“Ok, I can see now why you were so confident.” Helios said as he sat on the carpet.

After a while, the group didn’t even bother getting off the carpet any more. James had become so efficient at killing the entire city within minutes that they didn’t even have the time to kill any ordinary agents. They blinked and it was almost over. And he only seemed to be getting faster.

“Wait, I lost count. How many cities has he destroyed already?” Emilia asked.

“This is already the 30th.” Lunaris declared excitedly. “Well, considering we didn’t even bother getting off the carpet for more than a dozen, it’s not that surprising that we’re already almost done.”

“Yeah, sorry about that, guys.” James reappeared next to the group. “I really wanted you to get more powerful as well, but this is the best course of action. I promise I’ll help you guys grind some levels after all of this is over, just as you always helped me.”

“Don’t apologize!” Lunaris shouted. “Being alive is the best way to get xp. And the sooner we’re done with this, the more likely we are to survive. If anything, let’s go even faster!”

As soon as Lunaris said that, James began driving the carpet to the next city, pumping even more mana into it. In a few seconds, they were already there.

“Well, perhaps we don’t need to go faster, the previous speed was good enough.” Lunaris said while trying to keep her head from spinning.

“Oops, my bad.” James apologized again. “A little dizziness is worth it though. We’re almost done, I can’t believe it!” James exclaimed as he gleefully bombarded the city.

“I hate to be a downer, but does anyone have a strong feeling of impending doom? I mean, it’s not just me, right?” Emilia asked.

“I’m no diviner, but I feel it too.” Eruditus said, and the other two dwarves nodded.

“Huh, that’s kind of embarrassing for me.” Denmac laughed awkwardly. “I actually am a diviner and I don’t feel anything. Although, really powerful entities intentionally block their existence from any diviner’s senses. So … sometimes not feeling anything is actually even worse. Actually, now that I think about it, it’s almost odd that I don’t feel anything. Usually I get either positive or negative vibes about the near future, but now I don’t really feel anything at all.”

“What if you actively try to divine the future?” Lunaris asked.

Denmac closed his eyes and took a sip of his wine. Minutes passed, but nothing changed.

“I can’t see anything.” Denmac opened his eyes. “It’s not exactly a guarantee that something is wrong, especially in such tumultuous circumstances. But it is a bit worrying.”

“Oh. Fantastic, we now have a red flag to confirm our fears.” Emilia turned white again.

“Not necessarily.” Lunaris replied. “This feeling of impending doom can be just anxiety. I mean, we’re just regular people. Our hunches don’t really mean anything, unlike a diviner’s. Although, I must admit, I’m a bit stressed as well.”

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“Me too.” Helios added. “I don’t like saying this, but I feel uneasy.”

“Ok, so let’s go over what we know.” Lunaris continued. “The only person that should be feeling something, feels nothing. And the rest of us have a strong feeling of impending doom. Does that make any sense?”

“It doesn’t really make any sense, I agree.” Emilia replied. “The logical explanation would be that we’re just anxious because we’ve destroyed 30 cities as if they were anthills. And there has been no real pushback, no response from the higher ups of the Dark side. Now that we’re so close to the end, it’s only natural to feel anxious. And yet, it’s been way too easy, nothing in life is this easy. This whole situation makes no sense.”

“Ok, I know it’s quite a shift from the attitude we had just minutes ago, but let’s not beat around the bush anymore.” Lunaris sighed. “Something bad is definitely going to happen. I think we’re all in agreement, right?”

Everybody nodded. Except James, who was off killing every single agent in the city.

“This whole trip has been weird as hell, even for me and Helios, and we’re used to James’s antics.” Lunaris said.

Helios nodded. “James never stopped surprising me. Every other day he does something crazy and amazing. But not even he can do something this amazing, this easily. Destroying 40 Stygian cities without any consequences? There’s no way. That’s just now how the world works.”

“I agree.” James appeared out of nowhere. “It would be foolish of me to not feel anxious too, no matter how strong I’ve gotten. It has been way too easy, and that’s bothering me more and more with each city I destroy. It’s been … nonsensically easy. I’m basically getting insane amounts of power for absolutely nothing, for free. Nothing in life is this free.”

“Since we’re all in agreement, should we go home then?” Lunaris asked. “I mean, I know it’s a bit silly to leave based on just our anxieties. But there is a bit of logic in it, isn’t there? This plan was far-fetched from the get-go, and yet it has gone incredibly well. It feels almost like gambling. Perhaps we should stop pushing our luck and cash in our chips.”

“You know what?” James replied. “Stopping at 30 out of 40 when it’s going so well, for no real reason, is probably cowardly and unheard of. And it makes even less sense since it would probably take less than an hour to be done. But I’d much rather take the safe route and go home. I want all of us to be safe and sound, that’s all that matters. As for the energy, we’ll figure something out. I mean, what I’ve already absorbed is already a colossal amount. Maybe it’ll be enough.”

Everybody nodded, and so they quickly got onto the carpet and began going home.

But it felt incredibly weird. Despite unanimously picking the safe and cowardly option, they were all feeling uneasy.

James looked at everyone’s faces. “Ok, from your expressions, I’m assuming that I’m not the only one who still feels apprehensive?”

“I didn’t want to sound overly whiny so I didn’t say anything.” Lunaris answered. “But I’m very worried. This whole situation still doesn’t make any sense. 30 whole cities without any response whatsoever? That doesn’t add up. Even if the world of agents is dog eat dog, where they compete and kill each other all the time. The cities are still part of their empire, of their strength. Even if these were the weakest ones, you’d think they’d still respond to someone destroying them. If anything, just to protect their image or their borders or whatever. Nevermind the actual energy reserves.”

“So what are our options?” Helios asked. “We’re already heading back. What else can we do?”

“Perhaps we haven’t considered all the possibilities.” Lunaris continued. “What if the problem isn’t that they haven’t responded to us destroying 30 cities? What if they did?”

“What do you mean?” Emilia asked, with undeniable panic in her voice despite her trying to maintain a calm expression.

“Well, we’re all thinking about how weird it is that there’s been no response to the destruction we’ve caused. But what if we’re looking at this the wrong way. What if there was a response already?”

“I knew it was too good to be true. Nothing is ever that easy.” Denmac sighed.

“I’m tired of this convoluted bullshit.” Emilia hugged Denmac to stop herself from shaking.