Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

Lyle looked at Kevin with a hint of helplessness in his eyes. "Of course, you cursed and killed a fourth-tier monster."

Kevin looked a little embarrassed as he scratched his blond hair, seemingly unconcerned about its disheveled appearance. "Before coming out with you guys, I had no idea I had any talent. If all of this is really just luck, then I'm afraid I'll soon be devoured by fate. After all, fortune and misfortune are intertwined."

Something lunged at Kevin from the shadows like a venomous snake. Before Lyle could even warn him, bony tentacles had already bound Kevin tightly.

It was the severed tentacle of the Duke of Hamlet. Even after his upper body had completely dissolved, the four simple tentacles were still moving! At the point where the four tentacles had come together, a blood-red tumor had grown, on which a blurry face appeared, with the same malevolent look in the eyes as the Duke of Hamlet.

"You're still alive?"

The Duke of Hamlet still maintained his elegance, even though he now resembled a four-clawed octopus.

"Of course, the Heart of God has granted me boundless vitality. As long as I have a small fragment left, I can develop into an individual. Now, capable Mr. Lyle, your toy is stuck in the wall, and that broken branch has vanished. What do you have to fight me with? Those pretentious skeletons? Victory be with Hamlet!"

Lyle relaxed as the Duke's bony tentacles left marks on Kevin's body.

“Mr. Hamlet, if I’m not mistaken, your current fragile body doesn’t even reach the second tier of strength. I think I could easily defeat you in your current state…”

Faced with the objective reality presented by Lyle, the Duke let out a chilling laugh, the tip of his spike sliding across Kevin's face. "Then I must thank lucky Mr. Kevin. The registration form he signed for Hamlet was actually a forged Blood Curse Scroll. This means that he has nominally become a member of the Hamlet family, and has also become my blood food. As long as I consume him, my power will be restored to its original level through the clan! Mr. Kevin, you are truly my lucky star."

Faced with the terrifying, slowly approaching mouthparts resembling those of a lamprey, which opened at the intersection of its tentacles, Kevin simply corrected him.

“In fact, sir, my good fortune only applies to myself, and anyone who stays by my side will be very unlucky. You are going to be unlucky, Your Excellency, Duke Hamlet.”

"Fate will be devoured by me, starting with you!" Duke Hamlet paid no heed to Kevin's words; he was already eager to enjoy fresh flesh and blood.

Kevin sighed, a smile playing on his lips.

“Eat him, Nia.”

Black tentacles, like sprayed ink, gushed across Kevin's body, each blood and bone tentacle entangled by more black tentacles. The last thing Hamlet saw was a terrifying rift much larger than himself, which completely swallowed him.

……

Before Lyle and the others entered the underground stone chamber.

In the secret passage, Lyle walked toward Kevin.

"Kevin, are you sure you want to come down with us? You're not strong enough. You'd better stay up there and take care of yourself. It might be very dangerous down there."

"No, maybe I can help. I have a feeling I can."

Lyle looked at Kevin's determined expression and did not try to dissuade him further.

"Nia, go to Kevin and protect him." Nia's black tentacles crawled onto Kevin's body. Kevin had been possessed by Jodenia several times during the journey, so he had no objection to this process.

"Take Nia with you, at least it'll give you a chance to survive."

"Thanks, Lyle. Don't worry, I'll definitely make the most of the mascot!"

"Take it easy. We have plenty of staff, so we probably don't need a mascot to make up the numbers."

……

Nia had long been infiltrating Kevin's body, which is why Lyle dared to act so recklessly before. He already knew who the real Kevin was thanks to Nia's possession, and the crushing wheel of bones was merely a convincing illusion. All of this was an act to lure Duke Hamlet into his trap. But unexpectedly, the surviving Duke Hamlet suddenly turned on Kevin, and Nia, infiltrating Kevin's body, took advantage of the situation and devoured him.

Kevin looked at the marks on his body and his clothes, which were already a bit tattered, but it still didn't affect his appearance. He was handsome and had a carefree air about him.

Lyle is observing the cocoons that protect their companions.

"The blood on their bodies is starting to fade; it seems the Duke is indeed dead."

We've finally avenged Ariana. I wonder how she's doing now. Beatrice should be able to take good care of her.

After the exhilaration of the life-or-death struggle left his body, Lyle fell back into his previous guilt.

Kevin was idly gazing at the murals on the stone wall to pass the time, while Nia was curled up in a ball, digesting Hamlet's flesh and blood. She wondered what kind of effect Hamlet's bizarre flesh and blood would have on her. It should be alright, right? After all, the scholar seemed to have said that Nia herself was a deformed being, like an evil god.

