Mage Manual

Chapter 1668 - 1229: Battle at the Pinnacle

On the "Altar of the Merciful Father" of the Heavenly Kingdom of Blood Moon, the Flayed Twins shed their ornate garments, revealing lamb-like hairless bodies. Around the altar, six hundred and sixty-six Weak Mages completed synchronization with the Flayed Twins, holding hook knives upside down with their right hand to carve a cross above their heads, while their left hand raised mercury bottles to pour in mercury. Because of the mercury’s density, it quickly flowed between their skin and muscles, visibly swelling their bodies. Then they used the hook knives to slice from the center of their face down to their groin, peeling off their entire human skin as if undressing.

They were not immune to the pain. On the contrary, to complete the ritual, their nerves were heightened thirty-three times, pushing the limits of their souls, beyond which self-annihilation would occur. Only voluntarily peeled human skin accompanied by immense pain could fully unleash the Altar of the Merciful Father’s jurisdiction over agony.

The Altar of the Merciful Father, as its name suggests, is linked to the Four Pillars God known as the "Merciful Father."

As an ancient evil god with a long history, the Four Pillars God is a natural phenomenon, akin to thunder, earthquakes, and supernovae, only possessing a conscience.

Their existence serves as the origin of some Magic Factions, such as the Weak Faction undoubtedly deriving from the Merciful Father’s magic. The Merciful Father’s Altar, also called the Altar of Blessings, was a holy object of an ancient sect devoted to the Merciful Father. Through sacrifice rituals pushing the limits of carbon-based imagination, they obtained power beyond imagination from the Merciful Father, once ravaging an entire epoch. Everything born in the world was destined to be an offering, fats were harvested for oil, thin ones air-dried, beauties skinned, heroes punished. The earth was steeped in darkness, and life wallowed in endless agony, treating suffering as the highest pleasure.

The Extreme Master of Blood Moon was born in the Merciful Father Epoch. He was a monstrous product of mage gene modification, with an extraordinary physique and growth rate, maturing within a year. Yet, he was not a war machine but a sacrificial offering for the ’Hunting Festival’...created as prey for grand hunts, all his superior abilities meant for dying in such a grand hunt.

He survived seven hunting festivals and even became a Silver Mage, yet it did not improve his situation. The stronger he got, the harsher the rituals he could endure. A turning point came with internal strife within the Four Pillars God Sect. As the Merciful Father grew, it pressured the Tyrant, Traitor, and Prince. Followers of the other three gods initiated a rebellion, with the Extreme Master of Blood Moon gaining the Tyrant’s approval by heroically defeating enemies, ascending the stage of history step by step.

Even though the Merciful Father Epoch brought the Extreme Master of Blood Moon nothing but a horrifyingly cruel childhood and youth, he undeniably was a victim of the Merciful Father. However, he inherited most Merciful Father Epoch’s legacies, even its culture. Certain systems within the Kingdom of Blood Moon are rife with the hysteria and madness peculiar to the Merciful Father Epoch.

As the altar was blanketed in human skin, the Flayed Twins touched it, feeling the sensation of huge, dark green, finger-pricking snow beneath their fingertips.

This was agony.

Through the Altar of the Merciful Father, the Flayed Twins connected with the Merciful Father, allowing the Extreme Master of Blood Moon to sense the dimension of suffering.

Many think of ’Tactile Sensors’ and ’Four Pillars God’ as a subordinate relationship, where the Four Pillars can choose who becomes the tactile sense. Only a rare few like the Extreme Master of Blood Moon know tactile sensors are, in fact, equal to the Four Pillars God, though they generally worship them. It’s akin to small and great nobles, both directly under the emperor’s jurisdiction without hierarchy, yet small nobles often obey the great ones.

In truth, as long as a tactile sense meets all conditions, he becomes one, independent of the Four Pillars Gods’ will! Similarly, once a tactile sense completes the ritual, the Four Pillars must lend their authority whether they wish to or not!

However, this isn’t Four Pillars Gods polluting the world through tactile senses. Instead, it’s the Divine Lord stealing power from the Four Pillars through them!

Beyond the Merciful Father Altar, the entire Heavenly Kingdom of Blood Moon operated at full speed. Blessing Angel, Scarlet Maid, Night Shadow Priest, and thousands of mages along with dozens of Wonders, Miracles, and Wonders intricately intertwined... In this moment, the Heavenly Kingdom of Blood Moon transformed into a literal ’state machinery,’ explosively deploying unimaginable and massive power!

The Extreme Master of Blood Moon expertly called upon the kingdom’s authority, slightly opening his mouth and exhaling pink smoke. The smoke quickly submerged one wing of Uroboros, as feathers and eyes grotesquely grew into bizarre blood flesh and burst, with half a wing soon exploding into a bloody mess!

