Chapter 464: Weaving the Future

In the far distance, the neon lights of towering skyscrapers bled into the sea of stars across the artificial sky. The dense, ceaseless flow of traffic ran like the city's veins, while the ever-vigilant streetlamp knights below carved out thick domains of light against the dark.

Brilliance flourished, vibrant as rouge. Remnants of a bygone era, unwilling to fade, dressed themselves in the guise of the future. Shadows roamed freely, greedily feeding on the desires leaking from the streets. Every corner felt like a monster waiting to devour its prey, burying countless souls who had surrendered to the pull of alcohol and nicotine.

Leaning against the windowsill, Ashe and Annan faced each other. Half of them were illuminated by the room's warm glow, while the other half were stained by the city's darkness. Their eyes flickered between light and shadow, reflecting one another in an ambiguous haze.

Ashe crossed his arms in refusal. "Good thing Iger warned me. You're not planning to extend our contract through a verbal agreement, are you? If I agreed, would that 101-day slave contract automatically renew forever?"

Annan shook her head. "Of course not. I may have some authority within the Gospel, but at most, a contract can only be extended until December 31, 2100."

Ashe recoiled in alarm. "That's over five hundred years! By then, the Gospel Kingdom might not even exist anymore. Your descendants could find my grave in some post-apocalyptic wasteland and chant, 'Ashe Heath, heed the contract's summoning,' and I'd have to crawl out of hell just to keep being the Dolan family's dog for centuries!?"

Annan laughed, shaking her head again. "That's impossible. No matter how powerful a contract is, it can't summon the dead. Unless... I ask Harvey to turn you into a necromantic construct. Then, Ashe, you could become a treasured heirloom of the Dolan family. Tsk, that damned Iger, ruining my plans."

"Praise be to Iger for saving us from calamity and keeping us from crossing paths with wicked women."

Seeing the frustration on Annan's face as her scheme fell apart, Ashe quietly let out a breath of relief.

When he had suddenly heard Annan's "I can support you" offer earlier, he had felt a tiny spark of joy. Well, more than a tiny spark, but he only allowed himself to admit to a little. Yet once reason returned, it left him with a dull ache.

Their relationship was fundamentally distorted. If not for Annan, he would have already taken Lys and fled. Even if Lys wanted him to play the hero and rescue the princess in the tower, he would never risk her life. It was Annan's obsession with the assassination plan that kept them trapped in the underground city.

In fact, from the very beginning, it had been Annan who sought to desecrate the Gospel and deceive the Woven Festival, forcing them all to scurry around like hunted rats. Ashe himself had only wanted to find a place where he could send his substitute to work, take care of Lys by day, and explore the Virtual World with the Swordswoman and the Witch by night. With the Aurora Sorcerer's Handbook in his possession, becoming a Legendary sorcerer was only a matter of time. There was no need to take risks; he could simply lie low and grow stronger. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

And yet, he remained Annan's enslaved subordinate, unable to resist her commands. He had no choice but to follow her to the end. If Annan truly liked him, and if he truly ended up with her, wouldn't that just be Stockholm syndrome? Usually, it was the kidnapped heroine who fell for the male lead. In his case, the roles were completely reversed.

Luckily, Annan is a bad woman. Luckily, that's all she is, a bad woman.

With that grounding thought, Ashe changed the subject. "By the way, I've already decided on my wish."

Annan looked at him with curiosity. "What is it? To upgrade your substitute spirit into an all-purpose servant that can do anything?"

"That's my secondary wish. If there's any capacity left, please make it happen. Oh, and add one condition. I want to freely customize my substitute's appearance and gender."

Despite the temptation, Ashe remembered his promise to Lys. "But my primary wish is to permanently abolish the Unattached Ranking."

Annan blinked. "Huh? Abolish the Unattached Ranking?"

"That's right," Ashe nodded, already preparing his excuse.

