```

When that name echoed through the Black Abyss Arena, Lyle hadn’t reacted yet.

It wasn’t until Andrey’s Liches had all turned their gaze toward him that Lyle realized those titles, those that could shame one into social death, referred to himself.

He was the special guest of the Hellfire Invitational, he was a contestant in the racing competition.

It was a disgraceful betrayal, Lyle almost instantly came to his senses. His companions had entered him into a race with the Demon Race without his knowledge.

"Shiny! You guys!"

Faced with Lyle’s fury, the trio of Shiny, Flexibility, and Manipulation, reacted...with the speed of light, they admitted their fault.

"Boss, I was wrong!!" Almost instantaneously, Shiny and Flexibility pressed their faces to the ground, removed their heads, held their skulls in their hands, and knocked them on their seats with a thud. Such a Liches’ way of apologizing immediately deflated half of Lyle’s rage due to sheer surprise.

As the somewhat more reliable one of the trio, Manipulation explained the reason while bowing his head.

"Boss, we had no choice! We had our difficulties!"

Faced with Manipulation’s sophistry, Lyle just snorted coldly.

"Really, boss, this show race isn’t just a show race! It’s also our Andrey’s first public activity!"

"I remember the first official event being ’The Birth of Music’ by the Literature Club, although that turned out quite tragic."

"Cough cough," Mr. Journalist coughed next to Lyle, "Mr. Plague Doctor, ’The Birth of Music’ was an activity between the Literature Club and the Elves for mutual communication, a friends’ event, not an official activity of Andrey."

Really? That’s not how it was described back then.

Mr. Gentleman whispered into Lyle’s ear.

"The ’The Birth of Music’ was too disastrous; one event caused a dozen Elves to go mad. Such brutal results almost killed the Dean, and those of us responsible had our bones peeled off and used to make soup in the Culinary Society. Because it was so terrible, it was removed from the official events, leaving the Hellfire Showcase as our first official event."

"But, I remember according to the schedule, we should have already had four or five joint events by now, even without ’The Birth of Music’. Aren’t there three or four more...?"

Mr. Gentleman’s face turned ashen, "What do you think, why the Hellfire Invitational is the first event."

"The Food Street got food poisoning collectively from eating bone ash biscuits..."

"The hunting activity incited a stampede of undead beasts..."

"And the matchmaking gathering had Liches in drag that caused blood and gore..."

"Mr. Plague Doctor, the reputation of Andrey is in your hands. Make sure you handle Andrey’s first official activity well."

I’ve always been one to assume the worst about Andrey’s Liches, yet I never imagined they could mess things up to this extent.

Lyle sighed.

Mr. Journalist continued.

"Dean, he’s paying special attention to this Hellfire Invitational; it’s related to the face of Andrey! Although we fall a bit short in terms of morals, character, and social skills, we must showcase our strength. What difference is there between a Lich without strength and the Skeleton Infantry!"

Flexibility came over.

"The Hellfire Showcase, in the end, is the Spine Wheel modification race, and the strength of the Demon Race should not be underestimated. For the glory of the academy, we’ve been creating the strongest battle chariot for this race, the ultimate work of the Necromancer Figure Club... "

Lyle thought of that giant Spine Wheel, a ferocious creation equipped with Claws of Velim Roh.

"That giant Spine Wheel was prepared for this racing competition, and you guys lied to me, saying it was a gift for me? To thank me?"

Shiny reattached his head to his spine.

```

"Boss, we had no choice, remember? The flesh and blood on top, that’s your special gift. The chariot we built with great effort can only be driven by you."

"You’re the only one for the job!"

Just because I’m the only one for the job, I have to drift with the Hell Bone Chariot? Don’t even think about it! Too dangerous!

"I’m supposed to compete with the Demon Race! What are they? Battle maniacs! Do you want to see me torn apart in front of everyone?"

They did. Their eyes said so in a blink.

These guys immediately shook their heads after they realized.

The Literary Club first shared the enemy intelligence, "Indeed, the Hellfire showcase race participants are all outstanding young members of the Demon Race, but you’re just racing, what does that have to do with muscle strength? I’ve investigated; their Spine Wheels are merely modified versions of the ones you guys have produced for sale. The Plague Doctor’s Spine Mega Wheel is custom-made, and its performance absolutely surpasses theirs by a lot."

The Necromancer Figure Club trio immediately nodded their heads.

"Boss, the Spine Mega Wheel actually has a hidden ability. When we were researching contaminated flesh, we discovered the Soul Power within, and we used it to construct a mechanical soul, a thinking unit that will assist in controlling the Spine Wheel according to instructions."

Like a computer system? Artificial AI? But how did Shiny and the others manage that when they had only just begun to study Spirit Summoning Studies?

Mister Fantasy’s head filled with flickering virtual polygons.

"I participated a bit, I created a mechanical network, a new set of flesh-and-blood neural circuits. Although it has some issues, it probably won’t affect its use," Mister Fantasy said with a cold and steady tone that made Lyle quickly believe him.

"Is this Spine Wheel really... very strong?"

The Necromancer Figure Club guys sensed Lyle warming to the idea and nodded frantically, "Absolutely reliable, boss. With this creation, you racing against the Demon Race is simply like Raymond slaughtering the Literary Club!"

The reporter turned his head, issuing a warning.

"Be mindful, there are related personnel here, please consider our feelings."

"Sorry, Mister Reporter."

"It should be changed to Mister Raymond battering the Dark Boss."

"Mister Dark... That’s not easy indeed."

Lyle found himself gradually calming down, possibly realizing he had a good chance of winning, or perhaps his heart had already grown numb.

This time, maybe he truly should enter the battle.

He was the only contestant, his equipment outclassed the Demon Race’s, he was the creator of the Spine Wheel, reasonably he should understand better how to operate his creation. Moreover, it seemed Shiny and the others had also installed an assisting neural network on the Spine Wheel.

The well-developed and sensitive command conduction network was always a problem for massive creations in Spirit Summoning Studies. Without sufficient capability, a Spirit Summoner couldn’t finely control an excess of flesh. In orthodox Spirit Summoning Studies, Spirit Summoners used a set of Soul Stones to establish subsidiary conduction systems.

But now, it seemed Shiny and the others had managed it through Nia’s contaminated flesh and Mister Fantasy’s unique conduction system.

It was a pleasant surprise.

Lyle felt prepared to fight for Andrey’s glory.

Lyle felt like he should stand up and be counted.

A loud shout interrupted Lyle’s thoughts.

"What! You actually want my Purifier to go to hell!" Raymond exclaimed with agitation upon hearing Bigby’s introduction.

"I don’t agree!"

Lyle felt being a coward was quite good too.