Sorcerer’s Handbook

“Is it… a deity!?”

While the murderers who slaughtered the innocent hid in the tunnels to check the Ranking, countless people outside were also concerned about their fate.

Mephila, one of the ten greatest cities in the Gospel.

Like Azura, Mephila had completed the expansion of its city on the second level, with Inverted Skyscrapers standing tall. However, unlike other cities, the space above Mephila’s second level was not a public area but a Private Garden owned by a Family.

A single family owned nearly 500,000 hectares of private land!

With the power of a Miracle, this Private Garden simultaneously housed forests, pools, winter snow, lava, graveyards, seas of clouds, and even hellish environments. The most outrageous creation was the “Sea of Knowledge of Mephila”—a sea area in the center of the garden shrouded in white mist, where Blade Fish Dragons and other knowledge creatures were genuinely bred. However, these knowledge creatures did not drop loot when killed and would disappear immediately upon leaving the white mist area, making them purely ornamental toys.

Maintaining the operation of the Private Garden alone required eighty thousand servants, yet the number of family members living in this garden could be counted on one hand.

In the main residence at the center of the estate, which offered a panoramic view of the entire garden, the young girl Yvaren lay on her bed in her pajamas, her legs swinging back and forth. She kept one eye open, closely watching the Gospel Book, her small mouth pressed into a serious line.

If one were unaware, it might be excusable, but knowing the enormous information revealed by this footage made it difficult for many to remain calm.

Yvaren was no exception. Even though her family possessed the wealth of an entire city, they were mere dust before the legendary deities. According to the records left by her ancestors, deities and spirits were entirely different entities. If spirits embodied ‘technique,’ then deities were the manifestation of ‘Truth.’

Each deity possessed the great power to twist reality, overturn laws, and rewrite physical parameters. They could even be the natural laws themselves, with their injuries causing natural disasters and their destruction leading to turmoil in reality!

The power of a deity far exceeded the control of a legendary sorcerer, and a mortal soul could not possibly contain the authority of a deity!

Therefore, only those whose life forms had evolved to a higher level, who had successfully ignited the divine fire of their souls, and who had ascended to the highest realms of the Virtual Realm as Angels or even Divine Sovereigns, were qualified to command deities and wield Truth!

Watching the Future Ranking list about to announce its rewards, Yvaren was extremely nervous.

If the Gospel Book truly awarded that “deity” to Archibald Harvey, Yvaren was sure that all of Gospel would abandon the pursuit of Harvey and his companions. The Red Hats would lay down their banners, and even the Royal Family would retract the wanted notice!

Ordinary people might think that deities are not so extraordinary, believing that with enough guns and enough people, even gods could be killed. This notion was especially strong among sorcerers-in the most professional and advanced sorcerer discussion group within the Gospel’s veil, named the [Omniscient Weaver’s Murder Association].

This was quite normal, after all. Under the glory of the Gospel, mortals had no chance to witness the power of Divine Intervention, and sorcerers could not grasp the gap between themselves and a Divine Sovereign. Even legendary sorcerers might underestimate a Divine Sovereign.

In their eyes, if they could destroy a city, then no matter how powerful, a Divine Sovereign could only destroy a Kingdom, right?

Only sorcerers within Families with Angelic Heritage understood that the ascension of life forms brought not a quantitative change but a qualitative one. The most powerful Miracle of a legendary sorcerer could never break through an Angel’s protection, while even the weakest Divine Intervention from an Angel could easily crush a legendary sorcerer’s dignity.

To put it in a metaphor, a legendary sorcerer was like a character within a painting, able to attack enemies with various paints and solvents; whereas an Angel was already outside the painting, able to tear the entire canvas with a mere gesture.

The wraith in the footage was not an Angel, but merely the remnants of an Angel’s embers, possessing perhaps less than one ten-thousandth of its former strength. Yet even so, the wraith’s methods far surpassed any Miracle, and an ordinary legendary sorcerer could not withstand the wraith’s encroachment and invasion.

It was only because Harvey happened to be a necromancer, possessing means to counter the wraith, that he could perform such an Epic and spectacular counter-kill, completely burying the ancient Angel’s hope of resurrection.

