Another Trade?

"Very simple. I contacted Him before coming here, and He didn't respond."

"???"

Everyone stared at Isaac in bewilderment. After a long while, they came back to their senses, their expressions gradually turning horrified as they slowly rose and assumed fighting stances!

Fortunately, Caesar was the first to react. He hurriedly asked, "Third Brother, which time are you talking about?"

The moment he said that, everyone immediately turned their shocked gazes toward Caesar. What the hell did he mean, which time? Was the pressure of facing the wilderness this great already?

"Uh... something from the past couple of days. But don't worry, I didn't communicate deeply with Him. I merely tested the waters." Isaac pressed his right hand downward, signaling Caesar not to panic.

Although the ritual had only been performed recently, Isaac had merely conducted a routine probe. He had not intended to trade with the Lord of Myriad Flesh here at the fortress, even though he had made thorough preparations and could essentially ensure nothing went wrong.

But what if something did?

Isaac did not want to take risks, especially not risks involving his family.

Though each wizard rank had only three Magic Books, that did not mean one could only trade with Outer Gods three times.

Theoretically, as long as one was bold enough and had sufficiently extraordinary methods, one could make as many trades as one wished. It was just that no more than three transactions could be recorded in a Magic Book.

However, the more times one traded with the same Outer God, the greater the risk of disaster. As one became familiar with the other party's power through repeated trades, the other party also became familiar with one's methods.

And when all one's methods had been exposed, that was when the Outer God began its harvest!

But Isaac had no such concern. He could see the success rate before the ritual was activated.

"Testing the waters..." Everyone looked at Isaac as though he were mad. So this was... a Mad Witch?

Among them, Gaia's gaze at Isaac was filled with concern. Just as he had expected, Isaac was still charging headlong into the abyss, with no sign of turning back...

His body had only recently recovered...

However, Gaia was not affected by that emotion for long. He quickly composed himself and asked with a frown, "Could it be that He specifically ignored you?"

"Impossible." Before Isaac could answer, Sheryl shook her head. "If He knew Third Brother's identity, Third Brother would already be dead. This is the ultimate bottom line in the game between Legendary Wizards and Outer Gods."

"So... the Black Orcs really have another Outer God aiding them?" Gaia's face darkened.

For border counts like them, dealing with Black Orcs was an annual affair. Thus, he knew all too well how drastically the situation would change if the Black Orcs gained the backing of another Outer God.

Sheryl shook her head gravely. "One more is merely the best-case scenario. There may very well be more than one! There are too many High Priests appearing! An Outer God's ability to interfere with the inside of this world cannot possibly be this strong."

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent once more. This matter had already surpassed their capabilities. Of those present, perhaps only Gaia was qualified to get involved, and even then, he would not count as a main force.

"Can't Young Master Isaac communicate with Outer Gods? Could he have them help us as well?" As everyone fell silent, Mad Sword Aleitos spoke to Isaac.

"..." Isaac looked at him as though he were an idiot. "First, I can communicate with them, not command them. If I really contacted them, their first thought would definitely be to take my soul. Second, not a single Outer God is good. They aren't running a charity. The Black Orcs can do this because they do not consider Black Orcs people either, so they can sacrifice them freely. Lastly, Outer Gods aren't that easy to contact."

Aleitos lowered his head with an ugly expression. So wasn't that the end of it?

Bang!

Just as everyone's spirits sank further, Gaia struck the sword in his hand again, drawing everyone's attention to himself.

"Since things have come to this, all we can do is fight! Neither the Black Orcs nor the Outer Gods are anything good. With those two gathered together, nothing good can come of it. So abandon all unrealistic fantasies. We have no way out!" Gaia said in a low, solemn voice. "Therefore, everyone, fight!"

After pausing and seeing that everyone's spirits had lifted somewhat, Gaia gave them another shot of confidence. "And we are not without a chance. We only need to hold out until the Truth Association and the Church of Light send reinforcements. This concerns Outer Gods. They will definitely come!"

After Gaia finished, everyone's fighting spirit visibly rose again. Clearly, they had seen a measure of hope in his words.

Afterward, everyone tacitly ignored the topic and began discussing battle plans based on the intelligence they had.

They discussed matters from morning until afternoon before finally reaching a preliminary conclusion.

At the beginning of the discussion, Isaac was still able to participate. Later, he gradually became a listener, then simply sat to one side in a daze, occasionally glancing at Witch Barbara.

There were simply too many legends about Witches in this world. It was said that the earliest origins of Legendary Wizards came from Witches.

Of course, that origin...

Was not particularly friendly...

Thus, Isaac had always been quite interested in Witches. He was curious what sort of physiology allowed them to possess magic from birth, with some of them being extraordinarily powerful.

However, given Isaac's current moral standards, he could not bring himself to dissect humans. Therefore, he usually buried that curiosity in his heart, and it only surfaced a little whenever he encountered a Witch.

After the meeting ended, Isaac had intended to leave with everyone else. However, when he saw that his elder brother and sister had not moved, he quietly sat back down. It seemed there was another small meeting to be held.

Sure enough, after the four barons left the Council Hall, everyone else turned their gazes toward Isaac.

"You want to ask me about the Outer Gods?" Isaac spoke before they could, and everyone nodded.

"Tsk... how should I put this? Just as I said earlier, having Outer Gods help us deal with the Black Orcs is impossible. We cannot afford that price. But checking which Outer Gods are on the other side should not be too difficult." Isaac spread his hands helplessly.

This was already the limit of what he could do.

Gaia nodded. He had a sense of that already, but after thinking for a moment, he asked, "That one you mentioned... the one who controls the Flesh Dimension..."

"The Lord of Myriad Flesh?" Isaac raised an eyebrow.

Gaia nodded. He was not a Legendary Wizard; saying that name would be sensed.

"Could His slumber be related to you taking part of the Flesh Dimension?"

"I don't know, but I don't think so. What I took was only a very small part, insignificant compared to the entire Flesh Dimension." The moment Gaia said this, Isaac understood what he was thinking. "So if you want me to make those Outer Gods sleep through trades with them, that isn't realistic."