Sorcerer’s Handbook

Hearing Nago’s words, the other death row inmates also came to their senses.

Right, why move forward when jumping back to the Observation Deck could save their lives just as well? A mere ten steps was nothing for these inmates, who could easily cross it even without the power of a Sorcerer.

However, as they turned around and saw Ashe’s Executioner growing visibly larger at an alarming rate, they quickly realized the trap. Cursing Nago silently for his deceit and secretly delighting in Ashe’s predicament, they continued to climb the Steel Wire with their heads down.

Looking back was a trap.

Nago’s words were the fuse that triggered it.

Ashe knew he had blundered the moment he turned around, for as soon as Nago spoke, he saw his own vote tally skyrocketing at an exponential rate.

The Audience was panicking, and so were they!

Because Nago was right—if Ashe jumped back, he could disrupt the meticulous setup of the Blood Moon Tribunal. The trials of the Steel Wire, the purging of sins, the burning—all would be irrelevant to Ashe.

Yet his positive experience was a provocation to the Audience—as a death row inmate, not only did he not repent during the Blood Moon Tribunal, but he also escalated his defiance by attempting to break the rules.

It was like a student who didn’t do his homework not only failing to admit his mistake but also running off to play when the teacher scolded him with “why do you even come to school?”

For such immature offenders, the Audience, as societal supervisors, would naturally give him a chance to start anew—in the next life, with a reminder not to do it again.

In the Blood Moon Tribunal’s voting rules, besides the highest vote-getter receiving the death penalty, if someone reaches 50% of the votes, the Voting Segment ends immediately and fast-forwards to the execution.

The inmates had all Restrictions lifted, but the cost was that they no longer had control over their lives. Hundreds of thousands of citizens of Kaimon City, watching through the Holographic Screen, each held the weight of their lives.

If anyone dared to go against the tide, the Audience’s weights would fall, transforming into a heavy divine punishment, crushing the inmates’ spines of resistance.

So, if Ashe jumped back, he would be met with heartfelt thanks from the other inmates and a terrifying Executioner formed by the 50% vote threshold.

But on second thought.

If Ashe’s vote tally kept soaring ahead of everyone else and the Audience stubbornly believed that the chance for Redemption belonged to none other than Ashe, then he would surely jump back.

After all, if he was going to die anyway, he wasn’t going to play by their rules.

The reason Ashe was still willing to abide by the game’s rules was that the current voting situation was giving him hope.

“Ashe Heath, 42,354 votes.”

“Valcas Uhl, 31,002 votes.”

Ashe glanced at Valcas’ Executioner behind him, just as bulky and ferocious, only slightly smaller than his own.

Noticing Ashe’s gaze, Valcas gave him a look and snorted coldly. He then unexpectedly jumped up on the platform, landed lightly on the Steel Wire, and walked elegantly towards the Main Platform in the distance.

Such a cool and showy moment instantly gained Valcas over two thousand more votes.

Who would have thought, Valcas, with your bushy eyebrows and big eyes, that you could be so hated, almost catching up with me. You’re certainly no saintly Elf… Ashe muttered to himself, looking at Valcas on the Holographic Screen when suddenly a message popped up:

“Would you like to view Valcas Uhl’s criminal history?”

Ashe chose to view it, and a small window appeared on the screen, showing the first-person perspective of Valcas’ crime. It played out the whole process of him stealing technical documents in college and killing a fellow scholar.

The scholar slumped onto the corridor floor, his face filled with terror, snot and tears streaming down as he staggered back, pleading:

“Please, let me go, I beg you, Valcas, don’t—ah!”

With a scream, the colleague was stabbed through the chest by Valcas!

It seems the viewer wouldn’t get the full impact from just the perpetrator’s point of view, so the second half of the video showed the victim’s first-person perspective.

The video vividly captured the colleague scholar’s despair, fear, and the agony of life slipping away!

This was the memory segment of Valcas and the person he murdered!

Watching a memory segment for the first time, Ashe was deeply shocked by the power and intricacy of the Sorcerer system and appalled that other Death row inmates dared to commit crimes—wasn’t this the same as relieving oneself in public? All crimes were inescapable!

Any crime involving interaction with others meant you were already exposed to the Sin Hunter’s Hall, and even if you destroyed the body and evidence, it wouldn’t matter. The Sin Hunter’s Hall could extract the memories of the deceased!

No wonder every Death row inmate was highly skilled—without real talent, how could they commit a major crime worthy of the death sentence before being caught by the Sin Hunter’s Hall?

The weaker criminals were probably caught by the Sin Hunter’s Hall during their petty crime phase and sent to re-education through labor to reform.

After watching, the Holographic Screen surprisingly popped up a question:

“Would you like to cast a Redemption Ticket for Valcas Uhl? Each of your Redemption Tickets is a support for justice.”

Ashe was stunned, a forest of grasses sprouting in his heart.

1

They, a bunch of Death row inmates, also had the right to vote!?

Hadn’t they been stripped of political rights for life?

This was an insult to them. Did the Prison really think that these Death row inmates would vote for other candidates just to increase their slim chance of survival?

Feeling angry at the Prison’s disregard for himself, Ashe cast his vote for Valcas.

However, as cruel as Valcas’ murder memory was, could it really win him that many votes? Where did Heath fall short in comparison to him?

Ashe looked at his own avatar, which also popped up a mini video, but it wasn’t his memory; it was the enforcement memory of the Blood Mad Hunters.

