Chapter 176: Icor’s Persuasion to Stay
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Your Majesty, the Queen." Benjamin brought along over twenty mages to Icor’s campsite. He bowed before the Queen. "Please forgive our abruptness. We have been bothering you for far too long and wish to bid you goodbye. May fortune be always on your side."
The Queen stared at Benjamin as she slowly recovered from the shock.
Benjamin and the lot did not appear right until the Pope as well as Icor’s team of mages had reached the top of the gate.
Their sudden appearance shocked everyone around.
The narrow aisle was so flooded with soldiers from both parties that one could no longer look around. Then, out of nowhere, huge water current came charging forth and flushed the soldiers away.
Benjamin and his little group of mages rode the water current that smashed open aisle’s side door. Each of them holding onto a plant of wood, breezing through the soldiers.
It was a true spectacle. Every Mage was chanting the Water Ball spell, summoning over and over again, to form a water current. As for Benjamin, with a wave of his arm, he summoned a Water ball so large that the soldiers were hit so hard that they were unable to open their eyes.
It was as though a raging river had appeared out of nowhere. The soldiers scrambled away and eventually drowned while the mages rode the planks and surfed the strong currents heading outward.
— The priests from the Kingdom were dumbfound and had forgotten about the Bishop’s orders to enforce their Divine Arts. Icor’s queen had a puzzled expression and turned toward the Mage standing beside her, "What magic is this? Are the boards under their feet a long forgotten magical equipment?"
The Mage in question had his eyes wide open and shook his head. He was at loss, looking the twenty something people surfing, "I-I really don’t know."
It may be that the scene surpassed anything they knew of or that Benjamin and his group appeared all of a sudden, so it caught them off guard but nobody could react in time. Benjamin and his group rode the waves they had created before splashing through the gates, ending up at Icor’s base camp.
Of course, their "landing" was quite awkward.
Before the actual operation, they had privately practised once. They weren’t talented surfers so it wasn’t as though they could master it in overnight. Therefore, once the gates were blasted open, the water currents divulged and they all came tumbling down. Thank goodness the group was large enough that they tumbled onto each other instead of slamming into the hard ground.
Even with their hasty "landing", everyone at Icor’s base camp was still dumbfounded.
It was quite a scene to watch the side door blast open and see over twenty people surfing through the water current. To witness this with their own eyes was breathtaking.
However, seeing this supposedly valiant group tumbling down like a group of drunkards during landing caused the initial grandeur to vaporise. This contrasting feeling had spectators feeling as though they had choked and left them utterly speechless.
"You-your Majesty the Queen, what should we do now?" The Mage forcibly closed his dropped jaw.
"Let’s... just observe for now." The queen looked as though she was entangled with a hiccup that suppressed her from blurting out words.
Quickly, Icor’s remaining mages gathered in front of the queen and stared at Benjamin and his group. They were afraid that the lot may hurt the queen with their antics.
The whole camp was silent and the atmosphere was filled with a hint of peculiarity.
"Cough... About that." Benjamin picked himself up from the ground and gathered his manners. He cleared his throat and took a step forward as he looked at his surroundings, "Your Majesty the Queen, please excuse our abruptness. We have been bothering you for far too long and wish to bid you goodbye. May fortune be always on your side."
He and the remaining twenty mages turned away, seemingly in a hurry to make a move.
"This..."
The mages guarding by the queen’s side looked at each other, revealing an odd expression.
"Hold up." The queen quickly came back to her senses and spoke, "What is the rush? You’re leaving when we’ve only just met. I still have something to say."
She signalled her mages and they subsequently stepped forward to block their exit.
Benjamin couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
But of course...
It was fortunate that he predicted this would happen and already devised an escape plan to use before things became messy.
He had researched all the bases and the respective obstacles they may encounter on their way out of the gates. The Bishop, without a doubt, would not let Benjamin go. From the loud thud the bishop made when he crashed into the metal gates, one could tell how much the Bishop hated them.
Therefore, if they were to escape, they would have to lure the bishop away.
Besides that, Benjamin would have to think of a way to handle the people from Icor.
Although everybody was a Mage here and there were no grudges between them, the queen’s wild ambition could not be overlooked – shown in the way she built Icor. A party of over twenty mages was normally a good battle resource, but if the queen wanted them to stay, it wasn’t as if they had a choice.
After careful consideration, Benjamin thought of this plan.
When the mages previously conquered the gates, the guards by the gate were captured. Initially Benjamin had a headache taking care of these prisoners. Upon further evaluation, he realised the prisoners would make the perfect bait.
Firstly, should a group of people suddenly appear on the top of the gate during their absence, the bishop would assume that they had used the Flight Spell to escape. Even though the people on top were wearing the uniform of the kingdom, he would most definitely fly up to confirm it himself. With that, the bishop could be lured away.
Next, the prisoners were soldiers from the kingdom. Once Icor’s men notice, they would fly into a rage. Icor had brought a lot of troops to conquer the gates and should the gates be snatched back by the Kingdom, it would reflect badly on the queen. The queen would not hesitate to send men up there.
The only people who could make it to the top of the gates in a short amount of time would be the mages.
And that was how Benjamin killed two birds with one stone - by using a bunch of useless prisoners to lure the bishop and simultaneously weaken Icor’s firepower. It was... perfect!
Benjamin was feeling very pleased with himself.
"What’s there to be proud of? The prisoners have always been there. Was it hard to think about using them to attract attention?" The System heartlessly criticised Benjamin.
"Oh, now that you figure that your body is a big deal, you dare to challenge me, huh?" Benjamin helplessly spoke within, "This fella. No matter how awesome the creature from another world is, you still have to wait till until you actually hatch."
The System mockingly replied, "It’s alright. You can just torture me, for a real warrior is not afraid of any hardships. I wouldn’t mind even if you were to kick me twenty times like a soccer ball."
"..."
There’s really no point in saving the System.
Benjamin sighed and quickly focused his attention back on reality. He looked at the mages blocking their pathway and turned around. He calmly looked at the queen on the pedestal.
"Your Majesty, the Queen, is there any way we could be of assistance? If there isn’t, we will make our move now."