Sorcerer’s Handbook

Virtual Realm, Time Continent, Spider Tower Area

It was not currently Spider Tower’s turn, and the entire area was shrouded in a black-and-white static domain. Except for the knowledge creatures that continued to reproduce and thrive, the three castles surrounded by multiple layers of defenses were operating day and night. The knowledge creatures, loaded with “job types,” transformed into humans, sat at their desks, buried in writing, and answered inquiries from reality. As each query was resolved, countless amounts of soul power converged at the core structure of the castle: the spiderweb.

At this moment, Danzel, loaded with a job type, was wearing a short vest and skirt with high heels, sitting cross-legged on her former throne, boredly flipping through the various questions emerging from the books.

Commanders could accumulate merit through work. Since idleness was not an option, most commanders would take on job types during the static domain period. The work at Spider Tower was very simple; answering questions did not require the staff to think. In fact, when they read the questions, the answers would pop directly into their minds, and they would just write them down.

It seemed a bit superfluous, but it was necessary-no matter how great the Divine Intervention, it was merely a set of unchanging “rules.” It had to rely on the variable “intellect” to provide precise feedback tailored to individuals.

However, commanders with some emotional range, like Danzel, found this work too boring. She walked to the window and looked up at the spiderweb that covered the entire gray sky.

To say it was a spiderweb was somewhat misleading: it had no visible web holes. Or rather, the holes were so few and far between that they were almost invisible. From below, it looked like a white curtain covering the sky.

But Danzel, upon careful inspection, could still see that there were seven web holes in the central area. When these seven holes were all filled, the Great Appointment of the Six Nations would officially begin.

However, the last ten holes that needed to be filled would almost always break open on their own. If they were lucky and only one broke, Spider Tower could secure a top position. If unlucky, and seven or eight broke, the Great Appointment of the Six Nations would only rank them at the bottom.

Just then, Danzel noticed the spiderweb tremble slightly, and countless threads began to weave, gradually filling the seventh hole. She looked down at the book in her hand and turned to the page of the ranking list—Spider Tower commanders could actually obtain real-world intelligence, but almost no one was interested, and even Danzel, who had regained her emotions, felt the same way.

Compared to the decades in reality, Danzel had fought for hundreds of years in the Time Continent to retrieve her soul fragments. The vast length and depth of the latter completely diluted the former, making it impossible for her to feel any attachment to reality.

This might also be one of the reasons why the Six Nations War and the commanders’ legions took place in the Time Continent: the lifespan of two-wings sorcerers was too short. The Divine Sovereign did not need to pay special attention; just the long passage of time was enough to integrate the commanders with the Time Continent.

“The Ranking of Schemes…” Danzel showed some interest. This was a title she liked. For the previous two holes, she hadn’t even bothered to glance at them, feeling it was a waste of time.

“Ranking of Schemes No. 10: Danzel’s Crown Descension Ritual”

“Synopsis: The ancestor of the Dolan Family, Danzel Dolan, possesses the authority to gaze into infinite futures. To obtain this authority, on April 10, 1678, Annan decided to initiate the crown descension ritual at the cost of countless treasures of gold and silver.”

“Mastermind: Annan Dolan”

“…Huh?” Danzel showed a hint of confusion on her face:

“I have… descendants?”

At the Belldate Manor, when the tenth place on the Ranking of Schemes was revealed, everyone looked at the tattered Purple Moth beaten by her mother, their eyes filled with various desires.

The Dolan Family… the authority to gaze into infinite futures… the crown descension ritual!

But when Qenna grasped the handle of her gun, everyone chose to give Senhaeser some face and continued watching the ranking list.

“”Miss, this time we will truly offend all factions.””

The scene showed Banjeet, still the gentle blue-haired young butler, while Annan had become much more mature. She wore an off-shoulder purple gown, looking increasingly dazzling, glamorous, and alluring. They seemed to be standing on the second floor of a banquet hall, overlooking the guests below.

