Sorcerer’s Handbook

Igor leaned against the railing, gazing up at the sky above.

The massive cavern had been filled, and a new city was being rebuilt atop the ceiling. In Nightfall City, most of the debris had already been cleared, and countless mechanical creatures were hauling dirt. New buildings were even under construction.

It was hard for anyone to imagine that just ten hours ago, this place had been a wasteland left by the collision of two cities.

“Mr. Rust Crow.”

Igor turned his head to see the Dark Serpent Twins standing behind him. The Dark Serpent Twins were the divine hosts of the Twinborn Cult, the two who had fought alongside the Mad Wolf Knight Ashe against Silver Lantern last night.

In the Twinborn Cult, the serpent was their totem of faith, as their Demi-God, the Twinborn Fang, was a giant serpent. Depending on the level of divine hosting, those below 5% were considered juvenile serpents, 5% to 15% were the White Serpent Twins, 15% to 30% were the Blue Serpent Twins, and those above 30% were the divine hosts-the Dark Serpent Twins.

As for why the colors white, blue, and dark were used as the hierarchy… Igor glanced at Nightfall City. The primary palette here was the white light of the earth, the blue neon of the skyscrapers, and the pitch-black of the sky. It was a very straightforward primitive religion.

“Mr. Dark Serpent,” Igor said, “it seems you’ve made a decision?”

The Dark Serpent Twins asked seriously, “If we share the secrets of Nightfall with you, can you really find a way to reopen the [Abyss of Twinborn]?”

“However,” he continued calmly, “if there’s anyone in Senlo who could possibly intervene with the gray fox heritage, it would be people like us.”

“Seeing is believing, hearing is doubting. Aside from Silver Lantern, the only ones who can enter the Abyss are our companions.”

The Dark Serpent Twins exchanged a glance, still unsure.

Igor turned back to look down at Nightfall City below. “I’ve heard that the divine fire system is the bridge of civilization that stabilizes the continuation of the divine era. If it hadn’t been damaged, Senlo wouldn’t have fallen into the wasteland era for over two hundred years. Silver Lantern carries multiple Demi-Gods and is here for the Divine Fire Trial. Perhaps the next ruler of Senlo is about to emerge…”

Hearing this, the Dark Serpent Twins finally made up their minds. “Mr. Rust Crow, should we call your companions to join us?”

“No need,” the Con Artist said leisurely. “Let’s go.”

Raven Annihilation is currently meditating at the entrance of the Abyss, and since he’s illiterate, there’s no need to call him over. Of course, the more important reason is that Igor doesn’t trust that black raven-or rather, he doesn’t trust many people at all. Even Harvey has only barely earned Igor’s “harmless certification.”

There’s also no need to summon the necromancer. Harvey has already delegated his brain elsewhere, and besides, he’s busy upgrading and modifying Alice with some “materials” he obtained from the Twinborn Cult-thanks to the fall of the Nature Cult, the Twinborn Cult’s stockpile of materials is now overflowing. He has no time to gather intelligence.

Thinking about this, Igor’s disdain for Raven Annihilation grows. At least Harvey is preparing for the future, doing everything he can to strengthen himself for unforeseen circumstances. Tamashi, what’s the point of you sitting by the entrance? Are you going to rescue Ashe with your imagination?

Igor followed the Dark Serpent Twins across the aerial walkway and glanced down at the mechanical workers transporting materials below, raising an eyebrow.

As if noticing Igor’s gaze, the Dark Serpent Twins explained, “These are Nightfall’s mechanical workers, probably the only group of mechanical workers still functioning in Senlo. Mechanical constructs used to be a household necessity, but after the Cataclysm, almost all of them were completely destroyed. Only a few Fish that Escaped the Net survived.”

“No, I’m not surprised by the mechanical constructs,” Igor said. “I’m just curious about Nightfall’s efficient use of corpses. My companion would probably be overjoyed to see this.”

The materials being transported by the mechanical workers were carts filled with fingers, ears, tongues, and some other body parts not suitable for discussion during mealtime.

The source of these materials, needless to say, was undoubtedly the generous benefactors of the Nature Cult.

But from the meticulous categorization, Igor knew they weren’t being used for consumption or other purposes. This was undoubtedly related to the Necromancy Sect.

Interestingly, while the Necromancy Sect is well-suited for the wasteland era, throughout their journey, Igor and his companions hadn’t encountered a single necromancer. Senlo’s approach to utilizing corpses still remained at the wasteful level of “burial.”

