Tangannya sama sekali tidak terluka saat energi hitam mengalir di antara jari-jemarinya seperti helai sutra. Licin, tapi ia merasa bisa sepenuhnya menguasai sebagiannya jika ia mau. Ini hasil gabungan Impervious Hands dengan Dominasi, dua tekniknya yang paling serbaguna.
Tapi Lex tidak paling terkesan pada Dominasi. Teknik itu tumbuh dari menyerap Dragons Might. Wajar kalau kekuatannya tak terpahami. Bukan, Lex justru lebih takjub pada Impervious Hands. Bagaimana mungkin teknik ini, setelah sekian lama, masih begitu berguna?
Ia ingat saat pertama kali menemukan teknik ini, dulu biasa saja. Baru setelah mendapat peningkatan dari Regal Embrace, teknik itu mencapai tingkat baru. Saat itu Lex menduga teknik itu sudah mencapai peringkat S, tapi kini ia mulai merasa mungkin lebih tinggi lagi.
Yang lebih penting, ia kehilangan peningkatan otomatis yang didapat teknik dari Regal Embrace. Namun, di bawah pengaruh teknik barunya, ia berpotensi mengembangkan dan memperbaiki teknik sendiri. Jika ia bisa meningkatkan lebih banyak teknik ke level Impervious Hands, atau bahkan menciptakan tekniknya sendiri, ia akan jauh lebih kuat dari sekarang.
Tapi itu urusan lain waktu. Waktunya habis, dan ia sudah selesai menguji apa yang ingin diuji. Soal drone itu, ia akan jadi 'tamu' di Inn-nya, ditempatkan di lokasi aman dan terlindungi, demi kesehatannya sendiri, dan menunggu sampai Lex punya waktu lebih untuk mempelajarinya.
Menggenggam makhluk itu, Lex berteleportasi kembali ke Inn. Tangannya, yang tadi ia masukkan ke energi hitam, terasa sangat gatal dan ia tergoda masuk ke pod Pemulihan, tapi akhirnya menahan diri. Ia ingin melihat berapa lama tubuhnya pulih secara alami dari cedera seperti itu.
Sebelum keluar mencari resin, ia memeriksa John dan Luthor. John duduk di lantai di depan naga, mencoret-coret sesuatu di buku hariannya. Sepertinya ia kesulitan menemukan teknik. Wajar. Malah, Lex tidak benar-benar berharap ia berhasil dalam waktu dekat.
Saat menoleh ke arah Luthor, situasinya juga sesuai dugaan. Sebuah tangan pertempuran terbentang, dan kini tak terhitung tentara duduk, tanpa armor dan senjata, dalam pengawasan. Banyak yang tewas dalam bentrokan awal, tapi tak satu pun dari pihak Inn terluka.
Luthor sedang duduk di hadapan seseorang bernama Narin, bernegosiasi. Merasa tertarik, ia memutuskan untuk melihat—tapi sebagai dirinya sendiri, bukan sebagai Pengelola Inn.
Setelah mengirim drone ke kura-kura untuk diawasi, ia berteleportasi ke sana, langsung menarik perhatian semua orang. Para penyerang itu bipedal, tapi bertubuh bungkuk sehingga terlihat pendek. Namun dibandingkan mereka, Lex bahkan lebih pendek meski tubuhnya tegak.
Bukan tinggi badannya yang menarik perhatian tentara yang ditahan, melainkan aura tak sedap yang memancar dari tangannya. Meski Inn menekan efek berbahaya dari aura, tangannya tidak memancarkan hal semacam itu sehingga tidak ditekan. Di tangannya hanya ada sisa samar aura energi hitam.
Namun apa yang samar dan lemah bagi Lex tampak sangat berbahaya bagi semua penyerang, yang terkuat di antaranya berada di alam Fondasi.
Bahkan Luthor, yang sedang bernegosiasi, langsung merasakan sesuatu, dan menoleh ke arah Lex. Meski tak tahu apa yang terjadi, ia tahu Lex tidak lemah. Jadi jika ia mengalami cedera serius seperti itu, mungkin ia baru keluar dari pertempuran dahsyat.
"Semua baik-baik saja? Ada musuh?" tanyanya cemas.
"Tidak, tidak, hanya menangani ancaman. Sudah selesai. Lalu aku dengar situasi di sini, jadi kupikir aku mampir. Apa perkembangannya?"
"Setelah kami memperkenalkan diri dan menyuruh mereka berhenti, mereka malah langsung menyerang. Komandan resminya sudah mati, tapi sejauh yang kulihat, dokter ini yang punya otoritas tertinggi sekarang. Aku sedang mempelajari sedikit tentang kekaisaran mereka saat kau datang."
"Dari yang kau pelajari, menurutmu kekaisaran itu akan menghentikan invasi?" tanya Lex.
"Sangat tidak mungkin. Kaisar mereka sangat kejam dari yang kulihat. Aku ragu dia akan mendengar alasan dengan mudah."
Lex mengamati Narin, dan melihat banyak emosi bertentangan. Ia takut dan gugup, tapi juga kesal dan terganggu. Ada sedikit kegembiraan terkubur di sana juga.
"Lalu apa rencanamu?" tanya Lex. Karena ia awalnya memberikan tugas ini ke Luthor, ia tidak ingin menanamkan ide di kepalanya. Ia hanya memastikan Luthor tidak berpikir untuk membantai kekaisaran demi menghilangkan ancaman potensial di masa depan.
Luthor menyipitkan mata dan merenung sejenak. Ia juga menatap Narin, yang dengan gugup mengamatinya.
