Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

"immediately!"

Twenty minutes later.

"A glutton?"

"There's just a little bit left, I'll eat another two or three... ten bites."

Thirty minutes later.

"You brat!"

"Gurgle gurgle gurgle..."

"I'm not going to care about you anymore, I'm leaving by myself!" Just as Lyle was about to press the ring, Nia's tentacles wrapped around him and dragged him away.

"I don't want to! Lyle wants to stay and wait for Nia, and we'll leave together after Nia finishes eating!"

"You're so greedy! How could you possibly finish it all! Besides, why are you eating shadow energy? We don't need that stuff. Eating things just because they taste like that will give you a stomachache!"

“Nia won’t get a stomachache! Nia is an evil god! She’s the one who devours everything! Nia wants to keep eating! Lyle, you have to stay with me.”

"Then tell me, how much longer do you want to eat? Give me a specific time, and we can't change it this time!"

Nia's head emerged from the shadows, and she counted on her fingers, finally figuring out the answer she wanted.

"Nia needs to eat this for a year!"

"No way! You wish! I'm going to get angry! The consequences will be severe!" Lyle put on a very serious expression and began to break free from Nia's tentacles.

"Lyle, don't be angry. Nia, give me a hug. Don't be angry, Lyle. Wait for me to eat for a year, okay? Nia, please." More tentacles wrapped around Lyle's body.

"Oh no! Begging me won't help, your request is too outrageous!"

Just as the two were arguing, a third voice appeared.

"Demon! Release the Pure One!" It was Kallen. Kallen, who was determined to save the Pure One, saw her princess and the evil dragon that had kidnapped her, just as she had expected.

"Ah, this." Karen saw Nia, though to her it was a tentacle monster trying to drag Lyle into the shadows.

Nia had a sudden inspiration.

"Roar! The evil god is going to devour the pure one with delicate skin! Goodbye, you idiot Kallen!"

Lyle did not resist, and Nia took him with her into the shadows.

"Aaaaaah! Lord Lyle! Paladin Karen has come to save you!"

Karen also fell into the shadows.

Chapter 263 In the Shadows

Like slowly sinking in the ocean, Lyle was enveloped in the soft shell that Nia had transformed into, separated from the shadow by only a thin layer. Hissing sounds, like the bubbles in a carbonated drink, constantly emanated from the shadow. At first, Lyle thought that the ownerless shadow was also corrosive, but through Nia's telepathy, he realized that she was feeding, using that thin membrane to erode the shadow.

Not far away, the light and the sinking Lyle maintained a distance that was neither too close nor too far, as if something warm was chasing Lyle.

This wondrous capsule journey lasted only a dozen seconds. By the time Lyle climbed out of the Dark Pool, Nia had already completely retreated into Lyle's sleeve, clearly aware that she had caused trouble.

Lyle didn't have time to blame her, because he had a little trouble behind him.

Kallen, radiating holy light, burst forth from the pool of shadows. Holy light has a mysterious effect on other forces; when Kallen stepped onto solid ground, the pool of shadows had already been burned away by the holy light. The path back was blocked.

"Lord Lyle!" Karen, carrying her warhammer, exclaimed with delight. She rushed to Lyle, shielding him with her small frame. "Where did that monster go? Did it run away?"

Lyle began to look around.

This is also a dense forest, seemingly deep within the mountains. The twisted and deformed trees resemble ferocious beasts locked in combat, stretching their ugly, menacing claws and branches towards other trees, weaving a web in the air that obscures the sky—a web so vast that even spiders would lose their way.

The dense forest was pure black, and the occasional wisps of deep black fog made the already gloomy landscape even narrower. Behind them was a mountain wall that stretched high into the unseen clouds. This place seemed to be in a basin-like location, with only the path in front of them. The narrow trails that snaked between the trees resembled the gaping maws of a wild beast, places that any normal person would be unwilling to venture into at first glance.

"Lord Lyle! Let's go! Let's defeat the evil that has kidnapped you, this must be its lair!" Karen had arrived at a path leading to a dark abyss, her hammer emitting holy light, becoming a searchlight, and she looked at Lyle with eager anticipation.

The lair? Lyle glanced at the small section of Nia's tentacle peeking out from his sleeve. The lair of the evil god was here. Although Kallen's actions were a bit bold, there was no other choice at the moment. He couldn't leave Kallen here alone. Lyle tentatively touched the Andrei emblem, and after confirming several times that it worked, he became a little bolder.

"Let's go, Karen, praise the Holy Light!"

They had traveled less than twenty meters through the dense forest when the light dimmed considerably. The holy light cast their shadows on the strange trees, making it seem as if something was moving with them.

It was too quiet. It felt like being back in the Bone Forest of Andre, even though Lyle had secretly confirmed that there were no bones in the soil beneath his feet. Perhaps it was because he had spent so much time at the Lich Academy, but in this desolate, silent, and gloomy place, Lyle felt quite at ease. Karen, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. Her pride prevented her from taking the lead, and she would turn back to look at Lyle every few steps.

"Lord Lyle, don't be afraid! I will always be watching over you!"

"Thank you, Karen." Lyle really wanted to sneak into the corner while she turned her head and see what she would do if she didn't see him, but after thinking it over again, he gave up. The hammer was still there.

At first, Karen insisted on leading the way herself, but as her pace slowed, Lyle eventually moved ahead. Lyle's eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he gradually became able to distinguish trees and shadows in the pitch black. He could see the thorny bushes and collapsed pits on his own, without needing any light.

The path they were walking on bore the marks of destruction and footsteps, perhaps left by Veraliz, who had once recruited shadow beasts of unknown origin in this area. This path could lead to one of two locations: an unnamed shadow beast stronghold, or another exit.

