Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 192 - 179: The Secret Room

Duke of Hamlet’s remaining pool of blood had gone unnoticed, that substance being corrosive, it etched irregular pits into the ground. The branch of withered power that Heinz had conjured turned into a white tendril that fulfilled its mission and dissipated in the air.

Lyle wanted to reverse the Spine Wheel, but found to his surprise that the huge contraption had jammed into the wall. Broken chunks of stone trapped in its gaps, preventing it from moving an inch. Ahead of the pointed bone spikes, in a narrow crack between the wall’s corner and the bone, Kevin crawled out unscathed.

That was true luck.

Dusting himself off, Kevin looked at the great wheel that had almost claimed his life just moments before.

"So this is the proper way to use this torture device? Lyle, when you took it out before, were you actually trying to trap us?"

"No, the Spine Wheel is just a mode of transportation, but as you know, all good things tend to be dangerous."

"Like me?" Kevin joked. Honestly, when that meat grinder was barreling toward him, he thought he was a goner. Now he had to talk trash to slow down his racing heart.

With a hint of helplessness in his eyes, Lyle considered Kevin. "Of course, you just cursed a Fourth Tier monster to death."

A blush of embarrassment crept onto Kevin’s face as he scratched his messy golden hair, unconcerned about its disheveled state. "Before setting out with you all, I didn’t even know I had a talent. If all this is really just the result of luck, then I’m afraid fate will bite back soon enough, considering how fortune and misfortune coexist."

Something like a venomous snake surged out from the shadows toward Kevin, and before Lyle could voice a warning, bony tendrils had wrapped Kevin up like a rice dumpling.

It was the severed tendrils of Duke of Hamlet, still able to move although the upper body had completely dissolved. At the joint where the simple four tendrils had converged, a blood-colored tumor grew, on which a blurred face appeared with eyes as vicious as those of Duke of Hamlet himself.

"You’re still alive?"

Duke of Hamlet maintained his elegance, even now resembling a four-limbed octopus.

"Of course, the heart of the Evil God has gifted me with infinite vitality. So long as a single tiny fragment remains, it can develop into a new individual. Now, capable Mr. Lyle, your toy is wedged in the wall, and that broken branch has dissipated. What will you use to fight me with? Those pretentious skeletons? Victory remains with Hamlet!"

Rather than tensing up, Lyle relaxed at the sight of the marks the duke’s bony tendrils left as they constricted Kevin.

"Mr. Hamlet, if I’m not mistaken, your current frail body doesn’t even reach Second Tier strength. I believe I should be able to defeat you quite easily now..."

Confronted with Lyle’s presentation of reality, the duke let out a sinister laugh, his spikes sliding over Kevin’s face. "Then I shall thank the fortunate Mr. Kevin. The contract he signed with Hamlet was actually a blood curse scroll I forged. This means he has nominally become a member of the Hamlet clan, fitting perfectly as my blood meal. Once I consume him, my strength will, through the power of the clan, return to its original level! Mr. Kevin, you truly are my lucky star." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Faced with the slowly advancing horror of a maw opening at the intersection of the tendrils, like that of a lamprey, Kevin merely corrected him.

"Actually, sir, my luck only works for me. Anyone who stays close to me ends up unfortunate. You’re about to be unlucky, Duke of Hamlet."

"Fate will be consumed by me, starting with you!" Duke of Hamlet didn’t heed Kevin’s words, as he was too eager to savor fresh flesh.

Kevin sighed and his mouth curled into a smile.

"Eat him, Nia."

Black tendrils burst forth like sprays of ink over Kevin’s body, each blood-bone tendril caught in the grasp of innumerable black tendrils. The last thing Duke of Hamlet saw was a terrifying maw, much larger than his own, swallowing him whole.

————————

Before Lyle and the others entered the underground stone chamber.

In the secret passage, Lyle approached Kevin.

"Kevin, are you sure you want to go down with us? You lack the strength, it would be best for you to stay above and take care of yourself, it might be very dangerous below."

"No, maybe I could be of help, I have this premonition."

Lyle, seeing the determined look on Kevin’s face, didn’t try to dissuade him further.

"Nia, go onto Kevin and take good care of him." Nia’s black tentacles crawled onto Kevin’s body, and during the journey, Kevin had been possessed by Jordania a few times, so he had no objections to this process.

"Take Nia with you, at least it gives you a chance to cling to life."

"Thanks, Lyle. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely play the role of the mascot well!"

"Take it easy, we have plenty of people, we probably won’t need a mascot to fill the ranks just yet."

———————

Nia had already been lurking on Kevin, so Lyle had dared to act recklessly before. With Nia’s parasitism, he had long learned the true identity of Kevin, and the overpowering Spine Wheel was just a realistic illusion. All of this was a performance to get the Duke of Hamlet to deliver himself personally. Unexpectedly, the Duke of Hamlet, who had clung to life, suddenly turned violent and went to trouble Kevin, at which point Nia, lurking on Kevin, took the opportunity to devour him.

Kevin looked at the marks on his body; his clothes were a bit tattered, but it still didn’t affect his appearance, handsome with an air of casualness.

Lyle was observing the cocoons that protected the companions.

"The blood color on them is starting to fade. It seems the Duke really is dead."

Finally, he had avenged Alianna, but he wondered how she was doing now. Beatrice should be able to take good care of her.

After the excitement of life and death confrontation had left him, Lyle fell back into his previous guilt.

While Kevin had nothing better to do, he observed the murals on the stone walls to pass time; Nia was curled up in a ball digesting Hamlet’s flesh and blood, unaware of what kind of effect Hamlet’s bizarre flesh and blood would have on her. It should be fine, though, since, after all, it seemed like Mr. Scholar had said that Nia herself was a mutation similar to the Evil God.

"Lyle, come quickly! I’ve made a new discovery!" Kevin’s excited voice came from not far along the dark wall, which was the darkest part of the room. If you get close to the black wall, you’ll find that it’s actually a deep crimson. On the wall, there’s an irregularly drawn twisted pentagram with a few random lines, and the lower left angle is incomplete, with a very shallow rectangular indentation looking out of place in the smooth mural.

"A mechanism? But where is the key? It looks like a thin stone slab with a diagonal line, we haven’t seen anything like this along the way," said Lyle with curiosity.

Kevin’s face took on a sly look as he fumbled inside his clothes. "No, we have seen it."

A thin, unfolded scroll with a diagonal crease at the center was placed by Kevin into the indentation, its red cover blending seamlessly with the surrounding deep crimson color.

"Serio’s letter..."