Chapter 20: The War Against Being X Part 1

"Okay, boys. Remember, the clip of ammunition I distributed to you all is basically your only trump card. Use them wisely and hopefully not until we reach Paris." Ray informed everyone in an informal way of speech under the unimpressed gaze of Tanya because he was late to the airstrip.

"Capiche? Good? All good. Let's go." Ray asked but answered it himself before boarding the plane while a pair of eyes is staring at him like it wants to gouge his innards out.

The troops didn't know how to react when the higher ranking officer gave his order but their actual Wing Commander looked like she was disagreeing with the order or, rather. The person giving the order.

Moments later, the pilots started the engine which meant they were going to fly real soon and didn't have time for whatever she wanted to do. Reluctantly she also enters the plane and purposely sits opposite to Ray, staring at him with her dissatisfied look. Meanwhile the troops are also boarding the plane.

"What's with your mood swings? Are you having your first period or something?" I asked since she isn't responding but clearly angry or dissatisfied by something. "Cmon, it's just five minutes late."

"Five minutes? Five minutes my ass!" She grips her hand into a fist before punching the seat. The other troops however politely looked away, pretending they saw nothing. "More like twenty five to me. We are making the last briefing and final check and you are busy fooling around with your bitch. Tch, stupid dogs in heat."

While Tanya thankfully had looked away instead of keeping this conversation afloat, the troops were looking at me. Some were impressed and some were shell shocked, shocked. They couldn't believe I am this laid-back, irresponsible and most importantly, survived Tanya's wrath without any harm because she would already start skinning the offender alive if it's anyone else.

I just shrugged and mind my own business, prepping the spells I was gonna use at the back of my head, ready to be cast when needed.

So what if Tanya is angry about me? Hit me? That's just wasting her efforts knowing there is no effect for doing so. The role is me being the top and her being the one under. She needs my power and I grant her that sense of security as probably the strongest mage if not already. Like, would you punish or fire your own Boss for being late to a meeting because he suddenly decided to visit a bar? No, there's nothing you can do but just swallow it up and probably vent about it verbally like Tanya did.

The flight was two hours long and everyone pretty much either rested their mind, tried to relax or had a small talk with the others. A total of 5 planes, each carrying a company of Flight Mages flying around altitude of 16,000 above the Rhine Frontline to evade detection.

Along the flight, there are several times we came close to be detected by patrolling Francois Republican Flight Mages due to the noise of our plane but we are high enough that the noise that reached the patrolling mages aren't much and they shrug it off as wind because they thought no way the Empire is attacking when the Empire troops are retreating like their previous world counterpart did during the WW2.

"Sir, 10 more minutes until ETA." The pilot informed me. I nodded and used the radio to inform the rest of the troops on other planes to get ready to jump.

"Finally… My body is getting stiff from sitting still this long." Tanya said before making some light stretch that was accompanied by satisfied grunts and the sound of popped joints.

"So, just like both of us planned. While you will lead and snuck in to place down those explosives. I will stay above the sky to provide overwatch and support. Still, I hope the Francois didn't have much troops left defending the stronghold or sneaking in will be hard." I attempted to talk with Tanya to see if she was still holding it against me.

She did turn to look at me for a moment before nodding but didn't talk either and immediately turned away. Maybe I should avoid acting unprofessionally.

Even though Tanya is already my property, in body and mind. The Piece itself is proof of my ownership of her. I however didn't have control over her will. That isn't something that can be controlled by force. Unless she willingly allows me to. So, even if she is mine, I still need to earn her affinity to make her cooperative or obedient.

If I am to fully controlling her by force, then she will be nothing more but a mindless puppet moving according to the strings. An empty husk that it need input to have output. Not remotely useful or good candidate to by my follower and more like disposal pawns.

In some way, this reminds me of gacha games. Collecting characters then earn their affection as we fight together, form bonds that make the character powerful by making them more willing to be cooperative.

"ETA in thirty seconds!" The pilot's announcement broke me off my thoughts and prepared to make the jump with everyone.

"3.., 2.., 1.., 0. Jump! Jump! Jump!" The crew helped give us a countdown and by the time it reached zero, the light above the exit hatch glowed green and the crew opened it for us.

