Mage Manual

Chapter 1747: Chapter 1294: Family

Weiser opened her eyes and looked around, but outside the silver light there was only boiling Darkness, not even a gap that sound waves could penetrate.

So the voice wasn’t coming from outside, but from within her.

Her mind was tugged by threads of longing, making her hear the memory Fragments that had fallen silent in this place. Only now did she recall: this was where the Silver Lamp first shone, and also where she had made Ash remember her with lifelong, marrow-deep regret.

"Silver Lamp! Weiser! Youlan Weiser!"

"Silver Lamp, I will definitely come and get you!"

"I won’t leave you there... absolutely won’t!"

Weiser let out a soft huff, the corner of her lips tilting up, her brows and eyes full of mischievous amusement.

Yes, this was exactly the effect she wanted. She wanted to hear this kind of regret-soaked line; it made her whole being feel refreshed and clear-headed.

Though by her estimate, Ash would at most regret it for a day or two. After all, he barely had time to deal with the Sword Witch Vishi; how would he have any room left to worry about the Divine Being he’d left in the Dark Forest. It was just that her past self turned out to be so infatuated—Ash clearly wasn’t coming to find her, yet she still trudged thousands of miles just to be by his side...

"Silver Lamp, the good news is that I got infected with Hell’s Poison and will soon be able to advance to Demigod. The bad news is I have to undergo the Trial... but once I become a Demigod, maybe I’ll have a way to help you awaken Consciousness!"

"Silver Lamp, I seized the Supreme tail feather. With this, I might really be able to revive the Kingdom of Senluo!"

"Silver Lamp, tomorrow I’m going to travel around Allstars. I want to try saving this shadow realm. Last time we tried to save the world, we lost. This time I’m fully armed; I’m not going to lose to the same thing twice."

"Silver Lamp..."

The voices came now near, now far, now loud, now soft, and they weren’t playing in chronological order. One moment he was already gearing up to save the world; the next he was suddenly talking about how ashamed he felt for liking the Sword Maiden’s shadow... Utterly unsurprising.

Pfft, he also liked Felix’s shadow, Filly. In other words, for the past half-year he’d been treating Felix as Filly’s Substitute? The original body became the Substitute of the shadow?

Starting to enjoy bullying Vishi? Understandable; I like bullying Vishi too.

Oh-ho, you’re also worried about how to face the Sword Witch once you return to reality? Why ask me that? Judging from the last half year, haven’t you been very successful at coaxing them both? You even manage to play multiplayer games together.

"No." Weiser suddenly snapped to her senses, clapping both hands tightly over her ears and curling up on the ground: "I almost got bewitched by him again. Not listening, not listening, I’m not jumping into that firepit a second time!"

Yet even with her ears covered, Weiser could still hear Ash’s voice:

"Silver Lamp, I will definitely save you and get you out!"

"Silver Lamp, I won’t leave you in the Darkness!"

"Silver Lamp, I won’t let you become Lonely and all alone again!"

"So annoying!" Weiser was almost at her limit, face full of frustration: "I’m living free and easy all by myself in the Darkness, I don’t need you worrying about me. I’m begging you, stop bugging me, okay? How do I cancel a memory Echo?"

"Silver Lamp, lately I seem to be thinking about you more and more."

Weiser froze slightly, unconsciously loosening her hands.

"If everything could start over, next time I’d make sure to die before you, so you can also taste what lifelong regret feels like."

A moment later, blinding silver light pierced sky and earth, illuminating the entire Kingdom of Senluo.

...

...

Diya returned to Nabistin. She didn’t hurry to look for Hanna; when she flew over the central avenue leading to the Imperial Palace, she suddenly descended.

It was already late at night, and the central avenue wasn’t a commercial district. Although the shops on both sides were still open, there weren’t many pedestrians. She stepped over the bluestone pavement toward the Imperial Palace; sleeping memories slowly awoke. It was the same place, the same road, but her direction back then hadn’t been walking toward the Palace from outside—it had been fleeing from the Palace toward freedom.

That night, an icy rain was falling, the temperature was very low, shrill alarm sirens, pursuers swarming the sky and earth, and—

The roar of a motorcycle!

Diya turned her head and saw, not far away, a Raven-Aerial Void motorcycle speeding down the lane. She watched it for a long time, her mood gradually sinking, then withdrew her gaze.

Bang!

A Raven-Aerial Void motorcycle swept past her side. Diya clearly saw the young man driving the bike, his whole body drenched by the rain; the white-haired little girl behind him was clinging tightly to his waist, her small hands like ten hooks, dug in and refusing to let go.

Diya reflexively tried to stop them, but her hands closed on empty air. There was no motorcycle beside her, no young man, no white-haired little girl—nothing at all.

For things that have already happened, she could pretend not to know, but she couldn’t change them.

She stood there in a daze for quite a while, then suddenly sped back to the Imperial Palace, summoned a maid to bathe her, and by the time she finished bathing, Hanna had come looking for her.

"Why did you suddenly come back? How long are you staying this time? The Sword Maiden and the others—"

"Sleep with me!"

Hanna looked at Diya, who was clinging to her and acting spoiled, and sighed helplessly, tilting her head with a smile: "Of course, My Her Majesty."

After changing into her nightgown, Hanna led Diya onto the bed. Diya curled up into a ball in Hanna’s arms. Hanna gently stroked Her Majesty’s head and asked softly, "Did something happen?"

No response.

"Is it about the Sword Maiden and the others? Did you quarrel with them?"

Still nothing.

"Then it must be their fault." Hanna held Diya in her arms and said gently, "Because Lissdia is a good child."

"Lissdia isn’t a good child anymore." The Witch lifted her head and cautiously asked, "If I did something really, really bad, Hanna, you’re not allowed to hate me, okay?"

"Mm—" Hanna thought for a moment. "That depends on—"

"No."

Both of them froze at the same time.

"I’d still hate you when I should hate you. But no matter how much I hate you, I’ll still love you."

Diya felt like someone was hugging her from behind, as if someone was holding her together with Hanna as they slept. When she turned her head, there was, of course, no one behind her, but she seemed to see a distant Phantom keeping her company.

She dimly remembered that during those hardest few days of the Six-winged Trial, there had always been a familiar warmth lingering by her side. On one side was Hanna, who cared most about her, and on the other side was...

Diya slowly sat up and asked softly, "Hanna, did you hear that voice just now?"

"I did." Hanna nodded. "And it shouldn’t be a sound from outside, but something that rang out from our hearts, right?"

"I still have to leave the Gospel in your care, Hanna." Diya looked at her with a very serious expression, a few stray colors appearing at the tips of her long hair. "I’m going to leave in a moment."

"What are you planning to do?" Hanna immediately took hold of the Witch’s hand and asked earnestly, "Is it related to that voice just now? Who is he?"

"He’s a very important family member of ours, but we all forgot him. There’s no one in this world who remembers him." The Witch took a deep breath, her long, beautiful hair separating into five clearly distinct, pure colors; her voice became a clear quintet:

"I’m going to bring him back, and then we’ll go on living together!"