, but we still need to escape this realm, or else we’ll end up right back here, and in worse conditions."

Z nodded, and began coming up with a plan as he freed everyone. Using some tricks he’d picked up, he began healing the slave legion before connecting them altogether so that the entire force of the complete legion could be utilized by him. There was no other way of escaping.

Z took a deep, long break before kicking down the door to his prison, ready to face an immediate retaliation.

What he saw, instead, was Lex sitting on a pile of corpses waiting for him, with two unknown figures standing behind him.

"You’ve been missing work without leave," said Lex, looking very upset as he looked down at Z.

Lunareth, from behind him, opened up a dictionary given to him by Eclipse and looked up the concept of a ’leave’.