Chapter 397 - 292: Evil God and the Evil God’s Dominator

Chapter 397: Chapter 292: Evil God and the Evil God’s Dominator

Isaac raised his right hand and studied the Ruby Ring. After confirming it could instantly revert to the Master of Blood for combat, he transformed into a streak of light and flew toward the location of the final Virtual Divinity: the Staff of Deformation.

Of course, Isaac didn’t remain idle while traveling. He activated his [Analysis] Authority at full force, and with the Master of Blood’s cooperation, a constant stream of data from the Divine Artifact: Blood Pool flowed into his mind.

Isaac was quite curious about this Divine Artifact.

It was perfectly normal for Deities to grow stronger by forging Divine Artifacts. Moreover, it was the only way for a Virtual Deity to increase its power.

But the Blood Pool was a different matter entirely!

Theoretically, a Divine Artifact was an extension of a Deity’s Authority and dominion. This meant its abilities could not exceed the scope of the Deity’s powers. Weaker Divine Artifacts would even lose the vast majority of their might after their Deity perished.

But the Blood Pool... it was different. Very different.

Because inside it, Isaac had discovered traces of two Authorities: [Nurturing] and [Enhancement]!

Although they were merely traces that had yet to coalesce, it was enough to prove how unique the artifact was!

Was this not a Miracle in its own right?

Therefore, this item held immense research value for Isaac. It was crucial for his research into [Miracles] and for strengthening his Virtual Deities.

Unfortunately, Isaac was running out of time. Even before he had arrived, the Master of Blood’s lifespan had dwindled to just six months. During the three-day transformation, it had shortened further, leaving it with only one month left.

This meant that within a single month, Isaac had to either find a way to extend the Virtual Deity’s life or enhance the Divine Artifact: Blood Pool. If he chose the latter, he had to ensure it would retain its original power after the Master of Blood perished, even if it meant sacrificing its potential for growth.

And Isaac had already made his choice. He would save the artifact, not its master.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to save the master; he was simply powerless to do so.

Isaac had been researching how to extend the lives of Virtual Deities for some time. Although it was just a side project, he had invested considerable time and energy into it, yet he had nothing to show for his efforts.

All of a Virtual Deity’s parameters are locked in during the weaving and charging phases of its creation. The former locks its potential for power, while the latter locks its lifespan. Once these steps are completed, they can never be altered.

At least, not with his current abilities.

So Isaac didn’t intend to waste any more effort on that front. His priority now was to focus all his energy on preserving the Divine Artifact: Blood Pool, which would allow him to proceed with the next stage of his research.

Besides, the Master of Blood itself wasn’t particularly important to him.

’Its aesthetic is just too evil!’

’When I was weaker, it didn’t matter. As long as the power was useful, I didn’t care what anyone else thought. But it’s different now. I’m strong, so I have to pay a bit more attention to my image. I can’t just unleash a giant cloud of black smoke with every move. What kind of impression does that give?’

’Besides, there’s an advantage to this. For a Legendary Mage, the Concepts of [Mysterious] and [Legend] are critical. And one’s personal aesthetic plays a significant role in both, especially in [Legend]!’

’Good always triumphs over evil!’

’That saying isn’t just from my past life; it’s widely accepted in this world, too. It doesn’t matter who defines good and evil. The bottom line is, within the Concepts of [Mysterious] and [Legend], if you’re wreathed in black smoke, you’re almost certainly considered evil!’

’So when you face an enemy who embodies the [Justice] attribute within the Concepts of [Mysterious] and [Legend], you’ll be at a natural disadvantage!’

The battles of High-tier Mages were gradually shifting from the physical plane to the conceptual one.

While Tier Four hadn’t quite reached that level, the trend was already starting. Isaac needed to prepare in advance.

’Therefore, Isaac planned to replace all the Virtual Deities he controlled with glittering, golden True Gods!’

’Every move I make will be the epitome of righteousness and light!’

Hmm...

But at this moment, immersed in his research, Isaac had clearly overlooked one question. If all the Virtual Deities he controlled were paragons of glittering righteousness, then...

...what would that make Isaac, the one who controlled these Deities through unknown, malevolent means?

Of course, it was also possible he was subconsciously ignoring the issue. After all, in a world where Deities were real and Faith in them was widespread, enslaving a Deity was an unforgivable sin.

It was only because this was the age of Wizards, and Faith in the Deities had been greatly weakened. Otherwise, forget the act itself—the mere thought would have been enough to get him burned at the stake several times over.

...

Time slowly passed as Isaac traveled and researched. Soon, he arrived at the location of the Staff of Deformation: a small Magic City.

The first two Virtual Divinities had fallen into the hands of Demons, but this one had been acquired by a human. What’s more, he was disguised as an outsider, a human Wizard.

However, that wasn’t what surprised Isaac the most. According to the "usage history" he had accessed via [Miracle], this human was not the Virtual Divinity’s first owner, but its third!

In other words, he had killed the previous owner.

A full-fledged Tier Four Deity!

Isaac could understand the second owner. The "usage history" showed that the second wielder of the Staff of Deformation had been a Tier Four Demon that emerged from an Underground Palace, which made sense.

After all, the initial Virtual Deities took a long time to adapt to their own power, unlike the ones created now.

Therefore, it was normal for them to lose to others of the same tier.

But this third owner was very strange. The further one progressed on the Path of the Extraordinary, the wider the gap between tiers became. Forget an Ordinary person—even a Tier Three being couldn’t kill a heavily injured Tier Four!

The only exception would be if two Tier Four beings had killed each other and their corpses landed outside the battle zone. Then an Ordinary person might be able to pick up the scraps, but the probability of that was incredibly low.

Of course, low as the probability was, it wasn’t zero.

It was just that Isaac’s intuition told him things weren’t that simple, which was why he had saved the Staff of Deformation for last.

And now, it seemed things were indeed not that simple.

Looking down at the Magic City nestled in the Wilderness below, a faint light shimmered in Isaac’s eyes. Soon, his Analysis of the city’s Mysterious Attributes was complete: [Deformation] and [Superpower].

Isaac’s eyebrow twitched. ’Looks like my intuition was right. There’s definitely something strange going on here!’

It wasn’t that Magic Cities couldn’t have positive Mysterious Attributes. From the scattered intelligence Isaac had recently gathered, he knew that among the three largest magical metropolises, excluding the two Arcane Cities, the remaining Magic City had positive ones.

Entirely positive ones, in fact.

They were: [Magic Bloodline], [Demonized Physique], and [Telekinesis User].

These three positive Mysterious Attributes gave the city the ability to mass-produce Transcendents. Humans "infected" by these attributes would undergo a metamorphosis. While retaining their outward appearance, they would completely lose their human identity on a conceptual level.

In other words, that city had, in a sense, broken the restrictions the Wilderness Tower placed on humanity.

At least for a time.

The Mysterious Attributes of the city before him weren’t as impressive, but they were still quite good. For Wizards, discovering these attributes was like opening a loot box; no one could control what they would get.

After all, once the outcome became predictable, it would lose the very Concept of [Mysterious].

This was true even for Great Wizards.

So for this to happen here... it felt like too much of a coincidence.

After a moment of thought, Isaac twitched his index finger. The figure of the Master of Blood appeared behind him. He and the deity raised their right hands in unison, and a torrent of frenzied Magic Power and Divine Power erupted forth.

The next moment!

Two enormous Magic Arrays materialized in the sky above the city.

One was blood-red, emanating terrifying waves of Divine Power. It was a Divine Magic Array.

The other was purple, emitting strange fluctuations of Magic Power. It was a Magic Array.