Chapter 725 Familiar
Although the sense of danger had vanished, Lex avoided the fort and instead took a long way around towards the Jotun stronghold. The trip would have taken him many hours had he not decided to pull out the 'ship' he had bought to traverse the Crystal realm.
But even then his return was nowhere near quick, and yet he found Polebitvy to be uncharacteristically silent. Even if he was out in the wilderness, far away from any habitation by rebel or local forces, one could usually at least hear the sounds of birds and insects, not to mention the various wild beasts. Yet now, the sound to keep Lex company was that of the wind, and literally only just the wind.
Even the usual rustling of the leaves was absent, for all the leaves of any trees Lex crossed had vanished and turned to ash. The wood and bark of the trees, for some reason, remained unharmed, but it was all too easy to determine that there was no longer any life within them.
The once colorful and pleasant scenery had suddenly become barren and desolate. Where once the craters caused by the war had been filled with bushes and wild grass, they were now once again empty of all but ash. It was as if the battle that had caused these craters had just ended moments ago.
The eerie thing was, Lex did not even encounter any corpses. If all the wildlife had suddenly died, infected by whatever that green poison really was, there should at least be corpses lying around. Perhaps, in some way, that would have been less creepy than the sudden absence of all living creatures.
Such a commute continued for a short while but Lex, who was paying close attention for any kind of disturbance at all, suddenly detected tremors coming from his left. Due to how sensitive the situation was, Lex did not hesitate to activate his Fancy Contact lenses before turning his ship in the same direction.
It was not easy to see far, due to the hilly terrain, but Lex soon heard the very familiar sounds of combat. From the distance he could hear the thundering of countless feet, as if from a marching army, accompanied by the frequent sound of thrashing and banging. Soon, he could hear the sound of a few explosions.
He changed into his suit with ridiculously high defense and readied himself for anything as he approached the sounds of combat. His spirit senses 'saw' the scene long before he peaked the summit of the nearest hill, revealing to him a small horde of strange gray insects.
The insects were around three feet (0.9 meters) long and had two large claws extending forward, which they used for locomotion, as they seemed to lack any other limbs dedicated for movement.
The claws were also incredibly sharp and hard, which allowed them to use it for combat as well. The few thousand insects that Lex saw had surrounded a small battered group of humans who were fighting for dear life.
Just as Lex readied himself to help, he finally reached the peak which allowed him to see the battle happening below, and his face immediately distorted. Since he was not completely used to his spirit sense, he had failed to make one important distinction.
The group of humans were, in fact, a group of kids, surrounded and protected by other civilians. Despite their somewhat decent cultivation realm, none beside them looked like they knew how to fight save one woman who was cutting through the insects like a storm.
Lex had no hesitation as he immediately used Imperial Shield and surrounded the struggling group with a number of, well, shields. The insects were not too strong, with most at the Foundation realm and only a few in the Golden core, so he was not worried at all about if they could break his barriers, and instead focused on eradicating them.
Taking advantage of his height, Lex leaped forward while he used an array to summon fire around him, and fell into the horde like a meteor! The ground trembled as he fell, and the fire swept over the insects, burning them to a crisp.
Yet compared to the massive horde, Lex had only removed but a single drop in the ocean. Undeterred, he cut through the horde, using his brute strength to absolutely crush anything that came in his way. The first punch he threw was slightly stiff, and had the form one could expect of someone who practiced in front of a mirror.
Yet Lex seemed to gain a deeper understanding of his body, as well as the structure of the insect he punched, and immediately adapted. The second punch he threw, this time with his left hand as it was following up the one from his right, had the form and fluidity of am amaetur boxer. Moreover, although his strength did not require such precision, his punch landed at the insects most vulnerable point, immediately crushing its spine.
Lex suddenly seemed to learn something new once again, this time about how his weight distribution affected his form. Weighing at 712 pounds (325 kgs), it was no wonder his weight affected him.
He took a step forward, as he naturally had to progress, yet somehow his posture became perfect for his third punch. This time around, it looked like the blow had been delivered by a professional fighter, and killed the insect without crushing its body. No extra strength had been used at all.
As he took another step forward, he did not punch, but swept his foot around and hit countless insects that had closed up on him. When he finally threw his fourth punch, he no longer looked like a professional, but like a champion who had dominated the ring his entire career.
