Wizard: Scamming a Demon God

Chapter 217: Chapter 172: A Generous Choice? Eternal Life and Forbidden Knowledge

Philo silently watched Isaac as he initiated the ritual, her heart filled with resentment. ’My birth is so much nobler than his, and the education I’ve received since childhood is far superior, but...’

As she looked at the complex Ritual Array, an overwhelming sense of defeat washed over her...

Meanwhile, Isaac was oblivious to Philo’s feelings, nor did he have any interest in knowing them. He was pouring all of his concentration into the ritual.

Although his Golden Finger provided a safety net, with a fault tolerance of one thousand percent making failure impossible, he still needed to invest one hundred percent of his energy into it!

This was a standard Isaac set for himself. First, one should never underestimate the powers that be. Outer Gods were, after all, Gods. They existed on a much higher plane. To snatch a prize from their grasp, he couldn’t afford to be careless, or he might fall into some unforeseen trap, even with the ritual’s protection.

Second, while the Golden Finger was powerful, he couldn’t trust it blindly. Moreover, every time a trading ritual was activated, a Legendary Mage could learn a great deal. Concentrating would allow him to glean more knowledge.

’The Golden Finger is just an external tool; knowledge is what truly belongs to me!’

Of course, the main reason Isaac didn’t care what Philo thought was that the ritual was useless to her!

Beyond the factor of his Golden Finger, and more importantly, Isaac had already optimized the ritual itself before adding the buffer. A ritual optimized in this way could basically only be used by the optimizer, turning it from a public bus into a private car.

Of course, if Philo were capable enough, she could also modify Isaac’s ritual and make it her own. The success rate, however, would be anyone’s guess.

Others didn’t have Isaac’s Golden Finger to see the exact success rate of the ritual; they could only make a rough mental estimate.

As the ritual began, a gaze from beyond the world quickly followed the subtle and unique ritualistic fluctuations, fixing its attention here. It was... the Master of the Eternal Secret Star!

Meanwhile, in a secret space outside the Itra Kingdom, the Arcanists supervising the war frowned, their eyes fixed on an instrument that was flashing red and sounding an alarm.

”An Outer God... is here!”

At these words, the expressions of everyone present instantly grew solemn. They had suspected a Mad Witch would attempt to trade with an Outer God. Such a transaction occurred every few years during the war in Itra, and they had even prepared contingency plans. But when it actually happened, they couldn’t help but feel a surge of anxiety.

Even the lofty High-level Mages among them were no exception.

Because this was an Outer God!

It was far superior to them in both power and station.

The most terrifying part was that they had absolutely no control over the outcome of this transaction. The initiative lay with the Mad Witch conducting the ritual. If he succeeded, all would be well. But if he failed...

...then the Outer God would very likely seize the opportunity to launch a full-scale invasion.

The consequences would be catastrophic.

Unfortunately, this was unavoidable. If a Mad Witch intentionally disguised themselves, there was no way to identify them; they had no distinguishing features.

That wasn’t even the greatest difficulty. What truly made the situation uncontrollable was the fact that no one present was from the Itra Kingdom or the Teaching Country.

In other words, while they publicly opposed Mad Witches entering the fray, they might have secretly contacted them, helping them hide their identities in exchange for other benefits.

Some, like the Terra Empire, didn’t even bother with the pretense and sent two Mad Witches in directly!

Just then, all eyes turned to Great Arcanist Mensa. Although they didn’t dare to peer into the ritual for fear of the Outer God’s might, that didn’t stop them from identifying a prime suspect.

For one, only the Terra Empire had brazenly sent two Mad Witches in. For another, one of their people—the Mad Witch named Isaac—had recently intercepted all the Dead Energy generated within the Itra Kingdom. Currently, he was the only one who could perform a blood sacrifice.

Of course, it wasn’t impossible that another type of sacrifice was being used, but the likelihood was low. After all, one came to Itra specifically for blood sacrifices. Where couldn’t you perform other types of sacrifices?

Therefore, the most likely candidates for performing the ritual were the Terra Empire’s two Mad Witches.

Facing everyone’s stares, Mensa had nothing to say. He was thinking the exact same thing.

”Let’s just wait and see,” Mensa said resignedly after a moment of silence.

Hearing this, the other High-level Mages nodded. There was no other choice. A Mad Witch’s trading ritual was currently protected by both the Outer God and the Gate of Legends. With their power alone, they had no way of forcibly interrupting it.

Therefore, the countermeasures they had prepared were mostly for damage control, intended to mitigate the losses should the transaction fail.

...

Meanwhile, as the gaze of the Master of the Eternal Secret Star fell upon him, the scene around Isaac changed. The gloomy secret chamber of the castle transformed into a mysterious and boundless starry sky.

Countless stars dotted the dark cosmos, lending the pitch-black expanse a touch of splendor and making it seem all the more mysterious.

Floating before Isaac was a silvery-white Demonic Puppet. It possessed human limbs and facial features. Though its silvery musculature was slender, it exuded a palpable sense of power.

At the same time, the mysterious Magic Array on its chest, shimmering with a Seven-Colored Radiance, bore witness to its terrifying might on another plane of existence.

What truly captured Isaac’s attention, however, were the three small spheres of light floating behind its head.

The moment he saw these three spheres of light, Isaac knew what they were—artificial suns!

Though only the size of a fist, they were no different from real suns. According to the records, these three small objects were not only the energy source for the Master of the Eternal Secret Star but also its most powerful weapon.

It was also the forbidden technology Isaac coveted most!

’With something like this, who would ever worry about energy?’

”A Wizard? How interesting. It has been a long time since a Wizard dared to trade with me. State your desire. Eternal life? Or forbidden knowledge?”

A stream of information flooded Isaac’s mind. A gentle, melodious voice reverberated within his thoughts—a pleasing female voice, as crisp as a silver bell dancing on the air, delicate, moving, and sweet.

Isaac, however, remained unmoved. He even felt a hint of disdain.

’Eternal life?’

’It sounds tempting, but it’s just a trick to turn you into a Demonic Puppet or a Mechanical Body. They even take your soul, leaving you with nothing but hollow memories!’

’Forbidden knowledge?’

’That part’s real, but it’s forbidden for a reason. Use it, and you become a collaborator, a pawn to lead the enemy in!’

Isaac’s goal was therefore crystal clear. He only wanted the ability of Demonic Puppet Activation. He didn’t need anything else from the Master of the Eternal Secret Star.

He would take what he wanted himself!