The group was rushing through the woods at a breakneck pace. It was completely different from their first foray into the lands of Darkness. Back then, they were advancing sluggishly, sheepishly, even a bit scared of what might await them.
And while some of the members of the current group did still feel an inevitable apprehension, since voluntarily going into the lands of Darkness was something not many are willing to do, the main trio were feeling a lot more confident. Anxious thoughts still popped in their heads, but there was a certain air of invincibility about them.
After the three months of training, Lunaris was oozing a healing aura without even thinking about it. At this point, she could heal pretty much any kind of damage her friends might take. Helios was a lot stronger as well. He was sure he could tank hits from any agent daring enough to try and hit him. That’s if they didn’t burn to a crisp before they could even land anything.
But the real aura of invincibility radiated from James. Even though he had been acting more cautious than usual, he had done so in spite of the feeling of indomitability that he felt so strongly.
He was almost forcing himself to be a bit anxious and cautious. Because what he really feared was becoming so enamored with his own power that he felt coursing through his veins, that he’d slip up for a second, giving his enemies the opportunity to do something to his friends.
But even now, while rushing through these dreaded lands, he didn’t feel any danger. The first time around, he felt like a tiny, vulnerable rabbit. But now he was the predator, he was the danger.
There was nothing that could really pose a threat for now. Even if they met a pack of agents, he felt confident that he’d be able to take them down. He was so much stronger now. Three months ago, he gained so much power that he didn’t even know what to do with it. And now he had even learned how to use it.
In fact, he was actually looking forward to encountering a few agents. The group was still advancing with caution, under stealth, but James and Helios had so much bloodlust within them that Denmac had to spend extra mana to conceal it.
“Jeez, can you guys be a little bit more subtle? That bloodlust is almost blinding.” Denmac laughed with his eyes closed, focusing deeply.
But James’s bloodlust only grew as he thought of Garantep. Only he and his strongest allies were an actual threat. Anything up to that would just be target practice.
“Seriously, stop your bloodlust or we’re going to be detected from miles away.” Denmac urged them.
James chuckled and calmed himself down.
Garantep was a big hurdle. It was almost definitely going to be a life and death battle. But James was now more confident in himself than ever. He and his friends had faced so many trials already, placing themselves in mortal danger each and every time. And yet, they had always persevered.
Now they weren’t only a lot stronger, but they even had more allies with them. James knew that being overly confident could easily lead to tragedy, so he was trying to hide this confidence even from himself. But the amount of power he wielded did change him a bit. Little remained of the unsure and hesitant mage from before.
But a quality that he didn’t a grow was his impatience. Even at that breakneck pace, with the eight of them riding the flying carpet at a speed that was only achievable because they were all pouring a bit of mana into enhancing its capabilities, the lands of Darkness were just way too big.
Garantep’s city was at the outer edge of the lands of Darkness, relatively speaking. And yet, after hours of travel, they still hadn’t arrived yet.
The weight of the Darkness was becoming more pronounced as they were advancing deeper into the hostile territory, and even the air was slowly becoming harder to breathe. The enthusiasm of the group was beginning to deflate, no doubt the effects of ever-increasing quantities of Darkness weighing upon them. Even though they’d never say a word, and he was sure each and every one of them would fight until their last breath, James noticed that some people were looking quite gloomy already.
So he decided to use his nearly god damn infinite supply of mana to rectify the situation.
“Ok guys, brace yourselves.” James roared as he pumped an amount of mana into the flying carpet that would leave several average mages completely dry.
The carpet wobbled, barely even able to process the amount of energy it was being fed.
But quickly it steadied, the speed having more than tripled. It felt like they had just been shot out of a catapult, half of the group was retching from the force of the acceleration. And yet, this was an almost negligible amount of mana for James.
Even though they had nearly keeled over from the abrupt acceleration, the group’s faces were visibly more cheerful.
