Chapter 1568 — 1568: The Black Knight

While contemplating the limits of the system's power, as well as the mysteries of Abaddon, he also gleaned a hint into the rationale behind Joint quests, or Competitive quests as Mary had mentioned.

It seemed that whatever power governed the systems across the universe was not all powerful, and there were limits even to its power and knowledge. Yet the system users themselves became a tool to expand its power.

For now, Lex was still unable to decide what or who he thought controlled the systems. He didn't want to make any guesses, for he felt that it might paint his perspective towards his guess. Even so, if he had to guess, Lex felt like all the systems were controlled by, or at least somehow connected to, a central system of sorts.

At the moment, however, none of that mattered. He turned to Kaemon, who seemed ready to continue his story.

"Like I previously said, the dangers of Abaddon are not just a few. After the owner of the Superstore died, we received reinforcements from many forces, but they all seemed to die pretty quickly, right up until the arrival of a force simply called The Bookstore. They were frighteningly powerful, so much so that they performed even better than us.

"But this place… it seems the very existence of hope causes Abaddon itself to conspire against you. The forces from the Bookstore were too strong to take down normally, so that caused us to face a different kind of foe from the locusts for the first time. We encountered the Wraiths!

"Incorporeal beings swathed in shadow, filled with suffering, they were harder to kill than even the locusts, and harder to defend against too. Unlike the locusts, who lusted for the soul, Wraiths hungered after powerful bodies, and possessed their targets if not successfully fended off!

"It was tough to survive their existence at first, but we managed, which brought about the arrival of the Chimeras. The Chimeras were, and still are, the most formidable enemy we have faced within Abaddon to date, and are practically unkillable. It is easier to escape from them than to face them in battle, so that is what we were forced to do.

"Unfortunately, our desperate escape led us not to a ruin, but to a citadel of sorts. Just like the ruins, the citadel contained murals, and just like the ruins, it contained a challenge. We, with our prior experience, avoided the challenge, but those from the bookstore did not. I don't know what they learned there. Maybe I did, but I already forgot.

"Either way, whatever they learned in the citadel affected the forces from the Bookstore far more than any enemy we faced so far. I don't know how they did it, but they paid a great price then to exit Abaddon, and forfeit on this task. The Condottiere was extremely infuriated by their actions, and even tried to retaliate against them.

"Ever since then, we have been incredibly careful to avoid ruins and citadels, lest it affect our reinforcements, or even us. But even without the threat of cursed knowledge, Abaddon is no playground. It never fails to bring out new threats and surprises. The black river, right behind your castle, for example, is a prime example of a threat. Do not take for granted that it won't move. Who's to say that the river won't suddenly come to life and attack your castle? Certainly not I…"

Kaemon continued his story, slowly revealing to Lex the depths of the horrors they had faced in the last seven years. Even his casual hint about how the Condottiere might react if they try to leave had been slipped in seemingly as a casual tidbit amidst all the other pieces of information he shared.

Lex, meanwhile, continued to listen, and come up with his own conclusions about the situation. By then, one of Lex's clones had gotten far enough away from the castle that it was nearly out of sight.

After turning back to look at the castle once, the clone jumped forward down a small hill, finally removing the castle from direct view. The clone did not feel like it was teleported, nor was its connection to Lex's main body severed, so he climbed back up the hill to take a look.

Yet instead of the familiar landscape it had just come from, what lay beyond the hill waiting for it was a lone man, wearing black, metallic armor.

"Your soul smells special," the man said as it moved forward and gripped Lex's clone.

The clone tried to resist, but retaining only a fraction of Lex's strength, it failed miserably. Lex had a strong feeling that getting caught by the armored man would be bad for him, so he immediately dismissed the clone, causing it to disappear just before the armored man would have caught it.

Simultaneously, all of Lex's other clones seemed to encounter the exact same armored man who seemed even more desperate to get his hands on Lex. One by one he dismissed all his clones, his expression turning serious.

There was something seriously wrong with that armored man. Yet before he had a chance to think about what to do, the armored man appeared on the very periphery of his spirit senses, within sight of the Castle tavern.

"Follow me," Lex suddenly cut Kaemon off and stood up, the aura around his body suddenly changing. Lex didn't explain much. He simply put on a double breasted suit and walked out of the castle and approached the rampart where the Midnight Battalion was fighting against an endless tide of locusts.

"There's a new enemy," Lex said as he looked out, and spotted the armored man even from a distance.

"Yes, we already spotted him," said Luthor, who stood on the walls with his arms folded. "Should we take extra precautions?"

Lex stared at the approaching figure, and then at Kaemon who seemed bewildered at what he saw.

"No, just tell Z to catch him alive. We need to interrogate him to learn more about this place."

At that, Luthor smiled. There was nothing he enjoyed more than interrogating the enemies of the Inn. Nothing.