Althea had fallen silent.
Her gaze lingered somewhere between Isaac and the ruined battlefield beyond him, her brows drawn together in thought.
The wind tugged at her hair, but she didn’t seem to notice.
Charlotta moved toward her.
She whispered something into Althea’s ear, her voice low enough that even Isaac couldn’t catch a word.
Althea’s eyes widened.
"Really?" she asked, turning her head slightly.
"Yes, my lady," Charlotta replied with a small nod.
Althea straightened and looked directly at Isaac. There was a new light in her eyes now, something decisive.
"If you give me two Eyes, you can choose any Permanent Dungeon that the Seventh Queen has control over, and you will be given that Dungeon," Althea said, her voice steady.
Isaac raised a brow.
That was not a small offer. Not even close.
"That’s quite a lot. A Dungeon can be used to farm materials and train awakeners. Since you’re allowing me to take any Dungeon from the Seventh Queen, aren’t you worried I’ll take one that’s precious to your kingdom?"
Althea didn’t hesitate.
"Dungeons that are crucial to our kingdom are all very powerful So even if you take them, your awakeners wouldn’t be able to farm them. They’re simply too strong. Of course, if you still want one of those, the Seventh Queen will still agree to your demand," she said.
Isaac studied her face.
She didn’t look like she was bluffing.
He didn’t ask whether those were empty words or whether the Seventh Queen had already approved this deal. He already knew the answer.
’As expected, that eye following Charlotta is connected to the Seventh Queen. She watched the entire battle,’ he thought.
Which meant this wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment offer. It was a calculated move, made after seeing exactly what he was capable of.
Isaac let his gaze drift, as if considering the battlefield again, but his thoughts were elsewhere.
Florathi was a powerful kingdom. That meant they had dungeons. Many of them.
Among those dungeons, there would definitely be ones rich in rare materials.
Dungeons that were also valuable because they pushed awakeners to grow, and if a Dungeon was chosen wisely, it would push the awakeners but not so much that they could die.
The value of a dungeon was immense.
If he had to compare it to his old world, a Permanent Dungeon was a gold mine that never ran dry.
’I have a Talent that lets me get a hundred percent drop rate from monsters,’ Isaac thought.
’Florathi will definitely have dungeons with extremely precious materials. Normally, their drop rates would be terrible.’
He smiled faintly to himself.
’But I don’t need to care about drop rates.’
This was where his Lord Talent truly showed its worth. As long as he gained access to new dungeons, his city would grow at a terrifying pace.
And now Florathi was offering him a Permanent Dungeon.
"Alright," Isaac said at last. "But I have some questions."
"Please ask away. I’ll answer them to the best of my abilities," Althea replied.
"The Fifth Eye benefits only you. Why is the Seventh Queen willing to give up an entire Permanent Dungeon just to get you an artifact? You’re not even giving me a specific dungeon. You’re letting me choose any of them."
Althea took a breath.
"To answer that," she said, "I’d like to apologize first. The Seventh Queen has watched the entire battle we had with the Catastrophe."
Isaac frowned.
The change in his expression was subtle, but it was there. Althea noticed immediately, and her smile stiffened for just a moment.
Inwardly, Isaac was calm.
He had always known Althea was transmitting the battle somewhere. If he wanted to, he could have stopped it at any time. He chose not to. Showing his value openly had its own benefits.
"And?" Isaac prompted, keeping the frown on his face.
"She believes you have enormous potential. This deal isn’t just a negotiation. It’s also a show of sincerity toward you," Althea said.
Isaac nodded slowly, but this time, his frown was real.
’First, she sent me a letter that let me save my city.’
’Now she’s offering me a Permanent Dungeon.’
It was generous. Too generous.
Of course, Isaac knew his worth. He was a powerful Farmer, and his growth potential was abnormal. But he was still an outsider, someone from a different city, not a subject of the Florathi Kingdom.
’If she’s willing to spend this much just to be on good terms with me, then she’ll definitely ask for something insane in the future.’
That didn’t mean he should refuse.
It meant he should be careful.
After all, things only came to those that dared to take risks.
"Can you promise me this deal will be fair?" Isaac asked. "What if, before I come to take my dungeon, the Seventh Queen distributes the most important ones to others in her kingdom and then tells me she can’t give them to me anymore?"
Althea didn’t look offended by the question.
Instead, she nodded.
"I’ll make a Contract with you with my life on the line. The Seventh Queen will not use any unfair means against you in this deal," she said.
Isaac blinked.
That surprised him.
"You trust her that much?" he asked. "Oh, wait, is she’s your mother?"
"No," Althea replied.
There was a brief pause, and then she smiled.
"She raised me."
Isaac didn’t interrupt.
"For a kingdom as large as Florathi, an A-rank Talent like mine isn’t anything special, especially among the royal bloodline. I would’ve been forgotten, pushed aside, if it wasn’t for the Seventh Queen taking me in and raising me."
