Mage Manual

"Longing."

Ash said softly: "The power of longing bestowed upon me by the magnificent Firefly Maiden allows me to connect with you, to share in your joy and sadness... The Shadow Sword that can hurt you can also hurt me."

"So..." He turned to look at Felix and Dedarose: "Stick close to me."

Felix didn’t understand his intentions at first, but when Ash flew towards Diya, she couldn’t help but exclaim, trying to reach out and hold Ash back!

The most terrified was the Witch, never in her life had she wanted to stay away from Ash more than at this moment: "Don’t come near me! Get away! Go away!"

Yet the Witch was still chased into the corner and embraced by Ash, her chin resting on Ash’s shoulder, helplessly watching as the Shadow Sword pierced Ash’s back. Her hair became increasingly disheveled, like a swirl of mixed paint colors, watching the four Shadow Swords penetrate Ash’s body, a sob escaped as large tears fell, her trembling voice indistinguishable in its layered echoes: "It looks so painful..."

"It’s okay." Ash pushed her away, looking at the black-and-white Shadow Sword and the seven-colored Shadow Sword penetrating his chest, his voice sounding like a groan squeezed from the depths of his soul’s folds: "Actually, it’s not very painful, just... a bit... cool."

Ash’s body was trembling, as dejected as a wet puppy just pulled from the sea. The pain brought by the black-and-white Shadow Sword was boundless darkness, all sounds became incredibly distant, all colors faded into obscurity, leaving him at the center of profound darkness... As if returning to his first day under the Blood Moon, everything was so unfamiliar, the world, so cold.

The seven-colored Shadow Sword plunged him into an endless Abyss, where radiant lights from afar transmitted warm laughter. In the Abyss, he kept running and climbing, scraping his hands and feet, seemingly only a step away from happiness yet unable to reach the light, quietly decaying in the Abyss.

Honestly, the Witch’s Shadow Sword affected him more, even his perception was distorted, but if the Sword Maiden’s pain troubled him as much, the Witch’s fear evoked a tender affection.

"Go on, too bad we can’t hug right now." Ash looked at Diya, gestured at the Shadow Sword in his chest, let out a breath of fearful chill, smiled weakly: "But later, I want to hold you for warmth."

Though the others couldn’t touch the Shadow Sword, as the targets of the spell, they would still be wounded by the corresponding Shadow Sword.

The Witch’s shoulders trembled, whether from anger or sadness it was hard to tell, but when she turned to look at the Six-winged Angel, her hair color had clearly turned pure yet her voice resonated with quartet notes, every suppressed note betraying Her Majesty’s fury: "I won’t keep you waiting long."

When Ash looked at Weiser, Weiser had already willingly thrown herself into his arms. The body of a Divine Being shouldn’t have any warmth, but Ash felt as though he was holding a fiery form, the soft and resilient body pressing against his outline, with legs wrapped tightly around his waist, the softest parts even deforming from pressure, the pure warmth penetrating his soul eased his suffering slightly.

"I only hope," Silver Lamp kissed his lips, gently pushed him away, saying: "You don’t despise me too much..."

The gray-silver Shadow Sword and pitch-black Shadow Sword simultaneously pierced Ash’s shoulders, his pupils lost focus, and if Felix hadn’t been holding him, he might have fallen.

The gray-silver Shadow Sword was somewhat like the Witch’s black-and-white Shadow Sword, cast him into a sunless pitch-black world, but instead of painful isolation, Ash constantly felt himself being bitten by thousands of full-of-resentment green beasts. Once he was devoured, the beasts would tear each other apart until he was pulverized into billions of pieces, eternally unable to move, eternally imprisoned within darkness, this torment lasting till the world’s end.

But what made Ash tremble more was the pitch-black Shadow Sword.

Everyone with him would undergo Silverization and shatter, all the girls he adored would turn into pools of silver liquid. Wherever he fled, he would be surrounded by silver light until the whole world transformed into silver, leaving no escape, utterly captured by silver’s embrace.

Although similar to the Sword Maiden’s purple-red Shadow Sword, both buried him with other girls, if the Sword Maiden’s was a vengeful reprisal, Silver Lamp was more like despairing passion—Sword Maiden targeted only him and those related to him, filled with ’How could I like someone as filthy as you’ resentment, while Silver Lamp wished to drag the entire world into silver Purgatory, a lavish epilogue for sacred emotions, with a self-destructive religious beauty.

He lifted his head, gazed at the anxious Weiser, smiled with effort: "Didn’t you promise me, even if it’s an illusion, you wouldn’t let go?"

