Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

Especially after realizing that fists are more powerful than words.

To onlookers, the scene of the match resembled the beautiful Valkyrie escorting a valiant hero to Valhalla.

But those who don't want to go to heaven obviously can't appreciate the poetic beauty or epic charm of it; in Lyle's view, it's just an eagle catching a mouse.

"William!!! Don't resist!!!" The menacing Gurelia flapped her bat wings. In her demonic form, the language of the Warbringer Demon was more like a wild beast's roar than human speech. Not to mention William, even Lyle, caught in the crossfire, stumbled and nearly fell.

“I didn’t resist! Darling!” William raised his hands in surrender, but he didn’t stop running. Given the chaos and the runners’ overall mental state, it was hard to tell whether he was just saying it with a clear mind or simply running on instinct without thinking.

But this didn't matter to the irritable succubus. The urgency of falling behind in the game had burned away her gentleness, especially after her irritable constitution, stemming from her high demon bloodline, became increasingly apparent.

"I said...you...stop right now!!!" The Ironscale Bat wings retracted behind her, and the compressed air, along with the explosive magic, erupted behind Glelia. The charging war emissary instantly closed the gap between them and raised its fist high towards the back of William's head.

duang~

The scaled arm tucked the unconscious William under its armpit, transforming into a hurricane that swept through the sky. Lyle watched William slowly shrink into a tiny dot, his emotions a complex mix. In the air, William's body writhed violently like a fish out of water, perhaps caused by the strong wind, or perhaps by the aftershocks of the succubus's punch. She must have held back; the force she unleashed just now didn't shatter William's skull. The succubus must have shown mercy.

Lyle continued running, with Beatrice trailing behind at a leisurely pace. She didn't seem to be in a hurry; the vampire was enjoying the cat-and-mouse game.

She was toying with Lyle, and Lyle quickly understood Beatrice's intentions.

Offering hope, then crushing it at the last moment—this immense, readily attainable gap can leave a lasting psychological scar.

But you foolish sister-in-law, do you think I'll let you do whatever you want with me?

Lyle's eyes were as firm as a rock, his pupils gleaming with divine light, and his heart seemed to be burning with flames.

He told himself that he would never give in and would continue to struggle to survive, carrying on William's legacy!

Beatrice! You will pay a heavy price for your arrogance!

I, Lyle Bouler, will definitely reach the finish line!!!

"Nia! Protect my back! My safety is in your hands!!!"

“Okay!!!” Black tentacles spread out behind Lyle like sea anemones, and Nia agreed energetically.

Lyle was getting closer and closer to the finish line, while all his running partners had already taken to the air.

In the end, was I all alone? An indescribable sadness gripped Lyle.

Comrades! I will carry your share with me to the finish line!

"Beatles, you lost..."

With less than two meters to go, Lyle shouted proudly, and then, with a soft splat, kissed the ground.

I tripped and fell on flat ground?! My left foot tripped over my right?! What kind of move was that?! How is this possible?! I was only an arm's length away from the finish line, and now, it's all over.

Lyle turned around and looked at the spot where the problem was.

The wriggling black tentacles tightly wrapped around Lyle's feet, the slime already wetting the ground beneath them, forming a swamp-like substance. Nia manipulated the tentacles, binding Lyle's legs like a dumpling, and tying a cute bow at the toes.

Lyle was shocked.

"Nia, you're the mole?"

A clear, bell-like voice, like that of a young girl, rang out from within the twisted flesh. Nia stretched out her tentacles and touched Lyle's face, trying to smooth down his raised eyebrows with her slime.

"Hahaha, don't blame Nia! Beatrice promised Nia she'd give her a drink for mature women! Besides, Nia wants to fly too!"

The cunning woman revealed a sinister smile, and her flapping blood-red wings completely buried Lyle's shattered joy.

Being deceived and betrayed did not break Lyle's will. Even with his legs distorted like caterpillars, Lyle stubbornly propped himself up, stretching his hands towards the sky. At that moment, Lyle felt like Atlas carrying the sky on his back, sensing the unfathomable fate he bore. Facing this damned fate, Lyle squeezed the air from his lungs and let out a man's roar!

