Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

The gentleman made an apologetic gesture, dodging Vera Liz's slap. Although she seemed to be throwing a tantrum, she could easily have shattered his frame with one blow. "I can explain! The Plague Doctor is my friend! We are classmates from Andre Academy."

"You mean you left me to bear the pain of losing you all by myself! You ran off to some crappy academy to hang out with other people! And only now, when your Plague Doctor is in danger, do you finally show up in front of me?! Evan Ritter, I'm going to kill you!"

"Calm down, Veraliz, I'm here for you. You don't understand what power you're challenging at all, it's too..." The gentleman suddenly froze, then immediately manipulated the shadows to envelop Veraliz and Lyle in a cocoon.

"He's here."

Like cracking an eggshell, the divine radiance shattered the towering black pillar of light, and Raphael, with outstretched wings, descended from the clouds, the broken clouds bringing light to this mountaintop.

Raphael's face was indifferent, his pupils burning with light, a majestic deity greeting the sins of the past.

"I sensed a familiar presence and came over. So it was you causing trouble."

"mouse."

Chapter 256 The Four Dark Kings

"Rat, how did you survive? I should have killed you completely decades ago." Raphael didn't kill you immediately. He flew in the air, chatting with the gentleman like a cat playing with a mouse.

The oppressive aura intensified as Raphael frowned, causing the gentleman's body to tremble. His mask shattered, and even the bones beneath his body teetered on the brink of collapse as cracks appeared.

In the void, a shattered black crown appeared above the gentleman's head, with shadows emerging within it, struggling against Raphael's power.

“Oh~ the crown of the monster race, revived with the power of a king? Becoming the lich it is today.” Raphael scanned the broken crown on the gentleman’s head. “Now that monsters have become extinct, only you, who once inflicted terrible torment on my people, are qualified to wear this crown of sin. I should have known, rat.”

Raphael gripped the holy sword named Vendit Gon, its tip pointing directly at the gentleman.

The hills shattered, and the earth trembled. The terrifying pressure forced the gentleman to his knees. Raphael, stepping on the shattered earth suspended in mid-air, approached the immobilized gentleman step by step.

“I will tear you to pieces once more, you rat. This time, I will crush your clan’s crown along with it, completing what that fellow failed to do.” Raphael stood before the kneeling gentleman, the blade of his Vendit Gunn striking the gentleman’s head. “Rat, have you forgotten how to fight back?”

Raphael's words were like a command; the gentleman roared, and shadow surged around him. Having fully merged with Evanrit, the Rat King unleashed his domain. The Shadow Rats poured forth from the altar, bringing with them a plague known as the Black Reaper and the terror that gripped humanity. They charged forward as commanded, each carrying two large black cocoons, before fleeing into the shadows.

Raphael watched as the gentleman completed all of this.

"What did you send out?"

“...something I cherish.”

"Ha, I've already marked them. I'll go after them after I destroy you. Your foolish actions only give them a few more minutes to live."

The gentleman's soul flame had a deep black core, and his eye sockets stared at Raphael's indifferent face. "That's enough. They will definitely live well."

In a forest ravaged by shadows, a swarm of black rats created a fissure that released two large black cocoons. Then, the shadow rats and the cocoons shattered together, and Lyle and Veraliz stepped out.

During his time within the black cocoon, Lyle maintained his awareness of the outside world; the terrifying pressure of being hostile to Raphael still made his body tremble. Lyle changed into the plague doctor's attire; naturally, he couldn't stand idly by and watch the gentleman die, and using Andre's identity was more appropriate. Now, the issue was seeking outside help.

Between Mr. Scholar and Mr. Raymond, who should we choose?

Lyle's intuition told him that letting Mr. Raymond meet Raphael would be disastrous. But could the scholar really defeat Raphael? Thinking of the scholar's usual scholarly demeanor, compared to Raphael's godlike presence in battle, it felt like Lyle was setting a trap for the scholar.

While Lyle was struggling with his decision, Veraliz had already opened a Shadow Rift.

"Ms. Vera Liz, are you also going to rescue Mr. Gentleman?"

Vera Liz glared at him fiercely. "Not your gentleman, but my Evanrit. I'm going to bring him back. Although that birdman's strength terrifies me, I can't let him leave alone this time."

Lyle looked at Vera's trembling fingers and gritted his teeth. "I'll go with you. The gentleman is also my companion. I can't abandon him; he just saved me." Calling for reinforcements can wait until we get there; ensuring the gentleman's safety is the top priority. "Please allow me to go with you to rescue him."

