Sorcerer’s Handbook - Chapter 376: Armored Sanctification

“Witch,” Ashe said seriously, “We’re not joking with you. If you get infected with the Secret Toxin, it won’t just harm you; our symptoms will worsen too. So, if you can avoid infection, please do.”

“Alright, let’s drop this topic. But to make sure the Witch doesn’t keep thinking about it, Sword Princess, go tickle her.”

“Understood.”

“No, don’t! I’m very ticklish! Stop it! Hahaha! Stop! Hahaha! Okay, okay, I have something to say too! I have something to say!”

Deya, with a flushed face, collapsed into Sonya’s arms, her shoulders trembling and her nose sniffling. It took her a while to catch her breath. “It’s about my relationship with the Gospel Incarnation…”

Ashe and the Sword Princess perked up.

Throughout this Adventure in the Amnesia Cabin, the biggest mystery wasn’t the true purpose of the Secret Incarnation or the Incarnation of the Stars, but rather the connection between the Witch operator and the Empress’s heroic soul. Why did the Gospel Incarnation, the Witch, the Witch’s grandmother, and the Basement Girl all share the same appearance template?

Even if the Witch’s appearance was indeed beautiful, it seemed unlikely that everyone would choose the same look. And what about genetic diversity? Did meiosis get killed off by mitosis?

Compared to a simple “love of beauty,” Ashe and the Sword Princess believed in another hypothesis: the Witch’s appearance was not a natural miracle of life but a result of deliberate interference by a sorcerer, allowing it to remain unchanged through generations or even dozens of generations.

“First of all, I don’t think I have any blood relation to the Gospel Incarnation,” Deya said. “Besides the fact that the Gospel Incarnation’s activities were at least a thousand years ago, more importantly… let’s not even discuss whether the Gospel Incarnation had the ability to reproduce, but she likely didn’t have the opportunity.”

Indeed.

Ashe and the others still remembered the dark history of the Empress’s heroic soul in the Amnesia Cabin-though to her, it might have been a glorious achievement:

“Her disciples were slaughtered by you, her glory twisted and corrupted by you.”

“You distorted her scriptures, destroyed her commandments, until no one in the world could hear her Gospel.”

“You became her only disciple, and she became a deity belonging solely to you.”

This also meant that the Gospel Incarnation had always been under the control of the Empress’s heroic soul, trapped by the Empress’s sterile love. Even if the Gospel Incarnation had the ability to reproduce, there was simply no opportunity for it to be utilized.

As for whether the Empress’s heroic soul would use a sorcerer’s Miracle to forcefully procreate with the Gospel Incarnation, Ashe and the others dismissed this idea.

Based on their actual interactions and the black history provided by the Cabin, the Empress’s heroic soul was not the type to like children. Moreover, children would undoubtedly divert attention from their parents, which the Empress’s heroic soul could never tolerate as they would be seen as rivals for attention. The Empress’s heroic soul had even killed off all of the Gospel Incarnation’s devoted disciples, so how could she allow a child to take away the Gospel Incarnation’s love?

“As for why I look exactly like the Gospel Incarnation, it actually has to do with a Ritual Miracle,” Deya said. “It’s called Armored Sanctification.”

“Armored Sanctification!?” Sonya exclaimed in surprise. “Do people really perform such a ritual?”

Ashe blinked. “You know about it?”

“I read about it in a book before. It’s an ancient ritual that has been abandoned, a rumor passed down by other sorcerer predecessors from the Virtual Realm,” Sonya explained. “In simple terms, mortals, in order to usurp the power of a deity, disguise themselves as the deity, follow the deity’s principles, walk the deity’s path, and replicate the deity’s deeds… until the world sees the mortal and the deity as one. The mortal then becomes sanctified, sharing the deity’s status. The ‘armor’ serves both to disguise the deity’s appearance and to conceal the mortal’s essence.”

Ashe said, “That sounds like an impressive ritual. Why was it abandoned?”

Sonya retorted, “Have you ever seen a deity? The premise of Armored Sanctification is that you need to know the deity you are imitating very well. The sorcerer who recorded ‘Armored Sanctification’ noted that there might have been many beings known as ‘gods’ walking the earth in the past, which is why sorcerers attempted to usurp their powers…”

“Speaking of which,” Ashe suddenly said, “Did you know that when a spirit ascends to Five Wings, its essence of life is transformed into that of a deity?”

