Even though his thought process was sheer lunacy, the members of the group were actually satisfied with his answer. And after his grandiose declarations that there’s no way he’d get mind controlled, it would be beyond pathetic if that did end up happening. So they decided to never bring it up again, especially after seeing him spit at his dark self until his mouth was too dry to produce any more spittle.
All in all, it looked like stealing energy from the cities truly was a good idea, with no side-effects or drawbacks.
Except for one, of course. And it weighed heavily on their minds.
It was too easy. Just too damn perfect and convenient. And that was a big problem.
“When do you think they’ll send reinforcements to stop us? We’ve ransacked several cities already, they’re bound to have some sort of system that lets them know, even without any survivors. And since we’ve killed such a … shocking amount of agents, their response will definitely be drastic.” Helios asked as they travelled towards the next city. But by the time he finished asking the question, they were already there.
“Maybe I’m just overconfident after having destroyed so many of them so easily. But at this point I think I can handle whatever they throw at us. Might have to strain myself more than I do while fighting this trash, but I’m pretty sure I can win no matter who they send.” James answered as he fired Javelins into the city without even getting of the carpet.
Seeing that James was already exploding half the city, the group rushed to the gates to at least get to kill some agents before they have to move on.
“Your confidence in yourself is definitely justified, brother.” Helios said while hurling fireballs at an incoming wave of agents without even looking. “But our enemies aren’t stupid. They’ll send someone who can deal with the kind of person that could destroy their cities so easily. You know that.”
“Yeah, that’s true.” James nodded while shooting at the incoming superiors, who dropped like flies just seconds after he launched the Javelins. “But with each victory, I get so much stronger. Even my speed, something that was always kind of a weakness of mine, is now actually a strength. It’s hard to feel threatened when we’re progressing so well.”
“We trust you and we love you, but you know better than that.” Lunaris added. “You haven’t been around higher level mages. This planet alone is incredibly vast and full of mysteries. The universe as a whole even more so. And at a certain level of power, even travelling the multiverse is child’s play. What I’m trying to say is that there are forces out there that would see us as less than ants. Even someone a billion times stronger than you would be an ant to some other individuals. Therefore, it’s foolish to think that the Darkness can’t throw some higher ranked agent at us, who could wipe us out in seconds.”
“Yeah, but from Garantep’s memories, it didn’t seem like the higher ups had the kind of personality that would personally bother to put a stop to the likes of us. The stronger the agent, the more arrogant and selfish he is.” Denmac replied. “Sure, it doesn’t mean much, but maybe the truly high level agents are tied up with their own business, and won’t have time to interfere with us.”
Stolen novel; please report.
“His memories showing us something doesn’t mean it’s true. Especially since you didn’t even get a good look at all of them.” Lunaris shook her head. “Even if we ignore the possibility of fake memories and other defensive measures and assume that the information was true, it was only true from his point of view. After all, the Darkness took over a third of the entire planet! Think about how vast and mysterious that entire organization is. And since they don’t necessarily trust each other, the likelihood of someone like Garantep who in the grant scheme of things was an ant, could actually know much about the inner workings of the Darkness is minuscule.”
“So you’re saying there could be an untold number of agents significantly more powerful than Garantep, any of which could pop by and nip this little problem in the bud? And by problem I mean us.” Emilia said, not exactly enthusiastic about this prospect.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Lunaris continued. “I don’t want to be a party pooper, but we may have gotten overzealous from repeatedly doing things that would have seemed impossible just a few months ago. The enemy could have combatants at an unimaginably high level. Let’s not forget that we are attacking the cities which are at the periphery of their lands, the weakest of the weak by their standards. So I wouldn’t be surprised if they sent someone thousands of level above us. Anybody at that level would wipe us out with just a whisper, even James.”
James had been silently throwing Javelins as he listened. He was about to speak up, but then he realized that no energy signatures were left in the city. The entire Stygian city was already dead.
“Be right back.” He announced.
Less than half a minute later, he returned.
“Let’s go.” He said while pointing at their carpet.
“What?” The Dwarves exclaimed in unison.
“Don’t look so shocked.” James chuckled. “We’ve been through this several times before. I’m quick, get over it. Let’s hurry up and get to work.” James didn’t feel guilty about shocking them anymore. Speed was all that mattered now, getting it done before the bigger guys came.
“B-but, the energy! It takes time to absorb the unimaginably vast reservoirs of a Stygian city.” Denmac shouted. “In the previous cities, it took you way longer than that!”
“Well, isn’t improving the whole point?” James replied. “With each city we take down, I get stronger. And faster. There’s no reason that wouldn’t apply to my ability to absorb the energy.”
“All right, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at this point.” Denmac sighed. Just when he thought he was immune to having his mind blown by James, he managed to surprise him yet again.
The group climbed on the carpet, and less than a minute later, they were already at the next city. James immediately began bombarding it, hundreds of explosions ringing out in an instant.
“You know, I’m really starting to get desensitized at the whole concept of ‘agent’.” Emilia said. “I mean, when we’re destroying a city within minutes, only to move to the next one, it really makes it seem like nothing. Even though any one of them could probably kill me with a flick of their finger.”
“Good point.” Denmac replied. “Carelessness is the ultimate killer. Even James can be taken down by a well-placed attack. Although, he kills them so fast that they don’t even have a chance to throw anything at him.” Denmac tried to look at James, but he was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is he?” Denmac asked.
But before he could even look around, the madman was back.
“Let’s go!” James laughed as he reappeared out of thin air.
“Don’t tell me he’s done already. I barely managed to get off the carpet!” Emilia gasped again.
“I’m not doing this again, I’m not getting surprised ever again.” Denmac declared. “Although now I realize how stupid I was to even think that James can be taken down at all.” He sighed. “He destroyed the whole god damn city before I even fully got over the dizziness of the blasted carpet ride.”