Chapter 145: Let's burn this place down

In the end, Ayda was still way above me in terms of battle and war experience. In fact, I only managed to somehow survive through several ordeals, while she was already a hardened veteran of escape from the persecutive forces of Wizards. With that in mind, it shouldn't be that surprising or down-putting for her reaction to the recent attack to be so calm when compared to the emotions that raged in me back then.

But as shameful as it was for me to lose my cool right in front of my beloved girl, there was nothing I could do about it at this point. Rather than that, it was better to just let this unfavourable moment pass into obscurity. 

On the other hand, Ayda didn't seem to share my thoughts. With her eyes glancing at me every now and then, only when our eyes would meet would her lips turn into a lovely smile. As soon as the connection would be broken, her face would twist in wrath, with a strange mumbling coming from between her lips. 

"How dare they… He is too sweet for the battlefield…" 

Those were the only words that I managed to recognise from the many that she spoke. Nibbling at her fingernail, the look that Ayda sometimes threw towards the remains of the wizards' camp sent a strangely pleasant shiver down my spine. While the only thing that I could compare her current attitude would be the 'yandere' that often appeared in the eastern novels…

But no matter how I thought about it, I didn't have some kind of masochistic fetish! On the other hand, though, there was something strangely exciting in this woman of mine quite openly showcasing how proactive her thoughts were.

Sadly, during this mission, we didn't really have much time for slacking. At least, not yet. 

"Hey, it might get hard from now on. Once we burn it all, how about trying those new tools of yours?" 

A single detail about my backpack didn't escape Ayda's attention. With our equipment mostly perfectly mirrored, a huge, additional bag stood out quite a bit.

"To be frank, I would like to use them only in the worst-case scenario. Given how those are prototypes, they are not necessarily safe for the user."

Even though this single bag contained the absolute pinnacle of what Sander could create with his own skills and a large pool of manpower, I still couldn't help but be hesitant about them. Connecting the magic of the stones with the technology of modern times sounded like a great idea unless one factored in how early those stones were in the development!

"If you say so…" 

With the vibes of her hatred still lurking around in her aura, I took a step forward before grabbing the girl by her shoulders. Pulling her into a gentle embrace, I waited until her mental state was pacified. 

"I know you want to kill them all. Not even for your own sake anymore, but because it would help further my plans. But there is one thing I need you to remember." 

Lowering my head and bringing Ayda's chin up with my finger, I looked her in the eyes. Just recently shaken from her furious, post-fighting fit, only to be hugged and now stared at. It was no wonder her face suddenly flushed with pink, as her eyes trembled in their sockets. 

"I made any plans for this world just because it's the place you come from."

Rather than going for her lips, I moved my hand from her chin to her forehead, only to push aside her hair and place a gentle peck right on her head. 

"But now, let's just torch their stuff, okay?"

Gently pushing the meek body of the girl aside, I sent her a wink. This only served to further explode the invasion of red on her cheeks, making the girl lower her head to cope with the sudden changes of her emotions. 

"S-sure." 

Not daring to raise her head, Ayda trodded away before grabbing a random stick from the field we were on. Without even chanting a single word for some strange reason, she invoked a fire at the top of the stick, holding it just the right distance away from her hand. 

Change of position and energetic throw later, the makeshift torch flew across the open plain, only to end up in a small thicket of trees. But instead of slowly setting fire to the whole place bit by bit, it suddenly exploded in a ball of fire, consuming everything that remained of the wizards' camp.

"Woah…" 

Standing still, I could only watch how Ayda's firework nearly instantly consumed the entire thicket, burning it all down to the ground. Rather than a fire, it looked like a melting pot!

"Hehe…" Ayda chuckled at my reaction, squinting her beautiful eyes in glee. "While I taught that kid as quickly as I could, I also learned a bit from him!" 

Wearing her smug smile, Ayda instantly trodded back to me with a happy smile all over her face. Disarmed just like that, I could only bring my hand up and pat the girl head to her even greater happiness. 

"What a spoiled one you are."

Looking at the satisfied face of my dearest, I couldn't feel any hate or even anger towards our enemies. At the same time, Ayda's wrath from before also dissipated, replaced by our shared affection. 

