The plan was risky, but after James’s display of dominance, the group wasn’t as worried anymore. They all had their doubts, including James himself. But they were rational doubts this time around. The Darkness wasn’t influencing their thoughts anymore, and they were able to actually strategize and plan things out without fear.

“We have two missions though.” Lunaris said. “Do we deal with Garantep first, or do we destroy the energy reservoirs?”

Everybody looked at James, waiting for his decision. He was the heavy hitter, the linchpin of their mission. So the burden of having to make a decision was on him.

James had struggled so hard to become powerful precisely to help people. And because of that power, people now expected him to lead. But he didn’t mind. His eccentric way of thinking always made him do things his own way. Therefore, leading was natural to him. He was used to making his own decisions, and he could make decisions for the group just as easily.

The plan was quite shaky though. He was confident in his own abilities, but the mission was just so seemingly impossible that he couldn’t guarantee success. Still, he didn’t hesitate. Decisions had to be made, so he made them.

“I’ve been thinking about it, and sabotaging their energy supply can be pretty easy, actually. I think we should do that first.” James declared.

“But destroying that much energy is bound to attract a lot of attention. The noises, the explosions – the entire city would be on high alert for weeks until the perpetrator was found.” Lunaris replied.

“Yeah, I know. But I think I have enough mana to circumvent that.” James answered with a smile.

“What do you mean?” A second later, Lunaris realized what he was implying. A gasp escaped her unwittingly. “Delayed detonation? You’d need a lot more than saws to blow that much energy up, the sheer cost of delaying a spell big enough to do the job for so long would be unimaginable!”

“I’m sure I have the mana for it. If there’s one thing I have, it’s mana.”

“I know that if anyone can do it, it’s you. But you know that delaying a spell’s impact for an extended period of time basically means constantly spending mana to keep the spell from dissipating. Even for you, that would take a whole lot of mana! The bigger the spell, the more it will cost. What if we don’t find Garantep for days? Will you keep fueling the spell for that long?” Lunaris shook her head. “Not even you can afford that, surely!”

“I only really need to delay the spell until we enter Garantep’s lair. After that, the explosion can actually help us, the distraction and chaos caused by it will work in our favor. Besides, I regenerate mana quite quickly too. Should be enough to keep the spell fueled. The thing is, if we attack him first, God knows what they’ll do to the energy supply. They might even move it out of the city as soon as they detect an attack.” James replied.

Lunaris shook her head, but it wasn’t because of what James was saying. He was right, and that just showed how difficult the mission was. “Normally I’d be against a delayed detonation for many reasons, there’s just too many things that can go wrong. But for something as important as the energy reserves, they’re bound to have various security measures. If we are detected elsewhere, we can forget about the chance to get to them. They’d definitely increase security tenfold, so we need to deal with the energy first.”

“There are many things that can go wrong, but we have no other choice. Does everyone agree?” James asked the group.

Everybody nodded. As risky and full of holes as the plan was, it was also their best option. They’d just have to do their best to avoid detection.

It was also far better than letting those monsters keep the energy, so they didn’t have the option to just cancel the mission. The horrors they could unleash on their homelands by using it was enough to convince them to embark even on such a foolhardy mission.

“I’m sure you can do it, brother!” Helios gave James the thumbs up. “And I’ll be right there next to you. Even if it doesn’t all go according to plan, we’ll just kick all of their asses! All thousand of them!” Helios laughed, his eyes already turning into fire as he was imagining the massacre they would unleash on these monsters.

After the brother bumped fists and headbutted each other, the group was about to officially start their mission. But Lunaris, the most level-headed and organized of the three, remembered something.

“Wait. James, you killed five agents. Didn’t you level up from that?” She asked with grin, about to burst into laughter. As powerful as James had become, he was still her forgetful little toddler.

James suddenly turned white. There were so many things on his mind that he completely forgot to check.

The face he made when he opened his status window made Lunaris and Helios burst into laughter again.

“Come on, don’t keep us guessing. Tell us what level you are!” Helios laughed.

James felt a weird mix of embarrassment and excitement. “Level 185!” He announced.