Isaac listened quietly.
"She sounds like a good person," he said.
"She is," Althea replied without hesitation.
Her smile this time was softer, almost fond. It wasn’t the smile of a negotiator or a royal representative. It was the smile of someone speaking about a person she genuinely admired.
Isaac could see it clearly now.
Althea revered the Seventh Queen.
"Alright, then. Let’s make a contract," Isaac said.
Althea nodded without hesitation.
Charlotta reached into her spatial ring. A thin sheet of light unfolded in her hand, solidifying into a formal Contract. The runes etched across it were clean and precise.
Isaac and Althea both placed their hands on it.
The details were exactly as discussed.
Two Eyes in exchange for a Permanent Dungeon of Isaac’s choosing, under the authority of the Seventh Queen.
As for timing, Isaac stated that he would head to the Florathi Kingdom in about a week, once things in his city had fully settled.
As soon as he said that, Charlotta stepped closer to Althea and whispered something into her ear.
Althea listened, then nodded. She turned back to Isaac.
"The Seventh Queen has ordered us to stay here for now. When you decide to come to our kingdom, we’ll escort you personally. Of course, if you don’t want us to remain here, we can return immediately."
She paused briefly, then continued.
"An official delegation from the Florathi Kingdom will arrive soon to congratulate you on becoming a Lord. If you prefer, you can travel with them instead. Or, if you want more time, you can contact us later and we’ll come pick you up."
Isaac understood immediately why she was giving him so many options.
She was worried that staying might make him suspicious.
From his position, it would be easy to assume they were here to observe his city, to gather information.
He thought about it for a moment before answering.
"You can stay. We’d be happy to entertain you," Isaac said.
Althea blinked.
"Aren’t you worried we’d spy on your city?" she asked, the words leaving her mouth before she could stop them.
The moment they did, her eyes widened slightly. She smiled right after, but it was clearly awkward.
Isaac chuckled.
"If the Seventh Queen really wanted to spy on me, I’m sure she’d have a way to do it even if I sent you both away."
Althea relaxed at that and nodded.
"I see."
With that settled, both of them focused on the Contract again.
They signed.
The moment it was complete, the Contract shattered into clusters of soft light. The particles drifted forward and sank into their chests, vanishing without a trace. The binding was complete.
Althea let out a small breath and smiled wryly.
Two Contracts in a single month.
That alone was rare.
What made it stranger was that both of them were with Isaac.
They had met by coincidence during a Trial. Back then, he had been just another talented Awakened. Now, somehow, he stood before her as a Lord, one that was receiving attention from the World Tree.
’If I think about it like that, it almost feels like destiny that we met in the Trial,’ she thought.
She shook her head slightly, amused at her own thoughts.
After the formalities were done, Isaac moved on to the next priority.
He contacted representatives from the top three universities.
Specialized teams arrived quickly, each of them experienced in monster analysis and resource extraction. Their task was clear.
Salvage whatever could still be used from the Crimson Sky Wyrm’s corpse.
The battlefield shifted from combat to controlled chaos. Equipment was brought in. Barriers were set up. Teams split the massive corpse into sections, carefully examining each part for traces of corruption.
The Red Rain had done its work thoroughly. Large portions of the body were unusable, warped beyond recovery.
Still, not everything was lost.
Isaac stood nearby, watching the process while holding a small, pale seed in his hand. It pulsed faintly with life.
"Hey," he said, directing his thoughts toward it. "Can you use the corpse if we take some parts from it?"
The White Parasite Tree seed, the Abyssal Monster he had summoned, responded immediately.
[Yes.]
[I only need bones, muscle tissue, and organs.]
Isaac nodded.
Under normal circumstances, even those parts would have been priceless. The Crimson Sky Wyrm was a Catastrophe, after all.
But Red Rain’s corruption changed everything.
Once corrupted, most of its materials were useless for crafting, potions, or artifacts. That made the decision easy.
They would salvage what they could, then feed the rest to the tree.
Of course, certain things were non-negotiable. Any scales that remained uncorrupted, and especially the Eyes, would be preserved no matter what.
As the work continued, Isaac noticed a sudden shift among one of the extraction teams. Voices rose. Movements became hurried.
Someone broke into a run.
"Sir! Sir!"
Mango, the man leading one of the extraction groups, ran toward Isaac at full speed. His face was flushed, his expression glowing with excitement.
"What happened?" Isaac asked, turning toward him.
"We lucked out!" Mango said, barely containing himself. "A portion of its heart and its Core are uncorrupted!"
Isaac froze.
For a moment, he thought he had misheard.
"You’re sure?" he asked.
"Yes. We checked multiple times. We can salvage a portion of the heart and the Core of a Catastrophe!" Mango said excitedly.
Isaac was stunned.
Both were absurdly valuable.