Time seemed to freeze as the murderer looked at Lex's palm. He forgot that he was wearing special armor, and even forgot that he could do something to move. The sight of Lex bursting directly through the body of a monster to approach his bubble was eared into his brain.
Though the monster was made of dirt, when dirt was compacted enough it was not easy or simple to break through it. Then there was the look in his eyes. The disdain in his eyes was as clear as day, and the murderer was spellbound. He could look nowhere else.
They were eyes that told him that no amount of luck could deter him. No amount of help from his system was enough. No sword was fast enough or strong enough. They were eyes that told him death was nigh.
The murderer's mind collapsed, but there was not enough time to show it. A bright, yellow light shone out of Lex's palm. The next moment, a beam of yellow light with a 10 feet (3 meter) diameter was launched out of Lex's hand.
It was silent. There was no loud bang, no sonic booms. Moreover, there was no sound of a collision, or something crashing. One moment all was well, and the next a massive yellow beam seemed to appear, and traveled to infinity.
From afar, it actually looked pleasant. Nearby, however, anyone would be too distracted by the searing, immolating heat the beam gave off.
When the light disappeared, everything that had been in its path disappeared. Even the ground disappeared perfectly in the shape of the circular beam of light where the light touched it, its cooked edges slowly giving off smoke.
The attack had been the most devastating that Lex had ever released, clearing almost everything in its path. Almost because a single figure fell to the ground when the light disappeared. The armor the murderer had been wearing had melted into a puddle and had been blown away, yet the murderer had survived because of a protective amulet he had been wearing on his person.
The amulet, through some unusual coincidence, had been specifically made to protect from heat based attacks, and had been used up entirely to protect the murderer.
Lex was not disappointed to see the murderer survive. He felt nothing. No matter how many times he avoided death, all Lex had to do was try again. Wasting no time, Lex arrived in front of the murderer and lifted him by the throat.
The murderer was unresponsive, for his mind had collapsed due to fear. Lex ripped off his shirt and removed any and all jewelry or talismans he wore to further reduce his chances of survival. It was much easier now that the murderer was simply limp.
Once he was sure the murderer had nothing else on his body, Lex punched his face, completely determined to kill him with that hit.
A bolt of lightning fell from the sky, landing directly on Lex's crown, paralyzing him and preventing him from completing his punch. Oddly enough, the lightning did not affect the murderer. When Lex recovered he tried again, but the unusual land they were in experienced an Earthquake, causing Lex to stumble.
He tried again and cramped in the foot. He tried again and a massive gale started, pushing Lex to the ground. He tried again and darkness fell, causing him to miss. He tried again, his expression constant throughout.
He was Lex freaking Williams, and even an act of God, or several acts, would save the murderer from him after crossing him.
*****
Serene Williams, mother of Lex Williams, trembled as she looked at the person who arrived on the planet. It was her eldest daughter, Belle. Her face was as expressionless and cold as ever, and only the fierce determination in her eyes set her apart from an emotionless doll.
The silence echoed through the hall as the two marinated in the tumultuous emotions that filled this moment.
Finally, unable to control herself, Serene opened her mouth to speak, but Belle beat her to it.
๐ก๐๐ซ๐ง๐๐๐ญ.๐๐ค๐ข
"I've officially graduated from Ventura Gold, but I have no intentions of continuing onto Ventura itself."
After trying to speak and failing multiple times, all Serene could say was, "how?"
"How could I not? I had the love and affection of my parents supporting me. All that was left was to break through my limits time and time again, use all the resources available to me and steal the ones that weren't, and force myself into the Immortal realm."
Even as she said this, and hinted at the grave dangers she faced all without informing her family, her expression remained impassive as ever.
"And you're leaving Ventura to go back toโฆ them?"
"It is my duty and my place. I do not need the honor given to me as a birthright. I will take it on my own."
"Youโฆ you do not know the full story. They will kill your brother if they ever meet him. They are not the angels that they claim."
"Even better then, that I become sovereign of the William family then, isn't it? I can then protect my baby brother with my own hands."
"You do not understandโฆ"
"Enough!" said Belle firmly. "I am not here for this. I only came to let you know that I have become Immortal, and to ask you a question. Will you continue to create a cultivation technique tailored to me, or shall I go to the family and take a complete one on my own?"
There was a painful moment of silence before Serene's eyes also became determined. Belle was always like this, from the time she was a baby. If she could not prevent her from taking this path, all she could do was help her.