With each step he was taking, Lex was undergoing an evolution in his understanding of combat, and his aura was undergoing a subtle change.
Yet all of this was happening subconsciously, as his actual entire focus was on reaching the kids as quickly as possible. Even though they were safe, there was no need for them to remain in such an anxiety inducing environment.
As soon as he reached the barrier, he threw in a bundle of golden keys, and merely screamed "crush them!"
Whether it was because of the impression he made with his arrival, descending from the heavens in a literal ball of fire, or his dominating aura, or the ruthless efficiency with which he was killing insects, no one asked any questions nor did they ponder over his motives. Without a single thought, they crushed the keys as if listening to Lex was a habit they had long since cultivated.
Soon, the entire crowd disappeared, yet Lex did not fail to notice the corpses which were left behind on the ground, even within Lex's erected barriers. Many of the civilians who had been fighting the insects had bled out and died, even after Lex had separated them from the fight.
Yet now was not the time to feel sentimental. He recalled there was still one real fighter, doing her best against thousands of insects, fighting for a hope of salvation that seemed too much of a fairytale to actually believe in.
He swept his spirit sense and found her shortly after. He moved towards her with urgency, not because the insects were a threat to him - no, even if he stood absolutely still it would be a wonder if they could harm him - no, he did not want another person to fall while he was still there to help, especially a woman so valiant.
With ever increasing ferocity, Lex fought against the invading cretins and finally reached her, yet the moment he saw her a sense of familiarity hit him and he recognized who it was. Previously, when he had arrived at the fort, he had crossed paths with an unusual woman who seemed familiar to him, but he could not recognize. This solo warrior was the very same woman. But although he remembered where he saw her last, that is not why he felt like he recognized her. Instead, it was the way she fought that gave him a flashback, and momentarily halted his movements.
He recalled a stage and people watching, mesmerized. He recalled gorgeous phoenix eyes, filled with energy and zeal. He recalled thin pink lips which curved into an excited and innocent smile. He recalled a sleek jaw and smooth cheeks that looked like they were carved out of the purest marble, rather than belonging to a real human. He recalled flowing brown hair, even though a ballerina should never have openly flowing hair.
Her graceful yet unique movements gave her away. She was the soldier who had once performed a ballet during the Midnight Games cultural show.
Yet the reason why she seemed familiar, but Lex could not recognize her, was simply because she must have used Clark Kent glasses to hide her identity inside the Inn! Yet as the owner of the Inn, he had still been exposed to her real aura, which is why she felt so familiar, yet he could not recognize her.
More importantly, while her alternate appearance had looked so breathtakingly beautiful… her actual appearance was, as expected, not the same at all!
Now that he had uncovered why he felt like the woman was so familiar, but could not recognize her, he felt a little annoyed that the reason behind the mystery was so simple yet so stupid.
"I've already teleported the group away, there's no need to continue fighting," Lex told the woman through his spirit sense. "You should hurry up and retreat as well, there's no point in continuing to fight."
He also handed her a golden key, in case she didn't have one. Although there was no white horse nearby, Lex did feel like a knight in shining armor. If Fenrir were nearby, he supposed a wolf could have replaced the roll of the horse.
"I can't," was all she responded.
Chapter 726 Teamwork makes the dream work
Lex was not expecting such a response, especially in the midst of such a large crowd of monstrous insects. It was one thing for him to remain nonchalant surrounded by a few thousand blood hungry vermin, but it was quite another case for other people.
Even if he were not wearing his defensive suit, his body in itself was nothing shy of a tank, yet the ballerina before him, despite being well equipped, was not nearly in the same league. Though admittedly, her movements were phenomenal, and she had yet to suffer a single injury, it was not really enough of an excuse to ignore a safe retreat.
In the midst of battle was not really an ideal time to converse, so Lex moved closer so that he could envelope both in his shields. Under normal circumstances, relocating when being assaulted from every angle was not an easy feat that one could just accomplish because he wanted to. Lex was effectively fighting against the force of a stampede when he moved through his foes, but he had enough physical strength to back him up, not to mention his ever increasing deftness in battle.
