Chapter 30 – Planning

---To anyone who's gotten this far, thanks for sticking around! You lot supporting this novel have no idea how much this helps me out. Don't worry, I'm not asking for anything, this is literally just a thank you for getting this far---

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"Enjoying flying through the skies Petra?"

"It's alright I guess"

We've been travelling for close to a week together so far since adding a temporary party member onto our little group.

Three adults are definitely the most I can fit on my back, if I want to recruit another party member, then it's impossible unless I get bigger. I'm not getting bigger so thankfully, it's impossible. Three people is more than enough joining me for right now, got two boring party members and two otherworlders who have a sense of humour, it's an odd party but it's better than nothing I suppose.

Oh, while flying, we did go near a huge fort on the southern edge of the giant lake. The prince is right though, the lake is huge and must be close to the size of a country.

Back onto our conversation though, the way she responded was a little boring if I'm being honest. I know she's already spent a while already on my back but the reaction was really tame, it's almost as if she's been doing this for years already.

"You've flown before, haven't you?"

"Yes Ikarus, I used to use wyverns a lot when I wanted to travel continent to continent. It's too long a journey on foot to take"

"How did you get access to a wyvern? They're supposed to be exclusive to knights or nobles of the Sierran empire"

I'm also curious on the knight's question, this is first I've heard of someone using a wyvern who isn't a royal or a flying knight.

"I use to tame them myself, it's not that difficult once you get the hang of it"

"Oh, you really should go into teaching for the flying knights, it's good money I've heard"

"Apologies knight, that's not happening. I have no intention to directly help your empire. Killing bandits is one thing, helping your knights improve is something I'm not happy with"

While she's speaking to Nathan, I can't help but check something.

'Aesa, does she have a taming ability for her cultivation system?'

[<Aesa is unsure>]

'I guess you wouldn't be able to tell… I'm unsure why I'm even asking, I'd rather actually not know, I'll just get jealous again'

"Ah, sorry I brought it up"

"Don't apologize for it, it's just a personal preference. For everything good your empire does, something bad also comes to light, everything seems to get swept under the rug. I hold a strong dislike for the royals in particular"

The blind woman doesn't like the empire? I'm not the biggest fan of some of the ways they handle things but that's mostly just down to the people they employ, mostly the bitch comes to mind, it's obvious who I'm talking about.

I wouldn't say I dislike it though, it's more of a constant annoyance. Like an irritating younger sibling who just acts like a little shit all day long, then cries to your parents like a baby when they do something bad and you get in trouble for telling them off. Just a crappy family experience from my human days, nothing about Minos, he's great! Although he's slightly aggressive, I can let that slide though.

Dragon society is much better, well, except for that mad dragon we came across in the north, that's an exception though, I think?

"Yeah, the royals can come across the wron-"

I have to cut Nathan off as I've noticed something below us.

"Quiet one second… look towards nine o'cloc- no, just look to our left. Can you lot see that as well?"

Nestled in the mostly brown forest we're flying above; I can see a large village sized settlement. I'm a little surprised since this area has no main path running through it.

(Charlotte) "I can see it as well"

(Nathan) "Good, we've finally come across some bandits"

(Petra) "I'll just take your words for it, it's too far for me to detect"

Don't think I've explained how her blindness works yet, I did ask about it but it's a little vague and even she finds it a little hard to explain. Long story short, it's similar to the way bats use echolocation to sense their surroundings. Instead of her making actual sound, it's her breathing that gets used for it and it provides a visual representation of everything around her. It's an odd explanation but it's the one I got anyway.

That's the explanation her voice explains to her anyway. Thinking about it, she doesn't like to talk about her system voice all that much. I'm not sure on the reasoning but she seemed a little sad when I asked about it, I can take a hint though.

Did also ask about how she lost her eyesight but she won't go into detail on that as well, I only know she wasn't blind from birth since she said she can detect colour. Yeah I know, that makes no sense since she basically sees with sound but in a world where I'm a portable flamethrower, let's not question it too much.

"Are we sure it's a bandit camp and not a settlement though?"

"There are no friendly settlements around this area Ikarus-sama, that's definitely a heathen settlement"

I only get a response from the priestess; she seems more than knowledgeable enough on these types of things so I'll just listen to her.

