Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 230 - 217 Requiem of Mourning (Editor’s Task Over: 3/6)

"Everyone starts off drunk, and when they reach a turning point in life, they can choose to sober up like a wise person, or continue to get drunk like most fools."

"Is that why you needed to find a bottle of alcohol before we set off?" Standing in the high-rise of the Bloody Rose Bar, after teleporting from Naslan Castle, Beatrice and Lyle had arrived here.

"That’s because I need it, you human idiot. Every second I spend with you I need to quell my own thirst, to restrain the urge to bite your throat." Beatrice rolled her eyes at Lyle and eventually took out a brown glass bottle. "I need a bottle of strong liquor."

"Oh, thank you for your restraint, Beatrice."

"Thank my dignity, which makes me realize you’re just a detestable, hard-to-swallow worm."

Clearly not in the mood for more chat, Beatrice, Lyle, now reading the room, began to look for something to distract himself. He saw a crystal ball on the table, showing the current situation in the bar. Since it was still morning, there were relatively few customers, but there were still quite a few people partying. Most of the waitstaff had either changed shifts or were resting, and in the projected image, Lyle recognized only two people.

"Candy has become an official waiter now." The delicate boy in the picture was smiling as he took orders, his face still youthful, but his demeanor much more mature than at the beginning. Then, Lyle’s eyes widened abruptly at what he saw next.

He looked at Beatrice in surprise.

"Why is William at the Bloody Rose, and as a cleaner?"

"How should I know? I was surprised too when Anna brought him to me saying that this guy wanted to be a cleaner. But under Anna’s earnest gaze, I agreed. Maybe this Elementalist can set off a few fireworks to liven up the banquet."

"You mean, William is pursuing the Succubus Anna?"

"Maybe, maybe not. After all, you men have blank stares, unable to discern your own thoughts. Not sure if it’s well-camouflaged or just utterly empty." Having selected enough alcohol, Beatrice was ready to leave. "Now, do you want to go down and catch up with your cleaner brother?"

Lyle waved his hand, "No need, that would put us both into an awkward situation. Is there another way out, like an emergency exit or something?"

In Lyle’s moment of distraction, Beatrice spread her bat wings, "We’ll fly, raise your hands."

The moment Lyle’s fingers stretched higher than his hair, Beatrice turned into an afterimage, grabbing his arm and flying out the window. The void beneath his feet and the dizziness from the high-altitude swaying caused tenseness in Lyle, prompting him to start a conversation to distract himself.

"Beatrice, actually you could carry me on your back or... hold me?"

"Mr. Lyle, when you’re fifty meters in the air, you should learn not to offend the pilot."

"But Miss Beatrice, may I see your flight license? I want to make sure that drunk flying isn’t against the law in the City of Wandering."

"Of course, you can, Mr. Witty-Banter, would you like me to burn it for you?" Beatrice did a 360-degree spin in the air to silence Lyle completely. "Thanks to someone, the laws of the City of Wandering have limited effect on me. You don’t have to worry about subsequent legal issues, considering Andrey’s team of lawyers is open to outside commissions."

Lyle no longer spoke, feeling the breeze in the airflow to endure the nausea that was approaching his throat. He was wearing a mask now, not wanting vomit to wash over his face.

When Lyle arrived at the teleportation circle in Dark Zone 10, he was kneeling and touching the ground. Beatrice’s bat wings gradually degenerated and retracted into the flesh, revealing her originally flawless back. She took out a scarf and draped it over her shoulders, then grabbed Lyle’s shoulders to begin the teleportation.

"Teleport, Dark Zone One."

Dark Zone One was the Specter Zone, home to a lone structure, a colossal Gothic opera house. The opera house’s entrance was already filled with chaotic creatures, with undead beings like specters and liches seemingly in greater numbers upon fleeting glance.

Lyle caught his breath for a few minutes before he stood up again. Observing the queued, congested "crowd" of patrons, Lyle sighed with relief, "Good, I’m not late. Beatrice, when does Alianna’s concert start?"

"In eight hours."

"Eight hours from now? Then why the rush to bring me here? We had plenty of time to find a place to land and walk over slowly."

Beatrice looked into Lyle’s eyes with a smile that said, what can you do about it?

Lyle took a deep breath twice, "Where’s Alianna?"

In a separate room backstage of the opera house, Lyle saw Alianna browsing through sheet music. She was dressed in a vibrant, flame-like red gown, and a veil that covered her face fluttered like the thin smoke above flames. Merely looking at her serene profile washed away the restlessness in Lyle’s heart.

Lyle didn’t make a sound. He gently walked up behind her and looked at her reflection in the mirror, his palm resting lightly on her shoulder blade through the fabric of her dress. Just like the reflection in the mirror showed, Alianna regarded the silhouette that had arrived from beyond the mirror’s world, tilting her head and resting it on Lyle’s wrist.

"A surprise?" Her voice, devoid of a physical body’s inflections, wasn’t as animated but was enough to reveal her delight to Lyle.

"You are truly beautiful," Lyle simply exclaimed, conveying his sincerity. Alianna laughed a hollow laugh under that compliment, rising from her chair and turning around to face him.

"In the past, I should have donned my disguise to respond to your compliments, but I’m sorry, Lyle. I now need to maintain my lich state to find the right feeling. This kind of large-scale concert demands my earnest effort."

Feeling Alianna’s phalanges intertwined with his own, Lyle smiled. "Of course, Anna, it’s your concert, and naturally, I want to hear you giving it your all. Anna, I want to attend this concert."

Alianna hesitated for a moment, her voice mixed with unease and nervousness. "Of course... Lyle, I’d be thrilled to have you at my concert, but it might not be suitable for you to listen to my singing. I mean, darling, you are human, and it could be harmful to you. Besides, tonight’s performance is different from the first one you attended; you must have noticed that at the entrance."

"Noticed what?"

Alianna turned her head to look at Beatrice, leaning against the wall.

"We didn’t go through the main entrance, we came in through a special passage."

Alianna looked at Lyle. "Tonight’s concert, tickets are only available to those above the level of Five Locks or those from the Four Locks level bringing their kin, and living beings must have their resurrection devices with them."

"Lyle, tonight’s concert is the Requiem of Mourning, and people will truly die."