"Lyle, come quick! I've made a new discovery!" Kevin's excited voice came from the dark wall not far away, the darkest part of the entire room. If you looked closely at the black wall, you would find that it was actually a deep dark red. On the wall was an irregular, twisted five-pointed star drawn with a few random lines, and the lower left corner was missing. A very shallow rectangular indentation stood out jarringly against the smooth mural.

"A mechanism? But where's the key? It looks like a thin stone slab with diagonal lines; we don't think we've seen anything like it along the way," Lyle said, puzzled.

Kevin had a strange look on his face, his hand rummaging inside his clothes. "No, we've met before."

Kevin placed a thin, unfolded scroll with a diagonal crease in the center into the groove. The red cover blended seamlessly with the surrounding deep red.

“Sheliu’s letters…”

Chapter 183 The Prince's Revenge

The scroll was pressed tightly against the stone wall. Kevin's hand had just left the red cover when a bright red liquid seeped from the top of the scroll, soaking the red cover. With an old, dull thud, the stone wall, etched with a twisted five-pointed star, unfolded to one side, revealing a path wide enough for one person to pass through.

The two exchanged a glance, mentally prepared themselves, and entered the secret room.

Before leaving, Lyle stroked Nia, who was digesting. She was like someone who had eaten too much and had not yet returned to her usual tentacle monster form. On the ground, she had become a black mass that was expanding and contracting, like a beating heart.

Realizing that Nia's changes posed no danger, Lyle left her with some instructions.

"After you get up, Nia, remember to take good care of everyone."

After the two left, Nia's black bun underwent a huge change.

From within the dumpling emerged grid-like tentacles, like sprouting saplings, followed by branches. These grid-like tentacles grew upwards like chains, reaching the ceiling and suspending Nia's black dumpling in mid-air.

The black ball pulsated in the air, its appearance similar to the throbbing mass of Hamlet's flesh that Lyle and the others had initially seen in the center of the stone chamber.

The rhythmic throbbing sound became the only sound in the entire empty stone chamber.

With a soft "pfft".

The black lump burst open, and the black, viscous substance inside spilled onto the ground.

Nia emerged from the egg.

The head, devoid of facial features, resembled a smooth knight's mask. The upper body was a slender female form, and even in that streamlined shape, one could sense a touch of beauty. The two long, slender arms were soft and boneless, with five sharp barbs at the tips—were those fingernails?

Nia seemed to have developed some kind of skewed obsession; her huge eyeball with yellow vertical pupils remained, but not on her head, but rather like a huge jade pendant embedded in her chest, blinking as if she were breathing.

Nia's appearance was very similar to that of the Duke of Hamlet, but her lower limbs were not bony tentacles, but rather mushroom-like structures resembling fungal caps. Numerous, grid-like tentacles hung down from her waist, like the tattered, bloated whalebone skirts of ladies. She now moved by using these grid-like tentacles to paddle across the ground, gliding like a starfish.

Nia glanced at the secret room where Lyle had disappeared, then turned her head and tapped her smooth head with her fingernail.

"Nia is supposed to look after...everyone?"

Nia walked up to the large white cocoons.

"Egg……?"

Looking at Hines sleeping in his cocoon, Nia imitated Lyle and scratched her chin with her finger.

“Eggs…take care of them…” Nia giggled as she climbed to the top of Hines. “Nia understands, Nia will incubate the eggs!”

The grid-like tentacles multiplied rapidly, like a swarm of snakes falling from the sky and enveloping the entire cocoon.

When Hines opened his eyes, all he saw was himself being swallowed by darkness.

……

Lyle vaguely remembered walking through two turns before arriving at the main room in front of him.

At the center was a huge, bottomless pool. You couldn't see anything in the water because the liquid looked like blood. Many red tentacles emerged from the pool, clinging to the walls like rampant vines. Now they were all withered, their tissues turning into red sand and dissipating into the air.

Tools, including chains, were placed on a laboratory table. Directly opposite the table was a recess containing strange instruments. Lyle had a hunch that the enormous, suspended mass of flesh in the center of the stone chamber had originally been placed here.

The flesh and blood, resembling a jungle of gore, are dissolving, and the space inside the room is expanding.

"Lyle, here!" Kevin discovered a human skeleton in a secluded corner, after the covering flesh had melted away.

Fragments of his fine clothes still clung to his bones. He leaned against the corner of the wall, his body curled up, just as he was still alive when the house was engulfed in blood and flesh.

