Mage Manual-Chapter 1466 - 1067: One Against a Thousand

The Second Hell is an oceanic hell; there is no earth, no sky, only endless blue ocean stretching up and down. Ash flies between seas, like walking under the precipice of a narrow sky, with only a narrow gap to escape bad luck.

But this gap in front of him has already been blocked by thousands of demigods.

A wall appears before Ash’s eyes, constructed from thunder, flames, frost, time, storms, necromancy—everything capable of destroying life. It’s not a real wall, just that the density of stacked wonders is so high that there’s no gap for air, like a heavy wall occupying all of Ash’s vision. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

If this wall had a name, it would be Death.

Logically, these wonders, each researched to the extreme, shouldn’t be able to merge, but rather should conflict, annihilate, and weaken each other. The stronger they are, the more pure, magic exists like mages, always living in the jungle of zero-sum games.

But the greatness of life lies in creating a balance that transcends everything. These demigod strongmen, who could knock each other’s brains out while alive, are perfectly harmonized at a node of harmonious coexistence under the balance of the Great Serpent’s stomach. What a beautiful miracle, even though the escape gap is blocked, Ash still can’t help but appreciate this great crystal of civilization and wisdom.

Not only in front, but in all directions—behind and to the sides—are blocked by wonders.

Ash finally feels the realness of being in hell, facing endless enemies, alone, living like a fly in a sterile room, with nowhere to belong either in heaven or earth.

Demon Form! Refraction Protection!

Soul Scream! Soul Reflection! Overturn! Soul pressure! Thunderbird Transformation!

These core trump cards relied upon by large organizations are all thrown out by Ash like ordinary attacks. Without the balancing capability of the Great Serpent’s stomach, these sequentially exploding wonders rub against each other, annihilate, and almost roar out in a screech. Like a desperate trapped beast, he hides neither fang nor claw; even if facing a tilting sky or raging waves, he tears at them until shattered!

The once peaceful Heavenly Kingdom of Souls suddenly becomes bustling, with almost all wonders operating overload concurrently, every Technique Spirit issuing wails of overtime. The Source Power in the Fifth Prison Wings boils turbulently, but as each Source Crystal breaks and shatters, Ash’s consumed Source Power is rapidly replenished!

It’s likely that since hell’s inception, there has never been a divine war of this grade. On one side is a dream army comprised of thousands of demigods; on the other, a newly ascended demigod with demigod Prison Wings, Divine Lord of Heavenly Kingdom, Supreme Tail Feather. As wonders clash against wonders, the sea seems to be explosively opened into an abyss, waves ten kilometers thick evaporating into a pale white mist, raising tsunami waves layer upon layer, with frenzied currents like thousands of beasts biting, chaotic colors blend into dirty blackness. If placed in reality, just the aftermath’s tsunami alone would be enough to destroy surrounding coastal cities.

Suddenly, two hundred Thunder Rain Demons kill from the white mist. Although they are slaughtered by demigods within a dozen breaths, they’ve successfully torn a small opening in this deadly jam, allowing Ash, hidden among the Rain Demons, to escape alive!

As the cost, the wonder "Rain Demon Nest" of the Heavenly Kingdom of Souls collapses loudly, scattering Technique Spirits everywhere. This is the characteristic of consumable wonders; once they exhaust all stored power, they automatically dissolve, and reconstructing them is extremely troublesome; for example, "Rain Demon Nest" requires at least a live sacrifice of a Rain Demon to construct, but all Rain Demons in hell have likely gone extinct.

Ash skims low across the ocean, his exhaled white mist causing sea waves to freeze into ice flowers, layers of frost rising on his body’s surface.

In his mind, various distorted hallucinations emerge, auditory illusions constantly interfering with his judgment, every mood fluctuation amplifying into towering waves sweeping through his thoughts... he escaped the death trap, but has not escaped the malice of demigods.

In the Divine Domain, there is no longer any Holy Domain defending everything. As long as you need to collect external information, demigod mages have ways to distort your vision, penetrate your eardrums, pollute your thinking. Every demigod has honed the art of killing to the extreme, sparing nothing.

"Left," said Death Mad.

Ash instantly enters Demon Form, transforming his hands into blades to greet the meteor charging from the left. It is a giant red dragon, whether it’s a Parasitic Mage or a Void Realm creature, it doesn’t matter to Ash; blades cleave through its claws like hot knives through butter, Sword Blade Storm erupts within it, slicing it to bloody bones, not letting it hinder him for a second!

However, blood itself is a weapon.

The drifting rain of blood transforms into chains, restraining Ash’s body. This red dragon turns out also to be a mage, and it’s an expert in parasitism and blood magic, a demigod... in the short breaths it takes Ash to break free of the chains, the first wave of attacks from behind has already caught up.

Countless brilliant fireworks blossom upon Ash, forcing him out of Demon Form again; the uses of Refraction Protection are instantly exhausted too, the Holy Domain barely supported by Source Power is soon to melt. Another batch of Source Crystals shatter to replenish Source Power, the large amount of Source Crystals Ash plundered in the First Hell is consumed by half in just minutes.

But he has no complaints; now he’s challenging an entire layer of hell alone, surviving is already a blessing... this is a war of his own.

"Below," said Death Mad, "Don’t defend, self-destruct."

Ash enters Demon Form for the third time; on the battlefield, a demon is the only appropriate attire.

