Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  Sherlock and Bru’s conversation couldn’t be heard by the gamers, who were far away. To them, it was a Plot with great special effects.

  It was a pity that the gamers didn’t have a chance to fight against Professor Cabbage before she merged together with the strange box. Lord Sherlock was grabbed by the tentacles of the box, then they heard a loud bellow.

  The Mana Formation underneath Specter College gathered on the box, and the gray light in the eye sockets of the Lich students vanished with the disappearance of the Mana Formation.

  “What happened?”


  “Where is this place?”


  “Earthquake? What’s this about?”


  “Why are the examination combatants in our courtyard? Is this a rehearsal?”


  The Lich students recovered their senses and started chatting. When they saw the chaotic situation and the disintegrated white bones of other students, they started to panic.

  They also noticed the big box in the middle of the courtyard. The box moved slowly and became a meatball with numerous flesh-colored tentacles, and soon, a bone-based shell covered its entire body.

  “Roar—!”


  The meatball waved its tentacles and screamed.

  “Run!”


  After one student shouted, all of the students fled in different directions.

  Sherlock didn’t stop them, while the gamers were in Plot Animation Mode.

  The Lich students who didn’t escape wanted to communicate with the gamers and find out what happened, but the gamers couldn’t speak since they were in Plot Animation Mode. They could only blink their eyes at the students.

  Some Lich students ran to the meatball. Before they could find out what it was, they were captured by the waving tentacles and turned to white bone powder like Professor Cabbage.

  Those Lich students who hadn’t left started fleeing. Pandemonium broke out.

  “Lord Sherlock, we have to end the battle fast. Once the students escape, they will report to the Garrison Guards. If other creatures get to see the scene, it will be difficult to recruit new employees,” Bru said to Sherlock.

  “What you’ve said makes sense.” Sherlock nodded. He flapped his wings and landed on the ground, then pointed to the meatball and said to the gamers, “Warriors of Eternal Kingdom, we can’t let the evil Void army commander leave here alive. Attack! For Eternal Kingdom!”


  A Skeleton hand broke out of the ground, then numerous Skeleton hands broke out, and the disintegrated Skeletons of the students started to reassemble.

  Not far from the meatball, the eye sockets of Professor Bacon, Brainiac, and other professors were glimmering with gray light. The meatball didn’t relinquish control over them.

  “I’m Frangipani. You pathetic mortals dare to disrupt my revival ritual. Face the wrath of the Ancient Gods army!”


  His words sounded like the well-scripted dialogue of an antagonist. The revived Frangipani shouted, and his voice sounded like he was trapped in a box.

  The manipulated Lich professors made the Skeleton Soldiers walk towards the gamers, and a gray light ball appeared once again in Brainiac’s hand just as the Plot Animation Mode of the gamers ended.

  The gamers charged towards their enemies.

  “Arthur, let’s attack!”


  In the Gundam, Hemp Rope Technology, who was the data monitoring and testing crew, shouted to Arthur.

  “Acknowledged!”


  Arthur didn’t know what direction Brainiac’s Mana was aimed at. If the powerful gray light ball hit the Gundam, the consequences would be dire.

  Everyone put in a lot of effort to produce the Gundam, and Arthur didn’t want it to be destroyed.

  Arthur started running. The charging gamers watched the Gundam run past them and started cheering.

  Frangipani also discovered this metal monster. He waved his tentacles and smacked them at the Gundam.

  The Gundam squatted down while both its hands grasped its Longsword and swung it at the tentacles. The tentacles were severed. Sherlock spent a fortune to produce the Gundam, so the weapon was definitely not a toy.

  The Longsword sliced through the tentacles like it was cutting through a cabbage, and the convulsing tentacles fell to the ground where the gamers were. The nearby gamers started hacking the tentacles with their weapons.

  “What a big piece of tentacle. I wonder how much money it will fetch!”


  “Perhaps it’s a Mana material or an Alchemy material!”


  “Grab them!”


  The gamers shouted amidst the chaos.

  Arthur wasn’t bothered by them as numerous tentacles continued their attacks on him. The severed tentacles also started to regenerate at a rapid pace.

  “Lord Sherlock, your weapon is very powerful. Perhaps the Gundam is able to defeat Frangipani,” Bru said happily to Sherlock.

