Isaac frowned when he looked at the ’person’ who called himself the War God.
All he could see was a humanoid figure glowing white.
The glow was bright enough to hurt his eyes, but bright enough that he couldn’t make out any details. No face. No clothes. No features. Just a vaguely human-shaped outline made entirely of white light.
And...
’What was his name again?’
Isaac tried to recall it.
He had heard the introduction a moment ago, but the name felt strangely blank in his mind, like a word someone had erased from a sentence.
’I couldn’t hear it.’
It was a strange feeling. He clearly remembered the moment the War God introduced himself, yet the name itself simply refused to exist in his memory.
Seeing Isaac standing there without speaking, the War God chuckled.
"Why are you so silent? Surprised by my handsomeness?" he said in an amused tone.
"I... guess?" Isaac replied.
He wasn’t even trying to be sarcastic. He was genuinely confused.
Was the War God joking right now?
Isaac couldn’t see anything about his appearance. For all he knew, the glowing white humanoid shape might actually be how the War God looked.
"Oh, well, don’t mind it," the War God continued with a light laugh. "Everyone is dumbstruck when they first see me."
He snapped his fingers.
Two chairs appeared instantly in front of them.
The War God walked forward without hesitation and sat down on one of them. Then he gestured casually toward the other chair.
"Come sit. We have a lot to talk about," he said.
Isaac nodded, walked over and sat down.
War God spoke, "Since everything seems to be pointing at the fact that you are from the future, we will trust you for now. Now tell me, what exactly is your goal? Why have you come here?"
"To stop the apocalypse," Isaac answered instantly.
"What do you mean?" the War God asked.
"Defeating the Ladder of Heavens and destroying it won’t change anything. Even if you defeat them, few months later the [Heaven] will shatter and fall onto the world, and when that happens, the apocalypse comes with it," Isaac said.
Neither the War God nor the Sword Empress interrupted him.
Isaac continued speaking in the same steady tone.
"Nothing you are doing right now will stop it."
The War God slowly nodded.
The Sword Empress also nodded slightly.
Neither of them looked shocked.
If anything, they looked thoughtful.
"You must have a plan if you returned to the past," the Sword Empress said. "Right?"
"I do." Isaac nodded, wearing a calm, almost sagely expression. "First, stop your attacks on the Ladder of Heavens. Second, get in contact with Hell, and use their help."
"What?" The Sword Empress frowned immediately.
Isaac continued without hesitation. "Fighting the Ladder of Heavens has no real use. Of course, if the Ladder of Heavens manages to send people to other kingdoms, they might bring reinforcements. So instead of trying to destroy it, we should simply keep pressure on it. Enough pressure that they can’t freely contact their allies or send forces elsewhere. But there is no need to go beyond that. We don’t need to waste our forces trying to defeat the Ladder of Heavens."
The War God rubbed his chin slowly.
"And where does Hell come into this?" he asked.
"The devils have always been trying to enter the surface world. And their biggest enemy is the Heavens — the Moon Dragon race. So we will give them what they want. We allow the devils to come to the surface and attack the Heavens." Isaac smiled faintly.
The Sword Empress’ frown deepened, but she remained silent.
Isaac continued explaining calmly.
"The devils will fight the apocalypse on the Moon itself. The apocalypse is still in its early stages. It can still be suppressed if enough powerful beings attack it. The devils will take heavy losses while trying to suppress it. We will benefit from both sides."
A grin appeared on Isaac’s face.
The War God slowly massaged his chin.
"Hmmm, this idea is not bad," he murmured.
"No." The Sword Empress spoke before he could say anything else. "Bringing devils to the surface world will simply cause another massive war. The result will be no different from the destruction the apocalypse would bring."
"Well, she makes a fair point. Do you have a counterargument?" The War God looked at Isaac.
"I do actually. And that is, even if the devils end up ruling the world, it will still be miles better than what the world becomes in the future," he said.
He wasn’t lying about the devils’ help being useful.
From what he had heard from Avery, the devils really were the best chance at stopping the apocalypse.
The real plan was simple.
Gather every top powerhouse available.
Attack the apocalypse while it was still forming on the Moon.
If enough strong beings fought it early, there was a chance they could suppress it before it grew beyond control.
Of course, the chances of the plan failing were still very high.
But did Isaac care?
Not really.
This entire situation was just a Trial.
His real goal had nothing to do with saving the world.
He only needed to buy time and prevent the destruction of the Ladder of Heavens.
Whether the War God and Sword Empress formed an alliance with Hell...
Or spent months gathering armies and preparing for war...
It didn’t matter to him.
Both options achieved the same thing.
Time.
The Sword Empress and the War God looked at each other.
Neither of them spoke for several seconds.
Finally, they both nodded.
"We need to discuss this properly," the War God said.
He looked back at Isaac.
"You may leave for now. We will inform you once we reach a decision."
Isaac opened his mouth to respond.
Before he could say anything, the War God casually waved his hand.
The world shifted.
A moment later, Isaac found himself standing inside his own tent.
He stared at his hand for a moment.
’If the devils get involved, it should be easy for me to get a unique seed from Hell.’
That was one of the main reasons he had dragged the devils into this discussion in the first place.
He needed a seed.
A unique seed from Hell.
It was necessary to complete his Class Quest.
Why a unique seed?
Because he had already obtained something absurdly powerful from the Mortal Realm, and it made him realize the power of plants in this era.
"I still can’t believe this," Isaac muttered.
He stood inside the Soulbind Pendant.
His attention was focused on the small object in his hand.
A glowing golden seed.
This was the [Seed of Harmony].
A special seed capable of growing into the Tree of Harmony.
According to Selene, who had obtained this seed during a negotiation, the Tree of Harmony had a very unusual ability.
It increased the luck of all beings living within its area.
Luck.
A simple word.
But Isaac knew how terrifying that power could be.
He had seen it before.
Luck could change everything.
Battles, coincidences, survival chances, discoveries. All of it could be influenced by luck.