However, after a brief silence, Annan didn't question his reasoning. She simply nodded. "If I obtain the Divine Lord's wish, I promise yours will be fulfilled."

Ashe let out a quiet breath. Mission accomplished for tonight.

By revealing Pankey's situation, he hadn't just hoped to avoid a tragedy born of secrets. He had also intended to earn Annan's favor so she would take his wish seriously. A small scheme, perfectly executed.

Relaxing, he smiled. "So, what do you plan to do after the Woven Festival? Don't tell me you'll wish to become an Angel and leave reality behind."

Annan shook her head. "I don't intend to use the wish to advance my own strength. If I'm fortunate enough to obtain the Divine Lord's wish and safely make it through the Woven Festival..."

She paused, then suddenly let out a soft laugh. "How silly. The festival hasn't even ended yet. What's the point of thinking about the future now? We might die in the palace in a few days."

"It's precisely because we might die there that we should think about our future now," Ashe countered. "If we really do die, then at least we can live out the rest of our lives in our imagination. And if we survive, then that imagined future becomes the courage that drives us forward. It might even create a miracle.

"The future is the greatest source of hope. Once you have a future you want to reach, not even blades or flames can stop you. In that sense, thinking about the rest of your life is like holding your own personal Woven Festival, crafting your future, then striving to realize it."

Annan froze. "The Woven Festival?"

She fell silent, her hand gently tracing her earring. Then, she looked up and asked, "Do you think the Woven Festival is a good thing?"

"Hm?" Ashe thought for a moment. "To be honest, something like the Woven Festival belongs to the category of natural forces. It guides social trends and influences the evolution of sorcery. Judging it as good or bad feels a bit childish. It's like asking whether the sun is good or evil.

"But if I had to say? It's probably a good thing. Through these rankings, the kingdom can predict future developments, technological revolutions, and identify key talents. It ensures the Gospel continues to grow faster and more efficiently, with almost no chance of stagnation. If the Woven Festival hadn't foretold this apocalyptic disaster, I might have truly believed the Gospel's future stretched all the way to the stars."

"But what about the Echoers?" Annan asked. "Is it really a good thing for them to know a predetermined future in advance?"

Ashe spread his hands. "That depends. If the future aligns with their desires, then sure, it's a blessing. But if it runs counter to them? It's agonizing. Still, life can't always go your way. Even at a buffet, there are dishes you don't like."

"I don't see it that way. Regardless of whether the future meets one's expectations, I don't think it's a good thing," Annan stared at her hands. "For example, if the Woven Festival told me I was destined to spend my life with you, then whether I liked you or not, I'd feel stifled.

"If I didn't like you, that's one thing. But if I did? I'd start wondering, 'Does that mean I'm bound to you forever? That I can't leave, can't change, can't choose a different path?' Being denied by the future is painful, but being affirmed by it brings a different kind of pressure. In the end, why shouldn't our future be in our own hands?"

She turned to Ashe. "You've spent quite a few days in the Gospel Kingdom now. I'm curious about your opinion. As someone from another land, do you think the Gospel is good? Did the Omniscient Weaver bestow the Gospel out of a love for humanity?"

Ashe fell silent for a long while before replying with a question, "Do you know the social system of the Blood Moon Kingdom?"

Annan sighed. "I do. The Bloodline Prohibition Act, the Blood Moon Tribunals, the Blood Saint and Moonshadow clans... Everyone is raised in foster institutions, and biological modification runs rampant. It's a barbaric jungle masquerading as civilization. Sorry, I hope that doesn't offend you."

"No, that's an accurate summary. The Blood Moon Kingdom is essentially a carefully managed breeding ground created by the Blood Moon Lord. But in my view, the Gospel and the Blood Moon are the same at their core."

Annan blinked, surprised. "Huh? I may criticize the Omniscient Weaver, but surely they're not that bad..."