Heavenly Kingdom Divine Artifact·Feast of Flesh!

"That’s why I refuse to ally with you, Blood Moon," the All-knowing Weaver sighed, "your methods are just too revolting."

In the Heavenly Kingdom of All-knowing, layers upon layers of spider webs accumulated over thousands of years burned rapidly, yet scholars with eight hands wove soft, sturdy webs at a quicker pace. Among the many scholars, only the zero-intelligence professor of the Four Pillars God explored the "Forbidden Secret Catalogue," connecting with the Traitor of the Four Pillars, thus the seeking authority granted to the All-knowing Weaver.

The All-knowing Weaver suddenly gained a scroll, depicting the scene a second ahead. Overlaying it with reality, the scroll’s Prophecy became real — a wing of Uroboros vanished into thin air!

Heavenly Kingdom Divine Artifact·Determined Future!

"Prince," the Imaginary Music Master calmly said, "Consider this as me owing you one."

The Imaginary Music Master wiped his hands, erasing a wing of Uroboros like wiping out a stain with an eraser!

Heavenly Kingdom Divine Artifact·Free Will!

"Tyrant," the Lord of Infinite Abyss coldly said, "It’s time to repay your debt."

The Lord of Infinite Abyss raised a gigantic war axe, hacking at the void, forcefully ripping open space-time to tear the massive Uroboros hundreds of kilometers long like paper!

Heavenly Kingdom Divine Artifact·Domineering!

Unlike the Extreme Master of Blood Moon and All-knowing Weaver, who needed World Secret Domain and tactile senses to connect with the Four Pillars, the Imaginary Music Master and Lord of Infinite Abyss were once tactile senses of the Four Pillars. After entering Hell, they shed this identity, yet upon ascending as Divine Lords, they reconnected with the Four Pillars — the disparity among Divine Lords is inherently so great that a small advantage can turn into overwhelming dominance. If the others use the Four Pillars, won’t they be left behind if they don’t?

Who made this generation of Heaven the most intense one in history?

To mortals, Four Pillars God are terrifying evil gods to be cautiously associated with, but to Divine Lords, while they aren’t exactly toys, borrowing their power on occasion is common. Would they dare bite back?

The only ones not using the Four Pillars are Senluo and Dazzling Star. Senluo’s magic path is extremely focused on the mental realm, giving the Four Pillars a chance to thoroughly collapse her — which indeed happened when she showed a slight weakness, and the Four Pillars rapidly swept the Kingdom of Senluo.

Dazzling Star doesn’t use the Four Pillars because...she doesn’t need to.

She broke through the void to a height above Uroboros, pressing the weight of the Starry Sky and the Heavenly Kingdom onto her sword’s edge, striking with great force!

She flew hundreds of kilometers with her breath; her sword was like a hot knife slicing through butter, cutting the Eight-winged creature in half!

Observing demigods held their breath, witnessing for the first time the combat methods of Divine Lords, likely also the first time Divine Lords went all out in Hell. They finally understood the meaning of the title ’Divine Lord,’ as this warfare completely transcended mage conventions... Mages are fundamentally solo warriors, at most engaging in team combat. Even army combat is their limit.

And now, what did they see? From the Technique Spirit of a One-winged Mage, the Miracle of a Legendary Mage, to the Wonder of the Angel and the World Secret Domain, all powers were integrated, from screws to blast bombs, everything played its role. This was not a mage battle; it was a state-level total war, an all-out civilization effort!

This was the true meaning of converging myriad powers, state civilization participating as the main force of war at this moment! Therefore, a Six-winged Mage is a Divine Lord, not only the Lord of Gods but also the ruler of states and civilizations, Their war is a war of civilizations!

"Heavenly Kingdom Divine Artifacts," Death Mad softly introduced, "The strongest offensive means of Divine Lords, perfectly transforming millennia of efforts into destructive power. The Extreme Master of Blood Moon’s Feast of Flesh can convert every concept into destructive flesh; even space-time must erupt in pus before him."

"The All-knowing Weaver’s Determined Future can pre-visualize the lower reaches of the Flowing Gold River and modify the image, changing reality to the desired future. It’s the most crude and potent predictive offensive measure."

"The Imaginary Music Master’s Free Will and the Lord of Infinite Abyss’ Domineering both pushed Magic Factions to their peak, infinitely close to the Six-winged limit...Considering Senluo who has fallen, they are indeed the strongest mages in history. Unless a Void Realm of Seven Layers arises, future mages can only match, not surpass them."

"This hellish battle is simultaneously the pinnacle of mage civilization."