The Sorcerer's Handbook

Above Shattered Lake.

Kenmen shouted, ”It’s over! The tribunal is finished. Let’s go back!”

Except for Andrei, still frozen in a daze, the other six could barely contain their eagerness to return to the prison and undergo reformation. Their eyes flicked to Ashe, but he remained motionless. He still held the Sinner’s Directory in his hand, with his gaze fixed firmly on them.

Panic rippled through the group. No way... could this escaped convict actually be planning to wipe us out?

Buzz! Buzz!

Suddenly, the roar of a distant turbine echoed across the lake. All heads turned as a speedboat cut through the blood-red waters beneath the moon. They could not see who was aboard, but anyone could tell that this was no ordinary fisherman. It had to be a Bloodrage Hunter from the Heresy Court.

Relief should have followed, but it did not. The arrival of reinforcements only deepened their fear. No... the timing could not have been worse. If Ashe had been hesitating about sparing their lives, the sudden appearance of the Heresy Court might push him to kill them all just to challenge the Blood Moon Kingdom.

By now, their faith in Ashe’s sanity was gone. Any rational person, having escaped, would have fled. Ashe did not. He staged an impromptu trial, placed the mayor in the dock, and forced everyone to expose the hidden corruption of the Blood Moon Kingdom, the cracks in its so-called glory. In their eyes, Ashe Heath had already decided he would not survive, and he was turning his own death into a spectacle.

If you want to blow yourself up into fireworks, so be it. But don’t drag us along to meet the Blood Moon Lord!

As the speedboat neared, Ashe finally moved. He closed the Sinner’s Directory and slipped a hand into his coat pocket.

Clang!

A streak of blood split Shattered Lake, tearing through the night sky, spanning the distance, and striking Ashe’s chest. The bloodline solidified like a physical tether, yanking someone from the speedboat onto the viewing platform.

When the figure landed, the death row inmates relaxed. White hair, crimson eyes, the Bloodrage uniform, and the Heresy Court arm-sleeve!

The person was none other than Bloodrage Hunter Gerard, a Three-Winged Sacred Realm sorcerer.

With him here, the petty escapee is finished.

Kenmen blinked. ”Huh? Where did he go?”

Andrei finally snapped out of his shock and looked toward the platform. Only Gerard remained. The man who had orchestrated what might be the highest-rated side episode in Blood Moon Tribunal history, Ashe Heath, had vanished without a trace.

There is no way he could have escaped in front of a Three-Winged sorcerer. Gerard has clearly struck him. So where is he? Even if he has died, there should have been a body, unless...

Gerard crouched. ”A Substitute spirit.”

He ignored the critically important Sinner’s Directory and picked up a pen-sized object, pressing a switch.

Ashe’s voice echoed from within.

”Correct. You are absolutely right, which is why I am not asking you to list his illegal acts. What I want are Mayor Fernandez’s legally illegal...”

It was a recording pen. In the Blood Moon Kingdom, such pens were common, used to record others’ words and actions. Any evidence of discriminatory or criminal speech could be submitted to the Heresy Court under the recorder’s real name for cash rewards and social credit boosts.

Gerard’s gaze swept over the pens scattered on the ground, immediately understanding the Heresy Court had been played thoroughly. Every word Ashe had spoken during the live broadcast had come from these pens.

Creating a clone capable of independent thought, action, and speech required a Three-Winged Miracle. The Heresy Court had never considered that the Ashe in the broadcast might be fake. Gerard had come personally on the speedboat, determined to capture the true mastermind as quickly as possible.

Concrete evidence was lacking, but in Gerard’s mind, the mastermind behind the prison break could only be one person: the leader of the Four Pillars Cult, Ashe Heath.

Gerard noticed a recording pen wrapped in a ribbon tied into a bow. He picked it up and pressed it. Noisy voices erupted from it.

”Eh? Iger, why did you stop talking? Weren’t you going on so enthusiastically just now? About how Gerard got kicked out of the research institute for peeping on a legendary sorcerer in the bath, how he throws huge sums of money at impoverished girls, and how Gerard is the communal plug for over a dozen succubi... Come on, say more. I just love hearing legendary stories like that.”

