Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

"Is this why you were expelled...?"

“Dark exiles cannot generate Holy Light; they will only become parasites on the army and corrupt the Protoss,” Lofdi answered in a serious, soft voice. The darkness in his words had long since vanished after Raymond’s first act of kindness.

"Okay, at least I understand you're a qualified light chaser." Thank goodness, there's one less Holy Light Chef.

“I will fight for your glory,” Lofdi replied resolutely, then sighed. “However, Bishop Raymond’s strength probably doesn’t require me that much.”

Raymond chuckled. "No, I happen to have a mission for you, my warrior. Do you know Lyle? Or rather, the Plague Doctor?"

"The necromancer who followed you."

Raymond glanced at Lofdi a few times. His strength was probably between level five and six, a competent legion commander, an assassin-type capable of infiltrating the shadows. He would likely be an excellent assassin and protector, but it was unclear whether he was stronger than the Judgement Knight.

“Lyle is a Pure One, the future of the Holy Light. Don’t be surprised, your task is to protect him secretly. If possible, try not to appear in his sight. He needs trials to grow. And I can’t always be there to protect him, lest I trigger some people’s nerves.”

"Your will."

Andrei's Lich Bane came to an end with the executive committee bringing together truckloads of literary society members.

The instigator, Mr. Lyle Bouler, has just finished his party in Naslan.

Thanks to the ghost maid's diligent work, food was delivered from the kitchen to the dining table in carts. The second young lady's regained appetite was a major event for all the servants, and the entire Nathlan entered into a frenzy of celebration.

Although only four people (or perhaps more) were eating under pairs of cold, icy gazes.

Lyle was the first to collapse. He had only the stomach of an ordinary person and was carried to the bed by Mr. Ernest.

The second was Beatrice, perhaps because Ariana, having long flaunted her abilities in front of her sisters, seized the opportunity for revenge and engaged in a drinking contest with her. The difference between the disguised form of hungry flesh and the vampire's appetite was immediately apparent.

"Don't stop me! I still have to manage the bar!" After howling at Helena's statue a few times, he stumbled and fell into a deep sleep in the arms of the ghost maid, never to wake up again.

Ariana and Nia started a competitive eating contest, although the competition quickly changed.

"Nia, here's something delicious for you!"

"Ah~ Awoo." While Ariana was feeding Nia, Nia was also stuffing food into her own mouth.

In the end, Ariana had the last laugh.

Stretching her limbs, Ariana smiled and stroked the forehead of the ghost maid who was cleaning up the mess. "You've worked hard today. Tonight's workload probably equals a year's worth of your work."

“Anna, everyone is so happy that you can eat again,” the beautiful stone sculpture on the main seat whispered.

“Sister.” Ariana stroked the stone sculpture’s arm, her forehead pressed against the cool stone surface.

The stone statue emitted a charming laugh, causing Ariana's eyes to glaze over for a moment.

"It seems like the Anna of the past has returned."

Ariana squatted on the ground, her arms resting on the stone sculpture's thighs, her eyes like moonlight reflected in a lake.

“You will come back, sister. Our promise, we will share everything, what I have, you should have too... Lyle will definitely find a way to make you like me.”

“I…I am the Soul Reaper, Anna.”

“Lyle is no ordinary necromancer, sister,” Ariana’s eyes sparkled, “I believe he can definitely help you.”

The stone statue's voice stopped for a moment, then the playful voice returned.

"Yes, he is indeed extraordinary. He is the necromancer apprentice who skipped the most classes in Andrei's history."

“They are also the most promising.” The two sisters laughed melodiously in the dim light.

The psychic, who had been given high hopes, lay on his bed, his mind hazy.

Lyle felt like his brain must have been mixed with the alcohol, and everything he heard was blurry.

Click.

A clear voice appeared in his mind.

The only clear sound.

The sound of bones growing.

Chapter 323 Three Locks, Puppet Master

In the pitch-black room, a human figure lying on the velvet bed was twitching eerily. His limbs seemed to be out of control, swinging wildly, accompanied by clicking sounds in the quiet room, playing a terrifying symphony of the night.

Witnessing all this, the ghostly maid hurriedly floated towards the door, preparing to call for her mistress. A semi-transparent large hand blocked her way, while Mr. Ernest remained calm.

"Promotion".