At this pace, they’d certainly reach their target much sooner. And despite going on a suicide mission, they were actually looking forward to getting there as soon as possible. Actually getting into a fight with a bunch of murderous psychopaths would be much better for their morale than waiting for hours and imagining the worst, as the Darkness toyed with their minds.
With James doing most of the driving, Denmac was able to focus on divining. Even at the increased speed, it took a few more hours of zooming throughout the forests and fields before they were close to reaching their destination.
But this time, the group’s morale remained high. Seeing James continuously pouring so much mana into the flying carpet without breaking a sweat or making a peep about it was quite inspiring.
Finally, after many hours of travel, Denmac raised the alarm.
“Stop! I feel many sources of powerful energy not far from here, can’t be more than twenty minutes at the pace we’re going. It’s definitely the city.”
Everybody involuntarily clenched their fists. Being so close to thousands of agents was a surreal experience in and of itself.
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Helios and James looked at each other. They could immediately see each other’s bloodlust in their eyes again. But they could sense that it was much more than that. They had fought back to back for so long, risked life and limb side by side, that their spirits felt like they had grown linked to each other. Like actual blood brothers, through the countless blood they had spilled as the closest of allies in battle. They knew what the other was feeling.
It was ambition and excitement. Even though they were in an extremely dangerous situation, they could only think of the glory of battle.
Out of the eight, only two people were trembling. They were trembling so hard that they looked possessed.
But they didn’t feel an ounce of fear. It was Helios and James, their bloodlust had gotten so strong that they physically couldn’t hide it.
This would be their hardest struggle yet. A battle that would surely be tougher than they could even imagine. And yet, they exuded the confidence of two warriors who had the utmost trust in each other, knowing that they had each other’s back.
If they succeeded, countless lives would be spared from the horrors that the agents would inevitably inflict upon them.
The guys nodded at each other, and then they looked at Lunaris, who had been watching them. Half the reason why they had this much confidence was her presence. They gave her a hug, and then they looked at the rest of their group.
“We must be a lot stealthier from here on out.” Helios announced. “But that doesn’t mean we have something to fear. They are the ones who will end up fearing us. We are the predators, and these aren’t jump empty words, I promise. We’ll prove it to you soon. Well, to be precise, he’ll prove it to you soon.” Helios grinned.
James nodded. It was important to keep the group’s morale high. James was a lot more resistant to any mental effects of the Darkness, but it wasn’t lost on him that most of the group didn’t have that luxury.
Luckily, he knew just how to inspire them.
“Denmac, find us a stray group of agents.” James said.
Denmac took a sip of his wine and went into a trance, his divination going into overdrive as a golden aura radiated from him.
It didn’t take more than a minute for him to snap out of it.
“My god, they’re everywhere.” He announced with a trembling lip, the horror on his face was clear as day. Even though he knew what they were getting into, feeling all these agents next to him was much scarier than he thought it would be.
Shock could immediately be seen on the group’s faces. But James and Helios smiled. Lunaris rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t stop herself from chuckling. Her boys had grown and progressed so much, and yet they still looked like adorable little kindergarteners in her eyes. She knew exactly what they were thinking.
“Now we just go after a bunch that are isolated from the others.” James replied.
“You don’t get it.” Denmac answered. “They’re everywhere. At least a thousand of them in the city, and hundreds even outside of the city. Even if we ambush a group of them, the noise from the struggle would definitely alert the others. This was a stupid plan.” He shook his head. “I really don’t see a way of taking them down without blowing our cover.”
“Let me worry about that.” James declared without blinking an eye, his voice unusually commanding. “You just lead us to a bunch of them that are relatively isolated.”
Denmac looked at him in disbelief. Did he not understand what he said? No. Denmac had seen James fight an agent without fear. He had seen him jump into the Bloodwell, risking to be dissolved only to emerge so much more powerful than he already was. If there was somebody that could do it, it was this man.
“All right.” Denmac acquiesced, although he was still trembling. “But if they manage to alert the others, we must turn tail and run. Not even you can fight thousands of agents.”
“Fine.” James smiled fiendishly.