Helios and Lunaris were quite surprised. Even if he did kill five agents, that was a lot of xp, especially since each level required more and more.

But the rest of the group were the ones that were really surprised.

“He’s that strong and he’s only level 185?” Emilia shouted. “Impossible! Even I’m level 210! Is this a prank? No one can be that strong at that level! What is he, a God? A prince of some distant empire?”

The three dwarf wizards knew how powerful James was, but they had never asked for his level either. Dwarves weren’t a race to make a faux pas like that. They were so astonished that they were about to pull out a microscope and start inspecting him right then and there. This man was a true enigma!

“All right, all right. Let’s get going guys.” James chuckled happily. Even though his supply of mana already felt like it was endless, with the added levels, he could feel the vast ocean within him becoming even deeper. His build was so weird that he didn’t depend on levels, but even though they weren’t the biggest source of his strength, they sure were welcome.

This was a great way to start the mission. An uplifting note that would boost their mood and morale.

Not only was it nice to make some progress, but the effects of progressing were multiplicative. He was so powerful now that each percentage of power he gained from leveling up would add up quickly. Just thinking about the snowball effect that leveling up would have upon his overall power made James begin dancing along with the dwarves. Like compound interest, the rewards would just keep growing better and better.

With everybody excited and pumped up, they finally decided to enter the Stygian city.

Naturally, they couldn’t just walk through the front gates. Even if they cast their best stealth skill onto themselves, they’d be detected immediately.

But they hadn’t killed the five agents for nothing. Using the memories Denmac sifted through, they made their way to a part of the city that had a lower concentration of agents, and they catapulted themselves over the walls as Denmac scanned their surroundings with his divination.

Not that the agents were actually expecting anybody reckless enough to infiltrate a Stygian city.

Even though the city had plenty of defenses, and it wasn’t totally unheard of for an unusually strong or just reckless mage to go on a mission or a personal vendetta. It was still very rare, enough that the security wasn’t completely airtight. The agents themselves were more of a threat to each other than any random mage. So the powerful agents were more concerned with their own protection, rather than the protection of the city as a whole.

But even though they had made their way into the city with surprising ease, the group didn’t dare to be careless. Their plan wasn’t perfect, so they had to at least try to maximize their chances.

Their behavior was entirely different compared to how they acted just minutes ago.

Nobody made a sound. When they talked, they chose to spend mana to send the thoughts directly into the others’ heads, not daring to even whisper.

Even James was cautious. His perception hadn’t been the best in the past, so he knew it was very important for him to be exceedingly observant this time around.

He was confident he would be able to kill the average agent in just one attack. But he still couldn’t underestimate them. If they saw him before he did, and acted before he could attack them, the group could find themselves surrounded by hundreds of agents within minutes.

Helios could warn him if he spotted any agents, but even that might not be fast enough. In the split second it would take for Helios to inform him, the agent might’ve sent word of their presence already.

And even if they executed everything perfectly, there were still countless things that could go wrong.

But in spite of that, James was calm. He had made the best decisions with the information they had available, now he just had to execute the plan. Worrying would just decrease his effectiveness.

As they walked around, they realized that the city was even more infested by the Darkness than the surrounding lands. The concentration of Darkness was so thick that there was a constant drizzle over the city, dripping concentrated liquid Darkness all over the landscape. The rain alone was probably enough to seriously hurt a lesser mage.

The buildings were covered in a thick, dark goo that seemed to fill the cracks and burns caused by the noxious rain. The ground was caked in a black tar that emanated a nauseating aura. As depressing as the mere sight was, it was the aura that was even more suffocating.

Luckily, they all came prepared. They were all sufficiently powerful to survive the pressure, and they had plenty of barriers to keep them safe.

James’s previous display of power still shone in their minds, preventing them from falling into despair, despite the Darkness constantly knocking into their minds. Being in this city still weighed on them, it was inevitable, but now they had faith in themselves.

But James, Helios and Lunaris were standing tall, seemingly completely unaffected by the weight of the city. The difficulty of the mission was not lost on them, they knew they had a tough road ahead. But as long as they were next to each other, they felt like they could deal with anything.