Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

Page 12

"..."

Scholars will not rest until they have uttered something truly remarkable.

cough cough.

Lyle noticed that someone in the audience coughed twice, signaling to Mr. Death Star to skip this part. He also had a black dragon emblem on his chest, just like Mr. Death Star's.

"Sir, do you recognize that emblem?"

"That's the emblem of the Salvation Society. A non-society organization whose main purpose is to protect the world."

An organization similar to the United Nations?

"The main reason is our own. The students of Andre are actually out of step with this era. Most of them are eccentric loners. They are not good at interpersonal communication and are single-minded in their research on technology, which leads to a more or less poor mental state. The most common manifestation is a certain self-destructive tendency. When mental patients pick up the weapon of knowledge, the consequences are predictable."

"So, the Salvation Society is the group that fights against these highly intelligent lunatics?"

"...Geniuses are all madmen. The black dragon on that emblem is Nidhogg from Norse mythology, the venomous dragon that caused the collapse of the World Tree. The Salvation Society is actually a place that supervises madmen."

"Because the knowledge they possess is so dangerous that ordinary people simply cannot recognize the danger of some of their actions."

"Therefore, the dean decided to fight poison with poison."

"Whenever there is a large-scale academic research application, it will be reviewed by the Salvation Council. If the review is approved, congratulations, you have been identified as a threat to the world. You will be given a badge and assigned to someone of the same level to supervise you. You can't understand my dangerous operations, and I can't understand yours. We worry about each other and restrict each other, so the world can be preserved."

Lyle felt this was very unreliable. "Are you sure this isn't the Doomsday Society? It feels like if this organization ever loses its mind, it will turn into the despairing Nidhogg, the most terrifying criminal organization."

"Don't worry, I've already said that the participants are the most dangerous psychopaths in the world. Have you ever seen any autistic kids cooperate? It's common for them to sabotage each other. Nobody wants the other to waste the resources they've reserved for future experiments."

"Once Andrei's overall technological level improves and those researches become less dangerous, they can be officially launched."

Mr. Death Star clapped his hands. "Alright, let's now introduce the research findings of the Death Star faction."

He raised his hands. "First, create a simulated star with considerable mass."

Two hands faced each other in the air, and black energy began to surge between their palms, like droplets gathering into a sphere at the center. The shadow dissipated, and a sphere the size of an apple, emitting a purple light, floated in the Death Star's hand.

"If we adjust the timeline of this star to the moment before its death, as I said, the star will mourn its death with an exceptionally brilliant explosion."

The light on the sphere dimmed, but after reaching a critical point, things reversed. Cracks appeared on the sphere, and blinding light burst out from them. The sphere expanded rapidly at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, as if it were about to devour everything.

Snapped!

Mr. Death Star clasped his hands together, and the sphere collapsed and vanished before it could expand beyond the range of his palms.

"Because this spell is quite destructive, I can only describe the aftereffects verbally. The star will continue to expand, devouring everything around it. The star will turn red, emitting a large amount of heat, and there will also be an invisible energy wave. Living things within a ten-meter radius will die, and living things within a ten- to one-hundred-meter radius will undergo varying degrees of mutation. The mutation characteristics are random, and the closer the distance, the greater the degree of mutation. This spell is called the [Death Star Red-Hot Grenade]. Its practical use is to set the time and use magic to set the trajectory before throwing it. As the star expands, it will maintain its gravitational pull. If your opponent does not have teleportation magic, then he will not even be left with ashes."

Holy crap, it's a supernova explosion!

Supernova explosion. As a star ages and cools, its core temperature decreases, causing an imbalance between thermal energy and its own gravity. This leads to the collapse of the star's matter towards its center. When the star's mass is large enough, it causes a massive explosion. The absolute luminosity of the explosion exceeds ten billion times that of the sun. If the energy of the explosion were evenly distributed among the seven billion people on Earth, it would be equivalent to each human cell being bombarded by 159 nuclear bombs.