Denmac took control over the carpet and began flying it extremely slowly. He was as cautious as possible, the stealth at full strength, making sure he wouldn’t even create wind with the carpet that could alert the agents.
Even as slowly as they were going, it didn’t take long till they encountered agents. It was as Denmac had told them, they were indeed everywhere.
Despite knowing how powerful James was, the three dwarves were a bit intimidated by all these agents running around the woods. Ruppus, Eruditus, and Bacchus began casting their own forms of stealth onto the group. After combining Denmac’s stealth with theirs, they looked a lot more comfortable.
These were agents, so the risk was always high. Even though they could sneak around for now, if they got into a fight, the agents could alert others quickly.
Seeing the agents with their own eyes almost made them doubt the mission that they had agreed to. Suddenly, it seemed stupid. Sneaking into a Stygian city? That’s something only legendary mages could attempt, not people like them. This was insanity, what were they doing?
James could see their thoughts, clearly displayed in their expressions.
He understood their feelings. For most people, killing an agent was unthinkable. It was an existence whose mere name inspired fear. It was one thing to agree to come on this mission, but actually seeing the agents had brought up feelings inside them that they couldn’t control.
Emilia was looking quite pale too, holding onto Denmac for dear life. She seemed like quite a confident person when they were at Helios’s house, but now she looked terrified.
With every passing moment, James was becoming more convinced that it was paramount for him to make a big move. He had to regain their confidence, to inspire them, to make them believe in him and themselves. Otherwise they’d all be doomed later on, when the foes they faced would be even stronger.
There was no doubt in his mind, the sheer quantity of Darkness in the air had such a powerful impact on their emotions that it was almost like brainwashing. Only Helios and Lunaris were unaffected, their bond, love and trust for James being far too powerful to be so easily influenced by the Darkness.
James had to scorch an image in the group’s minds that they wouldn’t forget. Something that would shatter the fear, shining brightly in their mindspace, able to ward off the Darkness.
Denmac slowly navigated them around, avoiding dozens of groups of agents, not making a sound and keeping as much distance between them as possible.
Finally, he stopped the flying carpet.
“Look, I can’t find a better group than this.” Denmac whispered. “These are the most isolated agents I could find. If we fight here, we might be able to get away with it. But there’s too many of them, there’s no way we can defeat them before they jump off to warn someone of our presence.”
“T-there are so many things that can go wrong!” Ruppus whispered awkwardly. “What if they scream like a banshee? What if they spread in all directions in order to alert the first person they can find? Then we’d be done for!”
“And there’s five of them! Five agents!” Emilia intervened, shaking uncontrollably as her eyes darted around. “We can’t do this!” She shouted. Luckily, the dwarves’ barriers seemed to have stopped any sound from leaking out. “I know, let’s just wait. We don’t have to attack right now, we can just hide for a few hours until Denmac spots a more favorable opportunity!”
Emilia’s plan made sense, but James didn’t want to do it that way. The fact that this seemed so impossible is what made it the perfect opportunity. The group thought that it was so impossible to kill five agents. But if he actually succeeded, it would be something that would change their entire outlook on the situation. It would probably be enough to shake off the effects of the Darkness on their minds.
The more he looked into their eyes, the more he became convinced that he needed to do this. They were in shock, the Darkness and the presence of so many agents had terrified them. He needed to snap them out of this.
And he needed to make it as flashy as possible. An image they won’t forget.
“I’ll do this all by myself, and I’ll do it right now” James declared nonchalantly.
“What? Are you crazy? Why not just wait for a more favorable opportunity?” Emilia shouted.
Denmac and the wizards also started begging him to reconsider.
“No, I don’t think we can do this. I know you’re strong, but we should wait. Please, James. Let’s be cautious” Bacchus said.
“Just stand back and watch. I didn’t say we will do this. I said I’ll do this.” James declared, his bloodlust shooting forth again, so powerful that Ruppus fell over.
Everybody went silent. But James didn’t look at them anymore. He looked at the agents.
Red sparks began materializing in his hand.