Awakening Failed, Returning Home

In God's Dream Realm, Isaac floated in the empty void, looking down at the deep dream below with a solemn expression. After observing for a moment, he waved his hands, drawing one mysterious symbol after another through the air.

Under Isaac's control, these strange symbols gradually formed a vast three-dimensional pattern.

A closer look revealed that it was the Ritual Magic Circle from the outside world.

Dual rituals—this was the newest method Isaac had devised.

Because the other Mad Wizards had never even considered awakening an Outer God. They only wanted to trade with the Outer God here, using its half-awake, half-asleep state to improve the chances of a successful transaction.

So Isaac had to come up with another way to awaken the Outer God himself.

And Isaac's idea was simple—Forced Awakening!

He would construct another Plundering Ritual on the surface layer of God's Dream Realm, skip the trading process entirely, forcibly plunder the Outer God's source power, and trigger its instinctive defense mechanism to wake it up.

Simple and brutal.

But also extremely dangerous. This was a method only Isaac could use, because he could rely on the Golden Finger to ensure his survival.

Soon, the enormous Ritual Magic Circle was complete. Isaac took a deep breath, glanced once more at the deep dream, and resolutely activated the ritual!

Dazzling red light shot into the sky!

"Lord of Myriad Flesh! Wake the hell up!"

"BOOM!"

After a deafening roar, Isaac's vision blurred. He opened his eyes with a helpless expression and found himself back in the laboratory. Nearly half of the Demonic Flesh before him had vanished.

It had failed...

The idea had been right, but he had overestimated his own strength.

After his ritual activated, Lord of Myriad Flesh's defensive instinct had indeed been triggered, but it had not awakened.

Because once the ritual began, a Scarlet Hand reached out from the deep dream and slapped Isaac's Ritual Magic Circle and his consciousness body out of existence in a single blow...

The direction was right, but... the details still needed optimization...

Lost in thought, Isaac walked to the desk and recorded the experimental data. He placed it together with the notes from this gathering's discussions, then got up and began preparing the Dragon Transformation Secret Medicine.

There was only a little over half a month left before his eldest sister's celebration banquet for becoming a Grand Arcanist. Once he finished the Dragon Transformation Secret Medicine, he would have to set out. Given his status, he could not wait until the day of the banquet like everyone else.

The Solomon Family was not yet on par with those great noble houses, so the relationship between the brothers was not bad enough to that extent.

Well, if Remington had not done something so stupid back then~

Thinking of Remington, Isaac, who was preparing the supplementary ingredients, could not help sighing. He wondered whether his eldest brother had accepted the fact that he had killed their second brother...

It had been so long. He should have accepted it... right?

Isaac shook his head, casting aside his worries and focusing on brewing the potion.

Unfortunately, there was not enough time. Otherwise, if he waited until the project team's exchange meeting was over, the quality of the Dragon Transformation Secret Medicine should improve somewhat.

As things stood now...

Although he had already become a Grand Wizard, the quality of the Dragon Transformation Secret Medicine would not change because of it. At most, Isaac's brewing efficiency would improve somewhat.

Three days later, the Dragon Transformation Secret Medicine was successfully brewed. Isaac poured it into a transparent potion bottle, placed it in a gift box, casually tossed it into Phase Space, and headed for the door.

"Riiip~"

Sensing Isaac's movements, Hamon, who had been hovering between sleep and wakefulness due to Isaac's advancement, crawled out. Drowsily, it waved its claw at Isaac, and a gentle breeze swirled around him, carrying away the grime and strange odors.

"You're awake?"

"Hiss~"

"Then get some proper rest. There won't be any fighting for the time being."

"Hiss."

Hamon nodded its little claw and retreated into Isaac's body.

When Isaac stepped out of the laboratory, Smith, Lapis Lazuli, Saint Lord, and Little Mouse, who was perched on Saint Lord's shoulder, had already packed and were waiting at the door.

Calling it luggage was somewhat exaggerated. There were only one or two small cases. Though there were many of them, only Isaac and Smith needed a change of clothes. Little Mouse and Saint Lord did not wear clothes, while Lapis Lazuli's clothes appeared together with her appearance, so in practice, she was not wearing anything either.

"All ready? Then let's go." Isaac smiled as he walked over to them. The space behind him slowly rippled, and in the blink of an eye, it swallowed Isaac and the others.

When they appeared again, they were already outside Solomon Castle.

"Who goes there?!" The moment Isaac and the others appeared, the guards watching the castle gates changed expression and immediately drew the longswords at their waists, pointing the blades directly at Isaac.

But upon recognizing Isaac's appearance, they immediately planted their swords on the ground, dropped to one knee, and lowered their heads in apology.

"Forgive us, Young Master Isaac!"

"It's fine. You did well." Isaac waved with a smile, then looked helplessly at the barrier in the sky that only a few people could see.

Was this the power of a Grand Arcanist?

Even the defensive barrier she had arranged could block the phase teleportation taught by the Evil God. He could only arrive at the entrance. It really was impressive.

"Little brother, why didn't you tell me before coming?" Before Isaac withdrew his gaze from the barrier, his eldest sister appeared before them. There was gratification mixed with a trace of helplessness in her eyes as she looked at Isaac.

She was pleased because Isaac's growth was incredibly fast. He had become a Grand Wizard after so little time. Even among Legendary Wizards and Mad Wizards who were accustomed to taking shortcuts, that speed was remarkable. He could even use spatial magic to teleport directly to the castle gates.

One had to know that the barrier she had set up did not merely isolate the space within it. Centered on the barrier's edge, anyone without authorization within ten thousand meters could not perform spatial teleportation!

Yet Isaac had teleported directly to the castle gates. His strength was evident.

But Sheryl also knew that such powerful strength could not have been learned through normal means. It most likely came from a certain Outer God...

However, there was no stopping Isaac's path as a Mad Wizard, and she had no solution to that.

"I just got stronger, so I wanted to test a Grand Arcanist's methods." Isaac grinned.

"And what do you think?"

"Unfathomable!" Isaac said admiringly.

"Heh~ Do you even need to say that? Come on. When Father sees that you've advanced, he should..." Sheryl suddenly stopped halfway through her sentence. With a sigh, she said, "He'll be happy that you're here."

Isaac merely smiled cheerfully at Sheryl's abrupt change in tone and did not take it to heart.

If he had followed the normal path, then Father and the others would certainly have been delighted and proud of his advancement. But unfortunately, he was a Mad Wizard, and the path he had taken was just the slightest bit abnormal.

So it was only natural for their feelings to be complicated.

Sheryl glanced at the people and creatures behind Isaac. Her gaze lingered briefly on Lapis Lazuli and Smith, and she frowned slightly, but said nothing. She simply turned around and led Isaac through the castle gates.