When A Mage Revolts

When he heard this, Benjamin’s first reaction was to think "Was this woman crazy?"

What the hell? When he left the house this morning, the whole of Regina was still bustling, every street was filled with a celebratory atmosphere. Even though he didn’t know what festival it was for, but the Mages Guild would treat it as a normal day: If the queen leaves, then they preside over the workings of the city.

It has only been a few hours and yet the blond woman tells him that the church had launched a coup, and is already in control of the country’s capital. How can he just take her word for it?

So, he decided that this just some scare tactic.

"Don’t talk so much nonsense." Benjamin said, "you let Augustine go, and I’ll let your friend go; both of us will have to be willing, if this continues on, it won’t be beneficial to anyone."

The blond woman shook her head and said: "Believe me, I have no interest in fighting you. It is very dangerous outside, there are patrol guards going on their rounds everywhere. I had a tough time escaping, and as such there is no way I will run out to get your mage."

Even though he still felt some doubt, but Benjamin still felt foolish to think that this news could be true.

He suddenly remembered meeting the three priests in the woods.

At first, the three priests were disguised as merchants, keeping their reason for traveling to Regina a secret. Now, if what the blond woman says is true...

Benjamin couldn’t help but shake his head.

Very possibly, the church has been preparing for this for a long time, and are now using the Crusader’s Gateway siege as an opportunity to suddenly enact the secret plan.

"I need to verify what you just said," Benjamin said.

He turned and went to Sidney’s side. Following the instructions in a magic book that he saw a long time ago, he sliced his finger open. Using his own blood as a medium, he drew a simple rune on Sidney’s body.

He then used a weird tongue twisting spell. Benjamin felt as though his brain was being pierced by a needle because of the sharp prickling pain that was present. The water particles in the air around him moved in a weird way, compelled by his spiritual energy, combining with the blood from Benjamin.

At the same time, the blood flashed, and moved darkly. It dripped onto Sidney’s forehead, and it was absorbed by the skin of her forehead, before disappearing.

Was it a success?

At that moment Benjamin felt as though there was a small bomb in Sidney’s brain. If he were to say something, the bomb could explode, and this woman would die tragically.

Is this what it feels like to release a curse?

"You...what are you doing?" the blond woman was observing what was happening with her own eyes and looked like she wanted to stop it, but did not dare to go through the thick ice fog. She just stood there in surprise, "Curses have been banned by the Mages Guild for a long time, you actually..."

"So what? I’m not a member of the Mages Guild." Benjamin raised his eyebrows as he spoke indifferently.

Even though it has been a long time since he learned about curses from the Academy of Silence, he had never done it in practice. Since this was the first time it was actually successful, it made him feel good about himself.

Of course, the process had an evil atmosphere, so much so that he himself thought that he was like a villain.

But he had no choice. With the situation unfolding like this, Augustine was his opponent’s bargaining chip, and Sidney was his. He could not possibly keep a person frozen in ice for so long - what if she froze to death? So, he could only use a curse; once this curse had made him feel so tortured that he might as well die, but now he had to use it to control Sidney.

After he successfully cursed her, he removed Sidney’s ice prison, and let her shivering form fall to the ground.

"Sidney!" the blond woman wanted to run forward to pick her up, but Benjamin was blocking her way. She could only stand in place and worry.

"Don’t worry, she is alright, she is just passed out from being frozen for so long." Benjamin looked at her coldly, "I am going to go outside to see what is happening. If you try anything, I’m sure you understand what will happen to her."

The blond woman’s face was full of hatred but she didn’t say another word.

Benjamin nodded and headed out. But he decided not to touch the ice fog that was surrounding his body, just in case she decided to make a split-second decision and attack him.

Very quickly, he reached the front door.

At the door - it must have been locked when the blond woman came in - the sign board that had the words "Sisters’ massage" was now flipped over. After some thought, Benjamin went to the door, used the water particles sensing method, and scanned for what was happening outside.

The street outside was quiet.

Benjamin frowned, but he knew that the street here was a little out-of-the-way. If there really was a coup in Regina, it would take some time before its effects arrived here.

Just as he was hesitating, deciding whether he should go out, there came a magical disturbance from the end of the street he was scanning.

At the corner of the street, a middle age man’s silhouette appeared.

With a panicked expression, the middle-aged man started to chant a spell and conjured a fireball, as though he wanted to attack someone. Suddenly, a group of knights wearing anti-magic armor appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the mage. They then used an armored fist to knock out the mage, before dragging him away like a cow to slaughter.

Just like that, they left. In a fleeting moment, the chaotic street became calm again.

Behind the thin wooden door, Benjamin registered what had just happened, his face cold as ice.

Maybe he should be feeling shocked, but, he just watched as the mage was taken away. His first thought was not of the fact that the church had indeed taken over Regina, but, he felt a conflicted. This kind of things should only happen in the Kingdom of Helius…

He thought that if he left the kingdom, it would mean that they would be leaving the mages’ hell. Even though Icor was not friendly to mages either, but it is still a piece of land that magic can grow, which is different from the Kingdom of Helius.

But, he just realized there was not much difference between the two kingdoms after all. Under the same sky, there will still be innocent mages being captured and thrown into the abyss by armored troops. He could only hide behind a door, watching.

This kind of thing... should not happen here. Truthfully, it should not happen anywhere.

He was deep in thought for a while before returning to the lobby. He watched the blond woman help Sidney to the room to rest, and suddenly opened his mouth, his voice so calm it was a miracle.

"Tell me, what is happening outside?"

The blond woman turned around and looked at Benjamin and said: "The celebration… the leader of the Mages Guild was carrying out the final prayers to the gods. Suddenly, a huge group of patrol guards appeared, and in the name of the queen, captured all the mages present, and also forcefully detained all the people present. As long as they looked a little suspicious, they were taken away."

Benjamin was confused: "In the name of the queen?"

The blond woman nodded her head and said: "To the public it was in the name of the queen, he even had the queen’s keepsake, which was why the mages did not dare to fight back. But, I was just leaving the palace when I saw a few priest disguised as government officials, discussing how to thoroughly control Icor before the queen's return. That is why I knew, the people leading the coup is the church - only the people in the Mages Guild were kept in the dark."

"The queen’s keepsake? Just with this keepsake the mages went away quietly?" Benjamin was shocked.

"I asked around regarding this news, and turns out before the attack, they kidnapped most of the mages friends and family." The blond woman said softly, "Moreover, the situation then was the entire army of Regina, everyone was controlled by the people of the church. Maybe the Mages Guild still think that there is some misunderstanding, so they are just obeying, waiting for the queen to clear up the misunderstanding, maybe then she will release them."

When he heard this, Benjamin sank deeper into thought.

This was definitely a planned coup. Controlling the army, capturing the mages, masquerading as government officials...this was not done in a day, they would have needed to plant enough spies in Regina’s government and army, and at the same time discover the weakness of the people of the Mages Guild. Only they could attack and successfully take control of Regina.

He was afraid that the church had months and years to prepare beforehand. They could have been planning this even before the empire was split.

What intense preparations.

After some thought, Benjamin opened his mouth again, "In the entire land of Regina, do you know how many priests are buried here?"