"I'm going to fly a bit closer then, everyone take a good look and keep a mental note of what we see"

(Charlotte) "Of course"

(Nathan) "Sure"

(Petra) "I'm unfortunately useless right now"

We can be her eyes for now though. in combat, she'll definitely hold her own.

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Dozens, literally dozens, maybe fifty to sixty bandits and criminals litter the settlement sized camp. This must be a base of operations for the whole area, we haven't actually gotten that close to where the empire is fighting the rebels yet, this is quite a fair distance away from all the fighting. I guess bandits try to stay away from the soldiers, at least a little bit.

That's not the only thing we noticed while up there as well, slaves. It looked like the bandits have enslaved people; I dread to think how they've been treated. I assume there slaves just by the fact they were barely clothed and looked like they were treated poorly, I can't be perfectly sure though, we were scouting them from the sky keeping a good distance.

We've landed a little distance away hidden in a dark part of the forest and are planning our attack, obviously since attacking this many bandits needs at least some basic planning. All of us are standing close together discussing how we should go about this.

"How are we going to go about this then? We could just use the priestess's kill all orbital laser ability but that would defeat the entire point of this"

We've already gone into detail on each of our parties' strengths with the blind woman, Charlotte is OP as fuck, Nathan is pretty good with a sword and I'm a useless pyromaniac. I'm not completely useless but my magic is way too low for high damage and I can't exactly improve it right now, curse comes first. I'm kinda missing that infinite magicka kid's body as well now, bird body is still slightly better though.

"I'll hold myself from using any of God's powers Ikarus-sama but if needs arise, I won't stop myself"

"That's to be expected, you are able to use that sword without the power ability right?"

"Of course Ikarus-sama"

I'm yet to actually see her sword skills since she just gets impatient and normally destroys any threat without a care, I'm definitely going to be like that as well once I get overpowered.

"Good… what about our actual battle plan though, how are we going to go about this? Running into the camp like headless chickens is a sure-fire way of losing one's head without a strategy"

"We should split up and attack from two different directions, it will be easier to surround and choke them out if we do it like that"

"I disagree knight, it would be better to utilize Ikarus's fire and cause havoc sending the rats out of the makeshift buildings to us, it will prove easier that way. It would also make more sense staying as a group when the fighting occurs"

Huh, two conflicting plans between Nathan and Petra. I, of course am preferring the fire plan, fire is the best after all. I don't think Charlotte looks to bothered about it though.

"I prefer Petra's idea but I only have a limited amount of magic so setting everything ablaze might be pushing it"

(Nathan) "Yeah, it probably is the better plan if I'm being honest"

Thankfully, the knight is more than open minded enough to change his mind. It also does make sense to listen to blind woman since she is definitely the most experienced out of our group, Charlotte is OP but she doesn't plan ahead, think you can blame her God for that.

"Once I set the fires, I'll fly back to you and provide some assistance. As long as I'm able to bag a few kills, I'm not all that fussed about being involved from the start"

I still have to be slightly careful, a bandit camp full of this many people must have a few high levels scattered within it. Oh, that leads me onto something else, I take a look only at my two female party members and speak.

"Just don't forget you two, Me and Nathan are the weak links in this operation"

"Why are we the weak links Ikarus?"

"Our levels are a hell of a lot lower, my point is, don't try and rely on us too much. We both have our own limitations"

The non otherworlders won't understand this but they will have a rough idea what I'm getting at by now, level is basically strength. I mean, I know it's not but they probably think that's what I mean.

"I'm still unsure on that level thing but me and the Lord will protect you both"

(Petra) "Sure, I've got your backs as well"

Then something related to the knight came up on my mind.

'Thinking about it, status'

[Name: Nathan | Species: Human | Level: 51]

[Health 2,400/2,400]

[Stamina 2,299/2,700]

[Magicka 0/0]

It makes sense why he's only levelled six levels since I last checked his status, he hasn't actually killed that much, I'm the person in our group who does most of the hunting, he obviously still gets kills every now and then.

Oh, I guess I can use my status screen with no issues as long as I'm not looking at Petra. If I was to look at her right now, a migraine would probably occur. Let's go back to the meeting though.

"Okay… where was I again?"

"The plan Ikarus"

"Ah, right Nathan. Back onto the plan, are you sure you three will be able to hold off potentially an entire camp? You could be facing a large amount especially if my fire doesn't kill enough and I might not be able to get back in time"

I'm a little worried just down to the sheer numbers of the enemy we will be facing, it might be pushing it a bit.