“It’s okay,” Annan shrugged, “Soon, there will only be a couple of small factions left here. If we offend them, so be it. I’ve gone through a lot to trick them into coming here; we can’t back down now.”

“You’d better worry about whether the ritual provided by the Rust Crow will succeed. Danzel is our best hope; only she can lead us to conquer the future!”

The audience held their breath, barely daring to blink. Although they didn’t know who Danzel Dolan was, they understood what summoning an ancestor in a ritual meant.

Resurrection of the dead!

Revival!

This was a great domain that only the Divine Sovereign could touch!

Anything related to resurrection was essentially considered a ‘Divine Intervention’!

Moreover, if someone as down-and-out as Annan could perform such a ritual, how could the great families not be able to?

Even knowing the details of this ‘crown descension ritual’ would be an invaluable treasure!

As if aware of everyone’s thoughts, the Gospel Book maliciously skipped this part of the plot and jumped straight to the end of the ritual!

Annan stood in the empty hall, with all the guests lying on the ground, their fate uncertain. Banjeet looked at his mistress and, for some reason, took a step back.

“What are you afraid of, Banjeet?” Annan turned to look at the butler, slightly raising her proud neck. Her stunning appearance did nothing to diminish her overwhelming aura.

“…Danzel?” Banjeet’s gaze was intensely focused, like a needle piercing the unknown creature before him. “What happened to Miss Annan!?”

“She’s asleep. Didn’t she say goodnight to you?”

“Hand over the miss!” Banjeet gripped his handgun tightly but did not draw it.

“That won’t do,” Danzel said leisurely. “Since you pulled me back from the Virtual Realm, let me enjoy the pleasures of being alive. In the meantime, you’ll take care of my daily needs. Don’t worry, I’ll fulfill your requests—if I feel like it.”

“Now then, Banjeet, my first command.”

“Kill everyone here.”

As a splash of blood hit the screen, the footage of the tenth place on the Ranking of Schemes ended.

In the next second, everyone turned to look at Annan, especially Mercury, whose presence felt as piercing as a needle, locking onto the figure of the Purple Moth.

“There was someone in that banquet hall who is my brother,” he said in a deep voice.

“Oh,” Qenna said calmly, “Then he’s lucky to have escaped becoming a Shadow Spirit.”

Mercury suddenly deflated. Qenna was right; his family’s future would inevitably be turned into Shadow Spirits by Harvey. Compared to that, dying a quick death at Annan’s hands might be a better fate.

Moreover, it was clear that Annan’s Scheme took place before the Family Ranking—after all, in the Family Ranking, Mercury’s family had already become Necromancers.

But this didn’t stop him from glaring fiercely at Annan and saying coldly, “She must hand over the crown descension ritual, Senhaeser. You can’t keep this to yourself!”

Before Qenna could respond, Annan shook her head immediately. “That ritual is something I obtain in the future. I don’t know anything about it right now!”

“Who is the Rust Crow?” Cleos suddenly asked. “In the footage, you clearly said the ritual was given to you by him.”

Annan continued to shake her head. “I don’t know this person yet. I don’t know.”

“You don’t know this, you don’t know that…” Kaesrei said, “But you must know about the Dolan Family’s heritage, right? What is the authority to gaze into infinite futures?”

Faced with the aggressive sorcerers from the Sanctuary, Annan bowed her head directly, avoiding their gaze, and pulled on Ashe’s sleeve, hiding behind him. Ashe didn’t back down at all, pulling her openly to hide behind his aunt, Nona, like a child seeking a parent’s protection.

Nona wasn’t surprised by their closeness. Annan’s only relative since childhood had been her, and her only friend was Banjeet. As for Ashe… Nona glanced at her sister, who winked mischievously, as if to say, “Enjoy.”

Nona ignored her sister, turning to Annan and Ashe and whispering, “Hold onto my waist. If necessary, I’ll fly you both out of here.”

Ashe blinked and glanced at Nona’s slender waist. Just as he was about to reach out, Annan slapped his hand away.

