Chapter 40: Chapter 33: Isaac’s Abnormal Guts

"Mm." Gaia’s expression relaxed slightly. As long as it wasn’t the Orc King...

The king of the Black Orcs had appeared once a hundred years ago. He was an existence beyond a High-level Knight, capable of commanding all the Black Orcs in the Wilderness—far beyond what Solomon’s Domain could currently oppose. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Even if they summoned aid from the Empire, Solomon’s Domain would inevitably become the front line. A war of such intensity was by no means a good thing for them. If things went poorly, they could be annihilated!

However...

"Dispatch more men. You must find out why the enemy has gathered such a massive army. At the same time, notify the other Lords. Tell them to bring their troops to the fortress and join the defense."

"Yes, Father!" Caesar nodded, his expression grim.

"How many Alchemy Golems can the Mage Tower provide within a month, at most?" After giving Caesar his orders, Gaia turned to Cheryl.

"The Mage Tower is low on materials, and we’ve never prepared for a war involving tens of thousands," Cheryl said, sounding rather helpless. "Right now, we can activate a total of three hundred Obsidian Golems. At most, we can build three more within a month."

War was no child’s play. The saying that a cannon’s roar costs ten thousand taels of gold held true in both worlds; some things consumed resources just by existing.

Take Alchemy Golems, for instance. As powerful as these weapons of war were, they burned through money!

Not only were the materials and fuel expensive, but even the maintenance fees were exorbitant!

And this was only because Cheryl herself was a Grand Wizard belonging to the Truth Association and had her own Mage Tower. She could pull in plenty of wide-eyed Official Wizards from the association to do unpaid labor, saving a huge amount in maintenance fees.

Otherwise, their standing force of Obsidian Golems would have to be reduced by at least fifty!

Such a high cost meant they were helpless in the face of this sudden crisis; the production rate was fixed.

Although they could also purchase more from the association, for one, it was expensive, and for two...

Activating an Obsidian Golem required a magical resource like Magic Crystals. Even if you had the money to buy the Golems, you might not have enough to buy the Magic Crystals.

So after Cheryl finished speaking, Gaia sighed. Fortunately, he had already braced himself for this, so he wasn’t too disappointed.

"Then forget it. Three more won’t solve anything. For now, put your other work aside and focus on your Cultivation. If you can become a High-level Mage, you’ll be of much greater help!"

Cheryl nodded. She thought so too.

After speaking, Gaia frowned at the sand table, silently mulling over battle plans. This made Isaac, who had been waiting expectantly off to the side, freeze. He blinked. ’Aren’t they going to ask... me?’

’He was a little surprised that his father had skipped right over him. He wasn’t his disgraced second brother, so why was he being ignored?’

Fortunately, the observant Caesar noticed Isaac’s expression and immediately spoke up. "Isaac, do you have any thoughts?"

At these words, Gaia paused. Only then did he notice the hint of expectation on Isaac’s face. He gave a light cough, shot Caesar an approving glance, and asked, "You have an idea?"

"Of course!" Isaac nodded emphatically. ’He certainly had an idea!’

’Isn’t this just a matter of troop numbers?’

’My big sister can’t spam units, but he could!’

"It’s like this. You know how those goblins appeared in our territory a while back? While I was wiping them out, I found the way they were born to be very interesting, so I did some research. Then, with my world-shattering wisdom, I successfully created a similar form of Witchcraft called the Flesh Nest!

"It’s a type of Position Magic. Once deployed, as long as you continuously feed it Demonized Flesh, it can endlessly create Demons! Although the Gale Wolves and Demonized Wild Boars it creates right now are still weak, just give me a little time and I can rapidly optimize it!"

After speaking, Isaac raised his head in a display of confidence!

’It felt wrong to say it, but the Black Orcs’ troop surge couldn’t have come at a better time!’

’It was a true godsend. He was on the verge of advancing to Grand Wizard—all that was left was for the active mana period to end and for him to write his Legend into his third Magic Book. This was a perfect opportunity to show off his power!’

