Sorcerer’s Handbook

Chapter 510: Beneath Gosdeya, Above All Beings!

“In other words, the cost of making a wish is the Gospel, and destroying the Gospel still grants an extra wish… we were so close, it’s really a pity.”

Listening to Ashe’s recount, Annan showed a disappointed expression, spreading her hands, “In the end, I still fell short, and my plans failed.”

Ashe noticed the desolation in her expression and suddenly remembered something: “Annan, you…”

“No worries, going all in means you have to accept the consequences.” Annan smiled, clapped her hands and said, “However, since the flute sound can maintain self-awareness, we don’t need to leave, right? That’s great. They say other Kingdoms aren’t as advanced in the Gospel as here. If we end up in a primitive forest with a tribal system, I can’t accept such a drastic drop in living standards.”

“Lise.” Ashe looked toward Deya, who was sitting on the throne, and seriously asked, “Do you have a way to lift the Gospel’s curse on the Dolan Family?”

“The Gospel’s curse on the Dolan Family?” Nona immediately reacted, and Qenna also looked at them, “What’s going on?”

Deya looked seriously at Annan, sensing the intense vibration in her soul, her expression slightly changed: “Indeed, the Gospel is filled with loathing for those with Dolan blood. If left unchecked, in a few years, the Gospel’s loathing will increase enough to affect the Gospel system, until the Dolan clansmen completely disappear before it stops interfering.”

This was the first time the Senhaeser sisters heard about this, and Nona was stunned. Being “loathed by the Gospel” was so beyond comprehension and terrifying that it left her in a stupor – can you imagine someone being loathed by the Sun, detested by Water, or avoided by Air?

Qenna suddenly stepped forward, kneeled before Deya, and respectfully asked, “How many points will it take to lessen the Gospel’s loathing for the Dolan?”

“Qenna!” Annan reached out to grab the Elf patriarch’s shoulder, trying to pull her up, “Is there any point in putting on an act in front of me?”

Qenna remained unmoved, as no mere two-wings sorcerer could possibly pull her away. She calmly said, “Now that the Weaving Festival is over, according to the Pact, you are no longer Annan Dolan, but Annan Senhaeser; henceforth, you must return to reside with the Senhaeser. The Six Heraldry will not abandon any clansman.”

“Family, family, always family!” Annan mocked, “Then end the Pact with me now, and I’ll still be Annan of Dolan, and you won’t have to waste Family resources on saving an outsider.”

Nona couldn’t help but say, “Xiao Annan, elder sister, can you both…”

As they began to argue, Deya hesitated initially, but seeing the mix of reluctance, compassion, and resolve in Ashe’s eyes, she immediately said, “I can suppress the Gospel’s loathing for Dolan, but I have one condition!”

Annan was startled and asked right away, “What condition?”

She had resolved herself to accept her fate – though she had the option to escape the Gospel, no Dolan patriarch before her had fled, nor would she. If she’d wanted to escape and survive at the expense of her dignity, she wouldn’t have lingered outside the virtual realm passage to capture Ashe and the others; she could have simply crossed over to another Kingdom.

Her foremost concern about running from the Gospel was that even if she reached another Kingdom, she would likely be hunted as an exotic land Vanguard, just like Ashe and the others faced upon arriving in the Kingdom of the Gospel. She might end up having an even shorter life than if she stayed in the Gospel.

However, beyond this, Annan’s willingness to rest eternally in the Gospel sprang from a profound sense of pride in it.

Some might wonder why someone so proud of the Gospel would go to great lengths to seize the Divine Sovereign’s Wish to destroy it. But Annan’s current resentment for the Gospel matched the pride she felt when she first encountered it. Though breaking the Family curse was her driving force, her lifelong dream was to dismantle the system and forge a new future.

Nearly every Gospel patriarch shared the same thought – it’s precisely their deep love for the Gospel that led them to the Blasphemy Gospel.

Thus, after the plan to assassinate the princess completely failed, Annan, her dreams shattered, was utterly despondent. Although later Gosdeya protected them and arranged for them to escape to other Kingdoms to avoid persecution, Annan would never have agreed to leave the Gospel if it weren’t for Banjeet and Ashe.

Now that Gosdeya could maintain her self-awareness and Ashe and Banjeet had no reason to leave, Annan wouldn’t dream of fleeing to another Kingdom alone to fend for herself. She’d rather enjoy the time she had left.

So, when Gosdeya said she could suppress the Gospel’s loathing and break Dolan’s curse, a new hope rekindled in Annan’s heart.

It wasn’t just the prospect of living on; it was seeing the possibility of her ideals coming true through Gosdeya!

“I want you to end your Pact with Ashe.” Deya glanced at Igor and Uncle Harvey, adding, “And with Aunt Bukin and Uncle Harvey as well.”

“No problem.”

Annan agreed instantly. With her reward, the “Tongue of Release,” as long as both sides of a Pact reached an agreement, it could be verbally dissolved. After ending the Pacts, she approached Deya and asked earnestly, “Can you really suppress the Gospel’s malice?”

