Chapter 1623 — 1623: Enemies in the dark

Just like with the Blade of Eternal Echoes, Lex had to read the description of the item more than once before he was certain he got it right. Unlike the Blade, which only had a vague description of its function, the Twig had a clear cut description. The problem was… the function, while not entirely pointless, lacked that special oomph that Lex had been expecting.

Oh well. Lex shrugged, and decided the Twig could go to the leader of the army who came first in the games.

With that, he removed the Twig from the Gift shop, submitted it as a reward, and went to transfer the next item. Unfortunately, no matter what he did, he wasn't able to transport the item away, as if a restriction had been placed. In fact, Lex couldn't even place it in any of his spatial equipment. He either needed to use it right then and there, or give up on it.

He reluctantly looked at everything in the jungle, and finally got a sense for what some of his guests felt like. His mortal guests that came to the Inn were always forced to see countless invaluable treasures all around them, but were never able to use them.

Of course, it wasn't that the treasures weren't usable, but that the guests would have to pay for it, and that was often not viable.

He was sure that was the situation here too. While it seemed like everything was available for him to use, the constant prohibitions he was facing was a clear indication that he was being watched.

Lex could try his hand at grabbing some resources for himself to use right then and there, but given his situation he really couldn't cultivate, and making a seal would take time he didn't want to spend while Fenrir and Little Blue were still in potential peril.

Suppressing the greed in his heart, Lex turned towards the V.A.N. and investigated the white hill. Although it was a little late, and Lex doubted that it would actually help, Lex used his best stealth techniques so as to attract as little attention as possible.

Considering that he hadn't thought of doing this earlier on - first because he was unconscious, and later because of the migraine and damaged spirit - it was likely he had already been exposed to anyone who was watching out for him. He did it anyway. It was the principle that mattered.

The issue now was how to get inside. The white hill looked completely solid to him, and even when Lex touched it, he felt no opening on its side. He sent his energy inside, investigated with his spirit and his soul, and tried various common incantations like 'open sesame', to no avail.

He observed it through his Karmic vision, and his other enhanced sights, and utilized every bit of his experience and knowledge, yet the opening within the hill refused to reveal itself.

For the moment, it seemed that he was stumped.

He turned to look at the weed, wondering if it would give him any hints due to the deep and long lasting friendship, yet the weed had returned to being just another ordinary plant in the jungle.

With no solution in sight, all Lex could do was explore the jungle around the hill and search for the method to reveal the opening. Simultaneously, he mentally managed the rewards for the Midnight Games.

With well over 300 billion MP, and just a little over 31,000 MT, Lex finally had a stable enough reserve to be able to operate the Inn without fear of running short of MT. That seemed to be the more important currency these days anyway.

As such, even if he could not personally find truly unique rewards to give everyone, simply relying on the rewards available through the System were good enough.

He also had to plan for the next big event. As long as he did not entirely close the Inn to the whole universe, he would need to continuously rely on the security that events provided.

So far, the Midnight Games had been the perfect event, as it provided him with a lot of income and lasted a long time - not to mention it helped him eradicate some pests. Now, though, he wanted an event that was less focused on combat.

After all, he was running an Inn. It couldn't be focused on fighting all the time. Taking inspiration from the first segment of the previous Midnight Games, as well as an event he had previously based on theme and amusement parks, Lex decided that his next segment would be a cultural event with elements of a circus.

It would go perfectly well with the cozy and comfortable environment of the Inn. That was for later, though.

For now, he went through the selection of rewards, and picked one out, each suiting the army they were supposed to go to.

What he did not know was that as he observed the Inn, and silently monitored the minor details, ensuring everything ran smoothly, the beings from inside the V.A.N. were doing the same thing for the jungle.

The only thing was, since Mr. Big-fat-guy had a particular dislike for Lex, they had all taken an interest in him. Seeing as how he had slowed down their entertainment by being unable to detect the opening, they began to plot amongst themselves about how to push him in the right direction.

Yet even that needed due consideration. Getting him to find the opening was not hard, but this was a rare opportunity, so they had to enjoy themselves while they did it. As a result, they discussed things amongst themselves, and all came to the same conclusion.

An undefeatable foe who would strike terror in the hearts of its victims to push Lex in the right direction sounded like a good idea.

As soon as it was decided, they implemented the idea.

Lex, who had just spent a chunk of change on his rewards, and was looking forward to everyone's reactions, suddenly turned to look into the jungle behind him.

He began to sense a grave threat towards him there, in the darkness created by the canopy. The fact that he could not see through the darkness was, in itself, a great indication of how abnormal it was.

He squinted his eyes and pulled out his sword, ready to face whatever challenge awaited him.

That's when he saw something shine in the darkness, and felt like his eyes were playing tricks on him. After all, how could it be possible? How could one of the greatest universal terrors of Earth show up here, in Abaddon?

He had to be mistaken. Unfortunately, he was not.