Chapter 383: Conquering Desert City
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Everyone on the scene stared blankly.
The spectating crowd was stunned, because upon closer inspection, the descending shadow looked awfully like the old man. The mages on Benjamin’s side were shocked, because in the moment the ice walls and the fiery meteors clashed, Benjamin, who had been standing before them, had suddenly rushed forwards.
Meanwhile, the Desert Shadow’s mages were stunned, because at the instance of the explosion, a figure had rushed out from the smoke and dust, passing directly through the shields before them with some sort of Ghosting Spell. In the blink of an eye, it stood before their leader, smilingly tapping his shoulder.
And then their leader’s entire body convulsed, as though turning into an ice sculpture, and fell straight down.
The mages could not even react.
"You... you..."
It seemed to take seconds before they suddenly realized that the person before them was the leader of their opponent — Benjamin.
This guy had eliminated their leader.
But they still had no inkling how all this had happened.
"You... Did you not say you wanted to see who could last the longest, but now..."
With pity in his eyes, Benjamin looked at the mage who had spoken, "Must I force myself to fight just because I said I’d fight? Bro, we are in a battle. Of course I’d say that to scare you!"
"..."
The mage was speechless.
At this moment, the ‘Desert Shadow’’s mages had fallen into a shock and daze that resulted from losing their leader. They did not know whether to strike back now, or to see if their leader could be rescued or to... Just cover their heads and run.
They had yet to even figure out how Benjamin had penetrated the shields.
...A conjuring spell?
On the other hand, Benjamin’s mind was extremely clear.
Moments ago, he had used the explosion’s smoke and dust to penetrate the shields, and as fast as he could, got rid of the old man. At this time, the ‘Desert Shadow’ had lost his ability to fight. However, he did not plan to continue fighting these men; exploding the ice walls twice had taken a toll on him.
Actually, what Benjamin needed to do now was to subdue these people.
Therefore, after rebutting the mage’s words, and sweeping his gaze over the ‘Desert Shadow’s remaining men, he spoke in a cold voice,
"Your reign has come to an end. From this day onwards, Desert City is our territory."
Following these words, the smoke and dust aftermath of the explosion behind him disappeared completely. Presented before everyone were a clear blue sky, the old man who had fallen to the ground with a thud, and in his place, standing in the midst of the enemy’s shields, was a lone man facing over forty mages: Benjamin.
Of course, these mages were stunned.
It was not just them; even the mages on Benjamin’s side were dumbfounded.
...What was this?
They had not done much; it was just a round of magic, a wave of shields, and this... How did the fierce, threatening enemy fall just like that?
How did he pull it off?
At that moment, they looked to Benjamin with hesitance in their eyes. No wonder this young man was so aloof when they were discussing the Church, so full of confidence—— with such talent and competence, how could he be meek?
In the silence, their confidence in Benjamin was gradually built from this moment on.
"You... What do you plan to do?"
Coming back to their senses slowly, the ‘Desert Shadow’’s mages were panicking. One by one, they took a few steps back, watching Benjamin with faces full of fear, as though he was going to defile them.
Benjamin shook his head quietly.
"Why? Are you thinking about avenging your leader?" Although he was slightly faint from the expenditure of energy, he maintained his aloofness and asked them casually.
The mages looked at each other, shaking their heads.
"If that’s the case, then what are you still doing here?" Benjamin shrugged, saying, "From this day onwards, the ‘Desert Shadow’ no longer exists. You have been unrestricted for so long, it’s time to taste what it feels like without something to depend on."
The mages were dumbfounded. Still, no one moved.
Seeing this, Benjamin spoke impatiently.
"Get going."
At this, the group of mages shuddered, turned around and fled in all directions.
"Mage Benjamin, this... So you’re just letting them go like this?"
Right then, the mages on Benjamin’s side flew over from behind. A mage had stepped forward, asking doubtfully.
"If not?" Benjamin spread his hands out. "I’m too lazy to kill them."
