The neophyte tried to stab at Denmac, but Lunaris’s butterfly immediately charged at his face.

Even with Lunaris focusing her attention on the butterfly, it wasn’t actually doing much damage.

But as it was flying around the enemy, it was releasing spores of light, waves of what looked like pollen. The light seemed to be attracted to the Darkness in the neophyte, every spore converging towards him.

It didn’t seem to hurt him, but it had an even more useful effect. It stunned him.

The stun barely lasted a second before neophyte broke free. The butterfly was continuously pouring its light into him, and the damage would obviously mount up. But the immediate effect was just a short stun.

Still, that second was just enough time for Denmac to cast his spell towards James, without being stabbed to death by the neophyte.

James was about to crash at any moment. His barrier had already been shattered, so he was expecting the worst. He could only hope that in the aftermath of the crash, he’d be strong enough to still assist his friends.

But just as he was about to be blown to bits by the impact, all of a sudden, he felt his momentum stop. But instead of a brutal crash landing, he found himself caught in a conjured net.

As shocked and glad he was that he survived, to the point that he could barely believe it, James knew he didn’t have the time to thank Lunaris and Denmac right now.

He stood up and looked around to see where the agent was. The cruel monster definitely wouldn’t wait around for him to recover, he’d try to capitalize on the opportunity.

And he was right. Instead of chasing after him, the agent began attacking Helios.

After James healed and buffed Helios, the tide of his battle had turned. Suddenly, the many neophytes were barely able to land a scratch on him, and Helios was even fighting back.

But while in doing what he did, James had helped Helios greatly, he had also stopped keeping the agent focused on him.

The agent didn’t bother trying to hit James again, who was flying at an obviously uncontrollable speed, hoping he’d just crash like the reckless moron he was. And even if he did survive the crash, he was now mostly defenseless, with the barrier shattered.

So it was the perfect opportunity to deal with Helios, who had been tanking so many neophytes all by himself. That was enough to make him more of a threat than James could ever be.

But James wouldn’t stand by while his friend was fighting. He didn’t care that he didn’t have a barrier anymore.

James knew that going in without a barrier would be the peak of recklessness for a squishy mage like him. But he couldn’t cast it again, he had already felt very woozy after the last time. If he did it again, he probably wouldn’t be of much use in combat anymore. He probably wouldn’t even be able to stand straight.

And yet, he didn’t even consider not jumping back into the fray immediately. He had to help Helios in any way he could.

But before James could even get back to him, Helios screamed out in pain. The agent began bombarding him with blades just as he did with James, except Helios was tanking nine other neophytes at the same time.

James wanted to at least drink a mana potion before jumping back in, but the thought of Helios in pain made him want to spring into action without even a millisecond of hesitation. He made SARM launch him towards Helios, choosing to drink the potion in mid-jump.

It wasn’t the wisest move. He immediately began choking, so he had to push some of the liquid out of his lungs with wind magic. But every moment was valuable, so the second saved was more than worth it.

When he landed, he was still coughing, but there was no time to dawdle. Three neophytes jumped on him right away.

James dodged with SARM. He knew that if one hit landed, he’d most likely die. But there was much more at stake.

He didn’t even glance towards the neophytes, putting SARM in overdrive and continuously dodging. He had his sights on the agent, he couldn’t let him attack Helios any longer. Even just taking some neophytes off Helios was better than nothing, but the unending stream of blades the agent was launching onto him was much more of a problem.

Still, James had launched himself for a reason. He certainly didn’t do it to put himself in a worse position.

He did it so he could finally put his plan into action. And as much as he hated the idea of the agent attacking Helios, it gave him the perfect opportunity to fire his bullets.

James began shooting his Bullet Chains at the agent right away.

SARM was dodging for him, frantically avoiding the three neophyte’s attacks while James was conjuring bullets. He was feeding even more mana into SARM than usual, so wary he was of the neophyte’s constant stabs.

But he had more than enough mana. As he was dodging around, he was ceaselessly conjuring bullets.

A few seconds later, he had built up a small reserve of bullets. The plan would work much better if he waited some more, but he didn’t want to subject Helios to the onslaught any longer.

He shot the bullets out. The swift projectiles reached their target almost instantaneously. Instead of doing any damage however, the bullets exploded and launched the chains at the agent.

The chains didn’t hold the agent for more than half a second, but even that was a great success. At least they had an effect on the powerful entity.

But precisely because it had an effect, it immediately drew the ire of the agent, who instantly made his target the barrier-less James.

Except Helios wouldn’t let him attack James either, jumping to intercept the agent with his shield.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you bro!” Even after all he endured, Helios’s priority was still to defend James.

“I’ve got your back too, brother!” James quickly launched himself right at Helios. To ensure they couldn’t be attacked from any angle, they pressed their backs against each other.

As much of a threat as the agent was, from his current position, he understood that they couldn’t win this battle until the agent was the only enemy still standing. It would take a lot of power to take him down, and it would be impossible to focus that much power onto him while the neophytes constantly stabbed at them.

