Sorcerer’s Handbook

“Like mother, like daughter, both are equally lustful…”

Hearing Lise’s mumble, Annan raised her eyebrows. “It’s fine if you talk about me, but don’t lump me together with Qenna. I hate it when people say we’re mother and daughter… Humph, considering Ashe, I’ll forgive you this time. If you do it again, I’ll spank your butt.”

What do you mean ‘considering Ashe,’ as if you’re that close!

Lise stubbornly lifted her head but, seeing the fierce look in Annan’s eyes, instinctively covered her butt and hid behind Ashe, mumbling softly, “Well, you’re the pervert!”

“Yes, I’m the pervert, and I’m craving Ashe.” Annan hugged Ashe’s arm affectionately but then immediately sat up straight when she noticed Harvey looking over. “So what?”

Lise was fuming, shaking Ashe’s body as she said, “Dad, look at her! Look at her!”

“Ahem,” Ashe cleared his throat, a sly smile forming on his lips. “Please don’t fight because of me—”

“Don’t be so quick to celebrate.” Annan fixed her gaze on Ashe. “Before, you could say that the Gospel was slandering you by randomly weaving your future. But the ranking list clearly states that Qenna took an interest in you when we passed through Vamora… In the limited interactions we’ve had, I didn’t see anything special between you and Qenna. And Qenna isn’t the type to hide her feelings; when she likes something, she can’t wait to show it off…”

Everyone recalled Annan earlier making Ashe feed her and thought, if not for Harvey supervising, the Purple Moth would probably already be sitting on the Cult Leader’s lap—Annan is definitely Qenna’s biological daughter.

“… If she was interested in you, there must have been some close interactions.” Annan stared intently at Ashe. “So, what happened between you and her?”

“You know me; I was busy playing video games all the time back then,” Ashe said earnestly. “At that time, I didn’t even have time to beat the Extreme Cutting Carp Overlord Lord, how could I have time to flirt with Qenna? She is a Sanctuary sorcerer; she could kill me with a slap!”

“I can testify,” Harvey suddenly said. “Ashe was indeed playing games a lot during that time. Besides, Senhaeser had many admirers back then. If he wanted to be perverted, he didn’t need to go after someone as powerful as Qenna.”

“Senhaeser had many admirers…?” Annan stared at Ashe.

“None of the people involved with Senhaeser are good folks!” Lise concluded from behind Ashe.

Though it wasn’t a convincing defense, at least it diverted everyone’s attention. Ashe looked gratefully at Harvey. “You’re truly my good friend. I’ll leave my future remains to you! Igor, you should learn from him. Friends should help one another—”Nôv(el)B\\jnn

“So,” Harvey said leisurely, “the key moment when Ashe and Qenna got involved actually happened at the Belldate Manor.”

“Huh?”

“Alice saw it with her own eyes. When Ashe put Qenna into the water, he pretended to trip and fall in, cuddling with Qenna in the water for quite a while. Afterward, when Qenna floated up, she even licked Ashe’s face. At that time, Qenna was under Igor’s domination and had lost all her powers, making it the perfect opportunity for Ashe to take advantage of her—”

“I’ve decided to be cremated and scattered into the ocean, leaving not a trace for you,” Ashe said through gritted teeth. He turned to Lise and Annan to explain, “Harvey’s spouting nonsense that not even ghosts would believe. Don’t take it seriously!”

Harvey replied, “But it was a ghost that tipped me off about this…”

Annan asked flatly, “Did you fall into the water?”

“（’Д

Lise questioned, “Did you cuddle with Aunt Qenna in the water?”

“（’Д

Annan continued, “Did Qenna lick your face?”

“（’Д

Lise asked, “Did you ever think about sleeping with Aunt Qenna—”

“Wow, the Culprits Ranking just updated with a new name!” Ashe exclaimed excitedly, flipping open the Gospel Book.

Annan and Lise both huffed but didn’t pursue the matter further. Honestly, they didn’t think Ashe was trying to make advances on Qenna. Setting aside whether Ashe even had the capability to seduce Qenna, her personality was more like a fierce wildcat: the more you approached her proactively, the more she’d dislike you. Conversely, she would chase after things she wasn’t allowed to have with great enthusiasm.

Although the Future Ranking weaved a scenario where Qenna was at Ashe’s beck and call, firstly, that was pure fabrication, and secondly, a wildcat turning into a house cat could indeed undergo such a transformation. They even suspected that the future woven by the Gospel was one where Qenna tried to subdue Ashe but somehow got reverse-manipulated by Ashe, which led to the future shown in the ranking.

