Somehow, every time the gang made camp, it was in weirder and weirder places. It was weird enough when they were camping in the Soul Grinder. But now they were in a demon-infested forest, expecting an agent to jump at them at any moment. They were eating, buffing up, healing up, but they couldn’t unwind. The dark, desolate forest was just too creepy. Every time the wind howled or the leaves rustled, they’d jump up and get into a battle position.

Nevertheless, recovery was vital. Helios and James had just been through a tough battle, and they were very close to an even tougher one. They needed their strength.

Luckily, it wasn’t all doom and gloom. While the three friends were recovering, Denmac was divining everything he could.

“While the visions have been very opaque, I’ve managed to see the agents’ hiding place.” Denmac announced.

The rest of them set aside their cookies and listened carefully.

“I sensed the energy signature of at least eleven people, although their strength varies.”

Helios and Lunaris looked at each other and nodded. Lunaris was a strong mage in her own right, but her healing and support powers were far more valuable. Helios felt bad about asking her to be the healer every single time, but Lunaris was quite generous about it.

“All right, I’ll be on healing and support duty.” Lunaris said.

“Thank you, Lun. Eleven agents are way too many, even if they are neophytes. With Lunaris supporting, at least we won’t be done in by just one well-timed attack or anything.” Helios added.

“That actually is a good idea. If she’s not actively fighting, I can keep her protected by the same barriers that protect me, on the sidelines of the battlefield.” Denmac replied. “Anyway, luckily our worst fears were avoided. They don’t seem to be in one of their darkness-infested cities or towns or anything, so we don’t run the risk of facing thousands of agents. It’s just a small base in the middle of nowhere.”

“I don’t suppose it’s all good news though, is it?” James asked, knowing not to get his hopes up. Ever since he came to this world, nothing has been that easy. He gained a lot of power, and his wonderful friends made life quite easy for him. But he still wouldn’t get his hopes up. The creepy aura of the forest was enough to make him except the worst. He also sensed a certain anxiety coming from Denmac.

“That’s right. There are two things that worry me. One of the energy signatures is much bigger than the other ones, even though the rest aren’t anything to scoff at either. If I had to guess, that would be a full-fledged agent.”

Helios clenched his fists. So there was a real agent among them after all. Even though this increased the danger dramatically, Helios had been aching to punch one in the face. After two humiliating setbacks at the hands of an agent, the need for revenge was boiling inside him. Worst of all, they cursed his friend. That was one thing he couldn’t ever forgive.

Lunaris could feel Helios’s anger. Even though she had a cooler head, she wanted to see an agent’s head bashed in just as much as him. If it weren’t for that curse, perhaps James’s powers would have developed in an entirely different way. Perhaps he wouldn’t have acquired a skill that requires him to torture himself.

And when she thought of the millions of others innocents that the agents had hurt over the years, her heart began to ache, and her blood began to boil. Even the kind Lunaris had a bloodthirsty tinge to her aura at that moment.

They had to end the lives of these agents at all costs, otherwise countless innocent lives would be lost instead.

James didn’t like seeing his friends that way. Not only were they wonderful people, they were his family. He wanted them to experience only positive emotions. If killing those agents would make them feel better, then he couldn’t wait to do it.

“The other thing that worries me, and for some reason I feel a bit sick even from just sensing it, is an even bigger energy signature in the middle of their base. Much bigger than anything else, it eclipses even the true agent. It’s definitely not a living being. Whatever it is, it's definitely bad news.” Denmac sighed.

Denmac didn't know what to make of that energy signature, but he was worried. Something wasn't right.

“Anyway, that’s all I could see for now. The rest is up to you guys. All I can do in battle is turtle up and keep Lunaris safe while we throw support spells your way.”

With the news of the mysterious energy signature, the group sat quietly and thought. They couldn't do anything about it without more information. But to acquire more information, they'd have to approach the base. And the more they approached the agents' base, the higher the chance of being discovered.

They couldn't afford to waste the opportunity to strike first, so it looked like they'd have to just go in and figure it out on the spot.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

They had to strategize and make the most of what they had.

“Actually, since I knew I’d be healing again, I developed something that would allow me to help you even if I’m stuck healing.” Lunaris smiled. "I don't know if it'll tip the scales in our favor, but it surely has its uses."

“While I had my hands on the dark flower, the one left after James’s Chaos Flower killed the dark figure, I managed to analyze it quite a bit. And while the results weren’t immediate, I kept thinking about it. And I came up with this.”

Lunaris extended her hand, and a beautiful, golden butterfly flew out. It seemed to be made out of light, an existence that looked very out of place in the dark forest. As it was flying around aimlessly, it looked like the Darkness in its immediate surroundings was weakening.

“Even though supporting is important, I wanted to contribute a bit more directly. It’s not much, but I developed something that could allow me to help offensively, while I still fully focus on supporting you.” Lunaris flashed a proud smile.

