"Alright, which one of you did that?" Lex screamed as he conjured a dozen arrays around his cart to boost the speed. He looked suspiciously towards Lilith, who had to be instructed not to kill someone, but discovered that she too was taken aback by the meteor hurling down towards them.
That's when he recalled Luthor wanting to set up a surprise. He looked up, and sure enough, the flames on that meteor seemed all too familiar. Luthor had completely mastered the flames, making them even more powerful than the ones he encountered back in his test in the temple.
He shook his head, hoping that meteors were the only surprise, when his cart suddenly jerked. A lasso made entirely of energy appeared around his cart without warning, and pulled him backwards. The next second, Cindy zoomed past him.
"Thanks for the boost," she said, dissipating the lasso.
Lex chuckled. They were going to play games with him?
Domination, Glyphs, sword intent and countless arrays all appeared around him at once as he tried to regain his spot in the lead. But his opponents were not pushovers either. Gerard had unleashed the power of his bloodline that had undergone two evolutions.
Regalia Bloom allowed him to channel energy through other objects. In his case, he was treating his entire golf cart as the object, and everything around him as the source of energy. He did not even dodge the flaming meteor, and instead directly crashed into it. But instead of resulting in a devastating explosion, it only provided him with an enormous amount of energy which he used to boost his cart ahead of the others.
Lilith summoned black vapors that surrounded her, and painted everything they touched black, suddenly empowering them. The aura she started to exude was deep and powerful, and reminded Lex of a devil he met long ago.
On instinct, he could not help but recall the information he read about Lilith. It was something he did - a small, subconscious part of him was constantly monitoring and recording information about his guests, or at least it did that when he still had the Host Attire.
He recalled her full name which nearly caused him to slam the breaks on his cart! Dammit, was he about to witness a live recreation of the light novels where a rich dads daughter falls in love with a broke man?
Gerard was not exactly without a background, and he was not broke either. But could he compare to Lilith Val Kilger? The last name sounded familiar because it was exactly the same as Loretta Pendal Val Kilger, the daughter of a Dao Lord! Was Lilith her sister? No wonder the aura she exuded felt so similar.
This brought a whole new meaning to when Cindy told him that Lilith had never dated anyone. Who would have the guts to date the daughter of a Dao Lord? Probably, only the child of another Dao Lord!
Lex felt like he was about to get a headache. As if he didn't have enough problems to deal with. But it should be fine, right? The Midnight Inn also supposedly had a Dao Lord, so they should be equal, right?
He could not help but think back to the feedback his instincts had given him. Was being the daughter of a Dao Lord considered baggage? He felt like grumbling, but instead just focused on the race. He was already falling behind.
Since he was already in dangerous territory, he might as well at least win the race.
A part of him wondered if he should employ a 'no dating guests' policy. But considering that Harry had already married a guest, it was a little late to employ such tactics. Speaking of Harry, the fast winds and brutal shockwaves of countless explosions kept assaulting him, but not a single hair on his head had moved. That was some mighty fine hair gel the guy was using.
The race continued, and Lex became even more ferocious in his attempts to win. He showed absolutely no mercy, but his foes were not ordinary either. While Domination completely suppressed others, both Cindy and Lilith had a higher cultivation than him, and so were able to resist it easily.
The Glyphs, on the other hand, drew a strong reaction from them, as even they could not escape it unaffected. As expected from the means used by dragons.
But the one person he never even managed to attempt to affect was Gerard. His racing skills had improved drastically since the Grand Prix, and his use of his bloodline was the perfect augmentation.
WIthout his bloodline he was an expert driver, but with it he was untouchable. No amount of meteors or attacks from others slowed him down at all, and even Domination reached him, he would pit the others against Lex so that he would need to focus on them instead of him.
In the end, Lex accepted defeat - mainly because he had no choice in the matter.
Lex actually came in third, behind Lilith, which caused him to grumble a bit. He was enjoying being unchallenged in the Midnight realm so much that he forgot that it was, in fact, his own Inn that was filled with countless experts much more powerful than him. He should practice being humble. Yes, he was totally humble.
Lex resisted the urge to glare at Gerard, and instead congratulated him on a well earned win. But he hardly got a word in, because Lilith was exceptionally excited by Gerard's win, likely even more than if she had won herself. Lex could see a hint of obsession in her eyes, but he chose to ignore it for now.
From the finish line, the entrance to the Icy caverns was visible, and apparently a scrumptious meal was waiting for them inside, so the group slowly began to make their way inside.
It was tough to get a word in between the two since Gerard and Lilith were practically stuck together, but Lex at least needed to probe Liliths intentions. This was no longer about respecting their privacy, as he wanted to know if her father would have opinions about her dating Gerard. There was also the chance, however small, that she just shared a last name with Loretta and was in fact not related. Lex didn't believe it, but hypothetically speaking it was possible.
Finally, when they reached the heart of the cavern, surrounded by beautiful clear crystals wrapped in vines that pulsed with a giant, white light, Lex found an opportunity. The sight was mesmerizing, as if they were giants walking through a spiraling galaxy, and because of their higher realms, they could appreciate it much more than a mortal ever could.
After they took the sight in for a moment, Gerard noticed that their table was set but there was no food. He excused himself for a moment to go check what happened. Ordinarily, Lex would have told him to stay and gone to check himself, but this time he allowed him to go, and stepped up beside Lilith.
"I'm a little late in saying this, but congratulations on coming second. It's not so simple to beat me in a race," Lex said, forgetting that he was supposed to be humble.
"Thank you. You put up quite a fight, though Gerard has mentioned you're quite adept at teleportation. Had you used that, the race would have been over from the start."
"Where's the fun in that? You have to earn your win. Just like you. The aura on your black vapors reminded me of the time I met Loretta. If your powers are anything like hers, then I imagine you could have skipped right to the front as well."
Technically, Lex had no idea what Loretta's powers were. But that wasn't the point. The point was to mention that Lex was aware of her background.
He looked at her, and saw a frozen expression. Lilith clearly hadn't expected anyone to realize her background so easily. After all, she had not mentioned it to anyone, and Cindy wouldn't either.
"You've met Loretta?"
"It was pure happenstance. Her father was meeting with the Innkeeper, and she was at the Inn so I had the chance. Unfortunately, I didn't get the opportunity to get to know her properly."
Lex said nothing, and he was even smiling as he spoke, but the seriousness in his eyes was not easy to overlook. He was telling her clearly that he knew her background thoroughly.
For a moment, she did not speak, as if gathering her thoughts.
"I have a big family. Even I've never had the chance to meet Loretta. As for my father… I've never even spoken to him, let alone had the opportunity to meet with him. These kinds of things are common in cultivator families."
"I'm not really qualified to comment on anyone else's family. Mine is pretty strange as well. But the Midnight Inn is my family now. The last time a devil messed with Gerard and the rest, I tossed them into the void. I imagine anyone else in the Midnight Inn would do the same."
Lilith turned her head sideways and looked at Lex with a smile.
After a moment, she said, "did you know that among some older devil families, it is customary for a guardian to threaten a new member of the family, especially if they're joining as a spouse? If a threat is not given, it's as if the new member is too weak or incompetent to make a difference."
Lex's fake smile froze. Did he just give her his blessing to marry Gerard?