Isaac, Whose Courage is Abnormal

Gaia looked coldly at Remington, his eyes full of disappointment.

He had known from early on that his Second Son wanted to fight for the inheritance. After all, the people under Remington's command had all been given to him by Gaia—nothing Remington did could possibly be hidden from him.

At first, Gaia had been quite pleased. His son was not someone who resigned himself to fate; he would not give up just because his opponent was too strong. As long as he kept that spirit, then even if Remington failed to seize the inheritance from Caesar in the future, his achievements would not be insignificant.

Their Solomon Family ought to possess precisely this kind of spirit!

This was also why the Solomon Clan had risen step by step from commoners to the rank of Viscount!

Yet before he could be happy for long, faced with Caesar's increasingly outstanding performance, Remington gradually buckled under the pressure. He began making little moves, playing shameful tricks behind the scenes.

At first, he had merely stirred up discord between Caesar and his subordinates. Later, he began framing Caesar, even intending to destroy the relationship between Caesar and his wife!

His methods became more and more despicable!

Of course, even at that point, Gaia had only been somewhat disappointed. Though such methods were beneath notice and not to his liking, Gaia had to admit that they 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 then, until...

Until he concealed the news of the Goblin attack within the territory, intending to use the Goblins to trigger an unprecedented internal upheaval and create trouble for Caesar, who was temporarily managing the territory!

Using disaster to harm the people of the territory had crossed Gaia's bottom line. Not to mention that throughout the whole affair, Remington had barely considered his frail Third Brother at all...

That was what made Gaia completely lose faith in Remington.

However, after learning that Isaac had not been harmed and that he had resolved the Goblin matter, Gaia had not appeared to stop Remington. Instead, he continued observing him. He wanted to know just how far his Second Son would go, and the result was obvious.

"From this day forth, you are stripped of Solomon's Name! Once the Black Orc disaster is over, leave the territory!"

Gaia's words caused everyone's expressions to change drastically, Isaac included. The three of them had just been about to speak when Gaia shot them a sideways look. Caesar and Cheryl immediately shrank back, standing where they were like quails. Only Isaac stepped forward, because whenever faced with him, Gaia unconsciously reined in his own imposing aura.

"Father, Second Brother was only muddled for a moment. He knows he was wrong. Please forgive him this time!" After saying that, Isaac immediately gave Remington a meaningful look, signaling for him to hurry up and admit his mistake.

In this era, being removed from one's family was no small matter. It meant that unless Remington became one of the Empire's absolute top-tier powerhouses in the future, he would never be able to regain his noble status!

It would completely seal off all his other paths of advancement!

Yet in response to the look Isaac threw him, Remington gave no reaction. He merely lowered his head in silence. He acknowledged what he had done.

Wrong was wrong.

"Hmph." Gaia snorted, though his stern expression softened somewhat. Clearly, he was rather satisfied that Remington had not opened his mouth to beg him.

Gaia glanced at Isaac, whose expression was full of resolve, then looked at Remington. "Since your younger brother has pleaded for you, I will spare you this once. The matter of removing your name will be postponed. If you perform outstandingly in this winter's war against the Black Orcs, you will not be removed from the family. However, all your territories will be confiscated. Any objections?"

"None. Thank you, Father! I will certainly not disappoint your expectations!" Remington immediately raised his head and answered solemnly.

"Hmph. Thank Isaac instead. Thank him for not being as heartless as you!" Though he had reduced Remington's punishment, Gaia was clearly dissatisfied with Remington in every possible way now.

Seeing this, Isaac and his two sisters exchanged glances and all breathed a sigh of relief.

On the other side, seeing that the relationship among the four siblings had eased somewhat again, the corners of Gaia's mouth could not help but lift slightly. But he quickly suppressed it, allowing no one to notice.

With a wave of his hand, he signaled for Remington to get lost to the side and stand properly. Then he looked at Caesar and said gravely, "Tell us about the Black Orcs' movements during this time."

"Yes!" At the mention of this matter, Caesar's gaze became more serious as well. He stepped forward and lightly brushed his right hand across his waist. Streams of multicolored magical light scattered from Caesar's waist, forming a three-dimensional sand table before everyone.

Looking at the lifelike magical sand table before him, Isaac's brows rose slightly. This thing was quite advanced. As one focused their attention, it would enlarge accordingly, making it feel as though they were personally present.

