Four-Wing Dream Pursuit sorcery spirit.
Four-Wing Soul Hook sorcery spirit.
Four-Wing Heart Engraving sorcery spirit.
In the underground hall, Sonia, Diya, and Weise unleashed their sorcery power, bringing these six Four-Wing sorcery spirits under their control.
Without a doubt, these Four-Wing sorcery spirits were treasures among treasures. Take the Soul Hook sorcery spirit: it could drag out a Legendary sorcerer's soul when they were off guard, and after that, one only needed to destroy their physical body, leaving the soul with nowhere to return to and causing it to perish on its own.
And something like the Dream Pursuit sorcery spirit was the artistic culmination of the dream faction, capable of being used in tandem with any dream sorcery spirit. For instance, if one first used the Sleep Dream sorcery spirit on a Lalafell, and then used Dream Pursuit on any target, that target would change direction to chase after the sleeping Lalafell.
If Dream Pursuit were cast on a targeted miracle, it could even forcibly redirect the miracle's target to the sleeping Lalafell!
These six sorcery spirits were so powerful that, if obtained, they were treasures that would tempt a Legendary sorcerer to change their sorcery school for them!
Although Sonia, Diya, and Weise could use these six sorcery spirits, they could also clearly sense that they held no ownership over them. As long as the Dream Demon willed it, these sorcery spirits would instantly flee from their souls.
Among the three, only Sonia had experience leasing sorcery spirits.
After all, the environment of the Senluo Wasteland was utterly wretched. Far from leasing sorcery spirits, even platforms for trading them were in a primitive state. Half of Weise's sorcery spirits were summoned by herself, and the other half were spoils of war from attacking cults; she had never even bought one. The Gospel Kingdom did have a sorcery spirit leasing platform, but Diya had either been confined and unable to access sorcery spirit transactions, or in her state as the Empress who could do whatever she pleased, naturally having no need to lease sorcery spirits either.
Only in the Starry Kingdom was the leasing service mature—and Sonia happened to be a core user of it.
For instance, when she took part in the Meteor Calamity, she had borrowed several key sorcery spirits from Professor Trozan; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to cast 'Blade of the Hidden Hand' at all. Later, after returning the sorcery spirits to the professor, she still hadn't gathered the complete set of spirits for 'Blade of the Hidden Hand' to this day, only able to cast the basic version of that miracle.
In the Starry Kingdom, leasing sorcery spirits and trading them were essentially two sides of the same coin.
If one found a leased spirit useful, leasing turned into an intention to buy.
If it was just for an emergency, buying was naturally inferior to renting.
Sanctuary sorcerers, in particular, leased sorcery spirits especially frequently. After all, Sanctuary sorcerers would begin researching and developing new miracles, at which point they often needed to reference the effects of other sorcery spirits. Buying them outright was not only expensive, but often impossible because there was demand but no supply—as wing count increased, even ordinary sorcery spirits became rare, and when they weren't available for sale, there was truly nowhere to buy them.
Thus, short-term leasing services had emerged, even becoming the most important currency of social favors among Sanctuary sorcerers. Take Professor Trozan: the reason she dared to be so foul-mouthed and sharp-tongued was partly her strength, and partly because she possessed many rare sorcery spirits and was willing to lend them out. Many Sanctuary sorcerers would have occasion to ask favors of her, so everyone was willing to flatter and humor her; she naturally had no need to put points into emotional intelligence.
Furthermore, impressions could change. Many had a terrible first impression of Trozan, finding her plain-looking and rather slovenly, but when Trozan showed herself to be generous and open-handed, they would think she was actually a successful woman who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside.
Even Sonia was not immune. The reason she had such a good relationship with Trozan now was simply because Trozan was genuinely good to her!
Aside from that, leasing was also a vital sales channel. Most Sanctuary sorcerers would lease a sorcery spirit for a period of time to test its effects before purchasing it. Sonia currently had several three-winged sorcery spirits listed on a lease-and-sale platform, and it was estimated that it would take one to three months to sell them.
But leasing sorcery spirits carried considerable risks as well.
If the lessee died in the Void Realm, the sorcery spirit might be lost. Even if the lessee were willing to pay compensation, once the sorcery spirit was gone, it was truly gone.
Moreover, even if the lessee only had the right to use it, as long as they wished, they could still kill the sorcery spirit outright.
