Chapter 446: The Door into Oblivion
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Although Benjamin was calm on the outside and looked as though everything was in control, he was secretly panicking on the inside.
If his underling mages hadn’t reached him in time to cast protective spells over him, he would have died on the spot, no doubt about it.
How dangerous.
When did these fellows learn to be so punctual?
Benjamin shook his head. At that moment, there was no need for him to direct because the mages in the sky knew exactly what to do. They viciously attacked the cannibal mages on the ground.
Countless fireballs filled the sky before hurtling to the ground like some grand meteor shower.
"Troublesome fellow..."
The Elder wasn’t too surprised at what was happening and instead merely opened his arms and dusted himself off. Then he chanted a spell and gathered all the dark elements around him. All around him, the other cannibal mages did the same, creating layer upon layer of shields above their heads.
When the hundreds of fireballs hit the shield, the stone walls of the valley shone bright red from the heat.
At first glance, the shields were breaking apart, looking as though they could not withstand the attack. The cannibal mages all had terrible looks on their faces, showing just how much trouble they were in. But reinforcements kept crawling out of the dungeon and joining their ranks. Slowly, the burden was eased.
There was no way around it, they clearly outnumbered Benjamin’s group.
Eventually, the thundering sound from multiple impacts came to a stop and the burning glows of the fire dissipated. The cannibal mages looked a little worn out, but they had managed to withstand the attack without suffering any injuries or losses.
Benjamin took in the and drew a deep breath.
It looked like a battle was inevitable now.
The two chanting elders suddenly opened their eyes and stopped chanting. A strange energy exuded out from their bodies.
The faces of the mages in the sky darkened.
They watched as dark elements gathered before the elders and solidified into several black shadows. The strong movement of magic pulsed continuously, and a small black ball suddenly started floating above their heads.
The ball was about as big as a fist. When it appeared, there was no great gasp of horror, or cries of panic – to Benjamin’s mages, it didn’t look special at all. The only noticeable change was the fact that the magical disturbances and the dark elemental energy suddenly disappeared. The cannibal mages also suddenly plunged into an odd silence.
As he stared at the black ball, Benjamin suddenly turned serious.
"The Door into Oblivion."
This was some high-level shit.
What was more surprising was the fact that the elders knew how to cast a combined spell. With the two of them working together, they had completed a high-level magic in a very short period of time.
Benjamin didn’t underestimate the small, humble ball. It was made by compressing a large number of dark elements together until it eventually changed internally and produced a strange matter. Once used it would swallow everything around it – matter, elements, spiritual energy… the more it swallows, the bigger it gets. Unless the spiritual energy of the caster is exhausted, it could theoretically become as big as a planet.
Though the truth was yet to be discovered, some mages believed that everything it swallowed would just be transported to another world. That was how the name "the Door into Oblivion" came about.
But from what Benjamin could see, it was just a small man-made black hole. It just lacked the black hole’s gravitational pull; its destructive capability was still the same.
"Accept the judgement of the door, this is not a power that you can contend with."
All the cannibal mages looked at the black ball with fanaticism. The two elders stood next to it, raising both their arms and directing the Door into Oblivion upwards into the sky.
It grew as it floated upward and before long, it was as big as a human’s head.
The mages in the sky were frightened.
They had heard of this power even though they had never faced it before, so they wanted to see if the power of the Door into Oblivion was as the legends said. They launched simple attack magic like rock guns and wind blades flying towards the rising black ball.
When the first rock gun hit the black ball, it was like pencil marks being erased by an eraser, disappearing completely. The size of the Door into Oblivion also became slightly bigger.
When the other mages saw this, they immediately halted their charged-up attacks, in case they accidentally ended up feeding the strange black ball.
Instead, they launched their attacks straight to the cannibal mages. But if their giant wave of fireballs turned out ineffective, this experimental attack carried little threat.
"Struggle." The two elders carried the same smile. They looked like clones - even their voice and attitude were completely in sync, "Your will to fight will act as nourishment, and add a little energy to our sacrifice."
The mages in the sky ignored their crazed speech.
"Start chanting Phoenix of Ashes," With Benjamin far away, Varys became their acting leader, "It is also high-level magic; perhaps it can stop the Door into Oblivion before grows into undefeatable proportions."
Joanna and the other three nodded their heads and started chanting the spell while the other mages acted as their guards.
The Door into Oblivion continued rising slowly. At first, it was very slow, but as it swallowed increasingly more matter, its speed also increased.
They would be dead meat if they allowed it to grow anymore.
So, the mages in the sky protected the three-chanting people whilst simultaneously releasing fireballs, making sure to avoid the Door into Oblivion as they attacked the cannibal mages below. The cannibal mages had no intentions of counter-attacking and simply put up the shields to block the fireballs. Their only job was to make sure the two elders were not disturbed.
The pace of the battle slowed down dramatically.
"Has this become a battle of wits…?
Benjamin frowned as he watched.
If the cannibal mages spiritual energy was depleted before the Door into Oblivion took shape, then the scary black sphere would collapse on itself. But, would they even be able to achieve this?
After all, the enemy already had a huge numbers advantage!
Benjamin felt as though he should be doing something.
But, the destruction of the ice mountain took more of a toll on his spiritual energy than he had expected. Despite resting for an extended period of time, he was still not completely healed. He was still in no condition to fight.
Because of this, the cannibal mages only focused on their enemy in the sky, refusing to pay any attention to Benjamin on the sidelines.
This probably was Benjamin’s only advantage.
How was he going to exploit it?
Benjamin went deep into thought.
"No… the Door into Oblivion is growing too quickly, we should get further away from it," Varys said after five minutes. By now, the black sphere had grown to be the size of a full-grown human.
Throughout the five minutes, they had been continually attacking their enemy but to no avail. By now, the Door into Oblivion was only ten meters away from them.
It was impossible for them to continue their attack. The entire group flew in the other direction, temporarily retreating from the Door into Oblivion’s approach.
They could still outrun the black sphere right now, but what about in ten minutes?
Varys face changed as he became more serious. He was ready to turn to Benjamin and shout that it was a lost battle and that they should just retreat.
But, just as he turned to look at Benjamin.
Bang!
The sound of a gunshot echoed across the valley.