When A Mage Revolts

Just as Benjamin was about to say something to let the mages who were following behind him take notice, his expression suddenly changed, and looked forward.

It looked like the smash just now had... Startled something in the mountains.

Very soon, there came bouts of roaring noises, which all the other mages noticed. Sensing with the water element, Benjamin could see, in the forest far away, some small magical beasts had swarmed out. However, these magical creatures did not seem to be rushing towards Benjamin and the others, but there seemed to be something more frightening behind them, forcing them to flee in all directions, thrown into a panic.

"Be careful, prepare to fight!"

Seeing this, Benjamin was forced to shout in a loud voice. Hearing thus, all the mages put down their luggage, holding their breaths and bracing themselves, going into their battle stances.

Entering these mountains, they had already prepared themselves to face the attack of magical creatures, so, they probably could not blame Benjamin’s smash for this... right?

Very soon, the terrible fellow that had been chasing the smaller magical creatures appeared before their eyes.

It was a bear-like magical beast.

At first it was only the size of a normal brown bear; other than the pure white skin and fur on its body, there was nothing special about it. The bear-like magical beast let out a roar that could shake the earth, and rushed out from the forest. Seeing Benjamin and his men, it charged over as though it had been provoked.

The mages, of course, immediately opened fire. However, when the first fireball hit the bear’s body, not only did it not get hurt, but at that moment changed form.

It let out a muffled sound as though it was coughing out mucus from inside its throat. Following which, its body, as though under by some kind of magic, suddenly began to increase in size and height. In the blink of an eye, the fellow that was just now only the figure of a normal wild beast, at that time had become two-story building tall and red-eyed, like a prehistoric, giant beast that had never been seen before.

Heavens...

The mages were somewhat dumbfounded.

This sort of creature still existed?

At that instant, the giant, two-story tall bear stood up and let out a rumbling roar. He blocked the way before Benjamin like a huge mountain, even the light rays shining from the skies became dim.

Immediately after, it raised its huge bear paw high, and ruthlessly slammed it down towards Benjamin!

"Careful, teacher!"

The hundred over mages rushed to chant spells, condensing a tightly woven, thick and solid shield to defend Benjamin from the front.

However, the force of the giant bear’s clap was beyond imagination. The bear paw that was almost the size of a building clapped down, the elemental shield was destroyed like a bubble and could not stop the other party in the slightest. Suffocating, Benjamin could only take this chance, using water vapor to speed up, to rush his whole body backwards to evade this hit.

Boom!

The claws hit the ground, creating a huge paw print; the trees in the forest reeled left and right, the birds and the beasts scattered. The mages also could not but sway, as though experiencing a magnitude eight earthquake.

As for Benjamin, he had practically rolled on the ground and barely escaped. Quivering, he stood up once more.

He looked at this unheard of giant bear, revealing a stunned expression.

What the f... It was so powerful?

However, before he could do anything, the giant bear once again let out a roar that almost destroyed their eardrums. Having hit nothing, it seemed to be dissatisfied; beating its chest like an ape, it immediately clapped a second paw towards Benjamin!

…...again?

In such suddenness, Benjamin could not prepare any powerful magic and could only dodge backwards. However, as he dodged, his sight fell on the crystal ball in his hands.

The crystal ball was still vibrating and emitting light. He had just started up this toy, and the giant bear's sudden attack had not cancelled it.

In that case...

An idea flashed through Benjamin’s brain.

In such unexpected circumstance, he could not conjure up any kind of powerful attack and could only blindly escape. As for the trouble before his eyes, from a certain perspective, it could be said that it was caused by this crystal ball.

—why didn’t he let the crystal ball solve this problem?

And so, in the process of dodging the bear paw, Benjamin took a deep breath, found an opportunity and, like tossing a medicine ball, tossed the incomparably light crystal ball out.

Whoosh!

Before the gigantic figure of the unfamiliar bear beast, the crystal ball was like an ant in a corner, not at all noticeable. However, when it drew a smooth arc of a parabola in the air, quietly hitting the giant bear in the chest, everything changed.

They saw a small hole suddenly appear in the chest of the giant bear, solid like a mountain. The small hole was the size of a human head and did not seem impressive. Nonetheless, the sunlight that was blocked by the giant bear’s body shone through that little hole and became a ray of light in the dim forest, falling on Benjamin’s face.

"This..."

The mages were stunned.

Actually, not only the mages; even the giant bear did not seem to have reacted. It stood rooted to the ground, not moving an inch.

When the crystal ball flew over, it had not even bothered to dodge, letting the crystal ball hit its body. Maybe in its judgement, such an insignificant thing with no magic oscillation really could not bring it any harm.

Therefore, the crystal ball softly hit its chest, and lightly penetrated through its chest.

There was no spurt of blood, and no earthshaking roar. Comparing this with the last time the crystal ball had been accidentally thrown out, the process this time was so understated, like a soft breeze brushing pass; everything was in harmony and in peace.

Whether the giant bear, Benjamin, the other mages or the magical beasts fleeing in the forest— every living creature was quiet, as though the noise was silenced.

Until two seconds later.

After the crystal ball went through the giant bear, it fell not far from its back and emitted a huge clamor of noise. Following which, the giant bear seemed to come back to its senses. It blinked its confused little eyes and reached out with its claws, touching the hole in its chest.

And then, let out an incomparably fierce roar.

Roar— —

The mages could not help but fall back a few steps, covering their ears to prevent the noise from making their ears bleed. Benjamin even could not but summon a layer of water film to wrap themselves up, dampening the soundwave attack from the roar.

This noise…...was too loud!

The roar of the giant bear lasted for approximately four or five seconds. After which, under the mages’ dumbfounded sight, it clutched its chest and collapsed to the ground.

The earth shook and quaked violently. After that, the noisy mountain forests finally returned to the quietness at the beginning.

Benjamin could not help but take a deep breath.

Hesitating for a moment, he walked forward, observing the unmoving bear that had fallen to the ground. A few seconds later, he turned his head and spoke to the mages who were practically frozen, saying:

"There’s no problem, it is already dead."

The mages stayed frozen, and could not react to all that had happened before them.

Benjamin felt his own rapidly beating heart, understanding fully.

The unmatchable giant bear just now had, in the blink of an eye, been killed by the crystal ball. This sort of ant killing an elephant scene was not something one could easily digest. Only Benjamin, who had tossed out the crystal ball himself, had any preparation for it.

Nonetheless... He was also a bit shocked.

What kind of a joke was this? The moment he had tossed the crystal ball out, he only wanted to buy a bit of time for himself, create some distance, and cast magic to slowly grind the giant bear to death, or something. He had even thought of the next tactic to deploy, and what strategy to use for containment...

Who knew, he had actually killed the giant bear in mere moments!

It was too scary.

This crystal ball, what on earth was it?

His heart pounding, Benjamin once again controlled water vapor, passing by the giant bear’s carcass, and picked up the crystal ball that had landed in the distance, bringing it back into his hands.

The crystal ball was completely unscathed.

But this time, both of Benjamin’s hands were trembling.

It was not because the crystal ball had returned to its normal weight at the start and he could not carry it, only... When you have in your hands a nuclear bomb, even if you knew it would not explode, but... Would your hands really not shake even the least bit?