Although the situation did not really call for it, he could not help but enjoy the new sensation that he was feeling during combat. But at the same time, he could feel his improvements slowing down. There was only so much pressure this particular horde could give him, and if he wanted to continue to improve he would need to find a bigger or stronger horde.
But unlike Lex, who had all these advantages stacked up for him, the ballerina seemed to use nothing but absolute skill to allow her movement through the insect army. The flow of her movements never stopped, and each lift of the leg or wave of the hand hid a lethal intention behind it. With efficiency far greater than Lex himself, she was leaving behind insect corpses, though admittedly Lex was not really trying.
Lex could not help but compare her current appearance to the one he had seen at the Inn. The hair was the most prominent. Back then, it had been a deep brown, evoking nostalgic feelings such as hot chocolate during winter, the smell of pine wood, a warm crackling fire over freshly chopped logs and more.
Yet now, in comparison, her fiery red hair lit his mind ablaze as if it was tinder, awaiting a lit match. The way it flowed in the air, free and wild, filled him with a feeling of excitement and energy, like he had adrenaline coursing through his veins and he needed to seize the day.
Her skin had been flawless and fair, like a marble statue of a goddess. Now, however, she had freckles on her cheekbones, though admittedly they had a charm of their own, albeit quite different from the regal and distant impression she had given previously.
Her phoenix eyes had been tiny and cute, yet filled with boundless excitement. Now, she had lost that feature, and had large green eyes, though somehow larger eyes suited the boundless emotions they stored.
Her lips…
Lex snapped himself awake from his random thoughts. Was this really the time and place to be ogling a random woman? He felt slightly embarrassed. It was not as if he had never seen a beautiful woman before.
Anita, the lich that worked for him at the Inn, was nothing short of breathtaking herself, breaking all stereotypes for the undead. Moreover, Zuri Adisa, the four leaf clover that had ultimately become a big shot in the Origin realm, also had a humanoid appearance that was nothing short of absolutely legendary.
With a clear mind, he finally reached her and immediately put up several Imperial Shields around the two of them so that they could talk without interference.
The abrupt emergence of a barrier disrupted the ballerina's flow for just a moment, but she recovered instantly and took a step back to analyze the situation. Upon realizing that the insects could not break the shields, she finally turned towards Lex.
"Is there something else you need to do?" Lex asked, guessing the only possible reason he could think of for why someone would reject safety.
"There are a couple of kids I was taking care of. I left them in the Jotun stronghold. I cannot leave without them, and if there's anywhere on this planet that's safe, it's there. Once I regroup with them, if the situation looks bad, I will consider retreating to the Midnight Inn."
Although Lex did not mention the Inn, upon looking at the key Lex gave her, she knew exactly where he had meant to send her.
"Do you know what's happening? These insects don't look native to this planet. Don't tell me that they were unleashed to attack the rebels?"
Although Lex did not want to believe that any government would use such a genocidal tactic to eliminate resistance, he knew full well the lengths that people would go to, to get what they wanted.
"What happened… we can probably only discover at the stronghold. All communication lines are down, even the emergency broadcast networks, so something pretty major happened. I don't see how the rebel or official forces could build up the courage to affect official Jotun networks,something else must be happening."
The woman paused her answer, and took a look at Lex top to bottom. A man fully suited looked incredibly out of place on the battlefield, especially when the suit remained creaseless even after a fight. He seemed strong, and though she had not paid attention to him too much, the barriers he put up were at least useful.
"What about you? Are you on a rescue mission, or was this something you just encountered as you passed by?"
"There was an attack of some kind on the nearby rebel fort, and it was not something I would expect in a conflict of this scale. Something, or someone, has definitely interfered. I was also heading towards the Jotun stronghold to find out what was happening."
The two did not explicitly state it, but seeing as how their objectives aligned, they seemed to reach an agreement to work together.
Chapter 727 Consecutive coincidences
"My name is Lex," he introduced himself, since they were going to be working together.
"Gisele," she responded succinctly.
Lex only nodded, and then turned to look at the endless little critters trying to get to them.
"Give me a moment," Lex said, before he began forming an array. Comfortably secure behind his shields, Lex took his time to build a strong array capable of dealing area damage.
The lack of pressure allowed him to comfortably pursue his repertoire of premade arrays, and choose the most suitable one.
