Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 474 - 436: Peace, Old God

"The Plague Doctor is awake!"

The commotion followed Lyle’s awakening, crowding into his mind.

As light reemerged in his sight, Lyle saw a Lich piecing together its body amidst a pile of bones, with the Sword of Holy Light planted nearby, proclaiming their misfortune.

He stepped into the pile of bones, using tentacles to sift and identify members of the Necromancer Figure Club.

"Hello, Mr. Plague Doctor."

Discarded.

"Farewell, Mr. Plague Doctor."

Discarded.

"Wait, boss, it’s me!"

Shiny escaped the fate of being cast aside, the upper half of his skeleton held in Lyle’s hands, enduring the knocks of tentacles.

"Stop playing around, Shiny. We have serious work to do."

Shiny wanted to cry without tears.

"We’re the ones being played with."

Ignoring Shiny’s lament, Lyle lifted up his torso.

"Nia."

The surging tentacles unfolded behind Lyle, weaving through the pile of bones, assembling each Lich together.

Thanks to his exquisite memory of Spirit Summoning Studies, there were no misses between the bones, and at least after they were re-equipped with fleshly disguises, these Liches punished by Raymond were left with nothing missing.

Lyle presented his idea to the Lich Andrey.

"I need to arrange a Spirit Summoning Studies Ritual Magic Array, an array that covers the entire process. I need your help to save this city." Lyle paused for a moment, facing the indolent Liches, a slight smile appeared on his lips, "You might think this is a thankless task. But you are wrong! I’m going to tell you the real purpose of the ritual I’m arranging."

"A blood and bone sculpting rite that covers the process—I’ll reshape their flesh. But that’s not the main point. The focus is that while I reshape their flesh, I will also obtain the life data of the various races from the City of Wandering."

The Liches looked puzzled.

"Do you know what that means?"

"Who wants to be a muscle-bound brute from the Demon Race!"

"Good, you can be one!"

"Who wants to be a Dwarven bearded fellow!"

"Good! You can too!"

"As long as I possess the City of Wandering’s flesh data, we Andrey Liches can disguise ourselves as any race!"

"Want to be a sweet female elf? Or a mature succubus? Or perhaps a Tree Monster? All possible! All imaginable! Role-playing is not a dream!"

One Lich excitedly raised a hand, "Can I become a Minotaur Warrior and fight for a man with a love-struck girl?"

"..." Lyle felt a wave of nausea. The Ominous almost burst forth from his freshly merged form.

Lyle held it in.

"You can! Just help me set up the magic array, and you’ll have priority for role-playing!"

Lyle called Shiny over, quietly pointing to that raising-hand Lich, and said softly.

"You remembered that guy who just raised his hand, right?"

"Got it, boss."

"After he transforms, forge an identity for him as another race, and then revoke his Lich credentials. I don’t want to see him in Andrey again."

"I’ll communicate this with the Literary Society’s legal team."

Having settled everything, the Andrey Liches were all eager and complied with the Necromancer Figure Club’s commands, beginning to draw the Ritual Magic Array.

Lyle called Shiny, Manipulation, and Adaptation together.

"The template for the ritual is based on the ’Gundam’ Alchemy Ritual we envisioned earlier: flesh as the ink, bone as the carving tool, with the outer layer connected to ’Absorption’, ’Amplification’, and ’Mutation’ flesh ritual arrays. Don’t worry about energy balance and the carrier’s ability to endure."

Manipulation raised a question.

"But, the ’Gundam’ Alchemy Ritual is still just one of our concepts, never having undergone a single experiment. Not to mention those Additional Magic Arrays—Mr. Plague Doctor, this ritual is almost certain to fail."

"Trust me, I can do it."

Facing those dark, luminous eyes, the three from Necromancer Figure Club chose to trust.

"Right, let’s change the name for this experimental plan as well."

"No longer called the ’Unit-01’ plan?"

"Yes, the goal is different this time. Record this.

"Flesh Descending."

The rowdy Liches became a scattered sand, infiltrating the entire city.

Lyle turned around, meeting the gaze of the scholar teaching William to build a space-time model. Lyle smiled and nodded before heading towards the Emerald Tree. The Green Dragon Priest was slumbering upon the leaves, and within her grasp, the Treasure Bead sealed all the city’s madness.

Repairing the spirit of the City of Wandering was also one of Lyle’s tasks.

Lyle extended his palm, touching the Treasure Bead that pulsated like a dark heart.

