Sorcerer’s Handbook

So fast.

Pedestrians rushed by on either side, neon lights turned into streaks, and the wind roared as it covered them. Lise leaned on Ashe’s shoulder, like a little girl holding onto her doll.

The speed was so fast, it felt like falling.

Lise hadn’t really thought things through; she just realized she had to find an opportunity to spend some time alone with Ashe, so she ordered him to take her away. But when Ashe picked her up, all her thoughts disappeared, and her mood became as fizzy as a newly opened soda—sweet and effervescent, like a child who loves relying on adults, feeling confident even after causing trouble.

When they stopped, she heard Ashe say, “Two, please… oh, here you go, Lise!”

Lise turned her head and saw that they had run to an ice cream shop. The server had already prepared a plain ice cream cone and a milk-flavored cone with honeydew, chocolate, vanilla, and pineapple flavors for them in advance. She carefully took the super-sized cone and ate only the chocolate ice cream ball.

“Do you want to walk by yourself?” Ashe asked as he accepted the plain cone, “To be honest, you’re not exactly light…”

“No, I’ve been walking in Wonderland World all day and I’m really tired!”

“All right then.”

Lise enjoyed the sweetness of the chocolate, but soon her mood sank—Ashe was only being so nice to her because he was about to take her home.

At any other time, if she made such a request, Ashe, even if he wouldn’t refuse, would probably just summon his Substitute to carry her.

Ashe didn’t walk far, bringing them to a nearby underground river where many locals strolled around without any disguises. These people had perhaps lived here all their lives, rarely seeing the sky. But it didn’t matter, not everyone needed to live in the light.

Ashe and Lise sat on a bench, facing the underground river while eating their ice cream cones. Although the river in the underground city sounded like it might be a sewer, this underground river was not only odorless but didn’t even have a hint of mustiness. The air was so fresh it felt like a gentle massage for the nose. Though there was no night sky, the bioluminescent fungi on the ceiling provided a worthy substitute. The river gleamed with a phosphorescent glow, and the ripples reflected the gradually quieting underground city, as if everyone’s dreams were flowing within it.

Lise initially waited for Ashe to speak, but he remained silent and in a daze, making it difficult for her to start a conversation.

However, their relationship had long reached the point where they felt comfortable just being together, even without speaking. Although Ashe was like that with everyone, Lise felt only this natural when she was with him. So, Lise pulled her legs up and squatted on the bench, looking down at her hand mirror.

Her elder sisters had been urging her for a while now.

Black Butler: “How about acting spoiled? Ashe seems like he’d be easy to sway…”

White Queen: “He’s simple, but he’s not dumb. Acting spoiled might make him indulge us in minor things, but it definitely won’t influence his critical decisions.”

Black Butler: “If the effort is enough, there might be a miracle. Let me try…”

White Queen: “Not even I would be able to, and acting spoiled is a weak move, like ice cream… ah, my vanilla is already melting… Usually, ice cream can melt his heart, but when faced with danger, his first reaction is to protect the ice cream! The more we act spoiled and weak, the less he is willing to let us stay!”

Scarlet Dead Apostles: “Then let’s be more assertive. I’ll grab him by the collar and say, ‘If you dare to leave me, I’ll hate you forever.’”

White Queen: “Isn’t that still acting spoiled!?”

Deya: “We can’t conquer Ashe, so why not change tactics? How about we try to convince Banjeet? Banjeet wouldn’t want to see Annan in danger. If we persuade him to go back before the last day, Ashe and Annan will have no choice but to accept it…”

White Queen: “But won’t that make Little Ashe angry?”

Scarlet Dead Apostles: “Yeah, exactly.”

Black Butler: “And Annan could also ask us to stay in the underground city, preventing us from taking part in the action.”

Deya: “Ugh…”

As her elder sisters continued discussing and eating their ice cream cones, Lise couldn’t help but voice her own confusion: “Why do we have to join the action at all? It’s so dangerous. Shouldn’t we be figuring out a way to stop Dad from participating instead?”

The discussion halted abruptly. After a brief silence, Deya responded, “Come to think of it, Little Witch, we never really told you why we need to join the Weaving Festival or why we need the Divine Sovereign’s Wish.”

“Because those stories happened before you were ‘born.’”