The mage were silent for a moment, before saying, "I did not say we should kill them... Just that, if we could lock them up, or make them join us, we could be more powerful."
"That’s too troublesome, it’s not like they are sincere in wanting to defeat the Church with us. Problems could easily arise if we force them in." Benjamin shook his head, explaining. "Just let them go and let them experience what it is like to be at the bottom. Who knows, this way they might even understand the meaning of The Declaration of the Freedom of Magic."
Their initial purpose was actually only to take over Desert City. As for the entire gang of mages, once their leader was eliminated, the others would not pose a threat.
Hearing that, the mages nodded and said no more.
Thus, the ‘Desert Shadow’’s reign on Desert City was officially over. Benjamin, leading the group of mages, landed on the square below them. The surrounding crowd hid in the buildings, peeking curiously from slits in between curtains.
"Even though Desert City used to be controlled by those people, but there should still be some government officials here right?" Looking around, Benjamin asked suddenly.
"Yes, there are." A native mage walked out, answering, "But not many. The ‘Desert Shadow’’s men had locked them up, I think. Where, I am not sure, but it should be somewhere like the Castellan’s Castle."
Hearing that, Benjamin nodded pensively.
If one wished to control the whole of Desert City, the government officials would be an important symbol. The ‘Desert Shadow’’s men chose to kidnap them. as for Benjamin... It was regrettable that he had to continue this too.
To return Desert City to the government of Ferelden would be to gift it to the Church. It was something he would never do.
Very soon, under the guidance of a few native mages, they arrived at the Castellan’s Castle. Activating Water Elemental Energy, Benjamin soon discovered the dungeons under the castle.
They came to the dungeons and greeted the officers inside, conveniently setting a curse on them. Through their answers, Benjamin and his men slowly understood the details of the problems in the governance of Desert City.
"The Imperial Capital... Does not care for this place at all. Basically, as long as a letter is sent confirming that all is well here, and a bit of taxes are paid, they would not even send anyone here to check. However, the people last time have not sent over any taxes for a long time now, and the upper officials still have not sent anyone here. Looks like they really have no time to be bothered now."
"The soil in Desert City is barren. There are some special crops, so every season one or two troops of merchants would pass through. But these are not within our jurisdiction, we just need to collect taxes. Other than that, mages and mercenaries often pass through here; after all, there are many rare magical creatures in the desert. The entire population of Desert City essentially depend on these two sources of income to survive."
"Being in charge here is convenient, the folks here are very mild, they are fine with getting by and they don’t care who rules over them. It’s just that they’re bored to death everyday, so they are fond of commotions."
...
The officials in the dungeons were very aware that they were being held captive. One detail after another, they gave information about Desert City to Benjamin and his men. Meanwhile, Benjamin nodded in satisfaction. Not bad, this was a suitable place for them. They need not say much more, as long as there was nothing to worry about.
He did not intend to spend too much energy on this.
It was indeed good to have his own little city, but he had a greater goal.
"I need people to govern this city." He turned around, and looked at the mages that had followed him. "Amongst you, who is willing to stay here?"
The mages thought for a while. The native mages nodded, of course. The hermit mages of the desert had a greater desire to follow Benjamin and face the Church. In the end, only a few nodded.
"If this is the case... it’s alright, after Morris organizes the people in the desert, there will definitely be other mages who are willing to come over. For now, you will handle the responsibility of governing this place." While speaking, Benjamin took out the Declaration of the Freedom of Magic from his bag, and then said, "You have all read this book. Pick from amongst the rudimentary spells and the Law of Meditation, and spread them to the people, so that the commoners may see them too."
Hearing this, the mages were stunned.
"Sir... So you want to nurture new mages?"
Benjamin nodded.
"There must be many who have yet to cultivate their magic potential in the whole of Desert City." He handed the book to the other, saying slowly, "I need you to search them out, and train them to be a part of us."