A genuine divine tool of war!

He wondered what the market price was~

"At present, the Black Orcs show no signs of setting out. But according to our investigation, they seem to be planning something big this year. They have already gathered an army of over ten thousand! Far exceeding the scale of any autumn raid in history!" The moment Caesar said this, everyone's expressions instantly turned grave.

A war involving over ten thousand people...

Even in this extraordinary age of magic, it was exceedingly rare.

Even nations rarely maintained armies of such enormous size, because the minimum requirement for regular legions was Quasi-Knight, while some with stricter standards even required one to be a Knight to join.

And the Black Orcs' combat units were basically all at the near-inhuman Quasi-Knight level. Over ten thousand Quasi-Knights...

That force far surpassed the Solomon Territory's Knight Order of a thousand men...

"Have they produced a king?!" Gaia stared at the sand table with tightly furrowed brows, voicing his question.

Caesar shook his head. "According to the reliable information we have received so far, no. They gathered because of another reason. We are still investigating the specifics."

"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 had been an existence above a High-level Knight, capable of commanding every Black Orc across the wilderness. It was far beyond what the current Solomon Territory could contend with.

Even if they sought aid from the Empire, the Solomon Territory would inevitably become a frontline battlefield. A war of such intensity would still be no good thing for them; if things went badly, they might be wiped out entirely!

However...

"Send more people. We must find out why they have gathered such an enormous force. At the same time, notify the other lords and have them bring their forces to the fortress to take part in the defense."

"Yes, Father!" Caesar nodded with a grave expression.

"How many alchemical golems can the Mage Tower provide at most within a month?" After giving Caesar his orders, Gaia looked at Cheryl.

"The Mage Tower does not have many materials, and we have never stockpiled supplies for a war on the scale of ten thousand men. So at present, there are three hundred Obsidian Golems in the Mage Tower that can be activated, and at most three more can be made within a month." Cheryl spoke somewhat helplessly.

War was no child's play. The saying that when the cannons roar, ten thousand taels of gold are spent held true in both worlds. Some things continued consuming resources even when simply left there.

For example, alchemical golems. These weapons of war were indeed powerful, but they burned through money!

Not only were the materials expensive, the fuel was expensive, even the maintenance costs were expensive!

That was only because Cheryl herself was an Archmage affiliated with the Truth Association and had her own Mage Tower, allowing her to pull quite a few clear-eyed Formal Wizards from the Association to work for free, saving a huge amount on maintenance.

Otherwise, their standing stock of Obsidian Golems would have to be reduced by at least fifty!

Such an exorbitant price also meant they would have no way to deal with this kind of sudden situation. The production capacity was what it was.

They could purchase them from the Association, but first, they were expensive, and second...

Obsidian Golems required Magic Crystals, a magical resource, to operate. Having the money to buy the golems did not necessarily mean having the money to buy Magic Crystals.

So after Cheryl finished speaking, Gaia sighed. Fortunately, he had already prepared himself mentally, so he was not too disappointed.

"Forget it. Three units won't solve anything. Put aside everything else for now and focus on your training. If you can become a High Sorcerer, you'll be of far greater help!"

Cheryl nodded. That was what she thought as well.

After saying that, Gaia frowned at the sand table and silently pondered a battle plan. Isaac, who had been looking on expectantly, was instantly dumbfounded. He blinked. Wasn't he going to ask... him?

His father skipping over Isaac directly surprised him. He was not Second Brother, who had made some mistake, so why was he being passed over?

Fortunately, the attentive Caesar noticed Isaac's expression and immediately said, "Third Brother, what do you think?"

Gaia paused slightly at that. Only then did he notice the faint expectation on Isaac's face. He immediately cleared his throat, gave Caesar an approving look, and asked, "You have an idea?"

"Of course!" Isaac nodded heavily. He had plenty of ideas!

Wasn't it just a matter of troops?

Eldest Sister could not churn out troops, but he could!

"It's like this. Didn't Goblins appear in the territory a while ago? While suppressing them, I found the way Goblins were born rather interesting, so I studied it. Then, under my earth-shattering wisdom, I successfully created a similar witchcraft called the Flesh Nest!

"It's a positional spell. Once set up, as long as Demonized Flesh is continuously fed into it, it can endlessly create Demonic Beasts! Though the Gale Wolves and Demonized Wild Boars it creates are still very weak for now, just give me some time and I can rapidly optimize it!"

