Sorcerer’s Handbook

Chapter 421: Sudden Downturn

Main City!

The headquarters of the Heroic Soul Legion, the most perilous and mysterious area of the Time Continent!

Even the Sword Princess couldn’t find a single mention of the Main City in her school. For the majority of spellcasters, encountering the Heroic Soul Legion is the extent of their abilities. Without killing a commander and obtaining a map, they would have no clue about the location of the Main City.

As for stumbling into the Main City area by accident—impossible. Both the Blood Tomb Map and the Star Shrine Map that Ashe possessed clearly indicated that the Main City area was patrolled by at least three legions, and the patrol legions were equipped with “flying” and “scouting” attributes. Any ordinary spellcaster who crossed the boundary would instantly die and be expelled back to reality. It’s a “try it and die” scenario.

Knowing the location of the Main City, Ashe’s team never had the urge to explore it. Firstly, exploring the Main City offered no guaranteed benefits apart from satisfying their curiosity. Secondly, the risks were absurdly high, not to mention they were still being hunted by the Heroic Soul Legion.

Exploring the Main City would be like voluntarily running into a fire with a gasoline can, trying to act as firefighters.

Wouldn’t it be better to steadily climb to the third level of the virtual realm? Wouldn’t it be more enjoyable to follow the map and search through the area? Why leave the comfort zone?

Thus, when Ashe realized he was in the unfamiliar Main City area, his feelings were akin to those of a terminally ill patient—”Why is this happening?”

Under normal circumstances, he would never venture into such a place. Even without a detailed map, he would immediately turn back upon seeing the Heroic Soul Legion ahead, just as one would seek shelter upon seeing storm clouds gather.

However, the Shopping Book’s random curse of “eye contact” made it difficult for him to focus on the virtual realm map. In any other situation, the “eye contact” curse would pose no threat at all to them. They could simply sit and stare at each other for an hour, and it might even increase their Bond Level.

Even in the worst case, encountering lethal danger would only lead them to death. During the curse, they couldn’t voluntarily exit the virtual realm, but once outside, the random curse would automatically end, effectively exchanging one death for a blessing.

But Ashe and his companions happened to be continuously hunted by the Heroic Soul Legion!

And they had reasons they couldn’t afford to die!

Unfortunately, the speed of the sports car was enough to break through the patrol defenses surrounding the Main City!

Ashe couldn’t tell if this was due to the bad luck from the “no toilet paper” curse, the Eternal Presence curse acting up again, or perhaps the Empress’s curse taking effect—of course, it wasn’t just a single-choice question—but with multiple coincidences aligning perfectly, Ashe managed to break into the unfamiliar Main City area unscathed!

However, the spellcasters were not excited by the “great sight” they witnessed; instead, an overwhelming sense of fear surged in their hearts.

“Roar!”

On the walls of the Giant Wood Barrier, several pitch-black dragons unfurled their Twin Wings and roared. The sound almost took on the form of tangible black lightning, spreading continuously through the space, even affecting the sports car at the edge of the area, causing ripples on the Refracting Wall!

As if triggered, Ashe’s spirit suddenly jumped out by itself, the dual-colored crystal hovering in the air emitting a blinding purple light, almost as if shouting at the dragons, ‘Come on! Dare to kill my master!’ And he couldn’t withdraw it, scaring Ashe into quickly tucking the spirit into his trench coat.

Spirits sometimes burst out on their own, most commonly when they’re hungry. But if they encounter something interesting, they might sneak out to “touch fish,” like when Ashe would play Spellcaster Duel 14 with Lise, the Heart Sword and Earth Sword would appear on his shoulder to watch.

“There’s actually a mature Evil-Eyed Shadow Dragon!” Sonya’s voice trembled. “Isn’t this an Upper-tier species from the Distant Sky Domain? How could it appear in the Time Continent?”

“A knowledge creature from the Distant Sky Domain?” Ashe was stunned. “So, that means…”

“It’s young form already has the power of a Sanctuary spellcaster, its growth stage can rival Sanctuary spellcasters, and a mature Evil-Eyed Shadow Dragon is one of the ‘Top Ten Deadly Calamities’ of the Distant Sky Domain!” Sonya tightly grasped Deya’s hand. “My professor… she once challenged an Evil-Eyed Shadow Dragon, and couldn’t enter the Virtual Realm for half a year afterward.”

Not a commander, not a troop type, but a single knowledge creature that the Main City kept, with the power to crush Sanctuary-level forces!

Only a fool would approach the Main City!

However, the relentless pursuit of the Heroic Soul Legion gave Ashe no choice at all!

The sports car roared nervously, speeding desperately on the peridot-green grassland, trying to circle around the perimeter! The air was filled with the fresh scent of green leaves, and the unobstructed grassland, free from any Rain Curtain, stretched out seamlessly before them. The beautiful young female operator glanced at him with expectant eyes. If not for the thunderous roars around them, this could have been a pleasant joyride.

“I can’t help it,” Ashe shrugged. “My Virtual Realm plan didn’t include breaking through the Main City as a minor objective.”

“So, what do we do?” Deya asked anxiously. “If this keeps up, we’ll definitely get surrounded… huh?”

Suddenly, Deya paused, adjusted her plain glasses, and then her hair turned completely white, and her outfit transformed into a silver-white dress armor.

“White Queen?”

“It’s me.” The White Queen nodded. “Sword Princess, I need to explain something first.”

Sonya, who had been staring at Ashe in thought, turned to look at her. “What is it?”

