The Innkeeper

Chapter 2350: Asux the Primal Monarch

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Asux uttered, his very words a strain on those who heard them, even if they were all Dao Lords. "This is utterly UNACCEPTABLE!"

As peacekeepers and caretakers of the universe, the Primals usually stayed behind the scenes. They were facilitators and mediators, so they hardly ever brought their own agendas to the forefront. Even if they did have some agendas, it remained thoroughly hidden behind layers and layers of nuanced leveraging and an ocean of diplomatic ties.

But what was the point of peacekeepers if there was no peace? The universal war, while surprising, still did not arouse too strong a reaction from the Primals because on the grand scale of things, in the long term, it was merely akin to a single bad hour in a single day.

Then a Major realm was destroyed. That was enough to attract their attention, and they had begun to work silently, looking into who was responsible. This was the type of thing that could not be overlooked.

Yet they still moved in silence. It was not urgent, and what happened had already happened. But the further destruction of three Major realms simultaneously? Just as Asux said, it was unacceptable.

"My lord, what are your orders?" asked a Primal, garbed in armor of silver and gold, with a burnished, gold circlet crown with four distinct points, each one rising towards the sky. The Primal asking was known as the Spear King, one of the six Primal Kings who ruled over not one, but a chain of Major realms.

The six Primal Kings all answered only to one being, the ruler of the Primary realm, Asux, the Primal Monarch!

"Find out whoever is responsible, and kill any who get in your way," Asux said without the slightest hint of restraint or reservation. "Four Major realms have been destroyed in quick succession, and the will of the universe has been provoked. Vaelûn will not let such a transgression pass unanswered - the Tribulation Fiends will soon be unleashed.

"Since that is the case, then there is no need for us to hold back anyway. Let those who plot in the shadows learn the price of crossing lines. The Primal armies will march through the Void once more, and the universe will know exactly what happens when the peacekeepers are provoked into war!"

Uncontrollable wrath oozed from every fiber of Asux’s being, and his each word caused the laws of the realm to tremble in excitement.

"What if... the one responsible is one of the Eight?" asked the King of Dawn, the first Primal King.

"Then the Eight will become Seven, or Six, or Five," Asux responded without fear. "Until the universe matures, their powers are restricted, and they are nothing more than Dao Lords with another name. If they had real power, they would not be in hiding, and would instead be ruling openly. Even Eclipse has her Seat of Power known publicly, yet the Eight do not even dare to show their tails."

The Dawn King restrained himself, and did not contradict Asux. Technically, that wasn’t strictly true. For example, the location of Ventura, and Asho the Divine Ruler of the Henali, were more or less known. It was true, however, that they acted through their vassals and did not act personally. The reasoning was the same.

"What if it’s one of the other Sages?" asked Elizabeth, the Wrathful Queen, the only Primal Queen. Unlike the others, she did not have a solemn expression. Instead, she wore a faint smile, as if she was looking forward to the bloodbath to come.

Asux looked at his daughter, and did not immediately answer. This daughter of his... it had taken the destruction of four Major realms for him to reluctantly allow her to leave the Primal realm, and even that he did because he had no other choice. It was not that he was a protective father, but that he was protective of the universe. With Elizabeth let loose on the universe, many people would truly come to regret the events that had led to this.

"If it is the Penance race or the Nullith race, you report to me first. For any of the others, kill without mercy," Asux finally said, strengthening his resolve.

Four Major realms had already been destroyed. At this point, the line had been crossed, and Vaelûn’s vengeance was inescapable, so what did it matter if a few more Major realms suffered?

Elizabeth grinned, and then began to laugh as she turned around and walked away. For so long, she had been restrained by her love for her father. Now that he was letting her out, who could stop her?

"One more thing," Asux said, his voice breaking through the sound of the Wrathful Queen’s laughter as she walked away. "Cease all updates to the Cosmic Ascendance Spectrum. Withdraw all observers save one. Only keep an encrypted list accessible only by the Kings, the Queen and I."

The Primal Monarch’s every word was a decree, and his every will was an unbreakable law. The armies of the Primals marched out, revealed to the universe for the very first time since the Primordial Age, the repercussions of which could only be guessed.

Yet even when the armies of the Primals marched out, Asux was not alone. There were no Primals with him, that much was true. In fact, it was exactly after the Primals left that this figure appeared.

"Vaelarin, I have not seen you in a while," said Asux, his voice no longer furious. If anything, he sounded drained.

Yet the golden dragon who suddenly appeared before him smiled, apparently pleased by seeing the Primal Monarch in such a state.

"Asux, the times are changing. Think about my offer once again. The universe could be ours for the taking," said Vaelarin, his greed radiating from his body like an actual force of nature.

Asux snorted.

"Leave, before I decide to turn you into my mount," responded Asux.

The golden dragon chuckled, but made no move to leave.

"Fine, fine, I’ll stop kidding around. I came here not to antagonize you, but out of generosity. Here, a gift from within my treasure hoard," said Vaelarin, and tossed a cracked crystal shard towards Asux.

By the time the Primal Monarch caught it, the golden dragon had already disappeared without a trace. Asux frowned. Meeting old friends hardly ever put him at peace.

He instead looked into the shard, and then paused. What he found within... was a document. He frowned once he realized that the document had the aura of Pentagal, but he continued to read anyway.

The document discussed a theory about the best possible arrangement to create the strongest possible universe. As he read further into it, he began to notice a certain familiarity - a familiarity which evoked a sense of absurdity and horror.

How... how could this be? Was this premeditated? But if that was the case, this plan had to come into motion in the very early days of the Primordial age! Who, at that time, among the newly born Primordials, had enough foresight to plan so far ahead?

Asux clenched his teeth, and then sent a private message to Elizabeth.

"Hold nothing back, my daughter. More chaos... may actually be in our favor."

A single message was sent out of the Primary realm, and the web of destiny began to fluctuate like never before.

Within the Folklore realm, Jack was busy spreading the tale of the most dastardly hero to have ever existed. It appeared as if it was a normal day, like any other, but he was not aware of the truth. That was corrected mere moments later when his many formations set up to detect the Nexus event began sending him frantic feedback!

The flow of destiny was changing like never before, and not only was the Nexus event approaching closer, it could happen in the very next few years! Heck, at this rate, it could happen next year!

"Change of plans," Jack said without warning, handing Tiny-Sparkles a list. "Get me all the resources on this list and I don’t care how. Spend all the gold if you have to, just get me everything, and get it to me quickly. I’ll be in my private quarters."

Jack retreated back into the Jolly Rancher, and began setting up a certain formation. When the Nexus event happened, this formation would detect the location of the Nexus, and create an opportunity for him to enter.

Even though he was not connected to the Midnight Inn, he could still build the Midnight Castle using the blueprint, and he could still deploy the Chamber of Rebirth.

At the same time, he couldn’t help but wonder what exactly had happened that caused the destiny of the universe to change so drastically. No doubt, it had something to do with the destruction of another Major realm.

Jack sighed, and hoped there was enough time for Lex to get his hands on the resources he was after in the Gilded Hollow. Jack diverted half his attention to absorbing more divine energy, and the other half to building the formation.