Chapter 78: Chapter 67: Isaac: Surely No One Trades Honestly With an Outer God?

WHOOSH... WHOOSH...

Soon, the ritual check was complete. Philo stood in the center of the Ritual Array, the Emperor’s Decree hanging from her waist. Holding a dried rat in one hand and a dried pufferfish in the other, she chanted a deep Spell and began performing a strange, primitive dance within the array.

A mysterious wave of Magic Power radiated outward, nearly sweeping across the entire rooftop!

It finally stopped right before Isaac, causing his eyes to narrow slightly. ’So, is this a provocation or just a joke?’

There was no need for Philo’s ritual to spread out like that.

But Isaac said nothing. After all, it hadn’t actually affected him, and Remington and Prince Norns’s daughter, who were also within range, were fine. Perhaps it was just a bit of mischievous fun.

So, Isaac just stood quietly to the side, silently cursing the ritual to fail.

Since the Emperor’s Decree would protect her life anyway, he felt no pressure at all in cursing her.

And then...

"Huh? It’s not actually going to fail, is it?" Watching Philo’s momentum suddenly plummet, Isaac blinked in confusion. ’Did it really fail?’

Beside him, Angel overheard Isaac’s muttering and couldn’t help but shoot him a surprised glance. ’From the sound of it, did this man just curse the Eldest Princess to fail?’

’I didn’t realize he was the petty type...’

Even though the Emperor’s Decree would save her life, it was no small feat to obtain one, even for someone as noble as the Eldest Princess—especially since she wasn’t particularly favored and had to work hard for everything herself.

BOOM!

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the ritual, which had been proceeding perfectly, suddenly failed!

A massive fissure appeared in the sky, and a pair of great hands covered in eyes reached out from it, attempting to seize Princess Philo.

But just then...

BOOM!

A golden beam of sword light shot out from the Royal Palace, streaking across the sky like a meteor before utterly obliterating the pair of eye-covered hands!

It then plunged straight into the fissure, completely eliminating the crisis!

Isaac: "..."

GULP. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Feeling the incomparable might of the Emperor of Terra, Isaac swallowed hard and murmured, "Is this the power of a Demigod? How terrifying!"

Although it wasn’t the first time Angel had witnessed this, she was still too stunned to speak, merely nodding in agreement.

Demigod was not the name of a specific realm but an honorary title for humanity’s strongest, meaning "half a god."

But this "half" did not refer to half the power. In terms of strength alone, a Demigod could easily overpower some Deities!

The "half" here referred to a state of Existence: possessing the power of a Deity while maintaining the standpoint of a human. They wielded power far surpassing that of a God, yet did not call themselves gods—that was a Demigod.

Therefore, the prestige of the title "Demigod" had evolved with the development of power systems. In ancient times, any High-level Life form could call itself a Demigod, whether it was a High-level Mage, a High-level Knight, or even a High-level Demon. All were referred to as Demigods.

But as the eras progressed and the upper limits of power rose, the prestige of the Demigod title soared as well. Nowadays, High-level Knights were no longer worthy of being called Demigods. Only High-level Mages, due to their diverse methods, still retained the Demigod title in some places.

However, fewer and fewer people referred to High-level Mages as Demigods now, mainly because those being called that were too embarrassed...

Wizards have their pride, you know...

And the Emperor of the Terra Empire was one such Demigod!

And he was said to be a powerful one even among Demigods!

Isaac had no idea just how strong he was, but judging by his ability to easily stop the backlash from the trading ritual, he was definitely stronger than an Outer God!

’Living in a country like this gives one a real sense of security...’

But after blinking, Isaac quickly cast that sense of security aside. It was obvious that security didn’t extend to him. Hadn’t he seen how even the Emperor’s own daughter had to struggle just to borrow his power?

If it had been Isaac, he estimated that after a ritual failure, the Emperor of Terra’s first act wouldn’t be to drive off the Outer God, but to crush him to death!

"Sigh... Just my luck. To fail with a seventy percent success rate..." Inside the Ritual Array, Philo casually tossed the mushy remains in her hands aside and walked out, her face a mask of frustration.

"It can’t be helped. You did your best. There’s always next time," Angel said comfortingly with a smile. As long as she was unharmed, they could always try again.

"Huh? Seventy percent... Isn’t it natural that it would fail?" Isaac, however, held a different view. He looked at Philo and Angel in confusion. "In fact, I’m more surprised you dared to even try with only a seventy percent chance of success!"

Isaac was completely baffled. When he performed his own rituals, success rates would plummet, always dropping in fifty-percent increments!

This... Even without a Golden Finger, a mere seventy percent success rate is just too risky, isn’t it?!

"???" Hearing this, Philo stared blankly at Isaac. "Seventy percent is already very high! Come on, this is a trade with an Outer God. How could you possibly get a one-hundred-percent success rate before..."

Before she could finish, she was stunned by the matter-of-fact look on Isaac’s face. She fell silent for a moment before asking cautiously, "So, you... you only perform rituals when you have one hundred percent certainty?"

"Of course," Isaac said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I’m not an idiot. What if it fails? My life is more important, obviously. I’m not some gambling addict!"

Philo and Angel: "..."

The two of them exchanged a look. They realized they had underestimated Isaac... This guy... was a huge coward!

Of course, being able to get a trading ritual to one hundred percent success was actually incredible. He was a coward, yes, but an incredibly capable one!

"...Well, it doesn’t matter that much. After all... um, after all, I have the Emperor’s Decree. Right, I have the Emperor’s Decree, so there’s no need to obsess over that last bit of success rate. That’s right, that’s it. It’s not cost-effective!" After a moment of silence, Philo stammered, barely managing to convince herself.

Isaac could see Philo’s awkwardness, so after a moment of thought, he nodded in agreement with her method. After all, not everyone had a Golden Finger like him and could easily stack the success rate up.

So, after a moment of consideration, Isaac tried to smooth things over. "That’s true. The best method is always the one that suits you. With the Emperor’s Decree, you really don’t need to force a one-hundred-percent success rate. Even if every trade fails, as long as you keep trying, you can just plunder a little bit each time. Many a little makes a mickle. That’s also a very stable approach."

"???" Philo nodded in agreement with the first part, but when she heard the rest, she was baffled again. "What ’plunder’? What ’many a little makes a mickle’? If the ritual fails, the trade fails. What are you talking about?"

Isaac: "???"