“Shit!” Edward exclaimed.

Everybody stared at him since they couldn’t see what had happened. As all attention was gathered on him, Edward explained “I lost the bomb. My clone got destroyed by a sneak attack from a giant snail. I wasn’t able to react in time.”

I can’t afford to lose bombs. This is the worst scenario. Even with all the bombs, Ignis wants to add additional clones because he thinks our firepower is lacking. If we lose bombs our plan is bound to fail before it even begins.

“Sorry guys. I will summon another clone to retrieve it.” Edward apologized.

“No” Ignis cut him with a tone that implied this decision was final. “Adotinus, you go and retrieve that bomb. Edward, you make a clone to accompany him.” He paused “Losing the bomb is something we failed to anticipate. Clearly Edward you are already reaching your limit in terms of control. The longer we delay the more probable it is for your other clones to be discovered. If you go by yourself to fight that monster it will only make us lose time. We can’t afford to waste time now. Those monsters are mindless but if that creature that killed the Vega patriarch discovers our bombs, he will realize something is amiss.”

“Don’t sweat about it, I will clean this mess.” Adotinus declared almost happily since he had been itching for a fight for some time now.

Ignis’s gaze landed on him. “Do be careful. It is too early to stir things. We don’t know what that creature is doing right now but it is somewhere within the mist. You have to be swift and not too flashy.”

Adotinus grimaced. “You know that’s not my style, but I will do my best.”

“Actually, I didn’t notice it before because I was busy trying to find out how to solve this situation. But now that we have a plan, I can’t help but think something is fishy there. The creature who defeated us is sentient. It has taken over the capital within days and hasn’t done anything much since then. If I were him, I would have struck the other cities of the empire as fast as possible so they don’t have time to react.” Ignis added.

Edward’s head rose sharply. “While I was fighting a Manticore I had to go in the air and I saw a structure within the mist. I didn’t investigate since I sense malicious intent coalesce on me, but I think this structure is linked to the mist.”

Ignis’ eyes narrowed. “Is that so? Then we change our plan, we will add another clone to explode in the air to target the structure you spoke of. This clone will be the last one to be put in place since he will probably be detected immediately.”

Edward nodded. “All right, just don’t expect me to fight. It’s the first time I’m working with so many clones and my focus is getting split so many times that it’s getting hard to manage. Even making them detonate all at the same time will be a struggle.”

Ignis smiled. “Thank you, your efforts won’t be in vain.”

With that Adotinus finally left with one of Edward’s clones in tow, the latter guiding him to where the bomb had been lost. Adotinus had no trouble following the clone since it couldn’t teleport. Once they were close enough to the spot the bomb had been lost, Edward’s clone stayed hidden inside a building while Adotinus went on the hunt for the giant snail.

Adotinus activated his powers, his body almost doubling in size as he became a hulking figure three meters in size. It didn’t end there, lightning embraced his body, adding a defensive layer while also increasing his speed. The mist sizzled to nothing when it touched it.

So that’s what the buffing power becomes when one reaches the patriarch level. It’s impressive and dangerous when added to its speed. He can hit strong and fast, it’s basic but effective.

Adotinus flashed away, leaving Edward’s perception.

It’s infuriating knowing that he is close by, probably fighting that snail right now and I’m not able to sense anything. It brings me back to the time when I was but at the quiescent level unable to use my aura.

Edward had no other choice but to wait, with his focus split, and with what little power his clone possessed right now he wouldn’t be able to help in the fight at all.

It was only a good ten minutes later that Adotinus came back with the bomb. “Those things aren’t that strong but they take time to take down,” he complained while handing over the bomb to Edward’s clone. “The longest part of the fight was breaking through those layers of acid bubbles protecting it without getting injured in the process. You should hurry, I took too much time, other monsters can arrive at any time. I’ll go in another direction and fight the first monster I see, it should draw them to me while you go to your destination.”

Edward’s clone nodded before moving on his way with the bomb in hand. Back in their hideout Edward reported the situation. “Adotinus managed to take down that monster and bring back the bomb. I’m moving to the designed destination. He will provide a small distraction before coming back.”

“Good,” Ignis praised, although his eyes remained cold and calculative, weighing the risks of the operation.

Edward had to wait for some time for the area to be clear when crossing from one house to the next. With the previous fight, the number of monsters in the area had increased. But his patience paid off and he was able to reach his objective without any more trouble.

