Mage Manual
Chapter 526 - 428: The Chief Culprit

Chapter 526: Chapter 428: The Chief Culprit

Pfft.

Hanna couldn’t help but laugh out loud, Banjee’s mouth twitched as he forcefully held back, only Liss was excitedly hugging Ash and hopping around, "Daddy, you’re so awesome, a disaster demon lord! Source of Chaos! One of the three titans of the apocalypse... Wait, what about me?"

"You’re raised by me into a super big fatty, so you’re too embarrassed to meet people," Ash said very seriously, "You will stay in your room all day playing games and watching shows, and when I urge you to work, you’ll scold me away. If I disturb your gaming, you’ll call me a smelly old man..."

"That’s impossible, Liss will grow up to be a super, super beautiful big beauty!" Liss spread her arms wide to emphasize that she was not just a regular beauty, but a super big one, "And how could Liss possibly hate Daddy!"

"Little miss, didn’t you say something similar when you were younger," Ash looked at Hanna, "I will never hate mommy or something like that..."

Hanna: "Of course not!"

Banjee: "You did."

The young lady glared fiercely at the housekeeper, who shrugged his shoulders and shut his mouth.

"Stop arguing," Igula said, frowning deeply, "This list... is weird."

Everyone nodded in agreement, they all saw the difference of the Happiness List from the previous three lists—the wedding guests understood them very well, they even could shout out a nickname like ’the three titans of the apocalypse,’ it was obvious they had seen the future lists!

At this point, we must discuss a problem with the Weaving Festival: since people have seen the woven future, if it’s a good thing it’s fine, but if it’s a bad thing, won’t people try to avoid it?

The most obvious is the Deceit List, where there are many victims, even those who made the list are victims. Since they have seen the Deceit List, would they still fall for Igula’s tricks?

They still will, but not because of a forcible correction of fate; it’s simply because of Igula’s personal abilities. And even Igula couldn’t possibly act according to the Deceit List.

That is to say, the moment the Deceit List was issued, it was no longer the future. So the Gospel should weave a Deceit List 2.0, but once everyone has seen the 2.0 version, they would naturally avoid the tricks in it, and then the Gospel would have to weave a 3.0, 4.0, 5.0...

Obviously, this kind of infinite nesting is impossible, therefore when the Gospel weaves the future, there is often an underlying premise: none of the people involved have seen the Weaving Festival.

This is a very reasonable assumption and it does no harm to the accuracy of the Weaving Festival. Because most of the time, even if the future deviates from the list, it wouldn’t be drastically different, among ten lists and a hundred rankings at most seven or eight are markedly inaccurate, which is an acceptable quality rate for everyone.

Moreover, most of the lists are about people, and the people lists have the smallest margin of error. Although the event lists can often have a large deviation, most of the events are good, so people are happy to follow the Gospel. Some even deliberately recreate the events from the Weaving Festival with 100% accuracy.

Like the Deceit List or the Family List, which are purely bad events, they are wonders that come once in a thousand years and can only appear in the context of an apocalyptic breakdown— if society were stable and the nation peaceful, Harvey and Igula would have been hunted down to the Abyss by the Red Hats as soon as they appeared, there would be no top ten families, no top ten schemes.

And the Happiness List broke this assumption!

The people inside have all seen the Weaving Festival, know about Rusted Crow Igula and Necromancy Harvey, and they even know Ash has returned from the dead, they’ve even given them the idol group name of ’the three titans of the apocalypse’!

It’s like when you’re on the Second Cycle of a game, and the NPCs still remember what you did in the first round.

"’Ash Heath...’ Bride Daphne remained calm amidst danger, protecting her brother Carlos behind her, and said evenly, ’Are you here to attend our wedding?’"

"’Correct.’ Ash spoke, ’To be precise, I’m here to crash the wedding.’"

"’She had barely extended her hand when she was sharply rebuffed by Daphne. Daphne, chest heaving with anger, stared directly at him, ’We were strangers before this, why have you set your sights on us?’"

"’However, you know me, that’s how I know you,’ Ash said without anger, shrugging, ’The Happiness List ranked 10th, Daphne and Carlos, when I saw you on the list, I made up my mind to take your future away.’"

"Really?" Hanna suddenly asked, "You’re thinking about crashing the wedding right now?"

Liss also looked at Ash in shock, "Daddy, you actually like stealing someone else’s bride..."

"Are you focusing on the wrong thing?" The corners of Ash’s mouth twitched, "Didn’t you notice? The ’Ash’ in there mentioned the 10th rank on the Happiness List— meaning he crashed into the event of the Happiness List because he saw it, and now the current Happiness List wove him into existence!"

The Happiness List hadn’t finished airing, and the people inside had already seen the Happiness List, and they were even finding people based on the ranking of the Happiness List...