When he finally unleashed it, an orangish red flame rained down from the sky, burning all the insects it touched. Among the arrays Lex had prepared, this was not the strongest, but it was one of the ones with the largest reach. He was not really interested in killing all the insects originally, and planned on leaving. But Gisele's fiery red hair reminded him of it, not to mention that these insects could go and attack other helpless humans or any survivors of the strange green poison. It was best to get rid of as many of them as possible, so long as they did not delay him too long.
Most of the Foundation realm insects burnt to a crisp, though the Golden core ones were only wounded. But, unfortunately for them, using an array took no energy from Lex, so as long as he was uninterrupted, he could use it as many times as he wanted.
One wave, two waves, a dozen waves of flames fell from the skies until all the insects were burnt into fiery crisp, or into glowing charcoal. It only took a few minutes of his time. The reason Lex had not done this from the get go was that he did not want to take risks with the survivors.
"Let's go," he said calmly, as he proceeded towards his ship. Gisele remained silent as well, giving no indication of whether she found the feat impressive or not.
They set off as soon as they got in the ship, silence fell between them. Just because Lex had focused a little more than usual on Gisele's appearance did not mean he had a crush on her, or wanted to get closer to her in any way.
His focus remained on any other signs of life as they traversed the hilly terrain, yet all of it remained so barren. When all this was happening, Lex had been too busy trying to get as far away from the poison until he found a location safe enough to teleport away from. As such, although he caught glimpses of the eroding environment, he had not paid it too much mind.
Gisele, on the other hand, not only had no idea of what had happened, she was completely bewildered as the environment around her started to decay. As if that was not enough, she was soon after attacked by a horde of never before seen insects.
The day was quite eventful, to say the least. This was not even mentioning how she was suddenly feeling ill, though fortunately whatever was making her sick disappeared just as abruptly as it had arrived.
A short while later, they finally crossed the border between the rebel held area. Taking a detour around the fort took some time, but Lex was not willing to risk getting close to it. He did not believe that there were no traces of that poison left in that area.
"We're almost there," Lex declared, surprised that their trip had been uninterrupted by any other significant event. It seemed like they truly were traveling on a barren planet.
"Although there weren't so many people around when I crossed last time, it really wasn't this empty. I suppose everyone retreated to the stronghold," said Lex absently, not really expecting a response.
"A lot of people died very suddenly… and whoever died turned to ash, leaving no trace of their bodies. The same happened to all the beasts."
"What?" Lex asked, startled.
Before Gisele could clarify what she meant, a few things distracted him. First, Mary reached out to him.
"Lex, I thought you should know, a group of kids and civilians arrived at the Inn a short while ago. They were all wounded and so were being treated, but we've just discovered an extremely potent poison in their bodies. Even the Recovery Pod cannot heal them, and will at most slow things down. If nothing is done, they're going to die."
The news was quite alarming, as it meant even people who had survived the initial spread of the poison may end up dying.
But before Lex could process the news, or even check up on his new companion, he felt a strange fluctuation in space.
Overhead, a tear opened up in space itself, and insects began raining down from the sky. Only, these ones weren't as weak as the ones Lex encountered before. The weakest ones were at the Golden core realm, while a majority were at the Nascent realm. Based on this trend… there was even a chance for there to be some immortals!
"If there are immortals, we won't be able to cross so easily. Be ready to retreat to the Inn," Lex said seriously, his gaze fixed on the insect rain.
"No, I can't afford to leave the kids behind! If the situation gets bad, you can leave without me. I'll find my way across."
Lex snapped his neck back to look at her and see whether she was serious or not. He did not know if she was being stubborn, or really had something to rely on. Either way, for now at least, it seemed like he had to force his way through.
"And we were so close…" he couldn't help but mumble. One could even say that he had raised this flag himself by acknowledging how easy his journey had been, but Lex thoroughly refused to believe in flags. He would continue this behavior and prove that the continuous bouts of bad luck he encountered… were all just consecutive coincidences
Chapter 728 No fear
As inconvenient as it was having to go through a rain of killer insects, Lex was not only going because of Gisele. He needed a cure for the poison if he was going to treat his guests, and the Jotun empire was the most likely to have one. Or at least know of one. This was completely not an excuse for him to show off in front of a pretty girl.