"I'll continue to create a technique for you," she said, her voice regaining the command normally embedded in a parent's voice. "But since you are determined to take your own path, do not blame others for doing so as well. If you change your name to Evangeline, then your fathers sword will be drawn before its time - you know how he is about these things. Now come, explain your breakthrough to me thoroughly. We need to establish what tenants your future cultivation will be based on. No child of mine will ever cultivate a subpar technique, it needs to be perfect."
Despite her usual impassiveness, Belle could not help her lip twitching at her mother's comments. Only she, Serene Williams, could call the cultivation technique provided at the Ventura academy and Williams family subpar. After all, as far as humans were concerned, no one could form a better cultivation technique than her. Even her own father gave up his entire cultivation to start again under her guidance. Although his cultivation realm was now much lower than what it once was, no one dared to test his sword. No one.
*****
A beaten and battered Lex punched the murderer once again. It was ridiculous that the murderer himself had not been able to hurt Lex, yet the unusual coincidences had him drenched in his own blood.
But even then, it was just to the extent of spilling a little blood. Whether it was earthquakes, tornados, lightning strikes, meteors, collapsing buildings, sudden cramps, loss of control of spiritual energy and even a minor heart attack, Lex remained undeterred.
He was genuinely amazed that even his body was susceptible to these coincidences. He really wanted to understand what was the cause, but he wanted to kill the murderer even more.
Moreover, while the attacks his body suffered were lethal for normal people, to him they were naught but minor inconveniences. He could live for hours and hours even if his heart completely stopped beating, so a small heart attack was nothing. Due to the resilience of his meridians, the loss of control of spiritual energy was even less dangerous.
Of course, if the coincidences became too dangerous, he would stop. For now though, they were within an acceptable range.
But, the next moment, though he was not expecting it, nothing stopped his fist from connecting to the murderer's face. His end was quite abrupt and gruesome. Lex suddenly left the overdrive state and was hit by the urge to wipe his hand. Not to be graphic, but not much remained of the murderer's face at all, simply because Lex had used too much strength. Much of it had been blown away, but some of it was still stuck to Lex's hand.
He did not know when or how he would return, as apparently he would be sent back after one of them died, but then something unexpected happened.
He heard the familiar sound of a notification from his system.
System Notification:
New system detected! Analyzing the secondary system. Murder system grade D+ detected. Host can choose to assimilate with the secondary system and have two concurrent systems, or absorb it to strengthen the existing system. Please note: this decision will be fixed and final, and will result in the same action for all subsequent systems discovered.
For a moment, Lex didn't register what he read and his mind blanked. Then he rubbed his eyes and read the notification again.
System Notification:
New system detected! Analyzing the secondary system. Murder system grade D+ detected. Host can choose to assimilate with the secondary system and have two concurrent systems, or absorb it to strengthen the existing system. Please note: this decision will be fixed and final, and will result in the same action for all subsequent systems discovered.
System Notification:
Murder system grade D+ detected. Murder in cold blood, one and all, to gain system points and receive a boost to your strength, as well as tools to help plan out intricate murders. The greater the murder, the better the reward. Murdering special, high value targets yields better results and rewards. From weapons to technique to formations and golems, the system will provide you a smooth path to the most efficient murders.
Lex read the notification again and again, his mind racing. This answered one of the greatest questions he'd had about his system for a very long time, and yet also resulted in more questions.
First of all, he was not the only one with a system. While his system may be unique, though he wasn't even sure of that at the moment, it was a fact that others also had systems.
It also did not mention any grade in his system or anywhere else, so he had no idea what grade his own system was, if it even had one.
Moreover, the purpose of the systems did not seem to overlap much. After all, his system was targeted towards hosting guests and even promoted charity work of sorts, while this fellow literally had a system that encouraged murder!
That raised the question, where did these systems come from, and what was their purpose? His system, especially, confused him greatly. As his understanding of the universe was expanding, he began to understand how truly miniscule he was in front of the capabilities of his own system. In that case, what could it ever hope to get from him?
This was a question for which he had no answer. After all, it could directly use its abilities to trap Lex and take whatever it wanted from him, but it didn't.
Maybe there was something the system needed him to do. After all, he did not know if this fellow was already a murderer before he got the system, or had been influenced by the rewards the system promised to enter onto this path.
Whatever the truth of the matter may be, it was a fact that Lex's life had been inherently linked to the systems for good. Even if he wanted to escape the influence of the systems, he would have to do it by getting stronger first. For that, ironically, the system itself played the greatest role. If, somehow, his system could become stronger, then it would aid him greatly. Especially because he was not at all interested in going on random murdering sprees.
