The Innkeeper

Lex gave one last look to the empty lands of Abaddon before turning back towards the castle.

“Put the castle in high alert mode,” Lex sent a message to Luthor. “During the night, don’t let anyone go beyond the walls. I have a bad feeling about the darkness.”

For this mission, a chain of command had been established by Lex since he didn’t want to get bogged down with defense. Leonidas would manage the battalion, but that was all. Whether the battalion would fight from the walls or go out into the field would be determined by Z, who was overseeing the defenses.

Above Z was Luthor, who would be controlling the entire castle from the Great Hall, and would make adjustments where needed. The castle had two weapons that could be used, true, but it also had a number of defensive formations and abilities which required someone to use them from within the Great Hall.

Lex, meanwhile, would oversee the guests while the tavern was deployed. He wanted minimal involvement with the defenses, and would only get involved if the others were unable to handle things.

While the castle was withdrawn, and the Inn staff had to traverse the lands of Abaddon alongside the Reaving Dread, Lex would play a much more active role in the defenses. But until then, he wanted to take this opportunity to allow the Inn workers to gain some much needed experience.

He relied on them heavily when it came to actually running the Inn, yet there were a lot of areas in which they could improve their skills and capabilities.

As they once again entered the walls of the castle, secure behind its giant, sturdy walls, the many defensive formations of the castle activated.

The castle took advantage of its location to fuse its energy reserves with that of the energy within the land, gaining a much greater bank of energy. A powerful aura, similar to, but not quite as powerful as Dragons Might, began to exude from the walls.

Many layers of invisible defenses were erected, protecting the tavern from many unconventional threats – a trick Lex learnt from watching how the system had strengthened the Midnight Realm itself.

Countless lights were also lit up, even though the night had not yet fallen. Within the darkness, the castle would become a beacon of light, visible from all around, making it an obvious target. However, Lex knew all too well how powerful darkness could be. He would rather become a target than risk allowing the influence of darkness enter his tavern.

The armies of Hellhounds and Wyverns filled the grounds of the tavern, just in case some enemies somehow managed to sneak into the castle, bypassing the walls. Even though it was unlikely, with the warnings Kaemon had given against and again, as well as the threat Lex felt approaching, they decided to take no risks.

Within the castle itself, the mood was light and easy. The staff workers all saw to the mercenaries with a smile on their faces and a relaxed demeanor. It was as if everything was well in hand. None of the seriousness and severity that filled the grounds of the castle could be detected within.

Yet Kaemon had already detected the difference. He had seen how nonchalant Lex had been no matter how much Kaemon told him to be serious, and he could see how seriously he treated the arrival of night. When he kept in mind what Lex had said about human instincts, he felt like they were in for a rough night.

As such, not only did he immediately go into a Recovery pod and actively work towards healing as quickly as possible, he sent down orders for the entire mercenary group to return to their top form before night fell.

Although they would not be needing to fight – an assurance those from the tavern had given them time and time again – Kaemon preferred if his men were at least in fighting condition even if it wasn’t needed.

As such, in the hours leading up to the arrival of nightfall, the tavern became mostly silent. A small number of mercenaries still filled the halls, and Lex saw Little Blue, Fenrir and Sunny play with those mercenaries so they probably didn’t need healing.

Fifty hours seemed to pass by much quicker than Lex anticipated, even though they suffered no more attacks from locust armies.

From the highest tower in the castle Lex observed Abaddon. The darkness of night here was not total. Instead, the sky was filled with a deep, dark red hue. The temperature had dropped rapidly, and an eerie silence had fallen over the land.

Even the river of black blood became stationary at night, no longer daring to flow lest its noise attract something dangerous.

Kaemon had said that they never encountered any additional dangers at night, but Lex could tell that the same would not be true for them. He could feel it.

It was out there, somewhere in the darkness, studying the castle. He could feel its gaze, but could not tell where it came from.

Whatever it was, it was dastardly dangerous, an unknown horror, targeting them for unknown reasons. There was, at least, one thing Lex could confirm. While he had originally thought that the danger from the night was due to the black armored knight, he could now more or less confirm it wasn’t due to him.

“Come, break your bones on my castle walls,” Lex said softly into the darkness. “Test your claws against our swords. Send your gravest horrors. Darkness does not scare those named after midnight. After all, within our walls reside the true nightmares.”

Lex’s voice was low, barely loud enough to travel to the end of the room, yet something outside the walls seemed to have heard him nonetheless, and accepted the challenge.

From within the ground around the castle, shadowy figures rose, as if ghosts and wraiths emerging from the underworld.

Red clouds filled their ruthless eyes, and the wails of anguish of countless souls formed their armor. Their weapons were curses physically manifested, and their power was that befitting an immortal nightmare.

Yet for all the bravado of their appearance, not a single hint of fear flashed through the hearts of those manning the castle walls.

There was no warcry, no preamble. The fight began suddenly, the sound of the first clash booming through the sky like in a stormy sky. The sound traveled within the walls of the castle itself, but instead of evoking fear or doubt, it made the atmosphere even cosier.

A crackling bonfire had been lit inside the tavern bar, and the fairy played a cozy tune. Warm drinks were served during the chilly night, and the sounds of soft laughter traveled through the halls.

“I love the sound of thunder,” said the bartender as he mixed a drink for a particularly cute mercenary. “It’s even better if it starts to rain. It makes the perfect environment to sleep in.”

As if in response to the bartender’s words, soft yet distant pitter pattering blended in with the murmur of the room.

“Well what do you know – the mood is basically setting itself up. In that case, here’s your drink. That ought to help you take a deep nap.”

The koala beast grabbed the mug of warm milk that was bigger than its body, nodded to the bartender, and quickly moved to the side.

“Guys, one of the staff members from the tavern had the idea to roast marshmallows of Kaemons smouldering flames,” someone in the bar suddenly yelled. “Can you believe that? The castle actually has marshmallows! Don’t fight me, I want the first round!”

A round of laughter erupted in the room – until they realized the man who spoke was being serious. Then they got up and started to run.

From another room, a number of iguana beasts stepped in. But instead of their usual armor, they were wearing night suits that looked like they came out of the 1960s.

“Guys, check this out!” one of the iguanas said. “There’s a tailor in the castle who makes these cloth armors that are stronger than our traditional armors!”

As if attracted by the idea of stronger armor, all the mercenaries followed the iguanas, but the line for the tailor shop was already long.

After every twenty minutes a beast would step out, either wearing a suit, a kimono, a dress, or any number of distinctly styled dresses.

The tailor had a wide selection of styles available now, and what each mercenary wanted, they got. There was a parrot beast who dressed up like a pirate, and eye not protective eyewear in the form of see through eyepatches.

Within the castle, the mood was as cosy and relaxed as it could possibly be. Only Kaemon seemed unable to relax, as if he was expecting something bad to happen.

Outside, the pitter patter that was heard inside the castle could much more clearly be heard. It was not rain that fell, but the blood of those who invaded the Midnight Castle.

Yet, just as Lex said, all they could do is break their bones against the castle walls and die outside looking in.

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