Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 460 - 422 Fall Down

The sole shadow amidst the light was as conspicuous as an ink spot on a white cloth, making it detestable.

The competitors who observed that shadow all opted for a silent disregard. Whether it was Lyle’s identity as Andrey or the terrifying illusion woven in Hell, it left them chilly.

However, the subtle alienation of the surrounding crowd failed to capture Lyle’s attention; he closed his eyes, feeling the shadows hidden in his mind crawling through the world. Those dark magical claws were neither entirely real nor imaginary, and Lyle found it hard to determine whether those magic shadows truly existed or were just illusory, a deception. Regardless of the existence of these shadows in the real world, the Power of the Evil God was indeed guiding his way.

"If this place is really modeled after the Land of Souls..." then there would be no boundaries, for the Land of Souls is the minds of billions of beings, an endless world constructed from their thoughts.

"Brute force won’t help, the key must be found."

Lyle began searching for traces hidden in the Magic Power, those simple messages. It has to be said, the Magic Power in this world shares many similarities with radio waves, or perhaps it’s better to say, the basic energy that constructs worlds, they all have some things in common.

Lyle’s diligent research certainly paid off.

In a space-time fissure that could be concealed, Lyle found an unusual magic aura, one that did not belong to these competitors, it felt much more condensed and purified.

Lyle joyfully and cautiously used the Power of the Evil God to draw out those fine strands of Magic Power, and then he saw...

"What are The Four Fundamental Elements, please answer."

"..." Such a rubbish question placed within a Mana Model constructed like a piece of art.

"Earth, water, fire, air." Having branded his answer onto the model, Lyle’s eyelids twitched; he had a bad premonition.

The Mana Model changed shape, rotating like a flower, revealing the information hidden beneath the question.

"76.85.15, 32.54.63."

"..." Two strings of inexplicable numbers appeared, following an extremely strong sense of déjà vu, Lyle trusted his instincts and determined these were spatial coordinates. The former represented the location of this Mana Model, while the latter was what he desired.

"Where’s the point of reference, the origin of the coordinates?"

Lyle scanned the surroundings and finally spotted the object.

The milky aura condensed with starlight around it was the only conspicuous thing. Lyle found no reason why it wasn’t the origin of coordinates.

Having obtained what he wanted, Lyle estimated his way towards the target area.

Although the progress was smooth, his ominous premonition deepened continuously.

At last, he found the next hidden fissure.

Lyle silently opened it, silently extracted the Mana Model from within, and silently examined the question it presented.

"Please answer, the three occupational branches of Arcanists."

"..."

Lyle fully understood then; this was a Magical Exercise Test! And a multi-layered one at that! Isn’t this a mistake! We are in the midst of a festival, and during the final phase of the flying competition we’re actually being made to do magical exercises? Does the person who set these questions have no conscience at all!!! How are we supposed to play joyfully now!!!!!!!

Within Silver King City, a middle-aged uncle was snickering, "Don’t blame me, ah, I’ve endured all this too, the painful trans...mission of knowledge is a very sacred act."

Lyle cracked. Although the type and difficulty level of these questions were not very high to accommodate the public, Lyle had never imagined that he would have to solve problems in the City of Wandering. Andrey had never done such a thing; Andrey preferred using experiments and their mishaps to reinforce knowledge.

Lyle, not knowing how long he would have to solve problems and uncertain of the vastness of the sea of questions ahead, felt a deep-seated fear. William’s howls also reached him from somewhere beyond this plane of existence.

Lyle took a deep breath, his mind made up.

I’m going to cheat! I’m going to quit the test!

Lyle approached the milky aurora.

If this was indeed the origin of the coordinates, it also signified that this was the center initially set.

The Power of the Evil God corrodes any matter or energy it comes into contact with, including Magic Power. Lyle took out a piece of Nia’s "flesh" and, after kneading it with the claw of Viliumroth, the flesh that had grown by absorbing Magic Power had already generated a sufficient amount of corrupting power.

Now, Lyle intended to use this corrupted flesh, tainted with plague, to spread the power of corruption throughout the entire space, crushing all the hidden magic constructs, violently dismantling the examination venue, and directly seizing the exam answers.

"Let’s start at the origin, then."

With a cold laugh, Lyle used a bone claw wrapped around the dangerous flesh to reach toward the milky halo.

The magic along the way lost its beautifully constructed structure, turning into a chaotic force akin to primitive nature, even worse than the original force of nature.

Lyle’s destruction of the Magic Space had begun, and then ended in the next second.

The bone claw grasping the corrupted origin retracted, and Lyle parted the writhing, wailing black flesh on the surface to reveal a teardrop-shaped stone within.

The Heart of Condensation was inside the halo at the origin.

"So it’s both the beginning and the end?" Lyle’s cheeks twitched, finding it hard to imagine the twisted expressions that would appear on the faces of the students, who had been earnestly answering the questions, driven mad by various coordinate systems, seeking direction with the help of the origin, and passing by the origin again and again, only to discover the Heart of Condensation right at the center.

The more twisted the thoughts in his mind were, the happier Lyle’s mood became.

Getting a head start truly is one of life’s great pleasures.

The Teardrop Stone was the size of a normal cantaloupe, unlike the Magic Power Lyle was accustomed to. The silver-blue surface alone was enough to cause a stinging sensation on the skin, similar to a continuous series of electric shocks.

Perhaps because of the impurity-like chaotic Magic Power, the compatibility between the corrupted flesh and the Heart of Condensation was very high, and the tendrils covering the surface of the Treasured Jade were noticeably active.

"Having obtained the Heart of Condensation, does that mean I’ve won?"

Lyle looked around; the location of the origin, tainted by the corrupted flesh, had turned purple-black. The disguising halo had long since turned into a chaos of magic residue. However, the structure of the entire space hadn’t shattered, clearly indicating that the Heart of Condensation was not its core.

To leave this strange space, another way out needed to be found.

Lyle remembered Beatrice’s words.

"Look below."

The entire space was inside the Arcane Eye, and barring any surprises, should be spherical. Although a Magic Space should automatically adjust the relative position of its occupants to create an effect of endless territory, now that Lyle held the Heart of Condensation, the situation might be different.

Lyle began to move downward, the Heart of Condensation wrapped in flesh twinkling out of his sight. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Lyle indeed encountered the boundary of the space, but before he could decide whether it felt more like plaster or rubber, the entire space had already changed.

The space had shattered.

The lights that were impediments had completely disappeared, and the purple mist of the Arcane Eye was completely unable to block Lyle’s sight.

The devices resembling an Arcane Bomb atop the central white tower all broke apart, scattering beautiful, dazzling fireworks in the sky, while below the high tower, beneath Lyle, various races were raising their hands and cheering amidst the fireworks.

Cheering for the victorious one who had obtained the Heart of Condensation.

Every citizen of each species wore a joyous smile on their face, stretching their hands to the sky as if to offer an embrace.

Lyle had once felt that he was worlds apart from these adorable citizens, that even among Andrey’s Liches, he was the uniquely singular individual. But now, extending his hand toward the dense crowd below and seeing the smiles slip through his fingers, Lyle felt a true sense of integration with this world.

He could feel himself beginning to blend, to accept, to get closer to them.

...Truly getting closer because gravity had recaptured him. Lyle began to fall from the top of the City of Wandering.

Facing those smiling faces, Lyle felt a horrific sensation of falling and screamed frantically.

"Ahhh!!!!!!!"