Vera Liz watched Lyle squeeze into the Shadow Passage, her claws retracting. "You're too weak. You'll only be cannon fodder, Plague Doctor."

"Excuse me for being blunt, Veraliz, but in Rafael's eyes, we are all cannon fodder. But even cannon fodder has its value."

Before the Shadow Altar, the gentleman was burning in holy light, the light of the crown on his head was constantly diminishing, and fragments like powder kept falling from the already broken crown. Before long, the crown would completely disappear.

Within the black pillar altar, lingering shadows were bubbling. Raphael watched the commotion with a disdainful look. Just then, Veraliz, transformed into a shadow beast, appeared behind Raphael, her shadow claws like scythes lurking in the blind spot of his vision.

The radiant wings blocked the attack of the claws, and Raphael turned his head to look at Veraliz.

"A poor tactic."

In the surging shadows, the enormous spinal wheel had already accelerated out of the darkness with terrifying speed, rushing past Raphael. Its spewing tentacles swallowed the gentleman's body, grabbed the tail that Vera Liz had prepared earlier, and disappeared into the forest while Raphael was stunned.

Raphael looked at his palm in surprise.

"Not afraid of the evil of the Holy Light?" Without thinking any further, Raphael spread his enormous wings in the air and transformed into a streak of light, chasing after the enemy.

The spinal wheel made a noise in the quiet, dense forest.

“Plague Doctor, Veraliz, you shouldn’t have come back. We can’t escape.”

“We are friends, gentlemen. A friend cannot stand by and watch someone die.”

“Shut up, Avenritter, you’re family.”

The gentleman watched the light gradually approaching behind him. "Alright, we'll make our final effort to survive."

"We need outside help, sir. Rafael is too strong."

"Yes, doctor, I happen to have a group of 'friends' who should help me."

The gentleman pressed his badge.

"Reporter, come quick and help me! I'm being chased by angels!" The loud scream even surpassed the noise made by the Spinal Wheel.

Almost instantly, a talking tablecloth appeared beside the gentleman, who grabbed the reporter and dragged him away with the Spinal Wheel.

The reporter chuckled. "You know, gentleman. While it's a bit unethical to pry into a friend's privacy, I'm very interested in gossip about my friends. Tell me, how did you get caught up in this love triangle?" The reporter shifted his gaze to Vera Liz. "Ah, beautiful lady, you must be the 'angel' the gentleman spoke of, right? So, you two are having a lovers' quarrel. Although I have no experience in handling emotional disputes, please allow me to offer my opinions, for new fodder for the Andre News."

The reporter seems to have misunderstood something.

"Reporter, this is Veraliz, the angel you wanted, she's behind us."

The reporter burst into cheers, "Aha, a love triangle! The most classic theme, let me see who the third party is..." The reporter finally saw the holy light behind him.

The surprise turned into a shock.

"Holy crap!!!! It's a real angel!!!! An angel with bird wings that glows like butterflies!!!! I'm such a gentleman, you tricked me!! What did I ever do to you!!!! You want to drag me down with you!!" The reporter felt utterly deceived; life was a complete scam.

“I told you, angels are after me, and every word I said is true.”

"Who would have guessed it was a real angel? Weren't we always just playing word games? Your sudden bluntness really hurts me!"

"Stop talking nonsense, reporter. Quickly pull Mr. Delusional over here. If you wait any longer, it won't just be an injury."

"Ah, I understand, you need to use 'that'." The gentleman pressed his ring, as if trying to vent all the shock he had just experienced.

"Come on, you delusional fantasist! I've got something good for you to see! My epic battleground with gentlemen and angels!"

Chapter 257 Dark Summoning Spell

The portal, crackling with electricity, appeared almost the instant the reporter spoke, as if Mr. Delusional had known beforehand and was waiting on the other side. A full-metal prosthetic limb, crackling with blue-white electricity, emerged from the distorted space. The cube-shaped box bloomed like a flower, its internal virtual image revealing those deep, unfathomable eyes. Mr. Delusional's magnetic voice carried an electric current, truly electronic music.

"Let me make it clear beforehand that I'm here purely as your best friend, with good intentions to stop your two from fighting over love. It's definitely not because I want to see your love triangle to find inspiration for my novel." Inside the box, the brain-shaped light and shadow model spun around, and the image of its eyes transferred to Vera Liz, even blinking.

"You must be the angel they've been fighting over. They must be embarrassed by your antics. If it's your charm, then it's not hard to understand. After all, I was almost captivated by your wild beauty, Shadow Queen."

