Mage Manual

Void Realm’s seventh layer, Starsea.

At this moment, it can no longer be called Starsea. The starry sky, half-eroded by a kaleidoscopic tide, is no longer a simple combination of starlight and the cosmos but a vibrant Starsea filled with magnificent nebulae.

Nothing better reflects the juxtaposition of their magic realms. Previously, the height and breadth of the Dazzling Star far surpassed Ash, thus Void Realm’s seventh layer was firmly controlled by Dazzling Star, leaving Ash to paint only the edges with color. Now that the vibrant hues and Starsea are in an equilibrium, it signifies that Ash’s magic realm has caught up to the unparalleled first mage of ancient times, Dazzling Star!

However, Ash is catching up to Dazzling Star in more than just magic realms.

Within the absolute protection of the Silver Requiem, Ash’s twin swords crossed. In his vision, the swords divided the world into four sections.

With the Void Wings’ Source Power surging, the twin swords split into different colors in all directions.

The upper left area filled with the purple-red of resentment.

The upper right area overflowing with the murky black of madness.

The lower left area stained with the silver-white of determination.

The lower right area blurring into the violent ghostly purple.

Four-color: Zhouli!

As the twin swords fell simultaneously, the ultimate evil black sword light tore apart the burning, splendid sword light of Starsea. Space-time was warped by the extreme force into a slingshot, causing time and distance to lose meaning. The moment Ash swung down, the Zhouli sword light had already enveloped the silhouette of Dazzling Star!

Supreme Wonder: Supernova Nirvana!

Endless radiance tore through the black Zhouli sword light. Dazzling Star stood like an erupting supernova above the starlight. However, not a trace of joy showed on her face; instead, her gaze towards Ash revealed complex emotions: anger, unwillingness, and a hint of weakness, but ultimately, all these emotions converted into one question:

"Why can you establish bonds with so many people, borrowing their Void Wings? Clearly, you need mutual love to share the bond of Void Wings, yet you don’t even know those people, nor have they seen you, so how can they conquer the world in your name and thus help you steal the mages’ power?"

As Ash’s Void Wings gradually increased, Dazzling Star immediately used the gaps between fights to survey the conditions of earth and the Seven Heavens, quickly pinpointing the whereabouts of Freyja and the others, naturally understanding that their world-conquering process was Ash’s ceremony to steal mages’ powers.

But Dazzling Star couldn’t stop them. Ash chose to enter Void Realm’s seventh layer precisely to delay Dazzling Star’s actions with his strength alone.

Ash succeeded.

Although Dazzling Star initially thought slight growth in the Void Wings couldn’t impact the battle’s balance, as the vibrant hues spread through Starsea and Ash launched his counterattack, she finally had to admit that Ash had gathered countless mages’ woven colossal Void Wings that had grown to a level where they could compete with her.

But why? Isn’t the bond of Void Wings only shared by the closest partners? How did Ash become the cosmic ship shared by all mages?

"This is our six-day achievement," Ash said with a smile, "But tracing back to the origin, it was actually the inspiration you gave me, Dazzling Star."

"Me?"

"You said not everyone is like the Sword Maiden and others, requiring so much to establish deep emotional connections."

Ash’s twin swords painted circles, but this time not for himself, but for Dazzling Star.

As he drew circle after circle, the sword light ink stains locked onto Dazzling Star like contracting rings.

Though Dazzling Star immediately swung the Gamma Burst Sword, shattering all sword circles, both of them realized the flow of the battle had changed.

From the moment Ash counterattacked Dazzling Star, she could no longer suppress him.

Facing Ash, who was enriched by endless magic power, Dazzling Star had to meticulously calculate Source Power once losing the Void Wings’ advantage to avoid being whittled down in a war of attrition. Her only chance of victory now lay in maintaining a defensive posture with the lowest possible consumption, waiting for Ash to show a flaw or for the situation to change during combat...just like Ash moments ago.

The tide of offense and defense has changed!