  A few tentacles were about to strike the Gundam when two of them were severed by the Longsword. However, the other tentacles smacked on the Gundam, and it reeled back and crashed into a building with a loud booming sound.

  The crash created a huge cavity in the building, which began to quake. It used to be the classrooms of the Lich students, but now, it was in ruins. There was dust and debris everywhere.

  “Reinforce Arthur!” NotWearingPants shouted to the Guild members when he saw Arthur reeling after being hit.

  “Ice knowledge of the past, illusions abound, summon the snowstorm from my wrist!”


  “Hail the Elf’s contract, follow the terms and bestow me the greatest Mana and Elf power, such that destruction reigns supreme!”


  Gamers started their Mana incantations, and different Elemental Mana flew out toward Frangipani. Some of the Mana hit upon the Skeleton Soldiers and Frangipani’s tentacles, but there wasn’t much harm inflicted. The damaged tentacles quickly regenerated.

  The battle was magnificent. Besides the attacks from the Elemental Mana, various weather effects appeared above Frangipani, like snow, a hurricane, lightning, and rain. The gamers had mastered various Mana Skills in addition to the Mana Scrolls obtained from the Instance Dungeon.

  Only a few gamers were able to activate their Mana Skills according to their will because the Skeleton Soldiers charged and engaged them in close combat.

  “Lord Sherlock, is your one million Magic Stones going down the drain?” Bru asked worriedly as the Gundam was sent flying after being hit.

  “Don’t worry. It’s only a scratch.”


  Sherlock disregarded the damage, but he looked at the Gundam with concern. Fortunately, the Gundam stood up again and walked out with a layer of dust.

  The Gundam looked intact.

  “Arthur, are you alright?” Hemp Rope Technology asked. During the impact, Arthur didn’t stand firm, and his head hit against the devices on the side. Fortunately, the devices were sturdy, so there was no problem.

  Hemp Rope Technology wasn’t bothered by the bleeding on his head. He was more concerned about the Gundam.

  Arthur was protected by the cockpit, so he wasn’t injured. After he recovered his senses, he maneuvered the Gundam out of the ruins. Dust and building fragments fell to the ground like rain. It was a spectacular sight.

  They had no chance to rejoice before Brainiac’s gray light balls started flying towards the Gundam once again. Frangipani was targeting the Gundam and not Sherlock. From the battle just now, the Gundam was a greater threat than Sherlock.

  Though Arthur dodged, he was still slow. Most of the gray light balls landed on the buildings, but one smacked into the Gundam’s leg.

  There was a loud explosion, and the Gundam tripped and almost fell to the ground.

  “Be careful, Arthur!” Hemp Rope Technology, who was looking out from the observation window, shouted to Arthur.

  Tens of ice cones appeared in Bacon’s hands and flew towards the Gundam. The Lich professors, Professor Bacon, and Brainiac were focusing on the Gundam.

  This created an opportunity for Sherlock since they didn’t attack him.

  While Frangipani was swinging the tentacles menacingly, Sherlock flew towards him and punched at the bone shell covering him.

  After a loud bang, the bone shell didn’t have any cracks, but the ground started to crack. Sherlock’s strength was immense, but his punch didn’t inflict any noticeable damage.

  Frangipani roared angrily. His tentacles grasped at Sherlock, but he evaded them. The tentacles were able to absorb Mana from any creatures they contacted.

  Sherlock didn’t give up, attacking Frangipani continuously. He rained punches on the bone armor until booming sounds reverberated in the entire courtyard.

  “Sherlock’s awesome!”


  “My husband, Sherlie!”


  “This is too violent. I’m going to file a complaint.”


  They didn’t just watch the fight. More and more Elemental Mana attacks were directed at Frangipani. They didn’t care whether their Mana attacks landed on Frangipani or Sherlock. After all, it was their tradition to attack their own side during battle.

  After raining tens of punches, Sherlock flew up into the sky. Frangipani was deeply buried in the ground, and the topmost part of the bone armor showed a few cracks.

  “This bone armor is tough,” Sherlock said as he surveyed the bone armor.

  “He was the commander of the Ancient Gods army and a powerful character from tens of thousands of years ago. From his combat prowess, he’s geared more towards defense,” Bru said.

