Chapter 686: Shrewd Isaac, New Family Member (?)

Fortunately, they currently had another method that could solve the problem. It was difficult, and there was no guarantee that everything would go smoothly, but with Catherine and Isaac working together, it should be possible.

"Let’s try that," Isaac said.

Catherine understood what he meant immediately. Isaac phased out of the wall, appearing outside the mansion at the same time that Catherine’s clone emerged from the other side.

The next moment, Isaac’s body began to change as his human form disappeared and was replaced by the enormous figure of a black dragon. Althea’s eyes widened, and Charlotta looked equally stunned.

"D... dragon? You were a dragon?" Althea muttered, unable to hide her surprise.

Isaac chuckled instead of answering. He spread his wings and flapped them once, sending his massive body shooting high into the sky with Catherine standing steadily on his back.

The remaining defenses of the Sky City immediately activated. Isaac felt several things lock onto him from different directions, although he could not determine exactly what kind of weapons they were using.

His powerful mana senses were enough to tell him that they were targeting him, however, and that was all the warning he needed. Several giant turrets opened along the broken section of the Sky City’s outer wall.

Isaac opened his mouth and breathed out golden flames that looked almost like molten gold, and the incoming beams from the turrets collided with the flames before they could reach him. A gigantic explosion shook the sky, but Isaac simply flew through the blast and destroyed the first turret before circling around the city.

One after another, the aerial defense weapons were destroyed. Isaac moved quickly but did not waste his strength, using his dragon form to eliminate every weapon that could interfere with their next step.

Catherine remained on his back throughout the process, smiling faintly as the wind whipped against her face. She seemed completely at ease despite the explosions occurring around them.

Below them, Althea and Charlotta stood in stunned silence. Neither of them had ever seen Isaac in his dragon form, and the sight made them realize that the strength he had displayed during his battle with the Third Priest had been far from everything he possessed.

’Was he hiding his strength? No, I doubt anyone would deliberately hide this much strength in a situation like that,’ Althea thought.

’So did he really become this much stronger in such a short period of time?’ she concluded.

The thought left Althea shocked. The respect she already had for Isaac quietly rose another notch, although there was also a faint and unfamiliar feeling in her heart when she looked at him.

Althea quickly ignored that feeling and focused on the battle instead. Charlotta was no less shocked, especially because she was already using several devices to measure the mana wavelength of Isaac’s attacks.

"He is already on par with Ascenders," Charlotta said.

"What?" Althea asked, turning toward her in disbelief.

"Yes. This is..." Charlotta swallowed before continuing. "Unbelievable. He is definitely young, and according to everything we know, he awakened less than three months ago. He hasn’t even entered the Tower of Hell and Heaven, yet his strength is already on the level of an Ascender," Charlotta finished, her voice carrying clear disbelief.

The shock in Charlotta’s voice was genuine. Ascenders were beings who stood at the peak of power in almost any kingdom, and even Florathi, with the blessing of the World Tree and the support of a Goddess, had only a handful of them.

Their civilization had existed for centuries, and even with all those advantages, reaching that level remained extremely difficult. Yet Isaac had reached it despite being someone who had awakened less than three months ago.

It was unbelievable, considering Isaac’s background.

He had been born in a city that did not even have two Overlords, and he was its first Lord. Yet in less than three months after awakening, he had already reached a level that most powerful beings could only dream of approaching.

Celia, who was standing nearby, glanced between the two women with an amused expression. Althea looked completely awestruck, while Charlotta was staring at Isaac as if she had just discovered something impossible.

Celia scratched her head. Should she tell them that Isaac was probably not even using half of his actual strength?

After thinking about it for a moment, she decided against it. If she told them that now, there was a good chance both of them would faint.

Celia chuckled inwardly. Isaac might look like a carefree and easygoing man whenever he was with his family, but in truth, he was extremely calculating and always kept several trump cards hidden.

If he was willing to reveal his dragon form now, then he probably had even stronger methods that he had no intention of showing yet. More importantly, Isaac was clearly using this opportunity to establish a powerful image in front of Althea.

If she reported what she had seen to the Seventh Queen, there was a good chance Isaac would receive better treatment in the future. That alone made revealing his dragon form worthwhile.

’Actually, isn’t this a perfect opportunity?’ Celia thought as she looked at Althea’s awestruck expression. Althea had a good figure, a good background, and a decent personality, while her relatively weak strength was hardly a problem when someone like Isaac was around.

Celia licked her lips before appearing beside Althea.

"Isn’t Isaac amazing?" she asked casually.

"Indeed, he is," Althea replied with a small nod. Celia immediately controlled herself because she knew she could not rush things. As for the two dragons behind her, who were glaring at her back as though they wanted to tear her apart....

’Hehe. I’ve already subdued you two. I’m not afraid of you anymore,’ Celia thought, already knowing her next objective.

...

Isaac had just destroyed the last aerial defense weapon when he heard Catherine chuckle from behind him.

[What happened?] Isaac asked through mana communication while remaining in his dragon form.

"Nothing. I just saw something amusing," Catherine replied.

Isaac was confused by her answer, but since she clearly had no intention of explaining, he decided not to press her. He continued flying higher until he reached a position above the central area of the Sky City, where he finally stopped and looked down.

From this height, Isaac could see most of the city. However, he soon realized that illusions had been spread across large portions of the Sky City, hiding many important details from his sight.

Quite a few of those illusions had already been destroyed with the passage of time, but they still concealed a significant part of the city. That did not matter for the moment because he could investigate everything properly once they had secured the area.

For now, there was something more important that needed to be done. Isaac looked toward Catherine before asking through their mana connection.

[Ready?] Isaac asked.

"Yes, I will start," Catherine said.

Catherine immediately activated her evolved Aura and began altering her camouflage skills. Instead of simply hiding herself, she spread the effect outward and used it to conceal the entire Sky City, making the massive structure appear to be nothing more than an ordinary cloud from a distance.