Mage Manual
Chapter 547 - 444 Gospel Apocalypse

Chapter 547: Chapter 444 Gospel Apocalypse

"Could it be that my Substitute suddenly got enlightened by the Gospel Book and ran off to work on its own?"

In the room of the Goodbye Hotel, Ash sat on the bed, examining the Substitute Technique Spirit in the palm of his hand. Due to diligent development (used every day) and proper feeding (premium materials given priority), the Substitute Technique Spirit had been promoted to the rank of Two-winged, sporting an additional small wing. While its appearance still resembled that of a human toddler, the quality of its pajamas and nightcap had improved considerably, and it now even had a pillow.

Ash had no doubt that a Four-winged Substitute Technique Spirit would come with its own bed.

In response to Ash’s question, the Substitute Technique Spirit rubbed its eyes, yawned, and then turned around, presenting its rear end to Ash.

"’If Ash wishes for your death in the morning, who dares to keep you till night,’" Igula, sitting on a chair with his head tilted back, read from the Gospel Book: "The underground forums are all flooded with posts by this idiot, everyone is guessing which Magic Faction you belong to: Prophecy, Spirit, Fate, ritual, Necromancy, Chaos... Pfft, some even guess you’re from the Justice Faction."

"What’s so funny about that, don’t I look just enough?" Ash retorted angrily.

"If you could represent justice, then I’d be loyalty, Banjee would be maturity, the young miss would be innocence, Liss would be a rabbit, and Harvey would be the grass atop a grave."

Liss, who was hugging Ash’s neck from behind, said, "Why do you switch to animals when you get to Liss?"

Harvey, at the window with a cigarette in his mouth, said, "Although I don’t understand, I feel like it must be a compliment."

Igula continued, "According to the forum’s description, Ash is already a starter-level powerhouse of the Holy Domain. The reason he follows the list of the future to murder the Resonators is that it’s part of the Miracle Ceremony. Each future he fulfills, his strength rapidly grows, and once he has fulfilled all futures, he will become the master of the disaster that extinguishes the Gospel... The logic is coherent, and the reasoning is appropriate, I’m almost convinced myself."

"Eh!?" Liss exclaimed, "Is dad going to go to sleep with Aunt Qinna and Aunt Nona then!?"

Ash hurriedly rubbed Liss’s doggie head to avoid Hanna’s deathly glare. Meanwhile, Banjee poured six cups of warm tea for everyone and sat down saying, "It’s also my first time witnessing a prophecy that materializes so quickly."

"It’s too rushed," Hanna said while touching her amethyst earrings, with a deep voice, "It’s like a poorly managed company that flaunts its wealth to reassure its employees and customers."

"Exactly," Igula also said, "Even we can see that there is a problem with the Weaving Festival, and other Mages, consortia, and families must be quite uneasy. And unlike us, we don’t much depend on the Gospel, but those large organizations use the Gospel to manage personnel, develop technology, allocate benefits... They are the ones who truly rely on the foundations of the Gospel. Once the seed of ’Gospel unreliability’ is planted in their minds, it’s like causing a run on a bank, they will quickly convert their Gospel Points into tangible benefits."

"Therefore, to clean up after Ash, the Gospel not only has to wipe his ass, but also do it thoroughly, beautifully, and comfortably, making sure everyone sees that only Ash is dirty, the Gospel remains forever pure."

"For them, Ash murdering Roger is enough to demonstrate that the Gospel is still operating normally, equating to a major positive event."

"So who really played the part of Ash and killed Roger?" Harvey asked while fidgeting with his lighter, yet not lighting his cigarette, "And did it in such a way that it matched ’The List of Forbidden Magic’ exactly..."

"Whoever benefits the most from maintaining the reputation of the Gospel is the mastermind," Igula stated, "And the Gospel’s credibility is closely tied to the City’s development, societal stability, and the support of financial groups, so—"

"The Yisu royal family," Hanna interjected, "I was wondering why they suddenly canceled the warrant for Ash’s arrest... Now, they’re probably scared of catching Ash, because then the Yisu royal family wouldn’t be able to realize the future in Ash’s name anymore."

