"We’re not done here. For now, let’s leave our clones in the area. They can handle the monsters that come because of the red rain," Catherine said.
Isaac nodded.
The glow of Solar Fire slowly faded from his blade as he followed her across the quiet wasteland.
In the distance, his clone stood with Althea and Overlord Aurora. None of them spoke. Their expressions were stiff. Their silence looked heavy, almost like they were all holding their breath.
They had seen too much today.
They weren’t sure what to do with that information yet.
Earlier, Althea had asked Isaac if they should stay a bit longer. She said they should continue handling monsters drawn to the corrupted rain. Isaac had simply shaken his head and told her he would take care of it.
Althea wanted to ask how he planned to handle everything while returning to the city, but she closed her mouth at the last moment. There were too many things about Isaac she didn’t understand.
If he said he could deal with it, then he would.
Isaac’s real body and Catherine began making their way back toward Fortified City 50. Their steps were steady. The sound of the red rain behind them grew softer as they moved farther away.
Catherine glanced at him.
"So, do you understand the danger of the red rain now?"
Isaac nodded. "Yes. I understand."
The memory of the fight stayed fresh in his mind. Sinkhole Worms could be defeated easily by human Champion-rank awakeners. A Champion-rank human wouldn’t have more than two hundred stats. Even a strong one would barely reach that amount.
Human Overlords, on the other hand, had over five thousand stats.
The corrupted worms had gone from Champion rank combat strength to Overlord rank in one jump. It wasn’t gradual. It was an instant leap. More than twenty times stronger. About a two-thousand-four-hundred percent increase.
But then Isaac thought deeper.
The ones they fought weren’t even real worms anymore. They weren’t living creatures. They were just remnants of the worms he had already killed. The moment they died, their combat power should have dropped to nothing.
Instead, the moment they touched corruption, they jumped to Overlord strength.
A chill ran down his spine.
’Red rain is very dangerous.’
He took a slow breath.
’If I look at my own stats... In terms of human stats, I have twenty-four thousand. And that’s without counting skills, titles, summons, or elemental levels.’
He had grown so quickly that he sometimes forgot the kind of power he carried now.
He used to think the journey would get easier as he became stronger. But it seemed the world had other plans.
’What kind of monsters are hiding in the wilderness?’
The question sat heavy in his mind.
’If a normal Champion-rank monster gets corrupted... how strong would it be? How many ranks would it jump?’
Catherine slowed down a little and looked over.
"You’re thinking too much."
Isaac didn’t answer.
She gave a small smile. "Worrying won’t change anything. So don’t think too much. Just know that you are not alone. Everyone you know — our family — will help you. All of us."
Her voice was calm, and reassuring.
Isaac felt the tension in his shoulders ease a little.
"You’re right. There’s no point worrying about it. We’ll prepare, and we’ll handle it," he said.
Catherine nodded and walked with him through the gates of Fortified City 50.
Once inside, Isaac didn’t waste time. He headed straight toward the construction site. The materials he had gathered earlier were stacked neatly in large piles. Workers were resting nearby, unaware that the next task was about to begin.
Isaac opened his system panel.
A message appeared.
[Would you like to upgrade the Sky Dome to Level 2?]
[Please select the materials and the workers.]
A grid-like selection screen opened in front of him.
Isaac selected a hundred workers and the nearby materials.
[Confirmation received.]
[Estimated completion time: 18 hours.]
The workers suddenly froze for a moment.
Information flowed into their minds.
When they snapped back, their movements became very coordinated, almost synchronized.
Their steps were steady. Their hands moved with confidence. The system guided their actions with precision.
Isaac went on to the next task.
He opened his panel again.
[Would you like to upgrade the City Wall to Level 2?]
[Please select the materials and the workers.]
A new grid appeared.
He selected another group of workers and the prepared materials.
[Confirmation received.]
[Estimated completion time for City Wall: 9 hours.]
Isaac watched the screen fade.
’Last time it took eight hours Now it’s nine for Level 2. It’s not that big of an increase. Sky Dome’s upgrade increased more compared to this. It went from 10 to 18 hours,’ he thought.
But the City Wall still needed another upgrade after this. Only then would it reach Level 3.
The workload was large, but Isaac wasn’t bothered.
His Clone skill and Seed of Providence skill helped him produce massive amounts of crops. Enough to barter for almost anything.
He couldn’t instantly mature an entire farm endlessly due to mana constraints, but he could use Seed of Providence eight times per hour. That was more than enough for steady production.
The quality of his crops was extremely high.
Cities wanted them.
And he could trade them for almost any material he needed.
’Barter is going well,’ he thought.
’But for the next set of upgrades... I’ll need rarer resources. Fortified City 22 can’t provide those.’
He would have to visit proper Lord Cities eventually.
But that was a concern for after the Lord Quest.
For now, he focused on building.
Isaac walked toward Sector 0.
This area was cleared out earlier for long-term storage buildings. He planned to construct a warehouse here, one large enough to hold his incoming materials.
He tapped the Soulbind Pendant.
A swirl of soft light appeared, and Priscilla stepped out. Her form materialized gracefully, as if stepping through a veil.
She bowed slightly.
"Master."
Isaac smiled. "Thanks for coming. I’ll need your help."
Priscilla waved her hand.
Winds formed around her.
They lifted the timber she had prepared earlier, and brought out from the Soulbind pendant.
The wind arranged them neatly across the ground.
"It’s all ready," she said.
Isaac nodded in appreciation.
"Thank you. Let’s start."
