Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

Recognizing the gravity of the situation, Rain called for an urgent meeting with the entire group. Unlike their usual gatherings in a central meeting place visible to everyone, this time, they met at Rain's home. The reason was clear – it was here that the enhanced telescope, the key to their understanding of the planetary defense system, had been improved.

The group gathered in Rain's living space, their expressions a mix of concern and anticipation. Things hadn't changed much, but they were very quiet as they waited to see what Rain had seen.

"Alright, everyone," Rain said and then moved away from the telescope. "We've stumbled upon something far more complex than we anticipated. Those planets are not just planets; they are part of a colossal defense system with a weapon that fired those meteors at us. The whole structure is designed to shield them, and they've adjusted it to keep the cannon aimed at us.

It's a fortress, and they are using it strategically.""

The group absorbed this information, realizing that their journey had taken an unforeseen turn. The unknown adversaries possessed advanced technology, making their next moves unpredictable.

"We need to gather as much information as possible before making any decisions," Esmeralda said while looking at the target. "Rain shouldcontinue adjusting the telescope and monitoring their movements. We need to understand their capabilities, and weaknesses as we approach them."

"How long until we reach them?" Regis asked.

"We are still running the numbers, but if they don't move, perhaps in six weeks," Rain replied. "Attacks will also slow us down and make us waste mana since we will need more mana to recover our speed. Therefore, we will have to monitor this the whole time. At least two people will have to be on the telescope and the command room all times."

The population will feel restless during the whole time, we will have to keep everyone busy as much as possible to avoid unrest," Sealyn said. "We don't have information on how they fight yet aside from the cannon, but we need to prepare everyone for a confrontation. It is unlikely that they only fight like that in all scales, after all."

Rain couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for his daughter. Her ability to keep a level head in such a tense situation was amazing. However, mixed with his pride was a bit of regret. He hadn't played a significant role in shaping her strong-minded nature; she had developed it through her own experiences.

Rain observed Sealyn closely. Her words flowed smoothly, outlining a strategic plan to manage the population's anxiety and prepare for the uncertainties that lay ahead. Yet, beneath her composed exterior, there was a subtle nervousness, evident in the increased number of her words. It was a reminder that even the most resilient among them felt the weight of the challenges ahead.

Once again, the group began to work on their fields to make things go smoothly… for now, Rain and the relics would stay behind and keep an watch on the target. Thanks to that, he couldn't help but worry… it was their first real enemy, and he had no idea if they were prepared to face such an advanced civilization.

"This is a common tactic, use a lot of power to shock the enemy and make them think from the very beginning that they don't stand a chance," Sakaki said. "While they are also not trying to run away from us, it is clear that they aren't completely sure of their victory."

"Right now, I am more worried about the losses that we might face due to the lack of information," Rain said. "Winning or losing doesn't matter right now."

"It is is also suspicious that such a civilization is so close to our solar system," Larisa said. "This definitely wasn't around during our time before."

"You don't have to worry, even if they aren't dragons, I recovered a great deal of power thanks to those bones," Elisabetha said.

Rain was already feeling bad, now he felt worse for recalling something he did behind everyone's backs. The relics sure were annoying… they didn't want to use the bones in any other way, but they didn't voice their opinions when Elisabetha said that she could obtain the mana in the bones to power herself up.

Naturally, she did that while Rain kept her invisible… and just enough so that the bones wouldn't turn into dust. That being said, it looked like that will help them against this enemy…

"Hey, how about we add the telescope to a massive mana cannon?" Sakaki asked. "If we build it with Maxime's power, the combination will be quite something. In space, mana will be able to move almost at the speed of light and surprise those guys."

"You say some scary things sometimes…" Rain said and then sighed.

"I prefer not to attack without seeing the enemy a bit more," Rain said. "They might be able to reflect that kind of attack and that will be our doom… or perhaps not, since from this distance we would be able to react. Nevertheless, that will condemn all that civilization. I am not willing to kill indiscriminately."

"Here we go again…" Elisabetha said.

"You guys sure are bloodthirsty, even though you don't know if dragons are there," Rain furrowed his eyebrows. "Besides, we will destroy everything if we attack with a weapon like that and we will draw even more attention to us with an attack of that escale."

"We thought that we were being cautious enough, but it seemed that we were wrong…" Larisa said and then sighed. "He has a point, we might be able to learn a lot more if we don't kill everyone and destroy everything. The issue is how many of us we will lose by following that kind of mindset."

That troubled Rain as well, that was why he was trying to think of a solution to that issue… he had a bit more than a month for that.