"Their systems and cultures are worlds apart, but both kingdoms are built upon the will of a Divine Lord. The deity sets the rules, and all living beings exist only within them. Whether those rules are the Bloodline Prohibition Act or the Gospel system doesn't change the fundamental dynamic.

"The Divine Lords neither love nor hate humanity. The Blood Saints and Moonshadows may be the ruling class, but that isn't due to the Lord's favoritism. It's simply a result of the system. In a world where bloodlines are forbidden, only long-lived, self-serving beings can maximize their advantages. It's like flies thriving in a toilet. You can't say the toilet favors flies. Put them in a different environment, and those rare long-lived species would quickly be suppressed by the short-lived majority."

"So you're saying..." Annan murmured. "The Divine Lords don't care about humanity?"

Ashe shook his head. "No. They may be indifferent, but they do care in a sense. Otherwise, the Blood Moon and Gospel Kingdoms wouldn't exist. But what they care about isn't the individual or even a single era. It's the entire span of the kingdom from birth until now.

"The idea that Divine Lords should love humanity is flawed. Their current stance of impartial non-interference is actually the correct one."

"Why?"

Ashe glanced at her. "Because love is a form of giving. Does humanity even have the capacity to bear a Divine Lord's love? We'd only drown in it. Take Vanmura, for example. The Six-Emblem family leaders loved their people unconditionally, and the result was that everyone lived in indulgence and decadence."

Annan protested. "Not necessarily. In some ancient myths, certain races favored by Divine Lords are born already mastering Silver or even Gold Rank sorcery—"

Ashe smiled. "Do you remember what you told me about Gospel Sorcerers versus Silent Sorcerers?"

Annan froze, then quickly understood.

Gospel Sorcerers relied on the Gospel to solve every problem. They were essentially just copying the answers. Silent Sorcerers refused to consult the Gospel, instead relying on themselves to break through. In the Gospel Kingdom, Gospel Sorcerers dominated at the One-Winged stage, but by the Two-Winged stage, seventy percent were Silent Sorcerers. As for Sacred Realm and above, all of them were Silent Sorcerers.

Ashe said, "In the sorcerer evaluation system, a Divine Lord's love only leads to a race's decline. Sorcery isn't like money or material resources. It is knowledge that must be pursued and studied over a lifetime. If a Divine Lord helps a sorcerer practice, it actually weakens their potential and corrodes their foundation.

"In that sense, the Omniscient Weaver has been overly indulgent toward you. So, is that right or wrong? And looking at it the other way, the Bloodline Prohibition Act attempts to create a highly competitive, harsh environment to push people further along the path of sorcery. Do you think the Blood Moon Lord was right to do so?"

Ashe paused. "Of course, that's only within the context of sorcery. If we're talking about the happiness of ordinary citizens... well, the Blood Moon Lord isn't even worthy of licking the Omniscient Weaver's little toe."

Annan immediately covered Ashe's mouth and shushed him. "Don't talk about the Divine Lords like that."

Ashe nodded, and once she let go, he continued, "So it's not that the Divine Lords love people deeply, but the other way around. People project their own emotions onto them, and that's why they desperately believe the Divine Lords love them in return."

He flashed a slight smile. "When you ask whether the Omniscient Weaver truly loves humanity, what you're really doubting isn't Its attitude, but Its judgment. You think It made a mistake, so you stopped loving It, and now you assume It doesn't love humanity either."

Annan stared at him blankly for a moment, then suddenly blurted, "So you really are the leader of some evil cult. I thought Iger was just smearing you."

Ashe looked at her, irritated. "Your assumption isn't wrong. He is smearing me on purpose. How do I look like a cult leader?"

"In every possible way."

"Give me an example! And the future rankings don't count!"

Annan grinned. "There's one standing right in front of you. You've successfully bewitched me." She touched her earring lightly. "I'll weave the rest of my life properly."

"Then I'll be going."

"I'll walk you out."

