Sorcerer’s Handbook

Chapter 185: You Hurt Me

Selina didn’t care that Red Cap had eradicated her stronghold.

As ‘Tactile,’ the word ‘failure’ did not exist in her dictionary, only ‘delayed success.’

All resistance would become welcoming, all distancing would become approaching, and all death would become reunion.

It was like a story whose ending had been written long ago; no matter how the plot twisted and turned, the final chapter would inevitably arrive on schedule.

The only thing that mattered to her was Ashe Heath.

The lack of response from the Four Pillars Cult to her sacrifice was enough to indicate the significance of this man.

Interestingly, the Four Pillars Cult also failed to respond to his sacrifice.

To others, the sight of Ashe sacrificing the followers of the Four Pillars Cult may have seemed like a ludicrous and desperate last act, but Selina didn’t see it that way.

If she had not been presiding over the ritual, if she had not been in the underground hall, if she had not been part of the declaration of sacrifice made by Ashe, perhaps he would have succeeded—if only one of these had been different.

The Four Pillars Cult’s reluctance to sacrifice Ashe meant that his words were significant enough to garner their attention. Based on her experience, the Four Pillars Cult rarely took notice of beings in this world, with the sole exception being ‘Tactile.’

Although she didn’t know how Ashe, as ‘Tactile,’ had ended up in such dire straits, his status meant that the Four Pillars Cult would likely satisfy some of his reasonable requests, such as conducting a sacrifice. Therefore, during the recent ritual, it was highly possible that the Four Pillars Cult would respond to his sacrifice.

But the result was that the Four Pillars Cult responded neither to him nor to Selina, not even making the slightest disturbance.

The Four Pillars Cult seldom ‘neglected’ Tactile in this manner, and Selina believed there was only one possible explanation for this situation: a lack of consensus within the Four Pillars Cult.

If they had all decided to support either Ashe or Selina, then surely one side’s sacrifice would have been successful. However, since both had survived, it meant that there was a divide within the Four Pillars Cult regarding their value: some believed Selina was of greater worth, while others saw more potential in Ashe.

Selina wasn’t sure whether the support she and Ashe had from the Four Pillars was split 3:1, 1:3, or an even 2:2.

She also recalled that a few days ago, the Four Pillars had unusually issued an Oracle demanding the next Sacrifice include ‘People from the Exotic Lands.’

It was quite rare for the Four Pillars to express such a craving, and at the time, Selina didn’t think much of it; she simply tasked the Funeral Firm with finding someone from the Exotic Lands, and that’s how Ashe Heath was brought to her.

In hindsight, the Oracle seemed to be a deliberate arrangement for Ashe to come to her stronghold and replace her—within the same Kingdom, there was no need for a second Tactile.

When the Oracle was issued, it was predetermined that Selina would make way for Ashe.

Although Tactile was important, when there were two, the Four Pillars would start to pick and choose, keeping only the best one, discarding all others.

For some reason, the Four Pillars had suddenly changed their minds, neither allowing Ashe to replace Selina nor considering Selina more important than Ashe, hesitating and unable to come to a unanimous decision.

So, the task before Selina was simple—to alleviate the Four Pillars’ dilemma by eliminating the wrong option.

Ashe was momentarily stunned by the unexpected charge, but soon realized it wasn’t as painful as he had imagined.

He looked at Selina with a bewildered gaze, her forehead bleeding from a cut, “Why did you do that?”

Ashe’s thick-skinned forehead was fine, but Selina’s delicate one had been injured.

Selina stuck out her small tongue, seemingly trying to lick the blood that had reached the corner of her mouth, but her tongue was too short, barely managing to taste a bit of it, and said with a grin, “See, I’m bleeding.”

“Yeah, so what?” he asked.

“I may not respect those who only rely on the Gospel,” Selina stated, “but I must admit, everything it says is true. ‘You cannot harm me’ is an admonition you must heed.”

“You hurt me, and for that, you must pay with your life.”

