Once his wings, despite being entirely real and made of his own skin and bones, faded as if a mirage, and his horns receded into his head, Lex felt a deep mental exhaustion. At least the headache had disappeared, which was great.

There were still monsters attacking, but behind his shield, Lex was safe. Not only were none of the creatures as strong as Kreel, they weren’t even strong enough to break Lex’s barrier, so there was no real point in fighting them. The Dark Knight was dead once more, and even if he reincarnated, he wouldn’t be able to speak anymore, so Lex could finally focus on his system notifications!

Besides, with the ferocity of the aura around Kaemon now, Lex doubted he needed to be protected, anyway.

New Notification: System operations are being influenced by external forces...

New Notification: System operations are being influenced by external forces...

New Notification: System operations are being influenced by external forces...

New Notification: System operations are being influenced by external forces...

New Notification: System oper.&(((((KkKKKkK by extern**(&(( fo0098

New No...: ...

New Notification: Critical Mode Initiated!

New Notification: External Law interference detected! System is unable to extricate itself from detected law.

New Notification: Critical damage received, system functionality compromised. Functionality at 42%!

New Notification: Critical damage received, system functionality compromised. Functionality at 41%!

New Notification: Critical damage received, system functionality compromised. Functionality at 40%!

New Notification: Severe damage detected to Midnight Realm! Initiating emergency repairs. 100% of MT + 100% MP used up. 95% income levy placed to accommodate emergency repairs!

New Notification: Host has detected strong anomalous zone within Abaddon. System analysis indicates anomalies align with details of Well of Forgotten Dreams!

Quest Update: optional objective ’Locate Well of Forgotten Dreams’ fully completed. Spatial location is locked and recorded in the system database.

Quest Reward: optional quest reward added. Final reward will be dispersed upon completion of the main quest.

Remarks: Why do you always overachieve at the wrong time?

New Notification: Error detected! Location data cannot be recorded. Location data is linked to the host.

New Notification:

Connection request initiated by Interlink. Do you accept?

New Notification: System possession attempt detected. Initiating self sealing mechanism. System will enter an artificial dormant state until the host wakes up.

New Notification: Host consciousness detected. System dormancy ending. Possession attempt successfully circumvented.

Reading all the notifications, Lex was extremely alarmed. What the hell had happened to him?

Lex took the situation extremely seriously. Unfortunately, no matter how seriously he took it, no answers were forthcoming. He had no idea why or how the system functionality had been damaged, not to mention why all his income had disappeared!

Fortunately, a scan of the Inn revealed that everything seemed to be going fine for now. Most alarming of all, however, seemed to be the notification about someone or something trying to possess his system! That had never happened before!

His system was his greatest secret, maintained in front of even Dao Lords. How had it been detected, and who had tried to do it?

Lex could not help but turn and look at Kaemon, yet he found such a notion impossible. If he had gained an advantage over Lex, and wanted to steal the system from him, Kaemon would have never left Lex alive.

Fortunately, there seemed to be a potential source for answers available.

"System, accept the connection link requested by Interlink," Lex said, and he felt the connection take place immediately.

" Host Lex, I did not think I would ever talk to you again, let alone talking to you again so soon ," said Interlink, cutting right to the chase and skipping the ten minute small talk custom.

"I, on the other hand, always knew we’d become good chatting buddies," said Lex, as if he was totally relaxed and not at all borderline panicked about whatever had happened to him while he was knocked out.

" Your confidence in our reunion is unexpected ," said Interlink. " However, there is a critical matter which requires your consent. The location data for the Well of Forgotten Dreams cannot be exclusively stored independent of you, for that knowledge is intrinsically linked to you. Should you die, the data will vanish from across the universe.

" For various reasons, access to the Well of Forgotten Dreams is of great importance to the systems, and so we need access to its location. Do you give me permission to use the knowledge linked to you and transmit it as a part of other quests

?"

Interlinked seemed a lot more impatient than the last time they had talked, and as if he was in a lot of rush as well. Lex didn’t pry into the reason for that, though he didn’t shy from using it to his advantage.

"I have certain conditions, and as long as they are met, I can grant you permission," said Lex.

" Please elaborate on your conditions. If they are acceptable, we will strike an accord. "

Lex resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"First, no information about me will be shared in any way, shape or form by you or any other system while using this information. This is totally non-negotiable," said Lex firmly.

" Accepted. What else ?"

"Secondly, my system underwent a lot of unexpected events recently, but I was unconscious while it happened. I want to know the details of what happened."

Interlink did not answer for a few seconds, almost as if it was deliberating. It was not.

" All logs of your system within the last 24 hours have been sent to you to view once . "

Lex nodded, finding Interlinks acceptance unusual. He wasn’t even trying to negotiate, which was making Lex feel unnerved instead of fortunate.

"Lastly, my system suffered a lot of damage and even lost a lot of functionality. I want my optional reward to be something that will give me back some functionality as well as give me a lot of MT."

This time, Lex was almost certain Interlink would object, but it didn’t.

" Your terms are accepted, and an accord has been struck. Host Lex, your quest is about to be completed and I strongly recommend you vacate Abaddon as soon as possible to avoid unexpected incidents ."

Interlink vanished, leaving Lex feeling as if something was terribly wrong. In fact, the feeling that something was amiss started to grow strong even in his chest, but for some odd reason, he couldn’t figure out what.

Lex kept feeling like he was forgetting something, but he couldn’t tell what.

Before he could think about the matter too deeply, Kaemon collapsed, and he got yet another system notification. This one was about quest completion!