The reason for this was likely due to faith.

In Senlo, a mage’s spellcasting sect isn’t something they choose themselves-it’s closely tied to their faith. The Tribulation Fire Temple specializes in fire spells, the Transcendent Cult focuses on thunder spells, the Nature Cult masters Nature Spellcasting… Therefore, to produce necromancers, there must be a faith associated with necromancy.

And such a faith doesn’t exist.

The reason is simple: life is already hard enough. If you introduce a faith centered around negativity, people would just give up and die. How could a cult like that ever thrive?

An ideal can be outrageous, absurd, or even anti-human, but it cannot be negative. Even if it’s about destroying the world, you must be full of energy and enthusiasm to attract disciples to follow you.

So, when Igor saw that the efficiency of corpse utilization here was almost on par with Harvey’s, he naturally had a guess: “Do you possess some gray fox heritage related to the Necromancy Sect?”

The Dark Serpent Twins exchanged a glance. “More or less.”

“I’ve heard some rumors before that merchant legions passing through Nightfall would disappear without a trace… Did you send them straight to be ‘recycled’?”

The Dark Serpent Twins remained silent, but their lack of response was already an answer.

Igor naturally didn’t care about the lives of those people, but he couldn’t help frowning at this point: “I’ve heard that the Gray Fox Divine Era was a time of peace and tranquility. How could such a heritage have been passed down? Could it be that the Gray Fox Divine Era’s ideology was so advanced that it aligned with necromancers, completely disregarding the humanistic value of corpses?”

At that moment, they entered a palace, and the guards at the entrance were actually three pairs of Twinborn Sorcerers. Even in such a critical time, the Twinborn Cult didn’t spare manpower to guard this palace, which showed just how important this place was to them.

As the palace doors slowly closed, the Dark Serpent Twins finally spoke: “The Gray Fox Divine Era was indeed a beautiful and peaceful time. Material wealth was abundant, all beings lived in harmony, everyone pursued their ideals, and society progressed steadily, like heaven on earth.”

Igor was puzzled. “Then what about Nightfall…”

“If we’re talking about the Gray Fox Divine Era,” the Dark Serpent Twins pushed open the door at the end and turned to the Con Artist, “that’s indeed the case.”

Igor stepped inside, and though he maintained his composure instantly, his eyes still betrayed a storm of shock.

Before him was a massive biological exhibition hall, filled with cultivation tanks of various sizes. The smaller tanks were about three meters tall, with detailed labels in front of them: “Human-Male-One-Winged Sorcerer,” “Human-Female-Two-Winged Sorcerer,” “Orc-Male-Three-Winged Sorcerer,” “Elf-Female-Four-Winged Sorcerer”…

The larger tanks, however, contained virtual realm creatures that should have been impossible to see in reality: “Blade Fish Dragon-Male-Juvenile,” “Foxlamp Dragon-Female-Growth Stage,” “Raging Slashing Dragon-Male-Maturity,” “Shadow Evil Drake-Male-Juvenile”…

But what shocked Igor the most was that these cultivation tanks were still operational.

The creatures inside the tanks were submerged in nutrient fluid, connected to numerous tubes, as if they could wake up at any moment.

“It has nothing to do with the Twinborn Cult,” the Dark Serpent Twins said from behind. “After the cataclysm, no sect has been able to restore civilization to this extent. We’ve merely been trying to keep the laboratory running.”

“So, this is a laboratory from the Gray Fox Divine Era?” Igor said, then immediately shook his head. “No, based on what you just said, this can’t be something the Gray Fox Divine Era could have created with their human experiments. Then it must be-“

“Did you know,” the Dark Serpent Twins suddenly interjected, “that the Elves here are the last of Senlo’s Elves?”

Igor was taken aback. “What do you mean?”

“Have you seen any Elves outside?”

Igor thought for a moment. Since arriving in Senlo, he hadn’t seen a single Elf.

“Of course you haven’t,” the Dark Serpent Twins continued. “Because the Elves of Senlo were already on the brink of extinction during the Fire Cat Divine Era.”

While the extinction of intelligent species wasn’t particularly rare, the way the Dark Serpent Twins brought it up made Igor sense something deeper. “Were the Elves… deliberately wiped out?”

The Dark Serpent Twins nodded. “Elves are the longest-lived among intelligent creatures, so they were also seen as… materials for achieving immortality.”

