Mage Manual-Chapter 1399 - 1026: We Will Replace You (End of Volume 4)
Outside the tent, Sonia, Diya, Weiser, and Felix are gathered around the wooden table, silently sipping hot tea, while Dedarose has gone to rest.
They look at the bright tent, the atmosphere growing increasingly tense.
"Fifteen minutes have passed."
"Should it be an explosion?"
"Drag them out for judgment, not a single one should be spared."
"It definitely isn’t Ash’s fault!" Diya shouted, "It must be Vishi secretly brainwashing Ash during the Promotion Ceremony, it’s all the Ghost Prophet’s conspiracy!"
"I don’t think there’s a need to be nervous; we should trust Ash," Weiser suggested. "We’re all here, after all."
Sonia glanced at her, "I once asked Ash if he liked Silver Lamp."
"You weren’t by his side back then," Weiser retorted, "You can’t blame someone for not holding onto the only lifebuoy when they’re drowning, can you?"
Just as Felix was thinking of slipping away to avoid unwanted complications, the tent flap was lifted, and Vishi quickly stepped out. She glanced at them all, a crooked smile forming on her lips, scanning the crowd with eyes full of amusement. Despite wearing a maid outfit, her expression was unusually arrogant, and she cheerfully walked back to her own tent.
Seeing this, everyone felt relieved. If Vishi had made any progress, she would’ve come out looking troubled to avoid raising suspicions. But this triumphant demeanor, as if she had gained something significant, clearly indicated no progress.
After all, that was the millennia-old Demigod Ghost Prophet, and Ash couldn’t possibly shake her spirit. She easily toyed with Ash, making him retreat repeatedly, and in his dreams, she was chaotic evil like Diya’s sequence. This absolute rational demon wouldn’t display her thoughts on her face.
More importantly, everyone knew fifteen minutes was indeed insufficient.
Sonia suddenly asked, "Who’s standing watch here?"
"I am." Felix pointed at himself.
Sonia and the others looked at Felix deeply, then exchanged glances. After a moment of thought, they each returned to their tents. Felix walked over, added some firewood, poured himself a cup of water, and sat by the wooden table, his gaze slowly focusing on Ash’s tent flap, lost in thought.
...
...
Ash recorded Vishi’s intelligence in his small notebook, alongside key information on Igula and Harvey, important memories, and magic intelligence.
Despite firmly believing his own memories were correct, Ash couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t lose his memories like everyone else. Perhaps writing them down would be meaningless; without those pasts, Ash wouldn’t continue to care about those two bastards. He might wake up to wonder why he imagined two men accompanying him, and if he were bolder, he’d imagine taking a bath with the Sword Witch!
But Ash still wanted to preserve their traces as much as possible.
Because... he’s the only one who remembers them now.
Closing the notebook, Ash lay on the bed, pondering.
He roughly understood what had happened: Hell, and everything within it, had erased its traces, even its past history was wrinkled up into oblivion.
The true victim was Hell, with Igula and Harvey suffering collateral damage. If they had failed to ascend, not entering Hell, the world might have preserved their traces.
They were the most fortunate because, not entering Hell, they were bounced back to reality. However... recalling the bizarre dream devoured by the serpent, Ash couldn’t see it merely as a stroke of luck.
And why was his memory the only one unaffected?
But the world’s eradication of Igula and Harvey was thorough. Even within Ash’s memory, the world’s feedback on them vanished. They were like phantasms forcefully inserted into memory fragments, unable to interfere with the world or be interfered with by the world.
Trying to prove they existed was difficult for Ash. Besides his own memories, the world had erased all traces of Igula and Harvey... right?
Ash slowly sat up, spread his palm, and a weak One-winged Technique Spirit appeared in his hand.
’Scales’ Technique Spirit.
The effect is to reflect other Technique Spirits’ effects.
Ash only used this Technique Spirit once, in Shattered Lake Prison. To force Igula into the escape plan, he actively seduced Igula and made a wish contract, then reflected the contract’s effect back, so they owed each other a wish.
Ash used this wish for Igula’s help in escaping, but Igula has yet to use his wish. In theory, the wish should have expired, as time has passed, and they’ve surpassed the One-winged level. The Scales Technique Spirit couldn’t possibly bind Ash now.
Yet, as long as Igula hasn’t used his wish, the Scales Technique Spirit should maintain a law-based connection with him.
Ash immersed his spirit into the Scales Technique Spirit, searching for all traces within, quickly finding a pale golden hair strand—
"Reminder: You have found a new clue, unlocking a new Void Realm exploration map."
Ash promptly opened Aurora’s Mage Manual - "Void Realm Exploration." Theoretically, they shouldn’t be able to explore Void Realm now, as Hell had vanished, and Ruby Mountain rejected them. Without joining Heavenly Kingdom, Demigods could only wander the earth.
But in the exploration interface, Ash saw an option everyone deemed non-existent: "Level Six of Hell"!
It wasn’t that his mind was faulty; the world was the issue!
At this moment, Ash finally felt a huge weight lifted from his heart. No one knew how stressful this was mentally, when everyone close to you declares you’re insane and your memories are false... More importantly, Ash didn’t want them worried. If he couldn’t prove himself right, Ash would rather investigate alone than drag them into the mire.
But now, he had a way to prove himself!
He chose to explore "Level Six of Hell," and when selecting team members, Ash found he could only select the ’Final Observer’ and ’Death Mad Sword Maiden.’ But that’s fine, as he could persuade Sonia tonight and maybe have a private rendezvous in Hell.
"Level Six of Hell," ’Final Observer’ and ’Death Mad Sword Maiden’... begin exploration!
Consciousness connected to the Void Realm, soul descending to Level Six of Hell.
Ash slowly opened his eyes, greeted by a vast land.
Not far above him, a land hung upside down, with inverted temple pillars, inverted giant trees, inverted rivers, and...
Inverted himself.
"Not a mirror."
Ash looked to the side where a girl in a mink coat, miniskirt, silk stockings boots, with a ruby longsword at her waist, stood beside him.
She crossed her arms, calmly explaining, "Dazzling Star stole this place’s Heavenly Curtain, so there’s no such thing as ’sky’. Jumping up is equivalent to falling to the ground. Initially, this place seemed interesting, but staying long enough only feels oppressive."
Ash stared blankly at her, "You..."
She took a cigarette from her coat, lit it, and inhaled deeply, turning half the cigarette to ash instantly.
She leisurely asked, "Do you still recognize me?"
"Of course." Ash looked at her, confidently saying, "You’re the first Death Mad Sword Maiden I know!"
"Just call me Death Mad. Sonia probably won’t follow my path... as long as you don’t fail her, don’t make her feel wronged or doubt herself."
Suddenly, she grabbed Ash’s hand and pressed the cigarette butt hard onto his palm. Ash gasped and quickly withdrew his hand.
"However, you probably won’t be able to."
Death Mad discarded the cigarette butt, coldly glancing at him:
"Because, we will replace you."