Just as he was having these thoughts, a change appeared on the murderer's body, and a couple of items appeared. There was one crystal as well as a wide bracelet of pure gold.
Before Lex could pick them up to observe, he appeared once again in his room back at the tavern, the murderer's body laying at his feet.
He quickly scanned the tavern to ensure all was well and breathed a sigh of relief. Rick was controlling the space array around the tavern, so no monster was able to enter during his absence.
"Mary, do you care to explain?" Lex said, calming himself down. He knew this was not an opportunity he wanted to miss, but before he did anything, he wanted to get as much information about it as possible.
"I do not have the authority to comment on anything related to the system beyond what I've already told you. If you want my recommendation on what option to choose, I am not allowed to comment on that either. All I can say is, think back to your own experience when the system was new. How did it encourage you to complete its quests? How did it threaten you? I am not saying that other systems will do the same, just that it is something you should remember."
As soon as she spoke, Lex's mind flashed back to the early days when the system would threaten him to complete quests by stating the punishment for failure was death. If the murder system gave him a quest and set a similar punishment, Lex would be stuck. He would have no option but to complete the quest.
๐๐ฒ๐๐ง๐ฎ๐๐ .๐ฌ๐ค๐ถ
The thought gave him shivers. He absolutely could not get more systems. As for the Midnight system? It was already strong enough to send him to other realms, and so firmly had his life under his control. Making it stronger would not change that fact, but it could at least increase whatever benefits he could get from it.
With his mind made up, Lex selected to have his system absorb the murder system to become stronger. The murderer's body exploded and a small golden ball rushed into Lex's body the next moment!
A strong sense of dรฉjร vu hit Lex as he recalled a shooting star, but this time, fortunately, Lex was not knocked out. Instead, his system interface disappeared, and only the words 'updating' appeared in its place.
This made Lex nervous, for he used the system for a lot of things, even at the tavern, but all he could do now was wait.
Also, he could clean. For once, the system's automatic cleaning function wasn't available, so he had to clean up the mess created by the murderer's body by himself.
Well over an hour Lex sat back down beside the window he opened to air out his room, and investigated the two items that appeared from the murderer's body.
The gold bracelet looked like pretty standard jewelry, right up until Lex channeled his spirit energy into it. Much like the book that appeared in the ring given to him by John, his worker at the Inn, a scripture appeared in his mind from the bangle.
For some reason, though, reading a single word seemed to drain him mentally. He was only able to make out 'Lucky Sutra' before he became too exhausted to continue. In fact, he became so tired, Lex fell asleep the very moment he stopped reading.
He woke up groggy and with a throbbing headache. It was only after he asked Roan to bring him a rejuvenating tea that felt better, slightly. He put the bangle away, unwilling to look too deeply into it for now, though he seemed to have understood much about his fight with the killer. This so-called Lucky Sutra must have played a role in constantly keeping him alive, and why he mentioned that he was very lucky.
It was definitely something to look forward to - later. Rubbing his throbbing head, Lex reached out towards the crystal and reluctantly poured his energy inside.
This time, instead of a book, the crystal revealed itself as the controlling mechanism for the formation around the town!
"How lucky," Lex couldn't help but comment, his facial expression eerily similar to the killers as he said so. Lex himself, though, did not feel anything odd. It was natural that, if the killer had something to control the formation, it would fall into Lex's hands after the killer had been dispatched.
Not wasting a single moment, Lex started to focus on the crystal, trying to understand how it worked and how he could control it to restore the town to its previous state.
During this time he did not notice at all as he subconsciously wore the gold bracelet onto his left hand. His body, which had gone through an arduous battle, also did not warn him via the usual instincts that anything was wrong, as he subconsciously used a portion of his spirit energy and started channeling it through the bangle.
As the gold bangle tightened around his wrist, Lex felt nothing, and when it began to fuse into his hand Lex was too engrossed in the crystal. But that's when things became odd. The bangle, which at first seemed to be quickly melding into Lex's hand, slowed down. It was supposed to have fused into his hand seamlessly, like a person jumping into the sea holding rocks.
Instead, it became like a person slowly falling in tar. It was thick and sticky, and while the bangle was still fusing with his hand, it was way too slow.
Still, Lex was oblivious to all of this. When he finally managed to figure out the controls of the formation, he murmured 'how lucky' and began setting things straight. Turning on the lights would not make the existing monsters go away, but at least it would stop new ones from forming.
