Sorcerer’s Handbook

“Resurrection!”

Rein Mercury’s eyes widened as he gazed at Ashe standing behind Nona, his eyes filled with shock and desire.

No wonder the first Scheme was so intricate, no wonder the Kingdom Ritual was so grand!

This was truly a resurrection ritual, reconstructing the dead, reversing life and death!

Among the spellcaster community, there is a very peculiar mindset: the weaker and more ignorant the spellcaster, the more they believe resurrection is a simple matter. Because they have seen many people who had their heads bashed in but were saved in time, they equate it to resurrection. They assume real resurrection couldn’t be that much harder, right?

Only those who delve deep into the upper echelons of the Virtual Realm, study countless handbooks, and learn from the experiences of many predecessors realize that resurrection is the greatest Divine Intervention in the world.

The Mercury family members are fragile “glass people”; sunlight, table corners, toys on the floor… Mercury was always easily harmed by his environment since childhood. So, after becoming a spellcaster, almost all of them dual-trained in the Water Sect to become Healers, and Rein was no exception. Years ago, when Rein’s younger sister’s soul returned to the Time Continent, Rein, who was proficient in Healing Miracles, also tried to find a way to resurrect his loved one.

But he quickly discovered that healing and resurrection are fundamentally different matters.

Healing the living is easy, resurrecting the dead is as hard as climbing to heaven!

The death of a spellcaster generally goes through three processes: physical demise, which includes broken hearts, head injuries, or bodies reduced to ashes—this is the only stage a healing spellcaster can intervene; the soul’s fall, where the spellcaster’s soul is pulled by gravity into the six-layered hell, which cleanses all excess “impurities” from the soul; merging into the Virtual Realm, where the soul, after the purification of hell, settles in a corner of the Virtual Realm, becoming a source of knowledge for the next generation of spellcasters.

If a spellcaster dies completely, it means they have become a spellcaster projection, and resurrecting them requires three things: finding their soul entity in the Virtual Realm, retrieving their heartbeat from hell, and reconstructing their physical body in the real world—the last step is crucial; if the soul and body are not compatible, the soul will inevitably fall off again.

For example, Annan’s ancestor summons; her ancestor must return to the Virtual Realm after existing in reality for a period. A non-original soul and body will always experience wear and tear, and as this wear accumulates to a certain point, the body can no longer contain the soul.

However, this bodily issue can be circumvented, such as by repairing and patching up the original corpse. But in the first Scheme, it was clearly about directly reconstructing, weaving a brand new and perfectly fitting body from nothing!

Yet for a spellcaster, let alone crafting a new body, just finding a soul entity and retrieving a heartbeat is completely impossible—this is undoubtedly a domain only a Divine Sovereign could touch!

In comparison, the Rituals of the first nine Schemes seem exceptionally cost-effective. Temporarily summoning an ancestor to possess you, inheriting predecessors’ knowledge, obtaining past powers… although the costs are also extremely high, it’s not true resurrection. Therefore, the Ritual process appears considerably easier, something Rein and the others could accomplish alone.

And what about the final, first Scheme?

Years of planning, a workforce numbering in the hundreds of thousands to millions, and a risk factor so high that “seeking one’s own doom” makes it sound almost euphemistic—no matter how you look at it, only a “madman” can describe it!

If they weren’t mad, why join the Four Pillars Cult?

If they weren’t mad, why would they conceive and implement such a Scheme?

If they weren’t mad—

How could they create a shadow kingdom just to resurrect one man?

Therefore, everyone gazed at Ashe with a conflicted look, hoping he’d hurry up and die, yet wishing he’d survive a bit longer. After all, Ashe had appeared in three ranking lists consecutively, and regardless of whether he died or lived, he’d undoubtedly bring significant disaster to the Gospel… he was a true calamity child!

Among the spellcasters, ‘Weeping Sand Red Cap’ Cleos’ feelings were the most complicated.

Because she knew that Harvey, Igor, and Ashe were all individuals Annan had picked up casually. She was there when Annan signed the Pact with them, even standing nearby as a physical threat.

It was like witnessing a historic moment.

Cleos originally thought it was just an unmemorable day. Compared to these few outsiders, the runaway Eternal Presence was what truly troubled her. Yet, life is indeed full of surprises; it turns out it was these down-and-out strangers who would cause Gospel to be swayed by storms, while the once-arrogant Cult Leader was struggling to make a new start somewhere far away.

Cleos now even doubted whether Annan had deceived her—did she really find those three in the wild? Were they not handpicked from some Dark God academy, a demon’s nest, or an apocalyptic summer camp for elite students?

Feeling the piercing gazes of everyone around him, Ashe instinctively hugged Nona’s waist, ready to grab Auntie and run at any moment. However, Ashe suddenly turned back to look at Annan and asked out of the blue, “Did you really not conspire with Igor?”

“No,” Annan’s expression turned slightly amused. “What are you speculating about?”

“Because of the Young Lady, our future is inevitably the outcome of deceiving Gospel. But wrong as it is, within Gospel’s own logical framework, these erroneous outcomes cannot be contradictory or inconsistent with our characters,” Ashe explained. “According to the other families that appeared in the images, the Ranking of Schemes at least includes consortium families, and those in the Art Ranking are struggling to maintain their status. The only one left in the Family Ranking is the Necromancy family… which means the chronological order is the Ranking of Schemes, the Art Ranking, and then the Family Ranking.”

Annan nodded; everyone more or less had this figured out after viewing the Future Ranking.

