Chapter 403

: Explosion of the Phantom
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Just when the mages could not withhold being suppressed by the phantom any longer, suddenly, in a pitch dark night, a figure dashed out of the bushes next to the bishop.

What…

The bishop was bewildered.
Benjamin, who was supposed to be standing in the middle of the mages’ team, had crept over to their side and charged out when they were off guard.
The priests’ expression turned sour. The bishop ordered the phantom to return and guard the front of him.
Once Benjamin dashed out, his target was obvious — He was coming at the bishop but his gaze was directed at the glistening chalice.

Don’t you think about it! Don’t you dare take this holy relic away!

The bishop’s face was as cold as ice.
Under his command, the phantom flew at the speed of light and returned to him in a blink of an eye. It opened its mouth and charged at Benjamin, making a magic oscillating roar. Benjamin’s footsteps stopped short at that sight.
That moment, he suddenly halted his assault.
The moment he sprung out of the bushes, tiny ice blades were revolving around him. With a wave of his hand, the ice blades were tossed out like the boundless splashes from a pebble tossed into a lake.
But the tiny disorderly ice blades weren’t aimed at the bishop, it was instead, aimed at the priests.

Who wants your stupid cup? It’s even too cheap to use it to gaggle!

After that attack, Benjamin taunted him as he controlled the water steam to pull him backward, distancing him from the enemy.
That’s right. From the start, he never thought of snatching the chalice. He meant to rid of the priests.
As for the priests, they didn’t think that Benjamin would be after them. They were busy providing holy light to the chalice and did not have the chance nor time to summon a shield of holy light.
Jam packed ice blades took flight like locusts in transit. The crosses worn by the priests were crushed and shields activated to protect them. It was just that the position that they were at was too tricky that their shields couldn’t save them from a rain of hundreds of ice blades. So Benjamin was victorious at this round.
Tens of priests’ shields were shattered and they were penetrated like a sieve. They dropped dead in a mangled state.
As for the bishop… Since the flight of the ice blades, he did not seem to care about the priests.

Don’t you dare run, you bastard!

When Benjamin was about to use the water steam to escape, the bishop controlled the phantom to charge at Benjamin — obviously he didn’t care how many priests die. As long as he could eliminate Benjamin, the source of all troubles, he was prepared to make sacrifices.
Facing such a huge opponent, Benjamin’s heart sank.
Shit, how brutal…
He managed to summon a huge waterfall messily, to block the front of him. The bishop looked at him tauntingly and sneered.

You’re dead.

Just one water ball, what could it do?
The bishop thought as he controlled the phantom to pass through the water ball without bothering about it. He was prepared to finish Benjamin off.
However, the moment the phantom entered through the giant water ball, Benjamin’s eyes revealed a sly smile.

Don’t count your eggs before they hatch. You might just eat your words.

He suddenly controlled the water elements in the water ball to bring out its unique repelling trait to become an anti spell water ball before the phantom exited.
The moment the anti spell effect was in session, the bishop’s face turned sour. The bright glowing chalice he held in his hands has also dimmed.
… Success?
However, trapping the phantom within wasn’t as easy as Benjamin thought.
The second the anti magic water ball was in effect, he felt an instant migraine as if nails were pinned into his forehead. The pain almost knocked him unconscious. The trapped phantom of holy light was peaceful for a second before exploding like water boiled over.
Bang!
As if a weird chemical reaction, the phantom together with the water ball exploded, the water evaporated into oblivion while the phantom detonated into millions of holy light and scattered throughout.
The holy lights seemed out of control and carried a dangerous vibe as it spread aimlessly around.
The bishop was quick to toss tens of crosses to form a thick sturdy holy wall, blocking the holy light from coming through. Benjamin, however, fell onto the ground due to the massive agony in the head, and could not react.

Teacher, be careful!

The mages behind him barged out of a sudden. They happened to chant at the same time and over five hundred layers of elemental shield came into sight and piled up like matryoshka dolls, blanketing Benjamin.
The out of control holy light disarmed on top and the shield was popped like a bubble. Nevertheless, the shield served its purpose.
Lance and a few of the mercenaries also sprinted out to drag the temporarily paralyzed Benjamin back.

Mage Benjamin, are you alright?
Lance gave Benjamin a few good slaps while he anxiously asked.

I… I’m alright.
Benjamin held his head and replied in pain. The aching did not subside but under the support of others, he could slowly get up.
He bore the headache and opened his eyes. He looked straight ahead.
He could see the bishop standing there in disbelief, looking back at him.
Facing this situation, no matter how disheveled Benjamin may seem, he forced a smile and exclaimed,
How about that? I’ve already made it clear, don’t be too sure of yourself or you’ll end up eating your words.

Although he was trying hard to sustain a nonchalant manner, but truth be told, the string of events that developed after was unheard of.
From the start, he used an illusion mirror to mislead the enemy. When he was secretly nearing the bishop, his motive was to diminish the number of priests — especially those who take advantage during the crisis for personal gain. They would only have one survival cross and could be killed easily.
Taking out more than ten priests, albeit seemingly insignificant, but had a huge impact on the chalice — it was clear that the function of the cup was to gather the holy light summoned by the priests which meant it blended up to energy source of hundred priests to emit such power. Therefore, the more priests that was eliminated, the weaker the phantom of holy light would be.
However, the moment the ice blades were launched, it was all Benjamin’s improvisation.
He wouldn’t know how many priests he took out with that hit. But the bishop must hate him to the core that he was willing to sacrifice the few priests under his ice blade in order to eliminate him once and for all.
Benjamin didn’t know whether to feel honored or regretful.
To trap the phantom within the anti magic water ball was a flashing thought. He thought if he were to cut the connection between the phantom and the bishop, the phantom would dispel itself. But he did not account for the power of the holy light within the phantom. Once Benjamin used the water elements to repel the holy light, they, too had a huge rejection against the water elements.
Over the course of multiple exchanges, the one that received collateral damage was Benjamin’s brain.
The anti magic water balls required high demand on Spiritual Energy. The stronger the opponent, the higher placement of responsibility for the Spiritual Energy. The phantom of holy light was obviously a powerful being to the extreme that was comparable to Benjamin using the anti magic water ball against the bishop and more than a hundred priests. Hence, the weight of the Spiritual Energy crushed Benjamin, to the verge of detonating his brains.
Luckily, that short fleeting moment did sever ties between the bishop and the phantom. Therefore, the phantom exploded and the holy lights ran amok with no specific target. Or else, Benjamin could be long gone.
Recalling the series of events, he couldn’t help but feel reckless but in those kind of circumstance, without risk, they would probably suppressed by the phantom to death.
Hence, he didn’t regret his decision one bit.
This round of cross swords, at least more than ten was eliminated. He was now drained of Spiritual Energy with a massive headache but this was still a far cry from the time he had a rift in his space of consciousness.
Benjamin rummaged a few bottles of Spiritual Energy recovery potions and downed them all. His headache started to subside a little.
Still hanging on… He took a few slow breaths. He could still fight!

What? Too dumbfounded that you can’t speak?
He flared at the bishop and laughed out loud before continuing,
Don’t worry, I will not escape as long as you don’t. Today we are here for one thing — We are here for your life!