One by one, the Flight Mages jump out of the plane and later land with a parachute near the stronghold. I was the last to jump out of my plane.

While mid air, I summoned my Tri Formation Array in rifle form and rained down hundreds of precast Incendiary spells infused rounds on the stronghold to create chaos.

Everyone regrouped below and separated themselves into their group. The infiltration group is 12 people including Tanya that are filled with the best Mages of this Flight Mage Wing. The remaining Mages split into another three equal amount of mage. Two group went to their position, waiting for the signal Tanya is now planting before beginning their attack. The last group follow me to add more chaos and provide support if Tanya needed.

No one wants to waste time and already quickly take their position or complete their task.

———

(Tanya's PoV)

Hiding in the nearby bush with eleven others, she is waiting for the distraction that has yet to come.

"What took hi-"

*Fwooosh!* *Boom*

Suddenly hundreds of fireballs burst into existence and consume half of the stronghold, especially where the soldiers are concentrated at. The heat is so strong that she can feel her skin being cooked by the intense heatwave. Not to mention oxygen suddenly became very thin due to the adjusted Incendiary spells that Ray used to purposely use the local air as fuel.

Many Francois Republic soldiers in fact died of asphyxiation rather than being cooked alive. Out of kindness or not, Ray did allow the enemy soldiers to have a quick and painless death or, probably out of fear he might get more weird abilities with tasteless names.

(*CRACK!*)

(What a shame, Pyromaniac is such a cool name… U sure u don't want, Ray?)

(Shut up, you stupid clone. Do your job correctly or I'll replace you sooner or later.)

(Yea, yea boss. Sheesh, such a slave driver. Can't even handle a joke.)

(As you can see… that's enough 4th wall breaking for now, folks. We will probably meet again after entering the Singularity of Hyperboreal Timeline.)

(*Mend*)

"The heck is that a distraction! Might as well just explode the entire stronghold while you at it, idiot." Tanya grumbled after seeing the grand explosion that turned one third of the compound into a scorched lava landscape with the melted masonry and metals.

"Come on mens, we are infiltrating while the enemies are still distracted." Tanya ordered before she led her team in to plant the explosives.

Meticulously evading enemies that are scurrying around trying to futilely put off the fire that is spreading closer and closer to their munition warehouse.

"Weiss, you take care of the supplies storage. Koenig, you handle the munitions ware-" She paused after seeing the direction the fire was spreading towards and changed her mind. "Nevermind, you take care of the armory. Neumann you take the communication center. I will personally take care of the command office."

"We will maintain radio silence unless there are any urgent issues that require mine or the Colonel's attention. After ten minutes, the radio silence will be lifted and everyone needs to report your progress."

"Yes, Major." They all responded with suppressed voices before splitting into teams of four to their respective target. Each team has the mentioned person and two more troops.

Tanya nodded before giving the order to split up. She took one last glance at Ray's position above the cloud before entering the stronghold with her team.

———

(Back to Ray)

Since I am done with my part, I float above the sky with the Invisibility spell. I looked at the result of my spell and suddenly remembered a topic from my past life.

It's wonderful that this world uses magic ordinance although it is not very prevalent yet. Unlike normal ordinances like artillery shells, bombs and many more, magical ordinances don't tend to last very long unattended. Much less if left in the open or exposed to the elements that makes its degradation become faster.

Since most major battles will always prefer magical ordinances than normal, this area will not be a death land after the war ends like most major battlefields from WW2 in my previous world. Many countries are still clearing those mines and other unexploded ordnance left behind from as far as WW1.

After the random thoughts ended, I took out my pocket watch and took a look at the time.

"Three more minutes…" I muttered before returning the pocket watch and focused back on the ground, looking as the Francois Republic soldiers scurrying around futilely trying to put out the fire while some smart one already retreated away because of the lack of oxygen in air and intense heat wave that was scorching their skin.

"Uh Sir… There are planes coming in our direction and they aren't ours or the Francois." The troops behind me suddenly point at the west.

"What!" I quickly turn to the direction of where he is pointing.

