Mage Manual
Chapter 501 - 410: Good Morning, Igula

Chapter 501: Chapter 410: Good Morning, Igula

"Four Pillars God Sect..."

Cleos whispered softly, while Qinna and Hanna and others raised their eyebrows, but more Mages wore puzzled expressions.

Those who had held positions in Red Hat usually knew about the Four Pillars God Sect. Offices that focused on gathering intelligence had some understanding as well, but other Mages would not likely be aware of this mysterious organization—mainly because it had always had a dismal time in the Kingdom of Gospel.

It wasn’t just dismal now; it had always been this way. Only during the internal conflicts and dynastic changes within the kingdom could the Four Pillars God Sect flourish briefly, but they would quickly be suppressed again.

The omnipresent Gospel system restrained such a mysterious organization greatly. Even if Gospel didn’t intentionally leak information about the Four Pillars God Sect, as long as Red Hat used Gospel for reconnaissance, they would eventually uproot the Four Pillars God Sect.

For the Kingdom of Gospel, the Four Pillars God Sect, Abyss, Void Realm channel, and the offices were collectively referred to as the "Four Hazards"—issues that could never be completely resolved but posed little threat, so no one paid much attention to the Four Pillars God Sect.

However, they would soon realize that the inefficacy of the Four Pillars God Sect in the Kingdom of Gospel wasn’t just due to historical progressions but was also closely related to the leader’s personal abilities.

"In the underground hall, the leader of the Four Pillars God Sect, known as ’Rusted Crow,’ sat on a throne woven with iron raven feathers, overlooking countless kneeling black-robed Believers."

"His voice wavered, as if it belonged to men, women, the old, and the young, filled with a charm that penetrated the eardrums: ’From today onward, you are all Rusted Crows, you are my eyes, my tongue, my ears... you are my touch.’"

"’You must delve into every dark corner of this kingdom.’ In the Mermaid Palace of the sewers, Sea Demons were worshiping the heretical Four Pillars."

"’You must step into every hall of this kingdom.’ In the resplendent banquet hall, several elegantly dressed and graceful individuals revealed their white-gloved right hands and exchanged smiles."

"’You must become the pillar of the righteous.’ In cities torn by war, Mages were rescuing civilians from danger. Each rescued child was given a black raven feather, a gift that became the source of their courage."

"’You must become the Savior of villains.’ As the vault’s doors were blasted open, mobs rushed in to loot gold and Technique Spirits, their eyes filled with admiration for the Mage in white gloves ahead, attracted by a more elegant and cruel form of violence."

"’And then, you must increase their desires, supply what they need.’"

"’For those who are fixated on their family name, let her know how to crown a throne.’ In the office, Hanna bowed her head looking at the invitation in her hand.’’

"’For those who yearn for power, let him know how to inherit Wisdom.’ On the training field, Denim was drenched in sweat and tempted several times to tear up the paper in his hand, yet that thin paper was now as tough as mountains."

"’For those who are lonely and isolated, let them know how to gain understanding.’"

...

"’For those who chase brilliance, let them know how to forge glory.’"

"’For those who are thoughtless and unmindful, let her know how to dominate the basics.’"

Seeing this, whether it was the supporting actors who were mentioned and made a cameo in the footage or the spectators securely watching from outside, a deep chill stirred within everyone.

Before their eyes was not a reactionary organization from a remote area that Red Hat could annihilate at any moment, but a deeply entrenched and bizarre sect spread across the nation.

They controlled the largest intelligence organization in the world, Mermaid Palace, and had penetrated the top ten financial conglomerates of Gospel. They had supporters among the public, and criminals idolized them!

The most terrifying aspect was their ability to understand human weaknesses and explore the darkness of human nature; even Holy Sanctuary Mages were merely pawns at their disposal!

Those listed at the top of the Deceit List actually resembled Denim—they knew that if they truly received the ritual knowledge given by Rusted Crow, they were highly likely to commit the deceitful crimes predicted by future lists.

Because they couldn’t refuse, that’s why it was called a weakness.

And they also realized that the first nine deceits on the "Deceit List" were all setups for the first deceit!

They indeed were the masterminds behind each deceit in their respective scenarios, but after each deceit, there was still another deceit!

In silence, an unspeakable panic burned in the hearts of all the spectators—what exactly did Rusted Crow want? He had created such a large organization, controlled so many Mages, and induced so many deceits, what unspeakable purpose did he have?