"You keep mentioning wanting to retreat. If you wish to head back, you can go. I can manage on my own," said Gisele. She had been using the ride to recuperate and had recovered much of her spiritual energy. This was a completely foreign concept to Lex, as he always had such massive spiritual energy reserves that he barely ever came close to depletion. If he ever did, it was mostly because of how ridiculously extreme his situation was.
"It's not me I'm worried about. I am well aware of what I can handle, but typically, going straight through thousands of enemies is reason enough to give others pause."
He looked at her to see if she reacted, but her gaze was completely fixed on her objective. Lex's mention of the number of enemies did not phase her at all.
"I can take care of myself. I am no stranger to a tough fight."
She paused for a moment, then turned to look at Lex.
"As you said, facing so many enemies is no cakewalk. Is there a particular reason why you're heading to the stronghold? If it's just curiosity about what happened, you can always find out after the fight is over."
"A strange poison was spread across Polebitvy. It even affected those that I rescued. I'm hoping the Jotun have the cure for it. After all, someone definitely acted out to stop the spread, or the damage caused would have been much worse."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lex's expression changed as he realized something.
"Wait a minute, are you also poisoned?" he asked, although he believed he already had an answer. Both times when it came to the matter of the poison, even he was affected, so how could others avoid it.
"All the more reason to reach the stronghold," Gisele said calmly, as if her words were explanation enough.
Lex shook his head disapprovingly. Exertion would most likely only make her situation worse, but if she wasn't willing to listen to reason, who was he to force her otherwise?
He, instead, turned his attention forward. The stronghold, by which he meant the small area protected by the Jotun empire, was not yet in view, but it was close.
"We cannot let them slow us down," declared Lex as his ship continued to move towards the raining insects. For a moment, he could not help thinking that he was glad that he didn't have entomophobia.
"I'm strongest at close range combat, though I can still do some damage at a distance."
"My shields don't really work well with a moving object, so they're out of the picture. As it happens, what I'm best at is also close range combat, but well, I'm sure I can manage something."
Gisele nodded and summoned a vial from a spatial equipment she had, before drinking it. Clearly she was making preparations for the fight. Lex, too, decided to prepare for the fight, so he entered his state of flow.
When he told her that what he was best at was close range combat, it wasn't wrong since he only recently improved dramatically in the field. But even so, that didn't mean he was lacking in other areas. He did not know why, but his instincts warned that it was best he keep his identity hidden while fighting, so he used Notorious Anonymity - the technique that covered his face with a particularly devilish mask.
Gisele suddenly got goosebumps and looked towards Lex. For some reason, the aura he was giving out changed, and quite dramatically. Two arrays appeared around him, one in front of each hand, and his eyes hidden behind the mask became dark.
Without Regal Embrace holding him back, it was time to let loose and see what he could really do.
*****
While Lex only had to face a newly forming horde, and even then he only had to cross them rather than defeat them all, the situation in the Jotun stronghold was much, much worse. Five separate tears in space surrounded the stronghold, unleashing five massive armies of the very same insects.
A massive formation protected the stronghold from the immediate threat of the horde, but it was unknown how long the formation would hold out, for five immortal insects were constantly bashing it.
The stronghold did not have many soldiers, but the few that were stationed there were all geared up and standing ready for their orders. Even facing such a tremendous force, there was not a hint of fear that tainted their resolve. If anything, a sense of excitement and anticipation filled every street and corner.
To become a Jotun soldier was not something that could be achieved by the faint of heart. Or rather, the Jotun took those weak of heart and turned them into spectacular soldiers.
The number of insects had grown so immense that no one could guess how many there truly were. They could not climb the formation, but so many of them piled up against it that they at first began to cover the sides. But slowly and steadily, as their numbers increased, they began to truly cover the entire formation, slowly and steadily blocking all the light that was entering within.
It was this scene and this environment into which Alexander stepped when he was finally released from his interrogations. Behind him six blades floated, now with the very edge of their blade glowing red.
After fighting Lex last time, he had thought of ways to increase his attacking power, and this new technique was what he came up with.
Within the center building of the stronghold, Belle, who was going by the code name Valkyrie, received an emergency call. It was her ancestor, and the founder of the Williams family