Mage Manual-Chapter 1398 - 1025: 82 Points

Ash looked at the elf maid in front of him, wearing a lace headpiece. Her pink hair fell in twin tails on either side, her large, liquid eyes oozing a trace of allure, and her delicate face blushing lightly. The maid outfit revealed a deep cleavage at the chest, squeezed out by her ample soft bosom, while the tightly pressed lips displayed a jelly-like glossy sheen under the blended lighting.

He was slightly lost in thought, and just as Vishi rekindled hope, thinking there might be a turnaround, Ash suddenly kissed deeply, his tongue breaking through her teeth like an unstoppable force, stirring up chaos inside.

"Mm... mm... mm-hm."

Vishi felt her tongue being ravaged like a little white rabbit trampled by a big gray wolf. No matter how she dodged, Ash’s exquisite skills always left her with nowhere to escape, making her body stiffen, but her soul seemed to be sucked in.

No wonder, in my dream, I have to become the Supreme of Magic, only...

No, this can’t continue!

I am the Ghost Prophet!

Vishi bit down with her teeth, feeling Ash freeze for a moment. She realized she had hurt him, but Ash didn’t retreat from her territory. He continued to hold the fortress and only started to slowly expand outward after a moment.

Vishi dared not bite hard, only daring to bite lightly, hoping Ash would give up in the face of difficulty. However, this painless resistance was naturally unable to withstand the increasingly fierce offensive, more like a hesitant welcome.

When Ash finished reminiscing and let go of Vishi, in the warm breath, a transparent suspension silk stretched and fell between the two of them, and Vishi completely melted into Ash’s arms like a puddle of ice cream about to melt, even her ear tips were tinged with light pink.

Ash wiped the moisture from the corners of Vishi’s mouth with his sleeve, curiously asking, "Why did you bite me?"

"Bite you just because, do I need a reason?" Vishi grabbed his arm and managed to sit up, retorting angrily, but her tone was soft, sounding more like she was coy.

Ash asked, "Well, how was it?"

Vishi contemplated, "82 points."

Ash: "...I was asking about the inspection results, what are you scoring?"

Vishi was stunned: "Oh right, I still need to check your memory..."

"You didn’t forget, did you?" Ash’s corners of his mouth twitched, "Then should we do it again?"

"No, I wouldn’t forget important matters, I only need to check once!" Vishi quickly reinforced her authority, and she closed her eyes, pondered for a moment, and swiftly verified Ash’s soul memories.

Gradually, her expression became odd, murmuring, "Interesting..."

Ash asked full of anticipation, "How is it?"

His tone was like a terminal patient finding the only divine charlatan who could save his life.

Vishi opened her eyes, looking at Ash and said word by word, "The parts of your memory about Igula and Harvey have all been altered."

"Even though they seem real in your eyes, the world hasn’t responded to their existence. When you bathe together, the water surface in the bathtub doesn’t change; when you eat together, the food doesn’t decrease because of their eating; when you walk across the muddy ground, they don’t leave footprints."

"These details are unnoticed in your own recollections but can be deconstructed only by extracting your memory."

Ash stared at Vishi in a daze. He didn’t doubt she was deceiving him, for if he didn’t believe Vishi, there was no point in seeking her out. But even the most authoritative Soul Mage indicating his closest companions in memory were just two nonexistent phantoms made him feel lost.

The real problem, could it be not the world, but just... himself?

Vishi looked at his lost expression, reached out to wipe the moisture from the corners of his mouth, and said, "But apart from them, everyone else hasn’t been altered."

"What do you mean?"

"I couldn’t tell for others, but when I compared our shared memories in the Kingdom of Allstars, I found out we have completely different memories, yet both are real."

"For example, the segment of ’Igula’ talking to me, in my memory either doesn’t exist or it’s me talking to you. But in your memory, I haven’t been altered, every move has accurate feedback from the world. Since I am real in your memory, the ’Igula’ who talked with me may not be fake either."

Ash stared at her, his eyes lighting up.

"Note, I haven’t confirmed or testified to their existence."

Vishi reminded, "The Gods of Four Pillars, the Dazzling Star Maiden, Supreme Star, the Four Divine Lords, the Heavenly Trial, too many things could mess with your brain. The only thing I prove is that the existence possibility of ’Igula’ and ’Harvey’... is not zero."

"That’s enough." Ash let out a relieved breath, holding Vishi’s hand, "That’s enough. Thank you, Vishi, thank you."

Vishi found it somewhat amusing: "Although I looked into your memories, I really don’t understand why your feelings for them are so deep. You were just a group of death row prisoners forced to team up to survive, why do you get so anxious when they disappear?"

Ash paused, bowing his head and murmuring, "Yeah, why indeed?"

"When I first met Igula, he was ready to drain me of value. He is the best-looking and most devious man I’ve ever seen, always suspicious and assuming the worst. I actually don’t like listening to his nagging; he would constantly make me wary of Hanna, wary of Liss, wary of Black Crow, wary of Rose, which I find annoying. But I can’t help turning to him, for without his psychological treatment, both my emotions and life would be in a mess... though now isn’t much better."

