[At least you killed him in a way that left his clothing intact.]
'I admit it looks good, but do I really care how the clothing looks when not a single living person can see it?'
Jane was pulling clothes off of the corpse, and unfamiliarly putting them on. It was a little difficult, though, since he couldn't see at all. He was a little scared of not being concealed after having been attacked out of nowhere.
The anonymous man's Manaheart was turned into yet another magical tool for physical reinforcement. Due to the extreme strength of the magic he had been attacking bases with, there was a real possibility of someone vaporizing him without any warning. The only way to prevent that was with the use of unreasonably strong reinforcement magic.
'Hmm.'
Jane melted the remaining metal, and poured it onto his back. After it cooled, it stayed put without any extra movement.
[With such a sense of fashion... No wonder why you walked around naked.]
---
'It won't stay this easy forever.'
[Of course. We've been getting by with strategy for now, but our strength does not match our results at all.]
'I get it. Attacking from the air might be dangerous this time.'
His target was around 300 merds away, so he still had time to think.
'How strong are their defenses?'
[Dozens of mages combined their strengths to fortify this base. Teleportation must be more or less impossible.]
'My only advantage is that I get to attack first.'
He didn't need to wipe out the base like he did before, and it wouldn't have been doable for him at this point. Each mage he killed would reduce the strength of their defenses, so even getting one kill in would be a success. However, he didn't have the time to slowly whittle down the enemy forces. This time, he was aiming to kill about half of them.
[They definitely know that the one attacking used to be me. Well, in their case, they still think it is.]
'If it were Vanessa, they would expect a long-range attack of either ice or negated 'Flesh'... But since they know that we know that they know, it might be more subversive to actually use those attacks. Hmm. If it's the latter, then using such a thing would eliminate almost the entire base. I see.'
[The fact is, the only attacks I have that can wipe out the base are of those two kinds. Therefore, they must have defended against those to a degree where their effectiveness is the same as if I used any other element.]
'How do they know we're not the First Magician?'
[If we were, they would be undoubtedly dead. They simply have no other choice but to believe the assailant is me.]
Only around a hundred merds remained between them and their destination. Jane reasoned that their defenses did not extend anywhere outside of their actual base, simply for efficiency. This meant that he could get fairly close without being attacked.
'A spear of bone would bypass most defenses, but they definitely have precautions against mass-based attacks. Maybe "Air"... No, it's likely that they're using "Breath" instead of breathing circulated air. Suffocating them won't work.'
[Negated runes will work the best for attacks, but we'll need to get close to actually use any.]
'Then I'll get close.'
Jane approached the stronghold, still under the influence of the locket. It had grand cobblestone walls, but neither a moat nor a gate. It was obviously an exclusive spot for magicians.
'By the way, what is this place? It seems somewhat important.'
[It's a noble's castle.]
'Oh. Nobles are related to your religion, too?'
[They're discreet about it, but yes.]
'Which ones?'
[You don't know a damn thing about nobles, so why would I tell you?]
Outside the walls, guards were living in tents and such, and a regular force patrolled in circles. They all had a rather jaded expression from days of imminent death.
'Well... I don't think they'll end up dying, so I don't have to feel too bad.'
[You would feel bad?]
'A little, I guess.'
Talking was not actually necessary for them, since they already knew all of each other's thoughts. However, it stabilized Vanessa's ego and made Jane a little less lonely, so both of them tacitly agreed to keep their conversations going.
[Lonely... heh.]
'What is it, something about stones and houses of glass?'
Jane came to the conclusion that since he was lonely, that meant Vanessa had to have been lonely as well.
[Yours can be fixed, at least.]
Already, Jane had reached the walls of the stronghold, and was dodging the guards as he circled around. In comparison to the heavily-plated guards, he looked quite out of place.
'Shit—'
He strengthened his legs, but barely felt any strength arise from the dense magic. From all sides, grim-faced soldiers were rushing to his location. Some of them were drawing swords and other mundane weapons.
[Not a bad plan. There most likely won't be any mages joining in.]
'Right, more than all of the runes I know should be sealed within this area. Well, except for the ones the soldiers need to live.'
Jane focused on his soul core, and looked at the soldiers. From their bodies, there was a faint flow of mana constantly leaving then entering through their Manahearts.
'Shit, they went that far?'
Since he had protected himself so thoroughly, the offensive effects of the negated runes did not compromise his own health. Relying on his advantage of being physically reinforced, Jane poured every last drop of his remaining mana into strengthening his body.
[We need to be careful. The moment they lift the restrictions, the mages will come out with their most powerful spells.]
"You lot, you assume I don't have any hand-to-hand combat skills? Come at me!"
Jane did not, in fact, have any hand-to-hand combat skills. However, his bluff inflicted significant doubt in the hearts of the already weary soldiers. Their expressions were full of spite for the employers who they believed had sent them to die. A booming voice coming from the top of the walls shook them out of their stupor.
"You think you'll live even if you run from here? Anyone who runs will be used for our experiments!"
"I killed hundreds of mages with a single attack. You think I care how many of you attack me?"
While grandstanding to hide his poor situation, Jane rushed forward and struck the foremost soldier in the sternum. The poor man's chestplate split right in two, and he was sent flying into the encroaching mass of assailants. If they were not being magically reinforced, a majority of the army would have been immediately killed.
"Ahahaha!"
[Acting like that, while in that body... You should have put me to sleep for good.]
"Shit! We can't win against her!"
"Bastard, we don't have a choice— Ahhh!"
Jane sent another soldier into a dubious state, while laughing manaically. It worked well on the frazzled men, but he was seriously embarrassed.
'If I kill all of them... No, that wasn't the plan.'
In the first place, he was only attacking this stronghold to eliminate the hostiles within. The private army caught up in the conflict had no personal reason to go after him, and it might even worsen his position if he killed them. Becoming a war criminal would make life significantly harder, even once he murdered all of the opposition.
[There's a solution you're not seeing here.]
Jane glanced at the castle wall.
'You're right.'
Then, he squatted down and jumped all the way over.