However, as soon as Isaac’s words left his mouth, Cheryl’s heart skipped a beat. ’This is bad,’ she thought. And sure enough, when she looked at Gaia, she saw his expression was incredibly grim.

"Are you a Mad Witch?!" Gaia asked, his face dark.

"Uh..." Isaac blinked. He wasn’t the kind of bookworm who couldn’t read the room; he could tell the atmosphere had changed. But what he didn’t understand was...

’He had guessed that Mad Witches had a bad reputation, but... the mystique surrounding them seemed a bit lacking. Could it be their prestige wasn’t actually that high?’

Isaac stole a glance at Caesar and saw that his expression was also extremely grim.

He immediately shrank back a little and asked cautiously, "Is something wrong?"

"Answer me! Have you become a Mad Witch, one who deals with the Outer Gods!?" Gaia didn’t answer Isaac, instead demanding with a dark expression.

"Uh... yes."

"...Why would you do that? You should know that the Outer Gods are all dangerous!"

’Because I have a cheat.’

Of course, Isaac couldn’t say that. They wouldn’t necessarily believe him anyway. He could only shrug and say, seemingly casually, "Because it’s fast. In my opinion, the path of a Legendary Mage is a shortcut for Casters. And since it’s a shortcut, it’s only natural to take the fastest route. Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. See? I’m perfectly fine, aren’t I?"

"You might know what you’re doing, but I’m not at ease!" Gaia glared fiercely at Isaac, took a deep breath, and after a moment’s thought, continued, "This is the path you’ve chosen, and I know I can’t talk you out of it. Just be careful. The minds of Mad Witches are not normal. Just like yours."

Isaac: "..."

’So, why the huge reaction to Mad Witches?’

’And why were they able to instantly identify him as a Mad Witch?’

’I don’t think I let anything slip, did I?’

Seeing that his father and eldest brother were unwilling to explain, Isaac looked at Cheryl curiously.

Cheryl sighed and said, "You’re a Legendary Mage; you should know the origin of the Goblin Nest. The power behind this type of nest-based Witchcraft comes entirely from the Outer Gods. It’s a power that only Outer Gods can master and bestow. Mortals cannot learn it through their own research, not even with an extremely detailed Magic Book."

"Is that so?" Isaac raised his eyebrows. ’You learn something new every day.’ But...

"Then why did Father and my eldest brother have such a strong reaction? It can’t be just because of the Outer Gods, right?" As he spoke, Isaac also looked toward Gaia, his eyes full of curiosity.

He didn’t ask Caesar or Cheryl. In this family, Gaia’s authority was paramount. As long as he didn’t give the nod, his older brother and sister would never tell him.

"Father, Isaac can stand on his own two feet now. There are some things it’s time he knew."

"Big Brother is right. Besides, it’s better that you tell him than for him to find out on his own through other means, isn’t it? Our little brother is a Mad Witch, after all. His mind isn’t normal."

"Hm?" Isaac looked at his sister in confusion.

"Sigh..." In the end, Gaia sighed. Cheryl was right. Isaac was a Mad Witch; his mind wasn’t normal. It was better to tell him himself than to let him go ask an Outer God. "Come to my room tonight. I will tell you some things. For now, tell me about that Witchcraft of yours. Tell me what you’re able to share."

"Tch. Alright." Isaac sounded a bit resigned, but he did his best to suppress his curiosity and continued, "There’s not much I can’t say. When I was dealing with the Billion... uh, when I was dealing with that being, I had It perfect the structure of the Flesh Nest. Theoretically, as long as there’s enough Demon Flesh, the military strength of the Flesh Nest is limitless!

"However, due to the limits of my own power, the most it can nurture right now are Tier One Demons. Besides that, I also snatched a tiny fragment of a Dimension from It. This allows me to have nearly infinite Magic Power for a short period, and I can even duck into the Dimension in an instant. So don’t worry about me, I have more than enough ability to protect myself. Yup, those are my two trump cards."

After hearing Isaac’s words, the room fell silent.

On second thought, it wasn’t Isaac’s mind that was abnormal—it was his nerve!