Even though James was sure that the stalkers did exist, he was stunned for a moment. He was sure of it, and yet he was also doubting his sanity. He really felt no sign of them.

Even though he was a dragon, James had been feeling like a mouse being chased by an invisible cat. But with Denmac’s help, they could finally put an end to this annoying situation.

“Did they sense you? Do they know that we know where they are?” James asked as he began conjuring his Javelins.

But before Denmac could even answer, James’s arm was cut off at the shoulder.

“Of course. How could one fight go by without me losing a limb?” James growled as he launched his Javelins randomly. Unfortunately, he still couldn’t see his enemies, nor where the attacks were coming from.

And for the first time in a long while, he felt genuine fear. Not for himself, but for his friends. He didn’t know how many enemies there were, where they were, or how powerful they were. But he knew for sure that they could kill most of his group in the blink of an eye.

Without even sparing a moment to protect himself, James slapped the barrier that Denmac and the Dwarves began conjuring, and poured as much mana into it as he could.

Space distorted around them as an ocean of mana flowed out of James. The seven began suffocating, the mana being so dense that it pushed even the air molecules out of the barrier for a moment. But they knew it was for their own good, so they ignored the oppressive feeling of their lungs burning, and kept strengthening the barrier.

But while James’s decision did ensure the safety of his friends, it also had consequences.

It didn’t take James more than 5 seconds to release on ocean of mana into the barrier. But that was a long time in a battle, especially when there are multiple enemies.

As soon as James had extended his hand to fuel the barrier, the attacks already began landing upon him from afar.

A dark arrow hit his remaining arm, blowing it off as if it had been hit by a cannon.

Luckily, he didn’t actually need his arm to use his spells, and he didn’t feel any pain either. But losing a limb was an uncomfortable and infuriating feeling nonetheless.

He didn’t have time to complain about it though. Before the five seconds were up, his legs had been blown off by arrows as well. With the aid of SARM, he was able to dodge any fatal injuries, limiting the damage to his limbs alone.

Still, he was now limbless yet again. And even though Lunaris was already pouring her healing into him, regrowing his hands with each passing moment, he wasn’t exactly in a good position.

He still couldn’t see his enemies, but he knew that it was about to get a lot of worse.

The fact that so far, the only attacks had been arrows, meant that the attacks were coming from quite a distance away. That could only mean one thing. The attacks would only get stronger.

James infused mana into SARM and launched his body towards the sky. A fraction of a second later, ten huge, smoldering craters formed at the spot he had just left.

“There you are!” James smiled devilishly.

Even now, he couldn’t see them. But he didn’t need to.

The arrows didn’t tell him much. The attackers could’ve been anywhere. But the craters weren’t something that could be created from afar. No, the attackers were right there, having tried to pulverize him with their own two hands.

Even though James had no Javelins or any other weapon at his disposal, a split second was all he needed.

While thanking his lucky stars for his awakening trait, James sacrificed 50 times in an instant, without feeling any pain at all. He could conjure hundreds of Javelins within seconds now, but he didn’t do that.

Instead, he only created one Javelin. He knew his enemies were fast, so he didn’t dare to waste even a millionth of a second.

He launched it right away. Immediately, the dark crimson rod shot towards the craters, creating an even deeper crater within an instant.

But it didn’t appear to have actually hit anything. There was no blood, no body parts, no creature in sight. It was as if he had hit the ground and nothing else.

But even though there was no visible sign of his enemy, James heard something. It was just for a split second, but he definitely heard it.

A hiss. A short, sharp hiss right as his Javelin reached its target.

James smiled. He knew what that meant. It was an all too familiar sound. That was the kind of hiss he’d make when he was in a great amount of pain. And he had plenty of experience with that.

“So you’re fast, powerful and even freaking invisible. But you still feel pain.” James grinned, and then he began laughing maniacally.

Pain was something that all living things had in common. Well, most of them. And like the mighty fish, he wasn’t in that list anymore.

But these guys were. No matter how much of a brutal murderer they were, nobody could completely ignore the pain of a Javelin’s hit, even if only a tiny percentage of the damage actually landed. Not even an agent could take that without showing signs of pain.

While it wasn’t much of a victory, James felt ecstatic. He could tell that the Javelin hadn’t actually done much damage. Definitely not enough to make any difference in the fight.

But it made all the difference in the world for his morale.

Not only did he now have a way to spot these invisible foes, even if for just a split second. But he also knew they were vulnerable. They weren’t some godly entity that resisted all damage. No, they were mortal. It could get hurt. And if a single Javelin hurt, then the rest of his unlimited god damn supply of mana will be a real lesson in pain.

He knew the battle wouldn’t be easy. But he couldn’t stop smiling. He felt fear for a few seconds, the first time in a long while. But now that he could envision a way towards victory, he was happy. Happy that he finally had a challenge, something that he had been desiring for quite a while.