Sorcerer’s Handbook

“Although we were the first to arrive and lay in ambush, to be honest, we don’t really have a way to deal with the Silver Lantern, barely even a way to hold it off. The divine host can resist most of my Mental Miracles, and Harvey hasn’t yet unlocked the full power of the Blood Corpse King.”

“You all created an opportunity for me.”

“Are you sure? This time isn’t like the Food Factory Town. Back then, I was pressing her to the edge, forcing her to flee without evoking the divine host, thus creating a perfect chance for you to assassinate without injury. Now, she’s already in the divine host state, and Harvey can at least use miracles to save himself, whereas you…”

“I’m sure.”

“Harvey?”

“I have no problem with it. No matter the outcome, it’s a good result for me.”

“Raven Annihilation, do you have any other requests?”

“Same as last time, after you all are dead, record my name in the Sorcerer’s Handbook-Tamashi of the Raven Annihilation Cult, judgment warriors.”

Upon seeing Raven, Vesser’s first reaction was to be wary of the grey fox blade on his elbow!

However, Ashe and the others have yet to take away Raven’s gray fox heritage. No matter how strong and capable Raven is in utilizing this weapon, he could never match a sorcerer’s wielding, as a sorcerer can use miracles to continue enhancing and extending capabilities, whereas Raven can only use his own body from start to finish.

In that case, I’ll gladly take it.

A cold glint flashed in Vesser’s eyes as her right hand, like a scalpel, swiftly aimed at Raven’s arm!

The situation was urgent, so she intended to take the whole arm with her!

The blade on the elbow had too short an attack range. Even though Raven tried his best to evade, his shoulder was still penetrated by Vesser first-

Slash.

When Vesser’s fingers touched Raven, Raven’s left fingers also reached Vesser’s neck.

A fine, almost invisible scratch appeared on her slender neck, from which a faint silver blood began to ooze with her breath. Turning her head, Vesser saw that Raven’s left fingers held a shard of a grey blade.

The grey fox blade was in his left hand, and the right elbow bore only a piece of matte iron!

Vesser’s pupils contracted as her right hand unleashed a thunder crescendo powerful enough to destroy a Sanctuary, smashing into Raven like a hammer. As Raven was blasted into the building like a cannonball, the air filled with the scorched scent of flesh!

However, Vesser had no time to celebrate the elimination of her target, because Ashe had already caught up to her, despite the interference from the Ghost King and Raven Annihilation!

Boom!

At the moment they clashed, a stunning arc of gold and blue lightning erupted. Although Vesser quickly retreated upward using the recoil, she noticed something unsettling.

Ashe had changed.

He wasn’t looking at the falling necromancer, the mental sorcerer nearby, or the destroyed Raven. Instead, his calm gaze was fixed on her. All the arcs around him retracted, leaving only a single point of golden lightning at the tip of the horn on his forehead.

If he were charging an attack, this stance would be normal, but maintaining it in a battle? Even Vesser couldn’t manage that.

The key point was Ashe’s expression.

No killing intent, no disgust, no affection, no anger, neither negative nor positive emotions.

It was an expression Vesser was very familiar with.

Familiar enough to see in the mirror every day.

Zzzt!

As if realizing that catching the Silver Lantern was impossible, Ashe flicked his fingers, sending threads of lightning like instantaneous bolts to entangle Vesser’s phantom blue silhouette!

Witch’s thread attack.

He accomplished this just through the Transcendent Demi-God’s lightning transformation, without any related spirit?

Vesser quickly deduced the answer and, with a twist of her body, emitted a burst of lightning, easily breaking Ashe’s threads. Unless overpowering ordinary people, most divine hosts favored close-range attacks, as long-range attacks lost too much power.

However, as Ashe could condense weapon attacks, he could also extend a sword blade dozens of meters long. Vesser began moving erratically, spinning and leaping between the floors, giving him no chance to probe her.

Yet Ashe continued forming a sword blade, albeit in a rare style for Senlo-

A whip sword.

Crack!

With a whip sound that broke the sound barrier, even though Vesser had preemptively dodged, the tail of the whip sword still curved to strike her face!

Accompanying the whip sword’s strike was an icy, bone-chilling emotion!

“Ah!!”

Even though Vesser quickly stifled her own pathetic wail, her soul still trembled with piercing pain-Ashe had somehow combined his Transcendent Demi-God technique with his “Single-minded Devotion” miracle!

Vesser was well aware of Ashe’s primary attack methods: the four swords of “Single-minded Devotion” and the Heart Pen Sword Mark.