"Pertama, aku ingin mempelajari sebanyak mungkin tentang kekaisaran ini. Lalu, setelah memahaminya sepenuhnya, aku berencana menyampaikan pesan langsung ke kaisar agar dia mengerti bahwa menyerang Inn tidak akan menguntungkan dia. Meski aku ragu kaisar akan mendengarkan dengan mudah, pesan itu harus disampaikan dengan tulus. Lagipula, Midnight Inn sebaiknya memberi mereka kesempatan.
"Tapi, jika mereka tetap menyerang kami… maka sebaiknya kaisar dilenyapkan sebagai pertunjukan kekuatan. Bagaimanapun, Inn tidak memancing musuh, tapi juga tidak boleh mentolerir mereka."
Lex sebenarnya terkejut. Jawaban Luthor jauh lebih jinak dari dugaannya. Sepertinya ia sudah banyak berkembang sejak pertama masuk Inn.
"Kalau butuh bantuan, bilang saja."
?His hand suffered no damage at all as the black energy flowed through his fingers like strings of silk. It was slippery, but he felt like he could completely take hold of some of it, if he wished. This was a result of combining Impervious Hands with Domination, his two most versatile techniques.
But Lex was not most amazed by Domination. That was a technique that grew out of feeding off of Dragons Might. It was only natural that it should be incomprehensibly powerful. No, Lex was more amazed at Impervious Hands. How was this technique, after so long, still so useful?
He recalled that when he originally encountered this technique, it was a fairly ordinary one. It was only after it underwent an upgrade from Regal Embrace that it reached a new level. Lex, at the time, guessed that the technique had reached S rank, but now he was beginning to feel like it might have been even higher.
What was more important, however, was that he lost the automatic upgrades techniques got as a result of Regal Embrace. However, under the influence of his new technique, he had the potential to grow and improve techniques himself. If he could upgrade more techniques to the level of Impervious Hands, or even create his own techniques, then he would be much more powerful than he is now.
But that was a matter for another time. His hour was up, and he was done testing out what he wanted to test. As for the drone, it would be a 'guest' at his Inn, kept in a safe and secure location, for its own health, and would wait for when lex had more time to study it.
Taking ahold of the creature, Lex teleported back to the Inn. His hand, which he had stuck into the black energy, was extremely itchy and he was tempted to get into a Recovery pod, but he ultimately resisted the urge. He wanted to see how long it would take his body to naturally heal from such an injury.
But before going out to search for resin, he checked on John, as well as Luthor. John was sitting on the floor in front of the dragon, scribbling something in his diary. It seemed like he was having trouble coming up with a technique. That was to be expected. In fact, Lex did not actually expect him to succeed any time soon.
When he looked towards Luthor, the situation once again pretty much fell within his expectations. A battle hand unfolded, and now countless soldiers were sitting, stripped of their armor and weapons, under supervision. Many had died in the initial clash, but none from the Inn were even harmed.
Luthor was currently sitting across from someone called Narin, and negotiating. Feeling slightly intrigued, he decided to check it out - but as himself rather than the Innkeeper.
After sending the drone to the turtle to keep an eye on, he teleported over, immediately attracting everyone's attention. The invaders were bipedal, but had a hunched frame that made them look short. But compared to them, Lex was even shorter despite his straight frame.
Yet it was not his height that attracted the attention of the countless soldiers who were being held prisoner, but the distasteful aura emanating from his hand. Although the Inn was suppressing any harmful effects of aura, his hand was not emitting any such thing so it was not suppressed. Instead, on his hand was only a mild remnant of the black energy's aura.
Yet what was mild and weak to Lex seemed monumentally dangerous to all the invaders, the strongest of whom was in the Foundation realm.
Even Luthor, who was mid negotiation, immediately sensed something, and turned to look towards Lex. Although he did not know what happened, he knew that Lex was not weak. So for him to sport such a serious injury, he may have come from a devastating battle.
"Is everything okay? Are there enemies?" he asked with concern.
"No, no, just taking care of a threat. It has already been resolved. Then I heard about the situation here so I thought I'd come check it out. What's the update?"
"After we identified ourselves and told them to stop, they immediately attacked instead. The official commander is dead, but as far as I can tell, this doctor here has the highest authority now. I was learning a bit about their empire when you came."
"From what you've learnt, do you think the empire will stop the invasion?" Lex asked.
"Highly unlikely. Their emperor is extremely ruthless from what I can tell. I doubt he will see reason so easily."
Lex studied Narin, and saw from him many conflicting emotions. He was afraid and nervous, but at the same time he was also irritated and inconvenienced. There was a tinge of excitement buried in there as well.
"Then what are you planning to do?" Lex asked. Since he had originally given this task to Luthor, he did not want to put ideas in his head. He was just making sure that Luthor was not thinking along the lines of massacring the empire to eliminate a future potential threat.
Luthor narrowed his eyes and spent a moment in contemplation. He also looked at Narin, who was nervously observing him.
"First, I want to learn as much as possible about this empire. Then, once I understand it fully, I plan on personally delivering a message to the emperor so that he understands that it would not be in his best interests to act against the Inn. Even though I doubt the emperor will so easily listen, the message has to be delivered sincerely. After all, the Midnight Inn should give them the benefit of doubt.
"But, if they still act out against us… then it would be best to eliminate the emperor with a show of power. After all, the Inn does not provoke enemies, but it should not tolerate them either."
Lex was actually surprised. Luthor's answer was a lot more tame than he expected. It seemed that he had matured a lot from when he first entered the Inn.
"If you need any help, let me know."
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