Gaia stared coldly at Remington, her eyes filled with disappointment.
She had known for a long time that her second son wanted to fight for the inheritance. After all, she had given him all his subordinates. None of his activities could escape her notice.
At first, Gaia had been delighted. Her son was not someone who resigned himself to fate or gave up because his opponent was too strong. As long as he retained that spirit, even if Remington failed to wrest the inheritance from Caesar in the future, he would still achieve great things.
That was precisely the spirit their Solomon Family ought to maintain!
It was also why the Solomon Family had risen step by step from commoners to viscounts!
But her happiness had not lasted long. As Caesar distinguished himself more and more, Remington gradually buckled under the pressure. He started playing little tricks and resorting to underhanded methods.
At first, he merely sowed discord between Caesar and his subordinates. Later, he began framing Caesar and even planned to sabotage Caesar's relationship with his wife!
His methods grew increasingly despicable!
Of course, even then, Gaia had only felt a little disappointed. Although his methods were unsavory and she disliked them, she had to admit that such tactics were indispensable in political struggles. You could choose not to use them, but you could not afford not to know them.
So Remington still had a chance at that point, until...
Until he concealed news of the goblins invading the territory, planning to use them to trigger unprecedented internal unrest and cause trouble for Caesar, who was temporarily managing the territory!
A method that harmed their subjects crossed Gaia's bottom line. Worse still, throughout the process, he had barely spared a thought for his frail youngest brother...
That made Gaia lose all faith in Remington.
However, after learning that Isaac was unharmed and had dealt with the goblins, Gaia had not revealed herself to stop him. Instead, she continued observing Remington. She wanted to know just how far her second son would go, and the result was clear.
"From this day forward, you are stripped of the Solomon name! Once the Black Orc calamity is over, leave the territory!"
Gaia's words changed everyone's expressions, including Isaac's. The three of them were about to speak when Gaia swept her gaze toward them. Caesar and Cheryl immediately ducked their heads, standing as meekly as quails. Only Isaac stepped forward, because Gaia instinctively restrained her imposing presence when facing him.
"Mother, Remington just lost his head for a moment. He knows he was wrong. Please forgive him this once!" With that, Isaac immediately shot Remington a look, signaling him to hurry up and admit his mistake.
In this era, being expelled from one's family was no small matter. It meant that unless Remington became one of the empire's foremost powerhouses in the future, he would never regain his noble status!
Every other path upward would be completely barred!
But Remington did not respond to Isaac's look. He merely lowered his head in silence. He accepted responsibility for what he had done.
A mistake was a mistake.
"Hmph." Gaia snorted, though her stern expression softened somewhat. Clearly, she was fairly satisfied that Remington had not opened his mouth to beg her.
Gaia glanced at the resolute Isaac, then turned to Remington. "Since your brother has pleaded for you, I will spare you this once. Your expulsion will be suspended. If you perform well in the war against the Black Orcs this winter, you won't be expelled. However, all your lands will be confiscated. Any objections?"
"No. Thank you, Mother! I won't disappoint you!" Remington immediately raised his head and answered solemnly.
"Hmph. Thank Isaac. Thank him for not being as heartless as you!" Although Gaia had reduced Remington's punishment, she was clearly still dissatisfied with everything about him.
Seeing this, Isaac and his two elder siblings exchanged glances and breathed sighs of relief.
Meanwhile, seeing the relationship between the four siblings ease somewhat, Gaia could not help letting the corners of her mouth rise. But she quickly suppressed the smile before anyone noticed.
She waved Remington aside, signaling him to stand out of the way, then turned to Caesar and said gravely, "Tell me about the Black Orcs' movements lately."
"Yes!" At the mention of this matter, Caesar's gaze grew more serious. He stepped forward and lightly brushed his right hand across his waist. Multicolored streams of magic power flowed from his waist, forming a three-dimensional sand table before them.
Looking at the lifelike Magic Sand Table before him, Isaac raised his eyebrows slightly. This thing was quite sophisticated. As he focused his attention, the corresponding area enlarged, making him feel as though he were actually there.
It was practically a divine tool for warfare!
He wondered how much it cost on the market.
