Mage Manual
Chapter 424 - 354 Liss is Different from Hanna

Chapter 424: Chapter 354 Liss is Different from Hanna

"Do you really think you’re her dad now?"

While running down the stairs, Igula, who was following behind Ash, suddenly asked.

They had just left the perilous game level when Ash and Banjee had a brief but decisive argument—Hanna on the 86th floor, and Liss on the 56th floor. According to the Gospel Book’s character activity map, Hanna was fighting with several people, while Liss was being pursued by one. Therefore, Banjee hoped that everyone would go to support Hanna first.

Igula and Harvey had no objections, only Ash wanted to go down to find Liss.

Because time was pressing, after expressing their opinions, they immediately took action. Banjee took the elevator up, Ash ran downstairs, Igula gestured to Harvey, and so the Necromancer and Housekeeper went to brownnose the boss, while the Swindler accompanied the year’s worst employee to pick up his kid.

Undoubtedly, Ash’s choice to mix personal matters with business would surely draw Banjee and Hanna’s dissatisfaction.

After all, the situation with Liss appeared to be less dangerous, while Hanna was barely holding on. Ash, you actually prioritized a cheap daughter over the boss. Both morally and logically, that doesn’t make sense. Do you really think the office is your home?

In fact, Igula too didn’t understand—he knew that although Ash was smarter than an ogre and more cunning than a goblin, his brain often ran away on its own, but he wasn’t someone who couldn’t distinguish between priorities.

Given the circumstances, they should definitely all go to save Hanna first and then find Liss later—however, he insisted on splitting the group.

If something bad happened, Ash would be fully responsible.

Actually, Igula should have gone with Banjee to save Hanna, but by doing that, it would seem like they were isolating Ash. Even if it meant demonstrating their outsider unity, Igula had to accompany Ash on this downhill path. Of course, they were bound to be envied by Hanna later on, but at least with Ash, the Taunting Companion, Igula wasn’t too worried.

"How could I?" Ash interjected amidst the rapid footsteps. "I’m a bachelor, far from reaching the right age to be a dad."

"Then why do you care about Liss so much that you can’t even wait a few minutes? If we all went to rescue Hanna together, we should be able to quickly take care of those enemies, and then it would make more sense to turn around and save Liss, wouldn’t it?"

"Right, why didn’t I think of that, my bad."

"Are you playing dumb with me?" Igula reached out and smacked Ash’s head. "Even if we’re rushed for time, how could you possibly not figure that out?"

"I really didn’t think that much just now—"

"Forget it if you don’t want to talk."

Turning a stairwell corner, Ash spoke helplessly: "Liss is different from Hanna."

"Ah huh, I can only hope the ’different’ you’re talking about isn’t their body sizes," mocked Igula. "Their differences are too many. For instance, their names are different."

"Not to mention their abilities, the key issue is," Ash said, "their mentalities are different."

"Mentalities?"

Igula paused slightly. As a Spirit Mage, he instantly grasped the subtext behind Ash’s words.

"Even in the most critical situations, Hanna can stay calm," Ash explained. "Because she knows many people care about her—her mother Qinna, her Housekeeper Banjee, her attendants, us... She has too many reasons to hold on. She believes time will always be on her side, she’s convinced that many people are rushing to save her, she harbors hope."

"But Liss is different, she..."

Ash hesitated, as if scouring his knowledge base for an example, and finally picked the worst possible one: "She’s a lot like you."

"She’s not like me."

"She doesn’t know if anyone will come to save her, doesn’t know if she’s valued at all. Time is on Hanna’s side because with every passing second, she feels the rescue is a second closer. Time isn’t on Liss’s side because with every second, she feels she’s being abandoned."

"Coquetry comes from feeling favored; sensibility comes from suspecting abandonment. Igula, Liss has always been a smart and sensible child." Ash smiled faintly: "Although I’ve never seen it, I feel like she’s very similar to how you were as a child."

"She’s not like me."

"And so, even if it’s only me, I have to go and find her first." Ash leaped down the steps, his feet thumping on the concrete floor. "Maybe I won’t make any difference when I arrive, might even get caught, but at least I can show her with my actions—to hold onto hope at all times."

"That’s why I’m saying, she’s not like me," Igula followed Ash’s stride. "I haven’t fallen so far as to rely on others for hope."

"Be a bit more forgiving to the little ones, aunty Bokin."

"You still haven’t answered my question— you only explained why you want to save her, but not why you care so much about her."

"Did you forget? I have a Contract with her, I have to protect her."

"Is it just because of the Contract?"

"And there’s another trivial reason..."

...

...

Ash gripped "Liss’s" hand and hoisted her onto his shoulder, giving her butt a hefty smack, causing Liss to let out an involuntary yelp.

"You see, you just know how to get into trouble, every time I have to rescue you," Ash pretended to be angry and chuckled, "I’d like to see if you dare to disobey me again!"