The mayor, if he was still alive, would have a much easier time reclaiming the town.
Turning the lights back on was not as straightforward as it seemed, mainly because every formation Lex had ever interacted with before this was generated by his system. As such, the formations would directly act according to his intentions and Lex did not need to bother with the details of how the formation actually performed the relevant action. Now, on the other hand, there were hundreds of options for Lex to interact with and he could not easily figure out what they did.
A simple example of this is taking an avian beast that's been flying all its life with the aid of its wings, with each and every manoeuvre easily performed at a whim, and putting it in the pilot seat of a commercial airline. It could not even begin to comprehend what the various buttons did.
After a good bit of trying with no significant result, Lex decided to stop and take a break. He needed to reflect on his battle with the killer a bit. At the time, he hadn't noticed, but the signs of the killer being a system user were all there.
From the get go, being able to teleport Lex without any prior warning was a significant indicator that he was not simple. Moreover, being able to spontaneously summon monsters and mannequins, having a mannequin heal him, randomly disappearing or teleporting away. To be honest, any one of these abilities was extremely powerful, and had they been in the hands of anyone more competent, the fight would have been much harder.
Lex was not belittling himself, for he had literally survived a meteor crash, but he also needed to be aware of the fact that the opponent had a system that directly increased his battle prowess. Should he face such an opponent again, and the possibility that he would encounter such foes in the future was great, he needed to be better prepared.
After all, now that he was sure other systems existed, he would constantly be on the lookout for any hints or clues of system users. Similarly with the renown of the Inn increasing, he had to anticipate that other system users might suspect him as well.
He tried to summarize the similarity between himself and the murderer that could be used to identify a system user and be on the lookout for those attributes, while hiding the same features in himself.
The most common was the random appearance of new items, such as the mannequins. This was bad, as he had already displayed that ability multiple times at the Inn. Next was the ability to teleport. He had displayed that as well.
As for his other peculiarities, Lex suspected they had much to do with the Lucky Sutra and not the system. He would need to do more research on the matter to come to a conclusion.
With that out of the way, Lex then thought of the 'overdrive' state that he had entered during his last fight. It was significantly different from his 'flow' state.
During the 'flow' state, he would achieve extreme mental clarity. His focus would improve and he would be able to perform any and all actions to the best of his physical capabilities due to the extreme control and precision he gained over his own body.
The overdrive state was all that and more. It was not tapping into the maximum mental clarity or aptitude or focus he could physically achieve, but directly increasing it for a short duration. But, for now at least, the increase was limited to the mind only. That meant he was technically not any stronger than his normal maximum physical limit. But, with his mind working much faster and with greater and more detailed control of his body, he could easily create the necessary situation to exceed his limits.
The drawback was, once the overdrive state ended, if he overused it, he would be completely mentally drained.
The greatest benefit, at least as far as Lex was concerned, was that he could sense how to enter such a state. It had originally been triggered by his strong sense of pride. He could feel that, with a little effort, he could enter the state again.
He closed his eyes and focused, concentrating on his pride. What was he proud of? It was not something that appeared out of thin air. Even if he set aside everything the system gave him and his success with the Inn, his repeated success and achievements in the Crystal realm were definitely his own.
Just the fact that the crazy man Vernan wanted to recruit him into strange classes and that everyone mistook him for being born from royalty spoke volumes. Heck, he single handedly took control of various minor realms when even someone like Cwenhild went with a group. He was not just Lex Williams, a simple programmer from New York anymore. He was a genuine cultivator who was cutting out his own path in the universe.
Just as he was swelling on these thoughts, his overdrive state was triggered. This time since he was not overtaken by feelings of wanting to kill someone, he could actually take the time to appreciate all the changes.
He could feel how his brain influenced his emotions. He could feel how each heartbeat affected every step he took. He could feel each breath nourishing his body. He could feel his arm... wait a minute.
Lex turned to look at his left arm and was very seriously surprised to find himself wearing the golden bracelet, but more than that, he was surprised to find it melding with his arm!
Alarm bells rang in his head as he analyzed what was going on, and realized that, even without being conscious of it, he had been running his spirit energy through his arm and into the bracelet. The moment he cut off the energy the fusion stopped and, after a few agonizing moments, the bracelet popped free of his hand and fell to the ground.
He dared not pick it up and checked the condition of his body again and again. All seemed to be fine, and his instincts gave him no warning of anything good or bad happening. It was as if his body failed to recognize this as anything but an ordinary piece of jewelry.
