Sorcerer’s Handbook
Chapter 677: I Will Strive to Let You Die Without Regrets

The Specter Seer had no deity in his lifetime.

The only deity he ever possessed, “Second Cycle,” also vanished completely after use. Though his path of cultivation was smooth sailing in his new life, as his power increased, the Seer’s advantages diminished, and by the time he reached the Demigod Rank, his resources were utterly depleted.

Moreover, even though he advanced the Prophecy Sect to the demigod realm, he repeatedly faced setbacks, cursed by terrible luck. Even with detailed plans, his opportunities would always be snatched away by others.

Thus, within centuries of striving to become a deity, he contested for divine power dozens of times, all without success.

It was not until the Specter Seer elevated the Time Sect to the demigod realm that he began to understand: The impact of using the “Second Cycle” deity to restart his life was too profound and far-reaching, and yet so conspicuously abrupt. Like a fish in a river, if it swims downstream making minor adjustments, it remains safe; but if it swims upstream, flapping its tail, it creates ripples that eventually grow into a towering wave that sweeps the fish away.

The Specter Seer had once preemptively killed all prodigious talents, which indeed felt gratifying, but the ripple effect accumulated until he could no longer grasp the future. Simply put, his luck turned so poor that any advantage he could have seized ended up mistakenly in the hands of others.

However, as an Evil Sorcerer, the Specter Seer naturally had no regrets about his past actions and simply sought new paths to exert effort.

For a demigod sorcerer, while deities are indeed the best mediators of divine laws, it does not mean that divine interventions cannot be invoked without them.

Concepts and the World Secret Domain can substitute for deities to manipulate the laws!

After decades of planning, the Specter Seer finally killed the twelfth master of the Dreaming Celestium, becoming its thirteenth owner. Although the Dreaming Celestium was already shattered, it still retained some secret domain power. Thus, he delved into research, utilizing the Dreaming Celestium to create numerous divine interventions, even improving upon one to create the Prophetic Dream!

It was because of the most crucial prophecy of the Prophetic Dream that the Specter Seer decisively chose to forsake a mere existence and opted for resurrection in the future.

But resurrection itself is a divine intervention, especially for a demigod? After extensive research, as his life neared its end, the Specter Seer inadvertently entered the Fate Sect, where he discovered that he had always been protected by a mark of fate-this mark was derived from the Second Cycle deity’s law of fate!

As a one-time-use deity, the Second Cycle not only included the time law that allowed him to return to the past but also imprinted him with the law of fate to help him withstand the backlash of the ripple effects.

Without the protection of the fate mark, the Specter Seer would have been severely backlashed due to hunting prodigies even during his mortal days. The effect of this fate mark was to delay these backlashes until after he became a demigod, gradually manifesting until his death rendered it ineffective.

Leveraging the power of the fate mark, combined with the law powers of the Dreaming Celestium, the Specter Seer finally created the divine intervention that enabled his resurrection: the Second Dreaming Soul Refining Prohibited Ritual!

He had just engaged the two thousand sanctuary sorcerers and surveyed contemporary spellcasting to attach the Vengeful Souls to the sorcerers and exhaust the sanctuaries’ spellforce. The less spellforce they had, the harder it would be to resist this divine intervention. The Black Orb was crafted from Vengeful Souls, and the sorcerers within were naturally doomed.

The effect of this divine intervention was extraordinarily peculiar; it would trap the recipient in a Dream, reliving their life within it! Of course, the recipient wouldn’t possess memories of the future but would instead experience their life again according to their original fate Trajectory.

However, regardless of how their life unfolded, the resurrection event of the Specter Seer would occur in their Dream, and at the opportune moment, they would encounter the Specter Seer’s attack, ultimately being possessed and replaced by the Specter Seer without exception!

With their life in the Dream as a backdrop, they would naturally believe they had truly transformed into the Specter Seer. Then, the Specter’s Will would extract their souls for Soul Refining without any rejection.

More crucially, since they willingly underwent Soul Refining, their spellcasting knowledge would also be inherited by the Specter’s Will!

With two thousand sanctuaries as a foundation, even if much knowledge was lost in the process, he could still become a modern sorcerer proficient in all spellcasting!

Thus, this divine intervention actually consisted of two steps: Second Dreaming and the Soul Refining prohibited ritual!

Of course, this was merely the first stage of resurrection. To fully resurrect, he still needed to venture into hell to retrieve the lost soul fragments.

As the Specter’s Will pondered, the Second Dreaming had already concluded. He then flew to the center of the Dreaming Celestium to begin executing the Soul Refining prohibited ritual.

Walala…

All the sanctuary sorcerers, like cattle waiting to be slaughtered, opened their mouths, and clusters of soul essence surged from their eyes and mouths, converging onto the Specter’s Will like thousands of streams.

These souls, from different races, genders, spellcasting, and personalities, fused perfectly at that moment, merging into the Specter’s Will’s body, continuously reconstructing.

The Specter’s Will sighed inwardly.

If it were after the apocalyptic event, whether going to hell or doing anything else would be much more convenient. At least the Divine Sovereign would have changed by then, and no one would remember who the Specter Seer was… Now, not only did he have to face the obstruction of ‘old acquaintances,’ but he also had to find a way to survive the apocalyptic event, which was truly…

All because of that damnable lastling, the Primordial Angel.

As the Soul Refining prohibited ritual entered its latter half, with the sanctuaries being drained to mere phantoms, the Specter’s Will suddenly raised his head, noticing a sorcerer in the distance radiating starlight.

Brilliant, dazzling starlight.

The Specter’s Will’s eyes widened-Stars concept!?

In the next moment, a starry sky emerged over the dim Dreaming Celestium. The soul connections between the sanctuary sorcerers and the Specter’s Will were instantly obliterated when illuminated by the starlight.