Helios was facing the agent using his shield to deflect and parry the agent’s blades, while James was facing the neophytes.

If he left Helios’s side in order to continue dodging, Helios would be targeted by everyone. But if he stayed here without a barrier, he’d be dead in seconds.

He had a few bullets left, which would help immensely, but that still didn’t solve the problem of his defenselessness for very long.

But when he felt Helios’s back against his own back, he had an idea.

James let out a pained groan as he sacrificed his health again.

And yet, instead of casting the barrier on himself, he healed and buffed Helios again!

As he anticipated, this time around, the sacrifice left him feeling extremely exhausted and dizzy. He felt like he was about to fall down.

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But that’s where Helios came in. While standing with his back against Helios, he realized that if he empowered him, they’d be at an advantage as long as he himself wouldn’t just collapse.

And while he did feel incredibly weakened, he knew he could count on Helios.

Helios could feel how weak James had become. He immediately attached James to himself by conjuring a belt made out of earth that would keep James tethered to him, preventing him from falling over.

But James’s plan wasn’t over yet. Even though his body had been weakened to the point he could barely stand, Reckless Abandon had been activated.

He had the defenses and constitution of a dying turtle now, but his magic powers had been greatly enhanced. And that’s exactly what he needed.

Even though he was almost keeling over, as a result of his sacrifice, not only was Helios healed and greatly buffed, but he himself received a great temporary power up too.

But Reckless Abandon wouldn’t last forever, so he had to make use of it fast.

It had all occurred in a matter of seconds, but the neophytes were already attacking him.

James waved his hands and launched a flimsy wave of saws. The neophytes were incredibly fast, but his own speed while under the effects of Reckless Abandon was nothing to scoff at. The saws were weak, and yet they gave James the time he needed to form an actual attack.

The true agent saw James’s movements. He knew right away that the balance of power had shifted. He had to intervene before his neophytes could be struck down.

But the empowered Helios wouldn’t let that happen.

“You have to go through me first.” He announced with a valiant smile as he launched a wave of fire from his sword.

The agent knew right away that he wouldn’t be getting through to James, not unless he went through Helios’s dead body.

But James didn’t plan on letting Helios tank the agent for long.

As the neophytes were about to destroy them, James detonated the flimsy wave of saws. Obviously, they didn’t do any damage.

But the saws had already accomplished their objective. The few moments they had bought for him were priceless.

He had a few bullets saved up, but he needed so many more. He couldn’t even tell for sure how many neophytes there were, their movements being obfuscated by the thickness of the Darkness around them. But he knew there were at least 8.

Somehow, he had the impression that there were too many of them. But either way, he needed a lot more bullets.

Luckily, he had the mana he needed. Not only did he manage to drink the potion, but Reckless Abandon had also greatly enhanced his mana regeneration and mana pool.

James wanted to make sure the neophytes would be dealt with. They gave Helios so much trouble, he couldn’t underestimate them.

So instead of sparing any mana, with the moments that the saws had bought for him, he sacrificed half of his entire mana pool to spawn hundreds of bullets.

He raised his hands, and the bullets flew towards the neophytes. As expected, the bullets did no damage. But their effects were much more valuable than damage. Hundreds of chains shot forth, covering the neophytes in chains from head to toe.

The sight was impressive, but James knew that it wouldn’t last for very long. He had sacrificed a lot to make this possible, so he had to take advantage of it fast.

But he still had to make a tactical decision. He could either try to use an attack to damage them all at once, or use single target attacks and hit fewer, but kill them for sure.

He didn’t have time to think though, so he went with his gut.

He could only think of one word. Kill.

If he didn’t kill these bastards, his friends would be the ones to die. The only way to guarantee their safety was to cull them one by one.

James used a quarter of his mana to conjure three whole sets of Overloading Mana Prongs, immediately shooting them at the closest neophytes.

Instead of using the remaining quarter to shoot three more sets of Prongs, James pumped it all into the existing Prongs.

The mana rushed through the Prongs, visibly travelling down the strings into the neophytes. The neophytes already stood up, struggling to break free from the chains.

But as soon as the mana reached them, the three targeted neophytes immediately collapsed.

Underneath the mass of chains, their bodies were convulsing, being fried alive as the mana was travelling through their bodies.

Seconds later, they were already dead.

James and Helios weren’t outnumbered as badly anymore.

Still, his decision had consequences. He made sure a few of them were dead, but now James had what looked like five pissed off neophytes to deal with, and he was out of mana.

However, he wasn’t alone. Helios had his hands full with the agent, who was bombarding him with blades.

But Lunaris and Denmac joined them as well.

Using Lunaris’s butterfly to stun and slow the neophyte, the two of them were able to defeat him. Lunaris was a formidable combatant in her own right, even though she had been focusing on healing most of the time.

After dealing with their neophyte, and with James having fully healed Helios, she could finally afford to stop being a healer in order to enter the battlefield as a combatant.

