Mage Manual

"The ’Eight’ have all fallen. All life originates from the intellect left by the ’Eighth’, thus leading to the birth of mages."

"We are the pillars supporting the world, yet we are also thieves who rob the Void Realm. If we count the golden fish and White Bull as fallen pillar gods, then we mages are essentially the eighth pillar god."

"Devouring the World Snake is the supreme magic’s path to the eight wings, a coercive process that gathers all creation authority, akin to when we roam the Sea of Knowledge and the white mist flows into us, extracting silver magic power... Only this time the method of ’flowing in’ is no longer gentle, and may even turn into a beastly flood dragging everything into the dark deep sea."

"Just as stars evolve into black holes, this world will eventually be swallowed by a black hole, with the only question being who the black hole is."

"The ’gravity’ of supreme magic is destined to continually trigger the rebirth of the World Snake. To completely solve the World Snake issue, the Drama Poet’s method is to extinguish all life, achieve the unity of mages, and with a sole mage rule the Void Realm, reaching the end of eight-winged magic."

Inside the palace of the Sky Garden, in the Sword Maiden’s bedchamber, the most nefarious forces of the Seven Heavens gather to listen to Ashe recount the events of the seven layers of the Void Realm.

Incidentally, there is a bedchamber for the Sword Maiden, the Witch, the Silver Lamp, and even the Demon, yet there isn’t a room for Ashe himself, though he evidently doesn’t need his own room.

All curtains are drawn, counter reconnaissance and prophecy miracle fully arranged, leaving no doubt that this is an unprecedentedly important meeting. Yet the actual atmosphere is not as tense: Sonia sits next to Ashe, thinking very hard about the intelligence, but her hands unconsciously pinch and poke at Ashe; the witch listens intently while incessantly shoving teddy bear cookies into her mouth, having been eating for days without finishing them, it’s unclear how many cubic meters of teddy bear cookies she brought to the Seven Heavens; sitting across from them, Silver Lamp maintains a serious demeanor, though her foot wrapped in white silk continuously traces up and down Ashe’s calf; Vishi is rather peculiar, biting Ashe’s finger and glaring at him fiercely, like an angered cat with ruffled fur.

Upon reflection, it’s not surprising, just as on the first day returning to school after a summer vacation, everyone indulges in the holiday aftermath, their minds filled with memories of carefree antics during the break, unable to gear up.

It’s no wonder the Sword Maiden and the others subconsciously want to act spoiled, even Ashe felt odd in his clothes upon entering the room.

But they could only enjoy a few days of tranquility before it abruptly ended today. It seems like a cruel joke played by fate, where happiness is easily within reach for ordinary people, yet the stronger they are, the further away it feels.

"Hold up," Diya said, munching on a teddy bear cookie, breaking the chocolate shell to reveal the milky center: "Ashe, didn’t you already kill a World Snake in hell? Why is there another one now?"

"To be precise, there are two."

Ashe replied, "One from me, and one from the Dazzling Star. The Uroboros I previously exterminated with Death Mad and the others belonged to the Apocalypse World Line, it was ’their world’s snake’, now it’s ’our world’s snake’."

"Feels like we’ve worked for nothing." Diya grumbled, "You barely won the Hell War, and we just managed to pull you out. I thought we had fought all the wars to fight, walked all the roads to walk, done everything there was to do, and the most left was just playful tussles with Dazzling Star, followed by the fairytale outcome where ’the protagonists live a happy life’... Yet nothing has changed."

"Ignorant happiness versus painful awareness has always been an important topic in philosophy." Weiser commented lightheartedly: "The initial unlucky ones were not us, but the Dazzling Star and other Divine Lords. It’s only because Ashe brought us to this position that we experienced the greatest pressure. If we were still legendary mages right now, we could immerse in accessible happiness, living carefree days, maybe even Vishi would have kids by now."

Vishi shot Weiser a glare but quickly resumed her angry stare at Ashe, biting down hard on his finger.

"Our enemies aren’t just the World Snake, but also the Dazzling Star, right?" Sonia aligned her hand with Ashe’s palm, asking: "Even without the snake, just the eight wings would be enough for her to be resolute."

"Indeed." Ashe clasped the Sword Maiden’s hand, interlocking their fingers tightly: "She will destroy the Void Realm in seven days, extinguishing all life to become the sole mage through the ages, and perhaps even an eight-winged mage."

"You couldn’t defeat her?"

"I cannot defeat her," Ashe paused in silence before reluctantly expressing: "She can utilize my Void Wings."

He prepared for questioning or even rebuke, but after waiting for a moment the room remained silent. He uneasily raised his head, seeing Sonia and the others with complex expressions, but their eyes without exception revealed... a hint of admiration?

Vishi was too stunned to continue her anger, released her bite, "Seriously, even the Dazzling Star can’t escape your clutches?"

"Trash can..."

"Male Meiwa..."

"Ashe, you stayed in the seventh layer of Void Realm for almost a day," Sonia inquired softly: "So you two—"

"No way!" Ashe hurriedly mentioned the special relationship between Filly and Dazzling Star: "Only Filly can borrow my Void Wings, I can’t borrow Dazzling Star’s Void Wings at all, so I have nothing to do with the Dazzling Star, only with Filly—"