Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 554 - 507

```

In the City of Wandering, on the road ahead, Lyle’s outwardly calm appearance belied an inner turmoil of argument.

"Tell me you are capable of handling the Mechanical Devine Sect’s mission, even though we have no information right now. Ominous, being headstrong and brave is not my style—didn’t you hear what Delusion said before? We cannot fail this mission; we are simply suitable candidates, and even he can’t guarantee our complete competence. Why don’t we take some more time to think it over?"

Deep within his heart, Lyle felt like a bottle, with black sludge creeping and climbing up its inner walls, bringing a true chill into his somewhat agitated mind.

Ominous was like a fog that enshrouded him.

"Are you blaming me?" the strange tone carried no anger, as if an elder teasing a child, "I merely made the choice that lies deep within your heart."

"That’s not my thought!" In the midst of the black mist, Lyle’s consciousness roared, angered by the fear that obstructed his view and restricted his freedom, "That’s your thought! You are the anomaly birthed from madness, you are the Ominous devouring me!"

The black fog twisted into a vortex in front of Lyle, in the center of which lay the sleeping Nia. Just as Lyle reached out, a twisted, withered claw of a hand emerged from the vortex—it was the Omen Giant, crouching on the ground like a grotesque monkey.

"You are resisting me again, Lyle."

Black sludge flowed from the two hollows where its head should have been, consuming the barren land underneath it.

Ominous raised its hand, revealing the world beyond the black fog.

"Look at your spirit, so diminutive, so pitiful, like a small, dark room. I must kneel down my prideful knees and hunch my back just to share this space with you."

"You’re afraid, Lyle, but are you afraid of me?" The giant with black sludge for eyes lowered its massive face so close to Lyle’s upward gaze.

"What you fear, is this era, a powerful era where magic exists."

"Andrey shattered your transmigrator’s arrogance, the power of magic eroded your spine. The more you know, the more you fear."

The black sludge engulfed Lyle, and in those hollow eyes, Lyle saw himself upon first arriving in Andrey, witnessing everything. Excitement, expectation, humility, and fear.

Lyle felt like a clown stripped naked and paraded through the streets, worthless before the gods, as He proclaimed his ugliness, displayed his sins, and then, purification.

"You did well, joining Andrey, studying Spirit Summoning Studies, becoming a Spirit Summoning Apprentice, playing your part in this era..."

"As another part of you, I watched how you integrated into this world, assuming the identity of a humble person."

The Omen Giant roared with its hands on the ground.

"But I did not stoop to enter your world just to watch us both become mundane."

"We, are gods!"

Pain, a shattered land, a shattered sky, the entire spiritual world shook and collapsed under the roar of Ominous.

"What you lack is the courage to stand up and face it all. Tell me, Lyle, does this world care about such trifles as time? Before it destroys everything we have, will it let you prepare? No, constant readiness is but a bluff, the brave prevail when paths cross."

"Lyle, if your friends and family need help and you’re certain you can’t do it, what would you do?"

"...Do everything in my power?"

"That’s not courage, but I like it."

Ominous let out a sinister laugh.

"We need to act before we think about fear, intelligence, strength—all come second..."

"We need a touch of being extraordinary..."

```

"Madness."

The torrent of pain engulfed him, and Lyle could feel the wind, sharp as blades, brushing past from unknown corners, born from thoughts too rapid for the caves to sustain, bringing with them a profound enlightenment amidst agony.

The world of order had been crushed, and the towering form of the Omen Giant stood erect within Lyle’s soul.

"I prostrate myself to become your shadow because I will share with you these stars."

Above the shattered expanse of his spiritual realm was a chaotic and ethereal starry night.

The Omen Giant extended its clawed hand, and the glowing stars, like fruits, were grasped in its palm, casting a marvelous light upon Lyle.

In an instant, the perspective changed.

Lyle looked at the glowing little star in his hand and, with a sinister smile, crushed it into fragments.

"Let’s cause a commotion, one more troublemaker for Andrey won’t make a difference."

The unique scent of machine oil snapped Lyle’s consciousness back to reality.

He now stood in a deep, silent alley in the City of Wandering, twenty meters away from a loose and swaying signpost that indicated this was the Bright District, a narrow alley nobody cared about, or perhaps a deserted district. The cobblestone road was aged and broken due to neglect, and the water collecting in the cracks shimmered with a green oily sheen as if a swarm of slime creatures dwelled beneath.

Mr. Fantasy stood about two meters in front of him, facing a solid wall that appeared indistinguishable from the rest, with the same fine cracks, the same yellowed surfaces, and the same fallen chunks of lime.

Growing a bit impatient, he tapped and knocked on the bricks with his two mechanical arms.

"Maybe he’s looking for the entrance to Diagon Alley."

"Then that delusion must belong to a terrible wizard."

Lyle and the Omen shared their private joke.

He turned his gaze to the three individuals behind him.

Shiny, Manipulator, and Adapter.

"How did you all come here?"

Mr. Fantasy’s mission was aimed specifically at Lyle, and the Necromancer Figure Club trio didn’t have a good impression of this assignment. What made them set aside their valuable time to accompany Lyle to the Mechanical Devine Sect, curiosity or some other purpose?

"Eh? Didn’t our boss Plague Doctor say, ’We accept the mission’? ’We’ includes all members of the Necromancer Figure Club, right?" Shiny tilted his head, the scales on his face rustling as they moved.

"I have no interest in that place, but we couldn’t possibly let Mr. Plague Doctor venture into enemy territory alone," Manipulator articulated his arms, the joints cracking loudly.

"I’m interested, quite interested in the Mechanical Devine Sect, especially in aspects of destruction and conquest," Adapter remarked with a fake smile, winking at Lyle as if there was some unspoken understanding between them.

"You guys..."

Lyle covered his face, his smile oddly chilling under the sharp and sinister gazes.

Mr. Fantasy looked at the grinning quartet, pondered for a long while, and still lifted his hand.

"Um, Lyle, we in the Mechanical Devine Sect have invited you fine folks over as guests..."

"Though I’m accustomed to the general mental state of the Liches as a species."

"Could you at least put on a facade on the surface?"