Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 728 - 672: Paradise Illusion
The desire to transform into Nia, having faced bitter experiences, the Transformer Monsters set aside. But their curiosity was not yet quenched, before them stood a genuine, seemingly less complicated, ordinary person.
Lyle, appearing easy to replicate, snatched memories from a brief duplication informed the Transformer Monsters that this human Spirit Summoner, who studied at the Lich Academy, was closely connected to Nia. Half desiring to acquire more knowledge about Nia, and half curious about Lyle, the Transformer Monsters commenced their replication attempt on him. Their bodies contorted and changed once more, and a sense of spiritual invasion began to stir within Lyle.
Lyle had long been prepared.
Ominous presences in Lyle’s mental world sneered, the writhing shadows concealing parts of his memories. The ill-intentioned fear incarnate had created numerous little trinkets in this already inhuman mental space, sufficient to make any mental invader wail in misery. The last entity that attempted to delve into Lyle’s psyche was a Fallen Angel, and that tragic angel was now dead. Nia was the fleshly Evil God, whilst the ominous presence was the mental Evil God.
The duplicate of Lyle quickly reshaped its form, but before its eyes could open, they were struck as if by a heavy blow, their bodies collapsing. These lesser Transformer Monsters clutched their forms, rolling on the ground and crying out in pain.
Mumu extricated its slender roots from the earth and approached, accompanied by two similar Treants. They were not tempted by the information of Nia and Lyle, rather, they maintained their original appearances. The older Transformer Monsters were more cunning, which was the explanation Lyle could think of.
Mumu did not attack, instead it, along with its compatriots, walked towards the crying Transformer Monsters, and its hands extended, turning into willow branches that swept over their bodies. A blue-green radiance emanated from the three Treants, slowly calming the screams of the Transformer Monsters.
Mumu patted the head of a grassland fairy named Yingying, who glanced at Lyle and then burrowed into the grass, disappearing from sight.
The small Transformer Monsters dispersed in a frenzy, while the three parallel Treants turned their gaze towards Lyle.
"I’m very sorry, my companions forgot the habit of respecting personal privacy and have received their punishment for this. Please forgive them," they said.
Lyle nodded silently, his eyes’ sparkle examining Mumu. He ventured a question, pointing at the small ones now returned to pebbles.
"I can understand, the curiosity of young life is exceptionally strong. Actually, I wasn’t very disciplined when I was young either," he said.
"Young?" Mumu shook its head, "Yingying and the others are not young. In fact, they’re older than us, but the decay of time has weakened them, and they have forgotten many things."
Reverse aging? Lyle realized he had been mistaken.
"You aren’t Transformer Monsters, Vilimlo records the memories of everyone it replaces, they only get stronger, there is no aging. What are you, exactly?" he asked.
Mumu paused for a moment, "Vilimlo? What’s that? What are we?"
It shared puzzled glances with its companions, mirrored by equally confused expressions.
"We’re not sure either, but Father calls us ’Phantoms’, just as we don’t understand the world beyond the sanctuary, we also know nothing of our origins. What we do understand is the present..."
"We possess the gift of transformation, we can learn and comprehend." Mumu went back to a spot near the Wall Monster, "Father says, our birth came with a mission, and we have always been seeking it. Some have become wind, some have become water, and I have become a tree. Perhaps that is my mission, to bask in the sunlight, bear sweet fruits, provide shade, to be a tree."
"To become a guardian of the sanctuary, welcoming every guest. This is the mission I can feel right now, it’s a very vague but delightful sensation," Mumu explained.
"This is paradise, dear Lyle. We will attempt to understand every guest that enters this place, provide help, solve their worries and troubles, to the best of our ability," Mumu said apologetically with a smile, "provided that the guest wishes us to do so."
I was completely and utterly wrong. Mumu’s sincere and earnest behavior made Lyle feel entirely out of place. He had misinterpreted the goodwill of these phantoms like a victim of paranoid delusion, when he should have realized from the encounter with the Wall Monster that they had been trying every which way to ease Lyle’s tension. Yet by a series of misadventures, his caution only intensified, and he treated those helpful little phantoms as fools to be toyed with.
