The Wizard: Starting by Scamming the Demon God

Page 110

If Isaac himself were to hold the ceremony, he would definitely take care of his old flame, the Lord of billions of flesh and blood, when such a good thing happens!

This is called staying true to your original aspiration!

Isaac closed the spellbook, stretched, and walked out of the room.

Although there are still many questions that need to be clarified, we have to stop here because we need to go to Etra Palace to report for duty today and secure our spots.

After having a quick breakfast downstairs, Isaac led Smith and Lorna in a pumpkin carriage towards the gates of Etra Palace.

After meeting up with Filo and Angel at the palace gate, the group went directly into the palace.

This is also a key reason why Isaac readily agreed to Philo's offer of cooperation in the first place!

In this world, one's identity is not something one can choose for oneself; in this regard, nobles have rather meticulous methods of verification.

For the Kingdom of Itra, however, his baronial status was somewhat of a disservice.

But Philo is different. No matter what, she is the eldest princess of the Terra Empire. This girl has a noble status!

"Hmm?" In her carriage, Philo, who was looking at her palace, frowned slightly and glanced at Isaac. Her intuition told her that Isaac was thinking about something impolite!

"What's wrong?" Noticing the noble young lady's gaze, Isaac turned his head and asked curiously.

“It’s nothing.” Philo frowned slightly and turned her head to continue looking at her palace.

Chapter 157 Forced Awakening!

Upon arriving at the royal palace, Isaac and his companions were able to meet King Etra thanks to Philo's identity.

Just as Isaac had expected, the king, despite the annual uprisings and the overall turbulent state of the country, was beaming with joy and had a cheerful expression.

Isaac speculated that either he had taken enough money that the lives of his subordinates were irrelevant to him, or it was all an act for a deeper, more elaborate scheme!

Personally, Isaac preferred the latter, because although this king was not the guardian deity of the Kingdom of Etra, the miracle knight who was a fourth-ranked knight, he was still a third-ranked high-ranking knight.

A Grand Knight might be created through resources, but a High Knight requires a certain amount of talent, plus rigorous training. None of those who become High Knights are easy to deal with!

Perhaps their plan won't go so smoothly...

The king happily gave them four tokens. Three of them were given to the three madmen, which were the tokens they had planned, while the extra one was given to Isaac's second brother, Remington.

Philo seemed surprised by this change, turning to look at Remington, lost in thought.

Whether it was an act for Isaac's benefit or not, it didn't matter. After receiving the token representing their place, Philo chatted with King Hara for a bit, and then the group left the palace with the king's farewell.

After the figures of the group disappeared from the king's sight, he turned back and walked back into the palace.

However, as soon as he stepped into the palace, he frowned slightly. He saw an old man with white hair and beard, wearing golden armor, sitting on his throne.

A flash of anger crossed the king's eyes, then he stepped forward respectfully and bowed, saying, "Ancestor, you have arrived."

Yes, the person in front of you is the guardian deity of the Kingdom of Itra, Fin Normanster Itra, an old man who has lived for hundreds of years, a fourth-tier miracle knight!

So, faced with this act of usurping his throne, the king not only dared not speak out in anger, but he didn't even dare to be angry!

At least it can't be shown on the surface.

Of course, not showing any anger at all wouldn't work either, that would be too fake and not like a high-ranking knight, so he had to show just the right amount of anger.

Sure enough, seeing the fleeting anger in the king's eyes, Finn was extremely satisfied. He didn't care about the king's thoughts because he was just a high-ranking knight, only at the third rank, and posed no threat to him at all.

Besides, what good is fighting ability in this world? When you're out in the game, you need power and background. The reason why Itra's situation has lasted for so many years is not because of his fourth-tier strength, but because those forces have a sense of shame and they can't do something like blood sacrifice on their own territory.

Even if the blood sacrifice is only for some soulless and mindless androids.

Compared to those forces, his fourth rank is nothing!

He was once just like the current king, extremely dissatisfied with the state of the Kingdom of Etra and desperately trying to seize every opportunity to climb up!

But he has now changed his mind; is he going to rebel?

That would be so tiring.

Since he's no longer on the path of faith, he has no need for a large territory or a large population. Rather than harboring unrealistic fantasies, he might as well lie down, do business with the major powers, and use these massive resources to improve himself.

So even though he knew that the predicament of the Kingdom of Etra lay in its lack of strength but possession of great treasures, he still continued to collect treasures over the years, and these treasures were the kind that could sustainably produce resources.

And then all of it will be used in this once-a-year grand feast!

However, he was not a fool. The plan went smoothly in the early stages, but as Itra acquired more and more treasures, the cooperating forces gradually developed some inappropriate ideas.

Just because Etra couldn't defend these treasures doesn't mean they can't...

Take this feast for example. As far as he knows, there are three groups of people who want to do that kind of business that will ruin your family!

One of them was the eldest princess of the Terra Empire!

I just don't know if it was the Empire's idea or the eldest princess's own. If it was the former...

That's not a good sign!

"What do you think?"

"It's like... acting. Philo's performance was alright, but that construct's acting was too fake," the king said, frowning.

This time it wasn't an act; they were genuinely frowning, because it meant that the Terra Empire was now targeting them! And it wasn't just Princess Filo's personal act, as the prince had suggested!

"What if this is something that the eldest princess is deliberately putting on for us?"

The king fell silent; this was also what worried him—they were not as strong as others, that was the reality.

"Alright, you can continue with your business." Looking at the silent king, Finn shook his head, stood up from the throne, and disappeared from the palace in a flash.

The king remained silent for a moment, then slowly sat down in the warm chair, his eyes lowered. After a while, he tapped the small golden bell beside him, ordering someone to bring the documents and handle state affairs.

