Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 467 - 429: Hope is Not Extinct

"Serio, the Destined Star," Lyle repeated the name as if to brand it into the depths of his own soul. Beyond the anger and hostility of revenge surged in Lyle’s heart, like the raging waves stirred up by a deity, impossible to calm.

Kill him, destroy him, devour him.

Everything around them fell into despair under the horrific plague of the Evil God, with only the two people facing each other remaining intact.

The curses scattered in the air seemed to have taken solid form, the power had accumulated to a viscous extent, and Lyle could even feel the deadly cyan plague licking at his body with its magic.

The once citizens were wailing and screaming, killing each other, but Lyle was unaffected by the plague, he even felt an affinity.

For it was his own power.

Yino wasn’t a replacement for William; what he wanted to replace was Lyle himself.

"Hello, Mr. Lyle. Goodbye, Mr. Lyle."

Serio swung the key in his hand with a smile, that lucky gold coin that belonged to William.

Under his control, the City of Wandering, the city of despair, erupted with violent roars, and a dazzling light burst from the twisted arcane eye, engulfing everything around it.

Serio, the scholars, the other twisted creatures, and Lyle.

The City of Wandering, vanished.

Consciousness slowly awoke, and with the flood of rationality into his mind came the intense dizziness of the transference spell.

Lyle crawled up from the ground coated with a viscous filth, the turmoil within his body caused him to retch. There was something inside Lyle that was causing havoc.

"This place is..."

The tall, rugged Hell’s Nail stood in the dark, deep sky, following the chaotic dark red magic patterns, Lyle gazed into that dark heavens. That was not the night; the night wouldn’t hide such profound hostility, as if countless gazes were spying on him, spying on the city in that dim and gloomy darkness.

The City of Wandering became an island alone, it had been transported by Serio into the void.

Infinite darkness, the eternal solitude buried this city caught in an apocalyptic frenzy.

This was the Black Abyss District, the corrupted Black Abyss District.

"Nia..."

His other half did not appear in response to his call. Lyle could feel she was not in his body, but the close connection allowed him to find Nia’s location, close by, curled up on a broken spike of Hell’s Nail on a fragment of the shattered City of Wandering, wrapping herself into a ball.

The two who were one, now separated by a rift in the void.

"Nia..."

Hearing the call, Nia’s spherical form trembled, and the eye without eyelids was covered by tentacles, leaving only a tiny gap.

"Nia did something wrong... Lyle," the voice with a sob tightened the tentacles even more firmly.

Lyle came to the edge of the broken pieces and extended his palm.

"Tell me what you did, and then, come back."

"That night in Liveser, Nia heard a beautiful song, and by the time Nia came to her senses, Nia had already made a pact with an uncle."

"What pact?"

Nia covered her eyes, not daring to look at Lyle.

"Uncle will help Nia become an Evil God, and in exchange, Nia gave away our ’half.’"

Lyle closed his eyes tightly and exhaled a breath.

"Omen of the Deep Sea."

Lyle’s power was split in half, and Serio, with the help of a mysterious ritual, obtained Nia’s power. From what it seemed now, his mastery over the Evil God’s power was much deeper than Lyle’s.

"It was Nia who gave [half], it was Nia who hurt the teacher, and it was Nia who destroyed the city..." Nia’s crying became more frantic, as guilt crushed her body. She curled up in the corner, not wanting to listen or see, the apocalypse she had brought about.

The claws of Liveser pierced through the rock, and two massive bone claws connected to construct a bridge spanning the void.

Lyle walked on a path paved with bones, with the profound void beneath his feet.

Lyle arrived in front of the flesh orb, caressing those tense tendrils.

From within the slack gaps, Nia’s eyes watched Lyle.

"Why, doesn’t Lyle blame Nia?"

That Evil Eye had no eyelids, and its non-human structure meant Nia could not shed tears, but Lyle knew, the inside had been "contaminated" by him. Hiding within a creature of fear, was a little girl who would cry when she did something wrong.

"Lyle is Nia, Lyle doesn’t blame Nia, if Nia has done wrong, Lyle will make it right, Lyle needs Nia."

The pressure of the void came again, the fragments beneath his feet became treacherous foes, drifting into the void from the force of the impact.

The robust tendrils grasped Hell’s Nail, propelling Plague Doctor William back onto the shattered lands of Black Abyss District.

Behind the Plague Doctor, writhing tendrils became grotesque decorations for this pitiable humanoid form, clogging the void’s gaps.

"Let’s have a blast, that’s Andrey’s style."

Lyle started moving in Black Abyss District, the monsters that kept appearing and roaring were seized by Nia’s swinging tendrils, thrown against the walls like tossing toys. The monsters’ terrifying vitality allowed them to stand again and charge without fear of death. Lyle didn’t do much; he just wanted to clear the obstacles. These twisted creatures were all his patients.

"Lord Lyle!"

Along with the call came a demonic shadow plunging from the sky. Prince of the Black Abyss, Gogallan, leaped to Lyle’s side, crushing the twisted monsters nearby with his heavy fist.

The Prince of the Demons’ hearty smile brought a glimmer of hope to Lyle.

"Gogallan, why haven’t you been corrupted?!"

"Corrupted?" The Prince of the Black Abyss continued his assault, "You mean turning into one of these monsters?"

Gogallan laughed heartily, "Indeed, when the people around me suddenly turned into these monsters, I was a bit startled."

"But you know what, it doesn’t feel that scary, at least not as terrifying as the horror Lord Lyle brought us in hell, so that’s how it turned out."

It was an ominous sign. The nightmare of bad omens had already invaded the heart of the Prince of the Black Abyss, so Serio’s corruption didn’t twist them because they had already been "corrupted" by Lyle.

"So that means, the contestants of the Hellfire domain..."

"That’s right." Gogallan howled loudly, and one by one, the Black Abyssal Demons ablaze with Hellfire emerged from the ruins of the shattered Black Abyss Arena. "The finest young generation of the Black Abyssal Demons, fighting for you."

Looking at the distorted monsters emerging like a tide in the distance, Lyle laughed heartily, his twisted tendrils dancing wildly in the air.

Lyle stretched out his finger, pointing forward.

"Clear the way, search for survivors, I need the help of the Black Abyssal Demons."

"Your will." The body of the Prince of the Black Abyss suddenly malfunctioned, his demonized cloven hooves crushing rocks, the Prince of the Black Abyss roared, calling his kin.

"These twisted refuse, they were once our brethren, parents, kin. Tell me! My subjects, how do the Black Abyssal Demons communicate their feelings?"

"Beat them up!!!!"

The Wings of the Demon once again covered the skies of Black Abyss District, the army of demons formed a raucous chariot, crushing the obstacles in front of Lyle.

"Do not pity them! They are much more resilient than you!"

"Don’t let them block the path of Lord Lylethos!"