"I thought the CP said there is no foreign enemy movement nearby. How the fuck is there a fleet of Albion Kingdom's Air Fleet!" I cursed while quickly thinking what to do. "Did they manage to slip under their radar?"

Ever since the two major superpower declared war on the Empire, the military had been keeping tabs on their military forces movement. How did these guys slip their detection to reach here!

But, while watching them, I suddenly noticed a fluctuation of mana from the Air Fleet direction. Didn't need a genius to tell those bastards used mage to probably conceal the plane while flying at high altitudes to evade the mana detector and normal radar.

"Inform everyone, our current mission has failed. Get everyone out of there, NOW!" I barked at them before starting casting Napalm Spell. It was stupid of me to think I can have a relaxing and smooth sailing when Being X is already making his personal moves.

The troops didn't need to be told twice once seeing the formula of the spell. There will be nothing but moldering inferno once the spell is completed.

The reason he opted for using infiltration and explosives instead of just blasting the whole place down is to lay low. The enemies had yet to know much about him and he has elements of surprise if Tanya is the one achieving the success. But now, he is forced to reveal himself openly on a battlefield where enemies have a lot of ways to detect and record his information unlike all his previous battles.

"SIR! ALL FRIENDLIES ARE EVACUATED!" The troops that just received the confirmation from all teams, informed me.

Without further delay, I unleashed all 73 Napalm Spell that covered the entire stronghold in flames that burned extremely hot with white phosphorus as fuel.

He can hear a symphony of screams of agony and desperate prayers of the enemy soldiers being burned and cooked alive in the fiery hell he created with his own hand. Yet, his face remains stoic as he emotionlessly scans the place, making sure he properly gets the job done before moving on. There is not a hint of fluctuation of his emotions, knowing he just murdered thousands in cold blood.

[Mass Murderer +4 Level]

———

"Status report, tell me what happened." Tanya who just regrouped with the whole Wing immediately asked those that informed the arrival of another enemy.

"An Air Fleet belonging to the Albion Kingdom was spotted at altitude 16,000 from the West. They are estimated to bypass us in three more minutes.

"New order from the CP?"

"CP ordered us to stop the planes from reaching the Rhine Front. Any bombers can jeopardize the ongoing operation."

"Great… just great." Tanya grumbled before reassuming command of her Wing and now looking at Ray for his next order for her.

Ray however is staring affixed at the direction the enemies are coming from. Then he suddenly cast an Optical spell for remote viewing below the planes. Tanya followed too and saw something she couldn't believe. Hundreds of mages are actually flying below the planes. Hundreds! What kind of tactics is this? It's illogical. Had the decision makers of the Albion Kingdom military gone mad?

Albion Kingdom is only estimated to have around six thousands active serving Mages. Sending almost a thousand of them out is incomprehensible. Logistically and tactically speaking.

But then she remembered, Being X. Ray said Being X influenced the nation to recklessly declare war on the Empire. Of course he can do something like this too.

"Wait, those aren't bomber planes." Tanya said after she carefully looked at the planes and found those were fighter planes. Normally would be seen escorting bomber planes.

Why are they here instead of bomber planes? What can even fighter planes made for dogfights do for battles that mostly take place on ground. Not even have proper guns to engage in dogfights against Mages since Mage can easily just change direction to evade the front mounted machine guns.

"Something is not right, Ray." Tanya quickly informs Ray after her guts are telling her something big is about to happen. Something that will not bode well for her and Ray.

"I know. But then, what next? Retreat? Where to? The Rhine Front had barely enough to carry out the operation. There are none left to spare on the incoming enemies." Ray floats serenely without a hint of emotions outbursts that mage normally does by the mana which will react along with a person's emotions.

In Tanya's head, gear is spinning as she tries to find the cause of their blunder. There is no way an army this big came undetected at all.

"No need to think too hard. They tricked the Empire. They baited the Empire to send the Grand Army to Norden when they actually were invading from the Francois." Ray enlightened Tanya of the answer she was seeking.

"B-but… How can their army move undetected like that? It's impossible!" Tanya couldn't help but ask.

