On the very next day, the group found another obstacle on their path. It was a relatively small town. If their goal was to invade and conquer, taking that place would be easy, but that wasn't their goal. In any case, dealing with a small town would be a bit more troublesome, even though Billy had two ways to deal with the situation. The second seemed better, but he decided to hold that idea for an emergency and he used the difficult one instead. Billy's idea was… To make rain like hell in the area.
For someone who used ThunderStorm to fry some dragons, making it pour was easy. Billy created some clouds when night fell and made them move to the town… Once that happened, he made it rain and that decreased the visibility of the people around, the rain also erased the footsteps that they left behind.
In any case, using both tactics, Billy and the rest of the group reached the capital of that state after six days. It was a bit slower than anticipated, but it couldn't be helped since they moved and fought at night. Although they didn't find a castle or something like that, they found a place with some crazy tall walls. They were probably made by magic since they looked sturdy as hell and were almost one hundred meters tall. Even from away, Billy could see many guards patrolling the walls and they looked rather focused. Invading from above will be difficult and if they don't solve things fast, things will escalate into a complicated fight. Still, hoping to defeat the summoner that fast was quite stupid.
"We are here now, what is the plan?" Svan asked.
"I am not sure… I suppose we can split into two groups, diversion, and infiltration," Beatrice said. "The first group will cause a ruckus and the second will infiltrate and assassinate the leader of this state."
That was easier said than done… someone with the power to control numerous beasts every single day, someone who could even summon dragons… could such a person be assassinated by ordinary people? Even with his new skills, Billy wasn't certain that he could achieve that. Still, he didn't have any other idea… It would be better to follow that plan and if things get dicey, force the summoner to move the battle to another place. That will be for the best and Billy won't have to worry too much about hiding his skills.
"It would be better if the assassination team was formed by me, Icarus, and Lucyna, but they won't suddenly appear now and I won't be able to convince the others to let that happen, they are strangers, after all," Billy thought. "I will have to make it do with what I have here."
It was noon, but thanks to the grasslands around and the map that they used, they found a path that one in the city was able to see them approaching. They even managed to set a camp and rest for a while. Billy, Svan, and Beatrice approached the city to study its layout, which would help them decide how they should approach with their next steps. During that time, they suddenly saw many beasts emerging from the center of the city and then heading toward the south. Instead of doing anything, Beatrice just shook his head. They had to conserve all the energy for the mission, so they couldn't fight there.
"I am fairly good at invading walled cities, so I can say that this will be tough," Svan said. "We don't have the numbers, and the walls are too tall and sturdy. All directions are well guarded as well. With Billy's speed, he can probably go in and attack the target, but we will be in a bad spot."
Billy could create an underground path, but Svan probably was thinking that it would consume too much mana, and he would need that to face the enemy. Billy was thankful for that because he didn't want to show that skill to Beatrice, he might someday have to steal the relic of the temple city, after all. He couldn't leave any traces or thoughts that he was the one who did that.
"What do you think, Billy?" Beatrice asked. "This mission is to protect my state and people, so I don't think that I should send you alone. It wouldn't be fair and that kind of victory isn't something that we want. Also, you need some support against this man who can summon monsters like it is nothing."
Billy considered his options, against a summoner, fighting alone wasn't wise. He needed some backup against his beasts. Unless the summoner calls some dragons, he was fairly certain that Svan could take anything else. Still, he would need the support of someone like Beatrice since she had amazing healing skills and she could fight as well.
"I suppose… our team is already small, to begin with, no need to make it smaller," Billy said. "I can help you guys obtain the speed that you will need to cross the city without being noticed but you won't be able to use that speed for longer. Let's do some test runs before the real thing starts."
Billy used Speed Support and even Destructive Aura on them, while Speed Support had a predetermined duration, Destructive Aura could last as Billy uses more mana on the spell. In any case, as one would expect, they tripped and collided against trees many times thanks to the boost in speed and all of their parameters, but slowly they got used to it. Svan was getting used too fast, and Billy ended up helping him understand the basics of Destructive Aura, even though that wasn't his intention.
"I see… so that is how it is… quite the novel idea, but hard to pull off," Svan said.
Beatrice didn't understand, but she was quite excited about the temporary boost in power. It was probably because Svan could use Fierce Aura, to begin with.
