Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

The day of the mission finally arrived, and the group finished their preparations. With the help of Terra and Seara's ideas, the survivability and power of the thirty thousand warriors that were heading to the next location had increased a lot. Meanwhile, the remaining two hundred thousand warriors would stay behind and keep working to be ready for the next mission.

"We are ready to move. What will our next destination be?" Sealyn asked.

"Nice try, but you will stay behind with Van and keep everyone training for the next mission," Seara said.

"... We will attack the enemy's base in order to get another relic," Rain declared. "However, in case the enemies have moved them to another spot, we will attack the deepest area of their territory that we have been to so far… it is a base that seems pretty old since it is massive. The data that Sakaki stole said that the base is 120.000 years old."

"It is a base that was around when Earth was destroyed for the first time…" Elisabetha said.

"That is right," Rain said. "We should be able to find some information about back then, and perhaps we will be able to find information about their armories and manpower. Our main goal is to take the relics, but we should be able to confuse them if we have more options to attack."

The essence of the strategy employed in the ongoing war rested upon diversion tactics and misdirection. By creating a focal point of engagement, the primary objective was to draw the enemy's attention and resources, thereby diverting their focus away from the true target. This approach aimed to maximize the impact of each assault while minimizing the expenditure of resources and manpower.

The principle behind this strategy was twofold: first, to create confusion and disarray among the enemy ranks by presenting multiple potential threats simultaneously, and second, to exploit the resulting vulnerabilities to strike decisively at key objectives.

By strategically alternating between feints and genuine offensives, the goal was to keep the enemy off balance and unable to predict the true intentions of the allied forces.

The adoption of such a strategic approach came from the clear reality of their forces finding themselves at a considerable disadvantage relative to their adversaries. Faced with formidable opponents possessing superior numbers, resources, and strategic positions, the need to level the playing field became necessary.

By employing diversion tactics and misdirection, they sought to disrupt the enemy's cohesion and exploit any vulnerabilities within their defenses. This strategy allowed them to maximize the effectiveness of their limited resources while minimizing the risks associated with direct confrontation.

In essence, the goal was not merely to engage the enemy but rather to outmaneuver and outthink them at every turn. By creating confusion and uncertainty through the manipulation of enemy perceptions and expectations, the forces aimed to create openings for decisive strikes and strategic gains.

"We will depart in three hours. Use the remaining time to rest and relax your bodies," Esmeralda declared. "While the trip to the destination might take a while, I want all of us ready for action if anything happens."

Actually, they didn't need that much time. According to Rain's calculation, they could reach the target in a couple of hours. They only had to stop along the way to create their own map and find details about the planets along the way.

"I guess it will be fine if we take some time… in case of an emergency, I might need to teleport to those places without thinking," Rain thought. "In any case, the preparations have been finished, but I might need to use way more mana than planned, even though our forces have become better."

Rain also would need a distraction since he would put another idea of his into action, but that would be hard to escape from the machine god's radar since the action would be quite drastic… with that in mind, he could only do it after the mission was over.

"Alright, time is up," Esmeralda said. "Everyone gets together. Iori, start bringing everyone to your pocket dimension."

As the last echoes of their presence faded into the air, Rain's hand closed around the small, pulsating core of Iori's pocket dimension. Sealyn and Van met Rain's gaze with a nod of assurance, their silent communication conveying a unity of purpose that transcended words.

With a single gesture, Rain initiated the Teleport, his mind focusing on their destination with clarity. In an instant, the familiar sensation of spatial displacement washed over them, a swift transition from one realm to another propelled by the sheer force of Rain's mana.

In the next moment, Rain found himself on the first floor of the prison… and he was surprised to see that the place was completely dark. It almost felt like all the stairs in the cosmos had vanished… at the same time, Rain felt his body a lot lighter… the gravity had decreased a lot since the last time he had been there.

"I guess the machine gods abandoned this world for good," Rain thought. "This probably can become a good temporary hideout for us."

Rain couldn't sense any more mana in that world, so his actions were bound to leave some traces behind… still, as long as his actions were limited to his concealed domain, he assumed that it would be fine.

In any case, Rain soon used teleport again and then reappeared in the second zone of the prison… the place where he met Orzlan and the dozens of first dragons that surrounded the cities… even that place had become completely overtaken by darkness.

"It seems that the enemies are trying to save power now," Elisabetha said looking quite amused. "Maybe their energy bills had been pretty high lately."

Putting Elisabetha's sarcasm aside… Rain knew that their actions had been troublesome for the machine gods, but not that troublesome yet… perhaps the dragon god was the one forcing them to do that…