Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

Lyle certainly wasn't jealous of the steaks, even though they would all pass by Ariana's soft, moist lips. Lyle only felt a cool sensation on his fingers.

"Thank you, Miss Maid." Lyle thanked the ghostly maid who was cleaning her fingers with a damp cloth. She was quite familiar with these ghosts, as well as their cold gaze and the chill of their touch.

The maid, whose name was unknown, remained expressionless, her lifeless eyes closed, and bowed her head in greeting.

"The railing, Master Helena, is newly carved. It's dusty."

So that's how it is. Because it's newly renovated, the dust hasn't been cleaned yet. Lyle looked at his clean fingertips and felt the kindness of these indifferent servants.

He wanted to talk to the ghostly maid.

"These newly built railings are really beautiful, but why renovate them now? Forgive me for being frank, but they don't match the ancient and profound artistic style of Naslan."

The ghostly maid floated in the air, staring straight at Lyle, before returning to her cleaning duties.

“There were no guardrails before. Now, we're afraid you'll fall and die.”

Lyle found it difficult to get along with the maids, and as a result, he began to doubt whether choosing Helena was a wise decision.

The new course in spirit possession involves these lich apprentices undergoing desire tests to train their will to resist desires.

Shining and the others quickly set their sights on their free tool, Ghost DeShar. Lyle, fearing that his thoughts would reveal his human identity, refused their invitation.

Although he was very interested in the virtual reality master Desili, whom the three mentioned, he still chose Helena as his private mentor.

Helena's floor is like an art gallery.

Stone sculptures are everywhere, including her statues. Helena in various poses, and the alluring magic contained within them is affecting Lyle's sanity; perhaps the temptation test has already begun.

Helena is an extremely narcissistic yet charismatic woman.

“If you have any bad thoughts about your sister in your head, Lyle, even about yourself, I will be angry.”

Lyle turned around.

As the only ink dot in this pale, plaster-sculpted world, Ariana's black dress adds a new color to the space.

Her pale skin possessed a sickly beauty against the deep black, its bloodless surface shimmering like pearls on her neck. Her long, flowing black hair and her eyes, filled with discontent, made this woman seem to leap out of the picture frame and walk right up to Lyle.

"Anna." Faced with the dazzling Ariana, Lyle felt himself bewitched. He didn't even dare to look directly into her eyes, for it would take away control of his body.

“I’ll tutor you in soul studies, Lyle. You can’t handle Helena’s physical charm right now.” Ariana seemed quite satisfied with Lyle’s reaction. A blush rose on her face, and her arms were already wrapped around Lyle like snakes.

"Also, remember that dance we did together? I don't think Monica's carrying job counts as an agreement. You need to practice, Lyle, with me."

"It is my pleasure, my lady."

A man and a woman, in this room filled with plaster, their heartbeats are the only music, the setting sun is the light reflecting their shadows, and they begin their dance, step by step, close together.

"My sister will lead the next test. She will gradually interfere with your thinking and weave desires into your mind. When you are completely immersed in it, our dance steps will be disrupted."

"If you make a mistake, I will wake you up immediately and then practice it again and again."

Lyle didn't know whether he should voice his strange feelings. This situation was like a dating test: whether he would notice other beautiful women while shopping with his girlfriend.

"Anna, if I make a mistake, won't you be angry with me?" or rather, jealous.

Ariana's eyes were straightforward in Lyle's probing gaze, a comforting expression of understanding.

“As Naslan’s daughter, I am already well aware of my sister’s charm. It’s a charm that even I would be seduced by. It’s something I find difficult to do, so how could I blame you?”

"In fact, I would be more worried if Lyle hadn't been bewitched by her sister."

Lyle once again felt fortunate to be the partner of such an understanding lady as Ariana, and was determined to do well in the future.

He gazed into Ariana's eyes, his gaze like a paintbrush sketching her face. Lyle told himself he would definitely dance a dance with Ariana.

In his mind, a beautiful voice chuckled, a mockery of Lyle's resolve. Yet, even with such blatant sarcasm, Lyle, as the listener, felt no discomfort whatsoever from the insult to his dignity. It was as if all the mockery from that voice was perfectly justified, innocent and pure.

In Lyle's eyes, Ariana's appearance was gradually blurring, and then it turned into another face that was similar to her, yet different.

A face covered in plaster.

Helena's closed-eye stone sculpture appearance.

Chapter 369 The Soul Stealer

Amid Helena's merciless giggles, Ariana's indifferent gaze became clear again in Lyle's eyes.

The sweet memories that had lingered in his mind dissipated, leaving only the bitter shame of his own lack of self-control. And in Ariana's voice, devoid of any reproach, Lyle's dignity suffered several setbacks.

"I failed again..."

"The fifth time."

Before they could even finish half a song, the sunset had been completely replaced by candlelight, and Lyle and Ariana's tightly clasped hands parted once again.

“It doesn’t matter, you are a human, Lyle. Humans are the origin of all desires. The soul was born from you, desire was born from you, and the desire to resist temptation is no less than a creature’s instinct to escape its beast.” Ariana’s soft voice soothed Lyle once again. Leaning her head on Lyle’s shoulder, Ariana’s smooth hair brushed against his cheek, bringing a silky touch.

"You did better than I expected."

Ariana's comfort and encouragement made Lyle feel a little better, but it didn't help much.