A bizarre underground hall, unknown runes filled with blood, remnants on the altar, and twisted piles of corpses… Ashe could barely watch and fast-forwarded through it. He couldn’t stand it himself and even felt his conscience ache.

Damn, it was really painful; his Soul was reacting with the Flames of Atonement.

Ashe repeated to himself three times ‘I am Ashe, not Heath’, and the burning pain in his conscience slowly dissipated.

This little episode also allowed Ashe to feel the might of the Flames of Atonement: he was merely transmigrated into this body, and by slightly empathizing with Heath, the Flames of Atonement had already seared his scalp numb.

Those Death row inmates who truly committed crimes must be enduring pain that is at least a thousand to ten thousand times greater than his.

With that thought, it felt quite refreshing; Ashe’s simple view of right and wrong led him to wholeheartedly endorse such punishment.

It would have been even better if he were watching this show from a cozy little home instead of the Live Broadcast Site.

Ashe glanced over other prisoners’ criminal histories due to time constraints, he only read the text introductions.

Harvey indeed had the crime of desecrating a body… While Ashe was curious whether the ‘body’ was cold or warm, male or female, such visual shock was still premature for him, and he dared not click on the video.

Hmm, this one’s a serial killer, that one’s a cannibal, this one’s an assassin, that one’s a violent gang Leader…

Ashe quickly browsed through and realized that Heath’s crimes were indeed the most brutal of all. Even without the recent news reports recommending Heath daily, Ashe figured the Audience would recognize a hero with their insightful gaze.

Surprisingly, Valcas’s crimes were the lightest among the eight, yet his vote count was second only to Ashe.

Although somewhat puzzled, there was no time left for Ashe to ponder.

The others were almost at the Main Platform, and Ashe also had to take action.

He couldn’t possibly be the only one left here waiting for death.

But how was he to get there?

He couldn’t fall into the sea; it was full of finger sharks, and if he fell in, he might not even survive with his fingernails intact.

He couldn’t take to the skies, as it was currently a Storm Spirit uproar party, and all flying objects would be struck by lightning.

But Ashe didn’t have any swimming or flying spirits to begin with, so these Restrictions didn’t mean much to him.

Ashe looked down at the Steel Wire.

He squatted down and touched the Steel Wire, which was very fine and tough. Ashe touched it, and a cut appeared on his palm.

If he grabbed onto this Steel Wire, the outcome would undoubtedly be his fingers getting sliced off as an appetizer for the finger sharks.

A normal person couldn’t walk across, they had to use a spirit.

But the only spirit Ashe had at his disposal was one!

However, at this point, Ashe had to try everything.

Substitute spirit!

A Substitute that looked exactly like Ashe appeared beside him, making the Small Platform, which was already cramped, even more crowded, to the point that Ashe was almost pushed off by the Substitute.

Although he had summoned a Substitute, Ashe had no plan for the next step. He looked at the Substitute, then at the Steel Wire, pursed his lips, and gestured for the Substitute to walk across.

The Substitute naturally had no objections and stepped directly onto the Steel Wire, which effortlessly sliced through his canvas shoes, and with a snap, the Substitute dissipated into a wisp of smoke.

Even the slightest damage would cause the Substitute to instantly burst and vanish.

But Ashe’s eyes lit up.

Although the Substitute was cut by the Steel Wire, it could indeed walk across, and it wouldn’t be afraid or unsteady, moving like a robot without mistakes!

Ashe looked at his own shoes, which were the standard canvas shoes issued by the prison to the Prisoners, warm in winter and cool in summer, comfortable to the touch, but not made for walking on Steel Wire.

Ashe looked around and then turned to face Supervisor Nago, who was standing behind him.

Nago raised an eyebrow and asked, “Want to come over?”

Ashe ignored the Executioner, who was rapidly growing in size, and instead focused on Nago’s Steel-toed Boots, which clanked with each step he took.

“Supervisor, those are some cool boots. What brand are they?” Ashe inquired.

Nago perked up at the mention. “You have good taste. These are the limited-edition Dark Monarch series from the Underlight brand. I had to pre-order them three months in advance to get them.”

Ashe’s eyes filled with admiration. “It has to be the Underlight brand Dark King series limited edition! Those are the only boots I’ve ever wanted to buy in my life!”

“It’s the Dark Monarch series, not Dark King. That’s a different line,” Nago corrected him.

“That’s not important!” Ashe waved his hand dismissively. “What’s important is that I hope to wear those boots before my Redemption. This is my one and only request in life, Supervisor sir. Could you… let me try on those boots?”

Nago’s expression stiffened.

“That’s not really appropriate. I’ve already worn them…”

“Don’t worry, Supervisor, I don’t mind!” Ashe patted his chest. “Since you’re giving me these boots, how could I possibly care about such trivial details?”

Nago’s face twisted with irritation.

I do care!

And I never said I’d give them to you!

Give you boots? I’d rather kick you off myself, you damn scum!

How dare you take advantage like this, Ashe Heath, challenging the dignity of a Supervisor and the bottom line of Shattered Lake Prison!

With a cold snort, Nago loudly exclaimed, “Fine!”

Footnote:

1. A forest of grasses sprouting in his heart (心里无数草本植物生了出来):

   The online environment in mainland China does not allow for the direct use of profanity, so various euphemisms are often employed instead. In Chinese, “草” sounds the same as “操,” hence the use of “grass” or “herb” to represent “fuck.”

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