Clearly, Qenna was the bad one, and Ashe was innocent!

On this point, Lise and Annan reached a unanimous agreement.

“Huh?” Ashe looked at the ranked individual and couldn’t help but laugh. “Igor, you really are sinful, causing others to make the list.”

“Culprits Ranking 7th Place: Canary”

“Charge: Anfel Belldate failed to win Igor Bukin over, missing out on the ‘Golden Feather of the Rust Crow and Canary’s Twin Flight’ ending, which allowed Igor to successfully control Belldate’s central nexus of domination. This strong domination led to the successful defense of the manor against the united pursuit team, enabling Ashe and others, who were nearly captured, to escape unscathed.”

“Evaluation: Evidently Guilty”

“Culprit: Anfel Belldate”

“Anfel Belldate receives the reward ‘Rust Crow’s Golden Feather.’”

“Culprits Ranking 6th Place: Queen of the Caged Birds”

“Charge: Yvaren Belldate once considered confining Annan and Ashe in the basement to be her playmates, but ultimately failed, watching them escape Mephila.”

“Evaluation: Unpardonable Crime”

“Culprit: Yvaren Belldate”

“Yvaren Belldate receives the reward ‘Ghost Ignorance Veil.’”

When they saw the previous ranked individuals, Ashe and the others had guessed that the Belldate sisters would definitely be on the list. However, they didn’t expect the reasons to be so outlandish—Anfel made the list because she didn’t marry Igor, while Yvaren was ranked because she failed to turn Ashe and Annan into her slaves!

Even if Anfel is forgiven, there’s no doubt that Yvaren’s domination is a blatant violation of human rights! Yvaren dominated millions of Mephila’s populace, and the Gospel didn’t condemn her; yet, because she failed to dominate Ashe and Annan, the Gospel deemed her unforgivably guilty!

“The Rust Crow’s Golden Feather…” Ashe was a bit perplexed. “But I didn’t see any wings on Igor while he was bathing. Could it refer to virtual wings?”

“It’s a legendary miracle from the Mental Sect,” Igor explained calmly. “It merges the sect realm with the virtual wing feathers. As long as someone successfully absorbs this feather, they can directly attain the corresponding sect realm—a miracle nearly divine in nature, though it severely damages the sorcerer. A normal mental sorcerer wouldn’t produce such a feather.”

“But since it’s called the Rust Crow’s Golden Feather, it suggests that in the worldline where you and Anfel fly together, the Gospel thinks you would create such a feather, right?”

The Con Artist was silent for a moment. “Anfel is a ‘container’ for the mental energy of millions in Mephila. Plagued by chaotic mental energies, she lacks the focus needed to delve into any spellcasting sect, ensuring she could never become a sorcerer.”

“So the Rust Crow splits off a golden feather to help Anfel become a sorcerer?” Ashe chuckled. “The Rust Crow carrying a golden feather to the Canary… Sometimes the Gospel isn’t all bad news, huh?”

“It’s bad news for me,” the Con Artist muttered, lowering his eyes. “I don’t want to become someone who does good for others.”

“That’s because you haven’t met someone better yet.” Ashe winked. “Someone will make you put down all your grievances and reconcile with your past, believe me. You’re bound to meet such a person, or maybe you already have—once the Weaving Festival ends, if you’re shy about going to Belldate, we can all go with you.”

Meeting the intense gaze of the Cult Leader, the Con Artist suddenly chuckled and said casually, “I’ll consider it.”

“Then it’s a deal!” Ashe turned back to the Gospel Book. “Now, what is this Ghost Ignorance Veil?”

“A legendary miracle from the Necromancy Sect, Haagen-Dazs’s most mysterious legacy,” Harvey explained. “It’s said that Ghost Ignorance can make all undead ignore the wearer. In certain deep realms of the Abyss, a necromancer could roam unchallenged with this miracle.”

“This reward might allow Yvaren to escape her death curse,” Annan suddenly said. “We all know now that the Belldate patriarchs rarely live past 40, which is likely related to their attempt to resurrect their Necromancy ancestor. With the Ghost Ignorance Veil, Necromancy angels won’t be able to affect them through their bloodline.”

“Huh?”

At that moment, Igor suddenly made a strange sound and then said, “Yvaren just sent me more knowledge about the Dominance Sect.”

“The Queen of the Caged Birds isn’t usually so generous,” Annan commented nonchalantly. “You owe the Canary a big thanks in the future.”

