Wizard: Scamming a Demon God

Chapter 199: Chapter 157: The Magical Supreme Treasure of Itra

"I’m starting to wonder if working with you is a good thing..." Philo sighed.

Theoretically, an Outer God can’t cause trouble for a Legendary Mage after a deal is done. The entity doesn’t know the Mage’s specific identity—if it did, they would be devoured whole by the Outer God during the transaction!

But that’s just in theory. In reality, an Outer God can use unconventional methods to pinpoint a Legendary Mage’s identity!

Take this sacrifice, for example. The Master of Billions of Flesh could use the Itra Royal Family to identify Isaac and his group. It wouldn’t be difficult for the Demon God to achieve this; after all, It has not only Cultists who believe in It, but also Secret Mages who borrow Its Magic Power.

That’s why, under normal circumstances, when Mad Witches make deals with Outer Gods, they choose to acquire power or Knowledge directly. They rarely use an Outer God’s power to interfere with people or things in the Real World.

And this was also one of the reasons why the Terra Empire, after weighing the pros and cons, chose the Nobility and the God of Etiquette—they weren’t afraid of the other party coming at them for real!

If they really did show up, who would win wasn’t a foregone conclusion!

But the Master of Billions of Flesh was different. Although this being often slept, and many novice Mad Witches enjoyed skimming a little off the top for fun, that didn’t mean It was weak.

Quite the opposite. The Master of Billions of Flesh was currently in Its prime, one of the most exceptional among the Outer Gods. Coupled with the inherent trait of Dimensional Demon Gods to easily invade the Real World, Its ability to interfere with reality was immense.

Of course, even so, the Emperor wouldn’t be outmatched in a real fight with It. But only the Emperor...

And the Terra Empire... is very large!

Unfortunately, it was too late for regrets...

Philo wasn’t naive enough to think Isaac would listen to them and alter or stop his plan.

Of course, it wasn’t impossible to stop him. Based on what they knew of Isaac, he responded to both carrot and stick. She believed that if she pressured him with the Empire’s authority, he would certainly change his plan or abandon the ritual here altogether.

’But could they really do that?’

’No.’

’They had only just managed to get back on good terms. If they soured the relationship again, wouldn’t their previous apologies and expenses have been for nothing?’

"Don’t worry, I’ll handle it properly." Isaac chuckled, not taking Philo’s concerns to heart. This was, in fact, one of the problems he intended to solve during the ritual itself.

It wasn’t a difficult problem to solve; a contract would suffice. While not a foolproof method, it would easily buy him some time.

And "some time," in this case, was on the timescale of a Deity!

As a crucial part of the Magic System, contracts were not entirely untrustworthy, despite their considerable risks. One simply couldn’t trust them blindly. In most situations, a contract was a very reliable tool.

What truly troubled Isaac now was how to conduct the ritual smoothly!

That was the pressing issue at hand.

In a chaotic, multi-faction free-for-all like this, he was surely not the only one secretly plotting a blood sacrifice ritual. How to claim the fallen as his own offerings—that was a matter of technical skill.

In such a chaotic situation, never mind those killed by others; even those you killed yourself were not guaranteed to become your offerings.

Mensa and his group’s method was to gather the corpses directly. Both the Space Replacement Spell and magic similar to Condensed Flesh and Blood Essence could effectively collect the bodies.

Of course, the fundamental reason they chose this approach was that the Terra Royal Family could find plenty of Mage Apprentices and Official Wizards to serve as laborers—and free ones at that!

As long as they could earn academic credits, they would do the most arduous, exhausting, and filthy jobs with great excitement!

In Isaac’s eyes, however, this was just the Terra Royal Family leveraging its vast resources to take the easy way out. When it came to anchoring the offerings, Isaac had far greater ambitions!

’What he could kill himself wouldn’t be enough to satisfy his appetite!’

’He wanted every single creature that fell in battle on this land!’

’Regardless of whether he or his people did the killing!’

’It was like he always said: if you’re going to take a shortcut, take the fastest and best one. Otherwise, what’s the point of calling it a shortcut?’

’As for the series of problems that would arise...’

’He would simply solve them one by one!’

Soon, the pumpkin carriage arrived at the barracks outside the city. It was worth noting that the barracks wasn’t large, capable of holding only about seven or eight thousand people. It couldn’t possibly supply the Kingdom Army’s half-a-million-strong force, and would even struggle to accommodate the ten thousand soldiers allotted to their slot.

So...

"Is the production efficiency of that ’thing’ really that high?" Isaac asked, looking at Philo in surprise.

Philo nodded. She turned to look in the direction of the Kingdom, a flash of greed in her eyes. If it weren’t so miraculous, why would she have ever targeted this treasure?

And if she hadn’t targeted this treasure, the Empire wouldn’t be trying to completely destroy this nation.

Hearing her reply, a hint of greed surfaced in Isaac’s eyes as well. ’If I had that thing, couldn’t I make deals with the Master of Billions of Flesh every single day?’

"TSK TSK." Isaac shook his head with a sigh, the greed in his eyes vanishing completely. ’It’s a nice thought, but not very practical. For one, Philo has already called dibs on the treasure, and I do believe in honoring agreements. For another, the law of conservation of energy holds true even in an Otherworld.’

’Creating these Artificial Humans must require some kind of input—a cost.’

’Since there’s a cost either way, how is it any different from me just buying Demonized Flesh directly?’

’Perhaps humanoid life-forms would please the Master of Billions of Flesh more, but I’m not some sycophant, nor am I one of Its Believers. What the hell do I care if It’s pleased or not? It doesn’t affect my deals anyway.’

A few moments later, they met the person in charge of the barracks: a gloomy, middle-aged man clad in Silver-White Full Body Armor. He listlessly checked their documents and tokens before motioning for Isaac’s group to step back.

Then, to their astonishment, troop after troop of Soldiers clad in Iron Armor marched out from the barracks.

Isaac looked in surprise at the Soldiers’ Iron Armor. ’It’s Full Armor?’

This wasn’t ordinary armor; it was lightly enchanted!

It possessed a degree of Magic Resistance. While you couldn’t expect it to block a spell outright, it would increase your chances of surviving the aftershocks, preventing you from dying to some stray area-of-effect attack.

It was said that in the hands of powerful Wizards assigned to the army, this type of gear could even create a linked effect, exhibiting incredibly strong defensive power.

Equipping an army with this stuff on a large scale would not be cheap. And if the numbers reached the millions...

...the cost would be astronomical!

’Is the Itra Kingdom really that generous?’

’Or is this standard issue for these Artificial Humans?’

’But that would cause the cost of these Artificial Humans to skyrocket... unless that treasure delved into the ultimate secrets of the Alchemy Discipline!’

Watching the Soldiers file out, Isaac stroked his chin in curiosity. ’Perhaps the gains from this operation will be more than just the Demon Eye and the ritual...’

’It really pays to get out more when you have the time.’