Chapter 218

: The Hostage Strikes Back
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Passing through the corridor and the counter, Benjamin did not hesitate and pushed open the door.
They were not surprised by Benjamin’s sudden appearance at all. They probably already noticed him when he entered the front door. At this point, the blond girl stood in front of Sydney and stared at Benjamin coldly.

We’ve brought your friend, he’s in this bag.
She did not speak any nonsense and was straight to the point,
If you lift the curse, we will return him to you.

Hearing this, Benjamin showed a wry smile, and after a while, he said:
I’m not in a hurry, I have to make sure it’s the correct person right?

Hearing these, the two women looked at each other. The blonde girl looked unsatisfied, but did not reject his request. After that, she lifted the giant bag that was beside them with one hand.
She opened the bag and dragged Augustine outAugustine’s eyes were tightly close, as if he was in a coma. He did not react to the blonde girl’s rough treatment at all.
Benjamin saw this, nodded, and said:
Alright, I’ll lift her curse.

Saying this, he walked towards the two women.

What are you doing?
At that moment, the blodne girl looked cautious and said this.

Lifting the curse.
Benjamin opened his arms, and with a harmless expression, he said,
The medium for the curse is my blood, so I have to use my blood to cast a spell for the curse to be lifted, don’t you know this?

The blonde girl was skeptical, and said:
Curses are forbidden, related information about it has already been long lost.

Benjamin replied:
I’m sorry, it’s not lost in Helius at all.

After that, he formed an ice blade to cut open his finger. He used his bleeding finger to point at the two. The two women hesitated for a moment, but after exchanging looks, they nodded.
Thus, Benjamin came to the bed, and with a friendly smile, he extended his finger towards Sydney who was feeling uneasy.
The blonde girl stood at the side, staring at Benjamin. Her wary expression made her seem as if she was preparing to see if Benjamin would strike back.
Sadly, even if she was prepared, Benjamin still acted out.
At the moment when Benjamin’s blood was about to drip, suddenly, not even after half an incantation, a hot and humid gust of air appeared with Benjamin as its center and expanded.

I knew it!
At that moment, the blonde girl exclaimed. But she was not blown back like before. Instead, she threw a punch at Benjamin despite the wind.
Judging from the impact of the power, tt was obvious that she had already drank a potion before Benjamin came in.
But Benjamin was prepared for this as well.
Before the opponent’s fist could strike him, he used an ice block he prepared in his space of consciousness previously to create a small shield between him and her. The strengthened blonde girl was powerful, with just a punch, the ice shield broke, but Benjamin was able to catch a breath and step backwards, distancing himself from the girl.
Seeing this, the golden-haired girl did not continue attacking, but turned around, blocked the wind from hitting Sydney and prevented her for slamming against the wall.

What are you trying to…
She furiously said as she turned around and looked at Benjamin.
But when her gaze returned to Benjamin, she was stunned. The words that she was saying halfway were stuck in her throat.
At the other corner of the room, Benjamin had already brought Augustine behind him. He even conjured an icy mist to surround them, giving them 360 degrees of protection.

My apologies.
He faced the blonde girl and smiled,
You probably expected me to strike back, but you were wrong on why I did it.

In reality, he did not plan to trade in the first place.
Saving Augustine was important, but at the same time, he had to be clear of these two’s motives. Bringing a bunch of bandits, bumping into him and his group of mages, then disappearing with Augustine. He could not think of any reason to do any these at all.
If the blonde girl did not want trouble, then why did she bother to do all these in the first place?
Benjamin had to make clear of this. It was obvious the opposition did not want him to know why, thus, he could only use this sort of method.
When he was getting close to Sydney, he was also getting closer to Augustine who was unconscious. At the moment he struck back, the blonde girl was too occupied with fighting back and protecting Sydney, thus she did not noticed her hostage.
With this distraction, Benjamin blocked the attack and used the Pillar of Steam to conjure a great wind, easily grabbing his friend.
But after rescuing him, the situation was totally different now.
Just like a trade, both sides had their items to trade with. Benjamin’s item was Sydney’s curse, and the opposition’s item was Augustine. But right now, he used this opportunity to rescue Augustine, making his opponent lose their item for trade, so they have to use another object to trade.

Who are you people?
With victory on hand, Benjamin asked,
Why did you command a group of bandits to walk along the same route as us and bring my friend to this place?
The blonde girl gritted her teeth like she was about to rush over and chew Benjamin into small pieces of bread.
Sadly, the icy mist that was reflecting the dim light made her unable to do so.

Shameless fellow!
She cursed.

Thank you.
Benjamin acknowledged this shamelessly.

…

Seeing the blonde girl’s eyes, at the moment, she was probably planning to bet everything and fight Benjamin to the death.
But…..
Who asked her to be so careless?

You’ve lost your trade option.
After mocking them, Benjamin put away his smile, calmly saying,
Right now, if you don’t want your friend to die from the curse, you ought to explain yourself properly and stop trying to be all mysterious.

The blonde girl replied immediately:
Quit dreaming!


Really?
Benjamin humphed without much expression and clapped his hands. Following that, Sydney screamed in pain and clutched her head, falling to the floor.
The blonde girl saw this and immediately rushed over to help Sydney back on her feet. But no matter how quickly she rubbed away the sweat from Sydney’s forehead, she could not do anything to suppress the pain from the curse.
Benjamin silently observed all this, and even yawned, showing a blank expression.

That’s……enough.
Finally, after the room was filled with screams for about half a minute, the blonde girl showed a helpless expression, then looked at Benjamin, saying,
Stop it, I’ll tell you everything.

Hearing this, Benjamin nodded emotionlessly. He let out a small shockwave of mental energy, following that, Sydney, who was screaming, stopped as well.
The blonde girl brought her back up on the bed, and then stood up and said:
Regarding all this, you’ve been thinking too much, from the very beginning, I was not charging towards you. I was looking for someone else.


Who were you looking for? Augustine?
Benjamin did not accept her answer.
But right when he thought the blonde girl would continue speaking, suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind him.

She was looking for me.

Benjamin turned around, confused. It could only be seen that the
Augustine
who was unconscious suddenly stood up, and morphed into the young stranger.
—–the young man who left the banner
Benjamin Lithur, welcome to Icor
.
At that moment, the young man had a dagger in his hand. The sharp edge was pressed against the back of Benjamin’s neck, sending chills down his spine.