Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

The spinal wheel was easily evaded, and the curses had little effect on him.

“It is not gentlemanly to interrupt a nobleman’s conversation. Your little toy is quite interesting, Mr. Lyle.”

Hamlet hung himself from the ceiling to avoid the second impact of the Spinal Wheel.

Lyle tossed aside the bandit's remains he had previously preserved and summoned several skeleton soldiers to protect him. Their purpose was simple: to hold off Hamlet as he attacked Lyle until the Wheel of the Spine crushed him.

Hamlet's tentacles swung in the air as if playing on a swing, effortlessly dodging the wild impacts of the Spinal Wheel, his elegance never faltering.

"Is that all you have? Mr. Lyle, have you run out of tricks? Let me guess, did you hide that little black tentacle monster in that corner, preparing to ambush me? It's unbelievable, I can actually smell the scent of one of my own kind on that little monster. She will definitely be of great use to my evolution."

Hamlet simply swayed a short distance away, showing no intention of attacking Lyle, seemingly truly fulfilling his promise to execute Lyle in the end.

Damn it, he's stalling for time. The hallucinations his companions are experiencing might not be as simple as he thinks.

Lyle turned to look at his struggling companions. They had stopped attacking each other, their bodies stained with blood like Hamlet's.

His soft voice came from behind Lyle.

"My illusions corrupt the minds of those who become addicted, and once they reach a certain stage, even if their minds haven't yet fallen, their bodies can be temporarily lent to me. Mr. Lyle, the harm your companions inflicted upon you doesn't count as my attack. A nobleman keeps his promises, because promises are tools used to numb people. Now, Mr. Lyle, turn your weapons on your companions and watch them die for you. By the way, you seem to be a necromancer. What a mistake. I suppose their lives aren't important to you, are they?"

Hamlet's sinister laugh tightened like a hand gripping Lyle's heart. The approaching Karen and her companions weren't dangerous yet; their bodies were merely being manipulated, and they couldn't use their powers. They were simply charging at their skeleton soldiers like zombies. But what would happen next? When they were fully corrupted and could use their own powers, could he still withstand them? Without a way to break free of the illusion, he had to restrict their movements without harming them, including the damage they would inflict if they broke free.

Karen was completely stained red, and she pounced on the skeleton like a jackal; William and Fanila were mostly stained red, and they slowly walked towards Lyle; the crimson and shadow on Elian's body were locked in a stalemate, but the black was being steadily encroached upon; Hines was as if experiencing a nightmare, his eyes were tightly closed, and his pale body was turning crimson.

Even Kevin got up from the ground.

"My Holy Light! Am I still in the illusion?" Kevin was not stained with blood. He had actually broken free from the illusion and was now looking at his companions, who were like walking corpses, with a shocked expression.

"Kevin! Come here!" Lyle led the skeleton soldiers to a new position and met up with Kevin.

Kevin, panting, looked at Lyle and said, "So now it's just the two of us, these two unfortunate brothers?"

"Yes, Kevin, how did you break free from the illusion?"

"Ah, because my hallucination was so unreal, I actually tripped and fell, and on flat ground no less! I've never actually fallen flat on my face before, and there wasn't even a human carpet to cushion it, it's so unreal!"

"..." The luck of the Emperor of Luck is always speechless. Did he fall down by luck in order to get rid of the illusion?

Kevin looked at the Duke of Hamlet swinging not far away. "Lyle, can you beat that thing?"

“It’s difficult. He’s too agile. Apart from the Spinal Wheel that charges in all directions, I’m afraid I have no spell that can break through his armor.”

"Then aren't we in grave danger? Where are we going to find weapons that can harm him, and what about our controlled companions..."

Before the words were finished, a pale, sharp branch shot out between the two of them like a spear. It was a meter long, slightly bent, with a white flame at the end, carrying a withered magic.

A withered, decaying cage.

White, diseased vines sprouted from beneath their feet, tightly binding them and hardening the outermost layer into a tough shell.