He didn't know if that was a good thing or bad, but he used the space formation to seal the bracelet for now. He dared not mess with it again before the system returned. Maybe then he could use something to scan this item.
In fact, when he thought about it, it was very lucky that he even considered trying out his new overdrive state. Had he delayed the matter for a few hours more, the bracelet may have completely fused with him. He did not know what would have happened if it did, but he didn't want to find out by experimenting on himself.
Lex exited his overdrive state and went back to the bar. He needed a drink.
As usual, the hall was as crowded as could be. Most people were forcing themselves into a state of escapism by playing board games and drinking all day and night long, and with the tavern at beyond capacity, there was almost no room.
It would have felt extremely congested if everyone wasn't cooperating with each other very well and behaving appropriately. Of course, Lex's firm control over the space in the tavern, and his emphasis on maintaining decorum greatly helped as well.
"You don't normally drink," said Roland, the enterprising young businessman who was sipping hot chocolate while sitting at the bar. He looked sleep deprived and worn out, with heavy dark circles under his eyes.
Lex did not know much about his personal life, despite spending so much time together, but he understood the kid enough to realize he was mature beyond his age. Unfortunately, with that maturity came stress and anxiety that not everyone knew how to manage.
"I'm celebrating," said Lex as he took a sip of a chilled glass of Cocaina Cola.
"Celebrating? What is there to celebrate?" the kid asked in a defeated voice.
"I have a scoop," said Lex, teasingly. "Are you interested in the latest news? From beyond the tavern?"
"From beyond the tavern?" he asked, suspiciously. Unable to guess anything, the kid relented and asked Lex the news.
"The problem with the light formation is going to be fixed real soon," Lex whispered. Roland was startled upon hearing the news, but then gave Lex a defeated smile.
"I'm not a kid, you can't fool me."
Shaking his head in disappointment, Roland got off his seat and went to look for his friends. Although he knew nothing would happen to them at the tavern, he couldn't help but worry.
Lex said nothing and only watched him leave, his hand fumbling the crystal in his pocket. After he got some rest, he would test his overdrive state on figuring out how to manipulate the formation. That should speed things up.
A loud slamming sound woke Lex from his musings.
Startled by the sound, the whole tavern looked towards the door that had been swung open. A brutish man, covered from head to toe in filth and monster blood, stumbled in, dragging behind him a massive double sided ax.
Well, it was formerly double sided but now one side had been corroded away by something. Even now the ax gave off the scent of burning metal.
The man looked at the crowded tavern room, his weary face showing confusion and noncomprehension. Before he could say anything, Mario Ricci rushed up to him with a concerned face and checked up on his body. They said nothing, but Lex strongly suspected that they were already talking through their spirit sense.
"Lex, is it possible to get a private room for a short while?" Mario suddenly asked, turning towards him.
Lex raised an eyebrow out of curiosity. He placed a great deal of importance on Mario because of his ring, and possible connection to the Noel family. As such, his current reaction greatly attracted Lex's attention, and aroused his interest towards this mysterious man. After all, as someone who had spent some time at the tavern, he should have known that there was basically no room at the tavern currently.
Before he formed any theories on the identity of the worn out man, Mario continued to speak.
๐ก๐๐ซ๐ง๐๐ช๐ .๐๐๐ถ
"Let me introduce you. This is the honorable mayor of Babylon, and a distant relative of the Noel family. There are some matters we need to handle that require a bit of privacy."
A distant relative of the Noel family - Lex immediately wished he had the ability to snoop on conversations like he could back at the Inn. At the moment, the only way he had to properly even scan what was happening in the tavern was using the space formation.
Still, the better his relations with these people, the better his chances of learning the secrets of this place.
"Don't take too long," Lex finally said, deciding to accommodate their request. "As you know, we're extremely short on space, and forcing too many people in one space will make everyone uncomfortable."
The mayor was still groggy, and barely registering what was happening as Mario led him by the hand to one of the private rooms Lex emptied out. After spending so much time at this place he had come to understand how excellent the sound insulation in the private rooms were, so he was not at all worried that they would be spied upon. Moreover, any conversation they would have would be through their spirit senses anyway.
After inquiring if the mayor required any medical attention, to which Mario answered no, they closed the door and began their meeting.
Lex too retreated from the main hall, back to his room. So far the monsters that had spawned were not too strong, with only their numbers as their greatest asset. But if even the mayor had been brought down to this level, then things must be getting bad.