"But still, that was amazing." Nodding my head towards the ashen remains of the camp, I then shook it slowly. "I can hardly even guess how did you use earthy cultivation…" 

Before I could finish my words, Ayda's finger suddenly appeared on my lips, shutting me down. The smile on the girl's face blossomed even more, now filled with slight mischief. 

"That wasn't cultivation at all. While I saw some of the manuals, I can already tell they are ridden with mistakes. What's more, manipulating energy like that, " spreading her arm outwards, Ayda pointed at the site of destruction. "Would require us to jump to the pinnacle of the first grade."

Suddenly twitching, the girl's disposition changed. Looking at me with a strange look behind her beautiful eyes, she asked.

"You do realise that you are using the terminology completely wrong?"

Now that the girl pointed that out, I noticed that most of the naming I had at my disposal came from the times when I was too weak and unimportant to bother with the greater possibilities of the magic. 

"That might be the case…" Tapping a finger against my chin, I agreed. "But let's not talk about it right now. We need to get going." 

As annoying as it was, the first fight was just this. The first of the many fights to come. 

In this mission, there were only three aims. 

First, secure a source of information to sound the general intentions and plans of the wizards. 

Second, to disturb any preparations or formations that the wizards might be busy preparing.

And lastly, start the legend of the hero from another world, that appeared to save the persecuted innocents. 

This was something that I came up with in one of the rare moments during which I could enjoy a bit of high-class alcohol on my own. Recalling the times before the apocalypse, my thoughts wandered over the novels I used to read back then…

And the rest of the story was rather obvious. With the scale of the power difference between the two groups, only by putting a legend on the agenda could we tip the scales of the conflict. That, or throwing several nukes at the main cities of the wizard's affiliation. 

But in order to be able to drop some nukes, I had to secure a source of resources unavailable on earth, that would allow me to facilitate the boom of the magic stone market predicted to happen any time soon. 

Because so far, all my investments were oriented at that single event. At this single moment when the product that I was amassing for an exorbitant price and in great quantities… Would suddenly find a plethora of uses. But when it came to my path after finally receiving some insane amount of cash from the investments… I had no real conception for the later moves.

"So, about that spell earlier…"

Suddenly pulling me out of my thoughts, Ayda rubbed her palms against my arm with a restless look in her eyes. From how she intensely stared at me, it was clear that she was unhappy that I cut her off before she could brag to her heart content.

"Right, I still don't know how did you cast it!"

Encouraging the girl to explain the situation to me while making a step forward, I swiftly transitioned our talk in place to an interesting conversation over a walk. In the end, we couldn't waste all that time thinking or just conversing. What we defeated, was nothing but a small outpost. 

Fighting with so little grandeur would bring us little if any prestige. 

Thankfully, we didn't need to walk for long, before we found out something insanely important.

Sitting atop a small hill, an enormous camp was barring the passage on the main road leading to the nearest city. With its elevated position, the guards at the gate could easily stare down the entire valley leading to the highlands where it was located. If we naively decided to travel by the road, they would see us long before we could spot the localisation.

"How the heck did the scouts miss it…" 

With Ayda flaring up at the incompetence of our subordinates, I couldn't think about anything else but what she told me just a moment earlier. 

"I sprinkled a bit of the stone dust over the stick I grabbed. Given how the stone ground to obtain that powder was infused with a basic spell of transforming energy into the fire, all I had to do was to just set the right conditions for it to spontaneously activate."

Back when she said those words, she shook her arms as if it was nothing, while I could only stand agape. Even when this enormous camp came into our view, it was still unable to divert my thoughts from the genius of this girl.

But I still had to make a decision now. The presence of this settlement was too important to be ignored. 

Or rather, to be left untorched. 

"Ayda…"

Looking at the restless girl beside me, I made up my mind. Detaching this one peculiar bag that Ayda asked about before, I opened it up before distributing one package to the girl and claiming one for my own use. With just a few moments, a thin glove, bracelet and necklace decorated my body. 

"I know they are not safe to use… But we can't leave this place alone."

Shaking my hand over the inevitable fate we were pushing ourselves into, I looked at the girl for a moment, before nodding my head. 

"Let's burn this place to the ground."