The group was staring at James in awe. An overwhelming sense of fear took over them. They didn’t know what to think or feel at the moment, their thoughts and emotions barely even felt like their own.

In these dark lands where barely any light leaked through, with the air heavy and toxic, surrounded by agents, they were beginning to feel genuine despair and regret that they came on this mission.

And now this madman wants to attack five agents, all by himself. Was he crazy or just stupid? Either way, they were horrified, trembling uncontrollably.

Only Helios and Lunaris believed in him.

“Should I join you, brother?” Helios asked in a serious tone.

“No. I have to do this on my own. Only that will be able to snap them out of this fear. I don’t know if it’s just the Darkness influencing their minds, or maybe the situation is just that scary for them, but they need something to inspire them and shield them from that fear. If they see me do something that they insist is impossible, all by myself, then that will shatter whatever took ahold of them.”

The brothers clasped hands and butted heads, something they did before almost any big battle. And in their life, big battles were quite a common occurrence.

Lunaris came over and touched his chest, applying a quick buff on him. “I know you can do it. There’s not a single doubt in my mind.”

James nodded and smiled. These two weren’t his friends, they were his family. Even if he made thousands of friends in the future, Lunaris and Helios would always remain the closest of family he’d ever have in this world.

With a final nod, he turned around. The red sparks in his hand quickly turned into a full-blown Chaos Javelin.

Without a hint of hesitation, he launched himself forward. Denmac had parked them hundreds of feet away from the agents, in fear that they’d be detected if they got any closer.

But with his newly strengthened body, and with SARM pushing him forward, James covered the distance in a flash.

The agents weren’t pushovers. As soon as James launched himself forward, they had already reacted.

Four of them were attacking James, dozens of dark spells flying towards him. And the fifth agent was fleeing to warn the others.

Even though James was much faster than before, many of the agents were just as fast, and some even faster. He was still a mage after all.

Bu James was more than fast enough to be a threat, even without the various ways he could enhance his speed. And more importantly, his spells were even faster than he himself was.

As soon as he launched himself, James sacrificed part of his health, but making sure it wasn’t enough to activate [Reckless Abandon] yet, only conjuring his barrier.

The pain from the sacrifice was substantial, but James didn’t pay it any heed, it didn’t even make him blink. At this point, the pain from the sacrifice was barely enough for his mind to even bother sparing it a second of thought, even though he could feel his body trembling a bit as a sheer physiological response.

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With his Chaos Barrier activated, James didn’t even bother looking at the incoming spells.

His eyes were fixed on the fleeing agent, but not for long.

James released his Javelin, and there was nothing to fix his eyes on any longer.

Before he could even blink, the agent was dead.

The Chaos Javelin had passed through his chest, vaporizing his heart instantly. No matter how fast he was, he couldn’t outrun James’s quickest spell.

Suddenly, the other agents stopped in their tracks. The spells they had launched still flew ahead, and they watched them hit James’s barrier. They barely made a single crack.

They stood there motionless, not sure how to proceed. They couldn’t even make noise to call for help, Denmac had specifically chosen a group that was farther off from any other groups of agents.

And clearly, they couldn’t just outrun this attacker either. They stood there, unable to compute this unprecedented turn of events. They were agents. Predators. They spent their entire life hunting people. They were unstoppable, unbeatable entities. Just a tinge of their aura made people shake in their boots.

But now, for the first time in their lives, they found themselves in the opposite situation. They understood right away that they were the ones being hunted now. They could feel it from his aura. The hunter was brazenly standing in front of them, staring at them, not even blinking an eye. He wasn’t even attacking them, as if taunting them to make a move.

But as surprised as the agents were, James’s group were in just as much of a shock.

The three dwarves had trained with James for three months, and they had seen his abilities and how much mana he had. But they were still unable to fully believe what was happening.

Denmac had seen James struggle so much against the agent three months ago, he couldn’t comprehend how he had progressed so much. Just how much stronger were his spells now? He defeated an agent in a second! Denmac was staring slack-jawed at him, unable to close his mouth no matter how much he tried.

Emilia was just stunned speechless. She had joked about James’s untamed, enormous aura, but there were plenty of people out there that had imposing auras. She hadn’t imagined that this awkward guy was so incredibly powerful. Taking an agent out in a single spell was something she hadn’t ever thought would be possible. The only mages capable of such things would be ones that were known across the world. If she hadn’t seen it with her own two eyes, she’d never believe it.

Helios and Lunaris were smiling proudly. Even though there were still four agents left, they weren’t worried. If James insisted that he could do it, then they trusted him completely.

The agents stood there, staring at James. They didn’t move a single finger, trying to compute their circumstances and figure a way out before daring to make the tiniest movement.

But no matter how much they thought, they couldn’t see any other way out. The red flash that had killed their companion was so quick that they were barely able to see a blur. They definitely couldn’t outrun that.

And so they chose the only option they had left. Suddenly, the ground, trees and even the very air began vibrating. The Darkness in the surroundings instantly became much thicker, creating a dense, dark cloud in a large area around the agents. But its effects were so potent that it became hard to breathe even hundreds of feet away, where the group was stationed.

Dozens of empowered Dark spells were launched at James, cracking his shield with every touch.

James didn’t even blink though. With his eyes still fixed on the agents, two red lights flashed in his hands. An instant later, they had struck within the cloud of Darkness.

Two thuds were heard, and suddenly the cloud of Darkness became much smaller.

Panicked, the remaining two agents burst out of the cloud from opposite directions, making their way towards James in a pincer movement.

James knew right away that their speed was much higher than his. But he didn’t panic.

With a mocking smile, he sacrificed his health again, activating [Reckless Abandon].

He didn’t even bother dodging. With the newfound power and speed boost from [Reckless Abandon], he conjured two flashes of red light in his hands, launching them before they were even fully formed.

In fractions of a second, the remaining two agents dropped dead to the ground, with already cauterized holes in their chests where their hearts had been just moments ago.