Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 819 - 760: The Obsession of the Deceased

Dust mingled with sparks, and the night sky was a murky grey. The dusty clouds in the air hung like drapes, casting the sporadic glimmer of fires onto the ground. The night was less suited for sleep than the day, with darkness serving merely as a canvas to paint fear upon. Each breath carried the thick scent of smoke and dust, and the parched earth underfoot made walking intensely uncomfortable. Were it not for the absence of scorching lava rivers and the pervasive smell of sulfur, Lyle might have thought he had arrived at the Hell Plane.

"Posuwa is beyond hope." Lyle shook his head, his spur-of-the-moment stroll greatly souring his mood. Nia coiled on his back, her upright body extending feelers all around like an agitated cat. The vicinity was crowded with "people"—locals of Posuwa, disheveled, with contorted faces, gasping for air nearby in small groups, like jackals. The darkness that enshrouded them, the congregation of malice, sent chills down Lyle’s spine.

[The malice of the Sleeper has taken control of them, don’t be afraid, they’re hardly more dangerous than robbers.] Shadows circled Lyle upward, resembling those twisted manifestations of malice, yet with a deeply somber hue of bad omen.

"I am not afraid, it’s merely my body’s instinct to raise my hackles," Lyle attributed the abnormal reactions to his human nature, continuing his walk towards Paradise, "I expected things to turn out this way when I ordered Vaul to stop [Feeding], I was mentally prepared for the situation to worsen."

The jackals, sensing the gap in strength, left disappointedly. Lyle stroked Nia’s mimicked head, feeding her a layer of pastry while she curled upon his crown.

[Being driven by goodwill doesn’t necessarily lead to a good outcome.]

Lyle shrugged, his gaze following the omen as it dissolved slowly into shadows.

"It’s just my whim; you might be right, but I don’t care, the Phantoms won’t be disrupted, for they are in Paradise."

...

"A guest has arrived, Lyle."

The wooden voice surprised Lyle.

"Rosa Yesh, an Exile, extends her respects to the Master of Illusions."

Rosa’s appearance made Lyle raise an eyebrow, barely managing a welcoming smile.

"My people implore the aid of the Phantom."

Rosa’s plan utterly hardened Lyle’s expression, his indifference alienating the other Phantoms and unsettling Rosa. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"You want to leave Paradise, escorting a group of Exiles from the west of Posuwa to the southeastern cliffs? Cross the entire Posuwa? Have you lost your minds? The lunatics out there could burst their own brains, and you think to orchestrate this undertaking and lead a large group over the cliffs at this time?" Lyle’s face flushed red, his fists waving in the air as if ready to strike the Stonemason at any moment.

"You have no capacity to resist; do you think I would let you face a mob? Don’t even think about it!"

The Snake slowly moved into Lyle’s line of sight, her body as high as five Lyles, still appearing aggrieved like a child, "But, Rosa needs help, our help."

Lyle snorted coldly, his sound causing the already emboldened Snake to shrink a bit further, as the Phantoms realized there were times their leader was fundamentally different from the Phantoms themselves. He could get angry, he could refuse, he could arrogantly dismiss the pitiable Rosa, prompting the Phantoms to recall the gap in capabilities between their leader and themselves.

"I will do it, I will help this lady who visited Paradise." Lyle articulated clearly over all other sounds, "I will escort her people and assist them in crossing the cliffs."

Lyle stared at Rosa, his gaze neither friendly nor resentful, indifferent as if looking into a mirror.

"I am a Spirit Summoner, or what you might call a Necromancer. I can manipulate corpses, control an army of the Undead, command skeletons to build bridges, or fill up gullies. My protection will ensure the safety of your people, save for a few scares."

Rosa knelt on the ground, maintaining this posture since she first faced Lyle. She remembered the rumors about Lyle’s identity, treating this boy, whose apparent age was similar to her own, with fingers covered in embroidered copper chains, full of respect and fear.

"Thank you for your assistance, I will follow your instructions carefully."