Vera Liz looked at the fantasy with disdain, then at the gentleman, with an expression that said, "These are the friends you've made over the years, this is your reason for not coming back to see me, is your taste getting worse and worse?"

“I am Vera Liz, a member of the Evan Ritter family, but not their angel. The angel is behind them.”

The imaginary iron box spun 180 degrees, looking back at the radiance.

"So there's a fourth one? This dazzling light... I need to adjust my filter to a dim state. Okay, I can finally see clearly, an angel..." Mr. Delusional's voice grew softer and softer until it finally fell silent.

In response, a transforming aircraft was assembled behind Mr. Delusional, its jet turbines spraying fire and buzzing, as if afraid of falling behind and entering the embrace of the angels.

The reporter looked at the silent delusion.

"How about that, pretty brutal, right?"

"Unexpectedly unexpected. But the trouble you've caused is exactly what I expected. You guys can even defy probability theory and data calculations, that's just how you are. You've tricked me more than once or twice." Mr. Delusional was like a machine in operation, showing no intention of blaming his friend. "However, with such a powerful opponent, and you summoned me again, you're probably planning to use 'that,' aren't you?"

Lyle was puzzled by the repeated use of the word "that" by the three of them. "Which one is 'that'?"

The reporter lowered his voice, making it sinister, “'That' is the most terrifying, the most horrible, the most evil, the most sinister, a world-destroying spell that makes even the holy light tremble and the world shudder!”

"Dark Lord's Great Summoning Technique!"

...So it turns out they're going to summon Mr. Darkness as reinforcements? I have to say, this might be a good choice. Mr. Darkness, who has been beaten up by Mr. Raymond for years, must have the strongest resistance to holy light, and the three members of the Literature Club all seem very confident about it.

Mr. Darkness should be able to beat Raphael, right?

"As we all know, summoning the Dark Lord requires extremely complicated ritual preparations, but we have limited time now. If we force ourselves to do it, we might not be able to summon the Dark Lord's true form due to a lack of sincerity. Therefore, we must summon the Dark Lord's true form in the shortest possible time before we are killed by the angels. This is a severe challenge."

Because Mr. Dark's level of chuunibyou (delusional) behavior is directly proportional to his combat power, summoning darkness usually requires a complicated and bizarre ritual. The amount of chuunibyou dialogue and the number of people involved will affect Mr. Dark's mood, thereby affecting his strength.

"Fortunately, all four of our literary society's Dark Kings have arrived this time. Mr. Dark must be at his peak."

"The Four Heavenly Kings of the Literary Society? Aren't there only three of you?" Lyle asked.

All three people were looking at him.

"W-what's wrong?"

"What nonsense are you talking about, Fourth Heavenly King, Fallen Light?"

"??? I have to participate in the summoning ritual too? No way! The last time we cooperated is already a black mark on my record!" Lyle made a last-ditch effort.

"Pandemic Doctor! Put the greater good first! Our lives... our very bones are in Mr. Darkness's hands. Your approval from Mr. Darkness is the key to our survival! Do you think we're willing to do this? We've made great sacrifices too!" The reporter scratched his head. "Besides... dark history is something that will happen again once, you can't stop it."

Lyle offered a new suggestion: "Could we call in other outside help, like Mr. Raymond?"

"Let Mr. Raymond and the angels beat us up?" The reporter's tablecloth trembled. His title didn't include "Pure One." Instead, he carried over 170 sins of insulting the Holy Light. Every issue of the Fallen Angel Raymondos series of magazines detailed his sins.

“There’s an 80% chance that if we summon Mr. Raymond, he’ll make peace with the angels and let us suffer even more.” Mr. Delusional’s virtual screen turned into a fluctuating stream of numbers, just like he was actually doing a future analysis.

"What about the remaining 20%?"

“Mr. Raymond didn’t like us and wiped us out before the angels could make a move.”

"...What have you been up to lately?"

"Ms. Elian has recently become fascinated with the Wandering City magazine series. It's not a novel we write for the demons, but it does contain some of our biases, about the Holy Light. Mr. Raymond has been visiting the literary society more often lately."

“…You guys are really something.” Lyle took a deep breath. “I promise you, I’ll participate in your performance. But,” Lyle stared at the reporter, “no subsequent publications can cover this operation!”

Without hesitation, the reporter gave a thumbs-up, saying, "I swear on my non-existent conscience, I won't report this!"

“If you report on it, I will tell Mr. Raymond about Raymondos.”