The sanctuary sorcerers awoke as if from a dream, but after the baptism of a lifetime in the Dream, they couldn’t immediately regain their senses, their consciousness still immersed in the rapidly fading Dreaming memories, leaving only life’s three great questions in their minds: ‘Who am I?’, ‘Where am I?’, ‘What am I supposed to do?’

But soon, the starlight penetrated their minds, dispelling their confusion and drowsiness, continuously healing their souls and guiding them with a clear direction: Destroy the Specter’s Will!

“The Stars Sovereign! The Sovereign has intervened!”

“We almost died without a sound…”

“Your Stars’ Divine Sovereign has acted, why not break through the Dreaming Celestium? Why keep us trapped here?”

“Watch your tone!”

“Because the Specter’s Will has acquired souls,” Abyssalith shook his head, dispelling the excess memories from the dream, and said, “If the Celestium is broken, it would give him a chance to escape. So not only will the Stars’ Divine Sovereign not break the Celestium, but he will also seal it from the outside.”

“How do we get out then?”

“The only way is to destroy the Specter’s Will. This starry sky continuously replenishes our soul energy and spellforce, so we can fight harder.” Malgraith stared at the Specter’s Will and asked, “Did you have a grudge with the Stars’ leader before?”

The Specter’s Will remained expressionless: “The twelfth owner of the Dreaming Celestium, known as the Starlight Angel.”

After a brief silence, the war between Sanctuaries and Demigods erupted once more.

When the sword Princess and Witch were transported back to the Golden Hall, Ashe immediately rushed forward to embrace them tightly. Vesser turned her head, gritting her teeth, and questioned the Nightmare, “Why did you save them only now!?”

Ashe and Vesser had been unaware of the events outside until the sword Princess and Witch were soul-drained. Due to the Oneiric Schism’s chain reaction, they vaguely sensed something had happened to their companions.

Seeing the dazed expressions of the sword Princess and Witch, not only Ashe but even Vesser felt a burning anger, disregarding everything as she summoned her spirit and aimed it at the Nightmare!

Ashe, too, had somehow drawn his sword, resting it beside him. He sat down with Sonya and Deya, the Heart Sword’s faint glow dancing around them, as if offering a bit of warmth.

“They were under the control of the Specter’s Will. Transporting them back would have exposed this place’s secret,” the Nightmare said calmly. “However, now there’s no need for them to delay time outside.”

Vesser’s gaze turned cold, “If needed, would you send them to delay time again?”

“Certainly,” the Nightmare replied. “Everything prioritizes the Nightmare deity.”

Vesser closed her mouth, turned back, and crouched down to look at Ashe and the others. She exchanged a glance with Ashe, both reaching a resolution.

“Cough, cough.”

Deya suddenly coughed twice, her eyes gradually brightening. Because she and the sword Princess were inside the Black Orb, they hadn’t received the starlight’s aid, only now regaining clarity.

“Nightmare, reduce my soul limit for a collective enhancement,” Ashe said calmly.

“As you wish.”

After the Nightmare cast the spell, Ashe took a deep breath to ease his pain. He turned his head and saw the Witch staring blankly at him, a faint smile appearing on his lips, “It’s alright now, I’m here.”

“Mm.”

The Witch reached out to wrap her arms around his neck, gently leaning against his shoulder, “You’ll protect me, you’re the real one.”

Ashe chuckled, “Is there a fake Observer?”

“There are not only fake Observers but also fake Witches,” Deya hugged him tightly, “Luckily, they are fake, and we are real.”

Feeling the Witch’s trembling, Ashe was moved, gently kissed her forehead, then pressed his forehead against hers, “Don’t worry, everything you’re afraid of won’t happen.”

Deya nodded vigorously, finally managing to relax a bit.

At that moment, the sword Princess suddenly let out a whimper. Ashe looked her way and saw tears in her eyes and a bewildered, aggrieved expression, like a child in kindergarten left unattended.

“Sword Princess?”

“Observer!” Sonya sniffled, pushing Deya aside and hugging Ashe with a sound like boiling water, “I-I almost died-“

She clutched at Ashe’s shirt, her voice breaking into sobs, “I was so scared.”

Ashe paused for a moment, finally realizing something.

Indeed, this was the first time the sword Princess had faced a life-threatening crisis.

Unlike him, who frequently skirted so close to death that he joked about getting shoulder inflammation from it, the sword Princess had always lived in school. The most dangerous activity she ever participated in were competitive matches, but even those were safeguarded by the Miracle, ensuring even the gravest injuries could be healed.

Although they had encountered several assassination attempts in the Virtual Realm, they had managed to narrowly escape each time, never truly facing death directly. And no matter the danger, he was always by the sword Princess’s side.

But this time, she almost died silently, unknowingly, without even a chance to leave last words.

“Don’t be afraid,” Ashe whispered softly. “I’m scared too.”

“Do you remember what you promised me?” Sonya sniffled again.

“So many promises, which one?”

“You promised to come to the Stars.” Sonya lifted her head, her eyes misty as she looked at him, “Entering the Stars is bound to bring lots of trouble, and if I go out with you, it will definitely be dangerous… but I’m more scared of not being with you.”

“I don’t want to die with so many regrets.”

Such childish thoughts…

Ashe couldn’t help but laugh. But he understood; facing a great terror between life and death for the first time could indeed shock one’s worldview, easily giving rise to thoughts and emotions that wouldn’t normally occur.

He looked at Sonya, still overwhelmed by her emotions, and gently kissed the tear at the corner of her eye.

“I’ll make sure you die without regrets.”

The stretching paw sword saint was startled, his rationality snapping back at those words.