Mage Manual
Chapter 431 - 360: Igula’s Malice

Chapter 431: Chapter 360: Igula’s Malice

Deep, oppressive, the darkness squeezed the space tighter and tighter, yet heartbeats swelled increasingly louder, as if they couldn’t wait to burst out of their chests to breathe the murky air.

The Funeral Service Office procession moved down the abandoned staircase, step by step into the Earth Abyss, like a bunch of lardy lambs walking voluntarily into an ogre’s mouth.

Each of them had switched on the shoulder lights of their protective suits, including Liss, who was being carried on Ash’s back. However, the beams of light they projected were unable to break through the darkness’s blockade, with visibility less than five steps. Beyond that, the darkness was as active as jelly.

"Ah!"

Everyone jumped and turned to look back at Ash and Liss, who stuttered, "Just, just now a gust of wind blew into my clothes, it tickled my neck..."

Liss was just a child, after all, and the environment was enough to test the bladders of grown adults, so it was no wonder she was prone to frights. Everyone couldn’t really say much, only offering some lukewarm comforts before continuing downward.

But not long after, another blood-curdling scream tore through the silence.

"Ah!"

They scattered at the speed of light, and Igula stared at the screaming Ash, asking, "What happened to you?"

"I, I, on my back..."

Ash trembled all over, each word quivering with aftershocks: "My back feels so heavy! Look, is there, is there a corpse on my back?"

The tension evaporated in an instant, Hanna transformed the second miss back into an earring, Banjee lowered his ice curse hand cannons, and Harvey, carrying a coffin on his back, spread his hands, saying, "Ash, corpses climbing onto your back—that’s not the kind of luck we get in this world. You’d at least need to prepare a coffin for them."

"Dad! Dad!" Liss tightened her grip on Ash’s neck, indignantly saying, "It’s me behind you! And Liss isn’t heavy at all! Stinky dad!"

"Let go, let go, I’m going to die..."

Igula remarked indifferently, "I didn’t expect that you’d learn to be sarcastically accusatory, Ash. This time I’d give you a 90. By the way, Liss, do you still want Ash to carry you?"

Back in the car, Liss had been clinging to Ash, and the park paths had been in terrible shape, so letting Liss walk by herself would have greatly slowed down their pace. As a result, she insisted on riding on Ash’s back.

Liss’s eyes darted around: "It’s so dark here, and I’m so small, I might get lost if you guys turn around, so better let Dad carry me."

Igula laughed: "Oh, you getting lost—that would be something, wouldn’t it?"

Ash smacked Liss’s buttocks hard enough to make her release him and gasped, "Then let Aunt Bokin carry you. She’s got soft skin and smells nice; you would be so comfortable with her. If not, even the beautiful and mature miss here would do. I’d be at most your third choice, right?"

Hanna glanced at Ash with a curious look: "Why am I only the second choice? Am I not much better than Igula?"

"Miss, us ordinary humans can’t compare to a Meiwa like you."

"I’ll say it again, the Meiwa are an all-female species, and I just have a bit of Meiwa blood!" Igula retorted, grinding his teeth. However, he glanced at Liss and suddenly smiled warmly and invitingly, opening his arms, "Well, since you begged me like this, Ash, I’ll carry Liss."

Facing Igula’s smile, Liss nearly broke out in goosebumps all over, a chill rushing to her crown.

The malevolence hidden beneath that smile was so clear; the little witch felt as if every hair on the Swindler was bent at an angle eager to crush her. She clung to Ash in an instant, like a leech: "No, no, not me, only Daddy."

This wasn’t just play-acting. As the little witch most adept at sensing the good and evil in people among her sisters, she had a strong premonition—if she ended up in Bokin’s hands, he really would find an opportunity to kill her!

She didn’t even have to be in his hands; if she were on her own, he would certainly try to lose her!

Only by clinging to her dad could she ensure a glimmer of life!

"Well," Harvey raised his hand and made a very heartwarming suggestion, "There’s still a bit of space left in the coffin, and Alice wouldn’t mind squeezing in with Liss."

