Great Wizard and the Endless Sea!

"Can't say?" Isaac raised a brow, curiosity flashing in his eyes.

As a magical world, there were indeed many things that could not be spoken of before they happened. Some would affect the outcome of an event, while others would affect the listener—and most of those effects were bad.

But whatever it was, if information alone could produce an effect, then it was absolutely something major.

And it was most likely the former, because Isaac, like Mensa, was a High Wizard. If Mensa could know without issue, then Isaac naturally would be fine as well.

Still, since it could not be spoken of, Isaac did not press further. He merely nodded to show that he understood.

Mensa did not say much else. The main purpose of his visit had been to warn Isaac.

And since Isaac had most likely been cleared of suspicion, Mensa had no reason to remain. Besides, he needed to hurry to Itra and help Grand Princess Filo.

With a flash of arcane radiance, Mensa left.

Isaac stood where he was and thought for a moment before turning back to the Mage Tower to continue his unfinished cultivation. As for the Dimension Apostles operating within the Empire...

What did Lord of Myriad Flesh's Dimension Apostles have to do with him, Isaac?

On the contrary, considering that Isaac had just screwed over Lord of Myriad Flesh, he had every reason not to get involved. He was a mad wizard hiding from an Outer God's lackeys. That was perfectly normal, wasn't it?

And so, time slowly passed amid Isaac's research. Before long, another three months had gone by. Of his two research projects, the one concerning the theft of the God of Credit's divine power had stalled, showing no progress at all over those three months.

Transformation Magic, on the other hand, progressed quite quickly. He had gradually mastered all sixteen transformations, and Slime Transformation had successfully fused three of them. Though they were all low-level Demonic Creature Transformations, and the increase in combat strength was not particularly great.

They were still very helpful to Isaac's Path of All Spirits, providing him with a great deal of research data.

At the same time, aside from his research, everything else was progressing smoothly as well. The wizard organization's official membership had expanded to thirty. Though only three were Tier 2 wizards and the rest were Tier 1 wizards, that was already an excellent rate for a newly established wizard organization.

The only problem was that its industries had yet to develop. There was not much income at present, and Isaac was basically supporting the entire wizard organization with his personal funds.

But that was normal. Every newly established wizard organization was like this.

After all, whether they were Tier 2 or Tier 1, the newly recruited wizards were mostly self-taught. If they knew a few combat spells, they could already be considered outstanding wizards. There was no point expecting them to have any research ability.

Especially Legendary Wizards. Among that group, the strong included mad wizards like Isaac, who could easily crush a Tier 3 High Knight while only at Tier 2. The weak included Grand Wizards who had to cautiously deal with even many Tier 1 demonic creatures...

After all, the advancement of Legendary Wizards was unlike that of Arcanists. Arcanists not only had requirements for the number of spells learned, but also relatively strict standards for building their own systems of knowledge. And there was no need to even mention mental power and magic power, the two foundational attributes of wizards.

Thus, the severe mismatch between rank and combat power among Legendary Wizards rarely appeared among Arcanists, including the ability to fight above one's rank.

For Arcanists, so long as their talent was sufficient, there were few hurdles on the path of advancement. It was not like Legendary Wizards, who had fixed procedures to follow.

But Arcanists had no reason to join a newly established wizard organization, especially one dominated by Legendary Wizards.

Their fields were simply far too incompatible, even if the organization had High Wizards.

So Isaac was quite satisfied with the wizard organization's current development. The only thing troubling him was that its scale was no longer small, and it was time to give it a name. If he chose something grand, it would feel too arrogant. If he chose something restrained, it would feel too stifling...

It was honestly painful...

That was why the naming matter had been dragged out until now.

But fortunately, well, its scale was not that large yet. He could put it off a little longer!

On the other hand, the Dimension Apostles' operations within the Empire were also proceeding very smoothly. Though the Empire, that enormous machine, had fully mobilized and displayed terrifying war potential.

But...