“In the Family Ranking, Harvey said he obtained the location of the Necromancy angel’s tomb from the Belldate family, yet he’s not particularly known for gathering intelligence, and his social contacts don’t include living people,” Ashe glanced at Alice who was sitting on the coffin, and she nodded in agreement. “This means that the intelligence [Belldate possesses Angelic Heritage] must have come from someone else.”

Ashe then turned to look at the Belldate main house. “However, the Belldate family has only two members, an older sister and a younger sister, and they would never betray their family’s secrets… but now, the Belldate family has another person. And in the ‘Ranking of Schemes,’ Gospel has identified that person as someone who would never forsake us.”

“‘Would never forsake us’…” Annan chewed on these words and suddenly smiled, “Perhaps so.”

“But you—”

“But I didn’t lie. Eye contact, body language, direct communication, written messages… I exchanged no intelligence with Igor.” Annan shrugged, “We have no conspiracy; the only thing we share is a consensus.”

“What consensus?”

Annan did not answer, instead glancing down at Lise.

Lise thought for a moment and then gently pulled Ashe’s hand away from Nona’s slender waist. She whispered into his ear, “Dad, why did Aunt Annan bring us to Mephila?”

Ashe was taken aback.

While Ashe and the others were chatting, the spellcasters came to a consensus.

“Senhaeser,” Rein said calmly, “I’m sorry, but we need to revise our terms—you can only take your daughter and other non-essential personnel. Ashe Heath and Archibald Harvey must be handed over to different forces for supervision.”

Although Gospel had not explicitly stated what kind of threat Ashe posed, his historical role in linking together the three future disaster ranking lists was enough for no one to dare consider him a valueless 0-star waste.

In other words, the mere fact that he was breathing was already the greatest blasphemy against Gospel.

He needed to be strictly monitored, and solitary confinement was essential!

To use a card game analogy, if Ashe were a card, he’d have little effect on his own. But if he paired with Annan Dolan, Archibald Harvey, or Rust Crow, it would be an unbeatable combo!

Now everyone recognized the significant threat Ashe posed. Even Cleos, who had a deep connection with Annan, no longer harbored old feelings and tacitly agreed to Rein’s stringent terms.

Moreover, with Rein, Zuvendas, and Ina all in agreement, Ashe Heath would be handed over to the state by Cleos herself! From a standpoint of interest alone, Cleos wouldn’t permit Qenna to take Ashe away!

The spellcasters slowly began to lift off, surrounding Qenna and her group from all directions!

Ashe sensed the impending danger and was about to step back when Nona grabbed his right hand. While Annan comforted Little Banjeet, who was crouching down with his head in his hands, she kept her eyes on Qenna’s back.

Qenna lifted her head, looking up at the four spellcasters from the Sanctuary in mid-air. For the first time, there was a trace of vulnerability in her voice. “Can’t we discuss this further?”

“Hand over Heath and Harvey,” Zuvendas replied, “and we can take our time to talk.”

The Elf matriarch exhaled deeply. “I see… now I understand.”

“I will only protect my people, my clansmen.”

Lise clung tightly to Ashe, looking down at her hand mirror, so anxious she was nearly in tears.

“So,” Qenna said slowly as she drew out her dual guns, her tone solemn and steady, “I will not let you take Annan Senhaeser and Ashe Senhaeser.”

“I’m sorry,” Rein said, “but you leave us no choice.”

Alice blinked, reaching out to tap the coffin lid, attempting to draw the others’ attention—what about us?

Just as the tension reached its breaking point, the Gospel Book belatedly revealed more details about the first place on the Ranking of Schemes:

“Ranking of Schemes , 1st place: Ashe’s Kingdom Resurrection Ritual”

“Synopsis: To resurrect Ashe Heath, Four Pillars Cult leader Igor Bukin initiated the Kingdom Resurrection Ritual on April 10, 1678, based on the previous nine completed rituals.”

“Mastermind: Igor Bukin.”

Everyone glanced at the information but didn’t give it much thought, already familiar with Rust Crow’s name. Only Yvaren, watching from a distance, snapped out of her bewildered state upon seeing Igor’s name.

In a split second, Yvaren realized she was caught in a scheme not revealed by Gospel.

She immediately made the right decision—activating the fireworks installation in the front garden, using the brilliant display to capture everyone’s attention!

“Everyone, I—”

Thunk!

With a muffled, invisible blow, not only did the boasting spellcasters fall from the sky, but Yvaren’s only chance to clear her name was stuck in her throat.

Simultaneously, the entirety of the Belldate manor began to glow.

Hell, the Sea of Trees, mountains, grasslands, the main house… statues in all locations started to light up, with faint blue rivers of light flowing steadily from Mephila, continuously pouring into the statues throughout the manor.

In the blink of an eye, only Ashe and his companions were still standing. Everyone else, including Qenna, had collapsed to the ground, their bodies trembling and unable to move, like puppets ready to be controlled.

Despite this, Ashe and his group didn’t dare to make any sudden moves. In their eyes, it seemed like Miss Yvaren had shouted out to protect them, and then everyone fell down—oh my gosh, Miss Yvaren is so gentle!

At that moment, Ashe noticed a new message in his Gospel Book. The sender was… Rust Crow?

After reading the message, Ashe’s expression grew hesitant. But he soon took a deep breath, steeling himself, and courageously walked to the center of the area.

He looked around, meeting the panicked gazes of everyone, and then flashed a wickedly charming smile:

“Sorry, but I’m actually Miss Yvaren’s dog. To offend me is to offend Belldate… and you’re all finished!”