Deya nodded, “Yes, the Gospel’s malice toward Dolan actually interferes with the functioning of the Gospel system. If I require the Gospel system to operate normally, it naturally won’t target the Dolan clan.”

“In addition to that, could you influence the Gospel system even further?” Annan’s eyes sparkled. “For instance, reducing the Gospel’s impact on individual lives, giving people more choices; dismantling the consortium families like Belldate, Six Heraldry, Mercury, and Cassiray-they’ve long needed oversight…”

“Annan, you troublemaker!”

“Annan, don’t forget you’re a Senhaeser clansman now!”

Qenna and Yvaren felt a chill, hastily interrupting Annan’s dangerous talk, citing how the Six Heraldry and Belldate were too big to fail.

It was then that Ashe and the others belatedly realized a crucial point-throughout the entire Yisuo Dynasty, and possibly since the birth of the Gospel system over a thousand years ago, a uniquely emotionally charged Empress had emerged.

Although she was willing to give up what might be her only chance to make a wish for the sake of all beings under the Gospel, it didn’t mean she was a completely fair and just saint. On the contrary, she was definitely someone with little temper tantrums, people she disliked, people she liked, and even a very emotional girl.

If the First Gospel used to be the merciless blade hanging over all beings, Gosdeya was the nightmare or opportunity within reach of everyone-if she disliked you, you might trip over a banana peel while walking; if she liked you, even if you fell, there’d be an unlucky person beneath you to cushion the fall!

Thunder and dew, all are the Empress’s grace!

Gosdeya’s command is the fate of all beings!

Even if she could only make the Gospel system shake out a speck of dust, for whoever it landed on, it would be a mountain!

No wonder Qenna and Yvaren were so nervous-if Gosdeya really took Annan’s words to heart and said, “It’s getting cold, the Six Heraldry/Belldate should go bankrupt,” no one could save them.

Thinking of this, Igor couldn’t help but glance at Ashe nearby. If Gosdeya was the supreme Empress of the Gospel, Ashe was at least the most powerful court official, even more dangerous to offend than Gosdeya-after all, Gosdeya couldn’t leave the Royal Palace, but Ashe was a walking calamity who could go anywhere.

He was truly ‘Beneath Gosdeya, above all beings’!

Compared to the Doomsday disaster, Ashe was now the true “Source of Calamity.”

Anyone who crossed him would experience what it’s like to be “against the entire Gospel.”

However, Ashe seemed oblivious to his rising status. He greeted Harvey and asked curiously, “Why do you look like you’ve lost weight?”

“Dieting,” Harvey joked. “I transferred the weight to someone else.”

Igor turned pale at the comment, while Ashe was puzzled, but his attention soon shifted to the baby carriage in front of him.

He squatted down to look at the blue-haired baby inside and asked hesitantly, “Is this Banjeet? Why is he so small this time? Last time he could at least walk, now… can he even roll over by himself?”

“He overused his Miracle.”

Annan walked over and squatted beside him, saying, “It’s my first time seeing Banjeet in his old age… After the Melt Miracle was over, he turned into this… and it’s my first time seeing Banjeet as a baby.”

“How long will it take for him to recover this time?” Ashe asked. “Last time, Little Banjeet took two days to return to normal. This time, is it going to take a week?”

“It will take seventeen years.”

“Seventeen… years?” Ashe was stunned, thinking he must have misheard the time frame.

“He completely Melted himself,” Annan said as she reached out to play with Little Banjeet, who grasped Annan’s finger and made cooing sounds. “He can’t recover anymore; he has to go through infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood all over again.”

“What about his memories?”

“They might come back, but a lot will definitely be lost.” Annan shrugged. “There’ll be many things that feel familiar to him when he encounters people, places, or objects from the past.”

As Ashe and Little Banjeet stared at each other, Ashe suddenly laughed. “So it’s your turn to take care of him this time.”

“Yes, Dolan owes Banjeet a lot.” Annan carefully picked up Little Banjeet. “I was worried about how to take care of him in another Kingdom, but now that we can stay, at least he has a stable environment to grow up in.”

Little Banjeet struggled to get out of Annan’s arms, making Ashe chuckle. He took Little Banjeet and positioned him horizontally on his arm. Little Banjeet immediately stopped squirming, his legs dangling over Ashe’s arm as he curiously looked around.

“Huh?” Annan blinked. “Can you hold him like that? Won’t he fall?”

“This is called the airplane hold. It’s quite stable and can effectively soothe colicky crying.”

“Why are you so skilled at this?”

Recalling how he used to help care for his crying nephew at home, Ashe gave a knowing smile. “I’ve taken care of children before.”

As Annan watched Ashe care for Little Banjeet, the usually proactive and decisive girl suddenly became shy, stammering, “Now that the Weaving Festival is over, and, well, I’m not very good at taking care of babies, Ashe, can you-“

Suddenly, Ashe’s Gospel Book popped open on its own, emitting a faint green glow.

Everyone was startled, thinking the Weaving Festival hadn’t ended. However, they quickly noticed their own Gospel Books remained inactive.