The gentleman's evaluation of those shadow beasts was not very good.

"Some mindless puppets, born with deformities, or simply fragments, still active fragments."

After walking a certain distance, Lyle stopped.

"Karen".

"What is it, Lord Lyle?"

Lyle lowered his voice and unconsciously bent his body. "Turn off the lights, Karen, stop casting holy light."

Karen obeyed the instructions and stopped releasing the dazzling holy light.

Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Karen saw the shadowy figures lurking not far away, exactly like the shadow beasts controlled by the witch. A large group of them.

These shadow beasts, uncontrolled by their master, wandered aimlessly in place. Only when two shadow beasts were about to collide would they slightly turn their bodies and change course. They were like ghosts, though ghosts might be a little more human-like.

"What should we do, Lord Lyle? They are blocking our way."

Lyle picked up a small pebble from the side, stared at the nearest shadow beast, and threw it a short distance away from it while the other shadow beasts around it turned around.

I thought it would hear the sound and move, but it didn't change anything, like it was deaf.

Lyle, undeterred, threw the pebble again and again, each time getting closer. Finally, the pebble struck its head with a loud thud. Lyle was prepared to risk revealing Nia's plan to take Karen away and provoke the beasts.

However, there was still no movement. Even when pebbles hit it, it remained as if it were a clay figure that could be molded at will.

It seems that all dangers are just psychological defenses we set up ourselves?

Lyle let out a breath and made one last probe. He walked alone into the shadow beast's line of sight.

A breath later, a quarter of an hour later.

There was no movement; the wandering shadow beasts paid no attention to Lyle's appearance, as if he didn't exist.

"A bunch of moving corpses, they're not even as good as zombies."

Lyle clutched the Andrei emblem tightly and, amidst Karen's gasps, stepped into the herd.

Watching the shadow beasts constantly moving around him, like shadows dancing wildly by a campfire, he felt like he was just a wisp of air.

Lyle returned to Karen's side.

"There is no threat, we can go straight through, but for safety's sake, do not touch them and do not use Holy Light."

Karen nodded, nervously gripping her two-handed hammer, and followed behind Lyle.

These shadow beasts were like another forest; at least apart from being able to move, they were not much different from those twisted trees, and those trees were even more terrifying.

A smooth road always makes people lower their guard, and Lyle was completely unprepared until Nia's tentacles tugged at his back.

Be prepared to face the blade that stabs out from the shadows.

Chapter 264 Summoning Heroic Spirits

It must have been something as sharp as a blade. Lyle and Karen heard the shriek of a razor-sharp blade cutting through the air, particularly piercing in the silent shadows. Just as the two were alarmed and on guard against the unseen attack, a strange tree not far away rustled. In an instant, a meter-wide gash appeared on its trunk. The speed was swift; even after the gash appeared, the tree did not sway in the slightest.

"It" was invisible, carrying a blade sharp enough to sever our heads, like a seasoned executioner. An invisible pressure descended upon the two of them. Karen and Lyle stood back to back, glancing around at the shadows, trying to find some clue.

Lyle reached into his sleeve and touched Nia's tentacles, communicating subtly through Nia's telepathy.

Where is he?

Nia constructed an illusion in Lyle's mind, a replay. Right beside the tree that was about to be slashed, as the knife was drawn, a blurry figure shrouded in shadow suddenly appeared from the void, only to vanish the very next second after the mark was made.

"It's Shadow. Nia was only able to sense it after consuming so much Shadow."

Nia was making excuses to justify her previous gluttony.

But what's the use? I only see his shadow when he draws his sword, but by then my head will already be separated from my neck.

"It's just losing my head, let's trade blows and grab him!" Another illusion appeared in Lyle's mind. It was the image of his own head being cut off, his exposed figure being grabbed by Nia's tentacles, while countless blood-red tentacles gushed out from the break in Lyle's neck, directly grabbing his head that had flown off into the air and forcibly putting it back on his neck.

I suddenly feel a pain in my neck.

"It'll be alright. Nia can heal Lyle's wounds. Whether it's the severed nerves or the blood splattered on that idiot Karen's face, Nia will take good care of it."

With a mix of trepidation and anticipation for the wondrous experience of sacrificing oneself for righteousness, Lyle once again confronts the present situation.

However, the invisible figure didn't seem to be planning to attack again. Lyle looked at the carving on the tree and pondered.

This seems to be just a warning. He could have easily severed our heads with his first attack, but he chose to destroy trees as a warning. He doesn't seem like a bad person.

Lyle raised his hands, his thumbs pressed against the Andrei Ring at the tips of his index fingers, and stood still, speaking softly in a voice that could barely be described as raising his volume.

“We have no ill intentions and do not intend to offend your territory; we simply wish to pass through.”

There was no reply; the surroundings were as silent as if a stone had sunk into the sea.

No reply means consent. Lyle tentatively took a step forward.

With a clang, another mark appeared in front of Lyle, on yet another tree, now even closer to him.

Lyle swallowed hard, staring at the mark drawing ever closer to his neck, as if the next one would appear right where it was supposed to. He mentally communicated with Nia before reiterating his statement.

"We have no other way. The way back is blocked. We can only keep moving forward, or we will starve to death in this shadow. We must move forward."

Taking a deep breath, Lyle took another step, instinctively closing his eyes, perhaps not wanting to see his back.

There was no flash of a blade, no warning whatsoever. After Lyle made his statement, the warning scratches vanished, as if everything that had just happened was an illusion. But both of them knew that a pair of eyes were watching them from the side.

Under such surveillance, the two advanced in silence. Apart from the sparse trees and a few loitering shadows, everything was no different from the woodland they had been in before.