Mage Manual
Chapter 423 - 353 Red Death Cultist

Chapter 423: Chapter 353 Red Death Cultist

Surrounded with no escape, the Black Knight was closing in step by step.

Liss was out of options. Not bothering about being discovered by the Black Knight, she quickly pulled out a small mirror from her bosom and engaged in high-speed telepathic communication with her sisters, "I’m sorry, I messed up."

"It doesn’t matter," the White Queen comforted her, "The other side has already taken for granted that you are Lissdia. Confirming your identity is only a matter of time. Liss, you’ve done very well."

Liss, "But what do we do now? I’m about to be captured."

There was a moment of silence in the mirror, and then the White Queen suddenly asked, "Liss, do you blame us for keeping secrets?"

Liss, "What do you mean?"

Diya, "Are you upset with us for hiding the fact that you are a Technique Spirit?"

Liss tilted her head slightly, "I am a little, but no matter what, aren’t I your favorite little sister?"

White Queen, "That’s without question—as long as you don’t make me angry."

Red Death Cultist, "Also, as long as we are here, Liss, you don’t need to know that you are a Technique Spirit."

Liss was a very perceptive child.

"Red Sister, what do you mean? Could it be that you won’t be here?"

The Red Death Cultist did not answer Liss’s question, "Liss, listen to White more in the future; to Black, don’t keep your worries to yourself; to White, don’t consider everything on your own, trust others more; to Diya, you must maintain your true self."

Liss, "Red Sister, what are you talking about?!"

The Black Butler, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up, "Let me do it, Red. You are more useful than I am."

Red Death Cultist, "No, you are more useful than me, Black. I can’t be of any help in the Void Realm. I was born for battle, and now that Diya is able to fight on her own and has trusted comrades, my existence will only cause her trouble."

Diya, "Impossible! I... Red Sister, you’re my sister, not just some combat substitute, and you wouldn’t be a burden to me!"

Liss nearly crushed the mirror in her hand, "What are you all talking about?! Why can’t I understand anything?!"

"The Bronze Dragon’s trial erased our past realities and sealed our Magic Power, which is why Hanna never suspected us." The White Queen’s voice was deep, "But without Magic Power, naturally, we can’t activate Technique Spirits, so we have no power to resist in the real world, only relying on others’ protection."

"But there are always exceptions—if a Technique Spirit activates voluntarily, it doesn’t consume Magic Power."

Liss vaguely understood something, but she still wanted to think in a positive direction, "So, Red Sister is going to beat up this villain and then come back?"

Red Death Cultist, "I won’t be coming back."

"Why?!"

"Liss, do you know what kind of Technique Spirits we are?"

"Sister Technique Spirit, Little Sister Technique Spirit, Cute Technique Spirit?"

"No, we are all derived from the Mask Technique Spirit." The Red Death Cultist spoke, "I am the Red Death Cult mask, she is the White Queen mask, and you are the Little Witch mask."

"Of course, we can switch and use them permanently on ourselves. But if it’s for someone else, it means I have to enter the person’s soul to place the Red Death Cult mask on them."

Liss, "So... are you going to take over this villain’s body, Red Sister?!"

"It won’t take it over." The Red Death Cultist shook her head, "A mask is, after all, just a mask."

"So what are you going to do?"

"It’s simple. When it takes off the mask, the face will come off with it. I will actively integrate and mess with its soul, confuse its memories, and tear apart its values. By the time it completely takes off my mask, it may not even remember who it was."

A chill rose within Liss, "Then Red Sister... what about you?"

"The only way to forcefully remove a mask is to destroy the Technique Spirit," said the Red Death Cultist.

"Don’t!" Liss said at once, "I don’t want Red Sister to die. We... yes, there’s also Dad, Hanna, Aunt Bokin, Uncle Harvey, Sister Qinna, they will save us, Red Sister doesn’t have to die!"

"The white mist has cleared for so long, and we’ve been escaping for so long." The Black Butler suddenly spoke, "Who has come to save us?"

The image in the mirror froze.

"They will save Hanna, they will save Banjee, they will save Ash, they will save Igula, they will even save Harvey, but no one will save us. Hanna and Banjee are master and servant, Ash and the others are companions, but we are outsiders that no one cares about."

"It may not matter usually, but in moments of danger, the weight of life becomes distinct." The Black Butler continued, "Besides, they can’t save us. The Black Knight himself said it, he is from the Secret Guard. Diya, you remember that name, right?"

