An ominous mood filled the castle as they all looked out at the enemies in front of them, the mercenaries ready to stake everything to ensure that they survive the upcoming fight. Lex, meanwhile, looked at the mercenaries oddly.

“Guys, in case it wasn’t abundantly clear already, you really don’t need to worry that a mere 100 chimeras are going to take us down,” said Lex as he looked down at them. “Like honestly, they’re a little troublesome, I’ll admit, and if we don’t close the portals, we could be in a little trouble but… well, you’ve seen the many various members of the Inn fight independently, but have you ever seen us all fight together? Now I’m not saying that we’re underestimating Abaddon or something, but this is still not a threat that can break our walls.”

They all looked up at Lex sceptically. Their experience in Abaddon told them that the moment they began to see hope, hope would be crushed. The Midnight Inn bringing its tavern to them had been a pleasure that they could not even begin to explain, and even more than they wanted to finish their mission, they wanted to ensure that nothing would happen to the tavern or its staff.

Lex was about to placate them a little, but a deep drum beat interrupted him, its sound traveling from the core of the castle to the surrounding glaciers, crushing countless wraiths.

“You all don’t understand,” said Z, who was standing atop the ramparts. Of course, he couldn’t expressly say that all of this was probably expressly curated by Lex to serve as the next step in his training montage. Instead, he said something that sounded a little nicer.

“Not even armies of vile monstrosities can prevent the Midnight Inn from providing top-notch service to its guests.”

Lex wanted to wipe a tear from his eyes. How the kids grow up so fast. Of course, he didn’t actually cry. Instead, he simply smirked, and once again renewed his focus on figuring out how to use the new characters he had just learned.

In the meantime, the Midnight workers unleashed a fury that even they had never fathomed.

So far, they had been holding back, using the most efficient ways to fight, or training a few members who needed to try out their new powers. They had never tried unleashing all their powers together, so even they didn’t know how strong they were.

Of course, they couldn’t blindly let their powers loose – that would only cause chaos, and reduce the effectiveness of their attacks. Instead, Leonidas, who had literally been training all his life, took over command of the fight from both Z and Luthor, directing all the forces of the Midnight Inn.

Amidst the sound of war drums initiated by Z, Little Blue and Sunny took to the air to regain aerial supremacy. Fenrir, with his stealth, carried Luthor behind enemy lines, all the while casually killing wraiths as he passed.

The Midnight Battalion, along with the five hundred mortal workers, formed the Midnight mech, activating the various features granted to the battalion via the battalion panel that Lex had.

The walls of the castle itself began to shine, giving off a faint aura similar to Dragons Might. The castle, made entirely out of dragon scales, had begun to develop a unique aura of its own, created through the history that the castle had experienced.

It also helped that many of the insects from within the jungle had worked tirelessly to improve the castle. So while the castle was not sentient, or even a living thing, it did provide enough defense and deterrence.

Suddenly, the invading army that initially seemed so daunting didn’t look so scary anymore. Somewhere far in the back, Luthor had unleashed his newfound Hellfire, creating a secondary circle of fire around the castle. It wasn’t meant as a form of defense, though it worked that way. Instead, it was meant to trap the chimera inside.

Z stood atop the castle wall, and instead of lunging into battle, used his baton and controlled the war music that elevated all the Inn staff and attacked all their enemies.

Lex, floating above the castle, only smirked. Yes, a few chimeras were far from being the most of what they could handle. Heck, Lex hadn’t even used his Lotus powers recently, despite the fact that Lotus had been strengthened so much from his newly acquired Paladin powers.

Yes, things were well in control so far. Hopefully, it stayed that way.

Lex closed his eyes and began to meditate on the characters, refreshing his understanding of them entirely.

The mercenaries, who had all gathered in the castle grounds to fight the invading army even until death, watched in stunned silence as the Inn members wreaked havoc.

Sometimes, it was tough to remember that they were the warriors, and the members of the Midnight Inn were merely workers at a tavern. This… this was one such time.

Little Blue, still groggy from overeating, dared not try to eat again. Instead, he spread his wings and declared his dominance in the sky by cutting through all adversaries with his wings.

Sunny, too, didn’t forget to shoot a few flares here and there, burning enemies that came too close. Mostly it was just slacking off. With Little Blue there, there was little that Sunny could do.

While everyone else was stunned, Kaemon continued to watch seriously. As the leader of the Reaving Dread, when he said the chimera were formidable enemies, he was not exaggerating.

He knew that they wouldn’t be so easily defeated, and true to his expectations, while all other enemies fell, the chimeras endured. They were beaten. They were pushed back. But above all else, they endured, and they adapted.

At first, it was not too obvious, but as the minutes turned to hours, and then days, the changes started becoming more and more prominent. The Inn staff displayed amazing stamina, fighting continuously for so long, but the chimera were never weakened, and had only gotten stronger.

“Lex, if things don’t change, the situation is going to drastically get worse,” Kaemon warned as he himself considered some drastic options.