She moved to sit beside Ash and said, "If it’s the Yisu royal family, then it wouldn’t be surprising that they could do this. You also know that the more Gospel Points you have, the more privileges the Gospel opens up. To my knowledge, the royal family probably has the highest access to the Gospel. It’s not just about miracles; they can even pray for wonders..."

While speaking, Hanna reached out and touched Ash’s arm.

When Ash looked at her in confusion, Liss suddenly sneaked in a kiss on his cheek with a mua.

"Wait, what are you guys doing?" Ash felt something was amiss. "Do you think I’m ice cream or a toy? Why are you both touching and kissing me? Igula, are you messing with me? ...Igula?"

Ash looked up, but the Swindler immediately averted his gaze, refusing even to glance at him from the corner of his eye, his body trembling slightly. He turned to look at Banjee, only to see the housekeeping boy suddenly pull out a notebook and begin to write feverishly, as if he had transformed into a sow that only knew how to type.

The Cult Leader looked at Harvey and noticed something very strange: "Harvey, why can’t you ever light your cigarette?"

The Necromancer looked at the lighter in his hand. When he ignited the flame and brought it close to the cat grass smoke, his thumb, pressing the button, would subconsciously let go; and when the lighter was aimed at the cat grass smoke, his thumb just couldn’t press down. Ash had previously thought that Harvey refrained from smoking out of consideration for Liss and Hanna, but this clearly looked like symptoms of dementia in the elderly!

"You are being controlled!?" Ash grabbed Hanna’s fragrant shoulder and shook it hard. Hanna looked at him puzzledly but then quickly came to her senses, holding his hand and saying, "This is normal, don’t worry, no one is attacking us."

"Normal?"

"This is what makes Nabistin special." Hanna said, "The Imperial City is the land of blessings from the Gospel, an abode of celestial harmony, a Forbidden Hunting Zone for worries. Although the underground is just the old city of Nabistin, it is still in the embrace of the Imperial City and enjoys the care of the Gospel. This is also why so many people would rather live in the underground city just to stay in Nabistin..."

"So what exactly is so special about it!"

"Don’t be impatient," Hanna continued calmly, as if she enjoyed seeing Ash’s impatience, "In simple terms, it means that all of us are under the ’apocalypse’ of the Gospel. The Gospel might not give us direct hints, but it allows us to utilize its computing resources, producing the most sharp intuition to let us know what we should do right now."

"What we are doing now is the most reasonable behavior that easily satisfies our superficial desires."

Hanna looked at Harvey, "Harvey has always wanted to quit smoking but never managed to, so under the ’apocalypse’ he can’t light his own cat grass smoke; Liss wants to get closer to you and is a bit shy, only under the ’apocalypse’ does she dare to kiss you; and Igula is probably using his mental will to resist the intuition brought by the ’apocalypse.’"

"Wait a minute!" Ash exclaimed in panic, "Doesn’t this mean you are being controlled by the ’apocalypse’?!"

"No, what controls us is not the ’apocalypse,’ but a version of ’me’ that is more far-seeing, more rational, and more capable of action," Hanna explained. "Every person inherently has negative traits like hesitation, laziness, fear, and so on. Even though they know what the right thing to do is, they don’t want to do it, they are afraid to do it, they are unwilling to do it—even Mages are no exception. Often, the biggest difference between the talented and the mediocre is the number of negative traits they possess."

"The essence of the Gospel Book is not to search for information but to help you enter ’the next step.’ When you don’t know how to move forward, the Gospel can guide you, whether it’s in life, relationships, magic, work, scientific research... Even killing, the Gospel can provide you with target information."

"But asking the Gospel requires points, so the vast majority of citizens cannot enjoy this kind of life counseling. So, you see the greatness of the ’apocalypse’—even though you haven’t asked the Gospel, by utilizing the computing resources and the large database of the Gospel, you can still make the most correct choices through intuition."

"When I think about the next step, various action plans naturally pop into my mind, analyzing which plan is the most feasible and beneficial, and then I take action immediately." Hanna winked at Ash, "This is why Nabistin is known as a Forbidden Hunting Zone for worries—It seems as long as you follow your intuition, you can arrive at a happy ending."