"They're only heathens Ikarus-sama"

"Lotte is right, us knights train for situations like this"

"I agree with the other two, this shouldn't prove that much of a deal if we don't do anything stupid and fight smart"

I guess I am in a party with two of the strongest huma-, no succubus-sama isn't a human. I have a party of insane and OPness around me, this should be alright, worrying Ikarus begone! Wait… say OPness again, hehe. Damn it, focus!

"Still, if everything becomes too much to handle, run away. It's not cowardice to flee since we are attacking a camp full of an insane amount of people. If we have to flee, then it's you and your God's time to shine priestess"

"Of course Ikarus-sama"

"Is that everything then? Are we all ready?"

Before anyone has a chance to answer yes, the blind woman answers my question with an observation.

(Petra) "I'm surprised Ikarus, you didn't strike me as the type of person to plan like this, it's pleasantly surprising you have this side to you"

Another person who assumes I can't get serious and jumps in head first to bad situations, why is it so hard for people to realize I'm purposely obnoxious? She didn't mean it in a bad way and I don't mind her so I'll let it slip.

"I'll ignore that since I'm focused right now, is everyone ready and prepared and ready to go?"

(Charlotte) "All set"

(Nathan) "I'm good"

(Petra) "Yes"

[<Affirmative>]

"Why are you answering as well system? Damn it, don't start distracting me, only speak when needed right now"

[<Affirmative once again>]

I did think about asking if they could purposely try and not kill them so I could get the final hit but since were dealing with this many numbers, it would be adding unnecessary risk. I should be able to level up enough just by encountering a few bandits to myself though.

Oh, it should be obvious I'm sticking in my bird form with this attack, using fire combined with my power kick is a better combination then have arms swinging a sword. Can't forget the main reason as well, flight.

I think this might be the first or second time, it might be more but my point is I prefer having wings instead of arms right now, I really have developed a lot. That, or it's just a tiny bit of development spread over a long time, I'm not sure nor do I care.

"Let's start cleaning house"

With a smile on my beak, we head towards the camp. Or do we?

"It might better to wait till midnight, it will be easier to ambush them"

She does have a point though, waiting till their asleep should make this easier, Petra is the most experienced out of us after all.

"*Sigh*… let's clean house again, after a short intermission"

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"I'm about to head in. Once you see the sweet release of flame adorn the night sky, it time to attack"

"We already know Ikarus-sama, we will be ready"

(Nathan) "Yeah"

"…"

I don't get a response from the blind woman; I think she's gone into professional mode now.

"I still need to make sure, I'm off then"

I start flying up of the ground while I'm finishing my sentence and look back towards my party members, both Nathan and Charlotte give me a slight wave while I'm heading away.

As I'm flying over towards the camp in the dark night sky, I can't help but start getting worried about something.

'I really don't want to accidently kill the slaves'

I expect some accidental casualties, I am using fire and I'm not that naïve to think everything will go well. It's just that I might feel a little bad afterwards if I kill some. I'm probably more afraid if I feel nothing doing it, this phoenix-dragon blood DNA does make killing feel meaningless now.

Still, if a slave brandishes a sword against me because of Stockholm syndrome, I won't hold any remorse and kill them where they stand.

'Let's just get on with it'

Now that I'm gliding above the bandit camp, I'm going to have stay up here for a little while till my party get closer. While I'm waiting, I'll start having a good look around and below me, any bandit awake down there will probably have no chance of seeing me, the sky is quite dark tonight.

The bandit camp mostly consists of loads of fur tents split around the place and is centred around a few wooden huts. There are a few lit campfires around the place with a few bandits still up and awake, presumable on guard duty.

'Nathan's plan wouldn't have worked anyway, there's only one way in. I guess I could have flown in or destroyed it though'

The camp also has a wooden pike fence surrounding the outside of it, it's just high enough not to be able to climb it and there's only one way in and out.

'Phew, that's good. I can avoid them'

I also notice that the slaves all seem to be sleeping together in a rundown stable looking building off to the side of the camp, I can avoid spewing fire in that bit.

I've been circling the camp for a good ten minutes or so now and that should be enough time for my party to be in position, it's now time to attack.

'Hehe… this is going to look badass'