Sorcerer’s Handbook

As Annan saw more and more sentries, her heart grew heavier.

If the princess was not in the Tower, but deep within the Royal Palace they were approaching, Ashe would have no chance of getting through – there were simply too many guard posts along the way. If Ashe attempted, an alarm would be triggered. And if her senses were correct, they had just passed by at least two Sanctuaries.

Although it was no secret that Nabistin had a high concentration of Sanctuaries and legends, she hadn’t expected such a dense gathering of high-ranking sorcerers!

Purple Moth was starting to regret having Ashe follow the original plan. But given the situation at the time, splitting up was undoubtedly the best choice. If the princess was still in the Tower, Ashe could directly complete the mission; if the princess was on their side, she could inform Ashe to come and assist.

However, the guards were so tight here that their target had to be someone important, most likely the New Empress. The bad news was they would have to complete the mission themselves.

Annan slightly turned her head to exchange glances with Banjeet, Igor, and Harvey, silently updating their plan. Harvey and Banjeet each had a card in their hand, ready to summon a coffin and the Frost Twin Guns if needed.

It was clear that Banjeet’s suitcase couldn’t be brought into the Royal Palace. Besides, in the likely event that they had to escape, simply running wouldn’t suffice-they needed a mode of transport. Having a spatial artifact would be crucial for their survival.

Thus, Banjeet dismantled the suitcase, using a significant amount of Gospel points to transform it into six cards with spatial storage capabilities that any sorcerer could use. The trade-off was that the internal space was reduced by 90% and had limited durability.

After passing through the sixth guard post, they finally reached their destination: a small, ivory-white palace surrounded by violets.

At this moment, they were absolutely certain that the New Empress was below! But what they hadn’t anticipated was that the Empress had already shifted most of her power there-did they really have a way to kill the Saint who would govern the Gospel for the next fifty years?

Purple Moth cast a resolute glance at the group.

Having come this far, there was no room for retreat!

No matter what, this would be Funeral’s final mission!

Igor’s expression was extremely grim; it was evident he had no interest in dying alongside Annan. Banjeet’s expression remained calm; he had already steeled himself. Only Harvey’s lips curled slightly, revealing his excitement.

“Ugh,” came the voice of a secret guard from ahead. “Disgusting, clean that up quickly.”

Annan and the others stepped into the Underground Hall beneath the palace, and the first thing they saw was a gruesome corpse: the head appeared to have exploded like a melon, with fluids splattered everywhere, explaining the secret guard’s reaction.

However, if their mood had been heavy and uneasy before, now it was outright terror!

They saw that the virtual wings of the headless corpse were dissipating, revealing silver wings, Golden Wings, rainbow wings, and… Dark Wings!

The Dark Wings continuously emitted darkness that quickly corroded and assimilated everything it touched!

This had been a legendary sorcerer who had manifested their fourth ‘colorless wings,’ specializing in the Shadow Sect, which allowed them to taint the colorless wings with their unique shade.

The corpse was unmistakably that of a recently deceased Shadow Legend!

Even Harvey, who had the greatest interest in corpses, felt no curiosity now. Witnessing such a powerful sorcerer, far superior in both skill and realm, smashed like a melon was a profound shock.

However, when they lifted their heads, the sight that met their eyes shattered their sanity entirely.

The Underground Hall had only one light source in the center. Sorcerers sat around it, legs crossed and hands clasped as if in prayer. With just one glance, Annan identified many of them: Igore, Mondara, Bojezia, Aboli… all legendary sorcerers who had ascended Ruby Mountain in the last hundred years!

But their attention was seized instantly by the presence at the center of the light source, which absorbed all of Funeral’s focus.

There was a throne, and on the throne sat a figure.

But to say it was a person would be incorrect, for this ‘person’ was composed of transparent, flowing light. The only light source in the hall, their form shimmered with purple, gold, and silver hues.

Moreover, it wasn’t just one figure; it was like two people fused together. One side resembled a man in a dark red trench coat, while the other side appeared as a beautiful woman in Court attire.

This bizarre entity, sitting on the throne, induced a strange urge to worship.

The most shocking part for Funeral was naturally that they recognized one ‘half’ of the man.

Ashe Heath.

Half of this luminous figure bore the face of Ashe!

At this moment, Harvey and Igor exchanged a glance, and Igor lightly shook his head.

They not only recognized ‘half’ of the man but also the ‘other half’ of the woman-they couldn’t forget her because, in the Virtual Realm Arena, she and a female swordsman had defeated them, causing them to miss the chance to kill the heroic soul commander!