"Grab my hand!!! Grab my hand!!!! I don't want to be hung upside down in the sky!!!! A stroke and fear of heights will make my life start all over again!!!! Please!!! My love..."

The vampire's icy arms gripped Lyle's arms, the immense force almost tearing them apart propelling him into the air like a rocket. The shrinking world beneath his feet made him dizzy, and the strong winds rushing into his mouth and nose acted like a cleansing agent, making Lyle forget all the pleading lines he had prepared. His empty mouth, like his empty mind, roared out Lyle's truest feelings for Beatrice.

"Hold!!!!!!!!"

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha……"

The man's angry curses and the woman's coquettish laughter mingled together in the wind, blending into the air currents.

Black tentacles grew, becoming strong bonds that secured the vampire's waist and the pitiful human hanging beneath her blood wings.

The hypergravity caused by the rapid change in altitude has disappeared, but Lyle's internal organs are still stuck in that past moment, like an old computer; this is called inertia.

Lyle covered his mouth, his stomach churning violently, unable to calm down. A biting, cold wind swept across his cheeks, and with the little oxygen he could draw, Lyle managed to suppress his nausea.

"The people of the wandering city will thank me, for they have not been baptized by the filth that fell from the sky."

"It's really unfortunate, I was actually looking forward to that scene."

The turbulent airflow caused by the high-speed movement in the air was like a whistle playing out of tune, but Beatrice's voice clearly reached her mind.

The vampire's icy hands were pressed against his face and neck, and Lyle could clearly feel the coldness of the nails against his skin.

"What's wrong? Are you surprised that you can communicate telepathically as Naslan's daughter?" Beatrice's voice appeared in Lyle's mind. Because it was telepathy, the joy she felt from teasing Lyle was also conveyed to her.

Lyle was completely convinced by Beatrice.

"Is it necessary? You're already behind in the flying competition, all to mess with me." Since things have come to this point, if you still want to get off the ground, you might as well accompany Beatrice to the end, or choose to give up halfway and be airdropped.

“That?” Beatrice lowered her head, and from this posture, Lyle could see a calm smile on her face.

"I can easily win the flying competition."

"But your expression right now is my source of joy, a rather rare kind of fun."

Chapter 421 The Difficulties That Arose

Perhaps she really does have some trump card, Lyle thought to himself as he looked at her beaming face.

With a face similar to Ariana's, she revealed a quirky and unruly smile, unlike the aloof lich.

Nia's fleshy tentacles formed a deep black "pupa" on Lyle's surface. The thin shell served only as insulation, and the feeling of solid ground beneath his feet made Lyle relax a little. Lyle looked down at the rapidly receding nightscape of the City of Wanderers, the faint lights like fish swimming in the water towards the distance. The unexpected sight eased Lyle's tense nerves slightly.

The magical halos frozen in the air formed the race track for the flying competition. Because it was far from the light zone, the distance between the two halos was gradually widening, and Lyle had more opportunities to see the dark night view.

The two were flying in a pitch-black area, a zone of light and shadow.

“We will start from the central area, fly around the twenty-four districts of the Wandering City, and finally go back to seize that solidified heart.”

In the pitch-black racetrack, only the halo was the sole beacon. Apart from the sound of the wind rising from the two as they flew, Lyle heard no other sounds, and saw no one else.

As Lyle passed through the halo in the air, he could see Beatrice's relaxed expression through the halo's illumination, as well as the gem embedded in her flesh on her chest.

That vampire artifact, the Blood Oath, remained embedded in Beatrice's chest after everyone left Hamlet, becoming the most beautiful feature of the Blood Rose. Because of it, Beatrice always wore revealing clothing, though she herself didn't mind.

Because Beatrice uses alcohol instead of blood, this vampire artifact is currently the color of brandy, which would probably infuriate the vampires. It's not noticeable during the day, but in the darkness, the gem shines brightly, and from a distance, a flying vampire looks like a beautiful shooting star.

But that wasn't what Lyle really cared about; it was that the gem would absorb magic and shimmer when passing through a magical aura.

Well, with a vampire sister-in-law whose chest indicator light flashes like Ultraman's, it's hard for Lyle not to look at her.