Lord of Myriad Flesh was also an old Dimension Demon God with foundations no weaker than anyone's. Its power had been fully revealed as it entered into direct confrontation with the Empire!

And for the moment, it was not at a disadvantage!

Of course, only for the moment. Lord of Myriad Flesh was ultimately a Dimension Demon God, and the real world was not its home ground. Not only could it not remain in the real world for long, but even its powerful Dimension Apostles had few members capable of doing so. Though they possessed undying and indestructible traits, they were not much of a threat.

Therefore, the winner of this war would certainly be the Empire!

Naturally, that had nothing to do with Isaac. It did not matter if Lord of Myriad Flesh lost. This conflict had not been started by Isaac in the first place. It was simply an unexpected delight, and it had not affected his revenge plan at all.

On the contrary, after the war officially began, the cultists moving throughout the Empire greatly covered up the actions of the Dimension Apostles under his command, allowing them to devote all their efforts to undermining Noence Prince's forces.

Isaac's current target was not the Empire to begin with. His actions against the Empire as a whole were merely cover, after all. The Dimension Apostles were still far too lacking in both quantity and quality to be qualified to confront the entire Empire.

So after Lord of Myriad Flesh's followers began attacking the Empire on a massive scale, their own operations became much more convenient.

Thus, Isaac's greatest headache at this stage was still the research into stealing the God of Credit's divine power...

It was not that there was no way to steal its divine power. It was that there was no way to steal it discreetly...

Even if the concealment was only temporary!

Because during his research, Isaac had learned something in depth—quite a few wizards throughout history had wanted to steal the God of Credit's divine power just as he did!

Not only was he not the first wizard to have that idea, he was not even the first to actually do it!

Therefore, the God of Credit had made many precautions against such matters over the years. Stealing its divine power would not be so easy...

Inside the Mage Tower, Isaac sat before his desk with a deeply furrowed brow. His gaze was fixed on the manuscripts atop the table, while his fingers lightly tapped against the surface as he considered the next experimental plan.

The God of Credit's protections over its divine power might have been tight, but with Isaac's strength—or rather, his mastery over the Golden Finger—he could still steal it without anyone noticing. He had several plans with relatively low success rates, and all he had to do was use the Golden Finger to stack those rates higher.

But the problem was that this experiment differed from the previous ones. It would not be enough if Isaac alone could use it. It also had to be applicable to most High Wizards, otherwise he would have no way to tie those High Wizards to his chariot.

And if he failed to tie them to his chariot, then he would have to face the wrath of a true god!

So this time, all he could use was the Golden Finger's ability to identify flaws and fill gaps.

Unfortunately, every plan he had devised so far contained quite a few flaws. The one with the highest success rate could only be optimized to 13.5 percent, which clearly did not meet Isaac's requirements.

He did not need a hundred percent success rate. At least sixty or seventy percent, right?

Then, by guiding it toward becoming an innate ability, he could smoothly spread it among all High Wizards.

But now...

Even reaching a success rate of sixty or seventy percent was difficult...

This was fucking awful!

Just as Isaac was thinking, a Magic Book suddenly jumped out. Magical radiance flickered continuously, and Isaac's already furrowed brow tightened even further. With a wave of his hand, the Magic Book fell into his palm, and a message entered his mind.

Prepare yourself. It has begun.

Isaac froze. This was a message from Mensa, while this Magic Book was a Lord's Book he had never seen before!

Using the power of Authority Analysis, Isaac quickly understood the Lord's Book's abilities and mode of existence.

The Lord's Book originated from an authority held by the Terra Empire. In most cases, the Lord's Books it produced were deeply hidden within the Terra Empire's territories, waiting at all times for the Empire's commands!

Yes, though they were called Lord's Books, and though there was one Lord's Book for every lord—even nobles who were granted fiefs under other nobles would produce another Lord's Book.

The ownership of these Lord's Books was not in the hands of the individual lords. In fact, most lords did not even know such things existed. The power of the Lord's Books was firmly controlled by the Empire!