"Do you forget? They have the literal god on their side. Something like this is possible, Tanya." He said while calmly loading a fresh clip of ammunition he Traced and lifted it up to aim at the incoming enemies. "I mean, I expected him to do something sooner or later and he sure took his sweet time planning this elaborate trap for us."

"What do you mean…" Tanya asked and the others were also curious what Ray meant by trap.

"Remember Dr Schugel? Well, apparently it's not just the Empire that was granted the advantage. In fact, they got more than just better Operation Orbs."

"Major! More enemies detected! They are… appearing from above?"

"What?! How!" Tanya starts to panic and order everyone to fight, shoot whatever they have until the Command can do anything about this.

To everyone's horror, hundreds to thousands of planes belonging to not just Albion Kingdom but also Unified States suddenly blink into existence and have mana signatures.

"Don't think, just shoot. Shoot aim for the wing." Ray ordered calmly while firing Homing Cluster Shot spells that are actually very suitable for this kind of situation where enemies are in a packed formation.

The first volley of Homing Cluster Shot imbued with special Enhancement immediately destroyed like half of the initial planes on the lead. Only then Ray turns back and looks at the troops behind him.

"Do as you are told and I will try to get everyone back in one piece."

Everyone looks at those besides them with the look that asks if they should obey or not. After all, no one gonna willingly do something suicidal as this. No one will willingly take a bet on something with zero chance of winning. However, as long as it isn't zero. A 0.000001% chance of survival. Overwhelming morale can easily fill that gap and what Ray is doing. Showing them his proof and promise.

"What are you all waiting for, cowards! Have you forget our vow, our promise to serve the Fatherland, to protect our loved one!" Weiss immediately sprung into action and riled up his fellow soldiers. "Who will protect them if not us?! With our own hands, tears, sweat and blood!"

The said Lieutenant immediately lifted his rifle and shot spells at the enemies. Then one followed. Two.. three.. and soon everyone with invigorated spirit lifts up their weapons and fights. Putting their trust on their two commanding officers. Ray who they feared and Tanya who they revered.

"Tanya, I leave this to you. Just keep shooting and we will definitely survive." Ray wanted to say win but he honestly didn't think he could if Being X went all out buffing the invading forces. "I will go in and distract most of them to myself so they don't target your Wing."

"That's dangerous!" Tanya immediately grabbed my uniform to stop me from immediately flying away. "You sound like you are triggering some kind of death flag right now."

"At least bring me with you. The Queen Piece and Orb should already make me the best Mage in the world, surpassing everyone except you." She tried to persuade him but thought luck changing his mind when he was under strong Self-hypnosis.

"No. You will stay and lead your Wing to provide support while I take all the enemies' focus. I will not take a no as an answer, Major Tanya von Degurechaff. Unless you want to attempt insubordination." Ray spoked with no room for question or discussion before giving the same order to everyone else and pushed away Tanya's hand that tightly gripped his uniform, unwilling to let go yet also knew she couldn't resist no matter how stubborn she was once Ray had put on his other persona.

Finally get everyone to fight instead of hesitating. Ray can finally leave this place to Tanya and let himself loose. With a single thought, his Reactor Core had been awakened from its slumber and started pumping out obscene amounts of mana that turn him into a blinding pillar of beacon on all mana detection devices.

"Time Alter, Sq- Triple Accel." Ray stuttered when he immediately felt his heart going to burst if he used Square Accel and opted to use Triple Accel instead.

Still, even when using Triple Accel. His bones are straining and cracking almost immediately so he has to use Supernatural Physique to triple his health regeneration and cope with the strain.

Then he spam Homing Cluster Shot spells with help of his Tri Formation Array to take down as many enemies as possible while using Dimension Shift to move himself as close as possible before Triple Accel expires. As for the reason why he needs to be very close is because his recently obtained ability needs closer range to work and it's pretty effective on impairing enemies is pretty much 100% success that he can guarantee because it's an attack that ignores all physical and most magical protection. After all, the soul is the most vulnerable part of every being.

