When A Mage Revolts

The running fight in the skies continued on, from daylight until evening; the ice ship continued on, towards the north, and the members of the Church chased after them tightly from behind. There were a few instances where they used specially made magical instruments to boost themselves forward at a startling sped, and caught up with the ice ship. However, Benjamin had immediately lashed back by tossing an elemental turbulence at them, delaying them once more. Finally, the situation fell into a deadlock.

The Holy Knights below them had long been unable to catch up, so after Grant had given them the command, they had dispersed. Most of the priests had also helplessly given up the chase due to their insufficient spiritual energy, so the black mass that had looked like swarms of locusts flying through the region, had completely dissipated. Only Grant was left, leading some bishops and a few priests, and had not given up. From afar, they looked like the wild geese that flew regularly towards the east. The only difference was that they were heading north.

"Damn it… How is it that this bunch of rascals can run so fast?"

The bishops could not help but curse, as they watched the ice ship in front of them.

They were already not too keen on continuing the pursuit.

As they had chased, there had been a few close range skirmishes, and they had a clearer understanding of Benjamin's magical abilities. He had an ability to manipulate the elements that was completely not inferior to the Pope's, and maybe even possessed stronger spiritual energy, and an endless supply of strange tricks… And, having pursued him until now, their own spiritual energy had been much depleted, in addition to a sharp reduction of the advantage in numbers that they originally had. They did not have the guarantee of success that they had at the start.

If this continued on for a while longer, even if they could catch up, they might not be able to win the fight. Because of that, the desire to withdraw had sprouted in many hearts.

"Continue chasing! They won't be able to escape for long," Grant seemed to have noticed their emotions. He turned his head, raising his voice and urging them on.

The members of the Church could only nod vigorously.

"His expenditure of spiritual energy is definitely not inferior to ours, given that he has to maintain such a huge ice ship. That easy going look of his is only a pretense to scare us," the bishop who was stationed in the capital also spoke encouragingly, speaking to the others, "also… in this direction, even if they continue to escape, it's going to be a dead end. They won't be able to get out."

They had chased for too long; some of them were even dizzy from the pursuit now. They needed a bit of reason to embolden themselves.

However, around this time.

"Your Highness the Pope, the latest report!" A priest at the backline took out a silver bead and put it to his ear, listening to it for a while as though he was receiving some sort of message, before speaking in a panic, "We've found some new holes near Pearl Lake that look as though they've been fortified by magic, they have not collapsed. And… And according to the traces inside, just today, there might have been many people who have climbed out from them!"

The expressions of the people there changed involuntarily. Grant immediately turned his head, staring at the priest who had reported the news.

"What did you say?"

The priest was frightened, and trembled slightly as he nervously gulped. He opened his mouth to say, "It's… They seem to have discovered some exit tunnels…"

"I don't need you to describe that again!" Grant immediately interrupted him impatiently. "Tell me the exact news. Do they mean that the Black Nightmare Army has escaped from the underground?"

"There's, there's this possibility."

Grant clenched his fists tightly and turned his head back, looking at the ice ship not far away.

"Damn it…"

It was at this moment that the members of the Church finally understood why the devil had appeared above Pearl Lake. It was not because he had been so angry that he wasn't thinking straight, it was just to lure them away, so that the Black Nightmare Army had the chance to escape. And… all of them had really given chase, like fools!

They had fallen for it!

There was anger and shame in the hearts of the bishops, but there was nothing they could do.

"Your, Your Highness, what should we do now?" Someone gathered the courage to ask.

"...Continue to chase." Grant's voice was so cold that it sounded as though it came from an ice cellar. "Also, send people to check on the places near that place, don't let the Black Nightmare Army escape so easily."

"Yes."

The messenger priest crushed the silver bead and passed the command through it. The members of the Church looked at the ice ship once more, and like wild beasts that had just been provoked, with energy in their eyes, they increased their speed, swearing to bring down this devil that had fooled them!

"You will not be able to escape," after five minutes, Grant came within ten meters of the ice ship once more. The Holy Light in his hands condensed, and he glared at Benjamin, who was standing on the stern. "Not only you, but those rebels of yours too. Soldiers are everywhere around Pearl Lake, they have all fallen into our web."

Benjamin gave a smile.

"If they had really been captured, you guys wouldn't be looking like this."

As he spoke, the water elemental sprite shot out again, brandishing quite a few limited water silks as it flew towards the members of the Church. That was not all; Benjamin had even taken out an Energy Regeneration Tonic and drank it in one gulp in front of the members of the Church, showing them a satisfied expression on purpose.

"Our stock of magic potions is not at all diminished than those damn crosses of yours," his tone of voice was so calm that it even sounded bored. After hearing him, the members of the Church were so mad that they almost ground their teeth into dust.

With sunken faces, they quickly struck, without saying a word. In a mere instant, Holy Light as bright as the morning sun converged upon Grant's body. Then, Grant lifted both hands high, and the lines on his robes suddenly lit up. Immediately after that, a huge door slowly appeared in the evening sky; numerous golden runes suddenly drifted up like snowflakes. A divine aura covered the entire sky.

The water elemental sprite flew over, but crashed into something like an invisible wall not far from Grant, bouncing off immediately. Even the limited water silks were unable to break through the blockade, and were entangled in the surging Holy light nearby, unable to be extracted.

After being utterly enraged, it seemed… that Grant was about to release his ultimate power.

Benjamin's eyebrows were knitted tightly, and there was a sliver of solemnity in his eyes.

He activated "Descending of Water" at that instant.

In the skies, along with a buzzing noise, the golden door began to open slowly. The world behind it was so dazzling that no one could look at it directly; there was no way to see what was inside. Nevertheless, very soon, cluster after cluster of ghostly shadows that looked like Holy Light began to shoot out from the great door, and in the blurry mess, looked similar to human figures.

Those ghostly shadows flew extremely fast, and soon grouped together to form a golden human statue. The statue had both eyes shut tight, and floated in midair like a giant. There were layers of armor on its body, and both arms were crossed in front of its chest, as though carrying with it a forbidding force field. Runes encircled it like snowflakes, and suddenly burst into flames, like clusters of golden flames. It seemed as though there was a fog spreading through the air like Holy Light.

The ice ship was also enveloped in the fog, and immediately slowed down.

"A very powerful runic energy…"

Benjamin gazed steadily at the statue in the sky, murmuring to himself. He had already activated the deep sea domain the moment the statue had been formed, using his own domain to protect the ice ship. Nevertheless, he could already feel the great pressure coming from the fog. An intense clash had erupted between the light elements and the water elements at the borders of the domain, like a never ending series of tiny clashes. He could even hear the smacking sounds erupting from them.

He could confirm that the door had pulled out energy from the elemental plane.

At that moment, Grant had flown behind the statue, with both arms crossed and eyes full of Holy Light. Even his pupils were not visible now, as though he had surpassed the state of being human. The other members of the Church were sweating through their foreheads, continuing in their pursuit while condensing Holy Light, focusing it upon Grant's body and holding up that humongous pressure, like rivers finally converging into the sea.

"This time, you have nowhere to run."

Grant's voice reverberated through the sky. There was an ethereal solemnity about it, as though it came from another world.