Ever since she saw Ashe use the Healing Sword and Empowerment Sword to enhance the sword Princess Witch, Vesser had noted an issue-could these work on soul bodies too?

Soul bodies, though consistent with physical forms, still have differences. Miracles related to flesh, bone, or treatments like Hydrotherapy could only affect virtual realm creatures, not the sorcerer themselves.

When Vesser felt the effects of the Healing Sword, she realized it was a soul miracle that could directly affect the soul. With further development, it might be possible to heal soul injuries or directly harm a soul.

Soul miracles are incredibly difficult to defend against, unless a Sanctuary is activated. Yet, Vesser had just constructed her Sanctuary in the virtual realm, and the Silver Lantern had unexpectedly gained one in reality. She couldn’t risk Ashe making connections.

To conceal her identity, Vesser had already decided not to reveal a Sanctuary in reality within ten days, so she had to endure it!

“Ah!~”

She couldn’t dodge the strike of the whip sword, and the soul-piercing pain burrowed into her very marrow like ants.

Crack!

Crack!

Crack!

Across the distance of dozens of floors, Ashe lashed out at her repeatedly! Vesser was in so much pain she could barely stand, almost stumbling mid-leap!

Crack!

Seeing that she was finally reaching the top floor, joy surged in Vesser’s heart, and she tried to escape into the night with all her might! But this time, not only did Ashe strike her with the whip sword, he wrapped it around her body and yanked her downward!

Even though Vesser quickly broke free from the whip sword, her upward momentum was lost. With nothing to push off against in mid-air, she had to spread her golden and silver Twin Wings to continue flying, but by that point, Ashe was already closing in for an aerial assault!

Vesser thought of using the reaction force from mutual attacks to escape, but Ashe didn’t attack her this time.

Calmly, he took Vesser’s phantom blue scalpel head-on, disregarding the wound on his chest, his arms clamped around her like a vise, as if trying to absorb her into himself!

Then Ashe flipped his body, aligning with the direction of gravity, and together, he and Vesser plummeted.

Below-a direct shortcut to the lower level!

Vesser looked at Ashe, and from his indifferent gaze, she only saw one message-“You can’t escape from the palm of my hand.”

Delusion spirit!

It made Ashe misjudge the strength in his hands!

As soon as Ashe’s grip loosened, Vesser slipped free from him like a hamster, using the rebound force to escape into the night.

She pierced through the rooftop glass Firmament of the Transcendence Building, watched Ashe fall toward the lower level, took one last deep look at the man, and then vanished into the night.

Ashe grabbed the edge of the building to stop his fall and returned to the 45th floor, where he saw Igor and Harvey coming his way.

Harvey had released his Nether Knight form but remained within the Frostfire, with his chest wound of swirling flesh and exposed bone slowly healing. It was safe to assume that once he left the fusion state, he’d lose at least ten pounds again.

Igor crouched silently in front of Tamashi.

The Raven had crashed into the wall, leaving a web of spider-like cracks-it was the wall of the Transcendence Building, resistant to many ordinary Miracles. His clothes were torn around the abdomen, revealing blood-soaked, charred abs and starkly contrasting pale skin at the edges.

“I didn’t catch the Silver Lantern,” Ashe calmly admitted his failure.

“Well,” Igor replied, rising to his feet, “better luck next time. It’s a pity about Raven Annihilation.”

Ashe nodded, glanced at the Raven, and turned to leave. “Let’s go. The Transcendent Cult will be here soon. We should prepare on the first floor-“

“I can’t move well right now; wait for me to finish healing.”

Upon hearing that familiar distorted voice, Ashe snapped out of the Observer state and looked at Raven in shock. “You’re not dead!?”

When he saw Tamashi intercepting the Silver Lantern, Ashe was convinced there was no chance of survival for Raven. After all, being a divine host himself, he knew the Silver Lantern could blow away Raven with a mere breath.

Realizing that Tamashi had no chance of surviving, Ashe suddenly entered the long-lost “Observer state.” All his skills converged, and he nearly managed to keep the Silver Lantern from escaping.

“Typically, it’s my enemies who say that line. Once they do, my hand usually shatters their brain tissue,” Raven coughed twice and chuckled. “But seeing you guys this surprised isn’t so bad either.”

“You took a direct hit from the Silver Lantern-a blow even Harvey couldn’t withstand. How did you-“

“If I’d died easily from a sorcerer’s attack, I wouldn’t have lived this long,” Raven replied. “It’s not that ordinary folks can’t counter Miracles; they just need to employ some slightly challenging techniques.”