Not losing any time, Edward formed his ninth clone to carry one more bomb. While Edward was navigating his clone through the city, Adotinus came back. “Damn, there sure are a lot of them. The streets were almost empty when I left to retrieve the bomb but it was a chore to come back. Monsters kept popping left and right. I had no choice but to run away. Even the Triton Plaza Hotel got destroyed during the brawl. Those Manticores pack a lot of punch.” He sighed. “I loved that establishment.”

Edward ignored him, focused on his own problems, and he even closed his eyes to remove one additional field of vision. His attention was split enough that he didn’t need to get distracted. With the increase in monster activity, his task had become more difficult. Some monsters were even entering the buildings now, seemingly searching for something. As several spiders were stepping inside an apartment that one of his previous clones carrying a bomb was hiding within, Edward had to innovate and use the new shadow cloak spell that he had just learned.

It was the first time that he was using a spell through his clones. Before he only had the increased perception spell and the telepathy one which used the mind of the user, which meant Edward’s main body, rendering the use of clones completely redundant.

Under the effect of the spell, a veil of shadows covered the clone as he stayed immobile within the darkness becoming invisible. The spiders walked but one meter away from it but they didn’t notice him and left through a window, climbing up the wall to reach the roofs.

That was a close one. Those monsters are not behaving randomly anymore. The hand behind the curtain is manifesting itself. It senses that something is amiss, but it hasn’t understood our plan yet, otherwise, it would be a lot more frantic.

Due to the monsters becoming more active, it took hours for the ninth clone to reach his destination. All the while Edward had to make sure that his other clones weren’t discovered. Multitasking for so long was giving him a headache, something he hadn’t experienced for a long time.

But the hardest part was over, when he sent his tenth clone carrying the last bomb at his disposal the monster activity had dropped down somewhat. The streets were deserted once again, and the monsters stopped actively searching for prey. Edward still maintained his caution, if another of his clone got destroyed, he could bet that the monsters wouldn’t stop enquiring before they managed to find something. It might even be enough to draw the attention of the mastermind personally. Edward had no margin of error anymore.

Edward continued his task silently while tension grew in the hidden basement. His allies couldn’t follow what was happening, all they knew was that Edward needed more time to place his clones.

“The tenth clone is in place,” he finally declared, opening his eyes.

“Good it is now our time to participate in the effort,” Ignis stated. “We will charge your clone with power. You tell us when you reach your limit.”

Edward nodded, another clone appearing wordlessly in front of him and taking one step forward the emperor. The latter place his palm onto the clone’s torso and infused him with his aura. With each stage he had overcome Edward had been able to control more and more aura. And this time he didn’t even need to actually control it, all that was needed was to contain it for long enough so that the clones exploded at their designed position. More and more energy gathered into the clone until he was practically glowing.

“I won’t be able to control any more than that,” Edward told them as the combined aura of the clone surpassed the total of his aura at maximal capacity. He looked at his clone. “Actually, I think the discreet option is out of the window. It’s better if we sent those clones all at once. Adotinus you can charge a clone as well.”

In the end, Edward added three clones, all overcharged with Ignis and Adotinus’ aura. Given that it wasn’t possible for them to stay unnoticed it was decided that they would simply go in the center of the capital and charged into the air before detonating. Their target was the mysterious structure hidden within the mist and it didn’t matter if monsters were pursuing them as long as they made it.

Everything was ready, the plan could go in motion. The three clones charged out right from the middle of a street, not bothering to hide. Under Edward’s command, they formed aura steps, quickly rising into the air. At the same time, Edward instructed the ten other clones to prime the bombs.

Hiding was over.

Even as the clones overflowing with packed aura rose into the air, the mist seethed with furry. It had first been disturbed by Edward’s entrance while he had been searching for the patriarch, and once more with Adotinus’s excursion. Now that it had found the prey that was eluding it before, it erupted into a frenzy. Monsters formed left and right.

However, monsters formed directly from the mist took more time to manifest the more powerful they were. By the time monsters strong enough to attack or pursue them into the air had formed, the clones were already in view of the mysterious platform floating within the mist. Edward could feel malice congealed onto them.

Before the one behind the mist could do anything, the clones released their energy all at once in a tremendous explosion, and a bright light washed over everything as Edward lost connection with them.