Rosa’s compliance slightly eased Lyle’s mood. Having just returned from outside, Lyle was well aware of the hellish situation there. Although he did not understand why the malevolence had suddenly surged, he knew it was definitely not a time to venture out. Thinking of the Phantoms without any thoughts of fighting back, confined in the same space as those madmen, a sense of belonging and responsibility to the Phantoms since joining them ignited a fire in Lyle’s heart.

He resolved to address the issue straightforwardly. Lyle realized his earlier words and actions had been impulsive. Although he wanted to comfort the disheartened Phantoms, an odd feeling prompted him to return alone to the tower of the Pact-Maker.

A butterfly’s wings flapping can cause a storm, so what about a mere thought from the Evil God?

What Lyle didn’t know was that the land soaked in the Sleeper’s malice would cling to the body of misdeeds. In the past, Posuwa’s greatest malefactor was the Evil Soul from Naslan, the tireless War Seeker Vaul, venting his maliciousness, thus bearing the brunt of the land’s malevolence. His presence had diminished the sins across the rest of Posuwa. These crazed consciousnesses were gathered at the center, creating a purgatory where good and evil gave way to each other. The resentful spirits that lost their own will and were entwined with Lyle’s commands regained their sanity. The malice that plagued them, due to the mysterious nature of the Evil God’s infant form, detached and returned to the earth. Now, these malevolent forces found new servants, a group of insane commoners.

These events arose from Lyle’s thoughts and would be rectified by his actions. Fate is like an invisible hand, leading the unknowing child forward. Regardless of the process, the outcome is always corrected; that’s fate, the eternal rectification.

"Lyle." The pages turning called his name, the Book of Omniscience rose from the lectern, its bent spine erect, the father of the Phantoms, the former Pact-Maker, looking at Lyle with a sorrowful expression.

"Old man, you should have stopped them," Lyle complained, "The sanctuary, you understand its purpose. This is a haven for the Phantoms because, to them, Posuwa is Hell. They cannot survive outside, so they seek refuge in the sanctuary."

"It’s an opportunity, Lyle," the elderly voice replied urgently, becoming somewhat loud due to its earnestness. "They were once sinners. I’ve removed their evil thoughts but not their crimes. Only the most unforgivable malefactors come to my laboratory to become Posuwa’s experimental subjects." The Phantoms were artificially created goodness, their predecessors the most dangerous criminals in Posuwa—ironic. But now, every time Lyle looked at them, he could only think of smiles—Snake’s tenderness, Stonemason’s stubbornness, the children’s obedience, and the enthusiasm of all the Phantoms.

"Rosa Yesh, once of the royal household. If the Phantoms could aid her, just once, only once! The Phantoms could sever ties with their sinful past lives, the sinners would be redeemed, and the royal house would pardon them..."

Lyle frowned, "My teacher taught me, or rather, the laws of Andrey demand that we differentiate between individuals before and after soul mutation. Different personalities shouldn’t bear each other’s burdens. The Phantoms are innocent; they are redemption in and of themselves. They don’t have to, nor do they need to seek atonement for their past selves."

"But I need to, I care," the Book of Omniscience responded, looking at Lyle. "I’m different from the Phantoms; I am a book, a recorder. I am aware of my past; I know the purpose of the Phantoms, of the sanctuary project. The Phantoms exist to help Posuwa, to salvage Posuwa—that was the original intent. I must confess that over time I developed compassion; these wonderful beings extracted from criminals have moved me. I no longer view them as experiments, but as my offspring. I am aware of their past, the lines upon lines of cold-blooded misdeeds recorded within me, and now it all intertwines before my eyes with their current likeness."

"Lyle, I wish for my children to be flawless. I want the Phantoms to be perfect, beyond reproach by anyone or anything, even lost history, even dead obsessions."

What saddened Lyle was that these ideas and emotions were all a simulation from the Book of Omniscience’s recorded "past lives" on its pages. The Phantoms were the best imitators; their souls were incomplete, and their spiritual deficits made them desperately yearn for something—yearn to know their origins, yearn to help others... And because it possessed "memory," the Book of Omniscience now grieved.

To separate the Phantoms from their past lives, to let the Phantoms become spiritually independent individuals.

To assist that girl, to pardon their sins.

The feeling of being persuaded was unpleasant.