"As long as you hold my hand tightly." Weiser responded softly. She flipped open the Silver Scripture, raised the Silver Lamp, gazing at the Six-winged Angel besieged by Sword Witch, her eyes were devoid of excess emotion, leaving only cold, calculating indifference.

All that was left then... Ash looked at the pink-haired elf maid fleeing everywhere, who shouted: "Don’t worry about me, I’ll find a solution, don’t interfere!"

"You’re not thinking of slacking off, are you?" Ash said.

"I would never—"

In the instant Vishi replied, Ash yanked the air, a ruby chain connected to Vishi’s collar was tightly grasped by him, then he tugged it forcefully over!

Vishi couldn’t react at all, after all, Ash had never used chains like this—or rather, Ash never made the chains visible in the first place... She knew what this fool was thinking, probably feeling that using chains was too disrespectful to her dignity. Clearly, they were adversaries, yet he still cared about morals and human rights... But at this very moment, being dragged into his arms by his unreasonable pulling of the chains, Vishi felt utterly powerless, like his possession, causing the maid to feel an intense sense of shame.

Even Ash’s reluctance to help her endure the Shadow Sword would be better than this... How could the Ghost Prophet be so weak as to accept someone else’s protection?

"I, let me endure it myself..." She struggled to break free from Ash’s control: "I don’t need you—"

"Be good and listen." Ash held her in his arms, enduring the last three Shadow Swords with his back. The pain, like thunder coursing through his body, made him gasp, his voice trembling with laughter: "I’m your supervisor... and also your master."

The others only had two Shadow Swords, but Vishi had three. This was reasonable—the longer the life, the more unbearable shadows it hid. However, compared to the others, Vishi’s shadows were unexpectedly simple.

If the Sword Maiden’s shadows were "betrayed and toyed with" and "hate born from love,"

the Witch’s shadows were "loneliness" and "happiness forever unattainable,"

and Silver Lamp’s shadows were "abandoned in the apocalypse" and "losing illusions,"

then Vishi’s shadows were "fear of death," "fear of hopelessness," and "fear of missed opportunities."

She feared that she would die completely and never be able to pursue power again, and feared even more that there would be no path ahead, losing the hope to climb to the supreme.

But what she feared the most was clearly having the opportunity to reach the supreme, yet still missing it. This was the shadow that surprised Ash the most, because the opportunity she feared missing was Ash himself.

Ash was her ultimate answer to solving all problems and realizing all dreams. But because of this, her third Shadow Sword hurt Ash the most—because the first two were solely about herself, causing little harm, but the third was intimately connected to Ash, and Vishi’s fear surpassed that of the other operators, making Ash feel as if he was seeing the Gate of Hell.

Even though he was trembling with pain, Ash inexplicably felt... a bit happy.

"Is it not possible?" Vishi was also a bit panicked, clenching her teeth and saying: "Let me endure one... endure two Shadow Swords!"

"Go fight!" Ash, in bad humor, kicked her away, "This kick is from Silver Lamp, don’t think I didn’t see it."

Looking at the idiot in front of her full of swords, Vishi felt a surge of complex emotions she had long forgotten, so complex she couldn’t voice her thoughts... Perhaps just unwilling to say it, only feeling a bit sad in her eyes, heart throbbing fast, as if her heart was being wrenched and wrenched in pain.

She turned to look at the Six-winged Angel in the center of the storm, gently exhaled, the complex emotions in her eyes quickly fading, leaving only the violence of the Ghost Prophet.

The Sword Law gazed at the four surrounding it; it could see Killing Intent, see Anger, see coldness, see Cruelty, but no matter how intense their emotions, their attacks were always so precise and fierce, methodically depleting its Source Power. Seeing the cold glint in their eyes, the Sword Law had no doubt that when its Source Power was exhausted, that was when their true moment of revenge would come.

For thousands of years, this was the first time the Sword Law had a premonition of death, even... a trace of fear.

It couldn’t be denied, those girls Ash valued, their Talent and combat skills were beyond imagination. The Sword Law had no doubt that if they lived in the same era as it did, it wouldn’t stand a chance against these girls.

Their achievements weren’t just demigod level; should they encounter opportunities, they would be four Divine Lords ruling Heaven. And with Ash’s assistance, they even had a chance to reach that supreme throne.

No wonder the Supreme gave me two Tasks, thought the Sword Law.

Its first Task was naturally to welcome Ash to assume control of Heaven.

And the second Task was...

To kill Ash’s girls.