Mage Manual

"Even in front of Ash, I said the same thing," Vishi remarked. "I used to believe Ash’s needs, your needs, and the needs of reality formed an impossible triangle. Meeting Ash’s needs would inevitably lead to your dissatisfaction; fulfilling your desires would cause internal strife among you; and whether it’s Ash or your needs being met, you would drown in fleeting pleasure, unable to keep up with Supreme Star, becoming defenseless in future Supreme competitions."

"But I was wrong," she continued. "Now is the best balance point for this impossible triangle. With Ash no longer as a ’disturbance,’ we... at least don’t have irreconcilable conflicts between you."

"Without Ash, you brilliant female mages of this generation could have been close friends. You weren’t hostile from the beginning, were you?"

Diya and Sonia exchanged a glance, the witch clasped her good friend’s hand and whispered, "These past few days... I feel like we’ve returned to the Time Continent."

Sonia brushed Diya’s bangs aside with a gentle smile.

During that time on the Time Continent, she and Ash were still in an ambiguous state, and Diya was an emotionally unstable little girl. She loved chatting with Diya about life’s trivial matters and complaining about Ash... She always thought then that the witch would become her closest friend, because there were no conflicts of interest between them, making it easy for Sonia to share her joys and sorrows with the witch... Those were Sonia’s happiest days, spending time daily with her lover and friend. She truly believed that these days would continue endlessly, forever and ever.

The Sword Maiden and the Silver Lamp exchanged glances, seeing regret in each other’s eyes. Weiser was undoubtedly a great teammate, earning the unanimous approval of all team members purely through her own strength. Even after knowing Weiser was once the Silver Lamp who plotted against Ash, hearing news of Weiser’s ’death’, Sonia still feels it’s a great regret not being able to fight alongside Weiser.

They are all very, very good female mages.

"If you overlook my actions towards Ash, you don’t actually have much animosity towards me. Even with Silver Lamp, your dislike isn’t towards me but towards the ’Ghost Prophet that would harm Ash’," Vishi said. "These past few days we have all been under the supervision of the Gospel Divine Being, and without the chance to contact Ash, you’ve begun to accept me joining the team... Even though Ash always had unrealistic fantasies about you, your moral bottom line is indeed much lower than his."

"I even feel..." Vishi propped her chin, her gaze slithering over the female mages like a serpent tongue. "In the Kingdom of Stars, the reason you still abide by the law isn’t really out of concern about disturbing Dazzling Star, but rather simply considering his views."

"Aren’t you abiding by the law too?" Weiser chuckled softly.

"I’m just unable to resist his shackles," Vishi pouted, "He’s watching me so closely that I can’t find the gap to collect souls."

Silver Lamp said nothing, merely offering a smile to the maid. Feeling a chill in her heart, the maid hurriedly continued the topic, "All in all, by eliminating Ash this ’contraband,’ we no longer maintain a tense relationship, but can rather unite amicably. It’s not just our combat power that benefits, but also because we don’t have to rack our brains over competing for favor, our magic realm progresses rapidly."

"Precisely because it’s so effective, we’ve embraced celibacy," Diya said. "But this is only temporary, once Ash recovers, there’s no need for such tough cultivation."

"Why only temporary?" Vishi questioned. "Why not maintain such a great team status?"

"Because we all..." Diya hesitated, finally finding a more refined way to phrase it: "...all need emotional fulfillment."

"Really?" Vishi stretched lazily, her deep black bustier seemingly challenged, showcasing a dynamic curve with a proud bust and slender waist, "Does the comfort Ash gives you truly surpass the wonderful relationship you have with the Sword Maiden? For a little occasional sweetness, is losing a good friend really worth it?"

Diya was taken aback, holding Sonia’s hand tighter, shaking her head, "But I can’t give up—"

"Never asked you to," Vishi chuckled. "Who told you to give it up?"

"Precisely because no one’s interests are harmed, it becomes the best balance point for the impossible triangle," she said. "As long as you keep this not-too-close and not-too-distant teammate status with Ash, you won’t have to give up your lover, you can maintain a good relationship amongst yourselves, and you can single-mindedly study magic, perfectly satisfying all demands."

"The only problem is the emotional comfort you mention," Vishi glanced at them. "But haven’t you been quite happy these days without Ash? The emotional value provided by friends shouldn’t be inferior to that of a lover, right?"

"Is your desire more intense?" the maid tilted her head, speaking leisurely. "I don’t quite understand this aspect, since I don’t want to have any entanglement with Ash..."