Ash continued: "Your words made me realize the Bonds System had a critical contradiction – when Final Observer developed the Bonds Technique as the civilization’s Burial Lord, why did he set the trigger condition as ’requiring deep relationship between caster and recipient’?"

Even amid their frenzied confrontation, Dazzling Star didn’t cease to ponder: "Perhaps he only did so out of necessity, after all, it’s an unprecedented theft technique."

Ash shook his head: "No, you don’t understand the Observer, he’s my ultimate form, a sage who foresees hundreds of steps in advance. Even if he acted out of necessity, he’d minimize the trigger condition to an extreme. Since he set the Bonds Technique this way, it means for him, this condition is not hard to fulfill."

Though feeling contempt for Ash, the thought stirred doubt in Dazzling Star’s heart.

Forget Divine Lord, most demigods, after living hundreds of years, gradually close off their hearts, losing the ability to love. As a Final Observer from a distant future, although he is Ash’s isomorphic aberration, in Ash’s description, he and Ash have entirely different characters, having abandoned all lowly interests.

How could such a person easily establish deep relationships with recipients—

Dazzling Star’s pupils shrank abruptly, instinctively looking below.

Ash chuckled softly, "You’ve realized it too, haven’t you? Establishing deep relationships isn’t limited to ’love’, ’friendship’, or ’kinship’; loyalty is also a form of deep relationship."

"Moreover, once a deep bond is established, it can never be severed, meaning Final Observer only needs ’a moment of absolute loyalty’ to indiscriminately steal mages’ power! For someone of his supreme fate, achieving this condition is as easy as pie."

Ash sighed: "From the start, we misunderstood bonds; it doesn’t refer to the relationship between two people. It’s simply the literal meaning! Bondage and tie are the shackles ensnaring all beings!"

"Despite understanding the essence of the Bonds Technique, the technique remains unfinished. We spent six days in real-time, thirty days in the Heavenly Kingdom, barely relying on our understanding to perfect this technique’s architecture."

"For most mortals, a heavenly miracle beyond imagination is sufficient to elicit a moment of loyalty, hence the plan to have delegates conquer the world for me. But to trigger the Bonds Technique, I must be present; otherwise, the loyalty cannot be directed towards me."

This was also Dazzling Star’s most perplexing issue – clearly, Ash was in the Void Realm’s seventh layer, so how could he still bond with all beings across realms?

If Ash personally descended to earth to bond with beings, Dazzling Star would certainly detect and prevent him promptly. Without others substituting, it would have been impossible for Ash to have grown to this extent.

"We nearly stumbled at this hurdle, but the issue was resolved by my original Miracle."

Ash wore a faint smile, seeming to reminisce about an old friend: "Miracle: Severance."

"I severed the Supreme Void Wings’ feather, making it into an imprint to grant my companions. With them bearing my imprint, it’s akin to the Master of Void Realm descending."

It sounds simple, but to elevate the one-winged miracle ’Severance’ to the seven-winged wonder capable of severing the Supreme Void Wings’ feather, Ash, Sonia, and Weiser overcame countless magic hurdles, not daring to waste even a second, pouring all their focus into magic construction. To forge the feather into an imprint equivalent to Ash’s essence, the Witch Sisters and Ghost Prophet exhausted their lifelong knowledge. These six days felt akin to completing all their life work.

All questions were answered, leaving Dazzling Star without doubt.

Improved Bonds Technique, equivalent imprint of the essence, and the crude yet effective world conquest plan... Though they seemingly took only six days, behind them lay the Final Five’s thousand-year journey burying numerous world lines, merely extracting the treasure’s potential.

"Are you planning to use the Bonds Technique to unite all mages into a collective entity, so you won’t need to destroy the Void Realm? The mage concept will converge, you naturally become the sole mage, thus completely nullifying the World Snake."

This sentence from Dazzling Star was not a question but a statement. With her fate vision, she could obviously see Ash and other Bonders had already melded into a wholeness.

Ash nodded: "Yes."

Dazzling Star calmly asked: "But you also know that this is impossible to achieve."

Ash nodded again:

"Yes."