The Sorcerer's Handbook

Cliose murmured, "The Four Pillars Cult..."

Nearby, Quinna and Annan raised their brows, while many of the other sorcerers simply looked confused.

High-ranking sorcerers who had served within the Red Hats were well-acquainted with the organization, and intelligence agencies knew a fair bit as well. But to the vast majority of sorcerers, this mysterious cult was completely unknown, mainly because they had always fared poorly within the Gospel Kingdom.

This was nothing new. It had always been this way. Only during times of civil war or dynastic upheaval could the Cult briefly rise to prominence, before being swiftly suppressed the moment order was restored.

The reason for their failure was simple. The omnipresent Gospel system was a natural counter to such secretive organizations. Even if the Gospel did not deliberately expose the Cult's secrets, the Red Hats needed only to utilize the system during their investigations to eventually uproot the organization entirely.

To the Gospel Kingdom, the Four Pillars Cult, the Abyss, the Virtual Channels, and the various foreign intelligence agencies were collectively known as the Four Plagues, persistent nuisances that could never be fully eradicated, yet posed no real threat. As a result, no one paid them much mind.

But they would soon come to understand that the Cult's failure within the Gospel Kingdom was not merely a consequence of history. It was also closely tied to the sheer incompetence of its leader.

In an underground hall, the leader of the Four Pillars Cult, known as the Rusty Crow, sat upon a throne seemingly woven from iron crow feathers, looking down upon countless kneeling followers clad in black robes.

His voice was ethereal, a chilling chorus of young and old, male and female, yet it possessed a transfixing magnetism that resonated deep within the ear. "From this day forward, you are all Rusty Crows. You are my eyes, my tongue, my ears... You are my senses. You will infiltrate every shadow of this nation."

Deep within the sewers, the sea witches hidden inside a sunken Mermaid Palace performed dark rituals to the heretical Four Pillars.

"You will step into every hall of this nation."

In a resplendent banquet hall, elegantly dressed figures raised their right hands, revealing pristine white gloves as they exchanged knowing smiles.

"You will become a pillar for the righteous."

Amidst war-torn cities, sorcerers rescued civilians from the rubble. Every child they saved received a single black crow feather, a token that soon became the source of their courage.

"You will become a savior to the wicked."

As vault doors were blasted open, mobs surged in to loot gold and spirits, gazing with admiration at the white-gloved sorcerer before them, captivated by a more refined, more brutal form of violence.

"And then, you will amplify their desires, and grant them whatever they seek. For the one obsessed with the family name, let her know how to be crowned."

In the office, Annan looked down at the invitation in her hands.

"For the one yearning for power, let him know how to inherit wisdom."

In the training grounds, a sweat-drenched Juventis wanted to tear the slip of paper in his hands to pieces multiple times, but the paper, as thin as a cicada's wing, remained as unyielding as a mountain.

"For the lonely and isolated, let him know how to find understanding."

...

"For the one chasing fame and splendor, let him know how to forge glory.

"And for the one devoid of heart and thought, let her know how to master the fundamentals."

***

By this point, everyone, be it the minor figures captured in the footage or the mere onlookers viewing it from a safe distance, felt a deep chill creep into their hearts.

What stood before them was no fringe organization waiting to be eradicated by the Red Hats. This was a deeply rooted, nationwide cult.

They commanded the largest intelligence network in the underworld, the Mermaid Palace. They had infiltrated the top ten financial organizations of the Gospel Kingdom. They boasted fanatical supporters among the common folk, and ruthless criminals who worshiped them like idols.

Most terrifying of all was their uncanny ability to perceive the weaknesses of human nature and excavate its darkest depths. Even Sacred Realm sorcerers were reduced to mere pawns on their chessboard.

In truth, those who topped the Schemer Rankings were just like Juventus. They all knew that if they actually obtained the ritual knowledge Rusty Crow granted, they would inevitably carry out the exact schemes foretold in the future rankings. They simply could not resist the temptation. That absolute lack of restraint was precisely what made it a weakness.

And now, a grim realization dawned on the observers. The nine previous schemes were merely preludes to the first.

They might have been the masterminds behind their own individual plots, but beyond those schemes lay an even grander, more sinister trap.

Amidst the suffocating silence, an indescribable fear ignited in the heart of every onlooker. What, exactly, does Rusty Crow want? He had engineered such a vast organization, manipulated so many powerful sorcerers, and orchestrated so many intricate schemes. What hidden, ultimate purpose could possibly justify it all?