Now she was here to help. She could see that James desperately needed healing and buffing, but the five neophytes were even more of a priority. There wouldn’t be anything left to heal if they got their hands on James.

Lunaris sent her butterfly to stun and slow the agents as much as possible, while she herself jumped in-between them and James.

Denmac stood back, instead focusing on casting a barrier on James and Lunaris. He wasn’t much of a combatant, but he could at least help them a little bit.

Having another ally on your side is incredibly helpful. Lunaris’s intervention gave James the most valuable thing in the world: time. And he wouldn’t waste a moment of it.

He drank another mana potion and extracted all the mana left in his necklace. Along with his high mana regeneration, in mere seconds he had a substantial amount of mana available.

But it still wasn’t enough. If he wanted to get rid of these neophytes, he needed a lot of power. And power costs a lot of mana.

He knew how to get it though. Even better, it would make his spells even stronger.

He needed to cast another sacrifice. But it was a big gamble. [Split Mind] was still under effect, so he wouldn’t feel any pain. But he was already barely able to stand. He didn’t know if he’d even survive the next sacrifice.

But the situation was dire.

Even though Lunaris jumped in, he couldn’t let her fight for very long. She definitely wouldn’t be able to take down the neophytes by herself. And without a sacrifice, he certainly wouldn’t have the mana to take them down either.

There were too many advantages to sacrificing yet again. He could even heal and empower Helios once more, while activating Reckless Abandon for himself.

He couldn’t say no to all these benefits, as much of a gamble as it was. Without spending another moment thinking about it, James sacrificed his health yet again.

The world turned black for a second. His one good eye could barely see.

Immediately, he vomited and keeled over. If not for Helios’s spell keeping James tethered to him, he would’ve definitely collapsed.

He was nauseous and he could barely feel his remaining good leg and arm. It genuinely felt like he was dying.

But he knew he was alive, and that’s all he really needed. If he was alive, that meant he could fight. That’s all that really mattered. The side-effects were irrelevant as long as he could still fight.

At least Helios was feeling better than ever. Helios was probably even more powerful and had more HP right now than at the start of the battle. As pathetic as James’s healing was with normal spells, his awakening spell was as powerful as it was brutal towards himself.

But even though he felt and looked like a corpse, James’s magic power was stronger than ever too. Reckless Abandon was in full swing once again, even more powerful as he was closer to death than he had ever been. In just a few seconds, his mana had recovered quite a bit from the empowered regeneration.

His working eye could barely see, but he could make out Lunaris fighting the neophytes, her golden butterfly circling the enemies, constantly pouring light into them. He didn’t know if he imagined it, but it looked like the neophytes’ aura of Darkness was getting lighter as the butterfly poured its powers into them.

James barely had the physical strength to lift his hand, but he had gone through these motions countless times. It was as intuitive as breathing to him.

He waved his hand and spawned a wave of saws. But they weren’t flimsy this time around. Taking down six neophytes would take something a lot more.

He conjured his strongest saws: Chaos saws. Six in total, one for every neophyte.

Even after the mana potion and Reckless Abandon’s mana regeneration, he barely had enough mana to conjure all six.

Using all his mana would really leave him depleted this time around. With the agent still gunning for him at every possible opportunity, slowly wearing Helios down. But he’d just have to figure out how to deal with him later. Right now, he really needed to take care of the neophytes.

As soon as the chaos saws were ready, James launched them. With the added power from Reckless Abandon, he was confident that they’d do a lot of damage to the neophytes.

Now even with his mana depleted, James could barely keep his one eye open. It felt like gravity had gotten ten times stronger on his body, and a hundred times stronger on his eyelids.

But he fought the impulse and forcefully kept his eye open. He needed to stay awake. If he fell asleep he wouldn’t be able to assist his friends, and the agent was even more powerful than all the neophytes combined.

He needed his eyes open for one more reason. SARM. He needed to at least see what was going on in order for the SARM he put onto the saws to be able to properly guide them to their targets.

He felt like a mountain was pushing down on his eyelids. But all he needed to do was to keep his eye open. That was it, nothing else. His subconscious impulses would take care of the rest.

He could barely see, but he focused all his remaining strength and looked at the battlefield.

As soon as his eye saw the neophytes, the saws homed in towards their targets.

The neophytes were attacking Lunaris, but somehow they looked like barely any Darkness was left around them.

A moment later, the saws struck their victims.

He saw heads rolling on the ground, and he smiled. He was finally able to close his eye.

With his eyes closed, he could feel a strong force calling him, enchantingly whispering to him. It was more than sleep, he could feel it. If he let himself sleep now, he knew he might never wake again.

But they still had a foe to defeat. He couldn’t let his friends deal with him on their own. Even though he had empowered Helios repeatedly, he was still no match for the agent.

While he could accept his own death, he couldn’t abandon his friends like that. Their last enemy wouldn’t go down as easily as the neophytes did.