Lyle felt the shame that had been gradually buried by Andrey crawl out from its grave, roasting his skin over a fire.
It was time to open his heart to these phantoms.
As if.
The more genuine and tolerant these phantoms behaved, the more out of place Lyle’s dark, ugly thoughts became. The ominous laughs as the Evil God further concealed Lyle’s psyche, hiding the ugliness, Lyle only then had a chance to maintain a shining exterior, to stand together with these pure beings.
It seemed like the secrecy offered by Mister Reporter was not difficult at all.
"Mumu, may I join you? I would like to join the tribe of phantoms." Although they were not from Vilimlo, these phantoms were similar to Transformer Monsters in terms of talent; they could transform too, and as long as Lyle was willing to be replicated, they were equally suitable for his tribe.
Mumu’s form gradually blurred and slowly merged with Lyle’s outline. He reached out a finger, inching towards Lyle’s forehead. Without dodging, Lyle accepted his replication. The Evil God relaxed its control, allowing the thought of joining the tribe and ascending to be read by the phantoms.
Mumu transformed to look just like Lyle—well, a brighter and more radiant Lyle—who smiled and nodded. "Do you wish to join our tribe and thus ascend to the Four Locks?"
Shame washed over Lyle like a tide rolling back.
"Eh? Why feel ashamed, Lyle? Isn’t it a good thing to want to become stronger? Only with power can one better protect the weak. We very much welcome those with ambition."
Lyle was overjoyed inside, "So I can join?"
Mumu didn’t directly answer, but extended a finger toward a red-roofed tower at the base of the mountains. "It’s not for me to decide, Lyle. That tower was once our father’s abode, he is no longer here, but for the arrangements of paradise, for us, he left a Complete Book of Omniscience within the tower, containing his instructions. You need to enter there and seek it out, the phantoms will follow our father’s will."
Lyle bid Mumu farewell and headed deeper into paradise. His mood was joyous, and the surrounding scenery appeared dazzling. The patch of snow on the mountaintop in the distance, the cool, refreshing wind that met his face, the glimmering water flowing downstream, and the brightly-scaled fish blowing bubbles among the pebbles on the riverbed. There the two red deer appeared again, standing on the stone platform and chewing on moss, one of them transformed by the phantoms. It led Lyle through Stonehenge, rubbing its antlers against the bushes, quickly adorning them with berries.
Before those berries were completely eaten by Nia, Lyle arrived at the base of the tower. Pushing open the aged wooden door, he stepped into the dark tower, which seemed to have been uninhabited for a long time, with cobwebs hanging on the candlestick, and a moldy smell emitting from the room. Lyle took out a crystal blessed with holy light to illuminate the stairs and ascended. The first floor was a reception room, the second floor’s purpose was unclear, the third floor seemed to be the father’s living quarters, a bookcase in the corner crammed with books, the broken windows letting in a chill breeze, ancient-style robes piled in the wardrobe, and in the center, a wool carpet scattered with manuscripts and some unidentifiable measuring instruments.
Lyle saw the Book of Omniscience. It was clearly placed on the solo lectern, sunlight pouring through the broken window onto the red cover, Lyle saw runes dancing two inches high in the air. Nia’s tentacles easily placed the Book of Omniscience in Lyle’s hands. No traps, no magical snares, no strange powders, no locks.
The Complete Book of Omniscience was thin, with less than ten pages from what could be seen from the spine. Baffled, Lyle opened the book.
On the first page, Lyle’s heart plummeted to the abyss.
"Whether you are a cunning rogue harbouring evil intentions, a kind-hearted individual striving for goodness or a neutral seeker of knowledge. I, Nurfa Hesion, will never share my achievements with you. In paradise, within the tribe of phantoms I created, you will definitely not find what you desire!"
