When A Mage Revolts

"Now... are there any new updates on the Church?"

The Kingdoms Military Conference had started once again. Sitting in the hall, Benjamin heaved a deep breath and asked the question, feeling slightly nervous about the upcoming war.

He had caused an uproar in the Kingdom of Helius, but he wasn’t sure if it was enough to delay the Church until they were ready.

"As of right now, the Kingdom of Helius is quiet; we have not spotted any troops stationed along the borders." The President continued, "I also have reports from spies that there has been the shuffling of manpower within the Church. It seems that they are dispatching people to the South."

Benjamin raised his eyebrows when he heard this, "The South?"

But all there was to the South was the ocean. The Church had stationed a large number of troops in the Town of Crewe - if the Church had really wanted to wage a war against Benjamin, then they wouldn’t be sending people away.

Then… what could this mean?

"Does this mean… the Church is not going to dispatch their troops anymore?" The King of Carretas asked nervously as he put the pieces together.

"Hard to say," answered General Stuart with a shake of his head, "although our investigations have indeed shown that they have ceased all preparations for war, do not forget that this is the Church that we are talking about; we should not believe what we are seeing so quickly. For all we know, this could be a trap to get us to let our guard down."

Benjamin agreed and nodded his head.

The key was still with Benjamin, so there was no reason for the Church to give up. The troops who stole their food should not have seriously impaired the Church, so it wasn’t possible for them to be scared off.

On the contrary, the Church should have instead become furious. They had sent troops to attack Icor and had dispatched assassins to assassinate Benjamin, which was the expected reaction.

"But... it could be possible that the foreign cult who had previously infiltrated Carretas was causing them trouble." The King was quiet for a second before saying, "Could it be possible that they have appeared in the Kingdom of Helius, thus temporarily distracting the Church and cause them to give up on their attack?"

The King’s question shocked a few attendees.

"The foreign cult…" The President mulled it over before he said, "We have also heard of that incident in Carretas. But according to a few ancient records, those people live across the seas on an archipelago. Contact with them is few and far. It is uncharacteristic of them to be causing trouble again so quickly."

"But is it still possible?"

"Hmm…"

The conference members all exchange glances, not quite sure whether or not to rebuke the possibility.

Could it really be the foreign cult?

Benjamin rubbed his chin and went deep in thought. Honestly speaking, he had heard that the foreign cult had disembarked at the port of the Kingdom of Helius, but they had been massacred by the Church’s people.

If an external factor could cause the Church to give up their plans of attack, then it would certainly be good news for them.

However, Benjamin felt that they should not be letting their guard down just because of this.

"We must still be prepared for the possibility of war. But, we will also simultaneously find out what is truly going on as well." Benjamin continued, "As for the dispute between the foreign cult and the Church… I will look into it. If we can use that incident to our advantage, then we must not give up that chance."

The conference attendees all nodded their heads in agreement.

The conference moved on to matters regarding the deployment of defense troops along Icor’s borders. The discussion went on for a few hours until they arrived at the conclusion of deploying fifty thousand troops along the borders. Not only would they be stationed close to the Crusader Gateway, but they would also be stationed along the entire mountain range by the borders. This was a failsafe to ensure that they would be the first to know no matter where the Church attacked.

Once the conference ended, Benjamin returned to the Academy.

Benjamin found the teenage siblings in the research laboratory for the spirits and asked them, "How did the Elder and similarly-ranked people in your cult feel about the Church of Holy Light?"

"They felt… hatred, I guess?" The teenage girl mulled over her thoughts before continuing, "The Elder rarely talked about external matters, but whenever the topic about the Church of Holy Light came up, he would speak with extreme furiousness and constantly stated that he couldn’t wait to send the Church into the abyss to receive the Goddess’ judgement."

"Then could it be possible for them to suddenly go to the Kingdom of Helius to cause trouble for the Church?"

"This… I can’t answer for sure."

Benjamin could only sigh at the answer.

From the looks of things, the foreign cult wasn’t necessarily an enemy. Although they still viewed mages as blasphemous, the cult would be useful to them, at least until the Church has been eradicated.

After coming to this conclusion, Benjamin turned to leave but was halted by the siblings, as if they still had more to say.

"What is it?"

The teenage boy hesitated for a moment before saying, "I think that I think we’ve found a way to tame the ancestral spirit."

Benjamin’s expression shifted to one of surprise.

"Really?"

The spirit had been researched for quite a while and it was obvious that the mages way of researching was nowhere close to conclusive. Even a Dark Mage could not tame this spirit into fighting for them.

And so, Benjamin had no choice but to entrust the research to the care of the siblings.

If they had really found something after their research, then with the abundance of spirits in the abyss, they would make a powerful weapon.

"Just like what you had previously said, we trapped it within a living creature." The teenage boy continued, "However, the reason why you couldn’t control it previously was because you weren’t skilled in psychic powers, so you couldn’t communicate with it. Add that to the way you had trapped it… obedience had turned into hatred."

"Then did you both try to control it?"

"Not yet," answered the teenage boy with a shake of his head before continuing, "We can only do so after we let the spirit out. To do that… Sir Benjamin, we would need your permission.

Benjamin nodded his head.

It wouldn’t hurt to give it a go - the spirit wouldn’t be able to harm them much as long as they were soundproofed.

After coming to that conclusion, Benjamin caught a sparrow for the siblings, and following the previous steps, used the sparrow to lure the spirit out from a small exit. They then trapped the sparrow and the spirit in a soundproof ice sphere before moving the ice sphere to somewhere with an abundance of light elements.

"Will this do?" Benjamin asked as he watched the spirit parasitize itself into the bird.

The teenage girl hummed a reply and said, "Leave it to me."

Benjamin handed the unconscious sparrow to the girl. With the sparrow in her hands, the girl closed her eyes, which was accompanied by a subtle wave of Spiritual Energy Disturbance. It seemed that she was casting some sort of spell.

The System had noticed it too. The spiritual energy had shaped itself into tentacle-like shapes and was extending from the girl to the sparrow.

"This…" Benjamin couldn’t help but frown.

"Hush." The teenage boy whispered, "Sir Benjamin, sister is trying to tame the ancestral spirit. This is the most vital step."

But Benjamin could not help but ask, "Then… what happens if she fails?"

"It will backfire on her." The teenage boy’s expression was one of guilt as he continued, his tone laced with nervousness, "Her Spiritual Energy could be affected disastrously. She could even lose all her memories and turn into an idiot. Or she might just cause the instant death of the spirit. Back from where we came from, there were a lot of scary legends about it."

Fear immediately filled Benjamin’s heart.

Why didn’t they mention the serious side effects earlier?

It was obvious that the siblings were afraid that they would oppose their suggestion, which was why they had kept it a secret. Benjamin felt exasperated, if he had known of the possible dangers that would befall them, then he wouldn’t have let the only two people with psychic powers on their side to be recklessly sacrificed.

But no matter how hard he opposed it now, it was too late.

Benjamin glanced at the teenage girl, who still had her eyes closed. Wave after wave of Spiritual Energy Disturbance emitted from her as Benjamin could only look on. All he could do now was wait patiently for the taming of the spirit to end.