Sorcerer’s Handbook - Chapter 348: Patriarch of the Six Heraldry
Igor did not truly expect them to be able to surround and kill the Sanctuary sorcerers. He merely hoped that they could cause some casualties among the Red Hats, ideally leaving everyone severely injured except for the Sanctuary sorcerers, forcing those two to stay behind to care for their team members—in the Red Hat regulations, taking care of team members takes precedence over pursuing criminals. This way, they could escape smoothly.
But now, far from causing any casualties, the Red Hats were completely unscathed.
Igor took out a hand mirror from his robe and used its reflection to see the transparent barrier that momentarily protected all the Red Hats. He murmured, “What is that?”
Ashe summoned the Gospel Book, “What is that?”
Gospel Book: “(Consumes 5 Gospel points) Sanctuary.”
Before Ashe could continue his inquiry, the Gospel Book, which had formed a strategic partnership with the Funeral Firm, proactively added:
“Sanctuary is a universal ability of three wings sorcerers, and over time has become synonymous with them. Sanctuary is not an ability that sorcerers automatically acquire upon advancing to three wings. Instead, because three wings sorcerers must master Sanctuary to explore the Distant Sky Domain, every three wings sorcerer is necessarily a Sanctuary sorcerer.”
“Sanctuary requires no spirits as a casting basis (though they can assist). The sorcerer only needs to diffuse a mixture of silver, gold, and Rainbow spellforce outside their body to generate their exclusive Sanctuary.”
“Typically, a Sanctuary is a spherical transparent force field centered on the sorcerer, with an adjustable radius. The discrete reassembly of virtual wings is the most common way to summon a Sanctuary.”
“Every second a Sanctuary exists, it consumes mixed spellforce. Moreover, depending on the spellcasting sect, each sorcerer’s Sanctuary is unique, but all Sanctuaries have two basic effects—”
“① A Sanctuary is generated instantly, with its size freely controllable.”
“② A Sanctuary can be used as a defensive barrier, directly using spellforce to resist all external attacks. Depending on the attributes of the Sanctuary, the spellforce consumption varies greatly, but there is almost no attack that cannot be defended against.”
“Based on these two effects, it is generally believed that exhausting all of a Sanctuary sorcerer’s spellforce is a necessary but not sufficient condition for killing a Sanctuary sorcerer.”
Ashe showed Igor the two basic effects of the Sanctuary. Igor blinked.
“Key information missing. It turns out my plan had no chance of success from the start.”
“You didn’t know about the Sanctuary?” Ashe was astonished. It was one thing for someone like him, who was ignorant of such things, but how could Igor not know?
“The Sanctuary I had heard about was a kind of Miracle Ritual Track set at a fixed location, where three wings sorcerers are nearly invincible within its range…”
“Completely wrong.”
“Even a Con Artist can be deceived.” Igor spread his hands. “Tonight came too fast and too suddenly. I didn’t have time to check my information with the Gospel Book. Besides, I never intended to face a three wings sorcerer head-on. That’s not on my ‘One Hundred Things to Do in This Life’ checklist.”
“Sorry about that.” The Con Artist glanced at the Cult Leader. “We’re going to be captured again.”
“It’s alright,” Ashe said. “Worst case, we’ll just recreate Shattered Lake.”
As they chatted, Cleos gently landed on top of the game pod behind them, her light footsteps interrupting their pointless conversation. Her eyes were closed, and her righteous and kind guns were aimed at the red-named targets that would bring them glory. The Elf’s crimson lips uttered a cold warning: “Move and you die.”
To add weight to her warning, she half-pulled the trigger, the intricate metal mechanism making a teeth-chattering sound that would terrify any intelligent creature.
“Note that in the Red Hat regulations, as long as she gives a clear warning, shooting a suspect on the spot won’t lower her Red Hat ranking.” Igor raised his hands in surrender, not forgetting to educate Ashe on Red Hat common knowledge.
“It sounds like her warning wasn’t meant for me, but to explain to the Gospel.” Ashe obediently raised his hands too. “It’s like a student in class saying they need to pee-not really talking to their bladder.”
On the other side, Banjeet also lowered his icy curse guns, though not much could be expected from him. After all, when you’re being aimed at by the heavy sniper of a Sanctuary sorcerer, it’s hard to muster any strength in your hands.
Harvey managed to escape unscathed, but carrying an almost impossible-to-hide coffin made him no different from a Snail. Getting caught was only a matter of time.
With the three of them captured, no external reinforcements, and no internal plans, Ashe felt they could only contribute to the public security of the Gospel Kingdom in an indelible way.
Ding.
At that moment, the elevator light turned on.
The announcement speaker replaced the upcoming visitors, extending a warm greeting to everyone.
All the Red Hats turned to look at the elevator, along with the barrels of their guns.
However, the moment the elevator door opened, everyone redirected their guns—because inside the elevator was a colleague.
An Elf Red Hat.
But as soon as Banjeet saw her, he visibly relaxed. The sixty-something young butler wore a look of relief, as though he had encountered a guardian when being bullied.
“Do not point your guns at him.”
This sentence instantly spanned half the gaming floor. Although Cleos had been prepared, her body shimmering with multiple Miracle glows—Defensive Miracles being far more cost-effective than Sanctuary unless absolutely necessary—she was still kicked away!
Boom!
Accompanied by scattered Miracle fragments, Cleos was sent flying back into the Red Hat ranks. She immediately summoned the Gospel Book to search for enemy information, frowning as she said, “Nona Senhaeser?”
