Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 824 - 765 Singing Contrarily

Gently moving his fingers up and down, the unexpected freedom excited their owner. His entire body began to tremble, bone fragments fell off him, and a black aura burned like flames, shooting up from the white ground. He crawled out, limbs touching the ground, his upper limbs raised, his murky pupils scanning around him excitedly, exhilarated! He immediately stuck his fingers into his throat, carefully prying out the bone joints bit by bit. His airways completely cleared, others began to kneel and retch on the ground, and he howled to the sky, his hoarse throat emitting sounds praising freedom and liberation.

The wall of bones had collapsed, and the Fallen Demon obtained precious freedom. They left the crumbling mound of bones, and their eyes scanning the white fragments still revealed a humanized fear. Malice once again occupied their souls, under the guidance of malice deep within the earth, the Demon People began to move like a pack of wolves towards the troops of the Exiles. They weren’t worried about getting lost, in this cursed land, the uncorrupted Exiles stood out against the filth like white stains on dirty paper. Assimilate them, spread the divine gift, the Fallen Demon resumed their hunt.

"Villainous roles must catch up to the climax of the story, a story without hardship is not thrilling,"

Lyle hummed the Song of the Dead, releasing control over the army of skeletons, turning them into dust, liberating the imprisoned Demon People, "Let them see the danger in it, let those Exiles realize the help of illusion. As they build the bridge and successfully cross the cliffs, narrowly escaping the Demon People’s pursuit, they will be grateful to my clan. They will surely be pleased," he said.

[Your indulgence harbors dark thoughts.]

Lyle smiled in the face of the ominous accusation, like a cheerful and foolish big boy, blurting out his icy retort, "They put my people in jeopardy, morally binding me. Why should I show them a kind face? Scaring them into a chaotic escape, isn’t that interesting?"

[Illusions may get hurt.]

"Scars are a form of growth," he responded.

In fact, Lyle harbored lasting resentment over Illusion’s earlier support for Rosa instead of himself, and his dark thoughts persisted even after the malice faded.

Lyle cheerfully greeted the Tentacle Monster MooMoo, squatting on the steps of the Red Tower, sinking into the phantom network, listening to their laughter and chatter, continuously emitting his negative energy, criticizing and commenting with his mic off.

"That joke isn’t funny at all, it’s one of the three worst jokes Stonemason likes to tell."

[You taught him, Cassandra’s cold jokes rarely resonate with normal people.]

"These groups of Exiles have such a low level of cultural education, it’s baffling to me why they find this stuff incomprehensible."

[The insiders are confused, the bystanders see clearly.]

"I can’t stand it! What’s up with these two little leaders, clearly having a liking for each other yet still probing each other? That Jeremiah even has this tragic, overly dramatic attitude, really... I can’t watch this any further."

[...Are you going to continue this monologue until they come back?]

A sense of annoyance rushed into Lyle’s mind from the ominous feeling, the bitter almond taste prompting Lyle to exit the phantom’s mental network.

"You don’t enjoy talking to me?" Lyle was genuinely hurt, as his idea of entertainment was quite sophisticated compared to what Andrale liches would come up with during their time stuck in coffins.

[If you’re truly anxious and aimless, looking for topics to distract yourself from your worries about the phantoms, I’d suggest you go spy on and follow them immediately instead of torturing me with the scarce humor of the Butler family. Please remember, I share a brain with you; I do not need another voice repeating the stale jokes I’m already familiar with in front of me.]

Lyle clutched his chest, his gaze sorrowful as he stared at his shadow.

"I thought we were friends who could talk about anything; I never imagined you saw me like this."

[Haven’t you realized yet that being friends with yourself is a rather sad affair? My existence is a matter of fate, a duty. My presence signifies to the world that Lyle Butler still harbors intelligent and mysterious aspects.]

[I don’t want to sound too harsh...]

[If given a choice, I too would choose to be an eight-year-old Tentacle Monster girl, only concerned with basic needs.]

The Hungry half raised its head; Nia chewed the burrito she had brought, her voice muffled, "Is Lyle talking bad about Nia?"

[We were saying Nia is the cutest, everyone wants to be like Nia.]

"Hmph, Lyle just needs to be Lyle! Nia is not so easy to be!"

Nia’s tentacles retracted, Lyle and the raised head of the shadow looked at each other.

[Do you now understand how severe our self-loathing is, we all see you as a flawed version of ourselves.]

"Mutual feeling." His only daughter who only eats, and his late-stage chuunibyou self, Lyle firmly retorted.

The voice of the omen calmed, and Lyle’s will reached a level of integration, or perhaps he simply realized arguing with himself was foolish. At any rate, Lyle recognized that his sense of belonging to the clan always made him worry about the distant phantoms, even affecting his own thought processes.

"I shouldn’t interfere with them; they are adults with the freedom to think and act... Are the phantoms adults yet? Nevermind, I shouldn’t be watching over them like a nanny..." Such conflicts echoed in Lyle’s mind, feeling as if he was excluded from a conference jointly held by the Spirit Summoning Fraction, similar feelings of loss made Lyle remain silent in the phantom network.

"This won’t happen again." He consoled himself with the impossible excuse, sending his worry to the phantoms on the run.

"I have to block the phantom network, I cannot let mixed emotions distract them."

Thinking so, Lyle turned off his mind, sinking into silence.