The Innkeeper - Chapter 2029

Chapter 2029: Another Dao Lord
While Lex knew Riplet from the bank, he did not know any Dao Lords as such. So, to keep things simple, Lex sent his invite directly to Ripley, only telling him that the Innkeeper had sent it to the bank. He would let Ripley figure out who exactly that meant.

Meanwhile, Gerard once again found himself inside Garvitz. It was not his first visit, nor his second for that matter. It went without saying that since his relationship with Lilith had received official approval, there wasn’t much of a point in hiding it or sneaking around. As such, on occasion, Lilith had brought him to Garvitz.

Across the entire universe, the name Garvitz was famous, and for more reasons than one. To start out with, it was a legendary Hell! The entire realm itself was a Hell, instead of having a smaller Hell inside of it. Not only that, but it was a Mature realm as well.

Just as the Seraphim are born only in Heavens, Hellions are born only in Hells, which originally made Garvitz one of the key strategic points for that race. The fact, then, that the Devils were able to forcefully take the realm from natives was quite a big accomplishment. It was not achieved without great effort and sacrifice.

That, however, was not the only reason it was famous. Ever since taking control of the realm, the Devils had moved their entire race within, undergoing an evolution that gave them additional Devil forms with increased strength compared to their normal, humanoid forms. Moreover, just as all Mature realms had unique qualities, the quality of Garvitz was that it allowed summoning from its realm very easily from across the universe.

For example, to teleport someone from one realm to another would usually require extremely valuable resources on the Celestial level. From Garvitz, however, even normal mortal level materials could summon simple projections, while basic immortal level materials could result in proper teleportation.

Of course, this was usually only for the residents of Garvitz, meaning Devils could be summoned out easily, but not others. Similarly, it was not easy for others to teleport in through ordinary means.

Of course, since Gerard was dating Lilith, special arrangements had been made so that he could come and go as he pleased without even requiring the Inn to connect to Garvitz.

The first time he arrived in Garvitz, Gerard did not know what to expect. The name did not inspire much positive imagery. As it turned out, Hell lived up to its reputation.

To nurture a Hell, one needed to take a Conceptualized Torment. When the Hell was formed, that Conceptualized Torment dictated the kind of environment that particular Hell would have. In the case of Garvitz, the Conceptualized Torment centered around gravity and space.

Oh, what a magnificent and terrifying Hell Garvitz was. Although he arrived within one of the regions that the devils had terraformed to facilitate their survival, he could not help but acknowledge just how intimidating the very air of that Hell was.

The very fabric of the space within that realm pressured him, wanting to tear his body apart, while the gravity acted in a highly restrained manner, as if it was being prohibited from acting normally. Yet the reason why was evident as long as one looked outside the safety zones.

There wasn’t just high or low gravity, but even entire regions of antigravity. Islands of rocks and mountains floated in the air, yet upon those islands the gravity was both very high, and very low, putting immense strain on anything in its territory.

Space would randomly warp, tearing away entire regions and bringing them elsewhere. Light and sound were subject to both gravity and space, and so they became unreliable, showing illusions and reality at the same time. Hellions of strange kinds that Gerard had never imagined before were born from the environment each day, and each day they were destroyed.

It wasn’t Hell responsible for destroying them, but the countless legions of demons that the Devils were nurturing.

Regardless, Gerard had no interest in any of that. At the moment, Lilith was occupied with a task for her father so she wasn’t available to escort Gerard. Fortunately, he was well known so he faced no problems.

After explaining his purpose to Lilith’s assistant, Gerard wasn’t doubted at all. Instead, with the utmost urgency and respect, he was escorted through the realm to the Val Kilger domain – the domain of the Dao Lord Ballom Val Kilger.

It was not a palace within which the Dao Lord resided. No, his abode was an entire minor realm unto itself, making it both small and unassuming, while being unimaginably vast.

The entrance to the realm was a massive, black gate that seemed to blot out the entire horizon, appearing as if it was made from trillions of bones.

As if its presence was not daunting enough, the gravity from the gate was so intense that it threatened to tear Gerard apart despite him being an immortal. Only through the protection of his escort did Gerard remain unharmed.

What happened inside… was a mystery to Gerard. He seemed to have fallen into a trance, only waking up momentarily as he saw himself deliver the letter. As for who he delivered the latter to, or anything they may have said, he had no idea.

As soon as he delivered the letter, the trance resumed, and when he came to, Gerard was laying inside a warm pool with a devil massaging his feet, while another massaged his shoulders.

“You have been cleansed of all residual Dao aura, master Gerard,” said the devil massaging his feet politely. “Your body is still recovering from the stress it received. Please, rest here until your treatment is complete.”

Gerard did not question why the domain was filled with such intense Dao aura, nor did he question why he was so severely affected. It was not his place, even if such an occurrence was highly unusual.

What he didn’t know was that within the Val Kilger domain, Ballom was not the only Dao Lord. Currently, the devil was standing face to face with another Dao Lord – one that was holding the Innkeepers letter.

“You should know your place,” said Ballom, controlling the dissatisfaction in his voice. “It is not for you to interfere in my matters.”

The other Dao Lord only chuckled.

“I shall see about that.”