Lex still remembered the first time he met Kenta's adopted father. The man did not exude any of the nobility or dignity one would assume a Celestial Immortal had. Instead, the man sat with Lex and ate ramen while Kenta complained about not wanting to get married.

Spoiler alert, he eventually did get married even though he did not attend his own wedding, but that was irrelevant to the story. Lex remembered that Kenta introduced him as 'old geezer', and since then had called him nothing else. Lex later learned his name from other sources, but officially the man had never been introduced.

Lex could call him Mr. Haru, since he was Kenta's father, but he felt like the geezer was frank enough that Lex could get away with calling him old geezer. Speaking of the old geezer and Kenta, Lex momentarily recalled Asami. She was an elf princess, and Lex had hit it off with her during the couple of days they had spent together. However, both of them decided to not pursue anything, and just let their friendship remain as just that.

"So what you're telling me is that you wrote a romantic poem for the friend of the girl you were trying to impress? How does that work?" asked Paul, causing Lex to want to facepalm.

To help Paul get over his nausea, Lex had told him the story of how he met Kenta, Asami and the old geezer. Yet from that entire story, that's what Paul wanted to know about?

"It's a stereotype," explained Lex. "It doesn't always work, but basically if you directly approach a girl she won't want you, but if you're close to her and yet show interest in someone else, she'll feel kind of curious. I'm saying this again, it's just a stereotype. Don't take it seriously."

Paul was silent for a moment before asking.

"So then, did you write poems for any other girls you weren't actually interested in?"

Lex resisted the urge to groan, and began to question why he was even out here trying to help Paul, when all Paul was doing was roasting him?

"No, I'm not really too good with poetry. Besides, I'm too focused on work most of the time to think about girls," Lex answered.

Paul shrugged with shoulders that didn't exist.

"You don't need to be good at it. As long as there's meaning behind it, I think the recipient will like it. As for being too busy for girls... I'm sorry, and thank you. We all appreciate how much you take care of the Inn, and we don't take your sacrifice lightly."

Well now Lex just felt awkward about badmouthing Paul.

"I mean, it's not really a sacrifice," explained Lex. "I'm an immortal. I'll have time for girls later, when there's less on my plate that I need to deal with."

Paul nodded.

"Yes, I believe you," he answered, sounding sincere. Yet the more sincere he tried to sound, the more sarcastic it felt.

Fortunately, before the conversation could continue, they arrived at their destination.

Lex and Paul returned to their normal, human forms in the middle of an asteroid belt, and they were not alone here.

Countless others were fighting here, and the war was raging in full force. A single sweep of his spirit sense revealed a total of eleven Celestials fighting with five on one side and six on the other. The rest of the army seemed to consist of Heaven and Earth Immortals, of which there were numerous. Lex spotted the old geezer, and could immediately tell that the other four elves were a part of Darmin - the same organisation that Kenta belonged to. Lex was impressed. For one organisation to have five Celestial Immortals was incredibly impressive. Even the massive Jotun Empire, which spanned many galaxies, did not have five Celestial Immortals.

"Just stay here while I go clean up," said Lex as he placed Paul on an asteroid and covered him with numerous protective barriers.

If he wanted the old geezer's help, he had to end the fight first, but he didn't want to be publicly recognised, which is why he was hiding his identity.

"Hey old geezer, remember me?" Lex shouted from afar, so as to not alarm the elves, even as he slowly approached them. "We had ramen together while you and I made a bet - a bet that I won!"

Lex did not want to take any specific names, lest it be tracked back to the Midnight Inn.

Lex's sudden shout suddenly attracted a lot of attention, especially because his voice alone shifted the tempo of the battle, pushing back the six Celestials, and giving the elves a minor reprieve.

"I remember who I made a bet with, but how can it be you? He was much weaker than you," the old geezer said, not dropping his guard in the slightest. "Well, believe it or not, it is me. I need your help with something, but first let me help you out with this fight," Lex said, appearing closer and closer. The six Celestials who were fighting the elves honed in on Lex. He was a mere Heaven Immortal, yet through his voice alone he had pushed them all back. They immediately identified him as the greatest threat, and moved in unison to attack him... which ultimately sealed their fate.

Currently, the law that Lex had the greatest control over was karma. His power with karma even surpassed his almost innate familiarity with defense, yet karma itself was not one of the eight ruling laws. Instead, karma was a small part of the Tether law.

As the six Celestials surrounded him, Lex summoned Naraka in his right hand, and the Karmic bead in his left hand, while loosening the seal on his tenet. It was time to test the potency of his Dao Intentions in real combat. "Old geezer, you'll owe me a whole lot more than just ramen after this," Lex muttered, and then unleashed his full power, no longer holding back. "He's using Tether," warned one of the six Celestial Immortals, but it was too late. The web of Karma between the six of them and Lex was already thick enough for Lex to use it against them.

"Kneel," Lex uttered, and the space of the Origin around him trembled as it tried to obey.