Mage Manual
Chapter 442 - 369: Education Before Imprisonment

Chapter 442: Chapter 369: Education Before Imprisonment

"Wow, quite the fanfare for a mere Angel," he said.

At the end of the corridor was a glittering underground palace. The fleeting murals depicted myths of an unknown era, while the shining dome, upon closer inspection, was made of gigantic golden bones, possibly the remains of some mythical creature.

In the center of the palace lay a massive stone coffin large enough for a giant; even the heights of two men were insufficient to reach the lid of the coffin.

"I remember the Belladetts being a bunch of shorties," Ash exclaimed. "I know the Gospel has long since done away with reproductive isolation, but can giants really have children with humans? The software might allow it, but the hardware certainly does not."

The cloaked figure paid no attention to Ash. He gazed at the stone coffin, his hands gesturing something unknown. Soon, a vast emerald shadow rose from the coffin. It extended chains of nothingness all around its form, firmly anchored to the palace, as if imprisoned within yet relying on the palace for protection.

Shadow: "Are you the Mages who have passed my trials and are worthy to inherit my Evil Soul Path?"

Ash: "It’s just him. I prefer something warmer than a corpse."

Cloaked figure: "Great precursor, the Evil Angel Belladett, I will inherit your glory and magnify it. Give me all that you are."

Shadow: "To verify your qualification, my inheritance will invade your soul with extreme brutality, to the extent it might cause its collapse. Are you sure you want to continue down this path?"

Cloaked figure: "I’ve never experienced a soul collapse before. Bring it on."

The Shadow laughed heartily and dived into the cloaked man’s body. The cloaked man shuddered, and dark smoke billowed from him. This smoke solidified into loathsome monsters with gaping, fanged maws that ferociously tore at the cloaked man’s soul.

Shadow: "My Evil Soul Path is modelled after the billions of Evil Ghosts in Hell. To be gnawed by them is akin to experiencing Hell firsthand. As the Evil Souls devour you, you can absorb their knowledge directly. Let your mind go; do not resist."

Cloaked figure: "So, this is what Death feels like?"

Shadow: "Exactly. Just as a person strips away all emotions upon dying and falling into Hell, the Evil Souls will consume your soul, leaving only pure knowledge and memory, then I can easily inherit it. With the Combat Power of the Evil Souls, I have slain countless Angels of Exotic Realms and plundered their lifelong treasures."

Cloaked figure: "So, my emotions have been consumed?"

Shadow: "Yes. You must feel it now. Your soul tearing little by little, your emotions peeling away bit by bit. When overwhelming pain submerges your rationality, you become ever more alien to yourself... If you cannot endure, your soul will be utterly shattered!"

The cloaked figure’s body shook violently, and suddenly he dropped to his knees as if he could endure no more. The smoke monsters consumed his body piece by piece — first the fingers, then the arms, torso, organs, neck... until at last, the cloaked man was entirely engulfed by the smoke monsters, leaving behind only the shape of a man.

However, at that moment, the cloaked man erupted into raucous laughter.

"Hahaha, what a fool, to persist obediently to the very end, unaware this is not an inheritance ritual, but an Erosion Ceremony! The arrangements I made earlier were just to filter out souls resilient enough to endure the Erosion Ceremony! I have now completely eroded his soul, achieved rebirth! At last, I have completely escaped Hell!"

"And you," the smoke-cloaked figure pointed at Ash and declared, "shall become the first Evil Soul after my resurrection!"

"Wow, scary," Ash shrugged nonchalantly. "Harvey, save me."

The smoke-cloaked figure paused, then another voice emerged from within him: "I knew something was wrong with your inheritance, Belladett, when I saw the Residual Soul emerge from the coffin."

" A Necromancer like you wouldn’t leave behind a true inheritance, always struggling desperately to cling to life. You can’t face Death; you are not a true Necromancer."

"Impudence!" The smoke-cloaked figure gritted his teeth. "Why are you still alive? Your emotions should have been devoured, and your Consciousness dissipated. How can you still resist?!"

Harvey: "Because I am a Necromancer, and you are merely Necromancy."

"As much as I respect you, Evil Angel, you’re an antique from 900 years ago. To think you could use a Wonder of Necromancy from 900 years ago against me; I’m not sure if you’re underestimating time or the Necromancy Faction."

"Your Necromancy Wonder may have been peerless once upon a time, but now, it’s an outdated trinket. From the moment you spoke of invading my soul, I began to transform my Mortal Body into a coffin trap, which you failed to notice."

"You thought you could erode my soul, yet you didn’t realize you were actively entering the coffin I had prepared for you."

"The dead must serve the living, not the other way around. Angel who should have fallen into Hell 900 years ago, please rest in my body."

The smoke abruptly retreated into the cloak and then burst into emerald flames. The green fire consumed nothing and eventually condensed into a pair of handcuffs that clasped the cloaked man’s wrists.

"How was the harvest?"

"Complete," Harvey stretched out his hand to touch the stone coffin. "The most precious treasure of all is this."

The substantial stone coffin suddenly dissipated into thin smoke, then coalesced into a grey-haired, black-suited old Housekeeper standing behind Harvey. It appeared ethereal, with a gaunt face, dull pupils, and skin cracked with fissures.

Ash exclaimed in awe, "Belladett has been dead for so many years, and yet he managed to preserve a Divine Being?"

