Even though they were now on opposing sides, Isaac had to admit that Philo’s idea was truly genius.
Extract an already-ford Divinity Network, transplant it into a colossal Alchemy Golem, and then use a Magic Ceremony to accelerate the fusion. This would allow one to forge an exceptionally powerful Divine Species in the shortest amount of ti!
The most difficult parts of the entire experint were extracting the Divinity Network and fusing it with the giant Golem. Isaac had watched up to this point, but he still couldn’t figure out how she had done it. He could only guess it was either Forbidden Knowledge acquired from an Outer God or her own Talent Witchcraft.
Of course, it could have been both. For instance, his own incredible Witchcraft, the Flesh Nest, had co from a trade with an Outer God.
If he could do it, so could others.
The logic was universal. If others could do it, so could he!
’I’ll watch closely for now. If this thing is viable, I’ll just tear it down, head back, and build one myself!’
And so, as everyone watched, the Divinity Network extracted from the rat slowly rged into the massive Golem. The ceremony then activated, and a golden web began to spread downward from the top of the Golem’s head.
Watching this scene unfold, Philo grew excited, Hitz’s expression turned serious, and nsa remained nonchalant. As for Isaac, he sighed.
It was a failure.
He had handled nearly a hundred Divinity Networks to date. Since almost all of them had only succeeded due to the power of his Golden Finger, he had witnessed countless instances of a network failing to unfurl. The process seed to be going smoothly now, but based on the Golem’s massive size, the network would likely get stuck once it reached its nose.
The Power of Faith was insufficient.
Although Philo had managed to procure a supply of Power of Faith from sowhere, she had clearly overlooked the issue of attrition. The Power of Faith ant for a Deity is targeted; using faith that isn’t your own leads to either massive losses or ntal chaos.
This was one of the reasons Isaac suspected the historical God Creation attempt had ultimately failed and spun out of control.
While Legendary Mages also required the Power of Faith, it was fundantally different from the faith that Deities relied on.
The simplest example is that one cannot be a Believer of multiple Deities. Once you beco a Believer of one God, you cannot also be the Believer of another. At any given ti, only a single Faith can exist within a person.
But the faith for a Legendary Mage was different. After finishing one "book," you could imdiately start reading the next. If you were skilled enough to multitask, you could even read two at once, and both would provide the Power of Faith.
That was why the Power of Faith Isaac typically used to modify Divinity Networks was all harvested from hypnotized rats. It was low-grade, but still better than using an incompatible source.
Thus, seeing it reach this stage, Isaac already knew the outco.
So, with a wave of his hand, the Great-Horned Rats that had been watching from the side imdiately sward toward the Golem!
The Great Sword Ghosts, anwhile, returned in an orderly fashion to the Flesh Dinsion behind him. They first dissolved into a fleshy sludge, then liquefied into blood, and finally transford into pure Magic Power to be stored in the Flesh Nest.
"Hey! What are you doing?! It’s about to succeed!" Philo, who had been watching the Golem with an ecstatic look, suddenly noticed the swarm of Great-Horned Rats and imdiately raged at Isaac.
Isaac rolled his eyes. "First, my na isn’t ’Hey.’ Second, there’s no way in hell you were going to succeed."
He didn’t bother explaining further, simply directing more Great-Horned Rats to surge toward the Golem.
As a re spectator, Hitz wasn’t nearly as furious as Philo. He watched with great interest as the tide of Great-Horned Rats washed over the Golem, curious as to how these little creatures intended to take down sothing so enormous.
This Golem was far from simple. The material used for its main body alone was Harris Goat Steel, a relatively expensive alloy slted from Demon Flesh.
While weapons and armor forged from it weren’t exceptionally durable, they possessed first-class Magic Power conductivity and even a slight potential for growth. Most importantly, the Harris Goats could be raised in captivity. However, despite a large potential output, the supply was primarily funneled to the military, making the material’s price on the open market exorbitant.
Only because Philo was the Eldest Princess could she acquire such a large amount; otherwise, even so Grand Arcanists would have been unable to.
However, while the durability of Harris Goat Steel was only average, that was in its normal state. With Magic Enhancent, it was another matter entirely. Otherwise, it would never have beco a primary material for military equipnt.
Then, Hitz fell silent.
He watched as the rats sward up the Golem’s single leg, gnawing as they went.
With just their teeth and claws, it was obvious they couldn’t chew through it. Forget the Magic-Enhanced Goat Steel—they would have shattered their teeth trying to gnaw on it even before the enhancent!
But to Hitz’s astonishnt, he discovered they could absorb the Magic Power from within the Goat Steel!
A single Great-Horned Rat didn’t absorb much, true, but what about ten thousand? A hundred thousand? A million?
The Great-Horned Rats surged forward relentlessly, taking bite after bite, devouring the Golem’s Magic Power!
Under normal circumstances, even though the Golem’s forging was incomplete, it still should have possessed defensive chanisms. Ordinary Demons wouldn’t have been able to get so close so easily.
But the Golem was currently at a critical juncture.
All its defensive asures were offline, leaving it completely at the rcy of the rats!
Philo was so furious watching this she looked ready to shatter her teeth!
The cruelest thing in the world was to be given hope, only to have it personally snuffed out before her very eyes!
"That’s enough. Stop shouting." nsa waved his finger with a resigned air, magically silencing Philo. "Isaac is correct," he continued. "This experint has already failed. As for why it failed... regrettably, you are fated never to know. And don’t complain. The only reason you’re still alive is because you are the Eldest Princess. You’re already very fortunate."
Having said his piece, nsa turned to Isaac, a hint of admiration in his eyes.
Without a doubt, Isaac was a genius.
A research-oriented genius, no less. He would have been a perfect match for them, the Arcanists!
Unfortunately, Isaac was a Mad Witch—and one of the most extre kind. Otherwise, nsa truly would have wanted to take him on as a student. What a sha.
nsa watched Isaac, shaking his head with a heart full of complex regret. On the one hand, he hoped Isaac would live and see his talent flourish, perhaps one day advancing to the rank of Great Wizard. But on the other hand, because of the deranged nature of a Mad Witch, he also hoped Isaac would never grow any stronger...
Of course, the greatest regret was that Isaac held two things he had stolen from the Outer Gods. If he were killed, the items inside him would instantly beco an Anchor Point for an Outer God’s Divine Descent, and the Empire would suffer an even greater catastrophe.
The best end for any Mad Witch was to die at the hands of an Outer God.
Of course, the main reason he wasn’t killed was because his surna was Solomon. The repercussions would be too great.
BOOM!
Soon, amid the onlookers’ silence, the magical glow emanating from the hundred-ter-tall Golem gradually faded. Having lost its Magic Enhancent, its single leg could no longer support such a colossal body, and it ca crashing down!
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