Mage Manual-Chapter 1318 - 962: Teetering on the Edge of Love and Duty

Chapter 1318: Chapter 962: Teetering on the Edge of Love and Duty

"Ha, ha, ha..."

When the roller coaster slowly came to a stop, Ash saw Filly panting heavily beside him and couldn’t help but laugh, "Is your reaction really that severe?"

"I’m afraid of heights!" Filly pouted, "I felt like my heart stopped... and they even take photos!"

"If you’re afraid of heights, why are you still riding roller coasters?"

"Can’t I like riding roller coasters even if I’m afraid of heights?"

Got it, the worse you are, the more you want to play.

Ash unlocked his seatbelt and saw Filly sitting motionless but reaching out her hands toward him like a child wanting a hug. He blinked, "What’s wrong?"

"My legs are weak," Filly said with a cute, silly look, "Help me up."

Ash glanced at Vishi behind them but, after a moment’s thought, held Filly’s hand to help her up. After taking only a couple of steps, Filly took hold of his hand and led him running toward the next amusement ride, "I want to try that giant pendulum too!"

Nia frowned and followed them quickly, with Vishi and Rose trailing leisurely behind.

Igula watched their backs, suddenly feeling like there was nothing for him to do here, and since he didn’t like amusement rides either, he turned to say, "Harvey, let’s—"

He looked around and found that Harvey wasn’t beside him. In the distance, he saw a parade with the theme ’Corpse Party’ leaving, with what looked like a dark-skinned, curly-haired figure among them.

Are you kidding me? You, a legendary Necromancer, are attracted to such a mundane entertainment activity... Igula sighed, turning to see a ’Crystal Ball Divination’ tent, with a long queue in front. The left side of the entrance read ’All-knowing’, and the right side ’Always accurate’.

He took out his phone to check and discovered that the ’Crystal Ball Divination’ of Joy World was actually one of the park’s main attractions. The fortune teller here was claimed to be the Kingdom of Allstars’ top psychic, able to see through people’s thoughts and predict their past and future!

Looking at the glowing reviews, Igula found himself unconsciously standing at the end of the line.

He wasn’t actually attracted by the entertainment project but, as a Swindler himself, Igula found it hard to refuse an opportunity to spar with a fellow practitioner.

...

...

"I’m so dizzy... I can’t move anymore..."

Faced with Filly’s pitiful gaze, Ash shrugged and had no choice but to pick her up.

Filly wrapped her arms around Ash’s neck, slyly glancing at Nia behind them, her lips curling into a slight smile that made Nia fume with anger.

However, Filly didn’t give Nia a chance to erupt, as she quickly got down from Ash and pulled him toward a nearby booth, "You can get free themed eye makeup here! Ash, what do you want to get?"

Ash glanced at the eye makeup chart, "I want that wickedly charming dark circles!"

"Master," Vishi reminded, "a wickedly charming La La Fat is still a La La Fat, and those aren’t dark circles..."

Ash retorted, "If you keep talking, I’ll put a helmet on you."

"But," he looked up at the Heavenly Curtain, "it’s so bright here, it’s almost like daytime."

The theme of Joy World might only appear in the Kingdom of Allstars, for only a world like the Kingdom of Allstars, which lives eternally in the night, would regard ’daytime’ as a fantasy theme.

Numerous massive curved reflective walls enveloped the entire amusement park, making Joy World look like a shattered eggshell from the outside. These reflective walls layered and reflected light, making the interior of the theme park blaze with white light everywhere, almost the brightest place Ash and his friends had seen since arriving in the Kingdom of Allstars, truly like daylight.

But when travelers look up, they can see the night outside between the reflected walls, giving rise to the name ’Joy World’—a flawed day.

Yet this alone has already excited countless travelers. They enjoy the pervasive light in this man-made daylight world to their heart’s content.

"Daytime?" Filly pulled Ash into the makeup booth, where she got a glittery eye makeup, with her under-eye corners sparkling brightly, "Is this similar to the outside daytime?"

"Hmm—" Ash thought for a moment, "still quite different, no matter how bright the lamps are, they can’t match real sunlight."

"Sunlight... what is it like?"

"Warm, dazzling," Ash paused, "if starlight is like stars brushing with fur, then sunlight is the stars sticking out their tongue to lick."

Filly couldn’t help but smile wryly, "Although I don’t know what sunlight is like, I know that what you’re saying is quite strange."

"Even though Ash’s thinking is a bit strange, this place really can’t match real sunlight," Vishi said with crossed arms, "When you’re basking in the sun with your loved one, walking together on the street, you’ll truly feel the vibrancy of life, with not only sunlight being dazzling, but you yourself as well."

Filly was slightly stunned, softly saying, "That sounds wonderful..."

By this time, Ash had finished his dark circles eye makeup. Looking in the mirror, he indeed appeared more like a wickedly charming La La Fat. But he didn’t mind, "What should we do next?"

"I want to ride that ten-loop roller coaster!"

"Aren’t you afraid of dizziness?"

"Isn’t that why you’re here? Let’s go, let’s go!"

Filly was so energetic she didn’t seem like someone who hadn’t slept, dragging Ash non-stop from one amusement ride to another, some even two or three times. When they arrived at the northern district of Joy World, they found there was a cable car that went directly to the mountaintop, where there was a super bungee jump.