A sense of absurdity rose in everyone’s hearts. If the wedding before ’Ash’ appeared was the normal future, then the wedding after ’Ash’ appeared was a compound future of multiple cycles, although the latter was closer to reality, it was also more chaotic.

"’Why?’ Daphne asked, ’This wedding will end soon, there’s nothing worth your coveting—’"

"’I’ve told you, what I really want is you all,’ Ash said with a smile, ’You are the future carefully selected by the Gospel, just the thought of defiling you thrills me! Men, take them—’"

"’No way!’ Daphne’s hands flared with a blue light, she declared resolutely, ’I will never let you succeed!’"

"Really? I know you don’t care about those guests, but don’t you care about your lover, your brother?" Ash’s voice was like a demon’s whisper, "You don’t want to let go of this hard-won happiness, do you?"

"I’m not a great villain; I don’t necessarily want to tear you apart, just as long as you are obedient and submit to me, I will still give you time together." He drawled, "You’ll have a cozy little home, will have a son and a daughter, and will grow old together forever... you’re just one step away, do you really want to give up?"

Faced with such threats and intimidation, Daphne slowly collapsed to the ground, sobbing, "I clearly didn’t do anything wrong, why is this happening..."

Hanna and Liss now no longer concealed their contemptuous glances, and Ash had to clarify, "This is absolutely a frame-up; I’m a pure love Knight with zero pollution and no additives, at most a bully, but definitely not someone who abuses power."

"But why would the Gospel falsely accuse you so casually?" Liss retorted, "Dad, don’t you think it’s time to reflect on whether there’s something in your usual words and actions that could have led the Gospel to misunderstand?"

"How could that be? The only females I currently have contact with are you and the miss; I count myself lucky if you don’t sleep on my stomach. As for the miss, that’s all her messing with me!"

"Really?" Hanna asked, "Do you really have no ulterior motives towards me?"

"Of course..." Ash suddenly remembered the synthetic image data he had purchased from Yvalin, "...none (super quietly)."

The imagery continued.

"You made a wise decision," said Ash happily, "Take them away!"

Two feathered guests walked over, Daphne lay despondently on the ground, devoid of any desire to resist, letting them reach out their hands—

"Eh? Eh!"

Daphne, seeing her brother Carlos being taken away, quickly stood up and asked, "Why are you taking Carlos away!?"

"We originally came to take Carlos away," explained Ash, "In the future foretold by the Gospel, Carlos’s talents are what we need. What else did you think?"

"Then, what about me?" Daphne asked naively.

"Interested in joining the Four Pillars God Sect?" Rusted Crow said, "We are in need of your social expertise."

This twist left everyone too stunned to react. Ash immediately puffed himself up, Hanna looked away, Liss tried to return to her seat but was pulled back by him, having to sheepishly say, "I’ve actually always believed in Dad..."

"You believe I’m a bad person? You believe I covet another man’s wife? You believe that without resorting to threats and hypnotic suggestions I can’t find a girlfriend?" Ash grinned fiercely as he spoke.

"Ash, I’ve always believed in you," Igula suddenly chimed in, raising his hand.

"Tsk tsk tsk, see Liss? Even Auntie Bokin—"

"I believe you are self-aware," Igula cut in.

"Harvey, can you throw your box of cockroaches onto Igula’s bed?"

"Ash, I have to criticize you here," Harvey said earnestly, "Wasting food is wrong."

While they were chatting, the image data also came to a definitive end, and then the Gospel Book flipped back to the list introduction:

"The Happiness List, 10th place: The Happiest Wedding"

"Synopsis: Daphne Bonaparte and Carlos Bonaparte are lovers who have been in love for ten years. Through countless joys and sorrows, separation, and life’s struggles, the couple who sincerely love each other finally became united. On the day of their wedding in the Sky Garden, it marked the end of their ordeals and the beginning of their happiness. They would stay together forever, never parting, overcoming countless challenges with love, and in the future, they will create... But due to the interference of Ash Heath and others, this ranking is invalid."

"Reward: Voided."

"The main culprit: Ash Heath."

"How can this be blamed on me?" Ash was dumbfounded, "If the sun doesn’t rise tomorrow, will that be my fault too?"

"Hanna," Igula asked, "Has there ever been a situation where a ranking was invalidated and rewards were voided before?"

"Never," Hanna mused, "This list’s depiction of the future is also vastly different from all the other lists I’ve seen. It’s the first time I’ve seen characters in a list mention the list."

"Ash’s actions were also strange," Igula said, "Would he really trouble the 10th place just for ’defiling the Gospel?’ And Harvey and I have no objections to that? We’re not that idle."

"An invalid list, an interloping culprit, voided rewards, and a premature update..." Hanna bit her lower lip lightly, "Piecing together these factors..."

"It sounds like an author rushing out a piece of shit just to meet an update deadline." Ash summarized.