"But this Divine Being is all that’s left," Harvey stated. "Even this one is a great challenge to manage; wielding a Divine Being is not so simple for a Mortal Body."

"With this Divine Being and the Evil Soul Path, we can finally advance our plan."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Is it really okay? You still have time to back out."

"Harvey countered, ’If I back out now, do you really think you’d let me go? You’ve invested so much in me, helped me through Belladett’s numerous trials, taking back your investment with interest isn’t your style.’"

"Ash laughed, ’With the Angel Inheritance and the Evil Soul Path you now have, I might not be able to defeat you.’"

"’Stop these pointless tests, Ash Heath,’ Harvey strode back along the corridor, the hall crumbling inch by inch as he departed, ’Instead, it’s you who shouldn’t stop me at the last moment. I don’t want to fight you; you’re troublesome, and... I really don’t want to.’"

"’According to our plan, you need to create a large number of half-dead Undead Army. I remember this is your least favorite business, right? Have you prepared yourself to break through your bottom line, to change your principles?’" Ash said.

Harvey shook his head, "No, I won’t break my bottom line, nor do I need to change my principles. The dead should serve the living, and I have never wavered from this belief."

"It’s precisely because I cherish life that I joined your plan. But to avenge this half-dead world, we must also become half-dead corpses.’"

"I won’t supply you with an insensible Undead Army. The Necromancy Faction isn’t about creating death, but about welcoming rebirth. So, I will supply you with a group of undead that strive for survival, including myself—I am their banner."

Harvey walked up to Ash and said, "Let’s go, it’s time to reduce the Kingdom of Gospel to ashes."

The video footage ended there.

Everyone was unable to recover their senses for a long time.

Countless questions bubbled up in their minds like foam, and for a while, no one knew which one to ask first. It was Liss who took the lead, "What are Divine Beings? Are they like the lake goddesses in fairy tales?"

"Don’t ask me, I don’t know either!"

Hanna calmed herself by touching her amethyst earring, overwhelmed by the deluge of information, "How could I possibly know the details of an inheritance valued even by Angels—"

"Oh, Divine Beings are an advanced form of Technique Spirits."

Everyone turned to Ash, and he pointed to the Gospel Book, "I just asked the Gospel Book, and it replied, ’Four-winged Technique Spirits are numerous, but a Five-winged Divine Being is unique.’ It seems that when a Technique Spirit gathers a fifth wing, it evolves into a Divine Being endowed with wisdom, just like the Divine Being in the footage that voluntarily followed Harvey to escape."

The Gospel Book would actually answer such a question?

The others maybe, but Hanna was especially surprised—after all, the Doran family had tried to extract more knowledge from the Gospel Book for generations, but had never uncovered secrets beyond the Four-winged... Could it be that the Doran family was asking the wrong way? Was Ash just lucky?

But everyone immediately believed this explanation.

Not only because of the Gospel’s endorsement but also because it brought to mind many corroborating pieces of evidence!

"Speaking of which, the Church of the Beloved once mentioned that the Extreme Master of Blood Moon has countless Divine Beings under his command..." Igula murmured, "At the time, I wondered if the Extreme Master of Blood Moon feared being overthrown by a conspiracy of Divine Beings, whether there would be factional strife among Divine Beings... But if Divine Beings are an elevated evolution of Technique Spirits, then it makes sense."

"Divine Lord, not the Lord of All Gods, but the Lord of Divine Beings," Hanna said with a light clap of her hand, an epiphany dawning on her, "So that’s what this sentence in the ancestral documents meant! I used to think it was just a meaningless phrase!"

Liss looked down at her hand mirror, murmuring absentmindedly, "Incarnation of a Divine Being..."

Ash also glanced down at Liss, "Hmm? Have you also discovered some foreshadowing that we overlooked earlier? Share with us?"

"Nope," Liss shook her head, pointing at the Gospel Book, "Dad, it seems like you and Uncle Harvey made a pretty serious criminal declaration in there, you won’t get me involved, will you?"

Ash was silent for a moment before saying, "Liss, I want to teach you a trick."

"Hmm? What trick?" Liss blinked her eyes.

"Listen well, based on my experience, the first thing to do after going to prison is to find someone like your Auntie Bokin and beat them up. That’s how you’ll fit right into prison life."

Liss looked confused, "Pre-prison education?!"

"If I had not struck up a conversation with you back then..." Igula hummed softly.

"Then you’d still be in Shattered Lake Prison now, enjoying the secure meals provided by the state."

Igula laughed lightly, "Right, you’re correct, how could sitting safely in Shattered Lake getting plump compare to following you on the run, with the world as our enemy, eating emergency rations?"

Ash nodded incessantly, a ’you’ve scored’ expression on his face, but Igula paid no mind to his jest. The Swindler munched on his biscuit, staring at the Gospel Book’s image, his eyebrows weighed down by an inexplicable worry, lost in thought.

Banjee suddenly said, "However, this video footage, while it might ruin our reputation in the Kingdom of Evangelism, may not be entirely a bad thing."

Hanna’s eyes sparkled, "You mean..."

"The future leaderboard hasn’t announced Harvey’s reward yet," Igula spoke calmly, "Harvey’s reward must be related to what was in this footage, which means..."

Everyone looked at the Gospel Book with burning anticipation in their eyes.

Could it be that the Gospel was about to reward Harvey with a Divine Being!?