Just then, the ‘Culprits Ranking’ was updated, with the 5th and 4th places being the Sanctuary Sorcerers of Mercury and Kaesrei, respectively. Naturally, their charge was failing to capture Ashe and the others. As to why their rankings were higher than Yvaren’s, perhaps it was because their greater abilities made them more responsible for the failure.

When it came to the 3rd place, although everyone had some guesses, they couldn’t help but hold their breath.

“Culprits Ranking 3rd Place: Ghost King”

“Charge: Archibald Harvey, a necrophile from an exotic land, participated in the Blasphemy Gospel plan with Ashe and others, one of the roots of the chaos.”

“Evaluation: Heinous Crime”

“Culprit: Archibald Harvey”

“Archibald Harvey receives the reward ‘Cursed Ghost King’s Rainbow Tail Feather.’”

“Culprits Ranking 2nd Place: Rust Crow”

“Charge: Igor Bukin, a Con Artist from an exotic land, participated in the Blasphemy Gospel plan with Ashe and others, one of the roots of the chaos.”

“Evaluation: Death Deserving”

“Culprit: Igor Bukin”

“Igor Bukin receives the reward ‘Cursed Rust Crow’s Rainbow Tail Feather.’”

They made the list again!

Igor and Harvey were once more on the ranking!

Ashe couldn’t help but sneak a glance at Annan—truth be told, at this point, neither Igor nor Harvey cared about adding more filth to their names; being described as eternally infamous might even be a compliment. But the issue was their new rankings would place them higher than Annan in the sequence weights for the Divine Sovereign’s Wish!

Currently, Igor is 1st in the Ranking of Schemes and 2nd in the Culprits Ranking,

Harvey is 1st in the Family Ranking and 3rd in the Culprits Ranking,

while Annan has only 1st in the Art Ranking and 10th in the Ranking of Schemes.

The priority of the Purple Moth for obtaining the Divine Sovereign’s Wish had already fallen below that of Igor and Harvey!

Yet, the Young Lady remained calm as she looked at the Gospel Book. Noticing Ashe’s gaze, she smiled and held his hand. “It’s almost your turn; don’t be nervous.”

With Annan’s reassurance, Ashe couldn’t help but feel a mix of anxiety and anticipation, excitedly awaiting his first appearance on the ranking list.

From the moment everyone saw the title of the ranking, nobody doubted who the 1st Place would be. Now that Igor and Harvey had made the list, could Ashe still dodge it?

As it turned out, he could.

“Culprits Ranking 1st Place: Purple Moth”

“Charge: Annan Dolan, head of the Funeral Firm, controlled Ashe and others through a Pact to execute the Blasphemy Gospel plan. She is the root of all evil in the Gospel Kingdom.”

“Evaluation: Utterly Villainous”

“Culprit: Annan Dolan”

“Annan Dolan receives the reward…”

Suddenly, the text on the pages began to distort, and flickers of red light danced across the lines.

Ashe’s pupils constricted; he had seen this kind of phenomenon too many times in recent days. When the Gospel Book showed such signs, it meant that—

Squelch.

Along with the sound of a sword blade exiting flesh, an image of Annan lying in a pool of blood appeared, her empty eyes staring at the ceiling. The person who killed her wore a dark red trench coat familiar to everyone. When he turned to look at the camera, the unfamiliar coldness in his eyes sent a deep chill to the viewers’ bones.

“Culprits Ranking 1st Place: Purple Moth”

“Charge: Annan Dolan, head of the Funeral Firm, controlled Ashe and others through a Pact to execute the Blasphemy Gospel plan. She is the root of all evil in the Gospel Kingdom, but the ranking is invalid due to interference by Ashe Heath.”

“Evaluation: Utterly Villainous”

“Culprit: Annan Dolan”

“Reward: Nullified.”

“Culprit: Ashe Heath.”

After a brief silence, the surrounding cheers nearly lifted the canteen’s ceiling.

“Yes! The root of all evil as recognized by the Gospel is about to die! Her ranking is invalid!”

“If the root of all evil is dead, does that mean the future is nullified too?”

“Yeah, but what about the Ghost King and Rust Crow? Why hasn’t Ashe Heath killed them yet?”

“Go, Ashe! You can do it!”

Amid the jubilant celebrations and raised glasses, Annan looked at Ashe and smiled softly. “It seems tonight I really have to sleep next to you. You must protect me well, okay?”

Her hand was trembling slightly.