The Sorcerer's Handbook

Iger hadn’t hoped to actually kill the Sacred Realm sorcerers with their combined strikes. His only goal was to inflict enough damage to force the Red Hats into a delay. Ideally, everyone except the Sacred Realm sorcerers would be seriously injured, compelling the two powerhouses to stay behind and tend to their team. According to Red Hat regulations, caring for teammates took strict priority over pursuing criminals. That delay would have given them a chance to escape.

Yet now, not only had he failed to cause any harm, but the Red Hats remained entirely unscathed.

Iger pulled a small mirror from his robe. Catching the reflection, he spotted the transparent barrier that had instantly shielded the entire Red Hat squad. He muttered, "What is that?"

Nearby, Ashe summoned the Book of Gospel and echoed the question. "What is that?"

[What is that?]

Cost: 5 Gospel Points

Response: Sacred Realm.

Before Ashe could press for more details, the Book, already strategically cooperating with the Funeral Agency, continued to expand its answer.

Response: The Sacred Realm is a universal ability among Three-Winged sorcerers, and over time, its name has become synonymous with the rank itself. It is not automatically granted upon ascending to the Three-Winged Sacred Realm. Rather, mastering the Sacred Realm is an essential prerequisite for exploring the Distant Sky Domain, meaning every Three-Winged sorcerer inevitably possesses it.

The Sacred Realm requires no spirits to cast, though spirits can assist the process. A sorcerer simply diffuses a mixture of Silver, Gold, and Rainbow mana throughout their body to manifest their personal Sacred Realm.

It generally presents as a spherical, transparent force field centered on the sorcerer, with a radius that can be adjusted at will. The discrete reassembly of virtual wings is the most common method of manifesting it.

Maintaining the Sacred Realm consumes mixed mana continuously, though the exact rate varies by sorcery class. While each sorcerer's Sacred Realm is entirely unique, they all share two core effects:

1. The Sacred Realm manifests instantly, and its size can be adjusted at will.

2. The Realm serves as a defensive barrier that draws on the sorcerer's mana to resist all external attacks. Mana consumption varies drastically depending on the Realm's unique properties, but it can defend against almost every attack.

Consequently, depleting a Sacred Realm sorcerer's mana entirely is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for defeating them.

Ashe relayed these two basic functions of the Sacred Realm to Iger. The Fraudster blinked in dismay. "The key intelligence was missing. My plan never stood a chance from the start."

"You didn't know about the Sacred Realm?" Ashe asked, astonished. It was one thing for an illiterate outsider like himself to be in the dark, but how could Iger not know?

"I've heard that the Sacred Realm is a Miracle set in a fixed location, where a Three-Winged sorcerer becomes nearly invincible..."

"That's completely false."

Iger shrugged. "Even a fraudster can be deceived. Everything happened so fast tonight, I didn't even have time to cross-reference my intel with the Book of Gospel. Honestly, I never intended to face a Three-Winged sorcerer head-on anyway. That was definitely not on my list of One Hundred Things to Do in This Life."

The fraudster glanced over at his cult leader. "Sorry about this. Looks like we're getting caught again."

"No worries," Ashe replied smoothly. "At worst, we'll just recreate the Shattered Lake scenario."

While they spoke, Cliose silently landed atop the gaming pods behind them, her soft footsteps cutting through their idle chatter. Keeping her eyes closed, she trained her righteous dual pistols on the targets that would bring the Red Hats glory. The elf said coldly, "Move, and you die."

To underscore her warning, she partially cocked a trigger. The precise, metallic click of the mechanism sent a distinct chill through anyone smart enough to understand its meaning.

"Take note. According to Red Hat's regulations, as long as she issues a clear verbal warning, shooting the suspect on the spot won't lower her rank," Iger murmured, raising his hands in surrender while keeping Ashe briefed on protocol.

"Sounds to me like she's not warning us, but explaining her actions to the Book of Gospel," Ashe muttered back, obediently raising his hands. "It's like a student telling the teacher they need to go to the bathroom. You don't say it for the bladder's benefit. You say it so you don't get in trouble."

Meanwhile, Pankey lowered his frost-infused dual pistols. No one could blame him; when a Sacred Realm sorcerer's sniper rifle was trained directly on your head, your hands simply refused to cooperate.

Harvey had luck on his side, but burdened by a nearly impossible-to-hide coffin, he was moving no faster than a snail. His capture was merely a matter of time.

With no reinforcements and no backup inside or out, Ashe realized they had no choice but to quietly surrender and contribute to the overall security of the Gospel Kingdom.

Ding.

At that exact moment, the elevator lights flashed on. The automated chime politely heralded the arrival of incoming visitors.

Every Red Hat turned toward the elevator doors, shifting the aim of their weapons in unison. However, when the doors slid open, they instinctively lowered their guns. It was one of their colleagues, an elven Red Hat.

Pankey let out a massive sigh of relief at the sight of her. The sixty-year-old butler relaxed instantly, looking like a child who had just found their parent after being bullied.

"Don't aim your guns at him!" a voice barked, traveling clear across the gaming floor.

Unless absolutely unavoidable, standard defense-type Miracles were far more cost-effective than deploying the Sacred Realm. Cliose had already prepared herself for an engagement. Her body shimmered with multiple layers of protective light from her active Miracles. Yet, despite her defenses, she was violently kicked aside by a single, forceful strike.

Boom!