The newcomers around him had not yet experienced its concept firsthand and expressed their dissatisfaction with Mr. Death Star's pause demonstration.

Lyle just felt that he was a madman.

Although I don't understand how he created the simulated star, you are enacting a supernova explosion in the palm of your hand. If you lose control and it goes out of control, even a miniature version would be enough to kill you. Even if you are lucky enough to become disabled, the radiation emitted would be enough to kill all your cells. Well, of course, there is a greater possibility that you will die within 0.001 seconds, and the rest is just the process of disposing of the body.

Moreover, this madman staged a supernova explosion right in front of me, and I almost died along with him.

Looking at the jubilant faces around him, Lyle patted the cold sweat off his body. Ignorance is bliss.

"Of course, I know the demonstration was poor, so as compensation, I will personally demonstrate the next technique in its entirety. It is safer, and I have coordinated with the Salvation Society and it has been approved for use here."

The newcomers were all intrigued, their eyes glued to the Death Star.

Lyle prayed silently.

"This is also the result of my research, Death Star II. The red-hot grenade just now was the result of my predecessor. Therefore, my understanding and operation of this technique is much better."

Skilled workers are good; they're safe and reliable.

"Having inherited the knowledge of my predecessors, I discovered that as long as the mass of a star is increased to a certain extent..."

Wait a minute, enlarge it? Are you sure that's safer? Lyle silently walked backward, hoping that something unexpected would happen and he could live for another second.

The Death Star changed its hand position, making claw-like shapes with its hands facing each other and its wrists close together.

Lyle couldn't help but chuckle. "Look at you, still trying to unleash a Kamehameha?"

A simulated star appeared in his palm.

Lyle thought that the supernova explosion was the limit of his surprise.

Death Star - Destruction Ray

A beam of light shot out from the Death Star's hand—no, it shouldn't be called a shot—it was so fast that you couldn't observe the trajectory of the energy; you only saw the beam of light appear abruptly and then disappear just as abruptly.

A ballistic trajectory as thick as a water tank extends outwards from the castle at a thirty-degree angle. The enclosed recruitment fair has been transformed into a semi-open-air exhibition booth. The position corresponding to the Death Star's palm is far away from the horizon, and there isn't even a single molecule blocking their way.

Everyone stared blankly.

Lyle was speechless.

Holy crap, a gamma-ray burst!

Chapter Sixteen: You're the Unlucky One of the Holy Light

Gamma-ray burst.

It is considered the most violent explosion in the universe, lasting from one-thousandth of a second to one hour. Theoretically, it is produced when a giant star dies or when a nearby compact star merges, and the energy produced is probably dozens of times that of a supernova explosion.

Gamma-ray bursts are a relatively common astronomical phenomenon. They occur almost daily in the universe, like ever-burning streetlights. Unfortunately, life on planets illuminated by these "streetlights" suffers catastrophic consequences. Even more unfortunately, gamma-ray bursts occur periodically, and even the Milky Way galaxy is not immune.

The Death Star remained in that pose, the leather on his arm deformed, like charred asphalt on his wrist, emitting a hissing sound of burning.

There was no smell of cooked human flesh. Although the scene was horrific, Lyle was still relieved that at least the people around him were unharmed, perhaps because the surrounding atmosphere had a few percentage points of added radiation.

Mr. Death Star did not die a heroic death. He stood up again as if nothing had happened, ignoring the discomfort of his arms being pressed tightly together. Facing dozens of pairs of eyes fixed on him, he said, "As you can see, advanced magical research may be much more interesting than you expect..."

"..."

"The Death Star School is a rather obsessive discipline in advanced magical research. The danger of the experiments cannot be ignored. Even if you are careful with every step you take, you cannot avoid the possibility of dying unexpectedly in the next moment. In order to respond to Andrei's teaching principles, to pass on and continue the legacy, we researchers must ensure that there is a successor before we can carry out some related experiments. My teacher, Death Star I, was like that. I watched with my own eyes as he was consumed while researching the red-hot grenade."

"My purpose in participating in this recruitment is to find an apprentice among you."

