The Noble Witch

Isaac paid no attention to the looks everyone gave him. After taking his seat, he distributed the information he had compiled from the Beast Skin Book along the way.

The Beast Skin Book contained the Magic Power of the God of Black Orcs. Unlike Isaac, the others could not simply ignore the temptation of that Magic Power.

Moreover, the Beast Skin Book did not actually contain much information. Most of it was a gift from the God of Black Orcs—a series of spells for restraining demons, as well as the spell responsible for this situation.

"This is..." As they picked up the manuscripts, everyone's brows immediately furrowed.

"The Black Orcs are actually connected to demons? And they can borrow demonic power to mass-produce High Priests... Have they gone mad?" Barry said in shock as he read the manuscript.

Isaac shrugged, not particularly surprised.

"The Black Orc civilization is fairly primitive. They worship the law of the jungle and are divided into countless tribes of all sizes. With an order from the God of Black Orcs this time, it is hardly surprising. Even without one, it would not have been strange for them to do something like this."

Strictly speaking, demons fell within the category of God Seeds. They possessed a status equal to that of gods, though the gap in strength between individuals was enormous. The powerful ones rivaled gods, while the weak ones...

Were about as strong as Quasi-Knights.

However, because of their status, they were born with many miraculous abilities, such as bestowing blessings.

Like Outer Gods, they could accept sacrifices and then grant blessings to the person presiding over the ritual.

Naturally, there was a price.

It was a transaction.

The sacrificer would gain power, but once the agreed conditions were fulfilled, the demon would claim their soul.

Such contracts were even harsher than those of Outer Gods. Deals with Outer Gods were more like one-time exchanges. Whether wizard or Outer God, any tricks could only be played during the ritual itself. Once the ritual ended, neither side could interfere with the other.

At most, they could leave behind a Magic Item that allowed communication with them, like the Lord of Myriad Flesh and the God of Black Orcs.

Yet that was not necessarily a good thing, because demon deals were unlike Outer God transactions, where payment and goods changed hands at once. They were loans.

Only after the conditions stipulated in the ritual had been fulfilled would the demon take the soul.

And that gave many wizards room to maneuver!

Among the schools of wizards was one known as the Demon Dominators!

They were wizards skilled in the art of loans. They gained power by signing contracts with demon after demon, then delayed the end of those contracts by exploiting loopholes deliberately left within them.

Some wizards could even use those contracts to dominate demons in return, forcibly extracting even more from them!

Magic Power, knowledge...

Isaac was quite interested in this as well. Once he became a Grand Wizard, he planned to look for related spells.

But that was a matter for later...

Returning to the main issue, everyone nodded after hearing Isaac's words. This was indeed the sort of thing the Black Orcs would do. It had happened before, though never on such a scale. Usually, before they could even launch an attack, the Black Orcs would destroy themselves.

But this time...

"Black Orc demonization..." Gaia frowned deeply and looked at Sheryl, Isaac, and Snake Princess Barbara. Only the three of them were spellcasters. "Do any of you have a way to deal with this?"

Demonization was a spell—or perhaps a divine spell—that nearly every newly born High Priest knew. By sacrificing a certain amount of life, they could demonize a Black Orc, granting it strength comparable to that of a knight!

Fifteen thousand Black Orcs could produce five thousand demonized Black Orcs!

That meant five thousand knights!

Solomon Fortress could never withstand such a force!

Unless a High Wizard was stationed there. And not an ordinary High Wizard, either, but a veteran one who had been stationed here for many years and possessed sufficient reserves.

Five thousand knights...

Looking across the entire Empire, only the Royal Knights could reach that level!

In the entire Empire, including all the nobles great and small, there was one and only one such knight order!

Still, it was not particularly difficult to achieve. If they emptied their coffers, the Solomon Territory could also assemble such a knight order in a short time. But this was an army, not a golem. It was not something that could simply be formed and left alone.

Even Alchemy Golems required constant maintenance, let alone people.

Secondly, its practical value was not especially great. Five thousand knights could be held back by three High Knights working together, driven off by five High Knights, and completely annihilated by ten High Knights!

In this supernatural world, individual power was the ultimate answer!

Unfortunately, Solomon Fortress currently had only one High Knight—Gaia. In the short term, pouring resources into the matter could at most elevate Caesar. Although Barry was also at the peak of Grand Knight, even with the Smelting Method and the necessary resources, he would still need time to break through.

There was even less need to mention Sheryl. The path of an Arcanist was extremely steady. There was no such thing as suddenly exploding with potential; she could only advance one step at a time.

Thus, with insufficient high-end combat power, they could only hope that the spellcasters could solve the problem through magic—for example, by reversing the Black Orcs' demonized state...

"This is not my field of research, but I can look into it. The association has quite a bit of information on demonization, and I do not know what spell they are using," Sheryl said, making no promises and not holding much hope for herself.

After all, the field was simply too far from her specialty. Her primary area of study was material alchemy, and her understanding of living creatures was limited.

Still, she looked toward Isaac. If they knew the corresponding spell, there might be a chance. After all, she was a Grand Wizard, and her foundation was there.

Isaac nodded, understanding what his elder sister meant. "The Beast Skin Book contains the relevant spell and a spell to counter it. The exact effects will need testing, but there is something wrong with the Beast Skin Book itself, so you cannot read it. I will copy the spells from it for you later."

After speaking, Isaac paused, then said, "We still have quite a few Black Orcs left. There is no need to waste them. We can use them for some experiments. I will carry out the demonization myself. I am somewhat interested in demons too, so this can count as getting to know them in advance."

At this, Gaia's brows creased slightly. He was dissatisfied with Isaac's desire to contact demons, but he also knew Isaac would not listen to him. Moreover, to resolve the fortress's current crisis, contact with demons was indeed unavoidable...

So he merely frowned and said nothing. He had no standing to say anything, either.

After Isaac finished speaking, everyone turned their eyes toward Snake Princess. Isaac and Sheryl, in particular, were the most expectant.

Although all three were spellcasters, Snake Princess was actually the one most likely to resolve this matter!

Because she was a Witch, and a Witch's power was the most unreasonable of all!

Whether Legendary Wizards or Truth Wizards, spellcasting required them to follow certain rules. But Witches did not!

They were extraordinary from the moment they were born!