The Sorcerer's Handbook

Ashe and Harvey were still working overtime when dozens of enemy sorcerers erupted from a sudden rupture in the distant ground. They bolted into a nearby forest and ran for their lives.

Ashe hissed. "I didn't realize overtime came with combat rounds."

He immediately activated his Mask of Distortion to block detection, while Harvey's skin rapidly cracked and hardened, taking on the rigid texture of corpse flesh. With those defenses up, most standard reconnaissance spells failed to lock onto them.

"So if we get caught, the contract is dead for good, just like Annan said?" Harvey asked.

"Yeah. The contract requires the Belldet family to protect us. If we get captured, they can no longer fulfill that obligation, which means they lose the right to demand the ransom."

Harvey clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. "Tch. I should've spent all 950 of those Bel Points earlier..."

"Until we gather enough ransom, we are basically no different from Evelyn's private property. She'd happily keep us doing unpaid labor here forever. That's how these malicious redemption schemes work. Look on the bright side. We should treat this as practice. That way, we'll have more experience the next time we split up with Annan."

Harvey looked over, surprised. "Huh? Seeing how close you've been getting to Annan lately, I thought you'd fully side with her. I was already preparing a coffin for you for when the inevitable revenge comes."

"No matter how close we get, she won't compromise on the Divine Lord's wish," Ashe said, rubbing his temples. "And the same goes for Lys..."

"Then why bother getting close to them at all?" Harvey asked, his voice flat. "In the end, everything concludes in slaughter anyway. Blood writes the final sentence. Every extra bond you form now just means more pain later."

Ashe froze for a split second, staring blankly at the dark-skinned necromancer. "Are you saying that's why you—"

"Exactly. If you were like me and only felt affection for corpses, you wouldn't have to deal with emotional conflict at all," Harvey said. "Come on, join me. Become a loyal servant under Haagen Dazz."

"I respectfully decline. I prefer my companions warm."

Boom!

Suddenly, the shadows of the surrounding trees twisted into something grotesque. Both men instantly unleashed their movement-enhancing techniques. Ashe activated his Bidirectional Rush while Harvey took on his Mist Spirit form, barely evading the shadow's crushing strike.

In the next moment, however, the entire patch of forest was utterly leveled, leaving their figures completely exposed under the open night sky.

"They're here!" a voice shouted from the dark.

Shadow Class sorcery... Sorcerers from the Mercury family!

Ashe glanced back in panic. "Hey, hey, weren't they supposed to be only Red Hats? Why are there so many people without hats? And Mercury isn't even from Montphera!"

"Annan was wrong," Harvey said coldly. "Evelyn has absolutely no intention of holding back."

Days earlier, Annan had analyzed what Evelyn would likely do next. She concluded that once Ashe and Harvey collected the ransom and prepared to leave Montphera, Evelyn, unable to keep them, would pivot to minimizing the political fallout.

Protecting Ashe and Harvey meant offending most of the Gospel Kingdom. They were essentially global hostility triggers. If Evelyn could recruit them, that would be ideal. If not, she would need to eliminate the consequences. In that scenario, one of her options would be to "voluntarily" hand them over.

The contract prevented Evelyn from leaking information directly, but the Belldet family had far too many indirect methods to bypass it. The most likely scenario was that the Montphera Red Hats would "coincidentally" be the ones to capture them. That would invalidate the contract, absolve Evelyn of responsibility, and allow everyone to treat it as a fleeting incident. Of course, it also meant that Ashe and the others would have worked for free for over ten days.

At the time, Lys had asked whether Evelyn might go even further and eliminate them. Annan had firmly shaken her head. "Evelyn may be a bit scheming, but she's not cruel. I know her well enough. She wouldn't go that far."

"Either Annan underestimated the blue-haired woman's scheming... or overestimated her own charm," Ashe muttered.

"Watch out!"

Two legs could never outrun flight. Several sorcerers were rapidly closing the distance from above. Just as Ashe summoned his Emotion spirit to prepare a clash of Miracles, a massive explosion suddenly ripped through the area, painting half the night sky crimson.

