The Innkeeper

Chapter 1242  Passing a threshold

If one were to see Lex, it would seem like he was extremely angry, yet that was far from the truth. Even as he beat Jeffrey up, Lex had a firm control over his anger, keeping it thoroughly suppressed. He was not here to vent his anger.

No, he was here to kill Damien, destroy Sanguis Pluvia and make anyone who harmed Moon pay dearly. For that, he needed absolute precision.

That was why, on a surface level, he felt various emotions. He felt the excitement of a new realm, the curiosity over what the universe had to offer, the feeling of getting revenge by beating Jeffrey. But deep down, Lex was in full control of his every action, making sure he never went too far, and never ruined the plan.

That was why, when each and every hit he landed on Jeffrey became stronger slowly and steadily, it was actually a deliberate thing. He wanted it to look like he was becoming more and more comfortable with the realm, making Jeffrey feel like death was creeping up on him.

”ENOUGH!” Jeffrey roared after Lex slapped him one more time, right across the face.

The wyvern took to the air and summoned hundreds of barrels, each of them giving Lex an ominous feeling. He was reminded of the extremely lethal poison that Jeffrey used back on Polebitvy.

Lex had learned that the poison was actually something called JahʼHah liquid, sourced from a place called JahʼHel bog realm. It was not just lethal to people, it was hazardous to the realm itself.

The danger Lex felt from these barrels, which too were made of Void wood like the very ones used to contain JahʼHah liquid, was much more serious.

Jeffrey didnʼt even launch the barrels at Lex. Instead, he detonated them in the air around himself, revealing a thick purple gas which had been contained within.

Lex felt a keen sense of danger, and his left eye immediately looked into the gas. He did not know what it was, but he could see what it would do. It was not poisonous. Rather, it influenced any and all energy it touched, rapidly causing it to transform into another kind of energy - one that was extremely volatile.

His left eye simultaneously saw many ways in which it could be handled, so he chose the most destructive one.

Back when he was a mortal, he used Glyphs to recreate Dragon Fire. As an immortal, he was no longer satisfied with just using Dragon Fire. Much in the way he had harnessed Dragons Might and turned it into Domination, he wanted to create a flame of his own that was much stronger.

His right eye was activated, and instead of a Glyph forming in his mouth, hundreds of millions of array characters formed microscopic arrays within his throat, while the blood, muscle and other components that made up his body rearranged themselves to create a formation. He visualized the sensation of immense pressure building up in his body, and it was manifest. The moment he felt his right eyeʼs ability stop, Lex opened his mouth and unleashed a golden inferno - no, he used Golden Inferno. Bright, golden flames erupted from his mouth, wafting a hint of Domination as they spread across space and towards Jeffrey.

The golden flames consumed everything and only made themselves stronger. The volatile energy that the purple gas produced exploded on contact, much like the gas itself. Jeffrey tried to fly back but he could not escape the flames.

Even though his own body too was made of brown flames, he could not escape being burnt. An ear piercing scream screened through the entire zone before coming to an abrupt halt when Lex appeared in front of him and cut his head off.

Just like every time prior, Jeffreyʼs body reformed some distance away, but something was different this time. Lexʼs eyes flickered as he took notice of the change.

Jeffreyʼs body had healed, and even his head grew back after being cut. Yet the burn marks on his body were still there, scarring his brown scales.

From a distance, the purple dragon saw everything and felt a hint of danger. Lex was taking everything a dragon had and was reproducing it, but better. He was truly living up to the name of Dragonsbane!

Meanwhile, the fight continued. By now, Lexʼs expression had warped, as if he were tired of playing games and wanted to kill Jeffrey. But he had to pause his pursuit, because the final lightning bolt of his third tribulation was about to fall, and the very same lightning beast was back.

Jeffrey, meanwhile, used the moments respite to run away faster, taking out more and more weapons and unleashing them blindly towards Lex. He did not think he could kill that nightmare. He just wanted to buy time.

Just as Lex was getting ready to face the lightning monster, he felt something. He felt Jeffrryʼs developing fear, his developing trauma, and he felt the Invincible Tyrants mask absorbing that fear, and becoming stronger.

A small smile crept up on his lips as he resisted Jeffreyʼs attacks while glaring at the lightning monster. If Jeffrey was afraid, then he was getting desperate. But it was not enough. Things were only just beginning.

Lex unleashed more of his strength, and this time did not wait for the lightning beast to gather its energy. His sword intent covering his sword, he flew through the air towards the black clouds, gathering all his strength, bearing his Domination in full and even subtly using some laws to strengthen him.

His tenet had not recovered from its exhaustion, but he could still use it a little. Except that Lex made one mistake.

In taking the lightning monster seriously, he used a little too much strength, causing a reaction in the laws around him.

Something in his mind clicked, and he realized that it was not just his Domination that made law manipulation easier, his sword intent did so too. Perhaps, there were other things as well which could make law manipulation easier… like the effects of his right eye!

Lexʼs sword strike cleaved through the black clouds. From all around the trial zone, the survivors who were huddling and hiding from the lightning and the volcanic eruptions felt the sharpness of his attack and looked towards Lex from a distance.

They felt like that attack… had surpassed some kind of barrier. Indeed, it had passed a threshold. It allowed Lex to gain enough new understanding about laws… to immediately trigger his level four lightning tribulation!