The power that Mr. Raymond had sealed away was constantly being used in his academic research and practice. Finally, Lyle's magic power was sufficient to support his advancement, and his body was ready.

Three locks.

Although this commotion is much stranger.

Angry footsteps pounded on the wall, and a dark, spider-like creature climbed up the wall and crawled in through the window.

Like Lyle, Nia's face still held the satisfaction of a full stomach, but her body was climbing the ceiling. Her speed was unprecedented.

A closer look reveals tiny dents on the walls touched by the tentacles, leaving Nia's "footprints" on the surface. These are not marks left by the skin of muscles, nor do they resemble the marks left by suction cups.

Those were fingernails, bone fragments. On Nia's body, a layer of white scales churned within her flesh—those were bones. As Lyle advanced, Nia was changing her life form.

Sharp, bony claws extended from the tips of her tentacles, like the teeth of a wild beast gnawing fiercely at the wall. The rampaging Nia arrived directly above Lyle's body, at the ceiling above the bed.

The movements of the two bodies gradually became repetitive; the swaying limbs and body twitches gradually became the same frequency, as if invisible threads were binding their hands and feet.

A clicking sound emanated from Lyle's writhing body, accompanied by a strange rhythm. On the ceiling, within Nia's flesh, an exoskeleton was continuously forming, concentrating on her tentacles. Along the veins, fine white bone plates were forming.

With a sharp, clear crack like a bone breaking, both fell silent. Lyle collapsed onto the bed, while Nia's tentacles dangled in mid-air, falling vertically. But she remained firmly attached to the ceiling, for behind her, several thick bone spikes were deeply embedded in the wall.

This process wasn't over yet. Lyle's spine, shoulder blades, vertebrae, and ribs slowly bulged beneath the skin, making a strange clicking sound. And amidst that teeth-grinding sound, the bone pierced through the flesh.

Lyle was like a hedgehog, a hedgehog with bony spurs all over its back.

At this moment, Nia's tentacles had already drooped down above Lyle. The tentacles touched the bone spurs, as if two pigments had been mixed together, blending seamlessly.

The strange activity reappeared. Lyle was suspended in the air by the tentacles, which tugged at the bones and affected Lyle's movements.

It's like an unseen hand manipulating His puppets.

Lyle is the puppet, and Nia is the string that pulls the puppet.

Lyle, who was being manipulated, performed a frenzied dance in the air. His wild movements, combined with his calm expression with his eyes closed, made the ascension ceremony even more bizarre.

Finally, the puppet Lyle made a glorious final bow, and all was calm again. Lyle collapsed onto the bed, his bone spurs burrowing back into his flesh like ants returning to their nest. Nia fell onto him with a thud, instinct driving her to burrow into Lyle's shadow, but a long line of silver bone fragments lining her tendrils marked the completion of the ascension ritual.

Lyle had a strange dream.

One evening, the setting sun failed to pierce the thick clouds, leaving only a faint glow. The sky was simultaneously occupied by sunlight and night, but neither could enjoy any of this radiance.

Because Lyle himself was completely shrouded in two intersecting, enormous shadows.

Two ominous giants.

A creature just like the one he had seen deep in the reservoir of Arnoin, with a mask made of seashells, a body made of seabed and gravel, and twisted tentacles like those of a deep-sea creature covering its entire body. It looked at Lyle, and there seemed to be eddies in its empty eyes. Lyle felt as if he were seeing himself drowning.

The other sat crouching, like a giant, grotesque monkey. His body was cleaner than the Deep Sea Giant's, but not quite clean enough; chaos composed of his form, yet it was adorned with tiny, star-like specks of light. However, this faint glow only deepened the darkness of his body. The hollow center of the bone mask stared at Lyle. And there was that familiar, mocking smile.

They were watching him, Lyle could feel it; they were waiting.

When Lyle awoke, it was already the next morning. This was the quietest time in Naslan, as the ghosts and their mistress had entered a period of lethargy.

Perhaps Lyle had grown accustomed to the terror of the Ominous Giants, or perhaps because they hadn't done anything in this dream, Lyle slept soundly. The hangover pain in his brain was completely gone.

Almost the instant he regained consciousness after waking up, Lyle understood his abilities.

Three locks, the puppeteer.