In other words, right now Sonia and the others could directly crush the Four-Wing sorcery spirits in their hands, rendering the miracle impossible to activate and completely destroying the Nightmare Inheritance.
Yet they all quietly put the sorcery spirits away. Only Diya couldn't help asking, "Are we really going to kill people to take their spirits?"
Not just Diya, but the other witch sisters were quite uneasy about this as well; even the Black Butler, the most dark-hearted of them all, was nervously hugging the White Queen.
In truth, the witches had very weak moral frameworks, because wonderful traits like kindness, responsibility, and hope had all been left to Sleeping Beauty. The witch sisters that branched out starting from Secret Princess Diya were all survival personas that loved only themselves.
Diya herself had experienced many moments where she could have fallen into darkness—such as being captured by Annan, such as the Red Apostle going to her death, such as parting at the imperial palace. Although Secret Princess Diya had decent mental resilience, the White Queen's composure crumbled very easily; once the White Queen collapsed, the Black Butler would collapse alongside her, and in the end, it would drag Diya down as well—that was the price she paid for escaping loneliness.
Sleeping Beauty was a Princess of Yisu made of love, candy, and all things wonderful, but the witches were different: they were a runaway Gospel forged from survival, evasion, and unscrupulous means.
Yet in the All-Knowing Heaven, faced with what was perhaps the only wish-granting opportunity of her life, Diya had forsaken her selfish desires for the stability of the Gospel Kingdom, willingly becoming an Empress bound by countless constraints.
Yes, even though the witches were not born with traits like kindness, responsibility, and hope, Yaxiu had led by example and taught her these superfluous things.
And so, facing what was about to happen next, the witches' hearts were filled with dread and unease.
"Give me the sorcery spirits." Weise held out her hand. "The miracle's sorcery procedure—I can complete it alone."
"You alone?" Sonia looked at her.
"Something like this shouldn't be carried out by the three of us in the first place," Weise said calmly. "Right now, we are all under the Dream Demon's curse, and the Watcher is being held hostage in its hands. We have no choice; we can only harm others so that we can survive.
"In fact, most sorcerers, upon encountering a miracle procedure like this, would only be overjoyed, rather than hesitant and resistant like you two. Yes, it does require killing, but in a sorcerer's journey, those who haven't killed are the minority. And sorcerers who can reach the Sanctuary level, even if their hands aren't stained with blood, have long since crossed the life-and-death crucible of moral codes. Fate, environment, allegiances, good and evil... whether willing or forced, we are already hunters and prey roaming the forest.
"What's more, the ones being killed are sorcerers we don't even know, perhaps not even from the same kingdom. Most people wouldn't have any psychological burden.
"It's just that the Watcher has protected you two too well. Though, the reverse is also true," Weise said softly. "So neither of you is suited for this kind of work."
Diya asked blankly, "Then, Weise, are you suited for it?"
"More suited than you two, at least," Weise said. "Besides, I'm also good at this sort of thing.
"Don't look at me like this... I'm actually older than you two. In terms of adventuring, my experience might not be as rich as yours, but scenes of blood, slaughter, and death—I must have seen far more than you have. To put it even more bluntly..."
Weise looked at her palm and said calmly, "I'm already used to destroying life.
"Of course, your lack of familiarity is not a flaw, nor is there any superiority in my being accustomed to it. It's just that our life experiences differ, so there are slight differences in our outlooks and values.
"When I suggested earlier that the Watcher stay behind, it was because I saw that he also wanted to take on this burden voluntarily and protect you two from the killing. But there's really no need for you to force yourselves over this unexpected turn of events. Just like when we explored the Spectre Inheritance, each person has their own duty.
"Now, it's time for me to fulfill my duty to the team," Weise said. "Give me the sorcery spirits."
Diya blinked, hesitated for a moment, and began to hand over the sorcery spirits.
But just as Weise reached out to take them, her wrist was firmly gripped.
"Are you finished?"
Sonia stared at Weise, naked displeasure showing in her ruby eyes. "Presumptuously making arrangements, patronizingly flaunting your experience, indulging in self-sacrificing self-satisfaction... Yulanweise, do you still consider yourself a member of this team?"
"Of course." Weise was somewhat taken aback. "I didn't..."
"Then who is the earliest member of this team? Who is the person the captain trusts the most? And who is the one who understands the captain's thoughts best?"
"When the Watcher isn't here," the red-haired Sword Princess said firmly, enunciating each word with utter seriousness, "I command the team."
Chapter 663