LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 355: Right now is as good of a time as any
How does one deal with a force they cannot compare to?
Or, to be more precise, how I was supposed to tackle the issue of Irene, or whatever was her real name, interfering with my life through her dark aura?
How I was supposed to deal with her if the peak of my ability allowed me to barely touch the realm she was perfectly comfortable being in full control of?
Honestly, I had no idea myself. And who would be better to ask if not the two practical leaders of the city, who were bound to have issues like that in the past?
"A force you cannot overcome through the standard means, huh?" Leon muttered before leaning his head on the backrest of his seat. Then, the look on his face sharpened as he looked down without moving his head at all and cast a piercing glance right at me. "Are we targeted by a force like that right now?"
With Leon asking his question, Makary opted to remain silent, clearly eager to hear my answer.
"In all honesty, I don't think so," I admitted with a shallow sigh. "But I'm nearly certain they interfered with me for years and even…" right as I was about to bring up the darkness core, I managed to bite down on my tongue before spilling too much.
It wasn't that I didn't trust Makary to share the news with him. To a degree, I wouldn't really mind talking about Irene's problem with Leon either, given how a common enemy could help us cement our cooperation.
But…
'Any attempt at explaining it would take hours. And right now…'
I took another glance into the frontal, driver's mirror situated in the very middle of the car's front. And while the angle wasn't the best, I could still see Cassie and Irene, currently appearing to be arguing about something smack-dab in the middle of the street.
"I'm sorry, but explaining the details would take way too long. So," I turned my eyes away from the mirror and back to the two recipients of my question. "How do you deal with someone infinitely stronger than you?"
Leon opened up his mouth again, but this time he failed to produce a sound and ended up closing his lips back up without making a single noise.
"It depends," Makary calmly spoke after the silence stretched out to an uncomfortable level. "If they are outright hostile, then you can try to just take the loss and move on, try to strike them where they are weakest or interfere with their growth indirectly."
As Makary spoke out, I took a look outside of the car.
Even though the time of the two worlds wasn't perfectly synchronized, we just happened to get back to earth right as the night started. After all the delays and then travel, we were currently surrounded by nothing but darkness and shadows cast by the massive building, with only some occasional source of light painting the world in more diverse colors.
In other words, save for some rare spots, we were in the middle of Irene's element.
'So much for using her potential weakness against her,' I thought, gritting my teeth.
Hanging my head to the back, I ran all the possible courses of action I could take, ranging from just leaving the issue for later, through trying to confront her about all my suspicions to forcing Leon to agree to a terror attack where the whole area around Irene would be bathed in a hailstorm of bullets and then baked in napalm.
Still, every option came with varying chances of success, minuscule chances of actually solving the problem, and an entirely unique set of costs and drawbacks.
"If that force is not perfectly hostile, though, oftentimes it's better to just talk it through and even agree to take a minor loss in order to avoid a major defeat later on," Makary concluded his short lecture with a shrug of his shoulders.
"But since you clearly are not that keen to share the details," he gave me an eye, "I cannot help you judge the details of the situation or what would be the best way to respond to the issue."
I looked Makary in the eyes for a little bit longer than I initially planned.
In the end, though, I opted not to say another word to either of the men and turned to Fay instead.
Fay, as opposed to Leon and Makary, could peer into the depths of my soul. And from the moment she first sensed that something was amiss, she opened herself up to our bond…
Only to end up with her face turning white from the terror implied by the shreds of information and observation I myself gathered on the topic.
"I wish we could just leave it for later," I whispered to Fay while gently grabbing and then slightly raising her hands. "But the more I put it away, the worse it's likely to get. And if we are to ever make a move…" I gritted my teeth to the point my jaws started to hurt, "now is as good as ever."
Given how I didn't really pay much attention to keeping my voice to Fay alone, it came as no surprise that Makary managed to start connecting the dots by now.
Still, he couldn't really do much when he still missed the most crucial bits and pieces necessary to complete the puzzle of the current issue.
"What's going on, man?" Makary asked, opting for a direct approach over trying to sneak around the issue.
"…"
Keeping silent, I simply hugged Fay tightly into my chest and took a deep breath, calming my thoughts and priming my physical state for the stress and anxiety it was about to go through.
"Have one of your men track where I move. I will do my best to steer the situation somewhere near, with a great line of sight from the outside," I instructed, paying no mind to Makary's wish for more information.
A single glance into the rear-view mirror was enough to confirm that my window of opportunity to silently approach the two girls was quickly coming to an end, with random bystanders already interfering in their argument.
"What the hell is going on?" Makary asked again, this time with a properly stern face and annoyed voice.
"Once Fay gives you a call, I need you to drop every last piece of ammo and explosive on my location. People will die… but if Fay really makes the call, it will be a really small price to pay to stop the mayhem that girl can cause otherwise," I continued with my instructions before turning back to Fay.
"Dear, I know it's risky, but I want you to fully focus on monitoring our bond. If things go south, I will try to use the portal to escape, so, if my presence suddenly weakens…"
Fay took a long, deep breath herself and closed her eyes. Then, with her eyes still closed, she raised her hands and brought them up to my face before resting them down on my cheeks.
"I know you have to," Fay whispered, paying equally as much attention to Makary freaking out as I did. "So I won't stop you."
Fay opened her eyes and looked directly into mine.
And while I could see how worried she was… there wasn't even a hint of doubt in her soul that what I was planning to do was necessary.
After all, Irene's power easily went beyond the peak of Madam's power. Even though I wasn't the strongest myself, I could say with a huge degree of certainty that Irene had to be at least one if not two entire realms of power above Madam for her to make the alternate, dark reality her private playground.
And with that in mind, how long would it take for me to reach the level of strength necessary to challenge her? And wouldn't a mere attempt to reach that kind of power be a clear signal for Irene that I was trying to take her down?
"Haaa…"
Ignoring the noise Makary and now also Leon were making in the car, I reached up and covered Fay's hands with my own, taking a deep breath and finally shaking my head.
"Okay," I muttered before pulling Fay's hands off my face, turning around in my seat, and pulling the car's door open. "Let's get this shit over with."