In the midst of this banter, the Funeral Service Office smoothly reached the end of the passage. What met their eyes was neither a Demon Cave smeared with blood and littered with corpses nor the Harvey’s Happy Cave filled with thousands upon thousands of tombs, but rather a neglected park square that seemed long overdue for maintenance.

It was still a bustling park square, though.

Little girls sliding down slides, a bunch of kids chasing and playing with each other, handsome and dashing men walking with their heads held high, beautiful and serene young girls sitting on benches reading books, gun technique-enthusiastic cute boys disassembling Hand Cannons, serious and diligent swordsmanship girls practicing their swings... Most of all were idly beautiful girls lying on the lawn, creating a scene of peaceful sunny days despite being dozens of meters below ground.

Ash suddenly remembered a saying, "As long as you have the sea in your heart, anywhere can be a beach."

This saying fit quite well here—though natural light couldn’t penetrate the earth’s layers, these ’people’ actually glowed from within, artificially illuminating the entire underground space as bright as day.

"These are..." Igula murmured.

"These are the mermaid scent," Hanna pointed to the lively glowing human figures on the street and explained, "The cat grass smoke that Harvey smokes is extracted from these."

"Miss," Harvey knocked on his mask, "I can’t smoke with this mask on, please don’t tempt me with such talk."

Even the worldly Purple Moth was taken aback by the Necromancer’s response. She suddenly realized that there was no ultimate evolved life form in this era that could keep up with Harvey’s aesthetic sensibilities.

Ash approached the ’young girl’ closest to them and took a closer look. Indeed, the ’girl’s’ skin had the texture of plant fibers; however, this made it even more terrifying—the ’girl’ smiled and moved so naturally and realistically, unlike the ’ginseng fruit’ which was an awkward, forced approximation of life. It was as if a real girl had turned into a plant being, and the sight was chilling to the core.

Ash even had the illusion that the ’girl’ might come to life and start choking him, as he felt his throat constricting, fighting to breathe...

"Don’t strangle my neck when you’re scared!" Ash slapped something behind him, and the little witch’s spiritual body behind him shivered, "I’m scared too!"

Yet, after observing for a short while, the previously eager Harvey’s expression soured. He reached out and slapped the ’beauty’ closest to him, scattering it into a pile of leaves.

"Yuck," he said with disgust, "This is truly revolting."

Hearing such a sentiment from the mouth of a Necromancer was quite refreshing, and Ash couldn’t help but ask, "Harvey, you’ve become picky too?"

Igula looked off into the distance at the bustling yet silent ’crowd’ filling the vast square and felt a chill in his heart.

"The Six Emblems turned their dead clan members into mermaid scent?" Although it was a question, Igula’s tone was that of a statement.

"Now, I’m quite curious about what Mr. Harvey here thinks of this place," Hanna said, "I only knew the rough situation of this farm, but not the specifics. I thought Mr. Harvey would like it here, so your reaction is a bit unexpected to me."

"This place is an affront to life, desecration to the bodies, and a distortion of souls," Harvey said emphatically.

Hearing Harvey genuinely spout such nonsense, Ash and Igula glanced at each other, their faces turning grave.

Ash suddenly said, "My ideal is to create a Substitute Miracle that will take care of me. My top three most hated words are work, society, and exercise."

Igula said, "I like fools and hate smart people. My ideal is to travel and explore after acquiring countless wealth."

Liss also joined in the fun, "I like daddy and big sister who are nice to me, I hate bad people who aren’t nice to me, and my dream is to grow up fast."

Hanna looked at them strangely, not understanding why they suddenly started introducing themselves, but it was Banjee who caught on and giggled softly.

"Hmm, it seems our Spirit Status is quite normal, and our personalities haven’t changed drastically," Ash mused, "which means the spiritual attack here only targets the darkest-skinned person..."

Igula said, "I think it’s aimed at the person with the most abnormal aesthetic. Ash, you’re lucky to have Harvey this time as a buffer."

Liss, less biting with her words, suggested the most reasonable hypothesis, "Is it possible that Uncle Harvey just ruined his brain by smoking too much?"