The Innkeeper

Chapter 1251  Setting the stage

”That wasnʼt ominous at all,” Lilith said, chuckling as she looked at the smoke rising from the top of Lexʼs head.

”Yeah, thatʼs a thing thatʼs been going on for a while,” Lex admitted. ”More importantly, do you think we can use the Heart demon?”

He turned to look towards Jeffrey, who was completely lost within the illusion now. With his own sanity crumbling to pieces, Mindmeld and the heart demons all attacking him together, there was no way that Jeffrey would be able to figure out what was happening at all.

This was perfect, because Lex wanted to use Jeffrey to find the more important members, or even the more important bases of Sanguis Pluvia, but an ordinary tracker would not work at transmitting their location in such hidden and secure locations. Even if they worked, they would be easy to find considering all the security those bases no doubt had.

For this exact reason, a Heart demon was perfect. By nature, Heart demons were very difficult to discover, which is what made them so dangerous to begin with. Originally, Lex intended to let Jeffrey escape and then follow him. When Jeffrey realized that he couldnʼt lose Lex, he would call for powerful backup, which he had other preparations for. Yet Jeffrey could not escape this zone for whatever reason. For situations like this, Lex had many contingency plans in place, and using a Heart demon to track Jeffrey was one of the better plans.

Lex wasnʼt worried that Lilith wouldnʼt be able to come to the Trial of Eternity. As the daughter of a Dao Lord, even if she was not particularly favored, it should not be a problem for her to go where and when she pleases.

As for controlling the Heart demon, he was even less worried. Lex was extremely familiar with how strong the influence of devils on demons was.

”Should not be a problem,” she said, and placed a hand over the wyverns heart and closed her eyes. After only a few seconds, she withdrew it.

”The Heart demon will hide until the right time, then strike. Iʼve also bonded with the demon, so it will stay under my control wherever it goes. Iʼll also be able to locate it anywhere in the Origin realm, as long as a Dao Lord doesnʼt hide it.”

”Great. How are Gerard and the rest doing?”

Of course, Lex knew the answer to that question. Mary kept him updated. But it was only polite to make some small talk with those helping him infiltrate the largest terrorist organization in the realm.

”Well, the time limit was too short, but he did what he could. Everyone will be in place.”

”Excellent. Iʼll just kick things off here, and then finish up my deal with the dragons. Let everyone know that weʼll be starting soon.”

”This should be exciting,” Lilith said with a charming smile, and then exited through the same portal she entered.

After making sure she was gone, he began preparing the stage for his performance, and waited till his fifth tribulation was close to ending.

When there were only a few strikes left, Lex threw himself back while launching Jeffreyʼs body far away, as if he had been struck from a devastating lightning strike.

The wyvern suddenly woke from the illusion of the abstract color field where Lex had trapped him, and looked around, his eyes filled with hysteria.

He laid eyes on a devastating crater that filled the landmass, charred completely black. On the other side of it, he saw Lex, kneeling on one knee and holding his sword like a walking stick for support.

His entire body was covered in lightning burns, and he seemed incredibly weak. He looked up, and saw that the final strike of the fifth tribulation was forming, taking the shape of a different lightning beast at last.

Yet with two lightning beasts staring down on him, Lex did not have the luxury to pay attention to Jeffrey at all. For a brief moment, the wyvern was unsure if this was reality or an illusion.

But his mind snapped, and he no longer cared. There was no use in protecting secrets if it got him killed, and if he revealed them and got freedom from the illusion, then all the better.

Just to be safe, he activated his last contingency plan, and then flew into the sky as fast as he could, flying directly into the lightning beasts!

Lex did not try to stop him, and as soon as he came close, Jeffreyʼs body was burned to ash from the lightning.

Back in the Origin realm, within a certain pod was an egg that suddenly cracked. A small reptilian head popped out, its eyes not filled with wonder, but panic and fear. Yet upon seeing its familiar surroundings, it relaxed. For a while, it waited for the illusion to end. But nothing happened. He was free of the illusion at last!

But… but what if he wasnʼt?

Paranoia set in, and the baby wyvern clawed out of the shell and hurried to find someone who can help. The reason he burnt his body to a crisp using tribulation lightning was because it could burn away all causality, eliminating any and all tracking methods - just in case.

But what he never expected was that Lex was not tracking him through some spell or technique, but rather through a Heart demon. So long as Jeffrey was alive, the Heart demon could follow him effortlessly, unless he overcame the Heart demon himself.

Back in the Trial of Eternity, Lex smiled, but then looked up at the sky solemnly. He was not afraid of the lightning beasts. Far from it. Rather, Lex was greatly worried about somehow eliminating both the beasts without somehow triggering yet another tribulation.

Growing stronger was great and all, but he had a war to fight. The timing was a little inconvenient.

As if they could sense his thoughts, the two lightning beasts growled in anger, and then spread their wings. It was time for their showdown.