The cable car could only seat two people at a time, and naturally, Filly sat with Ash. This chairlift cable car had legs dangling and a nearly vertical cable, feeling even more thrilling than a roller coaster. Filly was so nervous she nearly clung entirely to Ash, and her eye makeup glitter got onto his face.

This time Nia couldn’t hold back any longer, but before she could rush over to push Ash off, Vishi pulled her away. Vishi said, "There’s a fireworks extravaganza at 8:30, meet us at the Central Square later, we won’t be going up."

"Alright." Ash exchanged a glance with her and nodded slightly.

The mountain bungee jump did not disappoint their cable car journey up, especially since the jump was built on a cliff, with each rapid descent making Ash’s heart race a bit, let alone Filly. Filly needed Ash’s help to get off each time but would excitedly queue up again.

When they noticed the line had shortened, they realized it was already eight o’clock and hurriedly queued up to take the cable car down. Riding the cable car down was even more thrilling, with the cable car and the cable making a hair-raising whistling sound. However, the mountain area was not within the illuminating range of Joy World, so the clear star-studded sky sprinkled unreservedly onto the cable car line, making them feel as if they were riding the Star River back to earth.

The cable car line was not a straight line but undulated with the mountain terrain. After their cable car descended to the very bottom, they suddenly found that the cable car speed had become very slow. Then, a voice from the loudspeaker echoed across the line: "There is a malfunction with a cable car, currently under emergency repair. Passengers, please remain calm. It is estimated to take about fifteen minutes to resume normal operation..."

"Fifteen minutes!?" Filly checked her phone, a bit anxious: "We won’t make it back down the mountain to see the fireworks!"

"Looks like we’ll have to miss the fireworks show," Ash consoled, "but the cable car is quite interesting, just like a Ferris wheel."

"Like the Ferris wheel we rode on our last date?"

Ash blinked and nodded, "That’s right, just like our last date."

Filly was in a daze for a while, then suddenly said, "I should apologize to Nia."

"I almost monopolized all of your time today and didn’t leave any for her... but I really can’t bear to give you up to her."

She looked up at Ash, starlight in her eyes, twinkling like stars, "This is our second date, and it might be the last one."

Ash thought for a moment, "This seems to be my second date too."

Filly pursed her lips into a smile, taking a deep breath, her face showing a faint blush.

"Ash, there’s something I want to tell you."

...

...

"Vishi, do you like Filly, or do you dislike me, or is it both?"

In the scenic restaurant, Nia suddenly challenged Vishi.

Vishi casually ate her fries, leisurely saying, "I’m actually a very loving person—I like all little animals, whether they’re sheep or hedgehogs. How could I dislike you?"

"Then why do you..." Nia bit her lip gently, "never mind."

"I did help create opportunities for Filly to be alone with Ash, but that doesn’t mean I’m helping her," Vishi laughed, "If I really wanted to help her, I wouldn’t give her any chance to be alone with Ash."

Nia looked at her, "One reason I don’t like you is because what you say is hard to understand."

Rose elegantly cut her steak, uninterested in their conversation.

"What do you think Filly wants to talk to Ash about when she finds an opportunity to be alone?" Vishi smiled.

"That must be—" Nia almost blurted out but, upon seeing Vishi’s smirking face, realized she must have been wrong. However, she was always reluctant to admit her mistakes or foolishness and clammed up immediately.

Since she didn’t ask, Vishi certainly wouldn’t say, leaving it a game of patience to see who gets anxious first.

After a while, Nia sulkily asked, "So why are you helping her?"

"Because I’m curious too," Vishi glanced at the distant mountaintop, "hovering on the edge of love and duty, what answer will Filly ultimately give?"

Nia frowned; she really hated this cryptic way of speaking.

"Actually, compared to Filly, I’m more curious about you."

Vishi tilted her head, "Nia, do you still care about your relationship with Ash?"

Nia bristled instantly at Vishi but quickly calmed down, lowered her gaze, and silently continued her dinner.

...

...

"Mhm."

Ash quietly said, "I’m listening."

"I want to tell you," Filly took a deep breath, "about the Heavenly Kingdom of Souls project..."

"Mhm."

"I hope, I hope you, you... you..."

The words seemed caught in her throat, her breathing quickened, but not a single word came out.

She softly clutched Ash’s arm, her breathing grew heavier as if the act of breathing drained all her strength.

"I hope you... you don’t..."

Filly bit her lip hard, tears gradually blurred her vision. Her head rested lightly against Ash’s shoulder, her breath turning into low sobs, which grew louder until she couldn’t hold back and burst into heart-wrenching, hysterical tears as if long-stored sorrow finally had a chance to pour out unrestrainedly.

Ash patted her back, smiling, "Cry slower, don’t be in such a rush, I’m afraid you’ll get respiratory alkalosis."

"I can’t speak... I can’t say it!" Filly sobbed twice, gasping mid-cry, "I can’t say anything!"

"Why can’t I say it... I clearly made up my mind..."

"Because you don’t want me to get hurt, nor do you want Allstars to be destroyed," Ash looked up at the Heavenly Curtain of stars, and said, "Because Filly, you are a kind demon."