Chapter 57: Chapter 47: The Black Orc God, Such a Good God

In the Evil God Realm, the moment Isaac interrupted the ritual, a ferocious behemoth sprawled across the Wilderness slowly opened its eyes. A flash of surprise flickered within them. How many years had it been? A Wizard had actually managed to survive its final assault. What an interesting Wizard...

"You damn thief! You bastard! I’ll kill you!!!"

The Black Orc God had been marveling at Isaac’s interesting methods. Even though the Wizard had failed, the god was still exuding a sense of superiority—until it suddenly sensed that a portion of the Forbidden Knowledge in its mind had been stolen. Its eyes shot wide open. It scrambled to its feet and roared at the heavens!

Boundless Divine Power raged wantonly throughout the Evil God Realm!

Countless creatures died in terror amidst this Divine Power, only to be revived by it, again and again in an endless cycle.

"Despicable little thief! I will not let you get away with this!"

But despite its words, the Black Orc God knew in its heart that it would have no chance for revenge.

For one, it was constrained by the ritual. Upon its descent, it could only see Isaac, the one presiding over the ceremony. It couldn’t perceive anything else, be it the surrounding landscape or any other living beings.

For another, mobilizing its Believers in the mortal world would be futile. Its followers were either clueless Black Orcs or Cultists who lived in shadowy corners; their intelligence-gathering abilities were abysmal. As for the Mad Witches who dared to deal with an Evil God, they were all lunatics. The god might not even have to find the thief, as there was a good chance the Wizard would get himself killed first.

Of course, there was one other, even less likely possibility...

That the wizard thief would become incredibly powerful before it could find him!

For some inexplicable reason, the Black Orc God had a feeling that this little thief would be the latter...

...

’Heh, not a bad haul at all~’

Meanwhile, in stark contrast to the furious Black Orc God, Isaac was in a much better mood thanks to his bountiful gains. After concluding the ritual, he walked toward the center of the Ritual Array to retrieve the Beast Hide Book, simultaneously examining the three "Stars" he had just snatched in his mind.

These three Stars were a set of Forbidden Knowledge from the same series, called Skeleton Magic.

It was a form of Necromancy.

In this world—perhaps because society hadn’t developed to that point yet—Necromancy was different from how it was portrayed in the novels of Isaac’s past life. The Truth Association had classified it as a Forbidden Magic, but not because it desecrated the dead.

In truth, no Wizard cared about the feelings of the dead. After all, as long as the deceased had no connection to them, their corpses were fair game. If a body could be used to enhance one’s power or cast powerful Magic, it would become a sought-after Magic Material, no different than a Demon’s corpse.

The real reason Necromancy was forbidden was that casting it required Death Magic Power. This type of Magic Power erodes the living, and each use brings the Caster one step closer to death!

And if all the Magic Power in one’s body was converted into Death Magic Power, death would come even faster.

As far as the Wizarding World knew, only certain Demons of the Necromancy System and Divine Species could use Necromancy without issue. Anyone else who used it had to consume their own Life Force.

However, Isaac had read in some obscure theses that certain Arcanists were researching Necromancy. Their main approach was to transform themselves into Undead Creatures while maintaining their sanity and Casting Ability.

But so far, there had been no news of any successful results.

Perhaps they hadn’t been published, or perhaps they hadn’t succeeded.

Isaac leaned toward the former explanation. With the power of an Outer God, achieving such a transformation wouldn’t be difficult. He wouldn’t be surprised if there were such individuals among the Mad Witches. After all, once you’ve started making deals with Outer Gods, who cares if you’re still human?

For Isaac, however, it wouldn’t be so troublesome. He had a Divine Species, after all. Although Shushu’s intelligence was questionable, the Forbidden Knowledge he had gleaned from the Black Orc God was thankfully quite comprehensive.

There were three Necromancy spells in total. In addition to the principles of the Magic and the methods for Casting, there were also Divine Art versions of all three!

Not only could he upload them directly to Shushu’s Divinity Network, but they would also be a huge help to his current research on converting Magic into Divine Arts. He had hit the absolute jackpot!

’The Black Orc God, what a great god he is!’

Walking up to the Beast Hide Book, Isaac cleared his mind and, under the concerned gazes of the onlookers, took the book as it floated in the air.

The material of the Beast Hide Book felt something like Demon Hide, yet also like the skin of a Black Orc. Combined with the strange patterns on its surface, it looked exceptionally unsettling. Furthermore, in Isaac’s vision, the book was still radiating a bizarre Magic Power.

Just like the Magic Book from the Master of Billions of Flesh, anyone who obtained this Beast Hide Book and satisfied its sacrificial requirements could cast the Magic recorded within without any difficulty.

Of course, this came with a price.

With every use, the Caster’s soul would be partially eroded by the Black Orc God’s Divine Power, until it was completely consumed and either devoured by the god or turned into one of his slaves.

Isaac flipped through the Beast Hide Book, a flash of surprise in his eyes. ’So it’s this...’

"How did it go? Are you... all right?"

With a gust of wind, Caesar and Gaia appeared instantly before Isaac, looking him over with concern. Caesar asked, his voice laced with anxiety. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"Don’t worry, I’m perfectly fine." Isaac waved his hand dismissively before shaking the Beast Hide Book. His expression turned grave as he said, "This is what we should be worried about. If the Black Orc God wasn’t holding anything back, then our situation is more than a little dangerous."

Upon hearing this, Gaia’s expression became serious again. He shot a look at the four Barons in the crowd, then gave Isaac a long, hard look before turning and heading toward the council hall.

Isaac and Caesar exchanged a glance and immediately followed his father, Gaia.

As for Cheryl, she turned to go get Remington.

Her father had played the bad cop, so she had to be the good cop. Although Remington had colluded with the Black Orcs, as far as they knew, he had only been in contact with an ordinary tribe of very average strength.

Of course, what mattered wasn’t who he had contacted, but the very act of contacting the Black Orcs.

However, since Remington didn’t truly intend to rebel, they couldn’t let him start entertaining such thoughts, especially given the current situation.

Regardless, Remington was an important member of the Solomon Clan. If he were to rebel now, not only would he leak a great deal of intelligence, but it would also deal a fatal blow to their morale.

So, while they needed to discipline Remington, they also had to placate him just enough to prevent him from falling into despair and running straight into the arms of the Black Orcs.

...

A short while later, the leadership of Solomon Fortress gathered once again in the council hall.

Unlike before, this time, the way everyone looked at Isaac had changed completely.

After all, this was a madman who had dealt with Outer Gods at least twice!

And had survived both times!

And had even profited from it!

Even the brutish Knights, who knew nothing of Magic, could sense the chilling Magic Power emanating from the Beast Hide Book. One glance was enough to tell it was no ordinary object!