"The Black Orcs currently show no signs of mobilizing, but according to our investigations, they intend to do something big this year. They've already gathered a force of over ten thousand! That's far beyond the scale of any autumn raid in recorded history!" Caesar's words instantly made everyone's expressions turn grave.
A war involving over ten thousand soldiers...
Even in this supernatural age of magic, such a thing was exceedingly rare.
Even nations rarely maintained armies that large, because the minimum standard for a regular legion was Quasi-Knight. A few with stricter requirements even demanded that recruits be knights.
And the Black Orcs' fighting units were mostly Quasi-Knights, a level approaching the inhuman. Over ten thousand Quasi-Knights...
That force far exceeded the Solomon Territory's thousand-strong knight order...
"Has a king emerged among them?!" Gaia asked, staring at the sand table with tightly furrowed brows.
Caesar shook his head. "According to the confirmed information we've received so far, no. They've gathered for another reason. We're still investigating exactly what that is."
"Mm." Gaia's expression relaxed slightly. As long as it was not an orc king...
A Black Orc king had appeared once a hundred years ago. It was an existence above High Knight and could command every Black Orc in the wilderness. It was far beyond anything the current Solomon Territory could oppose.
Even if they requested aid from the empire, the Solomon Territory would inevitably become a frontline battlefield. Warfare of that intensity would still bring them nothing good. They might even be destroyed!
However...
"Send more people. We must find out why they've gathered such a massive force. At the same time, notify the other lords and have them bring their troops to the fortress to help defend it."
"Yes, Mother!" Caesar nodded solemnly.
"How many Alchemy Golems can the Mage Tower provide within a month at most?" After giving Caesar his orders, Gaia turned to Cheryl.
"The Mage Tower doesn't have many materials, and we've never prepared for a war involving tens of thousands. We currently have three hundred operational Obsidian Golems in the tower. We can make at most three more within a month," Cheryl said helplessly.
War was no game. The principle that a single cannon blast burned through mountains of gold held true in both worlds. Some things continuously consumed resources even when left sitting idle.
Alchemy Golems, for instance. These weapons of war were powerful, certainly, but they burned through money!
Not only were their materials and fuel expensive, even their maintenance cost a fortune!
And that was with Cheryl herself being a Grand Wizard affiliated with the Truth Association, as well as having her own Mage Tower. She could bring in quite a few bright-eyed Formal Wizards from the association to work for free, saving a considerable sum on maintenance.
Otherwise, they would have to reduce their standing force of Obsidian Golems by at least fifty!
Such exorbitant costs also meant they were helpless against sudden situations like this. Their production capacity was what it was.
Although they could purchase more from the association, for one thing, they were expensive. For another...
Activating Obsidian Golems required magical resources like magic crystals. Having enough money to buy the golems did not necessarily mean they could afford the magic crystals too.
So after Cheryl finished, Gaia sighed. Fortunately, she had already prepared herself for this and was not overly disappointed.
"Forget it, then. Three won't solve much. Set aside your other work for now and focus on your cultivation. If you can become a High Wizard, that will be far more useful!"
Cheryl nodded. She had been thinking the same thing.
With that, Gaia frowned at the sand table and silently considered battle plans. Isaac, who had been waiting expectantly beside her, froze. He blinked. Wasn't she going to ask... me?
His mother skipping straight past him surprised Isaac. He was not Remington, who had done something wrong. Why pass over him?
Fortunately, the attentive Caesar noticed Isaac's expression and immediately asked, "Isaac, what do you think?"
Gaia paused at his words. Only then did she notice the hint of anticipation on Isaac's face. She gave a light cough and cast Caesar an approving look before asking, "Do you have an idea?"
"Of course!" Isaac nodded emphatically. He had plenty of ideas!
Wasn't it just a matter of troop numbers?
Cheryl couldn't churn out troops, but I could!
"Here's the thing. Didn't goblins appear in the territory a while back? While exterminating them, I found the way they were born quite interesting, so I studied it. Then, thanks to my astonishing wisdom, I successfully created a similar spell called Flesh Lair!
"It's a type of emplacement magic. Once it's set up, as long as you keep feeding it demonic flesh, it can create an endless stream of demonic creatures! The Gale Wind Wolves and Demonic Wild Boars it currently creates are still weak, but give me a little time and I can improve it rapidly!"
With that, Isaac lifted his head confidently!