"His rapport with women is also good, Anfeier likes him, yet he still wants to follow me to Senluo; Gwen likes him too, yet he... He criticizes me for hurting girls’ feelings, but doesn’t he also do the same?"

"No one really wants Harvey to stay alive. Even he doesn’t cherish this world. He’s too disgusting, always carrying a coffin around and talking about corpse trivia during meals. If life were a buffet, he’d be the type who discovers feces and insists everyone else taste it, while somehow believing he’s savoring a delicacy. Other than promoting his worldview of death, he doesn’t talk much, or rather he’d prefer speaking to his Alice... I really don’t want to invite him to my wedding."

"But there’s no one who respects life more than he does. Strange, isn’t it? A guy seeking death yet respects others’ lives. He’s always observing the crowd from the sidelines, he knows everything but is too lazy to speak, unless we’re courting death -- then he’ll stand beside us... He just wants to wait until we die and turns our corpses into necromancy creatures, that way even death won’t separate us."

Vishi listened on the side, thinking it’s fortunate the Sword Maiden and the others aren’t here. Otherwise, hearing you harbour such complex emotions towards two imaginary men, they might doubt their own charm.

After a while, Ash fell silent, his eyes hollow as he stared at the carpet’s pattern, like a dog seeing a frisbee, wanting to chase those elusive memories. With nothing else to do, Vishi saw a plate of grapes on the small table, took it, peeled the grape skin with her nails, and fed it to Ash as usual.

When Ash was about to finish the grapes, he finally came to his senses and said, "Vishi, you should rest too."

"Okay." Vishi felt no reluctance, immediately standing up and heading outside.

Just then, her wrist was caught.

"Wait."

Vishi’s body stiffened, feigning innocence, she asked, "What is it?"

She dared not tease lightly now; this frenzied state of Ash was a bit overbearing, nearly overwhelming her earlier. She still needed time to figure out Ash’s patterns of action; for now, it’s safer to flirt with him in more crowded places.

Ash glanced over her body, the pleasant warm touch from his dreams seemingly trailing along with his gaze on Vishi. Even being looked at for a short while, Vishi felt her breathing becoming shallow and quick, pressing her lips together tightly, weakly asking, "Ash, is there anything else?"

"You don’t have to wear this outfit anymore," Ash released her hand, saying, "Hair color is also unrestricted."

Vishi was taken aback, "Huh?"

"I’ve never considered you a maid. ’Demon Maid’ was just a randomly chosen alias."

Ash paused, then said, "I’ve always seen you as..."

"A prisoner." Vishi replied, "You are the prisoner of Dazzling Star, and I am your prisoner. Now suddenly lifting my restrictions, is it because my status has changed?"

She tilted her head, a slight smile playing on her lips, momentarily reverting to the unfathomable Ghost Prophet.

Ash shook his head, "No, you still are my prisoner. As long as I live, as long as the ruby chain exists, I am your supervisor."

"So what do you mean now? Am I supposed to be grateful for your blessing as a prisoner?"

"I don’t want to violate your dignity."

This time, Vishi genuinely laughed, "In your eyes, I have dignity? In your impression, am I not just a disgraceful and shameless demon?"

"That’s right, I still think so now and don’t believe you will change." Ash said earnestly, "But I’ve never seen a mage with more dignity than you."

"Failed resurrection, chained, never willing to bow to the Divine Lord. A demigod fallen to become a mage’s slave, but never discouraged, always seeking a desperate counterattack every second, never giving up the pursuit of dreams, striving to seize every opportunity during the Angel Hunt."

"You care about nothing, can place anything on the altar. Nothing in the world can shake you, not even death. If there is no hope for success, you’d rather die than live ignobly."

"As a person, you are indeed scum of the scum. But as a mage..." Ash took a deep breath, somewhat unwillingly admitted, "You are the strongest of the strong."

"I can enslave Vishi the demon, but can never dominate the Ghost Prophet. I won’t release your chains; on the contrary, since you are stronger, I will only be stricter in restraining you."

"However, I hope my comrade... can live with dignity."

Vishi raised her eyebrows, placing her hands behind her, approached Ash and asked, "Comrade? You consider the Ghost Prophet a comrade? But didn’t you still hate me before the promotion?"

Ash averted his gaze, "...During the Promotion Ceremony, you helped them through difficulties."

"Is that the only reason?" Vishi leaned closer, "Just because I helped them, you don’t hate me anymore?"

"I still hate." Ash turned his head aside, "It’s just..."

"Just what? What made Master feel more familiar with the Ghost Prophet?" Vishi tilted her head, unable to suppress the upward curl of her lips, her brows and eyes full of allure, "Is it because... of the dream?"

Ash glared at her, grumpily said, "Who just bit my tongue?"

Vishi’s body stiffened, she pouted and turned to leave, but came back again, "I found there was an important detail in my memory."

Ash immediately perked up, "What?"

Vishi leaned to Ash’s ear, whispered, "I found... Master, you really like my maid outfit and pink hair."

She kissed Ash on the cheek, then quickly fled the tent as if running away.