Chapter 82: Chapter 71: An Inauspicious Start

SMACK!

After the ritual ended, Isaac slapped his forehead. ’I’ve been too hasty!’

’I should have bought my supplies first!’

’It’s a bad idea to go out with this bad luck debuff... especially for shopping. I’d be maximizing my losses!’

Sighing, Isaac thought for a moment. Instead of getting up and leaving, he extended his stay for another 23 hours to make it a full day. He figured he might as well stay here and study Witchcraft to avoid any trouble on the road.

In a place like the Imperial Capital, you could throw a brick and hit three nobles!

’Better not to run around and cause trouble.’

The next day, Isaac looked at the Iron Sand Stream swirling around him and nodded in satisfaction.

The Material Shield, as its name implied, was a shield composed of real-world substances enhanced by Magic Power. It offered impressive defense against both physical and magical attacks. Most importantly, its defensive capability was directly related to the materials that formed it.

The better the materials used, the stronger the defense. In a sense, the potential of this Magic was limitless!

Assuming your finances could keep up.

While Isaac’s finances couldn’t keep up with the best materials, the defensive power of a shield made of mere iron sand was not to be underestimated. Once enhanced by Magic Power, it was difficult for an ordinary Knight Level attack to break through. Even if an attack was powerful enough to pierce it, the attacker would then face another layer of defense—the Enhanced Arcane Shield.

At this point, Isaac had pushed his defensive capabilities to their current limit. His mobility was still lacking, but there was nothing he could do about that in the short term. Next, he just needed to buy enough Demonized Flesh Essence and some precious metals, and he should be ready for the Divine Lamp Grand Trial.

Even if Philo and Angel were to turn on him, he still had an unknown trump card: Infinite Magic Power.

Thus, after his time in the lab was up, Isaac headed to the Tower of Truth and purchased five thousand Gold Coins’ worth of Demonized Flesh Essence!

A full three cartloads!

Half a cartload was for activating [God-Stealer] and Summoning a Demon God’s Favored; the rest was all his ammunition!

Fortunately, the Tower of Truth offered home delivery straight to his residence, or he would have had a real problem moving it all. After placing the order, Isaac didn’t linger. He went straight home and stuffed all the Demonized Flesh Essence into the Flesh Dimension for temporary storage.

Such a large quantity of Flesh Essence still needed further processing, but that would have to wait until he visited the Flesh Sect headquarters to receive the basic Magic of a formal member. He could have learned it from Philo, who was also part of the Flesh Sect, of course.

However, he remained wary of Philo. When it came to something like Witchcraft, it was better to learn it from the headquarters himself. He even decided to minimize his dealings with her at future exchange meetings. She wasn’t someone he should get too close to.

...

"Your Highness Philo, Miss Angel, good day~"

Another day passed, bringing them to the day the three had agreed to meet. Early in the morning, Philo and Angel arrived by carriage at the entrance of Solomon’s residence, running right into Isaac, who was just about to leave.

However, there was an unexpected person with Philo and Angel...

"Second Brother? You’re coming too?" Isaac asked, looking with some surprise at his former second brother, Remington, who stood behind Philo.

’This guy... Did he not understand what kind of people a Mad Witch and a Witch are after what happened the other day? How dare he tag along? Does he have a death wish?’

However, Remington looked helpless about it. It wasn’t his choice. After marrying into the family, he no longer had control over many things. Prince Norns had ordered him to follow the three of them under the pretext of protecting Philo, and to then gather intelligence on Isaac and Philo.

Of course, he couldn’t tell Isaac any of this, so Remington just shrugged helplessly. "The Prince ordered me to protect the Eldest Princess’s safety. As long as I don’t interfere with the ritual, I won’t affect you."

As expected, Isaac didn’t overthink it and nodded in understanding. The reason made sense. No matter how little favor Philo held with the Royal Family, she was still the Eldest Princess of the Terra Empire. It was impossible for her to travel without guards. Remington was likely just the one who was visible.

"That’s right~" Philo spread her hands, equally helpless. She didn’t want anyone following them either. Her reputation was already suffering from her periodic dealings with the Demon God. If word got out about her combat methods, wouldn’t her reputation get even worse?

She might be a bit carefree, but she still cared about certain things. She was a girl, after all.

"Is that so? Then let’s set off." As he spoke, Isaac casually tossed out a pumpkin. Shushu leaped from his shoulder, and amidst a puff of purple magical smoke, a pumpkin carriage and a coachman with shifty, rat-like eyes appeared before them.

Seeing Isaac’s Transformation Magic for the first time, Angel’s eyes lit up at the sight of the pumpkin carriage. The story of *Cinderella* had already spread to the Imperial Capital, and she had read it. For a commoner like her, the story’s appeal was incredibly strong!

"You’re the author, Green?" Angel asked, her beautiful eyes widening in pleasant surprise as she looked at Isaac.

Green was Isaac’s pen name, a tribute to the original authors, though he’d forgotten whether *Cinderella* was actually from Grimm’s Fairy Tales...

"Yes. Care for a ride?" Isaac smiled slightly and made an inviting gesture.

"Ooh~" Angel was tempted, but then she glanced fearfully at the coachman that Shushu had transformed into and decisively shook her head. She was afraid of mice.

"Hmph, hmph~" Seeing this, Philo, who had been a bit nervous, couldn’t help but lift her delicate, pale chin and let out a light snort, a triumphant expression on her face.

Isaac chuckled and shook his head, climbing into the pumpkin carriage. Shushu flicked the reins, and the carriage began to move at a leisurely pace.

Meanwhile, Philo and Angel boarded a magnificent carriage, while Remington mounted his horse and rode alongside it.

Their destination was a small town not far south of the Imperial Capital called Philis. Though built by a river, it was not a trading port, for this stretch of water was one of the Empire’s artificially created gathering spots for Demons.

Demons from rivers that ran through nearly half the Empire converged here. The water was permanently inhabited by a large number of Tier One and Tier Two Demons, and sometimes it would even nurture High-level Demons!

Usually, however, any High-level Demon that emerged would be hunted down and killed by the Imperial Navy, never surviving to see a second day!

As a result, the town was quite prosperous. Many Adventurers had settled there, making a living by hunting the Demons in the water, which in turn attracted waves of merchants.

Therefore, the most difficult part of this trip would likely be securing a spot. The Divine Lamp Grand Trial was only a Tier One Trial, meaning Grand Wizards and Great Knights could not participate, but there was no such restriction on the process of obtaining a spot in the first place.

But one could never be sure. After all, they had the Eldest Princess with them. Perhaps a spot would be handed to them the moment they arrived in Philis Town?

...

As it turned out, Isaac had been overthinking it. Philo walked out of the Navy barracks with a helpless look on her face and shrugged. Clearly, the plan to ask for help had failed...