Having said that, Isaac proudly lifted his head!

Though it was not quite appropriate to say so, the Black Orcs had sent reinforcements at exactly the right time!

They had truly delivered charcoal in the snow. He was now only waiting for his mana's active phase to end and to write his legend into his third Spellbook before advancing to Archmage. This was a perfect chance to display his holiness before others!

Yet the moment Isaac said this, Cheryl's heart skipped a beat. This is bad. Sure enough, when she looked at Gaia, she found his expression exceedingly grim.

"Are you a Mad Wizard?!" Gaia asked darkly.

"Uh..." Isaac blinked. He was not some bookworm incapable of reading the room. He could understand the atmosphere, but what he did not understand was...

He had guessed that Mad Wizards had a bad reputation, but wasn't the mysteriousness surrounding Mad Wizards a little low? Did that mean their prestige was not actually that impressive?

Isaac secretly glanced at Caesar and found that his expression was equally ugly.

He immediately shrank back and asked carefully, "What's wrong?"

"Answer me! Have you become a Mad Wizard who trades with the Outer Gods?!" Gaia did not answer Isaac. Instead, he questioned him with a dark face.

"Uh... yes."

"...Why did you do this? You should know that the Outer Gods are all dangerous!"

Because I have a cheat.

Naturally, Isaac could not say that. They might not even believe him. He could only shrug and say in an apparently casual manner, "Because it's fast. To me, the path of a Legendary Wizard is a shortcut for spellcasters. And since it's a shortcut, naturally I'll take whichever route is fastest. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Aren't I fine?"

"You may know what you're doing, but I don't have any peace of mind!" Gaia glared fiercely at Isaac, took a deep breath, and after some thought, still said, "You chose this path yourself. I know I can't persuade you otherwise. Be more careful. Mad Wizards all have abnormal brains, just like you."

Isaac: "..."

So why was there such a huge reaction to Mad Wizards?

And why had they instantly identified him as a Mad Wizard?

He had not let anything slip just now, had he?

Seeing that his father and Eldest Brother were unwilling to explain, Isaac looked curiously at Cheryl.

Cheryl sighed and said, "You're a Legendary Wizard, so you should know the origin of the Goblin Nest. The power behind this type of nest witchcraft all comes from the Outer Gods. It is power only the Outer Gods can wield and grant. Mortals cannot learn it through their own research, even with an exceedingly detailed Spellbook."

"There's such a saying?" Isaac raised his brows. He had really learned something new, but...

"Then why are Father and Eldest Brother reacting so strongly? It shouldn't only be because of the Outer Gods, right?" As he spoke, Isaac looked toward Gaia as well, his eyes full of curiosity.

He did not ask Caesar or Cheryl about this. In this family, Gaia's authority remained quite high. Unless he nodded, Eldest Brother and Eldest Sister could not possibly tell him.

"Father, Third Brother can stand on his own now. There are some things he should be allowed to know."

"Eldest Brother is right. Besides, isn't it better for you to tell him than for him to learn through other channels? Third Brother is a Mad Wizard. His brain isn't normal."

"Hmm?" Isaac looked at Eldest Sister in confusion.

"Ah..." In the end, Gaia still sighed. Cheryl was right. Isaac was a Mad Wizard; his brain was not normal. Rather than wait for him to ask an Outer God himself, it was better to tell him. "Come to my room tonight. I'll tell you some things. For now, tell us about that witchcraft of yours—what you can say."

"Tsk... fine." Isaac was somewhat helpless, but he still did his best to suppress his curiosity before continuing, "There's nothing I can't say. When I traded with the billions... ah, when I traded with that guy, I had It perfect the structure of the Flesh Nest. Theoretically, as long as there is enough Demonic Beast flesh, the Flesh Nest's troop numbers have no upper limit!

"But due to the limits of my own strength, it can currently nurture at most first-rank Demonic Beasts. Besides that, I also seized a tiny piece of a Dimension Shard from It. It lets me possess nearly unlimited mana for a short time, and I can even hide in another dimension instantly. So don't worry about me. I have more than enough ability to protect myself. Mm, those are my only two trump cards."

After hearing Isaac's words, everyone fell silent.

Take back what they had said. Isaac did not have an abnormal brain—he had abnormal guts!

Forgot to give thanks.

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