Chapter 576 - 405: The Three-cup Witch Arrives

Chapter 576: Chapter 405: The Three-cup Witch Arrives

But not a single one succeeded!

However, the failures weren’t caused by a problem with the ritual or its parameters; the problem lay with the Virtual Deities themselves!

After all, a Virtual Deity still had the prefix "Virtual."

Through his special connection to the Virtual Deities, Isaac keenly sensed that three of the trades should have been completed. However, at the very instant the trades were about to finalize, the part of the Virtual Deity involved in the ritual simply vanished into nothingness!

Thus, the trade failed!

The reason for the failure was thus self-evident. A Virtual Deity was ultimately not a true Deity. Perhaps they could use the power of Divine Fragments to maintain their existence for extended periods—unlike beings of condensed Magic Power, which were only temporary—but in the end, they were incapable of trading away their own power.

The power given in a trade ritual was fundamentally different from the power bestowed when creating a Follower. After a trade was completed, even if you could plant some hidden measures within that power, it ultimately no longer belonged to you.

But the latter was different. Power bestowed upon a Follower was merely on loan; the Deity retained ownership. Even the Follower who fused with that power became the Deity’s property.

Therefore, Virtual Deities could create Followers, but they could not participate in trade rituals.

Once he understood this point, Isaac stopped wasting his efforts on it. He unceremoniously scrapped the experiments involving Virtual Deities and redirected his resources toward other areas.

With the experiments concluding unsuccessfully, Isaac exchanged the data he and Moens had collected, which yielded some additional insights.

The only regrettable part was that Moens had very little involvement with the study of Concepts. Therefore, the task of anchoring the unknown Concept had to be undertaken by Isaac alone.

After finishing his general discussion with Moens, Isaac returned to his laboratory. Just as he was about to begin locating that unknown Concept, he received a message from Angel. She and three Tier Four Witches from the Witch Country had actually arrived in this world!

This greatly surprised Isaac. At the same time, it made him even more eager for a research breakthrough on the Witch’s Secret Medicine—a concoction that had never before been successfully formulated in the current timeline. The effect of this substance on Witches was undeniable. ’I wonder... could its creation be considered a Heroic feat?’

At this thought, Isaac immediately set aside his research. A menacing ripple of the Void appeared behind him and instantly swallowed him. The scene shifted, and he was already back in his temporary Mage Tower.

At this moment, Angel stood before the temporary Mage Tower with three Witches clad in black robes and pointed Witch’s Hats—the large, medium, and small Three-cup Witches.

"You got here so fast? Was the application process that easy?" Isaac asked in surprise as he walked out of the Mage Tower.

He knew that the only reason he had been able to enter this Little World so smoothly was because the Solomon Kingdom was a member of the Kingdom Alliance, and he was still a member of the Solomon Clan. He had used an internal channel, and Amagaya had already taken care of the entire review process for him.

But Angel and the others were Witches; their situation was completely different!

"You must have been holed up doing research this whole time, haven’t you?" Angel asked, sidestepping his question with one of her own.

Although it was phrased as a question, her tone held very little actual doubt.

"Yes," Isaac nodded, then asked in surprise, "Don’t tell me the war has escalated again?"

"That’s right. All three sides are beating each other’s brains out now," Angel remarked with a hint of schadenfreude before adding, "Oh, by the way, your older brother Caesar has joined the battlefield too... Seriously, he’s ridiculous. He actually managed to kill a Tier Four Miracle Knight on the battlefield!"

"? My older brother? Caesar?" Isaac was completely baffled. "Isn’t he still Tier Three?"

"That’s why I said he’s ridiculous. The Solomon Clan is truly incredible. Of the four siblings, three of you are monsters!"

At these words, it wasn’t just Angel looking at Isaac in amazement. The large, medium, and small Three-cup Witches also shifted their gazes from the temporary Mage Tower, glanced at Isaac, and nodded in agreement.

Isaac: "..."

Isaac opened his mouth, wanting to retort, but in the end, said nothing.

’If he were the only incredible one, he could still brag about how hard he worked or something. But now, of the four siblings, only the second brother, Remington, was lagging behind. There had to be an element of fate involved in that.’

’Especially his eldest brother, Caesar. That guy’s life script was just...’

’Spectacular!’

’A Tier Three killing a Tier Four... how did he even do that?’

’Isaac knew he himself didn’t have that kind of ability when he was Tier Three!’

This made Isaac somewhat curious about the Mysterious Deity behind his brother. What could that Deity possibly be after to justify paying such a high price?

For some reason, the image of the Eldest Prince, Morgan, suddenly flashed through Isaac’s mind. ’Perhaps... it’s related to that strange destiny...’

’Looks like I need to find time to go back and check on my brother. The research on the Authority Crystal needs to be expedited too...’ While he secretly made these calculations, his expression remained impassive as he led the four women inside.

Seeing Isaac fall silent, Angel and the others didn’t say anything either. They had been just as shocked when they first heard the news. In fact, no one could hear such a thing and remain calm!

Tier Three versus Tier Four. For countless years, it had been a recognized fact that one could not fight across this tier gap. Not even the successive emergence of new paths like Wizard, Knight, and Arcanist—all of which were revolutionary compared to the paths of the past—had managed to change this reality.