In all five tests, Helena fell under the spell in the same spot. Her actions carried an artist's obsession, brazenly placing the trap of desire at the very first turning point of her dance steps, without any concealment or variation.

But Lyle fell for it anyway. Even though he could accurately predict that he would be mentally charmed in the next third step, and even though he was fully prepared to resist, he still fell for it.

The feeling was like trying to shut a door to fend off a tsunami. A tsunami of allure—Lyle had no doubt that Helena's charm could sink him at any moment, a self-awareness that chilled him to the bone. Naslan's eldest sister could turn him into a puppet at any time.

Thankfully, Ariana managed to regain her senses, although she didn't explain how to wake Lyle when he was curious.

“If the course is not progressing, Lyle, you may want to relax a bit.”

“I’m afraid it will be difficult, Anna. Soul studies have always been my weakness, especially when it comes to Ms. Helena’s allure. I have no clue what to do with it. I find it hard to put these setbacks behind me.”

Ariana's soft hand pressed against Lyle's back, and he could clearly feel her body sliding against his clothes, stirring a ripple in his heart.

"Perhaps you should learn about my sister, about Helena, about what a Soul Reaper is."

The Soul Reaper, a name feared even by Medusa, had long piqued Lyle's curiosity. Now that Ariana had brought it up, Lyle was naturally eager to learn what kind of being the Soul Reaper, Helena, truly was.

"Naslan is the family of three sisters. In fact, it is a family with only three sisters."

Lyle quickly sensed something amiss from her veiled words, his slightly constricted pupils revealing his surprise.

"what do you mean……"

“In fact, there are only three members in the Naslan tribe.” Ariana leaned against him, swaying gently as if telling a bedtime story.

"Beatrice, Ariana, and Helena."

"The Soul Reapers are a unified whole."

"The ghostly maids in that house, those souls you herded, they..."

"They are all Helena's [works]."

Those indifferent ghosts, those beings that could express their own will—were they all just Helena's creations?! Just like… just like those stone sculptures?

"The stone sculptures of my sister are actually the dwelling places of these fragments of the Soul Reapers. They must return to these stone sculptures regularly to ensure that the [personality] that my sister wrote for them is not distorted, that is, killed."

"But why would Helena do that?"

Ariana first looked at Lyle, then her gaze searched among the surrounding statues. As if she had spotted something, she nodded.

“If you have no objections, then I will tell you, Lyle, how it all started.”

“That was a long time ago, not long after Father passed away, and Naslan was in a crisis of decline. As the new chieftain, Sister Helena invited a group of women to hold a ceremony.”

"A ritual to acquire great power, a ritual that can make Naslan prosper forever."

“Those women deceived her, those witches, they didn’t tell us the price of having great power. They wanted to turn her sister into a weapon, a ‘Breaker’ bound by an oath.”

What is a "disruptor"?

"Individuals who disregard the established order and transcend limitations often possess immense, macro-level power, therefore..."

“Also known as a god.” Lyle seemed to understand what she meant.

"Those who break the rules are not yet worthy of being called gods, nor do they possess the absolute power of gods."

"Those witches succeeded, but they also failed."

"Helena altered the contract at the last minute, changing the vow to protect the witch into a promise we three sisters made when we were children."

"The oversight in the rules caused a terrifying energy burst. With the formation of the Breakers, Naslan was reduced to ruins."

"To protect the servants who belonged to Naslan, Helena, who had become another form of life, devoured their souls."

"She became Naslan's Soul Reaper, and Helena, having merged with countless memories and emotions, went mad."

"She became a broken whole."

"It was a long time before time brought her back to peace." Ariana's voice was filled with sorrow. The destruction of her family and her elder sister's transformation into a powerful madwoman made the hardships she faced unspeakable.

"Time is not a cure-all. What truly brought me to my senses was, of course, the pure love between Anna and Benny." Lyle felt something cold and sinister hang on his shoulder and speak to Anna on his chest from behind.

It was Helena, Helena who had broken free of the stone statue. Lyle's hair stood on end, and a shadow of terror loomed over him, a fear that came from the very nature of being a living being.

"Go back quickly, sister, you're going to scare Lyle."

"Tch." The fear vanished.

“As a Soul Reaper, Helena is an anomaly that cannot be tolerated by the rules of this world. She will spontaneously emanate malice.” Ariana cradled Lyle’s head. “Don’t look into her eyes, because they will petrify your soul and turn you into material for her sculpture.”

"Also, Helena can be a bit crazy sometimes... but she's been much better lately."

The recent stone carvings seem to be responding to Ariana's words. "It's alright if I turn to stone, I can definitely reshape Anna into the most ideal Lyle, a perfect Lyle who won't look at other women, but will only focus on my lovely sister."

"So! So! Anna, do you want to date your sister? I promise I'll never let you be sad again!"

Lyle sensed a deep malice.

Chapter 370 Stone Sculptures of the Land of Souls

Helena devoured the souls of Naslan's servants, absorbing their emotions and memories. Using her own abilities and fragments of her own soul, she sculpted replicas with identical memories and personalities. These fragments of the Soul Reaper, essentially clones of herself, then used them to rebuild the ghostly race of Naslan.

Such a creation probably doesn't qualify as an original individual, but the ghost servants all accepted this fact and were willing to continue serving Naslan's mistress eternally.

Helena devoured spirits, transforming herself into a monstrous soul-stealer. She used fragments of her own soul as material to carve the Naslan race.