Mage Manual-Chapter 194 - 171 I Was Caught Again (End of Volume One)

Chapter 194 -171 I Was Caught Again (End of Volume One)

“If I had killed him that day, maybe everything would have been different.”

Gerard shook his head, his tone full of regret, “You guys are just victims of the Four Pillars God Sect… If you hadn’t met him, you wouldn’t have been enchanted, and your peaceful prison life wouldn’t have collapsed.”

“Ash Heath, indeed a source of disaster.”

“I don’t have the habit of shirking responsibility, nor do I think I was enchanted,” Lanna said. “On the contrary, I’m grateful to him—if it weren’t for this series of events, my ritual would not have been completed, and I wouldn’t have gained emotions.”

“However, when it comes to pinning him down, you and I can come to an agreement: he is indeed a creature full of charm, capable of creating a stage of unpredictable fate, capable of freeing people from the drudgery of daily life… wings.”

“Wings?”

“Aren’t they wings that allow us, who are heavily shackled and firmly imprisoned, to soar?”

Gerard had lost interest in listening to the nonsense of this victim. Pointing his sword at Lanna, the Miracle he had been silently preparing during the conversation launched immediately. The moonlight turned into chains that tightly bound the only remaining escapee.

“Congratulations on gaining emotions, it looks like you can now repent and pray properly.”

Lanna did not resist, saying calmly, “The 15th of every month is Blood Burning Night, representing the Blood Moon’s closest approach to the earth; the 1st of every month is the night of its greatest distance.”

“The Moon Shadow Clan has a trait where the more intense the Blood Moon, the stronger the Moon Shadow Clan becomes, and vice versa. Thus, the Moon Shadow Clan is strongest on the night of the 15th and weakest on the night of the 1st.”

“And I am a traitor to the Church, a disgrace to the Moon Shadow, a beast even the Blood Moon scorns.” Lanna’s voice grew more excited, “Only on the night of the dimmest Blood Moon, do I become complete.”

“Look, now even the clouds can obscure the Blood Moon.”

Gerard looked up to see a cloud drifting across the night sky. The already dim moonlight was covered by the clouds, and the camp’s lighting had been knocked down in the chaos. Without the illumination of the moonlight, it became pitch dark.

Boom!

The Miracle Chains on Lanna’s body snapped. A thick shadow engulfed him, turning into a ferocious and evil deep monster. The darkness of the entire space seemed to thicken, and for some reason, Gerard could feel the dark engulfed with an emotion called ‘hatred’, as if hundreds of wolves were watching him in the dark!

“Wow.”

Ke’er the assistant priest and the other priests gazed upward at the scene, their mouths agape in surprise, and they couldn’t help but applaud, “That’s incredible.”

…

…

“Quick, make a wish, beg me—or I’ll throw you back.”

Ash supported Igula through the Void Turbulence channel, “I am Ash Heath, the Sect Hierarch of the Four Pillars God Sect. I am capable of anything, and the fact that I’m saving your life without making you sign a Slave Contract is already a grand act of kindness. Now if you don’t make a wish, don’t blame me for being heartless.”

“Fine, let’s sign a Slave Contract then,” Igula, pale-faced, even managed to laugh, “Do you need help drafting the Contract? I can give you a 20% discount.”

Damn, Ash felt like tossing him straight onto the ground and leaving him there.

After stepping into the Void Turbulence channel, Ash saw Igula lying inside and bleeding profusely. Igula had already been grazed by a large patch of flesh by Gesas’s sniper, and just now he was caught by Gerard’s Blood Magic binding, and fell to the ground, bleeding profusely.

Igula wasn’t a Combat Mage to begin with. If he had kept his spirits up, he could have gone on, but this delay now, the intense pain completely overwhelmed his mind. After Ash casually used the “Slice My Miracle” on him, he found Igula couldn’t even stand up and had to crawl on the ground like a baby. Unable to watch this, he helped him up and left.

