The award ceremony kicked off with a display of fireworks over the coliseum. It was nothing too fancy visually, compared to some of the big displays Lex had seen on Earth, but he noticed for the first time that the fireworks he had been setting off gave a unique fluctuation in spiritual energy that was pleasant to experience! Who could have guessed? Other than the sound of the fireworks, and the dazzling lights, another sensation had been added to the ones at the Inn. This made them wonderful in their simplicity.
After admiring the fireworks for a moment, he looked at the massive crowd. He recalled the nervousness he had felt the first day. He recalled how he had stressed over every single exchange, every conversation. He remembered his panic when the zombies had entered the Inn, followed by the devils revealing themselves. It was not so long ago, yet at the same time Lex felt like so much had changed since. His Inn had changed a lot during that time, and so had he.
The coliseum was packed with beasts and humans alike, all looking at him. In one particular corner, Pramod, Harriot, Creel and Ahjour sat and watched as well. Well, at least some of them were watching him - Harriot's attention was solely focused on Rorick, whom she was pining for.
He noticed a few of his other guests that had stood out to him as well during this period, but Lex only chuckled and moved on, otherwise he'd spend the whole chapter - eh, no, the whole day reminiscing.
"Dear guests, we are gathered here once again, finally, to end this small interlude in our lives that has been the Midnight games. I think by now you will know that I am not one for long ceremonies, so we'll get right to the matters we have all been waiting for.
"The first order of business is to recognize that while for many of us, this was but a small interlude, for many, it was the end of a journey. They may not have wished for it, but regardless, they have become heroes for the people of a land, and so I commemorate them with this statue, so that their names may be remembered till the end of time."
He waved his hand, a fifteen feet tall statue appeared beside him. Cut from the purest of white marbles, the statue depicted a man with a sword, fighting side by side against an unseen foe with a wolf. They stood upon a rectangular base, upon which the names of all the fallen participants were written, along with a story of how they fought for the freedom of the people of Vegus Minima. Once the event was over, Lex would relocate this statue somewhere else in the Inn.
After giving a moment for everyone to admire the statue, Lex continued.
"Now that we have paid respect to those gone, a small commemorative token to those who participated in the games. May you remember your time fondly."
Lex snapped his fingers, and all those who participated in the games, whether in the cultural portion or the fighting, received a small golden token with the words Midnight Games engraved into them. The humans received rings, and the beasts received other small ornaments that they could wear in various places on their body depending on their species. Of course, many of those who participated in the games were not at the Inn and had returned to their respective planets, but since when had distance stopped the system?
"And now, finally, for the award that everyone has been anticipating for so long." Lex turned his hand and, like a street magician, revealed the prize in his hand from seemingly nowhere.
"For the planet Nibiru, and its inhabitants, the prize will be a single drop of Bailey's Vitalizing Dwarf Star Ferment."
Lex waited a moment to see if anyone recognized the name, but it did not appear to be the case. It appeared that this reward was extremely rare, and not many knew about its existence or use. But that only made sense, when Lex received the reward from the system and read its description, he was amazed.
The reward did not look too spectacular, only like a drop of water that had a crystal suspended in the middle. Lex closed his hand into a fist, and the reward disappeared, already being teleported into the core of Nibiru.
"Since you all do not seem too familiar with the reward, I shall explain, briefly, some of its uses. The Dwarf Star Ferment has already been mixed into the core of Nibiru and will initiate a great change. Not only will it raise the Star rating of the planet drastically, over the next few years, and potentially give birth to a planet spirit, but all the natives of Nibiru will gain a massive increase in strength! For Beasts, your bloodlines will be refined into the best versions of themselves, or will undergo enhancing mutations! The chances for some Beasts being born with some extremely rare bloodline being born will increase greatly, and their cultivation talents will be vastly superior to their peers. As the planet changes, natural treasures will be born with every changing season, and opportunities will fall from the skies like rain in a monsoon."
Some people may have felt like Lex was exaggerating a little, but true to his word, he had indeed been extremely brief in the benefits it provided. Only those that lived on the planet would truly understand how much things would change soon. His mind went out to that little girl he had met on Nibiru, Tiffany, who had been called the carrier of the will of Nibiru by the system. She would likely benefit a lot as well, based on his limited understanding of the 'will of the world' and 'world spirits'.
The system had provided him with some information on those topics, but not much. But recalling all that would have to wait, as Lex didn't want his thoughts wandering. The same thing had happened to him when read the description for this prize and almost shed tears when learnt that the prize could also be used on a human rather than a planet. Considering how beneficial it was to an entire planet, he could only begin to imagine what it would do for a person.
Different guests had different reactions to hearing his description, but Lex only focused on a few. First of all, the devils quickly noted down the benefits and whispered to one another about turning it into a prospective farm. Ragnar's eyes widened when Lex mentioned 'world spirit', but recovered quickly. The sloth, Golden Hair, had the greatest reaction, and was grinning as widely as possible.
It did not care about any other thing, just the increase in star rating meant that the planet would be able to bear the strength that he was unable to control, and he would be able to spend more time awake from now on. The most curious reaction, however, was by Marlo. He seemed way too excited for someone who should have no interest in this, since he could never go to Nibiru. What Lex didn't know was that Marlo's intuition had become extremely strong after his change into a Prime human, and his intuition was now telling him that an opportunity for his son's recovery lay on Nibiru after the change.
"And with that, dear guests, the Midnight Games are concluded! I hope you all enjoyed thoroughly, and had no complaints about your stay at the Midnight Inn. I hope you will remember the Inn the next time you are planning a vacation."
Contrary to what many expected, the Innkeeper did not disappear after his grand announcement, and climbed down from the stage and mingled with the guests. It was mostly some of the guests who wanted to introduce themselves before leaving, but not everyone took this opportunity. Many guests decided they would come and meet the Innkeeper later, once the crowd remaining from the event had all gone.
And indeed, many guests were leaving quickly. The soldiers had all retreated as they had work to do in clearing out the rest of Vegus Minima. The beasts also quickly disappeared, as they were eager to go home
Igishima, the tree, had thoroughly enjoyed its time at the games, but it too had to return home. But it saw itself returning often to the Inn in the future, after all, it had about 20,000 MP worth of winnings from betting to blow away.
*****
Nibiru, Igishima's personal garden
Tiffany stared out into the large empty patch of land where Igishima normally slept. From her hiding place inside a hollow portion in a tree, all she could really do was look. If Lex saw her now, he would not recognize her at all. This was not only because she had grown a lot in height and size due to the many fruits she ate that increased her power, but also because of the various scars she wore on her body.
She could currently only see out of her left eye, as her right eye was swollen shut. Many of her bones were covered in hairline fractures, and her muscles screamed in pain as if they were being torn apart. In fact, once she had retreated from the latest battlefield and hidden here, her body had completely stopped responding to her. She was paralyzed, at least while her body finished healing. For reasons she did not know, she would always heal very quickly from her wounds. That was the only reason she was still alive.
Had Igishima been here earlier, it could have participated in the defense of what was once the Red Nation. As much as she had prayed for the Lord Protector's return before, she wished just as much that the tree would not return.
Yet since when did life go according to one's wishes? With a flash of bright light, Igishima returned to its home after weeks, feeling good. The feeling lasted barely a moment, as an ambush lay waiting for it. Several Nascent level beasts attacked at once, not giving it any time to defend.
Tiffany could only watch with a teary eye as the Lord Protector, once a mighty being that had protected this nation and its people and beasts alike, died and its legacy ended.
Back at the Inn, Lex received an unusual notification.
One of your guests with MP credit at the Inn had died. Transferring the MP to the inheritor.