Igor’s pupils contracted sharply, and the name almost slipped out: “The Circle Cicada Demi-God!”

“Actually, it wasn’t just the Circle Cicada Demi-God’s pursuit of immortality,” the Dark Serpent Twins said, seemingly wistful. “The Knowing Guard Fire Demi-God’s goal of allowing ordinary people to wield spirits, the Chasing Light Demi-God’s ambition to conquer death-which of these desires was easy to achieve? Without extensive and brutal human experiments, how could there have been the Bluebird Divine Era or the Gray Fox Divine Era?”

“The Gray Fox Divine Era was indeed a beautiful time that everyone yearned for, but the Fire Cat Divine Era was not. It was a mad age when all of Senlo was burning for the sake of these three Demi-Gods.”

“The reason Nightfall managed to survive the cataclysm is that it’s not just a legacy of the Gray Fox.”

“It’s also the remnants of the Fire Cat.”

Ashe glanced down at his wristwatch and noticed the Trial count had changed to 18.

Although the interval between Trials had been extended from 30 minutes to 60 minutes, they had still been fighting for over ten hours. Ashe had been both traveling and battling, and even with the Trial rewards replenishing his stamina, he felt utterly exhausted, both mentally and physically.

The most frustrating part was that enemies he had already defeated could reappear with different abilities. For example, aside from the initial “Mental Rust Crow,” Ashe had also encountered “Poison Smoke Rust Crow” and “Bomb Rust Crow.” He never expected Igor to be so versatile.

Annan was no exception. Besides the “Gunmanship Purple Moth,” there was also the “Infinite Firepower Purple Moth,” which immediately unleashed the Miracle “Honor of the Dolan Family” upon appearing. Six guns fired simultaneously, nearly overwhelming Ashe and the Observer, as if taunting, “I’m starting with my ultimate move this time-let’s see how you dodge this.”

Yet, even as the Trial enemies’ strength escalated to the two-wings level, Ashe and his companions managed to hold their ground. Not only did their physical abilities rapidly improve, but Ashe’s “senses” also grew sharper. He could now predict all incoming attacks, and his body was able to keep up with the speed of his thoughts.

By the time Ashe formulated a battle strategy in his mind, his body had already executed it.

Despite his rapid growth in strength, Ashe wasn’t particularly thrilled. However, since the Observer beside him didn’t comment, Ashe kept his thoughts to himself.

When they finally reached the glowing door at the end of the passage, Ashe breathed a sigh of relief, though he knew the real challenge was just beginning. “How do we split this? Do you want to take on the Mirror Master or Silver Lantern? I’m not confident I can defeat either of them.”

“Neither am I,” the Observer replied calmly.

“Then let’s not split up,” Ashe said. “Since we work so well together, let’s team up and make them cry.”

“Agreed.”

With their decision made, Ashe and the Observer stepped through the glowing door and entered the second chamber.

The next moment, Ashe found himself in a brightly lit hall. He immediately dodged to the right, anticipating a possible ambush, and glanced around.

Then he froze.

“Where is everyone?”

The glowing door had turned into a wall, which Ashe had expected. But the direction he had come from showed no trace of the Observer!

Had the Observer suddenly noticed his shoelaces were untied and stopped to tie them?

“In the Cicada Hall, the Fate Twins are separated, and the passage to the next chamber won’t open for ten minutes.”

Ashe turned to see Silver Lantern standing in the center of the hall, still wearing her fox mask and dressed in her elaborate attire.

“Then where did they go?”

“In another chamber,” Vesser said. “They’ll either spend the next ten minutes peacefully… or…”

“Decide life and death.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the two of them charged at each other, continuing the battle from last night!

“Can we just sit here for ten minutes?”

Seeing the Observer draw his twin swords, the Mirror Master, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor, immediately raised her hands in surrender. “If you’re going to kill me, just do it. I’m not fighting.”

The Observer sheathed his swords and said, “Something unexpected might happen.”

“Huh?”

“Ashe’s foundation is weak, so he’s gained the most from the Trials. Combined with his talent…” the Observer said, “Vesser might not be able to defeat him.”

“I have a different view,” the Mirror Master said with a grin. “In terms of talent, Vesser isn’t lacking either. Plus, she has the silver dragon blood, so her physical abilities are at least on par with Ashe’s, if not better.”

“More importantly, she’s been in a bad mood since she woke up today. It’s terrifying.”

“This time, she might really want to kill Ashe.”