When A Mage Revolts

Just as everyone was occupied with their own matters, Benjamin remained alone in his room, pushing through his headache and going through his upcoming plans.

The outcome of today was not too shabby, but... did they really plan to tire the enemy to death?

The Church was no fool. Once they realize that the forceful tactic will not work, then they will definitely try alternative methods. More importantly, with the state Benjamin was in, it was near impossible for him to face off with Grant once again.

"Could you do a quick analysis on the time required for me to completely recover?" He asked the System.

"Due to special reasons, I am unable to analyze your Spiritual Energy." The System said listlessly, "But, didn’t those potion mages hand you some healing potions? What’s the rush? Take your time and consume them and you’ll be all good."

"How can I not rush..."

Benjamin glanced at the empty potion bottles and shook his head helplessly.

A lot of the potion mages from the academy had made their way to Rock City to refine potions that could heal the Spiritual Energy for him. However, the Spiritual Energy trauma was a rare condition and so were its potions. The mages basically analyzed him on the spot to develop the potion. Benjamin could only consume these liquids with the mentality of being a rat lab.

— These mages only used ingredients that were neutral and non0invasive so there was no need to worry about side effects. But this meant that the effect on healing was also minimal.

In his current state, Benjamin could only activate the water elemental domain for no more than five minutes. The "Descending of Water" was completely out of the question.

It really was a serious predicament.

As there were no other solutions, Benjamin could only divert his attention to other things.

"That thing in the sky... Could you take care of it?" He asked the System.

Under the night sky, the dual mirrors of light and water hung high in the sky of Rock City. It was as magnificent as a heavenly miracle but left everyone with an uneasy feeling in their hearts.

He couldn’t just let it continue hanging there, right? The number of elements within the mirror was concerning. What if in the attacks to come, something accidentally causes the mirror to break, thus causing the entire Rock City to receive collateral damage?

Benjamin couldn’t just leave it alone.

"Didn’t you cause it? Why do I have to fix it?" The System snapped back without hesitation.

"But that thing has got to do with the elemental stuff. So, could you please use your intuition to tell me how I can fix it?"

"How troublesome." The System was slightly disgusted, "However, I don’t think it’s a dangerous phenomenon. The elements appear to be at a complete standstill - the structure within the mirror is also stable."

"Then... could we then make use of it?"

"What are you planning to do?" The System asked, slightly curiously.

"The enemy is still surrounding us. I have lost the ability to battle. Of course, I’ll be thinking of all possible avenues that I can exploit." Benjamin spoke with lazily, "There are massive amounts of elements hidden in the mirror. If we could blow it to the enemy’s camp, wouldn’t that be a definite win?"

"... You could try."

"How so?"

"By using runes, of course." The System replied without thinking, "But... the structure in the mirror is a little unique. You may need to enter the intangible form while activating the runes to even hope to influence it."

"Are you sure?"

"It’s just my intuition. You’ll know once you attempt it."

"Alright then..."

Benjamin rubbed his chin.

The System’s skittish tone left a bad taste in his mouth. A sort of knocking his toe on a rock kind of premonition. But apart from this, it didn’t seem like there was any other way. Hence, he decided to leave it be unless absolutely necessary.

The next day.

"Are they... really going to continue their attack?"

The people of Rock City were awoken from their sleep by the sound of cannons firing. Cannonballs continuously smashed into the runic defense formation while the holy light showered the entire city with dazzling light.

Standing tall on the city wall, Benjamin was almost blinded by the sparkles. He had to squint his eyes to observe the battlefield.

"They seem to have other plans." The executive prime minister shut his eyes and shook his head, "Although the firing attack is still ongoing, the amount of force is much lower than before. It couldn’t possibly hope to destroy the runic defense formation. They could just be using the holy light to obstruct our sight."

Benjamin was speechless.

In order to lay siege of the city, the Church was willing to use these kinds of tactics?

They had over sixty cannons of holy light in place and they were now firing one at a time. They weren’t aiming to penetrate the barrier but rather have the holy light explosion blind their sight. The priests were taking turns to fire every few minutes was already a form of torture.

Doing this over a long-term may actually cause blindness.

Moreover, apart from this, the blinding holy light had also greatly influenced their tactical strategy.

"I suspect that they’re trying to distract us with robust light to secretly bypass Rock City to attack Regina." The executive prime minister was deeply concerned, "The neighboring region is mountainous, so this is usually the only path to Regina. But, if they’re fixated on taking the long way and we are unable to investigate things might get tricky."

Benjamin couldn’t help but frown deeply.

This lame tactic of theirs was really quite annoying.

At the same time.

"So, we can use this to make them forego their runic defense formation and come out and fight?" Grant sat in the tent and stared at the city bathing in holy light.

"Your Highness, here’s where you’re unfamiliar." General Press smirked, "Hitting a turtle hiding in its shell is a waste of time and energy. Sometimes, we need to suffocate them with smoke, that is the way to get them to come running out of their shell."

"But a few days ago, you were telling me that as long as we forcefully take them, we will be able to easily break through Rock City’s defense and slaughter all the mages."

"..."

General Press had his foot in his mouth.

"Whatever. I don’t care if we’re cursing them out or blasting them with holy light, as long as they are forced out." Grant said agitatedly, "I will help you in silencing the objection from the bishops and priests. I hope you do not let me down."

After hearing the other party’s sharp tone, General Press was suddenly drenched in a cold sweat. He could only nod and respond earnestly.

However, it was at this time that a soldier rushed into the tent.

"Ge-General!"

"What is it?" Press lifted his head to stare at the soldier viciously, "Do not yell when there are no urgent matters. Don’t you see His Highness the Pope is here?"

As he spoke, his gaze carefully swept over to Grant. He was afraid that the pope might act up again and that he’d be caught in the crossfire.

"No... About that, General, there seems to have something happening over at Rock City."

Press was pleasantly surprised, "Rock City? Have they already been forced out?"

"They’re not, General. Most of the soldiers guarding the city had originally left the city wall due to the holy light but they have now all returned. They’re still standing up there. They don’t seem to be affected by the holy light anymore."

"What? What nonsense is this!" Press turned pale.

"General, it’s true. You... You’ll see once you come out."

Hearing this, Press went as white as a ghost. Sweat drenched his forehead. At that moment, he dared not turn to look at Grant.

Unaffected by the holy light... Could this be true?

He could not imagine what tactic the enemy had employed. However, if those from Icor had really figured out a way, then the bragging he did in front of His Highness... He dared not think further.

"Get out and take a look." Suddenly, Grant’s voice pierced his eardrums, startling him back to senses.

"Yes.... Yes..."

General Press nodded and braced himself as he exited the tent. They waited for the moment when the cannon of holy light fired and looked up at the city wall.

They could see rows of soldiers and mages packed along the city walls. They stood at the other side of the runic defense formation and stared at the pope and General Press coldly. All of them carried a fearless expression.

Sitting on their nose bridge, was a pair of glasses that General Press had never seen before. Pitch dark lenses of a glasses, with an unknown ink smeared all over it. Perhaps it had filtered the robust light from the holy light, which now allowed them to fearlessly stand on the city walls.

They continued to see thousands of men wearing the same black glasses, standing in rows on the city walls of Rock City. As General Press watched on, even with the pope by his side, he felt defeated.