“You know I can use bare-handed attacks to create shockwaves by breaking the sound barrier? It’s ineffective against the Silver Lantern, but if I unleash fifteen shockwaves in an instant, I can propel myself away with the explosion before she reaches me. That said, she did graze my stomach, but luckily, only broke a rib.”

To be honest, after Raven talked about “ordinary folks,” Ashe felt like he understood yet didn’t fully comprehend.

“But you crashed into the wall, and the impact-“

“The reason I’m fine is precisely because the wall’s like that,” Raven explained. “I transferred all the impact there.”

Ashe frowned; it sounded somewhat logical but felt a bit off.

He looked at Igor. “What were you regretting earlier?”

“I was lamenting Tamashi’s tactic,” Igor replied. “This time, he almost succeeded in a throat slash by transferring the grey fox blade to his hand. The Silver Lantern won’t fall for it again next time.”

Ashe turned to Raven. “Then why are you just lying here?”

“Healing,” Tamashi answered. “I’m not affected by spirits, so I have to heal myself. But with a broken bone this time, I can’t move while healing.”

Ashe’s expression became increasingly incredulous. “You can just lie there and heal a bone?”

“Yep, it’s a straightforward method,” Tamashi said. “It’s like setting a dislocated joint; even if the bone’s broken, you can force it into place with muscle and manage to use it. Full healing requires proper nutrition.”

Ashe replied, “Are you not revealing your true face because you’re actually some Abyssal monster that looks like a human?”

Igor added, “You know, if someone else had made that comment, I’d likely consider them my patient.”

Harvey agreed, “Canceling a Demi-God attack with shockwaves, using muscle to treat severe wounds… Even I think you’re a bit much.”

“This is nothing,” Tamashi shrugged. “You guys can do these things just with Miracles, and do them far better and easier. When you think about it, you’re clearly more impressive.”

Hearing the light-hearted banter from Raven, Ashe exhaled deeply, crouched beside him, and patted him on the shoulder. Raven winced, “Don’t touch me, it still hurts a bit.”

“Tamashi.”

“Yeah?”

“You did well this time, but don’t do it again.”

“Because of my religious convictions, I can’t oblige your unreasonable request,” Raven replied.

“You… rascal…”

Tap.

Ashe turned his head and realized that the Transcendence followers had surrounded the upper floors without a sound.

Under the bright moonlit night, the Flaming White Tiger moved through the wilderness. On its back lay a nearly nude young woman, draped only in a spare coat.

Despite the Flaming White Tiger’s steady gait, each jolt made the young woman wince in pain, her breath sharp and cold with every movement.

“Ah… Oh… Ugh…”

Her faint groans gradually turned into soft sobs. The stillness of the night offered no solace, and Vesser couldn’t hold back her tears. Her clothes had been shredded, but thankfully the delusion spirit camouflaged her appearance-otherwise…

Her body was covered with bruises, especially on her back, legs, and buttocks, forcing her to lie facedown on the Flaming White Tiger to let the worst of them heal faster.

Physical pain she could ignore with the aid of the delusion spirit, but the piercing ache within her soul was beyond her control. The Mirror Dragon Secret Toxin had left her soul dangerously weakened-as fragile as a ripple on water compared to the solidity of ice.

For the first time in her life, she experienced an agonizingly deep soul pain that left her mind reeling. Once she gathered a bit of composure, Vesser wiped the corners of her mouth, almost grinding her teeth to dust as she silently repeated the man’s true name: “Ashe, Ashe, Ashe…”

At that moment, she recalled Ashe’s gaze during their final chase.

So distant, so serene, transcendent, above Truth-as if embodying a deity.

In that gaze, she seemed to see herself.

A more perfect version of herself.

Vesser’s breath quickened as she wrapped her arms around herself, the humiliating sting transforming into a more potent feeling that seeped into the deepest folds of her soul, giving her a long-lost sense of reality from the illusionary stupor.

For the first time, beyond her longstanding desires, Vesser had a new goal.

She wanted to make Ashe hers.

She longed to see another Ashe, the one hidden beneath the mundane facade, the noble soul behind the delusions, the eternal presence she glimpsed.

If she could make him hers, not only would her aspirations in the illusions be fulfilled, but even on the eternal battlefield of the Virtual Realm, they would be unstoppable.

“Ashe, Ashe, Ashe…”

The sound that drifted through the night no longer carried the bitterness of resentment; instead, it bore an unnamable quality.