Mage Manual
Chapter 418 - 348 Clan Leader of the Six Emblems

Chapter 418: Chapter 348 Clan Leader of the Six Emblems

Igula hadn’t expected them to really be able to encircle and kill the Holy Sanctuary Mage, he just hoped to cause a reduction in the Red Hats’ numbers, preferably leaving everyone except the Holy Sanctuary Mage seriously wounded, forcing the two Holy Sanctuary Mages to stay behind to take care of their team members—according to the Red Hats’ rules and regulations, taking care of team members took priority over pursuing criminals—thus, they would be able to escape smoothly.

But now, let alone reducing their numbers, the Red Hats were completely unharmed.

Igula took a hand mirror out of his shoulder bag and using the reflection, saw the transparent barrier that had protected all the Red Hats in that instant. He muttered, "What is that?"

Ash summoned the Gospel Book: "What is that?"

Gospel Book: "(Costs 5 Gospel Points) Holy Domain."

Before Ash could continue to press with more questions, the Gospel Book, which had established strategic cooperation with the Funeral Service Office, conscientiously supplemented:

"Holy Domain, a common ability of a Three-winged Mage, has over time become synonymous with Three-winged Mages themselves. The Holy Domain is not an ability that mages automatically gain upon advancing to a Three-winged realm but is essential for Three-winged Mages in their exploration of the Distant Realm, hence every Three-winged Mage is necessarily a Holy Sanctuary Mage."

"The Holy Domain does not require any Technique Spirits for casting (though they can assist), and a mage merely needs to radiate their mixed Magic Power of silver, gold, and seven-colored outside their body to create their exclusive Holy Domain."

"The Holy Domain generally manifests as a spherical transparent forcefield centered around the mage themselves with a radius that can be adjusted freely. Dispersion and reorganization of Void Wings is the most common way to summon the Holy Domain."

"The Holy Domain consumes mixed Magic Power for every second it exists, and depending on the Magic Faction, each mage’s exclusive Holy Domain is different, but all Holy Domains have two Basic Effects—"

"① Instant manifestation of the Holy Domain, the size of which is controlled at will."

"② The Holy Domain can be used as a defensive barrier, using Magic Power to resist all external attacks directly. Depending on the properties of the Holy Domain, the consumption of Magic Power varies greatly, but there are almost no attacks it cannot defend against."

"According to these two effects of the Holy Domain, it is generally considered that exhausting all a Holy Sanctuary Mage’s Magic Power is a necessary but not sufficient condition to kill a Holy Sanctuary Mage."

Ash had Igula look at the two Basic Effects of the Holy Domain, upon which the latter blinked.

"Crucial information missing, my plan never had any chance of success from the beginning."

"You actually didn’t know about the Holy Domain?" Ash was incredibly surprised, it was expected of him to not know since he was illiterate, but how could Igula not know?

"The Holy Domain I had previously inquired about was a type of Miracle Track set in a fixed location, where Three-winged Mages were nearly invincible within its range..."

"Completely wrong."

"Even Swindlers can be deceived." Igula spread his hands, "Tonight came too swiftly; I didn’t have time to verify my information with the Gospel Book. In the end, I never really planned to confront a Three-winged Mage directly, that’s not on my ’Hundred Things to Do in This Life’ checklist."

"Sorry about that." The Swindler glanced at the Cult Leader, " Looks like we’re going to be caught again."

"No problem." Ash said, "If worst comes to worst, we’ll just replicate Shattered Lake again."

While they were talking, Cleos gently landed above the gaming pod behind them, her soft footsteps interrupting their trivial conversation. Her eyes closed, her righteous and kind dual guns aimed at the red-name targets that would add to their glory, the Elf’s crimson lips coldly declared: "Move and you’re dead."

Seemingly to increase the persuasiveness of her warning, she half-pulled the trigger, and the refined metal mechanism emitted a chilling clattering sound.

"Be aware, under the Red Hats’ rules and regulations, as long as she makes a clear warning, she can execute a suspect on the spot without affecting her Red Hat ranking," Igula raised his hands in surrender, not forgetting to give Ash a crash course in Red Hats’ common knowledge.

"It sounds like her words are not meant as a warning to me, but as an explanation for the Gospel," Ash also obediently raised his hands, "Sort of like when a student in class says they need to go pee, it’s not directed at the bladder."

On the other side, Banjee also lowered his ice-charm dual guns, but one couldn’t expect too much from him, especially since anyone would lose their nerve when their head was targeted by a sniper gun of the Holy Sanctuary Mage.

Harvey was lucky to escape, but laden with a coffin nearly impossible to conceal, he was as slow as a snail; getting caught was just a matter of time.

With the three of them captured, no external reinforcements, and no backup plan, Ash felt they could only honestly contribute indelibly to the security efforts of the Kingdom of Gospel.

Ding.

Just then, the elevator light turned on.

The speakers friendly announced the imminent arrival of their guests, sending a kind greeting to everyone.

All the Red Hats looked toward the elevator, and as their gaze shifted, so did their gun muzzles.

However, the moment the elevator doors opened, everyone averted their gun muzzles—because the person inside was their colleague.

An Elf Red Hat.

But the moment Banjee saw her, he breathed a sigh of relief, the young man in his sixties looking like a kid who feels safe upon seeing their parents when bullied.

"Don’t aim the gun at him."

This one sentence instantly traversed half the game layer. Although Cleos had been on her guard and her body shimmered with multiple glows of Miracle—unless it really was too late, as the cost-performance ratio of a Defense Miracle was far higher than that of the Holy Domain—she was still kicked away!