Annan accompanied Ashe to the door. She reached out and grasped the doorknob, but she didn't turn it.

After waiting a moment in silence, Ashe asked, puzzled, "What's wrong? Is it stuck?"

"Ashe... do you hate me?"

He froze.

"You probably do," the Purple Moth said softly, her back still turned to him as she faced the door. "If I hadn't captured you at the Virtual Channel, if Cliose and I hadn't forced your hand, you wouldn't have been dragged into the vortex of the Woven Festival. You might have already settled down in Azura by now, living a peaceful, happy life.

"I always said I would treat you all as equals, but that was just my own self-satisfying arrogance. You're all bound by contracts. From the very start, there was never any real equality between us. And now, I've even asked you to take part in what is essentially a suicide mission... Ha, Harvey is probably already plotting his revenge on me for when this is over.

"I may have my reasons, but what do my reasons have to do with you? I'm nothing but a mere moth destined to fly into the flames... yet I still dragged you all in to burn with me. Your first reaction tonight was probably, 'Is this wicked woman Annan trying to trick me again?' And honestly... I deserve that. But..."

She turned around to face him, her emerald eyes shimmering. "In a few days, the first half of my life will come to an end."

Her voice trembled faintly. "We might all die."

Only then did Ashe realize that she was terrified. Or rather, aside from Harvey, who among them wasn't? Iger simply never revealed his fear, having long grown accustomed to life-and-death gambles. Lys relied entirely on Ashe, masking her fear behind absolute trust. And as for Ashe himself...

For days, he had been imagining life after the Woven Festival, using hope to resist panic, using Lys to steady his heart, and using Iger's confidence to hold the dread at bay.

But Annan was different. In the past, her risks had always been backed by Pankey, and once she began working, she relied on the Gospel's near-omniscient perspective to act without restraint. This blasphemous plot against the Gospel was the greatest gamble of her life. Assassinating a princess was a weight she had never faced before.

Yet she couldn't show even a trace of fear in front of the others. That was her responsibility as their leader. Only now, in the quiet of her room, did she finally cast aside all her disguises, revealing the fragile woman beneath the commander.

"The question I asked just now... is also the answer I've woven for myself," Purple Moth said, her gaze locked intently onto the cult leader. "I'll ask you again. Will you weave the future with me?"

This time, she was entirely serious. There was no dodging it.

Ashe looked at her face, which was beautiful whether she was angry or joyful, bold yet currently tinged with a delicate hint of shyness. Her eyes were filled with raw expectation, and for a moment, he was completely lost.

Honestly, he couldn't think of a single reason to refuse. She wasn't as absurdly wealthy as Evelyn, but compared to Ashe, who had been fully prepared to sleep under a bridge with a cardboard box, Annan, with her spacious luxury apartment, was easily rich enough to support his everyday needs.

Not to mention, he still had Lys to care for. In all of Azura, only Iger and Annan had been willing to take them in. In truth, Ashe had only joked with Iger about being supported. Once Lys' life settled down, he fully intended to find a way to earn his own living. He couldn't actually expect Iger to feed him forever.

Annan's offer, however, came with no strings attached and even guaranteed aftercare. Since he'd already "sold his looks" via the contract anyway, he could shamelessly accept a beautiful, wealthy patron's support.

So, did he like Annan? First of all, she was ranked on the Azura Beauty Ranking; her looks and figure were far beyond anything a zero-star nobody like him could ever hope to attain. Secondly, he felt completely at ease around her, like childhood friends who had grown up together without a single barrier between them. Of course he liked her. Their married life would surely be a happy one. And yet... and yet.

Ashe closed his eyes. Countless faces flashed through his mind, including his parents, his brother, the veela, and that fierce, red-haired woman...

He opened his eyes and looked at her seriously. Seeing the sudden gentleness in his gaze, Purple Moth immediately understood his answer.

"I—"

"Wait," she interrupted softly. "Let me paint a portrait of you first."