As soon as I reached the enemies formation, I allow another small surge of mana as I blast the Spiritual Subjugation ability but not to activate its real effect, just one of its sub abilities to bombard the enemies soul with a barrage of spiritual attacks targeting the soul.

Instantly, even the most stoic and ferocious looking soldiers become stunned for a second before going insane and howling in pain. A spiritual pain that no matter what they did wouldn't feel any better.

They scratch and scratch but soon claw their face and skin, gouging their own throat with desperation attempt to end their miserable torture as the spiritual pain is being etched into their physical body. But, that promised afterlife never came as I denied them by immediately harvesting my dropped 'loots' before they could pass on.

"Damn, that's a lot of high quality souls!" Ray temporarily broke off his alternate persona after the shock of seeing almost all were good quality souls. Perhaps the key to the grade of the souls was their freshness?

Ray couldn't help but change his opinion. This isn't a trap from Being X! This is a grind fest. A rare event for him to grind high quality materials. This is a rare opportunity for him to get top quality materials to fuel his research that were discontinued because of the lack of said material.

"You have my thanks, Being X. Thank you for providing me with what I lacked the most!" Ray forgot to put on his persona and grinned madly with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Tri Formation Array. Optical Beam, Volley mode!"

Once the trigger was pulled, dozens of laser beams shot out from the rifles. However, instead of straight lines as it should normally, they were carrying Ray's custom enhancement that made it seek out the enemies heart. Be it behind a magic shield, behind the wall of the cockpits. None were spared once they were targeted. Those beams put holes on at least two hundred soldier's hearts that cauterized almost immediately instead of bleeding out.

"Hahaha, more medium grade soul? Can't even complain when I am usually forced to make due with lesser grade souls." Ray said in a glee while inspecting the new batch of drops he gained.

"M-m-mo-monster! No. He's the devil! The Empire really made a pact with the devil!" One of the nearby enemy Flight Mage yapping nonsense which caught his allie's attention to me.

"A siren-like enemies that summon more pinatas for me. Ah, save me the effort to herd up those sheep for slaughter. Come, come to papa. Hehehahaha!"

Forget about fighting and objectives. In my head, all that matters is to get more Top quality soul. Everything becomes a blur for me as I dance across the sky, shooting spells and slashing down the mobs without care for the world around me.

While I am busy raking up materials, I didn't even notice tens of notifications popping up constantly.

[??? Greed +1 LV]

[??? Greed +1 LV]

[??? Greed +1 LV]

[Mass Murderer +1 LV]

[Magic Resistance +1 LV]

[??? Greed +1 LV]

[??? Greed +1 LV]

[??? Greed +1 LV]

[??? Greed +1 LV]

[??? Greed +1 LV]

[??? Greed +1 LV]

[Mass Murderer +1 LV]

[??? Greed +1 LV]

[??? Greed reached pre-requisite level, new sub-abilities unlocked. Devil's Contract and Aura of Greed.]

Suddenly Ray noticed something weird. Not enough to stop his rampage but enough to dedicate a small portion of his brain to check it out.

The enemies he was fighting against were shouting about killing the devil or killing the devil's agent nonsense. But now, he can sense it. The eyes that look at him are not of fear but of greed. They are looking at him like a juicy piece of meat which send shivers down his spine seeing one of them licking his lips as if prepared to devour him.(his ass)

"Hahaha, I'll be rewarded greatly if I present his head to Her Majesty the Queen. Come to daddy!" An Albion Kingdom Flight Mage Commando suddenly loses all his previous fear and hesitation before diving straight at Ray.

"Ah, such an irresistible fair and soft looking skin. Not even that hag I called my wife back at home could compare to such a beauty. It makes me wonder how great it would feel once I pound that tight little Bussy of yours." The person who said it is a Unified States soldier who looks is a big, tough, tugged and hairy man as if he has chugged barrels of testosterone booster every morning since his day of birth.

Ray felt every inch of his body was violated by the gaze of that soldier and the bigger problem is, that soldier isn't the only one. There are more of them. Almost all Unified States soldiers look similar. It was like looking at hundreds of similar clones.

As others would say. Ah, how the table had turned. The preys became the predators and the predator now became the prey surrounded in a large flock of starving and eager predators.