“You didn’t think you were the only one who could develop your own spells, did you James?” She winked. “Although I still have to thank you for it, I wouldn’t have had the courage to nonchalantly create my own spell if I hadn’t seen you casually do it over and over again. Usually, people are a lot more methodical about spellcrafting, some even spend years researching every possible downside or weakness.”

The bright yellow light was almost blinding. It was so bright that James had to look away eventually. Luckily, they were behind a thick stealth barrier, otherwise the butterfly’s light would have given away their position to anyone with eyes within a few miles.

James and Helios started clapping excitedly at her invention, which made Lunaris turn beet red. “Ah, stop it you bastards!” She shouted bashfully, but she couldn’t hide her smile.

Seeing their exchange, even the seemingly asleep Denmac started laughing.

“Anyway, this isn’t just an ordinary minion. It’s designed to be attracted to Darkness!” As Lunaris was talking, she kept feeding mana to the butterfly, which was growing larger and larger as it was floating around her in circles. “Now, I’m no summoner or any other type of minion-having mage, so I don’t have any sentient minion in my arsenal. But in this case, the butterfly is even better. While it’s not sentient, it attacks the strongest source of Darkness it finds. Which is just perfect since we’re fighting agents steeped in Darkness.”

The guys clapped again, and even Denmac joined in this time.

“If you keep this up, I just won’t heal you!” Lunaris pouted jokingly.

Somehow, they managed to laugh and relax for a moment, even in this creepy, dark forest.

"Wait, how strong can a butterfly be?" Helios asked.

"It's actually quite weak, that's true. But the fact that it's autonomous is what I'm counting on. I can just conjure it and let it do it's own thing. It might not do a lot of damage either, but its ability to interfere with the Darkness sure can come in useful."

“That's true, and it's a welcome surprise. We can never have too many weapons, not when it comes to dealing with these sick murder machines that kill mages by the dozens.” Helios spat out. “Now all that’s left is to decide how to approach our attack.”

“I think it’s safe to say the element of surprise is out the window, no?” James, the eternal optimist chimed in.

“Not necessarily, but it probably wouldn’t be wise to count on it, that’s true. Our previous battle wasn’t exactly subtle.” Denmac replied.

“And since agents are masters at infiltrating and what have you, I doubt they’d be easy to ambush.” Lunaris added.

“Agreed. So a frontal assault it is. No sneaky business, that’s their strength, not ours. Stealth kept us safe from ambushes during travel, but we can’t count on it for a battlefield advantage.” Helios said.

“Helios, I want you to focus on tanking this time around. “James said with a confidence and determination that was unlike him.

“What? But we need as much firepower as we can get. As a tank I’d be half as effective offensively.”

“We’ve got firepower. Hell, firepower is what I’ve spent all my efforts acquiring, isn’t it? There are only about a dozen enemies this time, right? Not hundreds of spiders, not thousand of demons. Just a dozen murderous psychopaths that think they’re hot shit. I actually think I have more than enough firepower to deal with them. I have more power than ever before. So what we’re lacking is everything other than firepower.”

Helios eyed him suspiciously. “You’re not saying this just so I’d be safer during the fight, are you?”

James shook his head immediately. That was indeed part of his calculations, but it still made sense for Helios to focus on tanking. His abilities were just as good at tanking as they were for offense, so it was better if they could just specialize in whatever they were good at. James’s many skills and incredibly large mana pool was all they really needed for offense.

“All right, I’ll tank.” Helios agreed. "What about the mysterious energy signature?"

"As foolish as it is to barge in without knowing what's waiting for us, I don't think we have another choice." James answered."

"We might not be able to mount a surprise attack, but taking the initiative and being the first to strike is still incredibly valuable. So we can't dally and scout too much. But we can't go in fully blind either, we need to know what that thing is. So I say we move swiftly and play it by ear. Denmac can focus on divining while we scan our surroundings. If we so much as catch a whiff of agent, we abandon any and all stealth and rush at them."

Nobody had any better ideas, so they all nodded.

Even though he was confident in his own powers, James’s entire body was subtly shivering. But it wasn’t really fear. It was an overwhelming mix of emotions. The upcoming fight would be even harder than the thousands of demons they faced before. The amalgam of excitement, anxiety, worry and many other conflicting emotions made it hard to control the shivering.

While they were still quite far from the agents' base, James decided to calm his nerves. It was important to have a calm and collected mind before battle.

Playing with waterballs and throwing them around was quite therapeutic, so James began pelting the nearby trees with waterballs.

“Wait, why does my waterball feel so strong?”

Helios then gave him the biggest grin he had ever seen.

“We had a bet going for whether you’d notice it before the fight or not. Guess I win. Pay up, Lunaris!”

“Notice what?” James asked. There were so many things on his mind that he genuinely had no idea what they were on about.

“Check your levels.” Lunaris replied while chuckling and handing Helios a few coins. “You didn’t think you’d kill thousands of demons without leveling up, did you?”