It wasn't time for sarcasm, but no one could blame Jake for his words when they stayed silent since those words depressed them as well… even more so when they heard the next report of the people that have fallen in that battle.
"Let's keep going. We still have a long path ahead of us," Jake said.
Despite Jake's assumptions, he couldn't help but frown… they covered an even larger distance than expected in the next twenty minutes… that was because they didn't find any monster or enemy blocking their path.
"The enemy must have organized all of their forces already…" Frederick said and then sighed. "We won't find them outside the area of the enemy base anymore. Might as well use this opportunity to rest and heal the wounded."
"Don't be slow while doing that. We don't want to give them the chance to ambush us here," Jake said.
"We only need half an hour," Frederick said, and then Lana and Louise, who could heal wounds, left with them.
Even just half an hour probably would be enough for a crazy army like the enemy's to organize their troops and surround them… that would be disastrous, given the difference in numbers… Still, Virgilius was there to avoid that.
"What can you see in the enemy's camp, Virgilius?" Jake asked.
"There is a barrier that prevents my magic surveillance from working on it. It has at least thirty kilometers of radius, so I can notice if they leave it to attack you all," Virgilius replied.
"I guess we can rest easy for a short while then…" Jake said and then sat down near a tree. "Better use your time wisely, kiddos."
Jake began to do some last-minute training to see if he could make his mana and dark flames work better together. If they could work well with dark mana blades, then that certainly wasn't a waste of time.
"Can't you make the dark flames work inside the blade of the sword?" Virgilius asked. "From what I saw until now, that should be possible, even if they don't have a non-physical resting form like mana."
"I already tried that, and I destroyed some weapons thanks to it," Jake explained. "If I could make my anger being transferred to the sword before activating the dark flames, it could work, but that isn't possible."
Jake wasn't the type to make practical progress while doing repetitive training, he was the type who makes progress while fighting for his life. Still, the level of the challenge this time was too high for him to be able to pull that off, and the stakes were higher as well. If he were alone, he wouldn't mind risking that much, but he couldn't now…
"I guess the original hypothesis is the only option available in this scenario," Virgilius said. "Based on your report, that technique was already beyond the level of your skill… if you truly had such good control of your magic, then perhaps you would have put up a fight against the shadow."
"I guess I can't deny your assumptions that I solve most things with brute strength when it matters… so I have to stock up enough mana inside the blade to do that, and you think that the dark flames will also be absorbed?" Jake asked.
"Yes," Virgilius replied.
Jake had some time to do that, so he began to infuse all of his mana in the sword while he was meditating as well. While he was doing that, Arilene kept her attention on the sword as she felt the energy inside growing and the weapon glowing as well… it felt like the weapon was growing in size as well, but that was only her imagination due to the aura inside.
"That isn't supposed to be something that anyone can pull it off… having mana beyond their limits also means that people would have a hard time controlling it," Arilene thought. "If people just suddenly got stronger or smarter, they would have a hard time making use of that. That is why people can only get stronger slowly…"
Still, Jake could pull that off because he had the sin skills and because his body could adapt to extra power received extremely fast. In any case, before he could complete his preparations, the others returned.
"Maybe we should wait for a little longer…" Arilene said.
"No need… we don't want to shock the enemies before we wipe out their leaders," Jake said after he got up. "So, I will complete this while we fight them."
"I don't know what you are planning, but if you think that is the best option and it is going to help, then fine by me," Frederick said. "We won't have time to stop anymore, and our goal is to defeat the shadow as soon as possible, so we will have to keep dashing ahead… we don't have time to eliminate all opponents."
"Since there is a chance that the target is controlling everyone there, then that probably is the best course of action," Louise said.
That was probably wishful thinking… things couldn't be that convenient. Even if they were, Jake could think of several ways for the enemy to use them and prevent their advance. Regardless, Frederick and the others realized that defeating all enemies with their numbers was close to impossible… so they were ready to make some sacrifices to achieve victory against their former allies.
"Virgilius, will we face problems trying to cross the barrier?" Jake asked.
"I don't think so. It is only a barrier to inform the enemy of invaders and to hide things inside from outside, after all," Virgilius said. "It is their final card to surprise invaders."
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