It was Hines; he had broken free of the illusion. He knelt on the ground, and like his companions, branches sprouted from his body, enveloping him completely. The light from the lantern emitted Hines' voice.

"My consciousness has been corrupted, forcing me to retreat into the depths of my dreams. The branch I've condensed with all my strength carries the withering magic that drains twisted life, enough to destroy the flesh and blood of Duke Hamlet. Find the right opportunity and deliver the fatal blow. Don't worry about your companions; I've restricted their movements. Once you defeat the Duke, their illusions will naturally dissipate."

Lyle pulled the branch from the ground and looked at Kevin, who had a blank expression on his face.

"Would you let the Duke of Hamlet come up here himself and smash his chest against the tip of this branch?"

"That's too unrealistic, he's not an idiot..."

"I feel relieved to hear you say that."

"..."

Chapter 181 You're Just Unlucky

The Duke of Hamlet now resembled a snake with its fangs removed, hissing coldly as he dodged the Wheel of the Spine, maintaining a distance that was neither too close nor too far from Lyle.

He has temporarily lost the ability to control his companions, so he has to take matters into his own hands. He is also wary of Lyle's short gun, which has led to a tug-of-war.

Lyle is controlling the skeletons in an attempt to hinder the Duke, while the Duke is stalling for time, waiting for the corrupted puppet to awaken or to find a way to defeat Lyle unexpectedly.

The situation remains in a strange balance, with both sides waiting for the final blow that will tip the scales.

As Lyle was fully focused on manipulating his creation, he heard a strange noise behind him.

Looking back, Lyle saw the disintegrating skeleton and a bone in Kevin's hand.

The two looked at each other, exchanging deep surprise.

"Uh... I didn't expect your skeleton soldiers to be so fragile. I was just looking for something to use as a weapon..."

Lyle's expression returned to normal.

“That’s the core, the hardest part of the skeleton. Because it’s so hard to break, it usually serves as the core of resurrection spells. I’m not surprised you got the best one.”

"But thanks to you, our fighting strength has decreased. So, Mr. Lucky Star, can you make our enemies suffer too?"

Sensing Lyle's mood, Kevin realized that if he didn't behave well, Lyle might not be able to resist eliminating the mole.

Kevin swallowed hard and, as if gambling, threw the bone weapon he had just acquired at Duke Hamlet.

The Duke looked at the flying toy and let out a disdainful sneer. He swung his tentacles and knocked the bone away. The bone spun around in the air, its comical posture seeming to mock the two foolish boys.

The speeding spinal wheel, by sheer coincidence, propelled itself toward the Duke, and the flying bone struck the sloping surface of the white bone wheel. The immense kinetic energy, like the second stage of a rocket, sent the bone flying back like a sword, piercing the ceiling.

Cracks appeared in the ceiling, and large sections of the wall were falling off, one of which was caught by the tentacles of the Duke of Hamlet.

He was like someone who slipped on a log bridge, lost his balance and fell, landing under the wheels of the spine.

The empty room echoed with the sound of bones clashing, followed by the Duke of Hamlet's scream as blood gushed out.

He was cut in two, his long tentacles, now devoid of thought, thrashed about on the ground in his final moments, then lay still. His upper limbs lay on the ground, his waist and abdomen a bloody mess. It seemed he had missed a fatal blow; the Duke of Hamlet's body was relatively intact, having escaped a fatal attack.

But it doesn't matter. He's now lost his best-favored tendrils for movement, like a poor worm tied to railroad tracks, waiting for the final blow. Let the Wheel of the Spine crush him one more time.

Lyle casually summoned the bone wheel to rush towards him, thinking that the situation was settled.

But to everyone's surprise, the Duke suddenly used the strength of his upper body to jump up, and the already short distance between them became almost touching after this jump.

Lyle looked at his hideous claws and the blood gushing from his abdomen, and gripped the short branch gun tightly in his hand.

The Duke of Hamlet chose a sinister angle from which, if Lyle recklessly drove the Spinal Wheel, all three would suffer severe comminuted fractures, perhaps even more severe ones for Lyle and Kevin.