The alarm is ringing in Ray's head. Every inches and every fibre of his body is screaming for him to run, get the fuck out of here before one of the get their hand on him. There isn't a shred of hesitation for Ray as he trusts his mind and immediately dips out.

"Tanya! TANYA! Tell everyone to shoot the bullets now! Shoot those bastards behind me!" Ray shouted on the coms as hundreds of Flight Mages swarming behind him like a swarm of hornets, screaming out their desire for Ray while chasing after his ass, figuratively and… literally.

(*CRACK!*)

(Yea, I can attest for that with experience, karma is a bi-)

(Wait! I won't break the fourth wall again. Take everything, just not my Alter servants collection!)

(*Mend*)

His rifle didn't stop loading more rounds either as he did whatever he could to shoot down and thinning the swarm behind him that he thinks is becoming bigger instead of smaller, the more he shoots.

"What the heck is going on! This is absurd!" No matter how much mana Ray had right now, there is a limit on his output.

Homing Cluster Shot is the most effective spell he has right now due to the Gae Bolg Enchantment. But, even then, each volley could only kill around 120 enemy mages. Not a small number by any means. It was in fact already an insane number. Just fifty confirmed kills of enemy mages is enough to be titled Ace of Ace, the elite among the elites.

However, the numbers of enemy mages minus the planes are already a few thousands. Normally, there will be less than a thousand mages at any given time, in any battlefield to date. Few thousand is equivalent to saying the enemy is marching a few millions standardly equipped troops on an invasion. Just the logistics of that is crippling to any military, then the question of stretching troops too thin by concentrating too much in one spot and leaving many gaps that are vulnerable. No sane military leadership will ever approve such stupidity and yet, here we are looking at that said stupidity being enacted.

—————

Status

[Name: Rayark

Age: 10

Alignment: Neutral Evil

Level: 104 (44%) [+12]

Main Class: Battle Mage

Support Class: Commander

Title: Expert Magus, Knight of the Realm, Devil Incarnate

HP: 2330 (1 VIT= 10HP, Base 200 & 5/Lvl)

HP Regen: 180 HP/Min (1 VIT= 1HP/M)

MP: 20,260 (1 WIS= 5MP, Base 150)

MP Regen: 732 MP/Min (1 Wis 1MP/M)

———

STR: 30+15% = 34.5

VIT: 80+15% = 92

AGI: 50+15% = 51.25

DEX: 60+15% = 69

INT: 148+40% = 207.2

WIS: 130+40% = 182

LUK: 29

———

Stat Point: 60

Abilities:

Fiction Adaptation LV -

Mana Manipulation LV 55/- (Supreme) [+2]

Pseudo Reactor Core LV 46/60 (Legendary) [+4]

Alteration LV 30/50 (GrandMaster)

Tracing LV 50/50 (Legendary) [+5]

Supernatural Physique LV 31/50 (GrandMaster) [+1]

Pickpocket LV 25/30 (Master)

Enhanced Mind LV 41/50 (Legendary) [+2]

Time Alter LV 16/50 (Adept) [+2]

Tri Formation Array LV 27/50 (Master) [+5]

Dimension Tear LV 17/20 (Adept)

Dimension Shift LV 23/50 (Master)

Future Calculation LV 24/50

(Master) [+1]

Soul Butcher LV 9/-

Mass Murderer LV 16/- [+10]

Sadist LV 1/30 (Novice)

Spiritual Subjugation LV 4/80 (Novice) [+3]

Omni Arms Mastery 3/90 (Novice) [+3]

Precognition 1/70 (Novice)

Magic Resistance 3/80 (Novice) [+2]

Psychokinesis LV 1/50 (Novice)

———

??? Series

??? Lust LV ?/? ?

??? Greed LV ??/??

-Devil's Contract

•A special contract that is preside and enforced by ??? Which allows even the use of metaphysical objects as currency. ??? Will take a small cut as dividend and tax for using his service. Souls are his most preferred currency.

-Aura of Greed

•Induce and heighten greed on proximity around the user.

??? Pride LV ?/??

??? Wrath LV ??/??