Once Harvey possessed a deity, even if he could only wield one percent of its power, it would be enough to overturn the entire Kingdom of Gospel. If that deity had defensive capabilities, no legendary sorcerer could pierce through his defenses. Gunshots, cannon fire, and even area-of-effect attacks would merely tickle him.

If that deity had offensive might, then no matter how many Miracles a legendary sorcerer cast upon themselves, it would be like adding layers of paper—no matter how sturdy the high walls, they would crumble like a house of cards.

Unless one knew all the effects and weaknesses of the deity, no one would dare to offend someone with near-divine combat power.

Perhaps in response to the countless prayers, the Gospel Book finally updated:

“Archibald Harvey has been awarded the ‘Ghost King Shackles’.”

“Ghost King Shackles: Allows the sorcerer to freely transform among ten necromancy troop types including mist spirits, Mech-spirits, Soul Reaping, Shadow Spirits… Nether Knights, Dragon Liches, and Blood Corpse Kings. However, the sorcerer must fully master the knowledge of each new necromancy troop type in sequence to unlock the next. The first unlocked troop type: mist spirit.”

Phew.

Yvaren could almost hear the entire Kingdom of Gospel breathe a sigh of relief.

As long as it wasn’t a deity, everyone could accept it, especially since this reward wasn’t particularly valuable. In Yvaren’s eyes, aside from the Nether Knight, Dragon Lich, and Blood Corpse King, the earlier necromancy troop types, though each unique, were at most two-wings in strength and posed little threat to three-wing sorcerers.

This meant that for a long time, this necromancer attempting to bury the entire Kingdom of Gospel would not surpass the power of a Sanctuary sorcerer.

In hindsight, it made sense that Gospel would not award a deity. Though the exact reason was unknown, the ancestors’ records were clear: each deity was unique. As long as the Stone Coffin Deity within the path of the Malicious Soul existed, no matter how powerful Gospel was, it couldn’t create a second Stone Coffin Deity.

However, Yvaren thought that other Families might lose sleep over this.

If Gospel had directly awarded a deity, it would be clear that everyone should enjoy the few remaining years they had.

If Gospel had awarded the Blood Corpse King, most would likely lay down their banners, as the Blood Corpse King, based on available data, was a legendary-level power.

Although it wasn’t impossible to besiege a legend, the cost was so high that no single Family could bear it alone. The financial Families, adept at internal conflict but inept in external battles, would certainly watch from the sidelines, leaving the Royal Family and the Red Hats to solve this problem.

However, the Gospel Book awarded “a Blood Corpse King that takes a long time to unlock,” making the financial Families feel they had a significant advantage.

The Weaving Festival doesn’t lie. Capturing Harvey equates to obtaining the key to inheriting Angelic Heritage—who could resist such a temptation?

But if you fail to capture Harvey and instead make a mortal enemy of him, congratulations, you’ve secured a place among the ten major Families of the next fifty years.

If you want to take action, you can’t sleep.

If you don’t want to take action, you can’t sleep.

Hearing that others have taken action, you can’t sleep.

Finally deciding to take action, you’ll never sleep again.

However… Yvaren sighed. Other Families might have the luxury of hesitation and wavering, but her Family had only one choice from the beginning.

“Allow me to play an old role tonight, allow me to happily reenact the story’s beautiful protagonist~”

The communication ring rang, and the number indicated it was a call from Bluebeard headquarters.

Yvaren found it strange and answered, “What’s going on?”

“Six people suddenly appeared in Abyssal Passage Area Three,” came the quick reply. “No movement trajectory, they must have come through an Abyssal Passage.”

“Abyssal Passage? At this time?”

If she hadn’t gone down the Abyss recently for training, Yvaren might not have recalled the mechanics of the Abyssal Passage.

Normal people wouldn’t consider the Abyssal Passage as a travel option. The Abyss throughout Gospel was unstable, with Vamora being the only Abyss with unchanging terrain.

Vamora… Abyssal Passage… at this time…

Yvaren opened the Gospel Book to check Vamora’s situation and immediately understood the origin of these little mice.

“Suppress this news, block all information channels to the Red Hats, and have Bluebeard gather to seal off the Abyss!”