Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 173 - 164 Serio

In the bandit camp, cries of panic and slaughter emanated, as their own creation rampaged through the buildings, reaping death. Lyle remained quite indifferent to this, for mercy on the enemy was cruelty to oneself.

There was a trace of reluctance on Kevin’s face, but seeing the indifferent eyes of his two companions, he merely furrowed his brows.

The trio’s job was now rather easy. They stood guard at the gate, finishing off the severely injured bandits who fled in disarray.

This task was easily accomplished by William. He had erected a wall of spikes made from the Earth Element outside the city gate. Those who jumped over the wall in a blind panic would impale themselves under the force of gravity. The lucky ones would receive one of his Fireball Techniques.

"Thanks to Lyle, all we have to do now is collect the corpses," William praised his companions without reserve. William, who had once been alone, appreciated the convenience brought by Necromancy Spell, despite its bloody process. He was a pragmatist; practicality always came first.

He naturally patted Lyle, who was controlling the monster, and unexpectedly, Lyle coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"Did... did I do this?"

Lyle paid no attention to William; his gaze was firmly fixed on the wall of earth, "My creation has been killed."

"How is that possible! There’s someone that powerful in a bandit camp?"

"Get ready, what we’re about to face may not necessarily be human."

Before his words had faded, the earthen wall at the gate shattered with a bang, and a burly figure with a large longsword stepped out.

He stood over two meters tall, his frame as robust as a water tank, broad-shouldered and wide-waisted, with deep brown skin and fierce veins lurking under the epidermis. A wound as wide as a bowl adorned his waist, where a segment of white bone from a Skeleton Spider’s Spider Lance was embedded in his muscle. His face was contorted, and beneath the skin of his face, an abnormal vein throbbed. Foam frothed from his mouth as he let out a bestial howl. His eyes rolled back, the twitching eyeballs fixed on the trio’s location.

Roar!!!

The bandit leader charged towards them, like a maddened wild bull.

Slow Curses, Weakness Curses. His overly formidable physique rendered these negative effects almost negligible, but they provided someone with enough time.

Icicle Technique! Ice pillars rose beneath the feet of the three, dodging the first impact. As the ice pillars collapsed, Nia reached out her tentacles and grabbed hold of Lyle and Kevin.

Gentle Wind Technique! William adjusted his fall in mid-air, his magic wand held high.

Rapid-Fire Fireball!

The Fireball Techniques bombarded the bandit leader’s back, charring and carbonizing his skin, but beneath the charred layer, fresh red flesh began to wriggle and regenerate.

"Lyle! What kind of monster is this!"

"I don’t know! But since it’s flesh, let’s use ice. The cold can reduce a creature’s vitality!"

William nodded, "Got it, lend me Kevin for a bit."

"Huh?" Kevin, still in the air, hadn’t come to his senses before he was thrown by Nia’s tentacle into mid-air. When Kevin landed again, he stood on an ice pillar, less than ten meters from the bandit leader.

The bandit leader, seeing Kevin so close, charged at him.

With a bang, the ice pillar shattered, but perhaps due to insufficient distance, the impact wasn’t strong enough, and the broken ice didn’t turn to powder but into large chunks of Ice Blades.

The pillar under Kevin’s feet was destroyed, and he fell with the collapsing ice. The bandit leader swung his greatsword to chop, but due to the refraction from the ice, he struck air.

The ice block Kevin was standing on, sharpened by the sword’s slice, slid down the straight blade, piercing straight into the bandit leader’s chest.

Blood splattered as the bandit leader was buried by the ice block, while Kevin, due to inertia, tumbled onto the grass to the side.

Freeze Curse!

William’s magic wand emitted frost, and the ice blocks started to solidify, constructing an ice prison for the bandit leader.

Panting heavily and with hardly any Magic Power left inside him, the bandit leader became an ice sculpture.

William revealed a smile.

"Ice Burst."

The ice prison shattered, along with the human figure inside, breaking into icy fragments.

————————

The bandit camp returned to its original state. One by one, the cold and indifferent bandits patrolled the walls, disregarding their surroundings.

In the central floor of the camp, William kindled the fire in the central brazier.

"It’s getting late, we need to stay here for the night, and don’t forget the gadgets the bandits are wary of. Even if Lyle revives those bandits and disguises them, we must all stay alert tonight."

Lyle stirred the soup pot while Nia tossed a clump of yellow slime into it.

"Nia’s slime has the effect of replenishing energy; it would be best if you all drank some."

Kevin drank the soup with a reluctant face, then looked surprised.

"The taste is actually unexpectedly good!"

The night passed without incident.

————————————

"What is that, Kevin?"

The next morning, the three continued on their way and saw the boundary marker of Hamlet County, which had already fallen and was slanted. Next to the marker in the grass, Kevin picked up a scroll with a red cover.

"A letter."

[To my beloved mother:

As I write this letter, I am ready to flee Hamlet.

The Duke of Hamlet is a dreadful man. I know you do not wish to hear any ill of the Duke, but these are my true feelings. He curls up in his room day and night, conducting mysterious and terrifying rituals. The Duke’s Mansion is as gloomy as he, though I have never left Hamlet County for half a step since the moment you bore me.

Perhaps you will scold me for being disrespectful towards my own father. But the Duke has never done anything a father should. He is not a good father, nor a good husband. He has numerous offspring and a harem of wives and concubines; he has never cared for us, mother and child.

You once told me your story, how you were a merchant’s daughter, but a terrible shipwreck took everything from you except your life. You were willing to give everything you had, including love, to repay your benefactor, the Duke of Hamlet.

After giving birth to me, you have been working as a maid in the mansion. Even after a busy day, you dragged your weary body to care for little me. You hoped that I could win the Duke’s affection.

Before I turned fifteen, I did exactly that, until one day, my curiosity led me into his study. His desk was filled with all manner of strange ritual diagrams; some were so chilling to even touch.

There, I discovered a terrible truth. The Duke seemed to be researching some fearful cult ritual. That shipwreck that involved you, it seems to be part of the ritual. How would you feel if the person you’ve loved for twenty years happens to be the murderer of your loved ones? Forgive my cowardice, I dared not tell you such a dreadful truth. It’s also because of my cowardice that the following tragedy occurred.

My poor mother, when will wolves ever pity lambs? When you excitedly told me that on that day, the Duke was going to meet you secretly at the bay, I knew our misfortune was about to arrive. I tried to stop you, but your love for the Duke had surpassed the bounds of words. In the end, when I tried to use force, Mr. Blaze Hamlet, my brother only in name and in practice my master, played a game of kicking the downtrodden with me.

I lay in despair on the windowsill, watching you leave me, to never return.

The Duke has gone mad, or perhaps he was always insane. First travelers, then townsfolk, servants, wives, offspring, every day, new people disappear within the mansion of Hamlet. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

I must escape.

When I was very young, you told me that when you were pregnant with me, the brightest star in the sky shone in your dreams. That star’s name became mine.

But my mother, that was a beautiful mistake. The brightest star in the sky is actually Venus that appears in the morning.

I will become the brightest star, just as you expected.

I leave my letter in Hamlet, leaving my past and you here.

Love you,

Serio.]