”Ah, since the famous Fraudster Iger Perskin refuses to speak, it’s my turn to leave a message. Hi, Gerard Westminster, the innocent Ashe Heath here. I wanted to warn you not to come after me, but I suppose well-meant advice never works on you. So, I can only urge you to go after the others first.

”Iger Perskin, Archibald Harvey, Ronna Chios, and Ronald Wade. They’re all monstrous criminals, guilty of countless sins. Why not catch them first? Let me live a few more days in fear, as punishment for myself, okay?

”Don’t misunderstand, Gerard. I’m not trying to provoke you. I genuinely consider you a friend, and I wanted to leave a note to thank you.

”After all, if you hadn’t let me go that night, I wouldn’t be alive now. Thank you, Gerard. You’re my hero.”

Snap!

Gerard crushed the recording pen in his hand. Ignoring the death row prisoners’ anxious gazes from the stone pillar, he scanned the horizon of the lake. Clouds drifted across the moon, shrouding the world in shadow, except for the fiery eyes of the Blood Saints glaring from the dark. ”Ashe, aren’t you going to thank me in person? That feels a little insincere, don’t you think?”

***

At a construction site in the Pearl District of Caimon City.

The five inmates in prisoner uniforms climbed to the rooftop of an abandoned building. Below, the neon-lit metropolis stretched out.

The Pearl District, also called the Pig District, was like the slum-like Wheatfield District, home to Caimon City’s lower-class population. But unlike the centuries-old Wheatfield, the Pig District was a two-decade-old development gone wrong. Political complications stalled construction, and the earthworks crew hadn’t been paid. What should have been a thriving commercial zone had become a cesspool for gangs, homeless people, and criminals.

The five of them suddenly felt a weight lift from their shoulders, as if invisible chains had snapped.

Ronna announced, ”Fernandez is dead. Harvey, our contract with you is over.”

Harvey nodded. ”Thank you.”

Ashe asked curiously, ”Strange. We don’t have chips, and we didn’t witness Fernandez’s death. How did the contract automatically terminate? Could the Virtual World have tracked it and resolved it as soon as it detected his death?”

Iger laughed. ”That’s why every industry needs a contract specialist. Most of the time, the Virtual World is the fairest judge. If it succeeded, that proves you, Ashe, only needed those few recordings to host the Blood Moon Tribunal... How did you pull it off?”

Ashe shrugged. ”Simple, isn’t it?”

”Simple? How can you predict what people will say?”

”Easy. You’ve clearly never done a business presentation. Leading someone to ask exactly what you need is a workplace skill. Promotions and raises depend on it. After being beaten down by a client enough times, you naturally prepare multiple contingencies to make sure nothing fails.”

Iger felt skeptical but found no words to argue. He had only handled one-on-one sales, while Ashe was a cult leader orchestrating mass campaigns. Ashe had experience in this field.

Ronald clapped his hands. ”Everyone, Harvey’s contract is over. We’ve successfully escaped. We’re on the edge of Caimon City. To our right is the city, and to our left, the outskirts. So, is it time to disband?”

Ronna, Iger, Harvey, and the others nodded. Ashe’s voice grew emotional. ”I truly thank each of you for your unwavering support. Without you, this absurd plan could not have succeeded. This honor, this achievement, belongs to all of us!”

He placed a finger to his lips. ”I, Ashe Heath, will never forget any of you—”

Boom! Crash! Snap!

Ashe drew the Honeyed Tongue Sword from his mouth and retreated rapidly. Raising a sword barrier, he thrust at Ronna. The blade streaked forward like a bolt of light.

Ronna transformed into a werewolf, lunging at Harvey. Shadows swarmed around him, practically becoming his servants.

Harvey waved both hands, launching three gray-black death-spike cones at Iger, Ronna, and Ronald.

Ronald scattered a handful of steel balls. They hovered briefly, then locked onto Iger with deadly precision, accelerating so fast they broke the sound barrier in under a second.

Iger let out a psychic scream. The vibration rippled outward, acting like armor to counter the attacks and flying objects. The sonic force cracked the derelict building in multiple places.

Once the team disbanded, everyone became an enemy. Anyone who thought breaking out together would make lifelong friends had been sorely mistaken.