Sorcerer’s Handbook

In the deepest part of Senlo, the origin of Doomsday, the land fissure named Silent Spiral let out its first and final world-shaking roar of despair.

Yet, amidst this chaotic and brutal storm of crystal shards, the Lights of Hope began to flicker to life. The green shards engulfed in silver light were swiftly coated in dazzling silver, shattering and falling to the ground, dissipating with the light, leaving only a barely audible sigh of relief that seemed like a delusion.

Silver Lantern took the Source Crystal from Ashe's hand and placed it into her lamp as fuel. Ashe watched this scene, momentarily dazed: So, different deities use Source Crystals in different ways… The Dreamwake deity embeds the Source Crystal into a staff…

But in the next second, Ashe forcibly pulled his thoughts back, refusing to dwell on these trivial details. Since childhood, when the homeroom teacher called him to the office to scold him for chatting in class, he would unconsciously observe the patterns on the floor tiles, the shape of the pen holder, what the teacher was wearing that day… Only by filling his mind with meaningless thoughts could he escape the interrogation of reality.

But he was no longer a child and couldn't have a favorite color.

Ashe looked at the Silver Lantern deity before him, quietly sorting through the current intelligence. Yolan Vesser was real; she was both the madwoman who destroyed Senlo and the operator Ashe drew from the Search System. Previously, Ashe had always been doubtful, but now Yolan Vesser's confession confirmed that the Search System in Aurora's Sorcerer Handbook was not fabricated but indeed existed.

Therefore, the 'Bewitching Girl,' 'Purple Grudge Shadow Consort,' and 'Blood Veil Empress' that once appeared in the card pool must also be real, and they might have already appeared by his side, just like Yolan Vesser.

Of course, more importantly.

The Witch and the sword Princess were real, living people, tangible and reachable.

Ashe's thoughts suddenly stalled. He realized that the Witch had never revealed her real-world intelligence to him. Of course, Ashe had never asked, because they had long agreed… agreed on what?

Speaking of which, why was the Witch unwilling to tell him about her real-world situation, nor had she any intention of meeting in reality? Like the sword Princess, who constantly asked him to meet her in Stars, that was the normal state of a romantic relationship, and Ashe himself wanted to travel to Stars, purely for sightseeing and meeting friends, with no other purpose. As for having already thought of future children's names, it was just because he was idle…

Looking at it this way, in this team rushing towards reality in the Virtual Realm, the Witch seemed quite out of place. She neither revealed her location nor let Ashe meet her, as if a long-distance relationship in the Virtual Realm already satisfied her emotional needs.

If she simply didn't want Ashe to meet her, there was no need to hide her real-world situation. Unless knowing her real-world situation would have an unimaginable impact on their relationship…

These thoughts rippled through Ashe's mind but ultimately failed to form a complete storm of thought. The intelligence he held was still insufficient; pursuing the truth was premature, and for Ashe, it was enough to know that the sword Princess and the Witch were real and could be embraced.

Moreover, there was still a storm before him that needed resolving.

Silver Lantern lifted her head, shook the lamp in her hand, indicating that the Source Crystal was already charged. Ashe looked at the young Silver Lantern, yet in his mind, two different figures emerged.

One was a quiet girl, silent and worry-free, actively assisting the team.

The other was a resolute and stubborn doomsday madwoman, notorious throughout Senlo.

Clearly two unrelated people, yet at this moment, they overlapped, creating a sense of unreality. Ashe still didn't know when she started liking him, nor what she liked about him, and he had no idea what she felt watching him with the sword Princess and the Witch. She hid it too well; if Ashe hadn't pretended to sleep in the Dead City and overheard a true confession, he would have thought it was all just a delusion.

Ashe had never understood her, nor had he ever approached her, except when they occasionally met, and he would stand with her under an umbrella. She was always wet, pitiful, and fierce, yet sometimes she would gently lean close to him. But soon they would part, and when Ashe left under the umbrella with someone else, he would look back to see her figure becoming blurred again in the storm.

Ashe didn't want to pity her, nor did she need pity. If she succeeded, she wasn't worthy of praise; if she failed, she didn't need sympathy. Her ideal was this chaotic enterprise; she was amidst the storm, yet she longed to become part of it.

The people of Senlo were like this, whether it was her, Tamashi, or those cults… They seemed to derive enough spiritual satisfaction from their faith, no longer needing external validation.

Ashe had no right to 'pity' them, only, only…

"If…" he murmured softly.

"If what?" the little Silver Lantern asked.

Ashe exhaled, smiling again, and reached out his hand. The little Silver Lantern placed her hand in his, and together they crossed the storm, the silver light paving the way, reaching the core.

The effect of the Silver Lantern deity was not merely 'purification' or 'dispersal,' but 'Silverization.'

The reason the silver light area was unaffected by the Ink Green Storm was that all the shards caught within would be Silverized, losing all their effects, and naturally unable to continue storing the souls of Senlo's people, thus directly disintegrating into light.

In other words, as long as Silver Lantern had enough time, her silver light could purify all the Green Beasts of Senlo, release all the tormented souls, and heal all the scars on this land, painting the world in bright silver.

As Vesser said, dying and becoming a deity in such a doomsday catastrophe, her deity effect must perfectly counteract the catastrophe.

This naturally included resolving the instigator.

As they approached the eye of the storm, the cage imprisoning the dove and Bluebird appeared in the silver light. Bathed in the intense silver light, the cage was quickly coated in a soft silver hue. Ashe drew his Honey Sword and gently sliced open the cage.

Hearing the noise, the young dove and the young Bluebird opened their eyes, slowly looking at Ashe, then lowered their gaze to the Silver Lantern.

Ashe swung his sword down, and the embracing twin deities were immediately separated. The all-encompassing doomsday storm began to disintegrate at that moment, and the hopeful radiance of the Silver Lantern was about to pierce through the Silent Spiral from the lower level.

The young dove remained expressionless, raising his staff to poke at Ashe's head.

Once again, Ashe's head was poked and exploded.