Deya nodded, while Sonya was stunned.

“Deity… a spirit condenses Five Wings and becomes a deity…” Sonya pondered. “So the essence of the Armored Sanctification ritual is—”

“Summoning a deity.”

Deya explained, “Just like the Summoning Ritual we use to call spirits, Armored Sanctification is essentially a sorcerer’s ritual to summon a deity.”

“But while a sorcerer can fully control ordinary spirits, a mortal’s soul cannot contain the vastness of a deity, nor can it wield a deity’s powers. Therefore, ‘Armored Sanctification’ is not just a summoning ritual but also an initiation ritual—when a mortal and a deity become one, the mortal can naturally harness the deity’s full powers.”

“This is also why I cannot possibly be a descendant of the Gospel Incarnation,” Deya continued. “The Gospel Incarnation, whom the Empress’s heroic soul was infatuated with, was actually a deity walking the earth.”

Ashe and Sonya were overwhelmed by this significant revelation. After a moment, Sonya suddenly snapped out of it, hugging Deya affectionately and asking, “So, Witch, are you actually performing ‘Armored Sanctification,’ trying to summon the Gospel Incarnation?”

Sonya’s eyes sparkled as if she wanted to worship the Witch. Although the village girl didn’t know exactly how powerful a Five Wings deity was, it had to be stronger than a four wings legendary sorcerer, right?

If the Witch successfully performed Armored Sanctification, their team’s average combat strength would rise to three wings: (2+2+5)/3=3!

The actual effect would be even more impressive. Forget the Time Continent, even if they reached the Third Layer of the Virtual Realm or the Distant Sky Domain, they could still thrive under the Witch’s protection!

This high-end combat power, two levels above, was like a college student solving basic education math problems!

Then, she could ride the Observer and charge ahead, living comfortably under the Witch’s protection—life would be even better than reality!

“No, I accepted the Bronze Dragon’s Trial and escaped my grandmother’s control to resist the Armored Sanctification ritual.”

So there really is no such good fortune in the world… Sonya sighed.

Ashe asked, “Is it because Armored Sanctification affects your personality?”

“Saying it ‘affects personality’ is a bit too naive,” Deya replied with a bitter smile. “In fact, I don’t know exactly what will happen… Have you ever heard of a fairy tale called ‘The Wolf and the Sheep’?”

“There are too many similar tales. Just give us the conclusion,” Ashe said.

“Alright.” Deya seemed eager to tell the fairy tale, but was a bit disappointed when Ashe cut her off. “In short, my grandmother is like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Although she looks human, internally she has nothing human left. Instead, she is a combination of deity and humanity… a thinking set of rules.”

Sonya was surprised. “Wait, you mean your grandmother successfully completed Armored Sanctification and became… a Mortal God?”

“You could also call her,” Deya said, “the Gospel Incarnation.”

Sonya said, “I remember the Amnesia Cabin mentioned that your grandmother wanted you to become a Mortal God, but you refused the Armoring Ritual. So, your current enemy is your grandmother, the previous Mortal God?”

“It’s not that serious,” Deya shrugged. “She’s just a witch in a fairy tale who is destined to be defeated. Fortunately, I woke up early and have mostly escaped her control—I will eventually strike back!”

Seeing the Witch’s forced optimism, the village girl felt defeated—she had lost the “who’s had it worse” contest!

Someone actually had it worse than her!

She had a somewhat flawed childhood, but her life got back on track as an adult.

The Witch, however, was deceived by her grandmother in childhood, hunted by a deity as an adult, and even now couldn’t rest easy.

Given this logic, their third operator was probably someone with a flawed childhood, bad adult relationships, and now a divorced woman plagued by disasters.

After the two finished their discussion, they turned their eyes to the man in the front seat.

“Observer,” Sonya asked casually, “do you have any intel to share with us from these past days?”

“My past days…”

Vamora, Senhaeser’s Dream, the white mist mutation, the Family Ranking, finally ending up in Belldate’s hands and being humiliated by Miss Yvaren in various ways…

Although there was a lot to say, due to Annan’s Pact of Secrecy, Ashe realized that the only thing he could actually boast about was leading the team to defeat the Extreme Cutting Carp Overlord Lord.