"What the hell is going on?" Lex repeated, as he looked up at the towering figure. Unlike the somewhat feeble elves working in this room, this figure radiated a powerful aura even without revealing his cultivation.
He had an elven appearance, meaning he had two legs that he stood on, and two arms, as well as a torso and head. But that is where the similarities ended. Instead of leather or skin, the creature had dark gray scales that almost seemed like they were made of stone. A long yet slender tail extended out from the base of his back, sweeping across the floor behind him. He had two horns protruding from his forehead, but unlike many animals that Lex saw on earth where the horns were sharp and pointed, the creature's horns spread out over the creatures head like a partial helmet.
Its eyes were black, with light gray vertical pupils, and were currently focused entirely on Lex. His aura of a peak Nascent realm was crashing down heavily, though it seemed to only be doing so on Lex and Cirk.
Still, the entire room was hushed down, and all eyes turned to look at him. The figure apparently had some renown. Unfortunately, despite his stronger cultivation, he was at an absolute disadvantage when facing Lex. That was because this figure, much like Xeon, was part dragon. Lex could clearly sense the diluted dragon's blood running through the creature's veins. But the very fact that he was in the Nascent realm instead of an Earth Immortal was enough to betray the fact that he was not a true dragon.
Dragonlings were usually very strong, and more often than not, inherited a dragon's resistance to nearly all elements and forms of damage. But they also had an extremely pronounced weakness, which was that they become completely subservient in front of a true dragon. It was not a matter of whether they wanted to or not - it was programmed into their genes.
Although Lex was not a dragon, his Domination was an ability that fed off of dragon auras. In terms of hierarchy, it was technically above a dragon's aura, even though currently it was nowhere near as strong.
"That's exactly what I am trying to figure out as well!" Lex said, just as aggressively as the figure had earlier. "Why the hell is this report telling me that BGY-987 is completely fine, when I can tell you for certain it's not?"
Lex, this time, was quite loud and a tinge of his anger leaked out in his voice. Domination, which was previously restricted to only two of the elves, exploded and now encompassed the whole room!
The figure's eyes constricted as he felt his cultivation fade, as if his body itself did not dare act ostentatiously in front of this unknown person.
"Is this how the Henali is going to take on the Fuegan? If your performance is so pathetic that anyone at any time can interfere in your operations, then this whole war is nothing but a farce! Those who commit their soldiers to your cause are throwing lives away so you can play games and feed your egos!"
Lex had already thought of what to do in case he was questioned or stopped during this phase of the plan, but suppressing the dragonling like this was actually much more lowkey than his original plan. That was good. The less attention he attracted, the better.
"No, no, I assure you… our intel can't be wrong…" the figure tried to say, but the words and tone he had in his mind did not come out the same way when he spoke. Instead, it looked like he was afraid and groveling instead of fighting back. He meant to say that Lex's accusation was absurd, but now it sounded like he was doing his best to explain something to his superior.
"I don't need your assurances anymore. We have already seen the level of your competence. We sent our soldiers out to fulfill a bargain, but instead of fighting enemies for the betterment of the realm, our soldiers are being targeted for a personal vendetta. The Midnight Inn is going to withdraw its soldiers from this fight!"
"Who… who… who are… are you?" the figure managed to ask with his stuttering voice. "You… you… can't be here…"
Lex did not even answer the figure, but just looked at him derisively. He needed to keep matters here calm until they left. If someone tried to stop them, he was also ready to retaliate, although it would be best to avoid such a situation. After all, he was already anticipating a trap.
That's why he didn't bother explaining the situation properly to one of the superiors or commanders here. There was no guarantee that they weren't involved with whoever was targeting the Inn. It would be best to handle this matter privately, and as quietly as possible.
"I've learned the route," suddenly said Cirk, who stepped behind Lex. "Getting there should not be a problem, although there will be many checkpoints along the way. If we can get clearance, getting through would be much easier. Otherwise, we will have to go around, which will take much longer."
Lex nodded and reached into his suit pocket and pulled out an envelope, and through it towards the tall figure. The dragonling managed to catch it right before the envelope hit his face. Somehow, despite being taller than Lex, he could not shake the feeling that he had been looked down on the entire time.
"We're a part of the Midnight Inn, going to go take our soldiers back. Deliver that to your highest ranked superior and make sure to give us clearance as we pass through. You, Bearlin, lead me to the hanger. We're flying out."
Led by the still absentminded elf, the two of them walked out of the room, finally allowing everyone to escape the influence of Domination. They all breathed a sigh of relief, but none was more flustered than the dragonling. In his hand, he held an envelope that radiated an aura even more intimidating than the one displayed by the masked man earlier. He nearly dropped to his knees.