A long time ago, there were two little babies. The first moment they opened their eyes in the incubator, they saw each other. There was no need for bonding time; they would cry if separated, but holding each other’s hand brought immediate calm. They had identical appearances, their every expression mirroring the other, as close as the last two little monsters of an extinct species.

There were many other children like them, but most never had the chance to be born. They were already so outstanding that they didn’t need any backups. At the age of three, they memorized each other’s names: Lise Deya and Nikki Nalu.

On a quiet afternoon, they were playing and chasing each other in the garden, just as they always did. Then a court maid came and told them they would be taken to new rooms. In their confusion, they were separated as pristine and cleanly as a piece of white paper being torn in half.

They never saw each other again.

Lise Deya was confined to a tower on an island in the middle of a lake, while Nikki Nalu was imprisoned in the most secret basement of the Royal Palace.

There were tantrums, resistance, and tears, but the maid who looked after Lise Deya was her loving grandmother. So no matter how much she resisted, Lise Deya eventually listened, ate, and slept. Being naturally kind and obedient, she believed the maid when she said Princess Nina was doing well. She never doubted it, although whenever she stood by the window, she would try to spot Nina in the distant garden.

Maybe it was the monotonous days that passed quickly, or perhaps it was the power of a Miracle, but Lise Deya soon grew into a beautiful princess. Still, to her, it felt as if her separation from Nina had just happened yesterday.

It wasn’t until she eavesdropped on the maid’s conversation with the Emperor outside the door, and until she overheard her grandmother’s late-night mutterings about the truth of Armored Sanctification, that the ‘Mask’ spirit was born in her heart. She then completely bid farewell to her past and became a Virtual Realm sorcerer.

After meeting the Bronze Dragon on the Time Continent, she didn’t hesitate to accept the Bronze Dragon’s Trial, just for a chance to escape the Tower.

Lise asked, “Why was Nina imprisoned in the basement? It sounds so sad… But Deya, you and the others being locked in the Tower is also pitiful. I was lucky to have met Dad as soon as I was born.”

Deya explained, “Because Armored Sanctification has to do with the two ranking lists. One is, of course, the Gospel Ranking, and the other is the one you heard about a few days ago… the Ranking of the Unrelated.”

“The Yisuo Royal Family’s Armored Sanctification essentially means gaining the power of a deity through the ranking lists.”

When she had introduced Armored Sanctification to the Observer Sword Princess, Deya had omitted the most crucial detail. After all, it wasn’t just her secret; it was also a painful truth she found hard to speak of.

“Becoming number one on the Gospel Ranking grants one the qualification to wield the deity ‘Gospel.’ They can even become the Gospel Incarnation. Though they can’t fully harness the power of ‘Gospel,’ it’s enough to control human affairs and turn the tides. This is why any dynasty that rebels against the First Gospel ends up in ruin, and any dynasty that the First Gospel supports continues to thrive.”

“And to become number one on the Gospel Ranking, besides character, appearance is most important: all past Yisuo Empresses look exactly like us. We didn’t know why before, but after seeing the original Gospel Incarnation on the Time Continent, I realized that this might be a loophole in the Gospel Ranking—those who closely resemble the original Gospel are more likely to be chosen as the First Gospel.”

“But even that alone isn’t enough, because a mortal body can’t wield a deity…”

The White Queen suddenly spoke up, “Let me tell the next part.”

“No, it has to be me,” Deya interjected, “and it must be me because this is my… original sin.”

“A mortal body cannot wield a deity. The deity constantly corrodes the soul of its incarnation every second. That’s why past First Gospels often had only ten years to live, which led to many dynasties eventually collapsing. Forty years is enough for a dynasty to decline from its peak. If we want to establish an eternal kingdom, the First Gospel must hold power for at least fifty years, covering the interval between two Weaving Festivals.”

“Then our ancestors came up with a rather ingenious idea.”

“Since the lifespan is insufficient, why not find a way to extend it? Not just the lifespan, but every aspect of fate.”

At this moment, Lise recalled the traits of the Ranking of the Unrelated, “So Nina was imprisoned to place her on the Ranking of the Unrelated and transfer her lifespan and everything else to us?”

Deya affirmed, “That’s right.”

Lise pondered, “But 1+1 only equals 2. If we can only live for ten years after wielding the deity ‘Gospel,’ even adding Nina’s lifespan only gives us twenty years!”