He immediately entered his overdrive state and began deciphering how to use the formation crystal properly. Even if he could not restore the lights, allowing communication with outside the formation should allow them to request for help.
The crystal allowed him to observe each and every change that was happening to the formation, so with every proverbial 'button' he flicked using the crystal he looked for changes. He spent an entire hour doing this before he was too exhausted to continue his overdrive state and took a rest. This would be a tedious process.
*****
A teleportation formation flashed, and the crown prince of the Hum nation appeared amongst a crowd of people who were traveling to the Noel family's lands.
Although this piece of land seemed like it was independent of any nation, it was only because geographically it was too far from any of the nations borders. That did not mean, in any whatsoever, that it escaped the influence of the nations. As a human ruler, no matter how far he actually was from Hum nation, there was no way he would be able to continue his reign without the hidden support from Cornelius.
Such was the case for many so called independent states. It was just that the public did not need to know what went on behind closed doors. Regardless of all that, it was that connection that resulted in various teleportation formations that allowed travel even from the farthest regions. After all, it was unknown when they would need emergency help, and even Cornelius himself would take months if not years to travel to the farthest regions without these formations.
In his hand he still held a plastic fork and, after checking something, the prince dashed out into the darkness, uncaring of any monsters in his path.
A short while into his journey, however, he encountered another man making his way through the darkness. Considering that he might be lost and in need of aid, the prince stopped near him.
But, after appearing right beside the man, he stood awkwardly. It had been too long since he had spoken to another person while sober. He wasn't sure what to say.
Pvarti, on the other hand, was as genial and excited as always.
"Hello friend," he exclaimed while slicing an elephant sized monster in half. "Would you happen to know where Babil is? Or Baby? Maybe it was Baba? Ah darn, I cannot remember the name of the town, but it had an amazing tavern."
The crown prince's eyes flickered at the mention of a tavern, but then they dulled. How could he expect to find something that could get him drunk out here in the middle of nowhere?
"I do not know the name, but I'm heading towards a town. You can follow me and ask for directions from there."
"Excellent," he replied, his mood improving drastically.
As soon as he agreed, the prince put his hand on Pvarti's shoulder and carried him along as he zoomed through the darkness. The speed was faster than anything Pvarti had ever experienced and he was startled, but he quickly realized that he was not affected by the speed at all, and began to enjoy the experience. That is, until they reached Babylon and found the formation shutting the town shut.
Both Pvarti and the prince grew extremely serious upon witnessing such a sight.
*****
Four days later, Lex chugged a drink very similar to coffee, except that instead of caffeine, it flooded his body with easy to absorb spiritual energy. Unless Lex quickly used up the energy, it would dissipate and not get absorbed into his body.
But the benefit of this was, if Lex was drastically using up the spiritual energy in his body, it would automatically get absorbed into his spirit energy pool and allow him to continue using energy for much longer.
He needed this drink to facillitate his use of the overdrive state. After four days of continuous use, he learned that it was not only his mental energy that was drained, but it exhausted him physically as well as put a strain on his spiritual energy.
Still, after 4 arduous days, he could proudly say he had gained enough of an understanding of the formation that he could finally return things to normal. It would take one final push.
He entered the overdrive state and immediately began manipulating the formation. He had to be careful, for he had learnt through continuous experimentation that controlling the lights in the town was perhaps the simplest function of this formation.
It definitely did many more things way too complex for him to understand, but they were not his problem. Soon things would return to normal.
But Lex remained unaware that, in the main hall of his tavern, the mayor and Mario exchanged worried looks. Things had turned extremely bleak when an important component of the town's formation had been turned off a few days earlier for just a few minutes. That was actually Lex testing out the function of the formation crystal.
As a result, some energy signatures that the formation kept hidden had leaked for a few moments, and monsters hidden in the deep, dark depths of the sea had been attracted. Those monsters were way too strong for even the mayor to handle. No matter what happened, they needed to make sure that they could request for aid from the Noel family before something else happened to the formation. Otherwise, the repercussions would spread far beyond just Babylon.
Unfortunately, the luck of the entire town had been undergoing abnormal changes of late. Of the millions of buttons, Lex messed with the single most dangerous one, just long enough to attract trouble. And now, at the worst possible time, he finally figured out how to turn the formation off.
Just as suddenly as the town had been blanketed in darkness, the lights turned back on, revealing a town nearly destroyed, and an army of monsters filling the streets.
The gentle hum of various formations returning to life filled the town. The hum was followed by an earth shattering howl as a massive creature exited from the sea.