Isaac's First Miracle

"What do you want me to help advance?"

Hearing Isaac's words, Filo set down the teapot she had been about to use for a refill. She handed Isaac a sheet of parchment as she explained, "Noence Prince is going to the Wilderness Dungeon. On its thirty-eighth floor lies the inheritance of the God of Thunder. After passing the trial, he can obtain the extraordinary inheritance of the Blade of Raging Thunder."

"Noence? Blade of Raging Thunder?" Isaac froze, raising his head to look at Filo in surprise.

What... did that mean?

The grudge between Solomon and the Terra Empire mainly stemmed from Noence. The same was true for Isaac. After all, it was Caesar whose "Supreme Bone" had been dug out by the Terra Royal Family, not Isaac.

It was not as though he had no feelings about it at all, but he did not hate them that deeply. Besides, even Caesar himself had not thought of seeking revenge, so Isaac naturally had little to say on the matter.

Of course, that only applied to the Terra Royal Family, not Noence Prince!

To Isaac, that bastard was like Gerard, the Mad Witch Prank Master—someone who absolutely had to die!

The Terra Royal Family could not possibly be unaware of that. Yet they had still arranged for the two of them to go together. There was clearly something fishy about it...

Isaac's eyes flickered, and he quickly understood the Terra Royal Family's intentions.

Noence Prince was a discarded pawn!

If the Empire had once refrained from moving against Isaac early on because they feared his identity as the Child of Prophecy, then now, they simply had no way to make a move. Isaac was currently a genius of the Flesh Cult. If they wanted to kill him, they could only send someone of the same rank; otherwise, the cult would intervene.

Yet Isaac was now practically invincible among those of his rank.

It was not impossible to kill him, of course. The price was simply too high to be worth it.

Thus, under these circumstances, winning him over became the Empire's best option. And Noence Prince was the discarded pawn the Empire had offered up to win Isaac over.

That much could be seen from the mission the Empire had arranged for Isaac.

The Boundless Spire was much like the Endless Sea, its expanse nearly infinite. The difference was that the Endless Sea's infinity lay in its boundless ocean, while the Boundless Spire's infinity lay in its countless Parallel Worlds.

The size of each Parallel World varied according to its corresponding level of power, and each had its own theme, much like... the stories of Legendary Wizards.

Countless treasures were buried within those small worlds. Some were unique treasures left behind by powerful figures who had entered the Boundless Spire in the past, while others had been collected automatically by the Boundless Spire itself.

Yes, collected automatically!

Another crucial function of that great creation known as the Boundless Spire was to prevent inheritances in the real world from being lost forever. It would automatically gather inheritances that had vanished from reality throughout the river of history for all sorts of reasons.

For instance, the Path of the Radiant Knight, which the Empire needed most, belonged to the latter category. The gods' hatred was not capable of affecting the Boundless Spire, nor would they dare to try.

After all, according to the Empire's records, every great creation had been forged from the corpses of multiple gods!

Back to the point: what the Empire needed most was the inheritance of the Radiant Knight, and that knightly inheritance was located in the Realm of Light and Night. Although the Blade of Raging Thunder in the Wilderness Dungeon was also a decent inheritance, it could not compare to the Radiant Knight at all. Furthermore, the Wilderness Dungeon could not allow a knight to adapt to Tier 5 power in advance. With one gain and one loss, even if Noence successfully obtained the inheritance with Isaac's help—

—in the end, he would only become a legendary knight slightly weaker than the average Tier 5. He would not have much impact on the Empire's situation.

That was why Isaac said Noence was merely a discarded pawn thrown out by the Empire.

"Mm. Some things must eventually be brought to an end." Facing Isaac's astonished gaze, Filo nodded calmly.

"Tsk, as expected of the Empire." Isaac shook his head with a trace of admiration. "Then when will you give me the Miracle Wick and the Soul Mirror?"

"Sign this contract, and I can give them to you right now." Seemingly afraid Isaac might misunderstand, Filo paused before adding, "This contract is also proof that you are permitted to enter the Wilderness Dungeon."

They really want me to go to the Wilderness Dungeon? Isaac glanced up at Filo. Though she had not said it outright, he could more or less guess the reason. The Empire probably had no important need for that place, which was why they were "exiling" him there.

Isaac did not mind, however. At his current level, his need for resources had eased considerably. Especially since he was a Mad Witch with a whole host of cheap and convenient "resource suppliers."

"Fine." Isaac nodded. He carefully read through the contract, confirmed there were no issues, and decisively signed it. Then, looking at the blank signature line, he asked curiously, "Noence Prince... will he agree to this?"

Even Isaac could tell the Empire was sending Noence to his death. There was no reason Noence would fail to see it.

"He has no choice." Filo spoke indifferently, displaying the royal family's ruthlessness to the fullest.

Isaac gave Filo a surprised look, nodded, and said nothing more. After handing the contract back to her, he left with the book containing information on the Boundless Spire. There was far too much to dig into there; he needed to study it carefully.

After leaving the palace, Isaac returned directly to his estate and buried himself in researching how to use the Miracle Wick. He no longer went around mooching meals. During that time, Noence Prince sent people to see Isaac several times, but Isaac refused to meet them even once, single-mindedly waiting for the Boundless Spire to open.

Reconciliation?

In your dreams!

Within the estate, Isaac looked at the Magic Book floating above Hamon's vicious palm, its pages radiating multicolored light. He stroked his chin and fell into thought, considering which story to elevate into a miracle.

According to his original plan, he had intended to elevate the story of "Ugly Duckling." Its ability to awaken bloodlines would be of some help to the Mad Heart Wizard he was currently researching. But that was under the assumption that Isaac would advance to become a Fourth-Order Wizard step by step. If he was taking a shortcut, he naturally had to choose something that could provide combat power. That was what he needed most right now.

But...

At present, he had written four stories in total: the Tier 1 "Cinderella" and "Ugly Duckling," the Tier 2 "Snow White," and the Tier 3 "Investiture of the Gods."

Yes, "Investiture of the Gods"!

Originally, that had not been part of Isaac's plans. For one thing, the subject matter was sensitive, and for another...

Honestly, compared with those classics, the original work was not all that outstanding, and westernizing it would be rather difficult.

But as the saying went, plans could not keep up with changes. Since he had started researching Enslaving Gods, what could be simpler and more direct than this?

Yet that left Isaac in an awkward position. Although he had one more story than an ordinary Legendary Wizard, it seemed that none of them could provide truly powerful combat strength...