The Innkeeper - Chapter 1830

Chapter 1830: Playing Go III

Axios was stunned. What?

Before he could fully process the change that had taken place, or the fact that the threat he was feeling from the human had skyrocketed, the humanoid dragon stood up. His movement was casual, as if he was in no rush whatsoever, yet his actual speed was so great Axios could barely respond.

Dragon-Lex stood up and stretched his back, before taking a single step forward, immediately reaching Axios, towering above the little Nas. Despite being in a higher realm, Axios barely registered the humanoid dragon’s arrival before Dragon-Lex grabbed the Nas by its face, his hand completely enveloping him.

Dragon-Lex lifted him up close to himself and unleashed Golden Inferno in the form of his dragonbreath! Now, normally a flaming attack would do nothing to a Nas. What was fire if not energy, and energy was fuel to the Nas race. That’s what made them so formidable. Yet imbued within the gleaming torrent of fire was Domination, and Dragon-Lex’s indomitable will.

Will was ethereal and unknowable, right up until it began to manifest physical qualities. It was the influence of the spirit on the universe, and it was not something so easily eroded. So when Axios, as usual, tried to absorb the energy from the golden flames eating away at his body, all he found was soul incinerating pain.

An inhumane wail, one that could rupture the minds of mortals and stun weaker immortals, escaped Axios as he retreated – yet how could he retreat from the grip of the magnificent Dragon-Lex?

With his free hand, Dragon-Lex swiped at his face, ready to claw him apart, yet Axios disappeared, swapping places with a nearby white bead that he had placed long ago.

The teleportation had to have been a system ability, because within Dragon-Lex’s grasp, under the baptism of his flames, Axios would have been able to use neither Foundational nor Relational laws. Although normal Earth Immortals could not even sense, let alone control Relational laws, that norm did not apply to Dragon-Lex. That’s why he was the best.

“Such a privilege for you to squirm and struggle beneath my might,” Dragon-Lex said as he walked casually towards where he could sense Axios. “Your ancestors would have been proud if they learned that their lineage existed merely to end at my hands.”

“Do not delude yourself!” Axios exclaimed from far away as he stacked his beads together and used his system to transform them. “You are not the first opponent to harm me, nor will you be the last. Now die!”

The fused beads transformed into a black katana that Axios grabbed before attacking Dragon-Lex with deep hatred.

Dragon-Lex looked at him with amusement in his eyes, but stood still, even spreading his arms wide to give Axios a huge opening. The Nas did not waste the chance, slashing right at the Dragon’s neck… only for the black sword to bounce off his scales as if it had collided with a wall.

Axios’ eyes spread wide open, shocked! That wasn’t how…

Before he could complete the thought, Dragon-Lex slapped him across the face, launching him across the board.

“Puny Heaven Immortal, realize your own insignificance!” he said, and then with a single flap of his wings reached the flying Axios, smacking him one more time.

The reason Axios was surprised was because the black sword was not meant to do actual, physical harm. It was a conceptual sword, formed from the fusion of his beads by his system, and it was supposed to lodge inside the dragon, severely weakening him and limiting his strength. How… how had he blocked a concept?

Axios needed to understand so that he could counter the dragon. To do that, he needed some distance so once again he swapped places with a bead, this time on a different level entirely so that the dragon couldn’t catch up so quickly.

Yet his attempts to escape only amused Dragon-Lex. Lex had been absorbing a Heaven Immortal dragon’s aura, blood and general defensive capabilities for a long time, making him incredibly strong. Previously, against Kreel, Lex had been at a huge disadvantage for various reasons, but one of them was the fact that Lex was fighting against him in Kreel’s own strongest field.

Now, not only was he himself much stronger, but his opponent completely lacked the same breadth of power as Kreel. Not to mention, although Lex opened himself for attack, when had he ever purposefully put himself at a disadvantage?

Axios may have been secretly preparing for the fight, but would Lex be one to waste time? With the Karmic Bead now at his disposal, the more interactions between the two, the more the karma between them would build, and the more leverage he had to use against Axios.

When he would strike to kill, it would end quickly. But until then, Dragon-Lex would take great pleasure in introducing the blue vermin to his fists! Similarly, he would take great pleasure in frustrating Axios by making all his weapons fail.

The reason the black sword had failed to harm Lex at all was because, although it didn’t appear like it, Lex had temporarily wrapped his body in the karma from the white beads. The sword and the shield of karma around Lex were of the same source so to the sword, it was as if it was attacking itself.

Lex could do so much more with the karma he already had, but this wasn’t enough. For all the frustration that the stupid Nas made Lex feel, he needed to feel frustration in return. The game… had only just begun.

Meanwhile, Axios used his system to scan the dragonoid human for the first time, trying to fully understand the depth of the opponent he was facing. Yet… his system failed him. It gave no information at all.

Axios clicked his tongue, and then began using the beads he placed to his advantage. Fortunately, the dragonoid human hadn’t realized that he, too, could use his black beads for his own advantage. Little did he know, Lex had already realized as much. He just wasn’t interested in using them.

He did not need these cheap, weak weapons to help him out. As a weapon, he himself was already… the best.