Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 614 - 567: Farewell to the Lich Crown
"Oh, right, there’s one last thing that needs to be given to you, Lyle." The dragon Mr. stood up and waved his fingers to disperse the skeletons entwined around the rock, revealing the tall experiment platform that had been prepared in the center. "That is the key material for your Dragon Transformation experiment."
At the center of the experiment platform, pieced together from countless intersecting bones, ten Skeleton Hands released their restraint on each other. They acted like an elevator for humans, lifting the object that had been protected underneath them. A three-meter-tall Skeleton Totem rose from the center of the platform, as if dozens of skeletons had been compressed into a three cubic meter space. One look at those gaping, clawing bones on the surface of the Totem Pole was enough to know how sinister the previous seal was.
It looked like a prison cell, or some kind of sealing device.
The Totem Pole had three layers, and as the bones of each layer unraveled their shackles and scattered on the ground, Lyle gradually saw the Magic Power radiance inside. The thing looked familiar. When the second layer fell away, only one more layer remained—a cage forged by three complete and tall skeletons using the power of death, contesting with the deep blue radiance of Magic Power. Those three skeletons were the dragon Mr.’s avatars, desperately controlling the creature at the center trying to break out of the cage.
It had a body shaped from Magic Power, resembling a large starfish, with each tentacle firmly against the bone cage. The center even burst forth with a dense Magic Power glow, cutting the seal with blades of light.
Lyle recognized it, or at least a part of it.
"Andrei’s Crown of the Lich?"
Trapped in the cage was the Divine Artifact of Andrey, always ready to remarry the Holy Light—the Dean’s Crown of Knowledge. Only now, it appeared far more vibrant, or rather more frenzied, than Lyle had ever seen. The tentacles shaped from Magic Power were taut with muscle, Lyle could feel the stinging Magic Power spikes leaking out of the cage. It was completely impossible to associate it with the image of the Crown that acted all meek and mild in front of Mr. Raymond.
Was this the true face of the Lich Crown, a ferocious, warped magical creation?
"Roar!!!" The entire cage shook violently, seeming as though it was about to collapse, yet it was firm as a rock. Because it had no hope of being freed, the Lich Crown let out a feral roar. Poor thing, it had to shape a dog’s head just to express its fury.
"You’ve used it once before, Lyle. I’ve already submitted the Dragon Creation project experiment application together with the scholars to Mr. Dean, and he approved it quickly and lent us the Lich Crown for a short period. You should know how powerful its abilities are, and you should also understand how troublesome it is to control it."
Troublesome? Use Raymond.
Watching the Lich Crown inside the cage behave like a little monster, Lyle was taken aback.
"Mr. Dragon, is this the normal state of the Lich Crown?"
"Yes, oh. When you take it out of the Dean’s office, it looks like an ordinary crown. But that’s just a guise, it’ll escape without a trace the moment you lose attention. You can’t find it, and after a while, the Lich Crown will reappear in the Dean’s hands. We all think that the Dean giving out the Lich Crown is a trial, if you can’t control it, then you’re not qualified for the following plans, you’re eliminated." Mr. Dragon spoke with the air of an elder imparting wisdom, offering earnest advice to Lyle, "Us professors who often interact with the Lich Crown have discovered a simple trick, that is to seal it the moment you get it, then continuously drain its Magic Power until it’s too weak to escape and obediently provides a knowledge boost. Don’t worry about its damage, Lyle, the Lich Crown is the Royal Crown of Andrey’s lineage, you can smash it dozens of times and it will come back lively as ever."
"This time, I’ve already exhausted most of the Lich Crown’s energy, but in this experiment, you are the protagonist, Lyle, you need to figure out a way to subdue it. I’m also quite curious about how you did it last time, did Scarlet help you?"
So that’s how it is. Every time Andrey had a major project, the Lich Crown would be tormented half to death by the professors, shamefully turned into a tool Crown. Not causing them trouble would be too easy, too kind for the Lich Crown. Yet even so, Andrey’s major projects never failed, although it’s possible some vanity-stricken fellows might have twisted the outcomes; but the Lich Crown... it truly is a Divine Artifact. Lyle had very little confidence in transforming into a dragon himself, but if he could get the full-powered Lich Crown to aid him, the chances should increase significantly, right?
The way he treated the Lich Crown surely had to be much more effective than these professors who suppress it with brute force. No wonder the Lich Crown coveted Mr. Raymond’s head, because Mr. Raymond was not only powerful, he was the only one who had ever been gentle with it (having never started any academic gathering, while other professors had tortured the Lich Crown several times, their grudges even greater than patricide).
"Mr. Dragon, I need to communicate with the Crown of the Lich," Lyle said.
"Communicate, but its power hasn’t dissipated yet..."
"There’s no need, teacher. I have a more effective method than yours."
The dragon nodded, and on the skeleton cage, a pair of crossed bone hands opened up, leaving a palm-sized gap of magical force. The next second, the core of the Crown of the Lich rammed into this gap, then got stuck, emitting a frantic roar.
Lyle stepped forward as the Crown’s magic lash and Nia’s tendrils intertwined, managing to barely restrain the rampaging crown.
"Do you still remember me, illustrious Crown of the Lich?"
"Roar!!!" The crown, gathering a sphere of magic power, seemed to be the precursor to casting some powerful spell.
"I am a descendant of Mr. Raymond the Purifier, the Purifier Plague Doctor."
"Meow meow meow?" Upon hearing the name Raymond, the Crown of the Lich’s gathering light dissipated, and its body became still. A small string of magic characters appeared at its center, [You].
Lyle smiled wryly; it was human language, not Emo language. During this time, had the Crown of the Lich already switched its official language to Raymond’s hometown dialect? Although the learned lich should be able to understand it regardless.
"Yes, do you remember me?"
The Crown of the Lich’s light flickered a couple of times. A cluster of magic thread drew in the air, sketching a black monster, an ill omen. Then it seemed to think better of it and added a gold edge to the monster with a glimmering appearance. It was probably trying to convey Lyle’s relationship with Raymond.
"I need your help with this experiment. Once it’s successful, old rules apply; see Raymond to make a deal?"
A Skeleton Hand pattern appeared in the air, then the bone hand moved, giving a thumbs-up. [Agreed]
The Crown of the Lich retracted its magic tentacles and assumed a calm demeanor, floating in the center of the cage. Lyle opened the cage, took the Crown of the Lich in his hand, and the next moment, the crown was in Nia’s mouth, tasting the aura of its magic power.
The crown endured.
Looking at the Crown of the Lich in Lyle’s hand and in Nia’s mouth, Mr. Dragon remained silent for a moment.
"You always surprise me, my student."
