The Innkeeper

Since his background was supposed to be from Gristol, or at least that\'s where he had been brought from, Lex had studied the retreat and eventual fall of the human forces from there. The very calculated way in which reinforcements had been sent to the border, and not Gristol itself, and the precise way in which important forces were withdrawn while letting the main part of the army in Gristol fight to the death felt all too calculated to Lex. Had true desperation been present among those in power, they would have sacrificed as much as they could to ensure the Kraven suffered the most damage they could inflict, instead of just retreating.

Lex remembered, back when Vegus Minima had not yet come under control of the Jotun forces, how Chen and Blane went on a suicide mission to distract zombies so that their caravan could pass through without being detected. The will and determination of Lily, the head of the caravan, to send her own brother on a suicide mission reeked of the desperation to struggle and survive. The Hum nation, despite all the efforts it was putting into it, had not yet come even close to that.

There were a few other hints he picked up here and there, but the basic gist of it was, the massive realm encompassing war was not as straightforward, or dire as it seemed.

He was hoping to extract some answers from this particular Kraven, but after all that Lex said, the Kraven simply looked at him. It was not that it didn\'t get baited in by what Lex had said, but that it just did not bother responding. The hate and anger in its eyes though were unusual. It was more than just being taunted - or at least, that\'s what Lex thought.

"Alright not puppets, but what…"

Lex jumped back while using Talk to the Hand with both hands as he tried to avoid the hurtling Kraven. Lex had goosebumps all over his body and he felt with certainty that the fight was no longer the same. If the Kraven was taking things lightly before, which unfortunately for Lex it had been, it was no longer doing so now. Lex narrowly avoided the clash due to his instincts warning him in advance, but comparing speed with a Golden core cultivator was a stupid decision.

The Kraven, when it stood up straight on its legs, was twice the size of Lex but its nimbleness was remarkable. Lex was too close to it for large maneuvers and the tempo of the fight was too fast for him to ask any more questions. While Lex would have jumped completely out of the way before to dodge a punch, now he had to limit himself to moving just his torso just enough to avoid a direct hit.

It was a scene out of a movie, or perhaps an anime, as Lex dodged each of the Kravens claws perfectly, moving his body before the creature had even begun its attack, For a time, they became a blur as their bodies wove the fight into the most intricate dance, with each of them moving just right as if they had practiced the performance a million times. Instead of enemies they seemed two machines, working with mechanical precision.

In the few seconds Lex had become completely drenched in sweat, and then the sweat started rising from his body as steam. Incredibly, he could actually feel his muscles rip, ever so slightly, not from the Kraven\'s attacks but from the extreme duress he was putting them under. As much as he wanted to pull away and create some distance between them, the Kraven gave him no time at all.

But the seemingly splendid tango ended just as swiftly as it began when a small rock under Lex\'s foot crumbled. It was not enough of a difference to cause him to fall, or even stumble, but it was enough to affect his balance for a split second. It was in that split second, as if the Kraven had planned for the moment, that Lex found not its arms, but its leg kicking towards his face.

Time seemed to slow as Lex looked right at the claws, gleaming under the soft blue light, heading towards him. Lotus or no Lotus, if his brain was punctured there was no saving him. But what could he do? The beast was too fast. Even knowing how to defend, it would take too much time to actually move his limbs in place. Even if he had a technique that could save him from this situation, he could not move the spirit energy fast enough to perform a whole technique.

A million thoughts ran through his head and he thought of every technique, array, item that could move his body just slightly to get out of the way just enough.

When Lex could not think of a good solution… he settled for a bad one. With his index finger he started drawing the character for fire, and then screwed it up!

Lex\'s body was flung back, deep orange flames licking his body as he flew through the sky. Lex ignored the uncomfortably familiar sensation of burning skin as he quickly took a look around. Much like him, the Kraven was covered in flames, though they seemed to be dying out quickly.

He looked towards Cwenhild and the rest, and found that their battle was still ongoing. With a groan, he looked back towards the Kraven. Purely defending was getting him nowhere. As much as he wanted to avoid it, he had to attack.

The Kraven had been stunned. Not by the strength of the explosion, or some attack, but by the fact that he had taken the fight seriously and yet, the inferior creature had managed to survive. Then the feeling changed to shame. Then to anger.

It roared, lifting its head to the sky to warn even the heavens of the consequence of crossing it. Everyone in the vicinity save for Lex was affected by the tsunami-like spiritual attack carried in its voice, but that pleased the Kraven. It would be too easy otherwise. It would slowly and purposefully rip that inferior creature limb from limb.

Once again, the Kraven ran towards the inferior creature, this time at full speed. Oddly enough, the creature seemed not to be avoiding this time, and only stood still. Perhaps it had accepted the inevitable.

But just as the Kraven reached its prey, and was about to dismember it, the inferior beings\' eyes changed! His pupils turned black, as if hiding a void behind them, and from the void the Kraven felt the threat of death.

There was no ray of light, no shockwave, no sound to mark the attack that came from Lex\'s black eyes, except maybe the guttural cry of the Kraven as it crashed into the ground, its body dragged by its remaining momentum to Lex\'s feet.

Lex was still standing straight, like a hunter before its fallen prey, but his sudden paleness hinted at something more. He vomited out some blood, but he wiped his mouth as he looked at the effects of Evisceration.

It was an extremely potent soul attack launched from one\'s eyes. All the attack needed was for Lex to be looking at whoever he wanted to attack. It could not be blocked using normal means, and would require tools or techniques specifically focused on defending the soul. Furthermore, it did not matter how close or far the enemy was. Without any indication or forewarning, the technique would land on the target as soon as it was used. Moreover, as it so happened, while Kraven had only that one physical weakness of the core in their chest, their soul was as vulnerable as everyone else\'s.

Under the Nascent realm, wherein most creatures lacked a means to protect their souls, such an attack was the most dangerous. But there was a good reason Lex hadn\'t used the technique right from the start. He had not yet completely mastered it, and as such, he would also take a lot of damage whenever he used it.

A tremor ran through the Kravens body as it lifted its head to look at Lex with murder in its eyes.