  Sherlock nodded in agreement.

  Sherlock didn’t want to kill Frangipani. He wanted to know how Frangipani controlled Professor Bacon, Brainiac, and the other professors before saving them. If it was successful, he would sign a special contract with Frangipani, similar to the contracts of Polio and Phoenix.

  While Sherlock was probing for Frangipani’s weakness, a flaming phoenix gave a clear shriek and flew down.

  While descending, the body became smaller and smaller. Then, it transformed into a parrot.

  The descending speed slowed down, and it could be seen that he was clutching a black kitten with his claws.

  The parrot placed the black kitten on Sherlock’s shoulder, then went to the other shoulder.

  “Lord Sherlock, I saw the bird slacking. He was waiting for Frangipani to finish you off before fleeing!” the black kitten shouted after steadying himself on the shoulder.

  “That’s not true, Lord Sherlock. It was this stupid cat who was trying to escape. I saw him slacking in the crowd. He wasn’t required to disguise himself as you, but he did, and he was watching the battle like a show. So, I brought him back.”


  Phoenix said, “Lord Sherlock, I battled with Brainiac for a few hundred rounds using our Mana. It wasn’t easy for me to fly back to your side. My life is difficult.”


  The black kitten was about to rebuke, but Sherlock interrupted their bickering and said, “Polio, break off Frangipani’s control over the Liches.”


  Sherlock ordered.

  A small Mana Formation flashed on the black kitten’s body. He then became a cloud of black mist and flew towards Frangipani.

  Frangipani’s bone armor was unable to stop Polio from entering his body, so the black mist seeped into his body, and he was sent into a frenzy.

  His tentacles waved wildly, so Sherlock was unable to get close. Sherlock had no intention to attack at this time, though. Instead, he stood by and watched.

  Polio was indeed one of the 72 Devils. While Frangipani was struggling with his tentacles, the gray light in the eye sockets of the controlled Liches disappeared. The first one to regain control was Brainiac.

  He knelt to the ground and covered his skull with his hand. The gray light had vanished from his eye socket. He looked at the surroundings in a daze and noticed Sherlock in the air and Professor Bacon at his side.

  “Mentor! Mentor!”


  Brainiac dashed towards Professor Bacon excitedly. He recalled that he was searching for Professor Bacon.

  Professor Bacon fell weakly into Brainiac’s arms. The gray light in his eye sockets had disappeared, Professor Bacon was free from Frangipani’s control.

  “Brainiac?”


  Professor Bacon struggled to open his heavy eye sockets. He looked extremely vulnerable in Brainiac’s arms and didn’t have the strength to stand up.

  “I’m not going to make it, Brainiac,” Professor Bacon said as he lifted his trembling arm.

  Brainiac was in tears. He grasped Professor Bacon’s hand and said, “Mentor, don’t think too much. The Beetlemon ambulance is on the way. You’ll be fine. I’ll send you to Fatality Hospital. The doctors will save you!”


  Brainiac spoke in a wavering voice as he gazed at Professor Bacon.

  “Brainiac, I know my condition very well. It’s my fault for not reporting Frangipani to the college. I’ve implicated you. If I had a choice, I wouldn’t do it.”


  Professor Bacon said feebly, “Lord Sherlock is a good Lord Overseer. I’m glad he’s taking care of you. You have a promising future, Brainiac. Make sure you work hard! You’re my favorite student!”


  Professor Bacon released his grasp as his head fell to the side. His body was drained, and there were no signs of life. He looked like a lifeless Skeleton.

  “Mentor!” Brainiac shouted in pain. Professor Bacon wouldn’t be replying to him anymore. Brainiac stood up and manifested a huge gray Mana ball in his hands.

  He was full of rage as he glared at the struggling Frangipani. The Mana ball grew in size. His majestic Mana Power showed the true capability of a rare genius Lich. Finally, he threw the Mana ball at Frangipani with rage and hatred.

  Brainiac used up all of his Mana reserves. When the Mana ball smashed into Frangipani, there was a huge explosion that engulfed half of the courtyard. All of the remaining Skeletons were thrown to the ground.

  “Is Professor Bacon dead?” Bru asked in disbelief.