The Innkeeper

Chapter 1423  Made it personal

One would think that seeing a small crack in the glass container that was protecting everyone from the burden of inter-realm travel would be alarming and distressing, but none of them reacted like that.

With the confidence they had in their own as well as their partners abilities, combined with the knowledge that if things went poorly they could just return to the Inn, neither Velma nor Gerard were afraid for their safety.

Lex didn't care about environmental damage at all for he had the almighty Bathroom slippers, and quite frankly, he was a little interested to know who had the guts and audacity to attack the Versalis Bank. There was also the fact that his instincts weren't warning him of any danger, but Lex did not put as much stock in that as he once used to. Finally, Ripley was wearing so many protective items given to him by the bank that he doubted he could get hurt even if he wanted to.

As a result, the four of them all just studied the crack, wondering how it came into being. The most absurd thing was that none of them had sensed the crack itself, and even Gerard only noticed because of how exceptionally aware he was of the surrounding energy.

"We have been tagged somehow," Lex said as he activated his left eye, studying the laws in and around the glass container. "Someone is trying to either intercept us during teleportation, or attack us. Either way, this is not a coincidence and is rather a perpetrated incident."

"That's not good," Ripley said, his calm tone completely contrary to his words. "Anyone willing and able to target the Bank without getting detected must have a powerful background. Most likely, this is not an attack specifically targeting us, but a mass attack meant to disrupt the New Age Expo before it even begins. If I had to guess, the previous owners of the realm, or some group looking to test the abilities of the newly risen Artica race might be behind this."

"The question now is, how shall we respond to this?" asked Gerard. "The energy in the container is draining rapidly, with only a few minutes to spare before it becomes dangerous. I am not too familiar with the maintenance for such a structure. Ripley, do you have any advice? If not, then perhaps we should begin considering how to safely survive the destruction of this chamber."

Ripley did not immediately respond, and instead frowned as he stared at the crack, various thoughts going through his head. Honestly speaking, responding to such situations, filled with danger and uncertainty, was not his forte. He was simply an auditor, not a combat consultant.

"If there's a connection, I can try and peek through it," Velma volunteered. "If there's one thing I'm good at, it's spying on people in secret."

Lex pondered for a moment, and then nodded to her.

"Go ahead, but be careful. If there's someone strong at the end of that connection, disconnect it. I can think of something else if the situation gets worse."

While Velma walked up to the crack, Lex pulled out a ring he hadn't worn in a long time - the very ring which contained the soul of Pel - and put it on.

He had given the ring to Moon as a form of protection for her, since the ring's treasure spirit was now strong enough to send out a single, strong attack. But more importantly, he wanted to nurture the treasure spirit using Moon's aura, which innately allowed souls to heal and recover.

He was not afraid that the ring might grow too strong for him - not anymore. Rather, he wanted the ring to recover so that it would be able to access more of Pellvailins memories.

To a degree, he succeeded. Pel now remembered a lot more than before Lex gave the ring to Moon. The one thing it did not remember, however, was what exactly killed the actual Heavenly Immortal dragon.

"Pel, have you ever travelled between realms?" Lex asked the ring.

"Not really, but I have memories of such things. I suppose you want to ask me about our current situation, but I can't really help. Dragons have their own method of traveling through the Void. I have no memories of traveling in such a container."

"Well, do you at least know how someone can target us mid-teleportation? I didn't think such a thing was possible."

"Well, if it's a long distance teleportation, and they left a sufficiently potent tracker…" n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Oh, I can see them!" Velma said excitedly as she jumped up. "There's hundreds of them. They're not really paying attention to the connection. Here, let me share the image with you guys."

Velma stepped back, one of her hands touching the crack, and the other pointing towards the center of the container, where an image appeared of a large, stone creature standing in front of an army of gargoyles.

"The plan is proceeding according to schedule. Team one through seven have succeeded in their infiltration missions. We will now provide the distraction by eliminating a number of the arriving delegations. March out - I don't want a single container reaching its destination."

"Your highness Bouldadin," said a faint, cowering voice. "I think there's something wrong with one of the connections. It might have been discovered."

The massive stone creature finally turned around, and revealed itself to be a stone hydra, with fiery red eyes and lines of magma running down its neck, like veins.

"It is only to be expected. Our targets are not pushovers. But though they can discover the connection, it is already too late. Begin the attack."

"If you'll allow me," said Lex, stepping forward. "I think I have an idea. It's best not to let the invaders reach us."

Lex put his hand on the glass container, ignoring the crack entirely, and closed his eyes. It was time to get back to his basics. The thing he has been best at, since he began his cultivation journey, was defense, and the thing he was least afraid of was molten lava, or any creature that used lava.

He didn't care about whatever score the rock creatures were trying to settle, by trying to attack him with lava, they made things personal.