A secret long-distance message like this was merely one insignificant ability of the Lord's Book. Its true power lay in its ability to mobilize every kind of power within a territory!

Whether it was Geomantic Power or the magic power within the territory, all of it fell under its control!

Looking at the Lord's Book in his hand, Isaac narrowed his eyes. Mensa's move was not merely intended to allow immediate communication. More importantly, it was likely meant to demonstrate the Empire's formidable strength to him.

Clearly, although Isaac and the Dimension Apostles had been cleared of suspicion, they still held some doubts about Isaac.

"Interesting~" Isaac's lips curled slightly as he looked at the Lord's Book in his hand. This matter was far from that simple.

The source of the Lord's Book was an authority, and even among gods, very few fully controlled an authority!

Of course, it was impossible for the Terra Empire to have complete control over the authority that produced Lord's Books. But even if it controlled only a small part of it, it was highly likely that it belonged to a demigod-level powerhouse!

And the Emperor had only become a demigod in recent years, so this authority most likely was not held by the Emperor.

Two demigods...

That was more in line with Isaac's image of the Empire's formidable strength.

However, just as Isaac was speculating about the Empire's true power, he suddenly froze and sharply raised his head toward the sky. His gaze seemed to pass through the Mage Tower and look upon the vast heavens, while his expression gradually became solemn.

Because he sensed an incredibly terrifying magic power above the firmament!

That magic power...

It was so terrifying that it had already surpassed the limits of Isaac's understanding!

Other than boundless, he could not find any words to describe it!

Magical radiance flashed, and Isaac vanished. When he reappeared, he was already atop the Mage Tower, looking solemnly up at the sky. Gradually, obscure messages descended from the heavens and entered Isaac's mind.

"Great Wizard?!" Isaac's pupils contracted as emotions surged within him.

The message descending from the firmament was simple. It was informing the world that another Great Wizard had been born!

Great Wizards were wizards who truly stood at the pinnacle of the wizarding world. The great power they possessed far exceeded the imagination of ordinary people!

Like demigod, Great Wizard was not a specific realm. It was an honorific title for certain incomparably powerful wizards who had made tremendous contributions to the world!

For instance, the wizard who had created goblins and Goblin Slayer was likely a Great Wizard. Though the birth of goblins would greatly consume the energy of a given region in the short term.

For humanity—or rather, for transcendents—the benefits actually outweighed the drawbacks.

Because he had also created Goblin Slayer, that miraculous profession which grew stronger simply by slaughtering goblins. And the method of becoming a Goblin Slayer was simple: all it took was a basic ritual.

And although Goblin Slayers mostly increased the number of warriors, a kind of transcendent with little future, while only a small number became knights with rather ordinary prospects, it objectively increased the number of transcendents and the weight of the world. Overall, it promoted the world's evolution.

Thus, that wizard, whose information could no longer be found and who had concealed himself in the depths of mystery, was also a Great Wizard.

A powerful wizard was not necessarily a Great Wizard, but every Great Wizard was certainly powerful!

And stronger than all gods!

In a sense, wizard civilization had attained its current status entirely because these Great Wizards had fought for it!

Like the one who had now "proven the path." What he had brought to the real world was an ocean completely parallel to reality, one that interacted with it only at fixed nodes!

An ocean concealing endless secret treasures!

According to the information descending from the heavens, Divinity Fragments—and even complete divinities—existed within that endless ocean!

These were not the inferior divinities Isaac had created, but fragments stripped from true gods, and even complete divinities!

Because this ocean had been created by that unnamed Great Wizard, who had slain numerous gods with supreme power and used their God Corpses and the power of their divine kingdoms to create this ocean filled with countless secret treasures!

"Great Wizard... Is this what a Great Wizard is?!" Isaac murmured as he looked at the sky, excitement gleaming in his eyes!

At the same time, he understood Mensa's intentions. Mensa wanted Isaac to enter the Endless Sea and search for divinities for the Empire!