Chapter 134: Chapter 118: The Battle for the Islands Begins

This Island Scramble, however, was not the Island Scramble of old. The Sea God was gone, slain with a single sword stroke by the Emperor of Terra from two generations past.

With the God dead, the ritual held in His honor naturally vanished as well.

But the history and legends remained!

So, a Legendary Mage found all the historical locations where the Island Scramble had been held. By turning back time, he restored all the islands that had once hosted the ritual before vanishing for various reasons.

He then offered them as prizes and established a new Island Scramble.

This was also why Isaac had chosen the Island Scramble over the Witch ritual he’d initially settled on.

The Island Scramble was a ritual that had only reappeared in recent years. There was a complete chain of evidence indicating that a powerful Legendary Mage had revived it, but this was where things got strange.

Although every trace of the Island Scramble’s revival could be investigated—even the specific Time Magic used was recorded—there was conspicuously no record of this Legendary Mage’s name, appearance, or objective.

Isaac suspected, ’This might have something to do with the realms above Tier Three!’

Because for realms above Tier Three, there were no records whatsoever, be it for Knights or Wizards—not even their names!

Oh, that wasn’t quite right. There were probably records for Knights. After all, if a Viscount could produce a High-level Knight, it didn’t seem too difficult for Counts, Marquises, and Dukes to produce those above that level. Their names weren’t exactly state secrets. However, that was the extent of it. Anything related to their power was still impossible to look up.

Therefore, besides completing the ritual to advance and winning an island, another important objective for Isaac on this trip was to see if he could uncover any secrets about High-tier Mages from the Island Scramble.

It was preparation for the future.

After all, he knew nothing about the realms above Tier Three. No one knew if the method for advancing beyond High-level Mage would simply be handed to him after his promotion, so he had to prepare early.

Of course, the primary purpose of this trip was still to complete the Island Scramble. The first goal was to finish the ritual and use it to advance, while the second was to win the championship and claim an island.

Exploring information about High-tier Mages was the final priority.

However, completing the Island Scramble itself wasn’t difficult. Although it originated from a Sea Race sacrificial ritual, the intensity of the current event far surpassed that of the original. After all, the participants back then were just Ordinary members of the Sea Race, using the ritual to become Transcendent.

The current Island Scramble, however, was open to anyone below Tier Three. In recent years, it had been dominated by Grand Wizards, Great Knights, and even Great Warriors. It couldn’t be helped—the rewards were simply too tempting!

The champion would receive an entire island!

An island officially recognized by the Empire, no less!

That was a personal domain!

The prize could only be described as lavish.

And aside from the grand prize, all Warriors who survived until the end would also receive rewards, such as Witchcraft, a Breathing Skill, or even a Life Seed to become a Knight. The competition was therefore extremely fierce.

However, the rules of the Island Scramble were also extremely simple: a free-for-all battle!

Beyond that, there were no rules!

It also didn’t restrict him from summoning Demons and Servant Demons to help him fight.

So, even though many Tier Two powerhouses would be participating, Isaac wasn’t necessarily at a disadvantage.

Of course, that was assuming he wasn’t assassinated right at the start.

...

BOOM!!! 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

「Three days later.」

Three colossal waves surged forth, each over ten meters high, crashing violently against the Magic Barrier of East Port and sending ripples across its surface. As Isaac watched the Magic Barrier envelop the entire coastline, his eyes gleamed with a peculiar light.

’Sooner or later, I’m going to install one of these on my own castle!’

’Doesn’t matter if it’s practical. Looking cool is all that matters!’

Dozens of kilometers from the coastline, three islands abruptly appeared. The one on the right was lush and verdant, covered in dense forest. If it looked that way from here, it would be even more so up close—undoubtedly a jungle. One would have to be wary of various venomous Demons.

The island on the left was the other extreme. A single glance revealed nothing but yellow sand. Besides guarding against Demons lurking beneath the dunes, the greatest danger would actually come from competitors. The terrain was so flat, one could see from one end to the other. With nowhere to hide, the fighting was sure to be incredibly fierce.

The island in the center was not as extreme as the other two. It featured a small mountain covered in woods, though the trees were nothing compared to those on the island to the right. At the foot of the mountain, there appeared to be a sizable plain.

Its ecosystem was a bit more complex than the other two islands. ’But most importantly, if there’s a mountain, there might be ore!’

’And ore means I can get rich!’

’Filthy rich!’

In an instant, Isaac felt the gazes around him grow considerably more fervent. But while their eyes burned with greed, the crowd didn’t act rashly. It wasn’t that the ritual hadn’t begun.

In fact, the ritual had started the moment the three islands appeared. They could even see small black dots beginning to land on the left and right islands from the sea.

It was the Sea Race.

That’s right. The Sea Race could also participate in the current scramble, and they could even claim the rewards as usual. The only difference was that they could no longer receive the Sea God’s Blessing.

"Everyone! Same rules as always this year! One Gold Coin for every Sea Race head! Go on! The Noy Clan will buy as many as you can bring!"

"YEAH!!!"

Following the words of a short man who had climbed atop a wooden crate in the port, the Adventurers erupted in cheers and rushed toward the islands!

Some rowed their own small boats, others scrambled onto large merchant ships, and some simply flew over on their Magic Pets or Magic Flying Devices. The scene was spectacular!

The bustling scene reminded Isaac of the dragon boat races from his past life. The difference was, here on the sea, there weren’t just dragon boats—there weren’t even just boats...

Isaac even saw someone trying to swim for it...

’Terrifying... Aren’t they afraid of getting run over by a ship?’

After watching for a while, Isaac shook his head and set off as well. He didn’t fly over on a Demon, nor did he row a boat. Instead, he dutifully paid his fare and boarded a ship, slowly following the main fleet.

He wasn’t fooled by the rush. He knew that ninety percent of these people weren’t here for the scramble itself, but for the Sea Race members participating in it.

One Gold Coin per head—where else could you find such good business?

Besides, the Island Scramble wasn’t won by whoever got there first. You still had to compete once on the island. The true victor was the one left standing at the end with enough Crystal Stones in hand.

So there was no need to rush.

There were quite a few others like Isaac. Everyone was "discreetly" sizing each other up. After all, they were companions now, but they would be rivals once they set foot on the islands.

Among the crowd, however, Isaac was the most conspicuous. Not only was he accompanied by a stunningly beautiful woman in a provocative black and white outfit, but he also radiated an incredible amount of confidence.

No matter how you looked at him, he was just an Ordinary Tier One Mage, yet he acted so self-assured...

A person like that was either a fool or a genius!

And they... were leaning toward... the former!

Because Liu Li was too beautiful, and her clothes were so... well. He looked like a young master out for a good time, probably treating this whole thing as a game. Really...

The crowd shook their heads and stopped paying attention to Isaac.

Except... for the people of the Noy Clan...