Logically, Ash could ignore him or just kill him—it would be perfectly reasonable, given that their relationship was like sand: insignificant and easily scattered by even the slightest breeze.

Moreover, Igula held one of Ash’s wishes in his grasp. As long the man was alive, Ash would have to worry about Igula suddenly demanding him to stand on his head to pee, seizing the chance to kill him. It would be only logical for a rational person to want Igula dead.

However, Ash reconsidered, wondering if this might be a test from Meiwa. If he dared to act or attempt an escape, Meiwa might immediately use his wish to send Ash back to kiss Gerard’s toes.

Igula was known for his love of playing with people’s hearts, his contemptible and shameless character, and his predilection for schemes that harmed others without benefiting himself. Ash had to be wary of such plots.

In truth, Ash had to admit to himself that even though their relationship was one of mutual exploitation, Igula had indeed been of great assistance to him.

Without Igula’s planning, neither the prison break nor the venture into the Void Realm passage would have been possible.

Ash needed to mentally prepare himself to burn bridges, as it was something he didn’t find easy to do.

For Ash, “committing evil deeds” was an active skill that required casting time, and as he was short on decision time right now, he could only choose to help Igula escape.

But Ash had his own cunning plan—if Igula used up his wish here, he would no longer have any means of restraining Ash. However, Igula was a master of game theory, understanding that a threat is most powerful when not used. No matter how much Ash threatened or tempted him, Igula would never reveal his hand, always freeloading and never paying, but his body very honestly leaned on Ash, shamelessly taking advantage of the cult leader.

Soon they reached the end of the passage, staring at the entangled exit of turbulent flows. Ash exhaled a breath, “Finally…”

“You didn’t take a wrong turn, did you?” Igula panted, “Stepping out there might greet us with Gerard’s surprised face.”

“I wouldn’t make a mistake… Well, I shouldn’t have, right?” Ash began confidently but soon became unsure, considering the passage was supposed to be one-way. But helping Igula up earlier made it difficult to be certain they hadn’t turned around.

Damn it, Igula. His words made Ash doubt himself.

If they really took a wrong turn, Ash seriously considered having Igula transferred to a different Blood Moon prison, just to avoid a lifetime of his mockery…

As a whirlwind of thoughts passed through his mind, Ash gathered his courage and stepped with Igula into the unknown realm.

What met his eyes was not the huge Blood Moon, but a desolate nightscape, and… a brightly lit highway extending into the distance?

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Followed by a sensation of stepping into thin air, the intense feeling of weightlessness made Ash instantly aware of his predicament—they were on another Void Realm passage suspended midair!

This was why exploring the Void Realm passages was so challenging: besides their incompleteness and the hostility from different realms towards invaders, many explorers might fall to their deaths immediately upon exiting a passage!

Come to think of it, Ash remembered that one of the Blessing Buffs priests gave to adventurers was ‘Featherweight Hover’—it was intended for situations like this!

He instinctively spread his Silver Wings and shouted, “Spread your wings, Igula!”

“Huh?” It took Igula almost a second to catch up with Ash’s thinking, and by the time he spread his Silver Wings, they’d already fallen to the ground.

Or more accurately, into a cage.

Ash pushed Igula away, who was leaning on him, and tried to get up to assess the situation, only to see Harvey also sleeping inside the cage. At the same time, he smelled a very comfortable scent, like freshly sun-warmed blankets or the aroma of a meal sensed before walking through the front door…

Ambush, trap… Ash instinctively wanted to use ‘Sever My Miracle’ on himself, but his thoughts were slowing down, and even his magic power started to lag. He struggled to turn his head, his blurry vision only catching a glimpse of a violet figure outside the cage.

“According to the Prophecy in the Gospel Book, tonight, only three people from the Exotic Realm will come through. Tie them up, put the Locking Technique collars on them, and leave immediately.”

“Hopefully, this gift will satisfy the Four Pillars God Sect.”

(End of Volume One: Sea of Knowledge)