Boom!

Accompanying the scattering fragments of Miracle, Cleos retreated back into the Red Hat formation. She immediately summoned the Gospel Book to search for enemy intelligence, frowning as she said, "Nona Senheiser?"

Ash and Igula looked up, only to see a tall Elf Red Hat standing before them. She bore some resemblance to Qinna but was less mature and seductive, more innocent and charming with short, sharp hair, hand on her hip, standing before the two rescues, looking utterly divine like a Heavenly God descended to earth.

"Miss Nona?" Igula exhaled, "According to the Contract between Hanna and your sister—"

Snap!

’Nona’ punched Igula in the stomach, and as the Swindler doubled over, she elbow-struck him heavily on the back, smashing him to the ground with a snap.

"Next time you take my clansman hostage, remember these three ribs I broke." She turned to Ash. "Are you going to call me Nona too?"

Noticing that familiar cold arrogance in her eyes, Ash suddenly recalled the elevator encounter a few days ago, "Are you Qinna?"

"Is it Clan Leader Qinna?" Light, on the other side, said, "According to the data, Vice Captain Nona of the Red Hats is just a Two-winged Mage. Even with profound heritage, she wouldn’t have the capacity to repel Cleos. In all of Senheiser, only Clan Leader Qinna possesses Holy Sanctuary combat power."

"Logically speaking, with such a rapid dissipation of the white mist, a normal Vatican Mura individual should instantly lose all ability to act, and at this time, Clan Leader Qinna, you should still be in the Rebirth Dream. After the dissipation of the mist, you wouldn’t even be able to return to reality immediately. However, being the leader of the Six Emblems family for many years, you must’ve mastered some secret tricks unknown to others."

"Do you outsiders always speak in such a roundabout way? Are you sure you want to show off your pitiful eloquence before an Elf whose age is several times yours?" Qinna said coldly, "A clan leader who controls the family resources and the entire clan’s trust naturally needs to be always ready, never trapped in a dire situation."

Ash couldn’t help but nod internally. For the Senheiser family, due to the clan’s low desire in reality, Qinna had effectively achieved absolute dictatorship. The cost, however, was that the clan members almost entirely lacked initiative in emergencies, always relying on the clan leader to steer.

If one had to draw a comparison, the Senheiser family was like Qinna acting as an older sister leading a bunch of kindergarten children.

If the clan leader suddenly disappeared, Ash doubted if the Senheiser had the capability to elect another leader.

"Long ago, our ancestors contemplated various scenarios of the clan leader being harmed, including sudden circumstances like the dissipation of the mist and blocking of dreams. To ensure the continuation of the family as a top priority, the Six Emblems family clan leaders all have ’spare bodies,’" Qinna explained. "The spare bodies contain a split of the main soul, and there’s more than one spare body. If an emergency occurs, the spare bodies will activate in order of priority, with at least one able to temporarily lead the family."

"Soul splitting?!" Cleos exclaimed, "This must affect your future as a Mage, right? And this is no ordinary Miracle... No, isn’t this akin to reincarnation, soul usurping? Those spare bodies—"

Cleos suddenly stuttered.

"It’s not as dark as you think. Usually, the spare bodies are just influenced by my split soul emotionally, and even if the split activates, the bodies are returned afterwards. As for my future, compared to the guarantee of the family’s continuation, it’s completely negligible." Qinna spoke calmly. "Soul splitting is actually quite simple; the family’s Rebirth Dream is not just for amusement."

"Let’s dispense with the idle chat."

Light said, "Clan Leader Qinna, please hand over those two criminals; one is an Empire criminal wanted under Order 69-165, and the other just attempted to jeopardize public safety. As for your recent surprise attack on Captain Cleos, I believe the Gospel Society will make a fair judgment—"

"Wrong."

"What’s wrong?"

"Your stance is wrong." Qinna coldly stated, "Now, the person in the position to say ’please’ is me."

"Please leave Vatican Mura immediately, any arrest actions should be notified through official channels to the Vatican Mura Red Hats, and we will fully cooperate with your legitimate actions. Regarding your unnotified intrusion into Senheiser’s private territory, I trust the Gospel Society will make a fair judgment. As for this white mist, I won’t count this transgression against you since you small factions don’t have the financial power to pray for such a Miracle."

Cleos was taken aback for a moment, "Miss Qinna, while you possess Three-winged Realm power, Nona... has only Two-winged strength, correct?"

"Even if Qinna, you could wield Holy Sanctuary combat power using your sister’s body, we have two Holy Sanctuary Mages, plus six elite Red Hats." Light raised his bolt-action sniper rifle, blatantly threatening, "8 against 1, it’s a simple math problem, right? Do you really want to harbor Empire fugitives?"

"I reiterate, first, I only request that you follow proper channels for intercity manhunts; second..."

"The enemy you are facing is not just a Two-winged Mage."

From outside the window came an unfamiliar male voice: "But six Emblem leaders representing eight million citizens of Vatican Mura."

The Red Hats turned their heads, seeing five uninvited guests climbing through the shattered window into the 72nd floor. Tonight, portals lost their favor, as windows became everyone’s preferred entry and exit.

"The white mist is gone."

"The clansmen have all fallen, and I had to activate a spare body."

"Foreigners blatantly invaded our homes."

"And caused a ruckus in Senheiser."

"Even trying to bypass us to capture an Emblem clansman."

"Since the founding of Vatican Mura, we have never suffered such indignity." Qinna said coldly, "8764502 against 8, it’s a simple math problem, right?"