He sank into the dream of the Green Dragon.

The dreamland of Irason.

Lyle had been here once before, a place where fantasy and strangeness coexisted.

But this time, this dream was not in the Green Dragon Priest’s usual style.

The azure sky cast through the gaps of the towering green trees, flowers and tender sprouts surrounded the clear stream, and ancient moss covered the stone structures, mixing a green scent of fresh earth with the sweet fragrance of flowers.

A robust Green Dragon lay in shade, close to the majestic Emerald Tree, her claw grasping a mass of murky malice, the shattered impurity clouding the stream, following the water deeper into the twisted, thick tree roots.

"You’ve come, Young Lyle."

The Green Dragon spoke with a weary voice, her voice in the form of the Dragon Priest deeper still.

Irason’s gaze lingered on Lyle, with implied meaning.

"How about we forget it, Young Lyle? These crazed souls need not concern you."

Lyle revealed a smile.

He naturally understood what the Green Dragon Priestess was worried about.

His reflection mirrored on the water’s surface, while behind him, a vast black shadow connected to Lyle’s limbs; within the shadow, only the crescent-like sinister smile was clearly visible.

"What do you plan to do then, Irason?"

Lyle walked slowly forward, and with every lift of his leg, the giant being dragged along by him moved in tandem.

"The Ancient Dream Tree has the power to cleanse souls, as long as I seal these crazed spirits within the roots, one day, the City of Wandering will awaken."

"And when will that day be?"

"...Hundreds of years from now."

Lyle smiled expectantly, observing the enormous Ancient Dream Tree. The ancientness of the air, even older than the Dragon Priest herself, Lyle could feel it, the powerful force lurking beneath the ancient tree.

"You know, Irason, we can’t wait hundreds of years."

"Alright then, I’ll hand these crazed consciousnesses over to you, quickly take them away and save the City of Wandering."

Irason changed his tune, taking out that mass of chaotic malice and signaling Lyle to take it quickly, while the Green Dragon’s gaze surreptitiously shifted to the ancient tree.

That ancient tree was more important than the malice of the City of Wandering.

Lyle had intended to leave, but Omen heard a voice.

[My offspring, come here, come here, embrace your heavenly father.]

The murky voice corrupted Lyle’s mind, as Omen revealed a bizarre smile.

Without responding to Irason’s urging, Lyle took a step forward, and the Omen Giant moved toward the Dream Tree.

"Stop! Sealed there is!!!!"

Tremors, corruption, the entire Dreamland suddenly fell into madness, gnarled branches morphing into tentacles, entwining around the Green Dragon, the Dragon Priest’s eyes widening in shock.

"This is Triton’s... power!!!"

Weaving tentacles from the roots of the Ancient Dream Tree stretched outward, like anemones swaying in the air, luring their target.

The obscure chant of the Old God played, driving minds into frenzied madness.

[Come! Come!! Embrace Me!!! Free Me!!! I shall be with you!!!]

Below the Ancient Dream Tree, sealed was the spirit of the Old God Triton. Irason, the sealer, had not expected that the god’s broken body still retained power, even till now.

"No! Lyle!! Don’t open it!!!!"

The crisis of the City of Wandering had not yet abated, but was the seal on the Old God about to be broken?

Under the despairing gaze of the Green Dragon Priest, Lyle approached the Ancient Dream Tree, immersed in the caress of its tentacles.

The Omen Giant chuckled, plucking branches from the ancient tree.

[Yes! My offspring, destroy it, gnaw it, release me, rescue me!]

The Omen Giant raised the branch high, stabbing it violently into the hole within the tree roots with the fractured tip.

Earth-shattering shrieks echoed as the Old God’s tentacles writhed in insanity, the corrupted world collapsing, reverting to its original state. The Omen Giant laughed hysterically, swallowing the Dream Tree branch stained with the Old God’s blood.

The mocked Old God roared in anger.

[How dare you defy your master, I, am a God!!!]

With a half-gnawed branch in its mouth, the Omen Giant tapped against the trunk of the Ancient Dream Tree, as if knocking on the door of the Old God’s prison cell.

"You could be a prisoner, you could be my food, you can even be a failure. But you won’t be a god."

"Stay in your kennel and watch, watch this world conform to my desires."

Lyle’s body merged into the shadows, and the Omen Giant delivered the final decree.

"I am the god who twists everything; I am the lord who brings about the end."