When A Mage Revolts

Benjamin’s booming voice gave everyone a fright.

As though waking from a dream, the mages in the sky snapped back to their senses and were immediately relieved of the pressure from the Door into Oblivion. The conflict between the fire phoenixes and the black sphere had distracted so much that they had temporarily forgotten their original purpose.

They should have just used the fireballs to strike directly at the enemy.

There was no longer any doubt on Joanna and the other two’s faces. They quickly took control of three white phoenixes and sent them straight at the enemy.

They knew that everything relied on this.

For the cannibal mages on the ground, it looked like there was a giant blanket of fire enveloping them; it was like the entire mountainside had become a giant oven. Aside from the area around the Door into Oblivion, everything they saw was red, their vision even became blurry from the heat.

Finally, the elders’ expressions started to change.

They wanted to bring the Door into Oblivion above their heads and allow it to swallow the attacks. But the giant black ball had not grown large enough yet, and would not be able to protect most of them. And so, the phoenixes went around uncontested and released countless fireballs above them – the mages on the ground felt like they were standing underneath the waterfall of death.

The cannibal mages could no longer hide and could only strengthen their resolve and conjure up as many walls of darkness as they could. They were desperately trying to block the attack that was about to turn them to ash.

If they could survive the fire, it would mean that they were the clear winners of this bitter battle.

It was only ten seconds between the time the phoenixes first dived and when the endless fire enveloped the cannibal mages. But to the people there, it was like everything was moving in slow motion - they could feel their heart pounding in their chest and hear their exhausted panting.

The three phoenixes broke straight through the numerous walls of darkness and at the same time unleashed their flames on the cannibal mages. The dungeon became a sea of fire and many of Benjamin’s mages, although hundreds of feet in the air, had to turn away from the sudden burst of heat.

"Are they dead?" Frank peered down at the sea of fire, his voice revealing his nervousness.

"I’m not sure, but the Door into Oblivion is still moving."

The mages all turned to look up when they heard this. The giant black sphere was indeed still expanding and headed right for them. It looked as though it was not affected.

But if it was still moving, does that mean that the two elders were not hurt?

The mages clenched their first in anger while the flames below them continued to burn.

A fire created by a high-level spell would not only be strong but also be extremely difficult to put out. This flame was now also lighting the candle of hope in the mages hearts.

They stared nervously at the flames.

"Burn them all! Burn them all!" Joanna muttered quietly.

As they were watching intensely, Benjamin suddenly noticed some strange movements from the mountainside. Strange black shadows came from every direction and rushed towards the sea of fire.

Benjamin was shocked.

This was…

He suddenly remembered that when he got rid of Luke, the bastard had left behind a magical form that would not dissipate. The shadows gathering right now looked somewhat similar to the black shadows he had conjured.

Did cannibal mages leave behind a half-finished spell after they die… could this be their final card?

No fucking way…

Benjamin was anxious. But the elements in the sea of fire were in complete disarray. Because of this, he was also unable to use the water element to sense what was going on. So, he simply closed his eyes and used his pure spiritual energy to try to get an idea of what was going on as the black shadows rushed into the fire.

Benjamin was shocked when he saw the scene inside the fire.

It was like going into another world. A mess of bodies, blood and gore; dead and hollow eyes stared back at him from all directions, and an intense feeling of hatred pulsed through his body.

Benjamin’s heart thumped heavily before he cut off the spell and opened his eyes again.

What on earth was that?

"That was a hybrid of spiritual energy and some unknown power disgustingly merged into one." The System suddenly said softly, "Don’t touch it, it won’t do you any good."

Benjamin frowned, "How do you know that?"

"Intuition."

"…"

Benjamin could not reply.

No matter what, the situation wasn’t good. The original flame was strong, the heat was making him very uncomfortable even though he was quite a distance away. But after the black shadows entered the sea of fire, it was as though the flames had turned weaker.

And the Door into Oblivion in the sky was still moving, which meant that the elders were alright. He needed to think of another idea…

"Hey, what is your intuition is telling you" Benjamin suddenly said in his heart, "About the fire and the things in it - anything at all, it doesn’t matter how far-fetched, tell me everything."

The System’s point of view is not the same as the average person, it can see what others are unable to see. At that moment, Benjamin had nowhere else to turn to and needed to take advantage of this unique trait.

"Inside the fire? Let’s see… wow, that’s really interesting." It was extraordinary that the System could see what was going on inside, "Those cannibalistic mages look like freaks of nature, every one of them has green tendons protruding from their skin. But after a while, they fall off. Then, it is like their spiritual energy is being pulled out to maintain a giant dome-shaped shield around the elders, which is keeping the fire out."

Benjamin was shocked when he heard this.

What the fuck is going on?*

According to the System, the ordinary cannibal mages were sacrificing themselves by removing the own spiritual energy and making a shield so that the elders will not be burnt by the flames.

But… what about the black shadows that were making the flames weaker?

Benjamin inquired about this, but the System did not give him a satisfactory answer.

"I am not an encyclopedia; I can’t answer every question you ask me."

"…"

No matter, if the System couldn’t help, then it would be up to Benjamin to figure it out on his own. If the two elders were willing to sacrifice their own people, then maybe they were also putting their own people into this strange state right before they died. When it was time, they would use the black shadows for unspeakable purposes.

How was he supposed to stop this?

If this goes on any longer, the fire will eventually die out.

"Hey, can you maintain the state of emptiness for a few seconds longer?"

It was like Benjamin had suddenly thought of something and entire body calmed down. He took a deep breath and asked.

"What…" the System was shocked, but quickly realized what Benjamin was thinking of and said, "You…no way… Do you want to be a fireman?"