Accompanied by the sound of her shattering Miracles, Cliose retreated into the Red Hats' formation. She quickly summoned the Book of Gospel to analyze the enemy's intel, her brow furrowing as she spoke. "Nona Senheiser?"

Ashe and Iger looked up to see a tall elven Red Hat standing before them. She bore a striking resemblance to Quinna, but lacked her mature allure, exuding a pure and lively charm instead. With short hair and her hands resting firmly on her hips, she cut an almost godlike figure in front of the two rescued men.

Iger exhaled in relief. "Miss Nona? According to the contract between Annan and your sister—"

Smack!

"Nona" struck Iger in the abdomen with a heavy punch. Before the fraudster could even react, she followed through with a brutal elbow to his back, knocking him flat to the ground.

"Next time you take my people hostage, remember these three ribs I just broke," she said, turning her attention to Ashe. "Are you going to call me Nona, too?"

Noticing the familiar, cold arrogance in her eyes, Ashe suddenly recalled their elevator encounter from a few days ago. "You're Quinna?"

Light added, "Leader Quinna of the Senheiser family? According to our data, Red Hat Vice-Captain Nona is only a Two-Winged sorcerer. Even with a solid foundation, she could never have pushed back Cliose. In the entire Senheiser family, only Leader Quinna possesses Sacred Realm combat capability.

"Normally, with the white mist dissipating so rapidly, ordinary citizens of Vanmura would be instantly paralyzed. By all accounts, you should still be trapped in your dream. Once the mist clears, it should be impossible for you to return to the real world so quickly. But since the Vanmura Six-Emblem Families have been operating for so many years, you, as its leader, must have secret contingencies."

Quinna asked coldly, "Do outsiders always talk in circles? Are you really going to flaunt your pitiful eloquence in front of an elf whose age is a multiple of yours? As the leader of an emblem family, I hold the resources and the complete trust of my entire family. Naturally, I must be on call at all times. Getting myself caught in a dead end is out of the question."

Ashe nodded inwardly.

The Senheiser family, with its members' minimal desire for worldly affairs, effectively left all real authority in Quinna's hands. The cost of this absolute control was that the family possessed almost no independent initiative during emergencies. They had to rely entirely on their leader to steer the ship. To put it bluntly, leading the Senheiser family was like Quinna running a kindergarten. If the leader suddenly disappeared, Ashe doubted the rest of them could even successfully elect a new one.

Quinna explained, "Many years ago, our ancestors planned for contingencies where the leader might be incapacitated, the white mist dissipated, or the dreamland sealed. To ensure the family's continuity, which is always our top priority, the leaders of the Six-Emblem families all possess backup bodies.

"A backup body carries a fragment of the leader's soul, and there is always more than one. In emergencies, these backup bodies activate in order of priority, guaranteeing that at least one of them can temporarily step forward to lead the clan."

Cliose gasped, "Soul fragmentation?! Wouldn't this affect your future path as a sorcerer? And this isn't just a simple Miracle... isn't this akin to reincarnation or soul transfer? Those backup bodies—"

Cliose suddenly froze, the darker implications catching up to her.

"It's not as sinister as you think. Normally, a backup body is only influenced by my soul fragment's emotions. Even when a fragment is activated, the original body is completely restored afterward. As for my future, compared to ensuring the family's survival, it is negligible."

Quinna said calmly. "Fragmenting a soul is simple. The Family Reincarnation Dream isn't just for entertainment."

Light interrupted, "That's enough idle chatter. Leader Quinna, please hand over the two criminals. One is an imperial fugitive under Warrant 69-165, and the other just attempted to endanger public safety. As for your sudden strike on Captain Cliose, I trust the Gospel will judge the matter fairly—"

"You're wrong."

"Wrong how?"

Quinna said coldly, "Wrong stance. The only one who can say 'please' right now is me. Please leave Vanmura immediately. Any arrests must go through official channels and be cleared with Vanmura's Red Hats first. We will cooperate with any reasonable actions. As for your unauthorized incursion into Senheiser territory, I trust the Gospel will make a fair judgment. And this white mist incident... I'm letting it slide. You simply couldn't afford such a Miracle with that small family of yours anyway."

Cliose hesitated for a moment. "Miss Quinna, I understand that you are at the Three-Winged level, but Nona... she's only Two-Winged, right?"

"Even if you could channel Sacred Realm power through your sister's body, we still have two Sacred Realm sorcerers and six elite Red Hats," Light said, raising his bolt-action heavy sniper rifle, making no effort to hide the threat. "Eight against one. It's a simple arithmetic problem. Are you really going to shelter an imperial fugitive?"

"I'll repeat myself. Firstly, I only require you to apply for cross-city pursuit through the proper channels. Secondly—"

"The enemies you face are not a single Two-Winged sorcerer," a strange male voice called out from outside the window. "They are the Six-Emblem family leaders, representing Vanmura's eight million citizens."

The Red Hats turned sharply toward the broken window to see five uninvited guests climbing into the 72nd floor. Tonight, doors had clearly lost all favor, and windows had become everyone's preferred point of entry.

The voice continued, "The white mist has dissipated. All family members are down, and even I had to activate a backup body. Outsiders are brazenly invading our home, causing chaos within Senheiser, and even attempting to capture our emblem clan members.

"Since Vanmura's founding, we've never suffered such humiliation. 8,764,502 against 8. It's a simple arithmetic problem, right?"