Diya, "I heard it once in a bedtime story. The Secret Guard is the royal blade, representative of Yisu, and they can command the royal Gospel Points at will, with the authority to pray for forbidden Miracles... The Secret Guard can even be regarded as Legendary Mages."

Black Butler, "If I’m not wrong, the white mist from Vatican Mura must have been dispelled with points by it. It didn’t really try its best a moment ago; it was merely toying with Liss in a chase. Even if someone comes to save us, who can face a Legendary Mage head-on? And who would dare to offend the Secret Guard of Yisu royalty?"

Liss: "Can we really only send Red to her death? I don’t want that!"

"So... maybe we should just go back."

The Black Butler whispered, "If we surrender, Red won’t have to sacrifice herself; if we go back, we won’t have to keep running. White, Red, Liss, Diya..." Towards the end, her voice carried a hint of pleading.

Diya didn’t answer.

"We absolutely can’t go back."

The Red Death Cultist firmly rejected the Black Butler’s suggestion.

"The Witch needs Lissdia, not the Red Death Cultist, not the Black Butler, not the White Queen, not the Secret Princess, and certainly not the little witch. Even if we obediently return to the Tower, the Witch will cleanse us all. She will not allow us to exist and block ’the real Lissdia’ from becoming an Armored Saint. Everyone will die, no exceptions."

"To die as one, or to die as five, even I can do this math, Black."

"But it’s not necessarily just one death!" The Black Butler roared, "This time we face the Secret Guard and Red has to sacrifice, but what about the next Secret Guard? Me? What then? The third time? The fourth time? Until only Diya is left alive to end it all?"

White Queen: "Black..."

"With three months left until the end of the Weaving Festival, as long as we behave, the Witch will probably let us live for those three months." The Black Butler pleaded, "Diya, do you really want to watch everyone die one by one? Can’t you let us live peacefully for these three months? Do you know what Red likes to eat? Do you know where Red wants to go? Do you know Red actually really likes music?"

Diya didn’t answer.

"Stop embarrassing yourself, Black." The Red Death Cultist said, "Don’t make it sound like I’m desperately clinging to life. I am the Red Death Cultist, a name I chose for myself."

"Liss, without the help of other Technique Spirits, I can only activate it through touch, just touch the Secret Guard’s hand later."

Liss almost wanted to hide her hands: "No!"

"Stop being so willful, you’re an adult now."

"I’m not an adult, I’m a little witch! And how is this different from killing Red with my own hands? Absolutely not!"

"Diya!" The Black Butler’s screech was almost sharp enough to shatter a mirror, which then turned into a tear-choked plea: "I beg you..."

White Queen: "Black, don’t be like this. The person who’s suffering the most here isn’t you, it’s Diya."

Diya still didn’t answer.

Even the fastest mental communication takes time, and the Black Knight had already reached the end. The Substitute spread her arms in front of Liss as if to repay her for the earlier lifesaving grace.

"Don’t..."

Snap.

With a simple wave of the Black Knight’s hand, the bubble burst. Liss looked up, forced to face this cruel nightmare up close.

"Liss, look at me."

Liss glanced at the mirror subconsciously, then her mask was removed.

The Black Butler roared, "Diya!"

White Queen: "Diya..."

Little Witch: "Sister Diya!"

Their cries halted abruptly.

Plop plop.

Tears more laborious than when she was born cleansed her eyeballs, teeth brutally biting a well into her lip, and large tears mingled with thick blood drop by drop onto the mirror surface, the new coating hiding her sisters’ faces, only reflecting a girl sobbing uncontrollably.

"Diya, you’re the strongest among us, it’s going to be tough from here on out."

Diya hastily wiped away her tears, looked up to see the Black Knight’s offered hand, and, holding back the nausea in her stomach, raised her hand and reached out—

Buzz!—

Suddenly, a piercing scream came from the ceiling, sending Diya’s brain into a crash from the deafening noise, and the Black Knight too paused for a moment.

At that moment, from above the Black Knight, an inverted Sword Barrier emerged through the ceiling, which was then sliced off and plummeted down!

Thump!

Diya watched dumbfounded as the Black Knight was smashed squarely by the ceiling embedded with the Sword Barrier, and in the billowing dust, along with the ceiling, fell a human, a high-quality father in a dark red coat.

"Hmm?"

Ash saw Diya’s reaching hand, and instinctively reached out to grasp it.