“The Observer cannot die,” the White Queen stated firmly. “In a few days, it’s Spider Tower’s turn. If he dies, we will definitely breach the Pact, and the soul summoning spirit will have to be handed over to the Empress. Without the soul summoning spirit, we can only hope for the Empress’s immense mercy—which is clearly wishful thinking. The Empress hasn’t even reclaimed her emotions yet; even if she had, she wouldn’t possess such feelings.”

Ashe didn’t argue. Even if he created several bottles of Scorching Soul Essence Elixir, it would never be enough to recover in just three days unless he could draw out a more powerful item. But he had just purchased the bad luck curse.

Although Ashe could use the Gospel Book to amplify his will and increase his winning probability, it would be akin to finding hand sanitizer when there’s no toilet paper. Rather than relying on a gamble, he might as well expect the ranking list to update tomorrow, immediately promoting him to Sanctuary level and rewarding him with several wives—that would actually solve all problems thoroughly.

In truth, after losing the soul summoning spirit, logically speaking, the Empress had no reason to continue hunting them. There were no benefits to be gained. But the Empress was not a species governed by logic. Moreover, leaving their fate in someone else’s hands was a foolish move. Ashe didn’t want anyone else to decide their fate, which is why he had escaped the Shattered Lake Prison.

“Having three people maintain eye contact is too restrictive,” the White Queen continued. “But with only two, it becomes much easier. We could even attempt to cross the Golden Flow.”

“But the curse is already in place,” Ashe pointed out. “Even if we wanted to break it, we…”

Ashe trailed off mid-sentence.

This curse could indeed be undone, and the method was exceptionally simple.

“Self-mutilating one’s eyes can break it,” the White Queen said. “However, since our spellcaster souls will automatically heal injuries, we must continuously damage our eyes to maintain blindness.”

“What’s more likely to happen is that the curse will prevent the healing to ensure the spellcaster doesn’t regain the ability to ‘see’ during the curse’s duration.”

The “eye contact” curse was quite interesting. At its core, it aimed to keep the spellcaster in a constant, unchanging state. When a spellcaster forcibly changes the state through self-mutilation, the curse’s principle remains the same—’maintaining eye contact’ will transform into ‘maintaining blindness.’

“If two people maintain eye contact while carrying a third blindfolded operator, we could regain some mobility,” Ashe contemplated. “If we can find a way across the Golden Flow, we might just escape this alive…”

Boom!

Fiery balls resembling meteors erupted into flaming lotuses on the Refracting Wall. The piercing screeches of flying creatures drowned out their voices as another contingent of the heroic soul legion emerged from the Rain Curtain outside the main city, blocking Ashe and his companions’ escape route once again!

Faced with such encirclement, the sports car had no choice but to veer towards the main city, but this was merely a stopgap measure. Their maneuvering space was shrinking rapidly, and at any moment, a commander from the main city could come out and claim them as a convenient delivery!

Just over half an hour ago, they had been elated over encountering the “Chaotic Shopping Book” special mechanism.

Half an hour later, the situation had sharply deteriorated. Although they were driving across vibrant grasslands, death was eagerly approaching them!

This impending demise would directly lead to losing the bet with the Empress. After losing the soul summoning spirit, their future lives would depend entirely on the Empress’s mood on that day.

Defeat was imminent, and survival seemed impossible!

“If this continues, we’ll become fodder for the knowledge creatures long before we reach the Golden Flow,” the White Queen said. “It’s time to make some tough decisions.”

“What do you mean?” Ashe asked.

“Arm the one who’s blind and have her stay behind to buy us some time,” the White Queen suggested calmly. “She might only delay them for a second, or she might successfully confuse the heroic soul legion. Either way, it’s better than sitting here waiting for death.”

“The benefits are too low!” Ashe retorted immediately. “And staying behind is certain death!”

“But this isn’t the Spider Tower. They aren’t the Empress. They won’t go out of their way to consume our souls. The soul of the one who stays behind will be heavily damaged, but at least they’ll have a chance at life,” the White Queen explained. “If we do nothing, we die for sure. At least this way, there’s a chance for some benefit.”

“That’s true,” Sonya suddenly agreed. “The Witch’s analysis makes sense. It’s the only option we have, so…”

“I’ll do it.” “I’ll do it.”

The White Queen was somewhat surprised. “Sword Princess, you’ve been teamed up with the Observer the longest. You work well together. If I stayed behind, I wouldn’t be able to utilize much strength with him. It should be you.”

“No,” the village girl shook her head. “Our combat power is insignificant compared to the heroic soul legion. If we end up fighting, it would be a futile struggle. But Witch, you have a sharper time ability. We managed to cross the Golden Flow last time thanks to your help. If we need to cross it again to escape, then it’s more appropriate for you to stay behind.”

“Sword Princess,” the White Queen said, “we volunteered to stay behind. You don’t need to feel any psychological burden or prove that we’re equals. During our last time travel across the Golden Flow, we already trusted you.”

“I’m not… okay, let’s not talk about you staying behind to be effective,” Sonya responded. “But as you said, I have to prove that we are equals! I usually take the most spoils of war and consume the most orbs. I’ve also been in the team longer than you. So at this moment, I have to bear more responsibility; otherwise, how can we be equals?”

“You saying you don’t mind doesn’t matter. You might not mind today, but what about tomorrow or the day after? I don’t want to test human nature because every test turns into an Abyss, becoming a monster. With others, taking advantage might be fine, but we have countless days and nights to spend together in the future. I can’t let you look down on me!”

“Sword Princess, your pride is too strong. I wouldn’t look down on you for this.”

“It’s not about pride; it’s just how I see things,” Sonya replied.