Though it was not a particularly nice thing to say, the Black Orcs' increase in troop numbers could not have come at a better time!
It was truly help in his hour of need. All that remained before he advanced to Grand Wizard was for his period of active magical energy to end and for him to write his legend in his third Magic Book. This was a perfect opportunity to display his power before everyone!
However, the moment Isaac said this, Cheryl's heart sank. This is bad. Sure enough, when she looked at Gaia, she found her expression extremely grim.
"You're a Mad Witch?!" Gaia asked darkly.
"Uh..." Isaac blinked. He was not some bookworm incapable of reading expressions. He could read the atmosphere. What he did not understand was...
He had guessed that Mad Witches had a poor reputation, but they seemed surprisingly lacking in mystique. Were they actually not as impressive as he thought?
Isaac sneaked a glance at Caesar and found his expression equally grim.
He immediately shrank back a little and cautiously asked, "What's wrong?"
"Answer me! Have you become a Mad Witch who makes deals with outer gods?!" Gaia did not answer Isaac, instead repeating her question with a dark expression.
"Uh... yes."
"...Why would you do that? You should know that outer gods are all dangerous!"
Because I have a cheat.
Of course, Isaac could not say that, and they might not believe him anyway. He could only shrug and say with apparent nonchalance, "Because it's fast. To me, the Legendary Wizard path is a shortcut for spellcasters. And since it's already a shortcut, naturally I should take whatever route is fastest. Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. I'm fine, aren't I?"
"You know what you're doing, but I don't know what to expect!" Gaia glared fiercely at Isaac and took a deep breath. After thinking it over, she still said, "You chose this path yourself. I know I can't talk you out of it. Be careful. Mad Witches aren't right in the head, just like you."
Isaac: "..."
So why such a strong reaction to Mad Witches?
And why could they identify me as one instantly?
I didn't seem to have let anything slip just now, did I?
Seeing that his mother and eldest brother refused to explain, Isaac turned a curious gaze toward Cheryl.
Cheryl sighed and said, "You're a Legendary Wizard, so you should know where Goblin Lairs come from. The power behind all these lair-type spells comes from outer gods. Only outer gods can possess and bestow that power. Mortals can't learn it through their own research, even with an extremely detailed Magic Book."
"That's how it works?" Isaac raised his eyebrows. He had certainly learned something new. However...
"Then why did Mother and Caesar react so strongly? It can't just be because of the outer gods, right?" As he spoke, Isaac also looked toward Gaia, his eyes full of curiosity.
He did not direct this question to Caesar or Cheryl. Gaia still held considerable authority in this family. Unless she agreed, his eldest brother and sister would never tell him.
"Mother, Isaac can stand on his own now. There are some things he should know."
"Caesar is right. Besides, isn't it better for him to hear it from you than find out through other channels? Isaac is a Mad Witch, after all. He's not right in the head."
"Huh?" Isaac looked at his eldest sister in confusion.
"Ah..." In the end, Gaia sighed. Cheryl was right. Isaac was a Mad Witch and not right in the head. Rather than wait for him to ask an outer god himself, she might as well tell him. "Come to my room tonight. I'll tell you a few things. For now, tell us about that spell of yours. Tell us what you can."
"Tsk. Fine." Isaac felt rather helpless, but he did his best to suppress his curiosity and continued, "There's really nothing I can't say. When I was making a deal with Billions... ahem, when I was making a deal with that fellow, I had that deity perfect the structure of the Flesh Lair. In theory, as long as there's enough demonic creature blood meat, there's no limit to the Flesh Lair's troop numbers!
"But because of my current strength, the strongest creatures it can produce are only first-tier demonic creatures. Aside from that, I also seized a tiny dimensional fragment from that deity. It lets me access practically infinite magic power for a short time, and I can even instantly hide inside the dimension. So don't worry about me. I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself. Yes, those are my two trump cards."
After hearing Isaac's words, everyone fell silent.
They took back their earlier assessment. Isaac was not wrong in the head. His nerve was what was abnormal!
I forgot to give thanks.
Thanks to Autumn Water Ink for the tip of one hundred Qidian coins!
Thanks to Book Friend 2024...28122 for the tip of five hundred Qidian coins!
Thank you for supporting this book!
Before you continue