“What the hell?!” Emilia shouted. “What’s going on? Why did he break our barrier? We’ll be defenseless now!”

“Just play along.” Lunaris whispered. She trusted James completely, and it was obvious that he had some sort of weird plan.

She had no idea what his plan actually was, but she didn’t doubt him for a second. If James decided to do something, they had to do their best to help him. He definitely had a good reason for it.

But regardless if he had a good reason or not, they all felt naked now. They could erect new barriers, but it would be nothing compared to the one James had infused his own mana into. The leader could probably just crack any barriers they put up in a second.

They trusted James, but they couldn’t help but feel a little bit panicked. However, just as they were scrambling to put up some defenses, they felt James’s [Chaotic Healing] buffing them.

The feeling was familiar, but it was so much stronger than before.

James’s ‘sacrifices’ were sacrifices in name only at this point. It cost him nothing. And so he applied several instances of [Chaotic Healing] on each and every single one of them.

Even as his head without a body was flying through the air, cracking their barrier, he was thinking about their safety.

With several stacks of the buff upon them, the group was zooming around the battlefield. Even Denmac, the slowest of the group, was running circles around the leader.

They felt stronger than they’ve ever felt in their lives. It was almost like a drug, they felt like they could crush the whole planet with their bare hands.

But even as they were feeling unstoppable, they had to act scared and panicked. Just as James was.

“Oh my god, no! I cracked the barrier! We’re all defenseless now, we’re so exposed!” James shouted in a fake panic.

The leader was furiously slashing at James’s disembodied head. But every time he got close, SARM would propel James out of the way.

“If I can’t get to you, I’ll just get to one of your friends.” He turned around and rushed towards Helios.

Even though the leader was no slouch, James had pumped his friends full of his so-called healing, which was basically just a huge buff to their speed and power. Every time the leader swung his sword, Helios was already several feet away.

He turned around and tried to attack Lunaris, but she was just as fast.

The leader slashed towards the dwarves, Emilia, and finally even Denmac. But he couldn’t land a hit on any of them.

They dutifully played their part, acting as if they were terrified.

“My spells are doing nothing!” Helios shouted while throwing fireballs at the enemy. “His attacks are deadly, yet mine don’t even tickle him!” They were all laying it on pretty thick.

Despite their convincing performance, they were actually quite safe. The leader was indeed strong, and they really couldn’t damage him at all. But with James’s buffs, they were fast enough to completely avoid the attacks.

“That is impressive, my friends are still alive!” James shouted. “Even without the barrier, they are strong enough to survive! But still, the situation is very dangerous! If just one more enemy appeared, we’d all be dead for sure! I sure hope nobody else attacks us!”

The time for subtlety was over. James had let himself get butchered, just so he could lure out the stalkers. And he had even destroyed the barrier that his friends were hiding behind, to further increase the danger of the situation, even though he could’ve killed the enemy with a snap of his fingers. Well, metaphorical fingers. He didn’t have any at the moment.

And still, despite the theatrics, the stalkers just wouldn’t come out. This was as vulnerable as he could get. He was literally a head, and his friends were out in the open without a barrier. If the stalkers didn’t pop out now, they never would. It’s not like he could become even more vulnerable, there was nothing left for him to lose.

He could just stick to the old plan and keep pillaging cities until somebody does show up.

But that didn’t sit well with him. He felt watched, followed. Even though he was feeling nigh invincible, that wasn’t something he could allow. Especially since he had his friends with him.

The longer they were followed, the more the stalkers learned about their powers. And the more time they had to form a strategy.

And if he were in their place, James would go after the weaker ones first.

Meaning if these stalkers were any good at assassination, his friends were in danger. It was the reason he made them such a strong barrier in the first place.

But now, even with the barrier destroyed, the stalkers still didn’t intervene. Even with him as just a head, and his barrier-less friends running circles around the leader, the stalkers waited patiently.

There was nothing else he could really do.

But that was unacceptable. He didn’t want to risk his friends getting sniped while he was pillaging the next cities. He went so far as to expose them now just to prevent any danger when he wouldn’t have the chance to be as vigilant as he was at this moment.

But finesse and acting hadn’t worked. Subtlety and cunning really wasn’t his strong suit.

Then he understood that he has to do something less subtle. A lot less subtle.

It was a longshot, but unlike his previous plan, this one appealed to his strengths.

Oddly enough, he felt the need for a villainous monologue at that moment. He wanted to cackle and clap, and reveal his plan in a long speech before the climax of the battle. He had mocked his foes repeatedly for this, but now he understood why the did it. It was an exhilarating, almost irresistible urge to boast about your devilish idea while your foe had to stand there and listen to it before their inevitable demise.

But he wasn’t about to repeat the mistake of all those villains. No, as just a head on the ground, he had the element of surprise on his side. And he’d take full advantage of it.