Ashe and Igor looked up to see a tall Elf Red Hat standing before them. She resembled Qenna slightly, but with less maturity and allure, and more innocence and cuteness. Her short hair was stylish, and she stood with one hand on her hip. To the two rescued individuals, she looked as heroic as a divine being descending to earth.
“Miss Nona?” Igor exhaled. “According to the Pact between Annan and your sister—”
Wham!
‘Nona’ landed a heavy punch to Igor’s abdomen. As the Con Artist bent over like a shrimp, she followed up with an elbow to his back, knocking him to the ground with a loud thud.
“Next time you use my clansmen as hostages, remember these three broken ribs.” She turned to Ashe. “Do you want to call me Nona too?”
Noticing the familiar cold arrogance in her eyes, Ashe suddenly recalled their elevator encounter a few days ago. “You’re Qenna?”
“Is it Patriarch Qenna?” Leite asked from the other side. “According to the records, Red Hat Vice-Captain Nona is just a two-wings sorcerer. No matter how deep her foundation, she simply doesn’t have the power to repel Cleos. In the entire Senhaeser family, only Patriarch Qenna possesses Sanctuary-level combat strength.”
“Logically, with the white mist dissipating so rapidly, an ordinary Vamora should instantly lose all mobility. And at this moment, Patriarch Qenna, you should still be in the Dream. After the white mist dissipates, you wouldn’t even be able to return to reality immediately. However, given the years of operation by the Six Heraldry family, as the patriarch, you must have mastered some hidden secrets.”
“Do you outlanders always speak in such a roundabout way? Are you sure you want to show off that pitiful eloquence in front of an Elf who’s several times your age?” Qenna said coldly. “The patriarch of a heraldry family controls the clan’s resources and commands the trust of the entire clan, naturally needing to be on standby at all times and never falling into dire straits.”
Ashe couldn’t help but nod internally. For example, in the Senhaeser family, because the clansmen’s desires in reality were extremely low, Qenna had effectively achieved absolute dictatorship. But the downside was that when the clansmen faced sudden events, they had almost no subjective initiative and had to rely on the patriarch to steer the course.
To put it another way, the Senhaeser family was like Big Sister Qenna leading a large group of kindergarten children.
If the patriarch suddenly disappeared, Ashe doubted whether the Senhaeser family had the capability to elect another patriarch.
“Years ago, our ancestors considered various scenarios in which the patriarch might be killed. Sudden events like the white mist dissipating and the Dream being sealed were also taken into account. To ensure the continuation of the family, which is of utmost priority, every patriarch of the Six Heraldry family has a ‘backup body,’” Qenna explained. “The backup body contains a soul split of the primary body, and there is more than one backup body. If a sudden situation occurs, the backup bodies will activate one by one according to priority. At least one will be able to temporarily lead the family.”
“Soul split?!” Cleos exclaimed in shock. “Wouldn’t that affect your future as a sorcerer? And this isn’t just any ordinary Miracle… Wait, isn’t this reincarnation and soul takeover? Those backup bodies-“
Cleos suddenly stopped short.
“It’s not as dark as you think. Usually, the backup body is at most influenced by my soul split’s emotions. Even if the soul split activates, the body will be returned afterward. As for my future, compared to ensuring the family’s continuation, it’s not worth mentioning at all,” Qenna said calmly. “The soul split is a simple matter. The Family Rebirth Dream isn’t just for entertainment.”
“Let’s end the chit-chat here.”
Leite said, “Patriarch Qenna, please hand over those two criminals. One is an imperial criminal under wanted notice 69-165, and the other just attempted to endanger public safety. As for your attack on Captain Cleos, I’m sure the Gospel will make a fair judgment-“
“Wrong.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Your stance is wrong,” Qenna said coldly. “The one who gets to say ‘please’ now is me.”
“Please leave Vamora immediately. Any search actions must be officially communicated to the Vamora Red Hats, and we will do our best to cooperate with your reasonable actions. As for your unauthorized raid on Senhaeser’s private territory, I’m sure the Gospel will make a fair judgment. As for this white mist, I won’t hold you accountable. You small-time families simply don’t have the financial resources to pray for such a Miracle.”
Cleos was stunned for a moment. “Miss Qenna, although you possess a three wings realm, Nona… only has two wings, right?”
“Even if you can use your sister’s body to exert Sanctuary-level combat power, we have two Sanctuary sorcerers and six elite Red Hats,” Leite said, raising his bolt-action sniper rifle, openly threatening her. “Eight against one, a simple math problem, right? Are you really going to shield an imperial fugitive?”
“I’ll repeat, first, I’m merely asking you to apply for a cross-city search through proper channels; second…”
“The enemy you’ll face is not a two-wings sorcerer.”
A strange male voice came from outside the window: “But six heraldry patriarchs representing eight million Vamora citizens.”
The Red Hats turned to see five Uninvited Guests climbing through the broken window onto the 72nd floor. Tonight, the doors had lost their favor, and windows had become everyone’s preferred entry point.
“The white mist has dissipated.”
“All clansmen have fallen, and I had to activate the backup body.”
“Outlanders brazenly invade our home.”
“And wreak havoc in Senhaeser.”
“Even attempting to capture our heraldry clansmen.”
“Vamora has never faced such humiliation since its establishment,” Qenna said coldly. “8764502 against 8, a simple math problem, right?”