***

Rusty Crow turned in his throne. Behind him hung a massive map of the Gospel Kingdom. The land stretched long from north to south, narrow from east to west, and after more than a thousand years of development, nearly every region was now inhabited.

He took out a notebook, its pages filled with the profiles of various sorcerers.

"Crown."

He pinned Annan's photo onto the northernmost city on the map.

"Wisdom."

Juventus' photo was affixed to a city in the upper right.

"Foundation."

Evelyn's photo was affixed to a city in the lower-middle region of the Gospel Kingdom.

By the time Rusty Crow connected the photos with lines, an inverted tree pattern gradually emerged across the map.

***

At that moment, everyone finally understood the truth behind the number one scheme.

Rein muttered under his breath, "What a maniac..."

Indeed, Rusty Crow was a true maniac. He had not only manipulated multiple Sacred Realm sorcerers, but every one of their individual schemes was merely a fragment of a greater ritual, one that would engulf the entire Gospel Kingdom.

No wonder all the schemes were set for the same day. They even suspected that the preceding nine schemes were timed to occur within a single hour of one another, all to ensure the final ritual could be activated flawlessly.

Rein and the others found themselves unable to muster much anger. What they felt instead was pure disbelief.

If we had noticed something wrong through the Gospel... If any single link in this chain of schemes had failed... If...

To put it bluntly, failure should have been the norm. Success itself was a miracle. They could not begin to fathom how much preparation Rusty Crow had done in advance just to precisely orchestrate the first nine schemes. The sheer scale of it was enough to drive one to despair just thinking about it.

The number one scheme truly deserved its rank.

However, the inverted tree pattern had ten nodes. The first nine schemes each corresponded to one, which meant Rusty Crow would personally handle the final node.

And that final node was located in the southern city of Azura.

Rusty Crow stood at the lowest level of an inverted skyscraper, gazing down upon the sprawling steel forest below. Suddenly, a single firework shot into the sky, triggering a chain reaction of explosions across the entire city layer. Sparks traced a circular path through the air, carving out a massive ring at the city's heart.

***

As the space within the ring tore open into a gray chaos, the onlookers' expressions turned to sheer horror, for they all recognized it. Not only did they recognize it, but it was a place they entered every single night.

"How can there be a Gate of Truth this massive?!" one sorcerer cried out.

"Wait... If something from reality comes into contact with the Gate of Truth..."

"In theory, no physical substance can pass through it, but in this situation..."

***

When the colossal Gate of Truth fully formed, Rusty Crow seemed to receive a signal. Without hesitation, he shattered the floor-to-ceiling glass and leapt straight toward it.

"Crown."

Denzel, who had just descended into reality, suddenly found herself torn from Annan's body. Her soul ignited rapidly, dissolving into a trail of smoke that surged southward.

"Wisdom."

The diamond-shaped blood sigil that Juventus had forged through the slaughter of his kin lifted from the earth, streaking toward the south.

"Understanding. Compassion. Severity. Beauty. Victory. Glory. Foundation."

As the perspective rose high above the Gospel Kingdom, the inverted tree pattern came into blinding focus. Ritual energies from every corner of the land converged, flowing relentlessly toward Azura.

"And finally..." Rusty Crow bit through his fingertip, letting his blood drip into the Gate of Truth. "The Kingdom."

Boom!

A radiant curtain of aurora rose across the entire Gospel Kingdom. The Mermaid Palace, the financial conglomerates, the Red Hats, the criminal syndicates... Unbeknownst to all, the Four Pillars Cult had already consumed the entire nation from within. At their leader's command, the collective life force of billions flowed along the lines of the inverted tree, converging upon its final destination, the Kingdom.

Thus was a grand deception woven through countless sorcerers; thus was a monument built upon a billion stolen lives!

The Gate of Truth suddenly imploded into a single point, annihilating an entire layer of Azura in an instant and leaving behind an enormous circular crater.

After a brief incubation, the collapsed Gate compressed into blinding threads of light and electricity. It was as if tens of thousands of unseen hands were weaving simultaneously, first forming heels, then knees, then a waist... until even the final strand of hair was perfectly spun.

A figure stepped lightly onto the crystallized earth. He glanced down at his naked body, then reached back into the dying light of the Gate of Truth with his right hand, pulling out a dark red coat to drape over himself.

He lifted his head and looked up at Rusty Crow, who stood waiting at the edge of the crater.

The night was clear, the stars dazzling. Cosmic constellations spread across the sky, their countless lights greeting the newborn.

The man raised his hand toward Rusty Crow, smiled warmly, and said, "Good morning, Iger."

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