Ash felt that Liss had not been respecting him enough lately. She used to always call him ’Daddy’, but lately, she had been mixing ’Ash’ with ’Daddy’, and even dared to make fun of him in front of Harvey—It’s one thing to do it in private, but how could you not give me face in front of outsiders!

If this continued, Liss might just evolve into the scourge that says, "Hey, someone give me some money." Now was the perfect opportunity to establish adult authority; for the healthy growth of Liss, it was time for a knockout punch!

On the floor above, Igula wore an odd expression; he could never have guessed that the main reason Ash first rescued Liss was to show off in front of the little girl.

This guy even has the gall to say I’m similar to Liss, I think you’re the one who’s like Liss, just like two immature brats.

Diya, meanwhile, covered her blushing face, wishing she could change back to her true form and give this guy a good beating, it’s a shame she couldn’t. She had grown up so big that even Witches had never smacked her butt, and here was Ash daring to smack so it made a distinct sound!

She should have immediately reverted to being the little witch as soon as she saw Ash!

After all, it’s one thing to smack the little witch’s butt, but she’s a Secret Princess, how is she supposed to face the White Queen and the others in the future!

Wait a minute... Diya’s face changed, and she slapped Ash on the back hard, "Run!"

Boom!

The ceiling above crumbled down with a loud crash, and Ash quickly got away from where they had been standing with Diya in his arms, narrowly avoiding being crushed by steel bars and chunks of concrete.

"They’re still not dead?" Ash looked at the pile of rubble with a somewhat stern expression.

After he and Igula discovered the stairway on the 56th floor was blocked, they went up to the 57th floor. Using the Gospel Book, they determined that Liss’s pursuer was right beneath them, and quickly formulated a battle plan—Igula was to emit a Spiritual Scream to create a gap, and Ash would dive down from above and kill the enemy.

This time, the Miracle Ash chose to use wasn’t Sword Painting or Favoritism, but the one he was most skilled in—the Sword Barrier!

His Sword Barrier was already an offensive and defensive unity of Defense Miracle; remote attacks aside, if an enemy made close contact with Sword Barrier, not only would the attack be nullified by Sword Barrier, but they could even be cut by the sharp Sword Qi within!

The Sword Qi of Sword Barrier originated from the Earth Sword, shaped by the Wind Barrier, and because the Earth Sword was in unity with the earth, its Sword Qi was nigh on indestructible—if you couldn’t shatter the earth, you couldn’t penetrate the Sword Barrier—unless you could puncture Sword Barrier in an instant, or else who would dare collide with the Sword Barrier like an egg against a rock, the one to shatter would definitely not be the Sword Barrier, this stone.

But in actual Void Realm combat, hardly any Void Realm creatures would confront the Sword Barrier head-on; they would either immediately give up when they sensed the difficulty or simply switch to ranged attacks.

Even Void Realm creatures knew to avoid its sharpness, let alone Mages.

Therefore, the offensive effectiveness of Sword Barrier has always been somewhat lame, making it the so-called kind sword, with a battle record of 0/10/65—broken at least 10 times, assisted in protecting teammates 65 times.

But Ash keenly noticed that the current terrain was the perfect opportunity for Sword Barrier to flex its muscles.

The major flaws of Sword Barrier were two: it must rely on the ground, and it can’t move. The title "Barrier" came about for that reason, it could only passively take hits, unable to actively strike.

Yes, Sword Barrier can’t move, but what if the ground itself was smashed over?

Sword Barrier may need to rely on the ground, but the ceiling is the ground too!

So Ash stuck his sword in, letting Sword Barrier coalesce in the ceiling right beneath him, then sliced the floor with Heart Sword, in coordination with Igula’s Spiritual Scream control, and finally, Ash perfectly executed his idea—

Miracle Aerial Sword Barrier!

"The damage should be adequate, the enemy was also stunned by the Spiritual Scream, they probably didn’t have time to react..." Ash set Diya down, his eyes flickering, "Could it be..."

Igula immediately opened the Gospel Book, "Tell me everything you can about that person!"

Gospel Book: "(Costs 30 Gospel Points) The opponent’s name is hidden."

"Identity: Secret Guard of Yisu, representing the Yisu royal family while moving across the realm, possessing administrative authority second only to the royal family, with the right to restrain all Empire units."

"Profession Authority·Peeping Secret: Secret Guard has intelligence authority second only to the royal family, able to freely access any information without cost."

"Profession Authority·Weaving: Secret Guard has Miracle authority second only to the royal family, able to call upon the royal family’s Gospel Points, plead for Miracles or even Wonders from the All-Knowing Weaver through the Gospel Book, weaving Fate at will."

"Profession Authority·Night Darkest: The Secret Guard’s armor is blessed with the ’Night Darkest’ Blessing, automatically consuming Gospel Points to ward off all damage."

"Profession Authority·Soul Calming Prayer: The Secret Guard’s soul is blessed with the ’Soul Calming Prayer’ Blessing, automatically consuming Gospel Points to heal all spiritual damage."

There were still a long list of profession privileges below, but Igula was already too lazy to read on, he hastily shouted, "Ash, don’t—"