"No, I do not know what a domain is," Zolast said as he poured himself another drink. I looked at the bottle, but he shook his head. "No drinks for you. It's your punishment for killing Tarug. Do you have any idea how much work I have to do to smooth things over?" he said.

"Fair enough," I said as I collapsed on the chair. I was still wearing my dark cloak, and we were currently in his tent, near the second battlefield. The combined efforts of Takis and Zolast had brought two spectacular victories. Minimal loss of life, and they captured the nobles that led from the front, along with a significant part of their armies. "Hopefully, the prisoners will make your life easier," I said.

"Not much," he said. "Ultimately, they are not all that valuable. Especially if the kingdom intervenes and targets us."

I sighed. "It looks like they need a distraction," I said.

"What kind of distraction?" Zolast said, looking tense.

I chuckled. "Nothing much. I'm thinking about finally putting that identity card you generated for us and visit Oniphia."

"Are you sure?" Zolast asked. "We didn't make any friends with Ralum with our performance today. They might try to target you."

"True, but this situation with the Domain is another aspect we're blindsided about. We need more information, or we won't even know what to ask the Princess."

"Are you going alone, or should we arrange an escort?"

"Alone is better. The city will be complicated enough without giving them any hostages."

"Are you sure? It's going to be tough."

I shrugged. "Sure. It's risky, but I'm already level eighty. Not to mention, our biggest fear was getting arrested. I doubt the Mayor would be daring enough to act directly, not after our battle performance. Even if he doesn't fear our revenge, he must be smart enough to realize that it would make us support the princess fully. It's the last thing they want under the circumstances."

"True," he said, and let the silence linger.

For a minute, he stayed silent. Then, he raised his hand, and another glass floated from the rack, and landed in front of him. He said nothing as he poured a drink for me.

I said nothing as I watched the mesmerizing movement of the dark liquid. It wasn't that I didn't know the risks of Oniphia. There was a reason we avoided the place for a month. Ultimately, it was the base of the enemy, with enough magical defenses to function as a prison.

Though, now that I was level eighty, my only concern wasn't being imprisoned or killed. I was confident that I could escape, but not without revealing far more of my abilities than I was comfortable with, to the point of making people ask uncomfortable questions about whether the hero actually died in the mess that happened.

A risk I had to accept.

I took a deep breath, swirling the drink before I took another sip. "It's going to be messy," I said. Zolast just nodded, which was understandable. We had discussed the potential benefits and risks of Oniphia several times.

Risks that were impossible to avoid considering our objectives.

"Should we start building defensive bunkers?" Zolast asked. What he was talking about was a simple concept. A small hidden bunker, holding six ballistas and quite a bit of magic bolts. Essentially, it was the thing we could come up with that was closest to a surface-to-air defensive system, one that doubled as some kind of a knight killer as well.

The biggest advantage was that they would be hidden under wards until they were being used, which would allow them to ambush an attacker. Ideally, it should allow us to take down a flying castle.

Zolast had never seen such a defensive encampment before, which didn't surprise me. A part of it was cultural, but the simpler reason was the price. The amount of resources we had to sink into those was enough to buy several a couple flying castles, which was the better investment.

Too bad we couldn't just come out and purchase one, no more than a banana republic could purchase an aircraft carrier or a nuclear bomb. They were restricted for good reason, and no force wanted to support another in developing such capabilities.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Building one was out of the question as well. Even if we knew how to build one, building one was like building a warship. Slow and showy, it would make us a target — well, even more of a target than we already were.

In comparison, while those hidden ballista bunkers were expensive, it mostly took ore, high-quality wood, and mana stones, as well as the artisans required to manage them, all of which we possessed in great numbers.

"Let's start building them," I said. "With the tunnels complete, we have nothing to spend our mana stones on. And, at this point, the stronger we are, the more careful they will be."

"True," Zolast said, giving a small, exhausted smile. "The work never ends, does it?"

"Not when we stand against multiple kingdoms to prevent the Calamity, my friend," I said with a sigh, then chuckled. "And, don't forget the gods."

