The Innkeeper

Atop his loyal steed - eh, atop his loyal wolf, Lex was suddenly reminded of the fact that even in his most desperate situation, he really wasn't alone. The nefarious system added all kinds of restrictions to prevent his escape to the Inn during a fight, but there was no such restriction on bringing in members of the Inn.

The moment he felt his connection to Fenrir restored, he did not hesitate to summon him over. Lex could instantly tell that Fenrir had grown much stronger, and from him Lex could feel an aura that was oddly similar to divine energy, though not quite.

The pup was momentarily startled by its sudden arrival in a battlefield, but it did not affect its performance. It had been fighting nonstop until its trial ended,and so it had really honed its instincts. Although a battlefield was a very different environment to fight in from a forest, the pup adapted quickly enough.

With the ferocity that befitted one who had been originally summoned as a protector for the Inn, the pup tore through the horde as if it was paper. Whether it was one insect in front of it or a hundred, its claws felt no difference.

Gisele was genuinely surprised now, and finally a tinge of curiosity awoke within her. Deflecting the blow of an immortal did not make as much of an impression on her as Fenrir did, as she was deeply knowledgeable about beasts, and could tell that Fenrir's origins weren't simple.

Lex, who did not doubt Fenrir's capability at all, was not paying attention to it at all. Instead, all his spirit sense had converged within his body, more specifically his back, as he tried to communicate with the Lotus on his back.

It had been oddly silent for a while now, which suited Lex fine most of the time. But now, he needed its help. Originally Lex never dared to ask the Lotus for things like this, because he was always too worried about maintaining the prestige of the Innkeeper. But now that he was slowly and steadily becoming more powerful, he was a lot less concerned about that - at least as far as the Lotus was concerned.

With time, as he grew stronger, he would have to pretend less and less, as he would eventually completely come into the role of the Innkeeper, and perhaps even surpass it one day. With such a mentality, he did not shy from making use of the Lotus when he could.

"Hey, wake up," he transmitted his voice into the tattoo on his back. The Lotus did not immediately respond so Lex gathered up his energy and focused, doing his best to summon the authority and aura of the Innkeeper he had nurtured on his own, not the one given to him by the Host Attire.

Fenrir, Gisele, and all the immortals in the vicinity noticed the unusual aura gathering down below, but none other than the first two could tell where it was coming from.

"Wake up," his voice echoed, and this time, the Lotus roused from its deep slumber.

"My body is injured," Lex said, his tone unchanging. "Do you think you can speed up its recovery?"

"Yes of course," the baby Lotus responded timidly, and immediately began channeling its aura and circulating around Lex's body, drastically speeding up his recovery.

"Is this kind of thing a burden for you?" Lex asked again, just to be sure.

"No, not really. But I can't spend much time awake. I have already used up a lot of my energy without getting enough rest, if I keep this up it'll be really bad for my growth."

"I understand," Lex said as he felt his body recover. He decided not to bother the Lotus unless it was a real emergency in the future. But with so many allies around him, Lex's confidence grew once again.

Despite how casually Lex was taking it, the battle was actually extremely intense. Too much time had passed already, and Belle decided to end things once and for all, even if she had to pay a price.

The six illusory wings behind her spread, glowing with light so bright it blinded the eyes and spirit sense of all in the area. When the light receded, it took the shape of an armor and sword made entirely of light. Her helmet of light did not even leave any gaps for her eyes, though at her level such things hardly mattered.

When the remaining insects caught sight of her again, she had already critically wounded one immortal, and swiftly moved to injure another. Alarmed, the insects began working together, not harming her but keeping themselves from harm as well.

Feeling frustrated, she held back no more and activated her tenets, which began affecting the environment around them, and made the situation even more dangerous. The entire continent under her suffered an earthquake and the fighting on the ground stopped momentarily, and the scenery in the sky changed.

As if alarmed by the sudden change, all the immortal insects suddenly focused all their attacks on the shining angel in the sky, Belle.

Though she could have avoided it, she allowed herself to be hit as she gathered her strength. Their attacks could not penetrate her armor anyway. Like a comet, she crashed into the ground killing countless insects. Yet that brief departure from battle also gave her the time she needed to prepare her final attack.

She looked up, ready to hone in on her targets, but saw a white wolf standing above her, looking down at her oddly. Atop the wolf sat a man wearing a devilish mask and a woman, also looking down at her.

While her aura should have prevented anyone not immortal from even approaching her, these few all seemed unaffected.

The wolf, as if deciding it was uninterested, turned away and continued to fight the insect horde. Belle, due to her excellent senses, heard the devilish man mumble, "I should really get a pair of sunglasses," while squinting away from the light her body was emitting.

The… odd encounter did not even give her a moment's pause. She had no time to wait, and finally, her full strength was unveiled. Her Valkyrie soul was awakened, and she, as a human, channeled the racial powers of the angels.

She unleashed an attack so bright, for a moment the light from the local star even seemed to dim in comparison, before flying off into the sky. She never meant to kill the insects anyway. Injuring them was more than enough to hold them off until reinforcements arrived.