That's the Hell Eruption!

The neighboring Hell Region burst into repeated eruptions. Molten streams soared hundreds of meters into the air like meteor firestorms, crashing down toward the airborne pursuers. While most dodged using advanced flight techniques, over a dozen were caught in the scalding bath.

Ashe's eyes lit up. "Whoa! Let's run along the edge of the special zones!"

Just then, a familiar voice drifted into his ears, perfectly clear despite the chaos. "Ashe."

He jolted, turning his head to see two Red Hats elves flying through the night sky. One was elegant and mature, while the other looked gentle and refined.

Ashe exclaimed, "Quinna and Nona? Why are you here, too?"

Quinna smiled. "To bring you back, of course. Weren't you our 'master' from that scene in the Family Rankings? Why are you running?"

At that, Ashe immediately wished the Four Pillars would grant him six more legs. He sprinted even faster than Harvey.

Quinna and Nona simultaneously raised their handguns and aimed.

Then came the mist.

Thick white fog suddenly surged from the Belldet Estate's imitation of the Sea of Knowledge scenic zone, engulfing the airborne sorcerers. The pursuers quickly dove to break through the cloud and lock onto their targets.

When Quinna descended, however, she found herself emerging above the fog instead of below it. The dense white mist had swallowed nearly half the estate.

"A spatial inversion lock?" Quinna chuckled. "Using spatial tricks in front of a Sacred Realm sorcerer? How naive."

She activated her Sacred Realm and pierced straight downward, tearing through the fog to the ground, just in time to see Ashe and Harvey darting into a golden-lit zone. The other four Sacred Realm sorcerers broke through the mist right behind her.

They exchanged brief glances, instantly reading the cue. It was time to divide the prey.

The five Sacred Realm sorcerers activated their movement-enhancing Miracles, closing the gap within a single breath as they unleashed restraint techniques to capture their targets.

Pop!

Ashe vanished like smoke, while Harvey collapsed into a pile of rotting flesh.

A substitute and a corpse double!

Only then did the Sacred Realm sorcerers realize they had been lured into yet another scenic zone, the Belldet family's imitation of the River of Flowing Gold.

Golden droplets floated lazily upward into the air. Suddenly, the sorcerers' mana grew incredibly heavy, turning into a crushing burden that slowed their movements to a crawl.

"Angel inheritance... Belldet..."

Aside from Weeping Sand Cliose, the eyes of the other four sorcerers turned icy cold. "Interesting..."

***

Meanwhile, Ashe and Harvey successfully regrouped with the others.

Lys immediately rushed into Ashe's arms, clinging to him like an octopus. Pankey pulled a coffin out of his suitcase, and Harvey latched onto it in exactly the same octopus-like fashion.

After calming Lys down, Ashe asked, "How do we get out now?"

"The same way they came in. There must be a vehicle waiting down below," Annan said, her expression incredibly grim. "Evelyn is holding them off for us right now, but we don't have much time—"

"You don't have any time left."

The words cut through the air alongside the sharp whistle of gunfire.

Three dull thuds rang out. Pankey, Harvey, and Ashe collapsed instantly. Lys and Annan were the only ones unharmed, having been shielded by the falling men.

Annan shouted, "Lys, check their injuries!"

Annan quickly tore off her earring, transforming it into a submachine gun as she unleashed a barrage of gunfire. However, a single bullet from the enemy shattered the muzzle blast and knocked all her shots completely off course.

The attacker was already upon them. With a sudden whistling sound, a high-heeled boot swept inward like a razor blade. Annan dodged instinctively, raising her firearm to counterattack, but her opponent was faster. The attacker evaded the counter, drove an elbow into Annan's chest, and slammed her against a nearby tree. She pinned her there, aiming the gun straight at her waist.

Quinna said nonchalantly, "Come with me quietly, and I'll ensure you all survive. I'll even help you finish your wedding."

"Not a chance!"