Becoming a god starts with enhancing fire arrows.

As his mental energy slowly extended, Rhodes felt that sense of chaotic emptiness return.

It's like a toddler who has just learned to talk opening a book of advanced mathematics.

Immediately afterwards, I felt my mental energy being violently repelled and ejected from the scroll.

Still not working?

Rhodes set the reel aside and ignored it.

Thanks to the meditation I just did, I'm not sleepy at all now.

He walked to the window and looked at the night view outside.

The moon was obscured by thick clouds, and a damp fog rose over the town, reducing visibility.

The houses in the distance were reduced to dark, blurry shadows.

We had already agreed with Avira that we would leave town again at dawn, and time was running out.

After tonight, there will be only six days left before the goblin alliance attacks.

Rhodes plans to perform one or two more enhancements in the remaining time, and ideally, Avira can also break through to the intermediate level in battle.

This would increase the chances of winning the battle to defend the town.

In fact, in such wars, the decisive factor is the mid-level experts.

The town's only two mid-level elites are both missing, while the other side must have mid-level elites, though it's unknown how many.

Moreover, Cassandra is a Chief-level player.

But will she actually make a move?

They will continue to hide their strength to avoid being taken seriously.

The town's forces should now consist only of human guards from the Sunset District.

It's now certain that the lizardmen will absolutely not join the fight.

Oh right, there's also a group of adventurers who will probably volunteer to join the battle to protect the town.

There should be some elite adventurers among them; if they could hold off a mid-level one if they teamed up in twos and threes...

If a top-tier expert intervenes, the town's defeat should come very quickly.

Forget it, I'm not going to sleep.

That's just how Rhodes is; he can't stop thinking about things once he starts.

The more I thought about it, the more energetic I became, so I simply picked up the Magic Mark again and started meditating.

With a major battle imminent, every bit of improvement in strength is welcome.

Mental energy probed into the magical engravings, slowly moving along the intricate patterns on them.

Until the moon slowly set outside the window.

Rhodes has completed two more cycles of meditation.

A soft knock sounded at the door.

Rhodes stretched, looking refreshed, and opened the door.

Outside the door stood Ivira, holding a greatsword in one hand and a helmet in the other.

"Aren't we supposed to leave very early in the morning?"

"Why aren't we ready yet?"

"Almost done, almost done." Rhodes quickly shook Paril awake and then picked up the robe and put it on.

That's the advantage of being a mage; you can change your gear in less than three seconds.

Unlike these soldiers, who had to put on their armor piece by piece every time they set off.

A moment later, the three of them were walking in the town.

The fog is thicker now than it was last night.

Basically, it's blurry and indistinct from 20 meters away.

This kind of weather seems more suitable for a surprise attack.

Rhodes pondered for a moment, then turned his gaze to Avira: "How long until you break through to the intermediate level?"

"It's impossible within six days."

Avira seemed grumpy when she woke up, and also seemed to hate the thick fog; her face showed displeasure.

She thought for a moment, then spoke up to remind Rhodes:

"Oh, right."

"In the battle six days from now, remember to avoid showing yourself in the early stages of the battle."

Rhodes retorted, puzzled, "Why?"

"In the early stages of a battle, before the two sides are fully engaged and the distinction between friend and foe is clear, this is the best time to use wide-area damage spells."

"Once the two sides engage in close combat, the mage's room for maneuver becomes quite limited."

When Avira saw that she was being questioned, she became even more dissatisfied: "Nonsense, even a brainless goblin would understand such a simple principle."

"This is unlike any battle you've ever experienced before."

"You have no idea how dangerous mages are in war."

Rhodes was taken aback.

Avira is right. Neither small-team battles nor being chased by the snake people can be considered a real battle.

The only battle I've participated in with over a hundred participants from each side was the one where the earth spirits launched a sneak attack.

He looked at Avira with a sincere expression: "I'd like to hear the details."

Avira explained, "Because mages are so powerful before the two sides even engage in melee combat, the strongest physical damage dealers on the enemy side will go to great lengths to attack the enemy's area-of-effect damage dealers."

So once the war starts, you may face more than one warrior, barbarian, or wanderer who can appear in front of you instantly.

That makes a lot of sense.

Rhodes nodded repeatedly, acknowledging that he indeed lacked experience in this area.

Avira continued, "So in a typical war, a powerful mage would be protected by a team of several mages who specialize in defensive spells, plus a few warriors."

"But you know, at most I can hold off one mid-level player, and that's only if the other side doesn't restrain me."

"Paril is even less able to protect you."

"Hmm..." Paril looked at Avira with dissatisfaction after hearing this.

I wanted to refute it, but I found that I couldn't.

So he held tightly to his protective shield.

"So your fire arrows are indeed very powerful and suitable for dealing with large groups of enemies, but after all, your survivability is limited."

"We can only continue to produce output if we can ensure our survival, right?"

indeed.

Rhodes wrote down the advice.

As they spoke, they had already left the town of Phil.

Just as Rhodes was about to ask for some more advice on battlefield tactics, Avira suddenly swung her greatsword and blocked Rhodes and Paril's path.

Rhodes was alert.

"What's wrong?"

Avira didn't reply, but turned her head to listen to something.

Rhodes also focused his attention on the depths of the fog.

A grayish-white mist enveloped the surroundings, creating an eerie silence from which nothing seemed amiss.

Seeing Avira's tense and grave expression, Rhodes raised his staff as well: "What did you hear?"

"Footsteps..."

"A lot of chaotic footsteps."

"And there was the sound of armor clashing."

Avira's expression suddenly worsened. She looked at Rhodes and whispered something that sent chills down his spine:

"The allied forces have arrived..."

The few words rang in Rhodes' ears like a thunderclap.

He felt a sudden tightness in his heart and immediately led his teammates back.

"Let's go! Back to town."

How could that be?

Isn't there still six days left?

Avira felt she was having some difficulty breathing.

Paril was completely confused and didn't understand what they were talking about, but she just started running after them.

"It's a word game."

Rhodes realized what was happening.

It was assumed that Cassandra, brimming with confidence, wouldn't bother with the contract in the face of such an overwhelming war.

But Rhodes realized he was wrong.

He greatly underestimated Cassandra's cunning.

"What do you mean?"

Ivy asked as she ran.

Rhodes recalled Cassandra's words in his mind.

You have ten days to prepare for a large-scale attack on the town of Phil, orchestrated by an alien coalition.

"The Devil's Pact never mentions a specific date for the coalition's attack."

Avira's breath hitched.

Rhodes cursed inwardly.

Even though she already had victory in her grasp, she still had to resort to clever tricks in this situation. Is this really Cassandra?

The town is getting closer and closer.

The guards at the gate recognized him as an adventurer who had just left town. They were about to ask him a question when Rhodes shouted:

"Sound the alarm!"

"Enemy attack!"

"quick!!!"