Ragnar stood with his hands behind his back, looking out at the beautiful horizon. The Midnight Inn personified, to him, everything that the human race strived for, and everything he fought to deliver to his brothers and sisters in race. It was peaceful, safe, exciting and accessible.
It was a glimpse of heaven that everyone deserved to experience. But the universe… the universe was not a heavenly place. To be at the Inn right now, to experience this so-called raise in star level which would aid everyone in cultivation, Ragnar had made difficult decisions. The galactic battlefield with the Fuegan needed someone to oversee it always, and if he could not be there, someone else would have to take his place. But it was a price everyone was happy to pay, even the other generals. After all, Ragnar was the rising star of the empire.
It was difficult to accept such a favor, but for his duty, Ragnar took it. After all, a cultivation retreat for him would not be just a few days. Months was the absolute minimum time he would need.
He had planned on coming to the Inn and stabilizing his mood to ready himself for the impending cultivation retreat. Yet this beautiful piece of heaven did not provide him with the peace he was expecting. Instead, a field of enemies revealed itself.
Devils filled the grounds of the Inn as far as the eye could see, all of them taunting him by keeping their humanoid shape. Devils, for reasons he did not understand, had two forms. One was their original, true form. The other was remarkably close to humans, with only minor additions or changes here and there, in the form of wings, horns, tails etc.
Ragnar had dedicated his life to fighting demons, yet he never forgot that demons were only the Devil's slaves. His greatest wish upon seeing them was to unsheathe his weapon and lay waste to them, even outnumbered as he was. Yet he knew that this was not the place. It was not fear of failure that stayed his hand, but the knowledge that if he made an enemy of the Innkeeper, the human race would lose a valuable ally.
So, he stood silently on a hill, reigning in his volcanic rage, and watched silently as evil incarnate roamed the land freely. One by one, his soldiers also stood behind him, until an entire battalion appeared behind him. They said nothing. They did nothing. But just standing together was enough. It was a show of force. A show of pride.
The devils did not pay much attention to Ragnar, for the most part. They had been extremely well behaved at the Inn. In fact, many of them wished wholeheartedly to become even better friends with the Innkeeper. After all, the access the Inn would give them to the people of the entire universe was far beyond anything they could achieve on their own. And for them, that access meant profits!
There was one, however, who took great interest in teasing the general. Warheil grabbed a lawn chair and sat down directly beside the general, his thin black tail holding a glass of Pina colada so that he could sip it. He didn't even say anything. Just his presence was enough to irritate this fearless human, and he knew it. How funny would he be if this hero of the empire died during a tribulation because he was too irritated to focus?
Not that the empire was too important to the devils. They dealt with multiple realms, so how could a small empire only a few galaxies wide even be worthy of their interest? The empire was only qualified to fight the demons, not them. Even that was naught more than moderate amusement.
Finally, around noon, something changed. A projection of the Innkeeper appeared in front of everyone, alongside a holographic prompt.
It read: 'Would you like to enter a personal cultivation abode before the star rank is raised?'
Ragnar did not immediately respond, and instead turned to look at Warheil.
"After this is over, catch me outside, how about that?" he said, looking the devil straight in the eyes. He had no fear of their racial superiority. Humans may lack their advantages, and have a lower starting point. But there was a ceiling restricting how strong they could grow.
"Certainly," Warheil responded, but Ragnar had already disappeared by then. In the distance, amongst many other soldiers, Alexander watched the small exchange silently.
*****
Lex was not nervous, but the knowledge of how catastrophically bad this could go was at the forefront of his mind. It wasn't like he hadn't had a lot of guests before, but never had he entertained so many who were so powerful.
Moreover, since he couldn't gauge their strengths, he didn't know if they were weaker, equal to or stronger than the Griffin. Fortunately, once they started cultivating, they would not be able to cause any problems.
After mentally preparing himself, Lex sat down in his Meditation room and used the Remote prescience ability to send a projection of himself as the Innkeeper out to everyone. Originally he planned on giving a speech and using the token in public, but suppressing his cultivation was becoming much too difficult. Even the slightest distraction would cause him to lose control and break through, so he decided to do it remotely instead.
"Guests of the Midnight Inn, welcome," said his projection to all. All of the Inns activities and festivities had temporarily stopped, so everyone was looking just at him.
"I'm sure most of you have heard, but for those who haven't, allow me to briefly describe to you what is about to happen. From time to time, I like to raise the level of the Inn. This, in of itself is not a big deal, but many of my guests seem to enjoy the experience, and gain much from it. So, allow me to share this experience with you. And, if you enjoy it, remember to patronize the Inn more often in the future."
He did not elaborate too much, for he wanted to maintain the perception that this was no big deal to him. Yes, no big deal.
After one final scan of the Inn, Lex crushed his 0.5 star rank increase token.