Sorcerer’s Handbook

As Ashe watched the two operators tussle over who would stay behind, he suddenly felt a sense of disorientation.

He knew they were right.

He also knew that his life was the most critical, because only by preserving the soul-summoning spirit could they all have a chance of survival.

The situation was dire, and the idea of escaping unscathed was utterly unrealistic. Sacrifice was inevitable, and they were, after all, a team—the primary function of a team was to sacrifice the interests of some, if necessary, for the greater good.

Therefore, their optimal decision was to leave someone behind to buy time. If the heroic soul legion still caught up, another person would stay back. Ashe himself, even if he had to gouge out his eyes to resist the curse, would continue driving in search of a slim chance of survival.

Returns.

Probabilities.

Expectations.

This was the method with the highest success rate; it was an unavoidable strategy. Sacrifice was necessary, abandonment was expected. Facing an unstoppable flow of fate, only the foolish would try to reverse it, while the clever would strive to keep losses within acceptable limits…

Ashe felt his self-awareness slowly detach from his body, calmly observing everything from a third-person perspective, blocking out unnecessary emotions and stray thoughts. He even regarded himself as a mere pawn, all for the greater—

“In short, I’m staying behind!” Sonya forcefully pinned the White Queen down to keep her still, then reached out and grabbed Ashe’s hand. “Observer, give me an armed troop type!”

The warmth of her soul conveyed through her touch. Honestly, the Sword Princess’s hand wasn’t soft; as a swordsmanship practitioner, her hand was steady and firm, a bit plump, giving the feeling of being gripped by a cat’s paw.

Whether from fear or excitement, she held on tightly, her thumb pressing against his forefinger, her index finger holding down the back of his hand, and the other three fingers firmly clasping his little finger, as if trying to meld his hand into her own palm.

In that moment, Ashe sensed a strong sense of anomaly!

“Okay.”

As soon as Ashe finished speaking, he abruptly stabbed one of his own eyes!

Before the Sword Princess and the Witch had time to react in shock, the sports car suddenly came to a screeching halt, carving a donut shape into the grass, stopping beneath the fortress walls!

“What are you doing?!”

“The city gate has opened, and the heroic soul legion is flanking from the front,” Ashe exhaled heavily. “No need to discuss who stays behind; we can’t escape anymore.”

“Then why did you gouge out your own eye?!” Sonya asked anxiously.

“I saw you both fighting to be the one blinded, so I thought I’d give you a preview of what it feels like.” Ashe withdrew his finger, and his eye quickly healed. “Trust me, you won’t have fond memories of it.”

“Observer Mode.”

The intense stimulus finally snapped Ashe out of “Observer Mode.” He only just realized that he had entered this state of absolute calm during a non-combat situation—though, Ashe might not have considered it combat, his nearly wrecked sports car might have thought otherwise.

Based on past experiences, “Observer Mode” only activates in the most critical moments, ensuring no mistakes and allowing him to perform at theoretically 100% efficiency. Consequently, Ashe didn’t mind entering “Observer Mode”; it felt like a special physiological response similar to an adrenaline rush.

This was indeed a critical moment, but Ashe hadn’t expected “Observer Mode” to aid him not only in combat but also in making decisions.

Decisions that were absolutely correct, with the highest expectation and theoretically optimal outcomes.

Reflecting on it now, Ashe didn’t think there was anything wrong with his decision-making process. It’s just that in this world, not all ‘correct things’ are things one should do.

For example, enjoying solving advanced math problems was borderline masochistic.

Or, treating your teammates as mere pawns.

Ashe knew he should do that.

He initially wanted to do that.

But he couldn’t do that.

“From now on, don’t say such wasteful things about life,” Ashe said. “You’ve already destroyed my ability to endure loneliness. I’m not interested in exploring the Virtual Realm alone.”

Sonya was slightly taken aback and instinctively tightened her grip on his hand.

The White Queen shrugged. “Then it looks like we’re really not getting away this time.”

The “Refracting Wall” was completely shattered by blazing fireballs, and a juvenile Evil-Eyed Shadow Dragon swooped down. Its elders seemed uninterested in the intruders; it alone fancied a midnight snack.

The three of them, Ashe, Sonya, and the White Queen, had no intention of resisting. With their vision completely locked, they couldn’t even aim at the enemy.

“If we die here, and the Spider Tower round is missed in a few days, the soul-summoning spirit will lose to the Empress.”

“No worries,” Ashe said confidently. “Even without the soul-summoning spirit, I will make sure she pays!”

Thinking about the culprit who had trapped them in this dire situation, even Ashe couldn’t help but grit his teeth. “Empress, just you wait!”

“Alright,” a charming and haughty voice suddenly echoed from behind them. “I’m waiting~”

Swish, swish, swish, swish!

Suddenly, the sound of thunder and fire erupted behind them. With a shriek, the Evil-Eyed Shadow Dragon crashed next to the sports car, its grotesque body melting and riddled with holes as if it were an umbrella in a storm, torn apart!

Hearing that familiar voice, the three of them—Ashe, Sonya, and the White Queen—trembled, seeing astonishment in each other’s faces.

Even without seeing, they knew who had arrived!

But the question was, how could that person be here!?

They glanced sideways and noticed that as the sports car traversed the main city’s area, it left a vivid purple aura behind. It looked as though someone had painted the scene with watercolor, the purple color spreading and eroding large sections of green space!

Meanwhile, white dots began to emerge from the depths of the purple areas, spreading and weaving webs within the purple patches. Then—

Fully armed spiders descended along the webs.

The heroic soul legion chasing Ashe and his team fell into chaos instantly. They were not yet equipped with their troop types and were as fragile as paper before the Spider Tower legion, getting torn to pieces!

Red Hats, Bluebeards, giant spiders, The Girl of Secret Gaze… The Spider Tower legion continuously crawled out from the spiderweb, launching a fierce assault on the Greatwood Fortress under the commander’s will. Initially, the Greatwood Fortress was caught off guard, and the Spider Tower legion swiftly took over the walls. But the fortress creatures quickly armed themselves and engaged in brutal combat on the walls, trying to regain control of the battlefield!

The aftermath of the legion clash splashed into the sky, turning half the sky into a thick purple and the other half a burning green. Every minute, shattered corpses fell from the walls, and every minute, new soldiers crawled out from the spiderweb to join the fight from within the city!

There were no preliminaries, no parley-both sides immediately launched an all-out assault at the highest level. Their strategies were as coarse as barbarian hunts, yet their tactics were as intricate as those of master artists.

Danzel sat atop an Eight-eyed Weaver Spider, crawling out from the spiderweb not far behind Ashe. Today, she wore the appearance of The Girl of Secret Gaze, her eyes covered by a blindfold as she ‘looked’ at Ashe and the others, raising an eyebrow.

“Not even sparing me a glance, huh? You only have eyes for each other?” Danzel huffed. “Fine, when you become my commanders, I’ll assign you to the same unit, so you can get sick of each other over a few centuries.”