The Sorcerer's Handbook

Chapter 313: To Reconcile, Repeat, and Torment Each Other

I don't know?

Ashe scratched his head, looking puzzled. "If I choose 'I don't know,' does that actually count as a correct answer?"

"Of course it does," Phantom Ashe replied with a graceful smile. "Who says 'I don't know' can't be an answer?"

Phantom Denzel grumbled inwardly. Before you showed up, "I don't know" definitely wouldn't have passed for an answer. But now that you're here, I wouldn't even be surprised if the cabin introduces an "eliminate one wrong option" lifeline.

With so many suspicious insiders rigging the game, she wondered how this amnesia quiz could stay on track.

Hearing that ignorance counted as an official option, Ashe felt relieved. If all else failed, he would simply choose that. It was a completely justified choice. After all, he truly didn't have a clue.

Still, compared to a simple "I don't know," the other two options were absurdly extreme. Ashe felt a chill, realizing his pre-amnesia self was apparently capable of tearing apart the very fabric of reality. The first path was that of a pawn sacrificing the world, the hallmark of chaotic evil. The second was a thousand-year quest to overturn the world through miracles, a path defined by lawful devotion. Either way, it seemed the world was doomed to be his playground. He couldn't help but pity the unfortunate world.

Even Denzel had stopped paying attention to Dia, stunned by the scale of the revelation. "Knight... you... have you been reborn?"

Ashe spread his hands helplessly. "Asking me won't help. I've lost my memory. If amnesia counts as a kind of rebirth, then I suppose this would be my third time around?"

Seeing an opportunity, Sonya quietly drifted closer to Ashe and wrapped her arms tightly around his. In a sweet, cloying tone, she cooed, "My dear knight—"

Ashe shuddered, goosebumps rising all over. "Back off! What are you doing?"

Sonya tilted her head, putting on her most charming, innocent act. "Aren't we lovers? Since we've both lost our memories, it's the perfect time to rebuild our relationship from scratch."

"Didn't you just say we broke up?"

"That was just a little lovers' quarrel. Life would be so dull without a bit of friction, don't you think?"

"Didn't you say I cheated?"

She waved it away dismissively. "The truth is out now. That lover belongs to the little sister, not you. You're still my loyal partner."

"Didn't you say I was a bad person and you wanted to turn over a new leaf?"

Sonya smirked. "What a coincidence. I've always had a soft spot for bad men."

Ashe saw right through her. "You're only crawling back because you think I might be some legendary figure!"

Sonya raised an eyebrow, her eyes glinting. "So, you don't want to get back together?"

Ashe replied stubbornly. "Hmph!"

Sonya mused, "Come to think of it, we still have that Shared Life blessing. Since we're no longer in love, I might as well trigger it later. It would be a clean break with no lingering attachments to hold us back..."

"Speaking of which," Ashe said, his tone shifting abruptly, "why do you think we fell in love in the first place?"

Sonya blinked. "Hm?"

She didn't know what he was up to, but she could sense the faint, familiar presence of a scoundrel.

Ashe took Sonya's hand, his expression suddenly the picture of sincerity. "I think it must have been love at first sight. I must have been dazzled by your beauty. Thank goodness for this fortunate amnesia! Miss, since this is our first meeting... shall we start over?"

Sonya snorted. "You're just afraid of being dragged down by the Shared Life bond."

Still, she couldn't suppress a laugh. "Didn't you say we were probably a couple worn out by the years? That you might have even cheated? Since we've lost our memories, why not take this chance to end it—"

Ashe cut her off with a defiant glint in his eyes. "Why end it? Come on! Let's get back together, repeat our mistakes, and keep tormenting each other."

Ashe spoke with such deep emotion that they truly seemed like a couple who had loved for years, breaking up and reconciling time and again in a cycle that embodied the kind of long-running romance found in a high-budget idol drama.

Just as Ashe and Sonya were trading moves like seasoned opponents, a sudden cough echoed from the side.

Phantom Ashe interrupted, "It seems the two of you could go on chatting for quite some time. But why not answer the question first?"

Phantom Dia complained in their phantom-exclusive channel. "Hey! Why stop them? I was enjoying the show. I'm dying to see the look on their faces once their memories actually return... Watcher, you're supposed to be the Watcher. Don't tell me scenes like this actually make you feel awkward?"

Phantom Ashe replied. "How could that be? Even if they started tangling together right here, I'd only complain about the lack of snacks and drinks to go with the show. Why would I be embarrassed? But while I'm perfectly fine, the one next to you already has her hand on her sword."

Phantom Dia glanced at Phantom Sonya. The Swordswoman stood with her head lowered, her expression veiled in shadow. Only her right hand was visible, slowly stroking the ruby pommel of her blade as if caressing the head of someone destined to be cut down.

Ashe turned his attention back to the two options that practically shouted how extraordinary and peerless he must have been. "The world-destroyer who sacrifices all life, and the savior who reverses causality... There are two key prerequisites here: the Four Pillar Deities and the Sorcerer's Handbooks. Yet neither appeared in the previous questions. In other words, I cannot judge these options based on facts. I can only infer the answer based on my own personality."

Sonya asked, "Isn't it simple, then? Do you think you're more inclined to be a destroyer or a savior?"

The moment she asked, Denzel and even Phantom Sonya and Dia turned their eyes toward him. In an instant, Ashe became the focal point of the cabin, as if his answer would tip the balance of how each of them perceived him.

Ashe seemed unaware of the pressure. He lowered his head in thought and then clapped his hands together sharply. The sound rang out, anchoring everyone's wandering thoughts. "I don't know."

Sonya froze. "You don't know? But isn't it easy? Just decide whether you'd rather save people or kill them, and you'll have your answer."

Ashe shot back, "What about you? If it were you, do you think you could endure a thousand years for a single hope as a savior, or would you become a destroyer willing to sacrifice billions of lives?"

"But the question isn't about me."

"By your logic, if you lean toward good, you're a savior, and if you lean toward evil, you're a destroyer. Isn't that a simple enough guess?"

How dare you use my own words against me, Sonya thought.

She wanted to answer firmly, but the words caught in her throat. She felt as if anything she said would become a ticking bomb that bound her to a destiny she was not ready for.

A thousand years... she did not know how long she had lived, but a millennium felt like an unimaginably vast ocean of time. Billions of lives... she did not know if she had ever killed anyone, but that number alone was terrifying.

Noticing Sonya's hesitation, Ashe turned to Denzel. "What about you?"

Denzel replied without a second's thought, "A destroyer, because I don't like wasting time."

Ashe spread his hands. "See? That's exactly it. Personality shapes memory, and memory influences personality. If I really did those things, then I must have a personality capable of making such choices. Whether it was enduring a thousand years or bearing the sins of billions, those experiences would be carved deep into my soul, twisting my perception and shaping my every thought."

Ashe looked his phantom counterpart in the eye. "More importantly, I know that even if I regained my memories this second, I still would not have the resolve to make those decisions. I don't smell the stench of mountain-high corpses on myself, nor do I feel the rich weight of a soul refined through endless hardship."

Phantom Dia asked in the private channel, "Swordswoman, can you smell anything? I can't smell a thing."

"I can," she shot Phantom Dia a cold, silencing glance, and then looked at Phantom Ashe's back. "But I can't tell whose scent it is."