Ability, heretical growth. The Plaguebringer's abilities have been further enhanced. Creatures infected by the plague can develop a third major symptom: their skeletons will change. Bones soften, unable to support the body; bones become brittle, unable to withstand impact; bones mutate, their bones will develop abnormally in a short period of time, eventually piercing through flesh and blood, growing like flowers, turning their owners into a sieve from the inside out. This plague symptom is less effective on higher-ranking creatures. However, imagine the excruciating pain a legendary mage would experience if they suddenly suffered a herniated disc while casting a spell.

Ability: Skeleton Puppets. Lyle's understanding of skeletal consecration has deepened. He can use his puppetry ability to interfere with and control his own skeletal creations and creatures that have fully grown from heretics, turning them into his puppets. This ability is merely a physical form of forced control; the controlled can break free through magical suppression or physical resistance. Regardless, they will be affected to some extent: limbs may suddenly become uncontrollable, muscles may be strained from forceful struggles, or internal organs may be damaged by bone spurs. He can turn enemies into puppets he manipulates. "You live, you are at my command; you die, you are for my use."

Nia emerged from behind Lyle, excitedly looking at her own body, its tentacles covered in bony scales. Well, she was even happier about her beautiful nails and sharp teeth. Nia had finally learned to scratch—the kind that leaves skin torn and bleeding. At Lyle's signal, Nia could completely skeletalize, adhering to Lyle's body surface, becoming a layer of skeletal armor.

Lyle listened to the thumping sounds hitting Nia; she was mobile, like a thin layer of snakeskin, and he didn't know how much Medusa had played a role in it. But Lyle knew she was very stiff now.

“I remember Mr. Dragon has been complaining about my absences lately, looking at the miserable state of Shiny and the others who are missing arms and legs after class…” Lyle looked at the glowing skeletal armor.

"Is this meant for me to get beaten up?"

Chapter 324 The Dean's Approval

Lyle returned to the Cup of Extravagance. Having left the academic gathering early, leaving everything to Mr. Crimson, he was now eagerly anticipating what would happen next.

"What kind of changes will this cause in Andrei? Ah, I'm too hasty. I don't think anything can change much in just one night." With a slight self-deprecating laugh, Lyle opened the door to the Cup of Extravagance.

His smile froze on his lips. There was a meter-deep crater in front of the Cup of Extravagance. Lyle turned his head to look around; the floor and walls were riddled with holes, like a place ravaged by rats for decades—and those were enormous rats.

"What's going on?" Nia grabbed Lyle and led him up the wall. After walking quite a distance, they finally encountered living things... inanimate things. Several liches bearing the insignia of the Executive Committee were manipulating earth and stones to fill the gaps, while Mr. Law looked at them with displeasure.

"Senior, what happened to Andre?" Lyle leaned closer.

Law glanced at Lyle. "It's nothing, just the Lich Bane. We're currently working on reconstruction."

"The Lich Bane, what is that?"

"Because of the disaster caused by the special liches' influence on Andrei as a whole, they will eventually be managed by the Salvation Society."

"So, the follow-up to my starving flesh and blood project has been interrupted like this?" Who did this? Logically speaking, shouldn't my starving flesh and blood project be the top priority right now?

The lawyer was furious. "You brat, this is the result of your experiment!"

"Huh?" Lyle clearly didn't understand.

"I say, these are all consequences of your hunger and bloodshed! Your experimental results have triggered the Lich Bane! You reckless brat! Your unrestrained appetite has taken control of many Liches, causing them immense losses to the Academy!" Law reprimanded loudly, but quickly lowered his voice. "However, this is not your responsibility. Research and development always bring a lot of losses. Compared to these troublesome losses, I am more pleased to congratulate you on your experimental results."

"Brother, your hunger for flesh and blood has been very successful. In fact, the Dean is looking for you and wants to see you soon. It's about the files that will be compiled regarding your future membership in the Salvation Society."

"Okay, I'll head to the dean's office now."

"No, the dean is on the executive committee now; you should go there to find him."

What was the Dean doing at the Executive Committee? Had the Dean broken the law too? With these questions in mind, Lyle quickly left. Along the way, the damaged roads only worsened; clearly, Lyle had underestimated the liches' madness. In one night, they had practically dug an entire underground city beneath Andrei.

Lyle soon spotted the Dean, who was busy standing in front of the Executive Committee's door.