The Innkeeper

Chapter 1249  Illusion

Traveling to and from the Trial of Eternity required special means. The Henali had arranged for the zone to be checked once a year, but Jeffrey naturally had his own means of exiting the zone.

Since their original plan was to make this place so dangerous that everyone in it would die, of course Jeffrey did not plan on staying here. Although this exit was quicker than anticipated, an emergency exit had been prepared from the very first day. It was not a ship that could traverse the Void, but a portable wormhole that could forcefully create an entrance within the zone.

The wormholesʼ very presence in this place would spell disaster for whatever location was linked to it, but since when did Jeffrey care? The delay caused by the other immortals being trapped with Lex even bought him enough time to set up everything for his escape and then leave.

The problem was that now that the wormhole had been opened… he couldnʼt enter it for some reason!

As soon as he attempted to come near the portal, his body began to subtly emit a green light which forced him to keep his distance. He had no idea what this light was, where it came from, or why it was preventing him from leaving!

Every second he tried to enter but couldnʼt, he felt more and more fear grip his heart. Was this planned by Lex? Was that the reason he was targeting the others first? He had done something to him, preventing him from leaving.

The more he thought about it, the more he believed it. After all, this is exactly what he himself would do. He would play with his target, relishing their pain and anguish as they realized that there was no hope to begin with. Then, just as they had that realization, he would arrive in person to watch their demise.

Lex suddenly appeared in front of him, looking from him to the portal, and then back at him and at the green glow on his body. He didnʼt understand what was happening, but he could get the gist of it. Something was preventing Jeffrey from leaving. This was actually counter intuitive to his plan, but he might be able to make it work.

”Go on, leave. I wonʼt interfere, promise,” he said casually, and actually moved aside to give Jeffrey a way. But the more he was like this, the more Jeffrey was sure that Lex had something to do with this.

Jeffrey grimaced. Since when was he the one who got plotted against? Since when was he the one who suffered? He was the one who plotted against others! He was the one who caused fear and misery, not the other way around!

The wyvern looked at Lex with deep hatred. Since he was a schemer, naturally one of the things he was most cautious of was being schemed against. He had contingency plans just in case he was ever trapped - just like right now!

”Youʼre going to regret-” Before the wyvern could complete its curse, Lex slapped him across his reptilian face. Since the lotus tattoo was gone, the slap was not enough to end his life, so he was safe.

”Havenʼt I heard that one before?” Lex asked out loud. ”Yet Iʼm still here. You though… I canʼt say how much longer youʼll last.”

Instead of moving to kill him, Lex did something else. He grabbed the wyvern by the neck, and began seeping into his thoughts. Although he had a seal inside his mind, protecting the most important secrets, Lex didnʼt mind trying to break through it. He was already stronger than he was a short while ago, so he might be successful.

A lightning strike struck Lex, and though it burnt his skin and charred some of his muscles, he was mostly fine. Jeffrey, however, also received a bit of Lexʼs tribulation lightning and couldnʼt help but scream.

Lex, meanwhile, didnʼt bother at all and continued to pry into the wyvernʼs mind. He even used his left eye to try to determine if he could undo the seal.

Jeffrey, meanwhile, grit his teeth and decided to do something desperate. Within his body, he had a certain, high-quality crystal that was completely hidden, undetectable to even Lex through the wyverns body. With nothing left to lose, the wyvern glared at Lex heatedly, as if he wanted to eat Lex whole, and crushed the crystal.

Lex suddenly sensed danger and tried to dodge, but as if his tribulation was sentient, it struck him exactly then, causing him to freeze momentarily. The fraction of a secondʼs delay was all it was needed.

Jeffreyʼs body blew up. There was no build up, and no real warning. It suddenly exploded with such immense ferocity that the lightning tribulation clouds in the sky were disturbed, and a massive fissure broke through to the depth of the landmass.

The dark zone was suddenly filled with so much light that it was nearly blinding. The light was quickly followed by a searing heat that threatened to cook even immortal meat.

As if a chain reaction had been set off, all the laws of the zone which were edging towards chaos suddenly went haywire, acting without rhyme or reason.

Liquid fire rained from the sky. Solid ice shot out from within the landmass. Lightning, misshapen and formless, like gas, slammed into the ground, causing devastating destruction. The zone fell onto the verge of destruction, and it seemed like Jeffrey was able to complete his mission after all. It just took a few extra steps.

Somewhere far above all this chaos, even above the now dispersing black clouds, the wyverns body slowly reformed. As he saw the clouds disperse, he finally sighed in relief. The accursed human was finally dead - though admittedly Jeffrey had paid a great price for it.

”Oh, is this what you have planned?” a voice boomed through the sky, freezing the wyvern. The wyvern looked up, and saw the damned human. Except, instead of appearing normally, the humanʼs figure was massive, filling up the entire sky.

”Suicide bombs. How original,” he said, as if he didnʼt sound too impressed. At that moment, Jeffrey realized that he was trapped in an illusion, and he didnʼt know since when.