Ashe looked at the fresh blood on Selina’s forehead, his face etched with an expression that seemed to say, “Why is this happening to me?” He said, “But you’re the one who bumped into it, causing your own injury! You can’t possibly blame me for that. I haven’t even held you accountable for intentionally hurting someone—that’s already showing respect for elders and love for the young! You’re clearly pulling a Bumping Scam!”

“Are you angry? Annoyed? Come hit me then.”

Selina stuck out her tongue, barely managing to lick the blood, and with a smile said, “The moment you injured me, my Tactile had already touched you. Perhaps if my Tactile absorbed your death, it would become even stronger, right?”

Ashe had a bad feeling, “What exactly is Tactile? A Miracle? Or some special ability?”

He had heard the term from Professor Sylin, but had never found any relevant information. Now, after transmigrating to a new Kingdom, he was still entangled with the Four Pillars Cult—it was like switching jobs only to find out that the new company was already under the control of the previous shady business.

“Tactile is just Tactile,” Selina said, looking at Ashe with a puzzled expression. “If you’re asking what my Tactile is, didn’t I tell you just now?”

“Uh? Could you repeat that?”

Selina tilted her head, revealing a sweet smile:

“Eternal Entanglement, Ultimate Everlasting.”

“Selina!”

At that moment, Cleos and the other Red Caps had finally managed to temporarily seal all the breaches with their Earth Magic and Water Art. With tears blurring her vision, she glared at Selina and raised her Gun towards the half-submerged Silver Throne!

If the Silver Throne were to crumble and explode, Selina would naturally fall into the water and drown!

The Elves’ marksmanship was precise, hitting the base of the throne underwater perfectly, causing the Silver Throne to emit electrical sounds as it disintegrated. Selina, soaked through, unable to even make a swimming motion like a doll, sank into the water like a child’s toy.

Yet Selina remained calm, showing no sign of fear of being submerged.

Gurgle, gurgle—

Strange noises came from beneath the Silver Throne, and whirlpools began to form around Selina. The water level rapidly decreased, visible to the naked eye. Cleos bit her lip in anger, but as she raised her hand, she stopped herself—she couldn’t directly harm the monster disguised as a girl, for it would be she who would die!

Selina lay comfortably in the water, allowing herself to be pulled into the whirlpool that had appeared below.

“But what you’re actually afraid of is not me, but the Gospel of God.”

“How can a gun with the safety on kill anyone?”

After leaving these words behind, Selina was sucked into a small cave that had appeared after the collapse of the Silver Throne. Fortunately, the cave was too small, or else Ashe would have been swept into the whirlpool as well.

Cleos ran over and immediately her ears pricked up in anger—the cave below was precisely above a fading Virtual Realm Passage!

Moreover, it was a Virtual Realm Passage that was about to dissipate. Virtual Realm Turbulence was rapidly spreading and just as Ashe leaned in to look, the turbulence had vanished into nothingness, making it impossible now to rush in and pursue.

“Damn it, damn it all!” Cleos shot into the cave a few times in fury, then suddenly slumped to the ground, biting her lip in frustration and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “She got away… and it was by my own hand…”

Ashe had not expected that Selina could escape like this, and not by using a spirit, or relying on a Miracle, nor by summoning the Four Pillars Cult to come down and beat up the children. It was because Cleos had lifted the floor, leading to the vile Eternal Calamity being sucked into the fading Virtual Realm Passage below.

Her physical body had done nothing, not even moved. If Cleos had done nothing, they might have caught her by now. But that was impossible—just like the underground hall being surrounded by a subterranean river is a natural rule, Cleos’s fear of Eternal Calamity was also predestined.

This is… Eternal Entanglement, Ultimate Everlasting.

She is the Rule of Calamity.

Although the pain on his forehead had almost faded, Ashe felt a chill in his heart—Selina’s forehead bump was definitely not a prank, but a deliberate move to cause him trouble! With Selina’s favor and Ashe having left without resigning, causing the Four Pillars Cult to lose the Blood Moon Kingdom market, the Directors of the Four Pillars Cult would surely have a big problem with Ashe!