21. Close Call
Ben gets attacked directly by Mage 1's Werewolf howl. The howl is so strong, and it hit Ben in close range. The sound attack broke the mud & cracked the ground around Ben.
"GUAHK!"-Ben spit some blood.
The sound wave hit his body from the inside out, and it so hurt. Even the tough skin & bones that he gets as a Dragon Slayer can't protect his internal organs. The sound attack breaks the mud that covers Ben, and also Ben's inside organ.
Ben takes the full brunt without any defense. Blood comes out from his ears because the loud sound damages them. Ben takes a lot of damage by that one big attack. With the mud destroyed, Ben falls to the ground and cough some blood again.
"Damn, that hurts."-Ben
"You're still conscious? That's impressive. No one could stay awake after receiving my ultimate attack before."-Mage 1
Ben tries to get up, but he feels his body hurt so much when he tries to move.
'Damn, that attack damaged some of my muscles & veins.'-Ben
"What a futile struggle."-Mage 1
Mage 1 shapes his werewolf hand like a spear. His sharp claws seem to be able to pierce even rock & steel. Then he sends the spear to Ben's back, intending to stab Ben. Ben sees this coming, so he makes a small magic circle on his right palm. The magic circle creates an explosion and flings him away, right on time to avoid the stab.
"Oh? That is smart usage of magic, but that's it."-Mage 1
Mage 1 jumps to Ben in his werewolf form and opens his claws. The claws glow white because the mage covers them with wind magic. Ben doesn't move and waits for the attack to come while taking a deep breath.
"DIE, BRAT!"-Mage 1
"SUN DRAGON'S LIGHT ROAR!"-Ben
"WHAT?!"-Mage 1
Ben makes a yellow light beam roar to attack the werewolf. As a Sun Dragon Slayer, Ben can use fire, light, and sun plasma as their combination. The sun didn't just have those power, but Ben can only access these 3 for now.
Most of Ben's spells have 3 versions of fire, light, and sun plasma. The light beam is not as powerful as sun plasma's roar. But it has a very high speed and is hard to dodge. The light beam hits the mage and explodes upon contact.
"GUAAAHH!"-Mage 1
The mage fling to the sky because of the beam & explosion. He takes the beam at a close distance and knocks him out. The other 2 mages who stand behind are surprised by the turn of events. They don't know what to do.
While they are confused, Ben makes a magic circle with his right hand. He is still in a lying position. He can't move his body that well, but he can move his hand. Ben creates a tiny sun on his magic circle and shoots it at the 2 unsuspecting mages.
"Sun Dragon's Bomb!"-Ben
"SHIT!"-Mage 5 realize the incoming attack, but he's too late
*BOOM*
The bomb falls right between the 2 mages and explode. The explosion is massive, and they haven't prepared any defense, so they take the full brunt. The 2 mages are engulfed by the explosion and get knocked out.
Ben doesn't let his guard down and scans the surroundings first. Roubaul has taught him sensory magic that can help him sense anything in his surroundings that has magic power. He still tries to combine it with A.I Chip scanning ability to make it active every time.
After confirming that there's no enemy left, Ben takes out the car key. He infuses his magic into the key to activate a spell that connects it with the car. The spell act like a remote control key that can be used from some distance. Of course, it's Ben who has the idea, but it's Roubaul who made the spell on the key & car.
The car defense system deactivates, and the locks open. Wendy, Bella, & Carla immediately rush out of the car and go to Ben, all of them have teary eyes seeing Ben hurt. Wendy cast a healing spell on Ben. Bella cries seeing Ben get hurt, while Carla is reprimanding him.
Ben just sighs and doesn't say anything until they calm down. They never see him get hurt like this after all, and he always appears strong in front of them. Such pain isn't a problem for Ben, he was used to it as an ex-soldier, but it might be too much for these kids.
"Alright, that's enough, I won't die, so calm down, alright? We need to leave now because these guys might have friends."-Ben
The girls realize it and agree with Ben. After Wendy heals him, Ben feels a lot better, so he can move again. They tie the enemies with rope and place them on the car. Then they set off to Shirotsume, and Ben drives as fast as he can. Arthur also didn't protest anymore by the speed now, knowing there might be more enemies coming.
"Arthur, call your dad to check on their group."-Ben
"Alright."-Arthur
Arthur takes out a communication lacrima and calls his dad. The communication lacrima work like a phone, using the video call feature. It can be used by non-mage as long as the lacrima has been charged with magic power before.
(a.n: <...> is used for a phone call, speaker, broadcast, or indirect sound.)
"Dad, we got attacked just now, but we can handle it. How about your group?"-Arthur
"Yeah, we're fine. We're moving to Shirotsume very fast now. We've covered 3/4 of the distance, what about you?"-Ben
"Alright, then we will take care of these mages by ourselves. Just stay vigilant and immediately call us if something happens! The enemies are rather strong, and they might have more members. Avoid passing through an alley or any place that make your escape harder!"-Ben
They close the call and continue their way to Shirotsume. They kept their vigilance and didn't get attacked again until they reached the town. They immediately go to the mayor's house. With Arthur there, they can enter it easily.
Ben parks the car in the front yard, and they all get down from the car. They walk to the front door and see some people get out from there. There's a middle-aged man, a middle-aged woman, a girl, a butler, and some guards. The middle-aged man must be the mayor, the woman is his wife, and the girl must be Arthur's fiancée because she runs to Arthur when she sees him.
"ARCHI!"- The Girl hug Arthur
"M-Maya, please don't call me like that."-Arthur get embarrassed
"Pfft, Archi."-Ben giggle, and his team also giggle
"Ooh, Arthur, you've finally arrived. It seems the plan has worked well."-Mayor
"Yes, Uncle Ray, the plan worked well. Although there is some disturbance on the way, we can handle it. Now we just need to wait for Father's group."-Arthur
"Disturbance? Is it those people that get tied up on that magic car?"-Ray
"Yes, they're dark mages, but Ben have defeated them."-Arthur
"Ben? Who is that?"-Ray
"Me."-Ben
"Huh? You're the one who defeated them? Really?"-Ray doesn't believe it
"I don't care if you want to believe it or not, but you need to call the magic council now to capture these guys before they wake up and create more trouble."-Ben
"R-right. Theo, call the magic council!"-Ray
"Understood."-Theo (Butler)
The butler gets inside the house to call the magic council. Ray invites them to get inside, and his men will take care of the dark mages. They agree and want to get inside when suddenly Ben senses something.
Someone in black ninja attire suddenly jumps down from the mansion's roof at fast speed. The ninja mage swings his sword that is covered in black-colored magic toward Arthur. Ben covers his leg with light magic. He flashes to grab Arthur & Maya and push them right on time to avoid the sword that almost slashes Arthur.
Ben doesn't waste time and immediately flashes toward the ninja mage. The ninja mage who misses his target land on the ground and is about to attack again. But when the ninja mage is about to move, Ben appears right in front of him. Ben sent a light-covered knee attack at the ninja mage's face and flung him toward the wall at high speed.
*BAMM*
The ninja mage hit the wall and break it. The ninja mage is still conscious and gets up again, but Ben flashes in front of him again.
"Sun Dragon's Fire Fist!"-Ben
Ben covers his right hand with fire and punches the ninja mage from above right on the head. The ninja mage crashes to the ground hard because of the punch and spits some blood. He gets knocked out.
"Damn, that's a close call."-Ben
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