"The Destruction Ray, in reality, was just a failed half-finished product. The relatively concentrated and enormous energy directly destroyed the framework of the simulated celestial magic designed by the president. The half-finished celestial body shattered, and the energy was emitted in a beam. As long as you control your posture," Death Star restored the flower shape formed by his hands, "you can control the direction."

"I have recently improved the energy tolerance limit of the simulated celestial body. Now all I need is a lucky person to inherit my knowledge. Is there anyone who would like to volunteer?"

Lyle clicked his tongue in astonishment; he had already witnessed the self-destructive tendencies the gentleman had described. Judging from the Death Star's description, this madman probably wanted to create a black hole with his bare hands; perhaps we'd soon see Death Star III. Death Star looked utterly reckless, and Lyle didn't believe anyone would join him in his madness.

"Excuse me, sir, how can I become a successor to the Death Star School?" An unbelievable thing happened, and there were quite a few of them.

"Sufficient and necessary knowledge base, and a pair of hands full of dark matter."

"?" Lyle looked at the Death Star's hands displayed in front of everyone. He had always thought that the excessively black hands were some kind of magical disguise. Now, after being reminded, he noticed that the Death Star's hands were not disguised at all. The dark black knuckles were long and slender, as if they were just bones. A misty substance seemed to have a consciousness, flowing through the fingertips. It was a pair of hands that would make an ordinary person feel uncomfortable just by looking at them.

"The Advanced Magic Research Institute has a magical device that can generate dark matter tides. All you need to do is put your palm in it and rinse it dozens of times."

"If you're lucky, maybe a few times will be enough, because the reconstruction of damaged limbs takes a long time. If your bone structure is of the void element, that is, the dark element, it's not impossible to get it done in one go."

To master this divine skill, you must first cut off your hand.

It seemed that irreversible magical modifications to the hands were still needed, and Lyle mentally crossed out the Advanced Magic Research program.

Just as Mr. Death Star was enthusiastically exchanging ideas with his potential future apprentice.

The recruitment fair doors swung open, slamming against the wall with tremendous force, the iron hinges groaning in pain from the impact.

A large light bulb walked in from outside.

It was Mr. Raymond, radiating a light that was impossible to look directly at.

The Dean must have noticed the commotion caused by the Destruction Ray; his castle had been breached, so it's no wonder he was worried.

The dean stood behind Raymond, staring in shock at the empty recruitment fair, his empty left hand habitually touching his non-existent beard.

Tap tap tap tap.

It's Miss Ariane.

Her Iron Maiden also appeared on the third floor; it's unknown whether she encountered any obstacles while climbing the stairs.

The female statues on the Iron Maiden appear to have turned golden.

The first person to take action was Mr. Raymond.

He did not return to his booth, and Lyle even saw the reporter scrambling to pack up his parchment scrolls, hunched over and hiding behind the literary society's black curtain.

Raymond glanced around before fixing his gaze on the Advanced Magic Research area. Lyle had the illusion that Raymond's gaze was peering at him through the gaps in his helmet.

Investigate evil.

Was it because I skipped class?

Lyle looked at the large ball of holy light that was hurtling towards him, his expression relaxed. After all, he was unharmed. He was still considering what lying position he should maintain to avoid looking too embarrassed.

Holy light descended.

Da da da da da da.

These were the sounds of the backs of heads hitting the ground.

Mr. Death Star and his watchers stumbled; even astronomy had to tremble before the Holy Light.

The gentleman knelt on one knee.

It seems that tolerance to holy light is related to one's own level.

Lyle was thinking this way, forgetting that he was standing in the holy light.

The old men around looked at Lyle in the light, just like Raymond.

"Yet another 'pure one'!"

What interrupted Lyle's thoughts was Raymond's loud laughter.

"May the Holy Light endure forever! Hahaha, just as Sister Ariane said, Plague Doctor, you are a purifier."

Looking at Raymond, who had suddenly appeared in front of him and was taller and wider than him, Lyle realized that he was indeed an unlucky guy.