At this moment, Lise seemed to sense that her dad was about to be taken away by another woman, so she quickly pulled little Banjeet over. Little Banjeet was only wearing an oversized shirt and tripped halfway, falling flat on his face. The blue-haired boy didn’t cry but bit his lip and pouted with tears in his eyes.

Ashe took Lise’s hand and couldn’t help but say, “How come you’ve been on the list more times than we have, young lady? Are you also from out of town?”

Annan crouched down to wipe little Banjeet’s tears and said irritably, “Do you think I want this? It’s not even the Beauty Ranking; it’s the Ranking of Schemes. Now my reputation is as bad as yours!”

It was true.

According to the synopsis of the ranking list, Annan’s Scheme this time was supposed to be just for the sake of money. But after the ritual summoned ‘Danzel’ and she possessed Annan, the crazed ‘Danzel’ slaughtered all the guests present. Both the money and the lives were gone, and the powerful families featured in the footage would surely hate Annan to death.

More importantly, unlike Ashe and Harvey, Annan was a bona fide local, making the Weaving Festival’s prophecy about her trustworthy!

Additionally, since no outsiders appeared in the footage, it ruled out the possibility of the prophecy being contaminated. This meant that unless something unexpected happened, the plot of “Annan holds the crown descension ritual to seize wealth and massacre everyone” was bound to occur!

Even if Qenna could protect Annan now, other families would undoubtedly send countless assassins to Vamora to kill the Purple Moth!

Moreover, whether Qenna could protect Annan was now uncertain. Annan’s two appearances on the Weaving Festival highlighted Gospel’s significant interest in her. Coupled with the crown descension ritual and the Dolan Family heritage, her overall value in everyone’s eyes had already subtly surpassed Ashe, second only to Harvey!

“Annan Dolan has received the reward ‘Guilty Crown.’”

“Guilty Crown: When you wear this crown, your crimes will not be recorded by Gospel, and those who die because of you will be considered victims of natural disasters.”

Annan stared blankly at the crown in her hand, feeling despised by Gospel—if she were to commit a crime, would it even violate Criminal Law!?

Ashe leaned in and asked, “Empress Annan, should we test it by killing someone?”

“No need to go that far. As long as it’s a crime, hurting someone is fine too.” Annan glanced at him. “Stick out your tongue and let me bite it to see if Gospel Book would consider it intentional harm.”

Lise looked enviously at the gem-encrusted crown. Annan noticed her gaze and asked, “Lise, do you want it?”

“Uh-huh!”

“Then what should you say?”

“Thank you, Aunt Annan!”

Annan elbowed Ashe in the waist. Ashe quickly shook his head—it wasn’t him who taught her that!

If it were me, she’d be calling you ‘Old Hag Annan!’

“That’s not right, Lise. Think again?”

Lise hesitated, her gaze darting between Annan and Ashe for a long while, but ultimately, she couldn’t resist the crown’s allure. “Thank you… Mama Annan?”

“Still wrong.” Annan sighed but placed the crown on Lise’s head anyway.

Little Banjeet tilted his head, then suddenly jumped up happily. “Empress Lise!”

Just then, the Gospel Book emitted a bright light, updating another ranking.

“Ranking of Schemes – No. 9: Kross’s Wisdom Reawakening Ritual”

“Synopsis: Kross Kaesrei, an ancestor of the Kaesrei Family, was a legendary sorcerer who specialized in the Fate Sect. To obtain the wisdom of their ancestor, on April 10, 1678, Zuvendas decided to murder another Sanctuary sorcerer from the Kaesrei Family and 100 ordinary Kaesrei clansmen as sacrificial offerings to perform the Wisdom Reawakening Ritual.”

“Mastermind: Zuvendas Kaesrei”

Suddenly, the sorcerer team across from them scattered, leaving only one Sanctuary sorcerer standing there dumbfounded. Ashe asked in surprise, “What’s going on?”

“He is Zuvendas Kaesrei,” Nona replied.

Is this the joy of checking the ranking list together—finally getting to see the gossip about our enemy!