The Innkeeper

880 How could they know?

One of the devils roared in agony and pain as he held his injured hand. He had tried to gouge out Lex's eyes, but his eyelashes were sharper than the most well forged swords, and directly cut off his fingertip. It would have at least been worth it if Lex was somewhat injured in the process, but he remained completely unharmed.

"This… this is not working. We should just retreat instead. The zealot is dead, and the deity is captured. If we're still around when he gets free, we'll be next," said another devil, who had fallen to his knees.

The devils were a powerful race, superior to countless others. In more than one realm, they reigned supreme, and even had control over one of the Primordial realms, Garvitz! They conducted deals with the most powerful races in existence and dared to laugh in the face of dragons, even. There was no one who could deny their excellence.

So the fact that they were so utterly helpless before this masked man, who could not even bother to defend himself, left them more broken than any actual beating could render them.

"It's no use. This planet is surrounded by a divine domain. We cannot exit so easily."

"I don't care. I'm going as far away as possible from this freak! The moment he kills the deity, and the divine domain evaporates, we can escape! I'll get on the nearest ship available."

Without waiting for a response, the devil who was speaking spread his wings and flew away. After a few moments of consideration, several more devils followed. Yet some still remained. One of the devils who was having a panic attack was left behind, and a few others who had exhausted themselves completely were left kneeling in the dirt.

Without lifting a single hand against them, Lex had defeated them. Besides some damage to his shirt, he suffered no loss of his own. There was not even a speck of dirt on his body, nor a single drop of sweat! Between the smells of ash and burnt rubble, Lex still exuded a faint, refreshing smell as if he had just stepped out of the shower.

Lex, meanwhile, was totally focused on his own cultivation, and especially Ra! The core in his body was shrinking, so Lex had to continuously dig his hand deeper lest it lose contact with the core.

As he felt his own strength grow, and his body change subtly, he recalled that soldier he had seen back on Polebitvy. She too controlled divine energy, and had wings growing out of her back like an angel. Maybe he could try doing something like that as well once he was done.

Time slowly passed, and minutes turned into hours. Most of the devils around him had left, but the one who was previously having a panic attack now looked at Lex with eyes full of worship. He was kneeling like a pious believer in a temple of their revered deity.

Ra had become extremely weak by now, and no longer screamed or yelled at Lex. He only watched him in silence, as if thoroughly memorising his appearance. This was but a single incarnation of his. Even weak and wounded as he was, he would not die with the death of a single incarnation. Though it could not be denied that this would hurt him severely. So, he observed Lex, and seared his image into his brain. He would have his revenge!

Z, who had been studying this entire time, finally came to Lex, making sure to have the blazer covered his entire body.

"I think I've figured it out. The next time space cracks or tears in front of me, I might be able to open a small channel to the place calling out to me," he said, warily looking at the devil worshiping Lex.

"We'll try soon," said Lex, diverting just enough attention to respond. No matter how secure the situation felt, he would not let divine energy cause him to underestimate Ra. As a deity, he could still have a few tricks up his sleeve.

But the waning deity pulled no trick, and another hour went by just like that. His body, made of light, dulled till it was nearly extinguished. The divine domain that was encompassing the world finally failed, since there was not enough energy to replenish it.

Space in that region once again became fragile. Then, it broke completely and utterly. It was as if someone tried to catch a falling anvil with a single sheet of one-ply toilet paper. Lex, Ra, the devil and Z were all caught unprepared as they fell into the void.

Then again, how could they be prepared? None of them knew that within Ra's divine domain, the living embodiment of a law, was hiding. The strength of that being far surpassed a Heavenly Immortal, although it was not quite at the realm of a Celestial just yet. Its mere existence was too much for the fragile space to bear, and so it was destroyed, quite thoroughly and permanently!

*****

Midnight Inn

The doors finally opened, and the convention for oracles, prophets and diviners ended. As the crowds emerged, they all wore solemn appearances, as if they had witnessed something extremely formidable.

In fact, a majority of them directly went towards the Chamber of Secrets to wipe all memory of the event from their minds. Only in such a way could they be safe from the truth. Of course, they would leave hints for themselves to guide their future actions.

But not all of them left. Vera Joel, who had organized this event, sat cross-legged on the stage where she had concluded the event, her thoughts unknown.

A small fairy, barely the size of a child's finger, flew up to her and sat on her shoulder.

"Why are you doing this, lovely?" she asked, her voice as sweet as candy.

"It's because I want a future that my prophecies cannot predict," she said, her words carrying a weight of many things unsaid.