These things are boring because even if he does nothing and does nothing, Etra's rule will not be affected, and the country will not perish.

But he was happy to do these things because only then did he feel like a king!

The real king!

……

Meanwhile, Isaac and his party, having just left the palace, immediately headed towards the military camp stationed outside the city. They had a total of four tokens and four slots, which allowed them to lead an army of 40,000 men!

Unfortunately, Lorna and Smith have a close relationship with Isaac, so they can only be considered followers and cannot obtain the token on their own, even if they do not take the shortcut of Filo and obtain it through the trial.

While in theory, an army of 500,000 is certainly stronger than an army of 500,000 to 10,000, excluding the issue of the commander's skill level, even if there is no one who can command 500,000, a force of 70,000, 80,000, or 100,000 is definitely stronger than individual armies of 10,000.

Unfortunately, this was not a real war. The war in Etra was essentially a transaction, so selling a million troops to two people and selling them to a million people are completely different concepts.

So they only received four tokens, when there were originally three, but Remington, who was supposed to fight as Philo's follower, received one.

“I think it’s time to talk about the specifics of our cooperation going forward?” Isaac looked at the silent Philo and Remington from inside the pumpkin carriage heading towards the military camp. “What’s going on with you two?”

"I am representing Duke Norns in this war to cover for Princess Philo and to conceal the Empire's actions," Remington said first.

“Like this?” Isaac looked at Philo.

“I don’t know.” Philo shook her head. “This wasn’t part of our plan, at least I don’t know.”

Isaac nodded. He had thought Philo's acting was really that good, but that didn't matter anymore. Isaac extended his hand to the others.

"So that means we're all in this together. Hand over the token. It would be more appropriate to put this army of 40,000 under one person's command."

"Here you go." Upon hearing this, Angel handed the token in her hand to Isaac without hesitation. Since the information registration was already completed, the token would only have the function of troop deployment besides recording information.

The recording function doesn't need to be in her possession. As long as her army makes a contribution, the merits it generates belong to her. Since she won't be leading troops, it doesn't matter if she hands it over.

Philo, however, holding the token in his hand, looked at Isaac with a puzzled expression: "You can lead troops?"

“No way,” Isaac said matter-of-factly. “But Smith can. There are only two people here who can lead troops. You wouldn’t want him to lead them, would you?”

As he spoke, Isaac glanced at Remington, making no attempt to hide his distrust of him.

Philo glanced at Remington, but couldn't see anything different. This was one of the advantages of constructs; as long as they didn't speak or pretend, it was hard to be exposed because the cold helmet and visor didn't reveal any emotional fluctuations.

“Alright.” Philo handed the token in her hand to Isaac. Just as Isaac had said, she didn’t trust Remington either; this man was too deeply tied to Duke Norns!

It's kind of silly, to be honest...

Isaac reached out his hand to Remington, saying nothing, just smiling at him. Seeing that he didn't move, Philo and Angel's gazes also shifted to him.

Remington sighed and finally handed over the token in his hand.

“Very good.” Isaac nodded in satisfaction, then handed his token to Smith, who was driving the carriage outside the carriage.

"What do we need to do next? Just push straight through?" Philo asked Isaac.

"No rush, let's get the army first. The ceremony you provided is too crude and needs to be revised." Isaac waved his hand. If it were before, Isaac would have summoned two thousand greatsword demons and started a sweeping attack.

After all, his goal at the time was just the Kaleidoscope Eye; as long as he won, that was enough.

But things are different now. Now, winning isn't enough; enough people have to die!

More is better!

Only then can the Lord of billions of flesh and blood be greatly pleased!

Only when the Demon God is greatly pleased can he better accomplish the goals of the Terran royal family, and only when he is greatly pleased can he happily reap his rewards in the void!

"Too rough?" Philo frowned, looking at Isaac suspiciously. "This was designed by Archmage Mensa himself, leading the Royal Mage Corps. You're not trying to stall for time, are you?"

"So what if he's a Grand Archmage? Does that mean he's always right? Ritual doesn't believe in authority; it only believes in truth!" After saying that, Isaac looked at Philo curiously. "Don't you understand such a simple principle? Could it be that your previous trading rituals were all designed by them?"

Philo was speechless for a moment, then said softly, "Not entirely..."

Actually, to be precise, it wasn't entirely like that before. At first, she would still perform rituals herself, but after someone made some minor improvements for her, she researched rituals less and less, and now she has almost completely given up on researching rituals herself.

Of course, it doesn't matter. Anyway, she has the Emperor's Decree, so she always just toughs it out when the ritual fails. Besides, even if you study the ritual, no one can guarantee that it will definitely succeed.

Of course, that's what she said, but feeling Isaac's surprised look, she was still a little embarrassed.

"So, how long do we have to wait?"

"It won't take too long. Give me two more days and it will be done. Actually, Lord Mensa's ritual is very complete. It's just that the target of the sacrifice is different, so some details need to be adjusted."

"You want to change the sacrifice target?" Upon hearing this, Philo frowned. "Those androids don't have souls, and not many Outer Gods would want them. Besides, the old guy from the Etra royal family is a fourth-order being. Even if he's an Outer God, they can't kill him without enough benefits."

"Don't worry, not all Outer Gods only want souls. The Lord of Billions of Flesh and Blood only wants flesh and blood. These artificial humans are enough to satisfy Him. As for whether He can be killed... Ha~ Are you questioning a demon god?"

Upon hearing the name of the Lord of Billions of Flesh and Blood, Philo's tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed.

Among the Outer Gods, the Evil Gods are the most active. Their thinking is even more unconventional than that of mad witches. They will participate in anything that pleases them, even if it brings them no benefit.

Therefore, many instances of alien invasions in history were initiated by evil gods.