The fight was over before it even started. Between my own enhancements, my golems, and Alya watching out for any surprises, the E88 dumbasses stood about the same chance as a snowball in hell. The only weapons they had were pistols and crappy melee weapons like pipes and bats, which were completely ineffective against any of us. All that meant that I had them cleaned up and tied up in just about five minutes. Once I did, I led them to the edge of the woods and called the cops.
Now, I was under no illusion that they would actually get in any trouble. Some of them probably had warrants, and the ones with guns could maybe be charged with illegal possession of a firearm, but other than that, two AM strolls through the woods were not really against the law. They were undoubtedly E88 gang members, as shown by the colors they were wearing and the tattoos that they were covered in. They were also clearly there to cause trouble, armed and ready to fight, so I was in the clear liability-wise, but in all likelihood, more than half of them would likely be out by the time the sun rose.
Which was precisely what I wanted.
Between my rituals and the fact that Kali was in control of them, I had complete faith in the protections surrounding my actual home. The E88 did not have anyone I was worried could break through the protection. Even Purity, with her powerful blaster ability, would be mitigated since Kali could adjust the range of the rituals on the fly, meaning she could reach up pretty high and make Purity want to be anywhere but where she was. Not to mention that, according to Kali, the canopy was actually pretty well disguised at this point. From the air, the compound looked like a couple of especially wide canopies growing together.
All that meant was that I had a safe spot in the forest to ambush anyone who came looking for me. It was a great place to pick people off, slowly whittling down a numerically superior force at my own pace. Unless Kaiser sent his entire team at me at once, which I was almost certain he wouldn't, I was pretty sure I could handle whatever he would throw at me. Even better, if, for some reason, he did send all of the Empire's capes after me at once, I could just teleport away. No doubt they would try to catch me off guard to keep me from doing so, but since I was perfectly safe in the compound, I had nothing to worry about.
If they wanted to try and break the unwritten rules and attack me at my home, I would welcome the chance to take them down in a terrain I knew I could use to my advantage, and that was far away from civilians.
It was basically a win-win scenario for me, which was why I was happy that the gangers they sent to find me were likely to get away with it. They would return to Kaiser, as he most likely planned, and explain that yes, I attacked them as they got deep into the forest and that I definitely muttered a few times for them to stay away from my home.
With the potential threat of Empire invasion, Even though I trusted my in-place protections, I decided that it was better to be safe than sorry. It was far past time to add a few more protective rituals to the list, starting with a very specific one. I had considerably more resources now, as well as experience utilizing my knowledge, which meant I was confident I could finally design something that I had wanted to add for a long time.
Once the police had picked up the gangers, I teleported home and quickly snagged my notebook. I was a fair hand at designing rituals by now, but this one was going to be a doozy, more complicated and physical than any of the general protection ones I had used so far.
I consigned myself to a sleepless night and spent about three hours designing a two-stage enchantment. The first stage was all about mana generation, a complicated concept that was only just barely inside the knowledge that I had about rituals. The only reason I was sure I could manage it at all was the comparatively low level I was looking for. I knew things like mana wells were possible, massive mana generators that could fuel great works of near-impossible magic for near infinity. Comparing that to what I was looking to build was like comparing a few solar panels to a nuclear generator.
The first step to making the ritual was finding an anchor, which in this case was a boulder we found near the compound, which I had the golems dig up. It was about half my weight, and when I finished cleaning it, I had the golems place it in the center of the ritual platform. I then meticulously drew out the ritual and placed the dozen planned anchors around it, including several bottled energies, like a spark of electricity, a natural flame, bright sunshine, blasts from the Pelham family, and more. The ritual took these and flipped them, making it so that the stone could absorb all sorts of energy, converting it to magical energy.
When it was complete, I could feel Kali happily absorbing mana off it as it off-gassed it into the environment.
I could make multiples of the stone, all just to feed Kali, but stacking more than one close together would drastically reduce their effectiveness. Considering the draining range of the stone was larger than Kali's domain, it would be a while before I could make one and place it in her domain without affecting the original.
But that was fine, since when the protections weren't in use, she could absorb the excess mana anyway.
Once the first layer was done, I got to work on the second. Once again, the stone was the center, but this time, I was putting the gathered mana to use. I used the Pelham's shields, as well as Glory Girls, another turtle shell, leather from an armadillo, and a thick clam shell. The shell didn't seem like much, but it was thick, strong, and its entire purpose for existing was to protect what was inside it.
The second ritual was even more complicated than the first, and copying it down to the platform took two whole sticks of high-end chalk. It also took considerably longer to charge, almost fifteen minutes of me pushing my magic into the outermost layer, feeding the ritual continuously until finally it snapped into place. I watched and felt it as the ritual wove itself around the existing magic that was embedded in the rock. Ideally, I would have preferred to let the ritual exist around the area itself rather than tie it to a particular object, but since it ended up being a two-stage ritual, tying it to something was necessary.
The final step was to have a pair of golems lift the stone while the other two quickly dug out a hole at the center of the clearing, the heart of Kali's domain. When the hole was done, we lowered the ritualized boulder inside and buried it. Immediately, I felt Kali reaching out for the complicated, ritualized stone. She pulled and tugged at it and the magic woven around it, stretching and weaving it into her domain as well. Using the stone as an anchor, she cast the magic all around herself, infusing it into the existing rituals and settling it into her essence. When she was done, she created a small floating barrier, pale blue with shimmering flat facets that slowly spun in place.
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"Well done," I said with a smile, feeling Kali's excitement. "now show me how far you can push it."