A golden spear pierces from the depths of the deep sea below, wielded by a mage, a youth full of majesty. He’s wearing armor shining with flowing light, sword brows, starry eyes, stylishly coiffed, and Ash instantly judges he must be a ruling class demigod.

Not just because of his appearance, but because even without piercing Ash, Ash’s heart has already shattered. Fate first dictates the piercing of the heart, and then supplements it with the process.

Fate Miracle!

This demigod is unexpectedly the most powerful and rarest Fate Mage among the three mysterious factions!

Indeed, there is no need for defense, because any defense is meaningless. All barriers before the tip of fate’s spear are nothing but thin paper. Ash has no way to resist fate’s magic, and even evading it is futile.

The sound suddenly becomes distant, and Ash’s vision turns completely black, as if he is standing at the center of a pitch-black world. His body loses sensation starting from his fingertips, and his blood vessels freeze inch by inch... Fate is impatiently pulling him to the other side of the Death Veil.

Then die!

Ash’s chest bursts with sharp blades, shredding his own heart to pieces. With his heart prematurely torn apart, he naturally breaks free from the fate pierced by the tip of destiny’s spear, returning from the death veil!

This is the simplest way to fight against fate... Walk the path of fate, leaving fate with nowhere to go!

As the soul scream Ash emits from his throat resonates in the air, soul pressure quietly launches. Ash’s soul foundation is probably the most prominent among all demigods throughout history. The effectiveness of soul pressure is linearly related to the quality of the soul, and under the dual effects of scream and soul pressure, the fate demigod’s body freezes in midair, watching helplessly as he is beheaded by Ash with a single sword!

He must kill, as fate magic is a faction Ash cannot contend with. Other magic he can still resist through refraction and the Holy Domain, but a slight negligence with fate magic means certain death.

Moreover, he can no longer bear others playing with his destiny.

As Ash shreds the fate demigod, a second wave of attacks arrives as expected. He looks back, feeling as if he sees a colorful rainstorm, with rain pouring from all directions, ultimately merging into his eyes.

He grits his teeth and releases all wonders that can fend off attacks, but compared to the dazzling spectacle in the sky, his defense is as fragile as an umbrella in a rainstorm.

Bang!

All defenses instantly melt away, the demon form collapses, refraction protection is powerless, and the prison wings, exhausted to the extreme of source power, wither down. Ash decisively consumes source crystals to replenish, but while source power can be replenished, wonders cannot be maintained—within the Heavenly Kingdom of Souls, the wonder "Demon Form" is already precarious, using it one more time will inevitably cause it to disintegrate.

Any wonder cannot be used indefinitely because technique spirits have limits, and in the wonders, technique spirits exhaust their fatigue more easily. For example, mages working alone with technique spirits is akin to having technique spirits work overtime alone, while exhausting, it remains under their control; but mages using wonders is like having a large group of technique spirits perform complex tasks together. Technique spirits not only complete their own duties but also tasks distributed from other technique spirits, and under the dual squeeze, their energy soon depletes.

The limit of the wonder "Demon Form" is three uses, and after three uses, it must rest no matter what, but the situation no longer allows Ash any hesitation.

Several body technique demigods emerge again from the sea, Ash cannot let them ensnare him, or the third wave of strikes will be enough to bury his soul in hell!

With another soul scream, Ash transforms into a demon once more, wielding the sharp blades to slaughter through the demigod!

At the same time, the wonder "Demon Form" collapses with a roar, one exhausted technique spirit after another falls to the ground. The Substitute Technique Spirit suddenly appears at the collapse site, instructing healing-capable, radiant, warm and gentle technique spirits to care for the fatigued spirits, so they can quickly recover their spirits to continue being exploited by Ash, or else Ash would exploit other technique spirits later on.

Sword Blade Storm! Soul Reflection! Soul Pressure!

Ash wastes no time, immediately slashing a bloody path from the encirclement of body technique demigods, the splattering blood even failing to stain him. He realizes he must look quite handsome now, his appearance is a fierce demon, steamy blood blossoms around him, in the entire hell there’s no match for him... it’s practically like a classic fantasy epic.

"You’re finished," Death Mad calmly said.

Ash looks up and sees a ten-thousand-mile high wall raised by the sea. At this moment, the boundary between above and below becomes completely blurred, all light is obstructed by seawater, resembling both the sea below rising to the sky and the sea above returning to gravity.

As the sea water intertwines and surges, heaven and earth are connected, leaving no gap for Ash to escape. He watches helplessly as the pitch-black ocean engulfs him. Sometimes it’s like this, the world not only shuts its door on you but nails your window shut... because nobody wants you to survive.

Ash feels his entire body being crumbled by the sea water, his ribs making a crisp wail, the wound on his heart hasn’t healed yet, blood escapes under the cover of darkness. He sinks into the cold seawater, yet countless people are still thinking of him... The murderous danger from all directions feels as conspicuous as nails in his underwear.

Ash has always been reluctant to dive into the sea, not only because he’s not skilled in underwater combat but also because water magic demigods are almost unbeatable in such environments. If he guessed correctly, now in the Double Hell, all the demigods except him are adept at water magic.

There’s really no way.

Ash refused to sell out his soul, so knowing he can’t win, he still wants to try. As long as he can secure twenty seconds of escape, as long as he can drag on until the exploration time runs out, as long as... generally speaking, he often manages to create miracles at such times, like opening Aurora’s Mage Manual, it’s easy to draw an item that solves the current problem.

But not all miracles come free, at least this time, they’re planning to charge...