The Innkeeper

Since the Henali portal had stopped operating, in part due to many AI that had joined the Fuegan, and in part due to the destruction of countless Connector planets, which basically acted as servers for the portal, the vast universe had once again become disconnected.

Besides a few major forces, which had their own independent means to communicate information across their territories, most places became isolated.

As a result, the hold of larger forces over their territories diminished. Star systems became more independent, which was both a good thing and a bad thing, depending on where one was.

But even so, there were still a few ways to transmit critically important information across the realm. The news may not reach every corner of the realm, but at least all significant planets and forces would get it.

For a while now, such means had only been used by the Henali to promote their numerous victories across the realm, as well as emphasize the upcoming tourney. But, for the first time, a different piece of news spread across the realm.

To be specific, it was just three sentences, since the means to spread news across the realm was not easy nor cheap.

Lex the dragonslayer had returned. He challenged the whole realm to face him in the Champions tourney, especially dragons. He then proceeded to kidnap a planet.

The credibility of this news was questionable, especially since no one knew where it came from and who spread it. But the vast majority of people did not care about credibility. They only cared about gossip, and there was plenty of that.

Per second, trillions of fan-fiction novels were being printed all focused on Lex the dragonslayer, taking on the universe. He was the underdog challenger, facing both the Henali and Fuegan, as well as dragons.

He was the under-appreciated heart throb, and he was the evil villain bent on destroying all life. He was fighting to save his sweetheart, and he was fighting for vengeance against those who had wronged him.

The stories about him were endless, but even the countless stories being printed about him each and every passing second failed to accurately judge his current predicament.

It was safe to say that Lex had not thoroughly planned out his move, though he did have a plan. He would kidnap the planet for a while, teleport Harry over to strengthen Moon's soul, while he himself went to the emporium to find a way to carry a planet with a person. Or, more realistically, ways to speed up the fusion.

With all the resources available to him, he did not doubt that he could accomplish this simple task.

Sure it would inconvenience the citizens of Yildrim Utopia for a few days, but ultimately it would turn out for the best.

There was only one problem with this plan. Technically, it was not even a problem but rather a chance for a problem to occur, maybe.

That was the fact that Lex did not have any nearby coordinates to teleport the planet to. But that was fine. Since he meant to hide the planet, teleporting somewhere random was good enough.

With how ridiculously vast and empty space was, chances were high that they would end up somewhere empty and far away from everything. That suited his needs perfectly. There was always the slim chance that he would appear near another star system, or some other celestial body of some sort. But even if that happened, Lex did not think it would be a big deal.

"Lex, I think I must be hallucinating," said Moon as she looked up at the sky. "Or I'm probably just dreaming. Yes, that makes sense. I'm dreaming. That would explain why you suddenly showed up, and a bunch of weird things started happening."

Lex did not respond.

"I mean, what are the chances that you found me, accidentally, without even knowing I was here? Just that on its own is impossible. Then the assassins, and my formation failing, and then you beating up an immortal - those things are all just ridiculous. Straight out of a cartoon."

Lex remained silent.

"Besides, how could you stop thirteen immortals from entering the planet? Not to mention have a bounty worth thirty-two planets! It's completely absurd."

Lex looked at his sister, and then back at the sky. He still did not speak.

Moon laughed as she began to actually convince herself that she was dreaming.

"Of course it's a dream. How else could you teleport an entire planet away? You're not even an immortal. It's ridiculous. Compared to all of that, watching a massive planet eat a star right in front of our eyes is actually a little believable."

She continued to laugh, expecting to wake up any moment. She looked left and right, wondering what other absurd things she would see in this dream.

"That's not a planet," Lex finally said, looking up at the sky. Of course he knew what that was. He had been studying the past fifteen years exactly so that he would not be caught lacking in knowledge, which is why he completely and thoroughly understood how screwed he really was.

"That, little sister, is called a World Eater, although that name does not do it justice since it ate an entire star. It also has another name that you might be familiar with."

The smile on Moon's face began to tighten. She wanted to believe this was all a dream, so why did it feel so real? Lifting her hand, which took quite a bit of energy, she poked Lex to see if he was real.

"In recent years, it has more recently been referred to as a Jorlam egg. It's the thing that gives birth to a Jorlam once it hatches."

Moon poked Lex again and watched as his skin softly bent under her touch. This was such a realistic dream. It had to be.

"Of course, there's no need to worry. It just ate, so chances are high that it's not interested in our tiny little planet."

What Moon could not see, because of her low level, was the dark entity moving against the backdrop of the empty space behind the World Eater. Or rather, entities. Each one was so big that Lex could not actually conceptualize how large it was. Perhaps the entire Midnight realm might not be big enough to fit one of those creatures.