Vale prepared the other materials, so there was no need to waste time.
He opened the system panel again.
[Would you like to build the Warehouse?]
[Please select the materials and the workers.]
Another grid appeared.
Isaac selected the workers standing nearby. He also picked the prepared timber that Priscilla and the other dragon maids had arranged. The iron nails from the city blacksmiths and the binding crystals gathered from the dungeon were added next.
He tapped confirm.
[Confirmation received.]
[Estimated time until completion of Warehouse: 4 hours.]
As soon as the system accepted the order, the workers froze for a moment, then their eyes sharpened.
The system fed them instructions.
Their movements turned precise and steady as they began arranging the materials.
With that taken care of, Isaac moved on to the next major structure.
He opened his panel again.
Building City Hall was important. It wasn’t just an administrative building. It acted as a defensive pillar. It had wards that blocked outside teleportation. It prevented clairvoyance, and it could trigger alarms if an assassin tried to sneak inside.
There were more abilities as well, but those would only unlock after subsequent upgrades.
Isaac needed these defenses.
They were necessary if "Mother" was watching the city from a distance or trying to slip inside using a disguise.
He tapped the next option.
[Would you like to build the City Hall? Please select the materials and people.]
He selected another group of citizens and all the needed resources.
[Confirmation received.]
[Estimated time until completion of City Hall: 10 hours.]
With two major constructions underway, Isaac wiped his hands and headed toward the Summoning Array.
It was time to use his ten free daily summons.
The array glowed faintly as he stepped into the circle.
The first wave of light appeared, releasing the results one by one.
He received three SS-rank awakeners:
Two were Champion rank.
One was Initiate rank.
Then the next four appeared.
They were all A-rank and all Master rank.
After that, two SSS-rank awakeners were summoned.
One of them was Champion rank and the other was Elite rank.
The last summon was a D-rank awakener at Champion rank.
Isaac looked at the results and nodded.
Including yesterday and today, he had summoned three SSS-rank awakeners.
This helped balance out the three SSS-rank awakeners eliminated by Sword Empress days ago because they were supporting the governor.
Even better, today’s group was entirely combat-oriented. Not a single support or life-talent summon.
That was good for the current situation.
He needed people who could fight, especially with the red rain coming soon.
Isaac gave them a short, simple speech.
"We’ll talk properly later. For now, all of you should go to the tutorial dungeon. Vale will assign your roles."
They nodded and left the array.
Isaac stretched a little and sighed.
"Maybe it’s because I’m the War God’s descendant," he muttered. "Most of my summons are combat talents. Last time too, only one was support, and the rest were fighters."
Catherine chuckled as she walked toward him.
"It could be because of that. Or it could be because your destiny leans toward battle. Either way, it’s not a bad thing right now," she said.
Isaac nodded. "Yeah. It helps for tomorrow."
He paused for a moment, thinking.
"But I know this isn’t ideal. A city needs support and life-talent summons too. If we don’t get them, progress will slow down later."
Catherine crossed her arms.
"You can try paid summons. It’s one gold coin per summon. Even if the chances are low, if you summon enough, you’ll naturally get some support types," she suggested.
Isaac nodded slowly.
"That makes sense. I’ll ask Emily about our current coin balance later. After that, I’ll do the paid summons."
"So after she comes back from Sector 2?" Catherine asked.
"Yes," Isaac said.
Emily had already completed her own quest, but she went to help Alice with hers.
Alice needed to finish the Class Quest requirements to rank up to Adept rank.
Isaac wondered how she was doing.
’I think Alice will reach Adept rank in a few days.’
’It’s a shame she won’t rank up by tomorrow. A powerful healer would help a lot.’
He paused again.
He remembered Alice’s personality.
She might now work far harder than usual because until she ranked up, she couldn’t even kiss Isaac.
’Nah, there’s no way she can finish her Class Quest requirements today,’ Isaac thought.
’Even if it’s Alice, she can’t complete all of it in one day.’
The biggest hurdle was one hundred faithful people accept Isaac as their God.
It wasn’t a hard requirement, but it should take a lot of time. Or so, Isaac believed.
Just thinking about the time needed was tiring.
He shook his head.
’Yeah, it’s definitely impossible for her to complete the requirements by today.’
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted.
His device rang.
The sharp ringtone cut through the noise of the construction site.
Isaac reached into his pocket and checked the screen.
The messages came from Alice.
He read them slowly.
...
Alice: I’ve completed all of the Class Quest requirements.
Alice: Only one is left. I need to offer something of immense personal value to you.
Alice: We need to meet for that. Where are you?
...
Isaac stared at the messages for a few seconds.
His mouth opened slightly, then closed.
He read the messages again.
Then again.
He couldn’t help it.
He laughed.
It was a quiet laugh at first, then it grew louder.
He rubbed his forehead.
"She actually did it today," he said.
Catherine looked at him with a curious expression.
"What happened?" she asked.
Isaac showed her the device.
Catherine blinked and let out a soft breath.
"That just shows how much she likes you," she said with a smile.
Isaac chuckled.
"Yeah. She really does like me a lot."
He put the device away and took a deep breath.
Alice had completed almost everything in one day.
It was ridiculous and impressive at the same time.
He felt a mixture of pride and worry.
"She’s going to expect me to be ready right away," Isaac said.
Catherine smiled.
"You seem surprised."
"I am. Honestly, I thought it was impossible," Isaac said.
"Still, it’s good news. We will now have a powerful healer for tomorrow’s battle," Catherine said.