The spinal wheel stopped moving, and Lyle thrust his short spear at the Duke.

The force of the violent impact sent Lyle flying, with smoke billowing in the center.

Lyle gripped the branch tightly, watching nervously through the smoke and dust.

"Kevin, are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" "I'm fine!"

As the smoke cleared, the Duke of Hamlet vanished, leaving behind two Kevins who looked like twins. They were identical in appearance, clothing, and even the extent of their wounds and the dust on their bodies were the same.

The difference is that one Kevin was quite far from the wall, while the other Kevin was knocked to a different location.

There are two Kevins, one of whom is the Duke in disguise, who is temporarily seriously injured.

The two Kevins looked at each other, and they both clearly realized the seriousness of the situation.

Kevin, who was near the center of the room, immediately revealed his identity by explaining the little secret between himself and Lyle.

"Back at Eiffel Academy, Lyle, you once poisoned Professor Feller to avoid a test! You used a multipathogen, and the next day's autopsy test turned into a surprise serology test by Professor Bogdan. You almost failed!"

"I am the real Kevin!"

Lyle, recalling his dark past, manipulates the Spinal Wheel to ram into another Kevin, the wheel embedding itself in the wall.

The Duke of Hamlet's scheme was easily seen through by Lyle.

Kevin dusted himself off and walked toward Lyle with a smile, completely unsuspecting, still boasting about his cleverness.

"I'm smart, aren't I?" Kevin said with a sly smile, just like when the two of them used to play pranks on each other.

This battle was a victory for both Lyle and Kevin.

Lyle smiled and opened his arms to Kevin as if to give him a hug.

Kevin also opened his arms wide in perfect unison.

Just as the two were about to embrace, Lyle plunged the dry branch pistol into Kevin's chest, watching Kevin cough up blood, and smiled.

"Lyle? Is this still an illusion? Why are you doing this to me?"

Lyle replied coldly, "Is there any need for pretense, Your Excellency Duke Hamlet?"

“I am Kevin, the one with all our shared memories. I have proven myself…”

Lyle didn't show any surprise. "So what? Who says you have to reveal secrets to distinguish truth from falsehood? Even if you do, how can you guarantee you're right? Hamlet's illusion might be able to unearth memories from our minds, and these past secrets are insignificant."

“What you did was indeed the most standard procedure in my mind. If it were up to me, revealing a shared secret would indeed be the best way to confirm identities. However, Kevin is not me. He won’t answer questions according to my ideas. Your words are as if you are reading my mind.”

Kevin's body began to weaken, and his skin began to turn pale.

"That's just your assumption. How could you hurt your friend because of a nagging assumption in your head?"

Lyle said matter-of-factly, "That's right, I was just hypothesizing. I just wanted to stab you, since you've practically delivered yourself to my face. Even if you really were Kevin, I would still stab you."

Lyle shrugged as he watched the Duke of Hamlet shrivel back to his original form.

"I can only say, you're out of luck, Mr. Hamlet."

Chapter 182 The Secret Chamber

Ignoring the pool of blood left behind by the Duke of Hamlet, a corrosive liquid that had carved irregular craters into the ground, the white branch that Hines had condensed with the power of decay had fulfilled its purpose and dissipated into the air.

Lyle tried to control the Spinal Wheel to move backward, but found that the massive creature was stuck in the wall, with broken stones blocking its path and preventing it from advancing an inch. Kevin, unharmed, crawled out unharmed from a narrow gap in the corner of the wall and between the sharp bone spikes.

That's true luck.

Kevin brushed the dust off his clothes and looked at the huge wheel that had almost killed him.

"So, this is the correct way to use this torture device? Lyle, when you took it out earlier, you were actually trying to trick us?"

"No, the spinal wheel is just a means of transportation, but you know, great things are often dangerous."

“Like me?” Kevin joked, though honestly, he felt like he was going to die when the meat grinder came crashing down on him. Now he needed to talk some trash to calm his racing heart.