The Innkeeper



The way Ezio continuously dismissed Belmont was more than a little insulting. Perhaps there was some history there, or maybe Belmont had some kind of negative reputation amongst the Crystal race. Outsiders, such as Silvia, would still worship him but within his own race perhaps he was looked down on by a certain class. That would also explain his need to boast in front of Lex and feel superior.

That was not necessarily a bad thing, for Lex at least. Equipped with this knowledge he could think of more ways to get what he wanted. After all, he was nearing the end of what he knew.

Although the accumulated evidence kept on pointing towards the anomaly being something to do with the Kraven, what if that was not it at all? Sure, the Kraven could still be a part of some scheme or conspiracy, while the anomaly could be caused by something else entirely. What if the anomaly was actually related to the mysterious birth of monsters in the darkness. Sure, that had a much longer history in the Crystal realm, but who ever said the anomaly was new and not old?

Gathering all his thoughts, Lex took a deep breath in and added all the new information he heard and quickly thought of how to incorporate it into his own theories. Fortunately, for now, all the revelations seemed to support his assumptions.

"Well, yes, I'm about to get to the core of the matter. But first, let's recall what we now know. The royal family of the Hum nation, and possibly the leaders of all other nations, were for some reason suppressing full retaliation. Now, whether having reserved their forces so far will pay off or not facing such an unprecedented assault remains to be seen.

"But unless they all had foreknowledge of this attack, holding back their forces made little sense. That is the first point of suspicion. Then the fact that not only do Crystals from this so-called Primordial Garden know of the Kraven and their invasion, they even felt it necessary to send instructions down not to interfere in it makes me think that the Kraven invasion is not entirely normal.

"Either they were sent from another realm, possibly even the Primordial Garden," Lex paused and gave Ezio an uncertain look before continuing, "or perhaps there is a tear or  portal in the realm somewhere, directly linked to wherever the Kraven are coming from.

"Rather than believing that the Kraven were just sent once, I am more inclined to believe there is a breach, or perhaps permanent link through which the Kraven continuously come from. The appearance of an army consisting of hundreds of thousands, or perhaps millions of immortals would also make sense then, because I find it hard to believe that they were able to nurture so many immortals in just a few hundred years. Moreover, if they had such a massive army from the get go, then based on their nature they would not have kept it in reserve.

"But, most importantly, the presence of a tear of some sort in the fabric of the realm itself… would explain my most recent discovery, which led me to come to you so quickly."

Lex did not bother pausing for suspense, though he knew it might have been a good tactic. In this situation where too much was unknown and Lex was not aware of how much information the duo actually had, he could not accurately gauge how to build the necessary environment for suspense. In this case, it was the actual revelation itself that would have to suffice as the ultimate shock.

"So that you can corroborate this information if needed, I will share with you in detail the sequence of events. In the unowned lands, in the territory of the Noel family, in a small port-town called Babylon I have a tavern called Midnight Tavern. From there I noticed an abnormality in the sea, and ventured forth to investigate.

"There I encountered the territory of a peculiar Trelop named Toro. There I learned that an unusual liquid had appeared in his territory which appeared enticing to all living beings, but would actually end up severely harming any who came in contact with it."

Lex spent a few minutes describing in thorough detail what the liquid looked like and the features it presented, and even pulled out a picture of the liquid he had stored in his spatial bangle, and showed it to them.

"The liquid was turning all passerbyers with an even slightly weak spirit into mindless drones, and so Toro was quite eager to get rid of it. As a result, I took a sample and consulted a senior I know about the results.

"The liquid… is called Cosmic Erosion Elixir. According to him, the liquid is produced as a result of a realm destabilizing due to an external influence. The birth of the Elixir means that the realm is on the path to self destruction."

Belmont scoffed, as if he had heard the most absurd thing ever.

"The 'elder' is completely misleading you. I have never heard of such an absurd thing. The realm…"

Belmont stopped talking, or rather his voice stopped traveling to them, when Lex gently reached out and seemed to 'grab' space. He was using Impervious Hands and augmenting the ability with his own spiritual energy, which allowed him to somewhat make use of space affinity.

Since Lex had not practiced much of his affinity, he could not use it as effectively as Z, but that did not mean he was completely inept. After months of long distance teleportation, he had already gained some insights on how he could make use of his ability.

By 'grabbing' space, even if lightly, he produced some visible wrinkles in space. This was not much, and the wrinkles could not even be used to attack or defend, but they were enough to block out the sound of Belmont speaking.

"I've already used the Cosmic Elixir to gain spatial affinity, so I can guarantee that it is real. Moreover, since the Crystal race can contact others from other realms, why do you assume no one else can do the same?"

He pulled out a Golden key, suddenly attracting the full attention of both Crystals. Even without Lex's explanation they could tell that there was something special about the key, though they still waited for him to explain. Ezio was especially intrigued, for this previously simple distraction he had found for himself had turned into something extremely interesting.

"This is the key to the Midnight Inn, a place for guests and travelers across the universe, regardless of any realm. Let me show you."

He smiled at the two, and chose to return to the Inn. Due to the heavily placed restrictions on space, there was an awkward pause as Lex's return was delayed a little. Just as Belmont was about to speak, his pupils constricted and his cultivation roared to life as he saw Lex disappear from right in front of him!

His spirit sense flooded the entire prison cell as he tried to locate Lex, but there were no signs of him at all. But as Belmont grappled with the thought of the ramifications of teleportation within their most secure prison, Ezio frowned, the look in his eyes becoming more and more grave.

He now had reason to believe what Lex was saying was true. If that was the case, and their realm really was at risk of destruction, then…

The couple of minutes Lex disappeared from the cell were spent filled with turbulent emotions for the duo, and his return did not exactly calm them down.

Belmont, especially, reacted extremely aggressively, and locked down Lex with his spirit sense.

"What conspiracy are you plotting, human?" the Crystal roared in anger, unable to think clearly. "Do you wish to break the prisoners out of Velasco? WHO ARE YOU WORKING WITH?"

Lex, who had returned feeling good, assuming that he was about to establish good relations with the Crystals, was taken by surprise. Wasn't this reaction a little too strong? But then his good mood was spoiled.

Even if he was planning on using the Crystals, he had never acted with bad intentions in mind. As such, he absolutely did not appreciate being treated as such.

With his body frozen still and the pressure of an immortal bearing down on him, Lex was not filled with fear. Instead, his eyes were filled with a dangerous anger.

Ezio, who had been ruminating amongst his own thoughts, suddenly noticed the abnormality and sensed that things were not normal. He suddenly realized that if Lex's claims were true, and he had the ability to travel between realms, then his background absolutely wasn't simple. He could not allow that duffer Belmont to screw things up!

"Belmont, restrain yourself!" he let out a roar, his voice filled with an unknown power. Though he was supposed to be restrained, and did not have access to all his abilities, his voice should have been enough to wake him from his manic state.

Unfortunately, it was too late.