With my hand on the device, I closed my eyes, allowing the shop to open. I immediately went to the section with class upgrades, and picked 'ArchInfernalist'.

I chose six skills, and upgraded them to the fourteenth level, focusing on the most useful in the realization of our plan. Those skills were: 'Control flame V', 'Create flame V', 'Mana V', 'Flame mastery II', 'Volcano eruption', 'Scorch III'.

This left me with 10 777 981 479 749 264 points.

For a moment I was wondering if I should invest it in additional mana, but then I realized it wouldn't change that much. After quite a moment of careful investigation of my skills, I decided on the best, in my opinion, way to spend those points.

The whole strategy was relying on a single thing. A possibility to one-shot one-kill the High Queen. If we failed at that, there probably wouldn't be a second chance, so to make sure that at least one of us would be capable of doing that, I bought 79 680 000 upgrades of strength. Yes. A massive multiplier of what I already had. In theory, it should make me 400 times stronger than before, but the power of upgrades was getting less significant the more you got, so I knew that this theory was worthless. Still, I thought it would make me get way, way stronger than before.

The price tag on that was 10 679 600 100 000 000 points. This left me with still a decent amount of 98 381 379 749 264 points.

I needed some of them in case of emergency, so I could return to Loistavadvaar and replenish used resources, or bring myself from the brink of death if I couldn't any longer do it on the battlefield, but the mentioned amount was way too big for that, so I decided to still do some investments.

After another careful investigation of the possibilities, I went and bought the 'Master Overcharger' class evolution. It gave me access to the following skills: 'Amplified mana regeneration IV' 'Mana pool IV', 'Raw mana control IV', 'Raw mana manipulation IV', 'Mana overcharge III', 'Mana pool overcharge II', 'Metamagic', 'Spell overcharge'.

'Metamagic' skill was quite the interesting one, as it allowed me to manipulate the spells on the level of mana, making them better, if I were to invest some time to actually work on them.

'Spell overcharge' was quite similar to it. It wasn't just pushing more energy into my magic, as one could think. It was more fundamental. It allowed me to create the overcharge effect on the level of mana particles making my magic more deadly. Sadly it also needed some time and was more dedicated to smaller spells.

My massive 'aoe' destructors were way beyond the scope of what this skill could provide, but it would definitely be very useful to increase the power of fireballs or my firebirds.

I upgraded all of the skills to the maximum, unlocking the 'Grandmaster Overcharger' evolution for the class. The price tag on that was 88 888 888 888 000 points, which left me with 9 492 490 861 264 points.

After that, I still kept looking for more, but I couldn't decide what should I invest in, and also the thought that I might need those points kept popping into my head.

The battle was going to be very tough. The toughest I've ever experienced - I had no doubt about that - so being overprepared was a good thing. Especially if consider the fact that we actually didn't know the full extent of The High Queen's abilities. She could easily surprise us. Counting solely on our plan simply working, was beyond being foolish.

There was also a second side to that coin. I could very well be a single upgrade from tipping the scales of victory to our side, so the decision wasn't easy to make.

I went through it a few times and eventually decided to keep the points. Nothing, what I could get, would give me an edge, comparable to being able to return to Loistavadvaar, refresh myself, and return to battle many, many times, as those points were allowing me to.

It still left me with an unpleasant feeling in my stomach, as I wasn't hundred percent sure, but the decision had to be made.

I finally took my hand off the device and took a single step back.

- It took you a while - Daniel pointed out.

- Many things to consider - I explained myself.

- Are you ready? - asked Druoag.

- No, not yet - I answered without hesitation.

There were things that I needed to test, including my new, raw, strength.

- I need to check something. I'll be right back - I said, and without waiting for an answer, I went through the closest gate.

I ended up in an alien city, but I didn't pay too much attention to it, as there was simply no time for sightseeing. I just blasted through the district, to get some distance between me and the gate, then punched the closest building.

There were two sounds of explosions. The first one was when my fist breached the barrier of sound, accelerating way beyond the supersonic speed, and then the second happen when I actually hit the wall.

There was no pushback. It was like punching air, with a small difference. The place where my fist was heading, was completely decimated. Everything got flattened, and I could see in the distance the rubble falling and destroying even more of the city. Both the right and the left sides had two massive clouds of dust slowly spreading further, as everything was settling down.

I noted to myself, looking at my fist:historical

- Not bad. Not bad at all.

This strength was not something unknown to me, but before the recent upgrades, it would require me to use 'Shadow fusion' to achieve such a level of destruction. Maybe even a little less. Now my body was able to produce such effects on its own.

Happy with the outcome, I returned.

- I'm ready - I said to everybody, after shadow walking back.

My sudden appearance surprised them a little bit, but not that much, as they were expecting my return eventually.

- Let's begin then - said The Great One.

Despite the tense situation, his voice was quite calm.