Perhaps due to a misunderstanding of Lyle's blank stare, Beatrice's disdain deepened, but a slight upturn appeared at the corner of her mouth hidden in the darkness.

“Beatles, we must be far behind. Those contestants may have already reached the next area.”

"It's okay, it's an obstacle course competition."

Obstacles during flight?

"Do you think those races will just stand by and watch us fly over their heads without offering any resistance or expressing their enthusiasm?" Beatrice's eyes narrowed into vertical slits as she looked at the enormous cluster of crystals so close to her. "The real competition is just beginning."

In the Dark Tenth District, at the Crystal Junkyard where the Crystal Protozoa reside, crystals, the excrement of insects, grow rampantly in the Wandering City like pale pink plants, forming magnificent crystal flowers. A beautiful sight, though Lyle is more concerned with the sharp edges, which, like the spire of Andrei's Tower, seem capable of stabbing someone to death.

Upon entering Dark Zone 10, Lyle finally saw the other contestants. Strangely, they didn't move forward; instead, they wandered around aimlessly like headless flies, eventually hovering in the air, lost and disoriented.

Before Lyle could figure out the reason, Beatrice, with a considerable initial velocity, made a sharp turn in the "empty" air.

Just like performing an air show, Beatrice suddenly flipped up and down, adding difficulty to her competition.

Lyle only realized something was amiss when the shimmering light from the Bloodstone cast double images in the air.

"Transparent...crystal?"

Unlike the colorful crystal corridor beneath our feet, there are also traces of crystal worms in the sky above the Dark Tenth District. It is an invisible maze, or rather a transparent "web". Perhaps these worms are related to spiders. They weave an invisible crystal in the air to intercept and pierce their prey.

This is the obstacle flight that exists in Dark Zone 10.

You must find your way through this invisible labyrinth, or you'll have to pray that the insect breeders haven't gone home so late at night. Crystal protozoa can digest everything except the crystals they excrete.

But all these difficulties seemed nonexistent for Beatrice. Her flight path was smooth and effortless, even possessing a natural and graceful quality reminiscent of dance. Lyle, however, hanging behind her, looked like a pitiful passenger who had mistakenly boarded a circus plane.

He vomited, but those insects probably wouldn't mind the liquid food falling from the sky.

"Beatles, how do you know the way? Did you memorize the signs?"

Lyle quickly connected the dots to the creatures most like vampires: bats. Their ability to fly at night is primarily due to their capacity to emit and receive ultrasonic waves. Perhaps vampires possess similar abilities. Besides, Beatrice's older sister, Ariana, is quite the "singer."

Lyle shivered as the cold palm slid across his skin, and Beatrice's coquettishness came to mind.

Are you thinking about something rude?

"No...nothing like that!!! Um, Beatrice, do you have any special abilities?"

Beatrice was quite talkative during the flight; perhaps that's part of the fun of flying.

“My nose is incredibly sensitive. It’s a vampire’s talent, and it’s also an ability I developed while running a bar. I’ve memorized the scents of the contestants, and they’ve already navigated the Crystal Maze. Now, I just need to follow their path.”

Lyle suddenly realized.

"So you deliberately set off last, it was intentional! You're using them to pave the way for you, so you can easily get through these areas without expending much effort."

"Using, that sounds awful. I won the last flying competition through sheer skill. There aren't many opportunities to cheat on the later stages. So, is it so hard to honestly praise my intelligence, brother-in-law?"

Saying cute things, Beatrice smiled and grabbed Lyle's ear, starting to spin it around.

Lyle quickly surrendered, and the fabricated praise he had given the vampire landlady came in handy.

The two continued the race, overtaking some other participants along the way.

The miasma of the Dark Ninth District's witchcraft swamp, and the flying toads, are truly awe-inspiring, especially when they are as tall as a person.

The falling rocks from the Stone Monster Cave in Dark District 8 startled the stone monsters, causing them to become quite grumpy. The chain reaction of the awakened stone monsters even created a small-scale earthquake.

“We’ve arrived in your hometown.” Beatrice said softly, looking at the forest of spires stretching out before her.

Andrei District, Lich District, terrorist stronghold.

Looking at those sharp, reflective spires, Lyle took back his words.