"Damned parasites," Zolast said as he finished his drink. I said nothing. At this point, Zolast's anger toward gods was familiar, not that I blamed him. He had spent all his life serving them, only to realize everything he learned was a lie, and both he and everything he tried to build were just sacrificial pawns.

I sighed as we started discussing the many strategic and logistic details, including a potential siege of Oniphia; I wasn't planning to stay away for more than a couple days, and I definitely didn't expect a siege to be necessary, but I wasn't naive enough to assume that everything would go as expected.

Preparing for the worst was never a bad idea.

Once our strategy session was complete, I took a horse to go to Oniphia. I didn't wish to use a flying cart, even if it extended the time of the trip.

First, we still didn't have many of them, and they were important in terms of logistic.

Second, I didn't want to bring anyone with me, leaving it parked without a guard was just asking for it to be sabotaged.

So, I rode alone, nothing but a small pack that was filled to the brim with financial resources, mostly gold, with some ability stones in case I found some interesting financial opportunities — legally, or in the black market — as I rode from the camp.

I wasn't alone. I could see multiple groups following me, some on horseback, some using flying carts, but I disregarded their presence. It was an understandable reaction. Instead, I kept my eyes closed, and focused on my Perception.

Finding a way to train my Perception stat further had been much more challenging than training Strength and Agility. The best I could come up with was to focus on different aspects, first sight, then hearing, then mana. Occasionally, I even focused on other, less used senses like smell.

A long horseback ride with nothing to do was a suitable moment to focus on that stat. Agility, Strength, and Speed were too noticeable, and I was yet to discover a way to improve the others. And, even if I did, I'd rather improve Perception than Memory.

Since I was focusing on my senses, I wasn't surprised when I detected an ambush. It was only to be expected. Though, I was surprised when it was my sense of smell that first alerted me of the ambush. The enemy was still several miles away, but the weird smell that the cultists radiated was too distinct.

Of course, even without checking their presence, I knew the cultists were just pawns. Technically, they were the enemy of the church, but the timing of their appearance after their poignant silence was absurdly convenient.

The only question was whether they were here to actually assassinate me, or just to test me.

I could have easily changed my path to ruin that ambush, but that would reveal that my Perception was almost as high as my Agility. Considering the way Marquis reacted to my display of Agility, it might not be the best idea.

I let it go. It was likely a test as gathering a cultist force big enough to kill me even if I limited myself to what I had shown earlier was very difficult. And, even if they somehow did it, I could reveal Fekar's Speed. As long as I didn't combine it with Agility, I could act like it was a lesser class bonus.

I moved confidently, not afraid of the potential risks, even when the distance dwindled into three hundred feet. "Kill the heretic!" the cultists suddenly shouted, and a summoned giant beast appeared, charging toward me.

"Pathetic," I shouted even as I jumped off my panicking horse, a blast of Charisma enough to make sure the horse wouldn't run away in panic, my blades already drawn just as the cultists started attacking me with a mixture of spells and arrows.

I met the charge of the summoned beast halfway, dodging the arrows at the last possible second while delivering hit after hit to the beast, swaying around it to avoid its attacks.

Not using Strength truly made a difference. As the Holy Crusader, I could have taken down the beast in two sharp swings, while an Agility-first approach meant I had to dance around it for almost five minutes while constantly dodging the attacks.

The only challenge — a slight one — came from my absence of Destruction skill. Without its help, the destruction of mana was far more dangerous. Luckily, unlike the past, I had Intelligence Stat to help me with fine control, allowing me to maintain a thin shield to stave off its corrupting effect.

I could have quickened it if I really pushed myself, but I did not. After all, I had all those observers trying to test my limits. Instead, I played with the beast for five minutes without letting even an arrow touch me.

[Invader Slain]

[+1,391,831 Experience]

[+12 Authority]

"Now, let's get rid of the garbage," I said as I rushed toward the cultists, who charged to their deaths. The entire ordeal took five minutes, and not once, I acted like I struggled, treating it as a leisure break.

I would be too busy in Oniphia to deal with a bunch of reckless nobles that wanted to try their luck. My display here was a warning to them. I hoped that they heard it.

They wouldn't enjoy the remedial class.