Suddenly, dozens of small barriers appeared, floating around in independent patterns. They danced and moved before finally pulling in around me, the Genus Loci carefully shaping the barriers so they protected me perfectly. Then, as a final show of power, she encapsulated the entire clearing in a dome of shimmering protection. I had to step off the ritual platform to really see it, but it was an impressive sight.
"Well done, Kali, you can put it away. Wouldn't want anyone to see it," I said, chuckling as I could feel her pout before the sparkling, almost crystalline shield disappeared. "We can test for power later, but I'm pretty sure you'll have plenty to spare. Feel free to absorb the extra mana coming off the stone when you are not using it."
She flashed me with a wave of happiness that reminded me of an eager pet, the image emphasized by how she seemed to curl up around the anchor stone like a dog near a heat source. It was honestly kind of cute, and a large part of me wished I could join her, even though it was way too late for me to go to sleep. Instead, I simply washed my fatigue away with a spell. It was very early in the morning, but I figured I could make something out of it, so I got washed up and dressed before teleporting into town in my civilian clothes. I did have my mask on, though, just in case the alley I was teleporting to just happened to have anyone in it.
I tucked my spellbook into my messenger bag and made my way to a cafe I knew was open that early. When I arrived, I ordered a bit too much food and a large coffee. When my order was ready, I picked a private spot in the corner, sitting down to enjoy just a bit of free time. I had been constantly on the move lately, so just relaxing and enjoying a full, hot meal was nice. I made a mental note to myself to find some music to listen to, as well as a book to read. Somehow, I had managed to not go crazy from overstress and overworking, probably because I genuinely enjoyed working on my magic stuff, so designing rituals and making spells was enough of a break to recover, but that wouldn't last forever. I needed a hobby, even if it was as simple as an occasional early morning where I could listen to music and read a book.
Preferably something science fiction, without any magic in it. The one I had with me was another of the occultism/magic books I had found during my shopping trip the previous day, and while it was interesting, it was still basically required reading for my job.
When I eventually finished my breakfast around eight AM, I headed back to the compound, changed into my costume, and teleported outside the hospital, quickly stepping inside. My golems followed me inside, and I got to work. By now, all of the women who had been victims of the Farm had been either discharged or sent to more permanent residences, meaning the hospital was considerably more calm than it had been. I quickly checked with those in charge before I did my healing. When all that was done I headed out into the city, teleporting straight to ABB territory.
I wasn't technically up for patrol for another few hours, but that was fine, as I wasn't there to bust heads. For now, I simply wanted to gather information. By riding around on Troy, while Alya spread herself out, I planned on marking out places of significance for the ABB. With any luck, we would be able to find a few more large gatherings and storehouses. There were only so many setbacks the gang could take before it began to unwind and scatter, and I was hoping to pull those setbacks as close as I could.
I "solo" patrolled for two hours, wandering through ABB territory, surreptitiously marking down anything I thought would hurt the ABB if it was taken or destroyed. By the end, I had two solid targets and several smaller ones. I planned to hand one of the targets to New Wave, who seemed to be as interested in ending the ABB as I was at this point. I planned on taking down the other location with Crow, assuming she approved of my plan.
When it was time to start our patrol, I picked up Crow as usual and then left to meet up with New Wave. I handed over the address and general description that Alya gave me about the building, which the ABB used as a storehouse for weapons and ammo. As long as they were smart and let their shields guide them in, they would be fine. And if they got hurt, they had me on speed dial. Since I knew the location, I could be on the scene in seconds to heal them up again.
New Wave agreed they could hit the weapons depot later in the day, tomorrow morning at the latest. Meanwhile, I showed Crow our potential target, a receiving point and storehouse for the ABB's drug trade. According to Alya, it held fewer drugs than the gas station distribution center, but from what she was describing, it would still be a solid hit. According to the air elemental, the goods were stored, once again, in the building's freezer. Seemed like a common theme for the group, which was good, as it made my job easier.
After explaining the plan to Crow, we made our way to the target, both of us quickly settling in at different spots to watch for any runners. When we were both in position, just as I had before, I sent the golems in.
As they did at the gas station, the golems tore through the normal gang members like tissue paper. Bullets did next to nothing, even the higher caliber ones simply bouncing off of them, leaving behind minor damage. It wasn't until one of the gang members had the genius idea to use some sort of explosive device that they managed to do any real damage, blowing one of the golem's arms off.
Of course, he nearly killed himself and two other gangs in the process, and the golem was only down a single limb and still generally functional, so the whole victory was moot anyway.
When the explosion went off, I cursed and rushed inside. It wasn't hard to find the partially destroyed room in which the explosive had gone off. I did have to dig through the partially collapsed roof to uncover the three idiots who had been way too close to whatever type of bomb they had used for their own health.
I quickly stabilized and healed them, going the extra mile and fully healing their injuries. While my usual operating procedure was to leave the gang members to their injuries unless they were fatal, these injuries were partly, minorly, the fault of my golems, so I made an exception.
When the dust had settled, and the cops had been called, Crow and I sat down to wait.
"So... What's next on your list of targets?" Crow asked.
"You want to keep going?" I asked, looking over at the cloak-covered hero.
"Well, my schedule just so happens to be free..."
I gave her a look and chuckled, pulling out the notebook I had been using to copy down Alya's intelligence information. I scanned through them before spotting a good one.
"There's a gathering spot not far from here," I said. "Alya thinks there might be a lot of useful information there..."
"Sounds perfect," She said with a smirk. "Time to get to work."