James had become increasingly sensitive to mana fluctuations, so he could feel the agents lying in wait, analyzing him before they decided to pounce.

The previous explosion had created an odd battlefield. Instead of the house which hid the underground facility, there was now a giant crater which exposed the facility to the elements.

Naturally, James planted himself out in the open. Being stuck underground would leave him little room for maneuvering.

James felt the insane pressure of the ever-increasing number of enemies, but he couldn’t make any big moves yet. Even though he probably wouldn’t have a chance to kill the most powerful of the agents right now, Garantep and the other big ones would most likely let their subordinates take care of the intruder, without any risk to themselves. But he still needed to wait for more agents to gather, he couldn’t show his hand yet.

He knew he needed to take down most of the enemy force in one fell swoop, otherwise this would just turn into a battle of attrition, and the numbers weren’t on his side. And these weren’t enemies that would just be taken down by his usual saw shenanigans.

Without warning, the attack began. Hundreds of spells were launched from all directions. As dark as the city was already, the spells seemed to absorb all light from their surroundings.

Even though James had several layers of barriers upon him, he couldn’t afford to get hit. These spells from ordinary agents would most likely not do all that much damage, but for his plan to work, he had to avoid most damage. He needed his barriers intact, all of them.

Instead, he infused so much mana into SARM, that every time it dodged for him, he was launched dozens of feet away.

And yet, even as their numbers were increasing each and every moment, he couldn’t put his plan into action yet. There just weren’t enough agents present yet. Hundreds of spells were flying at him, dozens of agents could be felt all around him, but he knew there would be so much more. And he couldn’t afford to just take out one wave, he needed to take out most of the enemy force in one fell swoop.

Seeing enemies all around him really made him want to use his Chaos Flower. That spell would tear them all to shreds, but as powerful as it was, it was just too unwieldy. Power meant nothing if they could just dodge and kite.

And that left him with one option. Forcing them to come at him.

He conjured a Chaos Javelin in each hand and launched them immediately. He could barely see through the Darkness, but he could feel the sources of the spells. He didn’t even need to open his eyes, the mana in the agent’s bodies was a dead give away to someone as sensitive to mana as him.

A moment later, two loud thumps were heard. James smiled, but that was just the beginning. He needed to force them to face him with their full might, instead of trying to slowly wear him down.

SARM was launching him uncontrollably as he kept feeding it mana, trying to dodge the hundreds of spells launched at him. As dizzying as it was, he had no other choice, this was the only way to avoid losing his barriers.

Luckily, his Chaos Javelins were easy to aim even while being flung around. As soon as he launched them, they would shoot out and hit their target a fraction of a second later. Two more thumps were heard as James fired his weapons while dashing through the air haphazardly.

Meanwhile, his teammates were all watching him from under Denmac’s stealth barrier.

“How can he even think while being flung uncontrollably like that?” Emilia asked.

“He’s used to it.” Helios answered with a grin. “He’s been flinging himself around the battlefield for months now.

“Although this time it does seem a bit more extreme.” Lunaris added as she was watching James snap back and forth every second at speeds that would break any normal mage’s neck in an instant.

“Shouldn’t we help him? There’s just too many of them, I feel them all around us.” Emilia asked as she looked from left to right. “There’s so many that I’m surprised they haven’t detected us.”

“I guess my stealth is good enough even against agents.” Denmac laughed. “When there’s someone to keep them occupied by recklessly fighting hundreds of them, that is.”

“I still say we should jump in. We can make a real difference.” Emilia insisted.

“No.” Helios immediately responded. “He asked us not to, so we’ll respect his wishes.”

The worry could be seen on Lunaris’s face as she carefully watched James’s every movement. But she just nodded along with Helios. “We must believe in him.”

“I say he’s actually doing a good job!” Ruppus intervened. “Every time one of those red flashes of light pops up, you can hear several bodies dropping.”

“Yes, but for every body that drops, two more take its place.” Eruditus said as he analyzed the fight attentively, scanning his surroundings like a hawk.