As Rusted Crow swiveled his throne, behind him hung a large map—a Gospel Map. The topography of the Kingdom of Gospel generally appeared as a rectangle elongated from north to south and narrow from east to west; after more than a thousand years of development, nearly every area was inhabited by intelligent creatures."

He pulled out a notebook with details of the Mages."

"’Throne.’" Hanna’s photo was placed at the northmost city."

"’Wisdom.’" Denim’s photo was placed on the city to the upper right."

...

"’Foundation.’" Yvalin’s photo was placed in the city towards the lower middle of Gospel.

"Once Rusted Crow used connections to link these photos, an inverted tree pattern appeared on the Gospel Map."

At this point, everyone fully understood the true nature of the first deceit.

"Madman," Rein muttered.

Indeed, a madman—Rusted Crow had not only tricked multiple Holy Sanctuary Mages, but all their tricks were merely parts of a ritual, and the real ritual was going to envelop the entire Kingdom of Gospel!

No wonder all the deceits were scheduled on the same day; they even suspected that the timing discrepancies of the first nine deceits wouldn’t exceed an hour to ensure the final ritual could be activated.

Rein and the others could hardly muster much anger, their minds overwhelmed with incredulity.

As long as they used the Gospel to find something amiss,

As long as any link in this chain of tricks went wrong,

Just...

Frankly, it would be normal for this deceit to fail, and a miracle for it to succeed!

They couldn’t imagine how much preparation Rusted Crow had done to accurately guide the first nine tricks; the mere thought of it was a despairingly immense amount of work.

The first deceit, truly worthy of the title!

However, the inverted tree pattern had a total of ten nodes, with the first nine tricks each responsible for one, and clearly, Rusted Crow was going to personally handle the last one.

And the last node was in...

The southern city, Azura.

"Rusted Crow stood on the lowest floor of an inverted building, overlooking the bustling steel forest below. As a firework soared up, a series of fireworks suddenly rose within the city layers, and sparks danced along a circle, cutting out a huge circle in the center of the city!"

The mages saw the space within the ring of sparks being torn into gray chaos, their expressions spectacular, as they all recognized this thing.

Not only recognized but visited it every night!

"How can there be such a huge Gate of Truth!?" A mage couldn’t help exclaiming.

"Wait, if the things in reality touch the Gate of Truth..."

"Theoretically, no matter should be able to pass through the Gate of Truth, but now..."

"When the massive Gate of Truth was completely formed, Rusted Crow seemed to have received some information, directly smashed the landing glass, and leaped toward the Gate of Truth."

"’Crown.’ Just arrived in reality, Denzel suddenly found himself detached from Hanna’s body, and his soul quickly burned into smoke flying toward the south."

"’Wisdom.’ Zuwendas, after slaughtering his kin to condense the diamond-shaped Blood Mark, suddenly flew toward the south on its own."

"’Understanding.’ ’Mercy.’ ’Severity.’ ’Beauty.’ ’Victory.’ ’Glory.’ ’Foundation.’"

"If you pull your view high above to overlook the entire Kingdom of Gospel from the sky, you can see a clear inverted tree pattern, with ritual energy from various parts of the Kingdom of Gospel converging and flowing into Azura!"

"’Finally...’ Rusted Crow bit his own index finger, sprinkling his blood into the Gate of Truth: ’Kingdom.’"

"Boom!"

"The entire Kingdom of Gospel rose up with a clearly visible aurora curtain, Mermaid Palace, consortium, Red Hat, criminal gangs... Without realizing it, the Four Pillars God Sect had already devoured the entire Kingdom of Gospel, and with the leader’s command, their life energy also flowed along the inverted tree into the final kingdom!"

"Fooled countless mages, schemed against billions of lives!"

"The Gate of Truth suddenly contracted into a point, flattening a layer of Azura and even creating a huge circular crater."

"After a brief gestation, the Gate of Truth contracted into threads of light and electricity, then as if millions were weaving at the same time, heels took shape rapidly in the light and electricity, followed by knees, waist... until the last strand of hair was woven."

"He gently stepped on the crystallized soil, looked down at his naked body, tore open the Gate of Truth with his right hand to pull out a dark red coat to wear, and looked up toward Rusted Crow at the edge of the crater."

"The weather tonight is fine, the stars are brilliant, the constellations are spread out, and thousands of star radiance are greeting them. So he waved at Rusted Crow, smiling and saying—"

"’Good morning, Igula.’"