While similar appearances were common, so much time had passed that they weren’t sure if it was the same person, making it unnecessary to mention it.

By now, the attendants had begun cleaning up the corpse, and Annan and the others dared not slack off-they had no intention of causing trouble here anymore.

“Hmph, just when it was about to end, now we can’t keep our focus…-” a secret guard muttered as he opened the Gospel Book. “Hmm?”

It seemed something was happening outside, and the secret guard left the Underground Hall, leaving the attendants behind. Once the sound of his footsteps faded, Igor began to pant heavily-he had been so tense that he forgot to breathe.

Though surrounded by a dozen legendary sorcerers, Annan and her group had a strong intuition: these legendary sorcerers, like the attendants, were just shells controlled by the Gospel and not worth worrying about.

Harvey eyed the headless corpse greedily. “This corpse…”

“Don’t even think about it,” Annan warned in a low voice, keeping her gaze on the luminous figure on the throne. “What exactly is that?”

“Even you don’t know?” Igor’s frustration was evident. “I’ve never wronged you this much, have I? If you’re suicidal, you could ask Harvey for help. Why drag us into such a perilous mission full of unexpected dangers?”

“That is a deity,” Banjeet said, closing his Gospel Book. “As for which deity, the Gospel doesn’t say.”

“Why does the deity have Ashe’s face?” Harvey asked, bewildered. “This is disgusting… Hey, look closely. Isn’t the part that belongs to Ashe increasing?”

Everyone focused and indeed noticed the change. Whereas before, the luminous body was roughly 60% Ashe and 40% female, it was now 70% Ashe and 30% female, with Ashe’s ‘invasion’ accelerating!

Annan had a puzzled look. “No way…”

“Do I need to beg you to get some Intelligence?” Igor said coldly.

Annan hesitated. “I’m not certain… I once read about an ancient Summoning Ritual in my Family’s archives called ‘Armored Sanctification.’ The principle involves a sorcerer imitating a deity’s behavior, demeanor, and appearance to summon the deity into their own body, ultimately achieving complete fusion and wielding divine power within a mortal shell.”

“However, this ritual has fallen into obscurity, mainly because deities no longer exist in reality.”

“What does that have to do with a deity having Ashe’s face-” Igor started to retort but then suddenly froze, realization dawning on him.

“People imitate deities to merge with them,” Annan murmured. “So what happens when a deity imitates a person?”

As they spoke, the luminous figure’s ‘Ashe’ had fully taken over, reaching a 100% complete form!

At the same time, everyone’s Gospel Book automatically opened.

Creak.

The doorframe let out a nostalgic groan as Ashe and Lise stepped into the princess’s room, finding it lit.

A soft bed covered with white sheets, a cherry-pink bookshelf filled with beautifully bound fairy tales, a clean and comfortable carpet, and a teacup with a bear pattern turned upside down on the coffee table-all these elements spoke of a young girl residing here.

But there was one piece of furniture in the room that stood out, not only surprising Lise and her sister, but also Ashe.

In the center of the room stood a lavish full-length mirror, directly facing the entrance. As Ashe and Lise walked in, they saw their reflections in it.

As they were taken aback, their Gospel Books suddenly popped open.

It’s over, it’s too late, they thought.

However, instead of feeling disheartened, Lise felt a weight lifted off her chest, her body becoming lighter, her mood brightening significantly. Since it was too late, there was no need to cling to Nina anymore; they had done their best.

From now on, their lives would be for themselves and Ashe.

But that hopeful feeling for the future vanished as quickly as it came.

“10th on the Gospel Ranking, Art Maestro.”

“9th on the Gospel Ranking, Family’s Shadow.”

“8th on the Gospel Ranking, Source of Schemes.”

“7th on the Gospel Ranking, End of Happiness.”

“6th on the Gospel Ranking, Nemesis of Evil Arts.”

“5th on the Gospel Ranking, Nightmare Assassin.”

“4th on the Gospel Ranking, Ruthless Person…”

The Gospel Ranking updated swiftly, and Ashe’s heart sank quickly. By the time it updated to the last page, he no longer had the strength to turn it.

Bang!

At that moment, fifty fireworks exploded in Nabistin’s sky, the intense resonance tearing through the spatial barrier. Bright purple spiderweb fireworks instantly spread across the entire Gospel night sky, enveloping it under the rule of the web.

“1st on the Gospel Ranking, Ashpel.”n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om