“Still, he is making progress. At this rate, they’ll change up their strategy soon enough.” Bacchus added as he was fueling mana into his runes which provided yet another layer of stealth in addition to Denmac’s barrier.

James was launching Chaos Javelins one after the other, and yet he wasn’t running out of mana. He could sense all the lifeless bodies around him, which was telling him that his plan was working.

Still, even with his unfair amount of mana, he was beginning to feel physically exhausted from all the dodging SARM was doing for him. Even though it allowed him to keep his barriers relatively untouched even while bombarded by hundreds of spells, being flung around for minutes on end was uncomfortable even for him, especially with how much power he had fueled to SARM now.

He was dodging the spells efficiently, but he physically couldn’t handle it for much longer. He had to make his move now. There still weren’t as many agents out there as he wanted, but there were enough.

Suddenly, James flung himself back into the underground facility.

“What is he doing? Is he crazy? That’s a death trap, he can’t dodge in there!” Emilia shouted. Luckily, the runes kept them stealthy despite the noise.

“Even worse, that’s where all the energy containers are. One wrong move and he’ll be cooked alive!” Denmac exclaimed.

The group was discussing anxiously, unsure about what to do.

But Lunaris and Helios were silent as they looked at each other, both of their faces white.

They finally realized what James had truly planned, and they knew they couldn’t help him now. They could only hope that he’d be alright.

As soon as James rushed back into the facility, he noticed dozens of agents already waiting for him. Naturally, they weren’t stupid enough to leave the containers unguarded. But he didn’t pay them any attention. He had more urgent things to do than deal with them.

Instead of using his Chaos Javelins to deal with the agents around him, James was spending mana on delaying the detonations, planting his Javelins near each energy container.

Even though the group couldn’t directly see him, they could follow his movements using their clairvoyance spells.

“That’s what he had planned? That’s crazy! So he was actually crazy all along!” Emilia shouted.

“That is … insane.” Denmac replied. “I mean, the idea probably popped into all our heads, but we immediately dismissed it as insanity. And yet, he’s actually doing it?” Denmac’s eyes were bulged as he was remotely viewing James’s insanity.

The three dwarfs were rowdily arguing with each other, trying to decide if James was actually insane or not.

But Helios and Lunaris were still silent and unmoving, watching him with bated breath.

James was launching himself across the underground facility, dodging the incoming spells as he was planting his Javelins near every container, not bothering to take down a single agent.

The agents were also on the move though. As soon as they saw him enter the underground facility, all of them rushed in.

They didn’t suspect he would actually be insane enough to try to destroy all the containers, the ensuing explosion would be enough to kill him a hundred times over.

The agents weren’t as stupid as to leave the containers completely undefended, so the dozens of agents that were already scattered across the underground facility were pouncing on James.

Their blades and spells were constantly scraping against James’s barriers, as much as he wanted to avoid that. But he had no time to deal with them, he needed to plant his explosives without delay. Hundreds of agents were pouring into the underground facility, snapping at his heels, trying to stop him from doing what he was about to do.

As they saw his Javelins being planted near the containers, they understood his plan immediately. Every agent went into a crazed frenzy, trying to stop him even harder than before.

James had a head start compared to the main force, but the dozens of agents that smartly decided to defend the facility were making his life miserable. His barriers were getting dimmer and slimmer with each passing moment as he was being attacked relentlessly.

But he still didn’t spare even a flick of the wrist to deal with the agents. He knew that his best chance at victory was to stick to his plan.

The underground facility was huge, housing thousands of energy containers. And the bigger problem was that they were separated into sections. The previous explosion didn’t just cause a chain detonation because of this separation into sections. And that was the only reason they were still alive. But now, this division meant that he had to meticulously plant Javelins in each section.

Still, his head start had given him an advantage, even though he was being stabbed at constantly. While spinning and darting around the facility, he had already planted hundreds of Javelins.