"Who is this?"

“I don’t know, but we can take a look at this first,” Kevin said, revealing another scroll with sticky flesh clinging to its edges. “It’s lying not far from the bones. I have a feeling it will answer our questions.”

The scroll was unfurled, and the writing on it was extremely messy, a far cry from the clear and legible writing of Sheriwu. Moreover, the writing was getting worse and worse, becoming illegible at the bottom.

He's gone mad! He's gone mad! He's gone mad! He never used to treat us like this; he was always a gentle man. It all started after that maid died! He ruined our family! He ruined Hamlet's future! He ruined everything for Hamlet!

Dirty, vile, damned, horrible Sheriwu!

Father's ritual is almost complete! After so many years of experimenting on those outsiders, and after studying the piece of flesh retrieved from the sea, Father says it is the heart of God, and the Hamlet family will become godlike beings!

Everything was proceeding smoothly until that effeminate brat became my father's assistant. Yes, yes, he was clever, clever beyond what a bastard should possess. I still remember the way he begged for my father's praise like a lapdog, so pathetic it was disgusting. That trash deserved to be taught a lesson! Of course, I knew who that maid was; I offered my insignificant suggestion when my father decided to find a test subject for the final adjustments.

That night I heard that stupid dog barking, a rather beautiful sound. I didn't know it was wrong; I had created a nightmare with my own hands. No, of course it wasn't my fault. He was a demon in himself; I just accidentally opened the door to him.

One evening, Father proudly announced that all his offspring bearing Hamlet's blood would follow him in achieving promotion, and we partied all night. That boy, who also had our blood, I saw him crouching in a corner, a disgusting, chilling smile on his face.

No one knows when his mystical ritual abilities surpassed his father's. All I know is that when his father transformed into a monster, Sheriu stood smiling beside him, watching his father devour his children one by one.

This unrest quickly spread throughout Hamlet. The commoners struggled to leave, but they were wrong. They were already bound to this land, and their transformation had begun!

I was left behind, locked in this stone chamber, forced to watch helplessly as my father devoured his brothers, children, wives, and concubines. That horrible Sheriwu stood beside me, expressionless, recording everything with pen and paper.

I'm afraid to be with him, especially his ever-present smile, which is like the fangs of a demon. I fear him, and I hate him.

In the name of Blaze Hamlet, I will wait for you in the depths of hell, in the abyss, and I will tear your flesh with my teeth and scratch your skin with my nails. I will give my whole soul for the most vicious curse!

I'll be waiting for you in hell! Sheriwu!

Chapter 184 The End of Hamlet

A serf with a hidden leg ailment, a nobleman with an anxious heart, and a priest who has just enjoyed a lavish feast.

The man sat leisurely on the second-floor balcony, watching the people walk by, judging their inner qualities through careful observation. This was one of his favorite ways to relax, inferring their true nature from subtle external clues, much like trying to guess what surprises awaited inside a gift box.

His smooth, shoulder-length hair was like a night sky studded with the Milky Way, a deep black tinged with blue. His handsome face easily drew attention, and coupled with a touch of feminine grace, he seemed less human and more like a work of art. Most captivating were his eyes, like lakes reflecting the starry sky, drawing one in completely.

He smiled at the woman behind the window across the street, watching her shyly hide behind the curtains, but her eyes, full of spring-like warmth, were still fixed on him, completely unlike the guarded woman he had been a week ago.

Sheriwu looked away. "Troublesome woman, worthless." A wealthy merchant's daughter married to a nobleman—or rather, given to a nobleman. She seemed to still harbor some expectation, not yet fully accepting the reality before her.

A flutter rose in her heart. Sheliwu pulled up her sleeve, revealing her jade-like arm, where a centipede-like red scar was slowly fading away.

"Destroyed, Hamlet?" Sherius smiled, complaining about the person who had been completely destroyed. "Twenty years of hard work have vanished just like that, Mr. Hamlet. It's a real shame. I was planning to test the abilities of the vampire army, but now, I've run out of cannon fodder."

"Well, at least it's still somewhat useful." Sheriu looked at the desk beside him, where an unfolded map was filled with chess pieces. He walked over, knocked over the black king placed on Hamletshire, and placed the white king on Cassandra.

"The Borey family of Cassandra, huh? I had a feeling Hamlet would be destroyed soon, but it turned out to be neither the Holy Light nor royalty. Indeed, this world is much more interesting than I thought."

On the map, the black pieces resemble a towering jungle, and in this dark forest, five white pieces stand alone.