The moment Sudfeld shouted the order, his commanders leaped without hesitation. Ben noticed they were former Meso knights who were captains or higher in rank. The infected jazz supercharged their power beyond what they would have normally been capable of, and their lightning-fast movements fortified that thought.

  The stronger ones went directly for Hauxwell and Le’Vieux, who easily dodged away from their attacks and began pummeling them with parry counters before explosions of magical energy erupted over the main road.

  Jerry leaped into the trees while Quicksilver took to the sky and used his altitude advantage to avoid attacks and throw some of his own. The surrounding landscape was soon subjected to wholesale destruction.

  Ben leaped back before bending the top half of his body. If he didn’t charge his legs a moment before, he knew the blow from one of the infected commanders would have slashed across his neck and decapitated him. He had to hop back continuously as the enemy charged him with a flurry of attacks.

  [Infected Knight Captain Level 14]

  The enemy Ben faced was fully armored, wearing a suit similar to Alfred’s, except that it was branded with the marks of Meso. It used two short swords as weapons, expelling dark smoke glistening with slimy glitter patches. Its attacks followed a set combo pattern, which wasn't too hard to learn. Sometimes, it mixed and matched a few different ones and finished with a lunge, presenting a small opening.

  Ben’s body was full of sweat, and his muscles were getting tired from the dodging workout he had been forced to implement to avoid sudden death. His magic started running low from charging his movements, and thus, he began to regenerate from his surroundings passively. He even went as far as to siphon the excess energy from the nearby magical explosions that missed their targets.

  After his arm was almost sliced, Ben had had enough of being a moving target for his enemy. He charged his legs before driving the excess to the end of his hammer. Waiting for the opening, he side-stepped and swung his hammer with everything he had.

  The blow landed on the enemy's dark metallic helmet with a loud church bell ring. Sparkling blue specks of magic radiated away like dandelion seeds. It caused enough of a stagger for Ben to get a few more blows landed on the enemy before it started belching smoke from its body like a smoke grenade.

  Seeing the enemy in the already dark conditions was impossible, forcing Ben to rely on his senses to feel the enemy. Suddenly, his enemy leaped out with a lunge, almost impaling Ben’s head, who had to quickly allocate his reserves to that area to form a protective barrier. The bludgeoning force hit his face like a train, causing him to be knocked back a few meters and roll on the ground. He didn’t even get a chance to gasp for air before continuing the roll to avoid another leaping attack.

  That was it. Ben had had enough of messing around. He charged every last bit of magic and supercharged it with everything he could gather. Ben waited for the enemy to leapfrog towards him again before shooting a death ray. Once it made contact, he adjusted its properties with the same fire-based magic used in the enchanted arrows.

  The resulting flame tornado stopped the enemy in mid-air. Its armor began to glow orange before melting like butter on a hot pan. The damage was so sudden that there wasn't even any indication of a struggle. With the effects of the attack dying, Ben rolled away not to get caught by the mangled mess of molten metal that fell like a rock.

  [+210XP]

  Phew! Talk about another close one!

  Huffing a sigh of relief, Ben noticed the others were fishing up with their battles while Hauxwell and Le’Vieux were already done and advancing towards Sudfield.

  “Leave this sly bastard to me.” Hauxwell motioned Le’Vieux to stop before cracking his neck side to side and stepping forward.

  “You can’t wait to get him back for what he did to you at Dimmiwood. I assume there will be plenty of action for the rest of us when we get to the Chateau, so I guess you can have him to yourself. At least I’ll see how much stronger you’ve become since the last time we fought together.” Le’Vieux nodded before crossing his arms and hopping back.

  “Are you just going to let him do that? The thing we faced in that fairy valley took a dozen of us to defeat.” Alfred shook his head.

  Le’Vieux and Jerry chuckled before the Grand Marshall turned to face Alfred and explained. “You're too young to have ever witnessed one of the most powerful knights in the kingdom fight in his prime. This will be the greatest battle of our age, and we all have the pleasure of firsthand viewing.”

  Hauxwell had begun charging himself with a golden aura that burned so bright it acted like a lighthouse, illuminating the surroundings and almost blinding everyone there. The residual energy hit Ben like a ton of bricks as it interacted with his magic, to the point where his legs wobbled like jelly. The spectacle was on a different spectrum of magical ability.

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  Quicksilver stood beside Ben and asked. “That power is greater than any I have felt before. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the human whose stories were told by the elders of the fairy tribes who fought in the war a few decades prior.”

  Ben couldn't even put any words into his mouth. He had heard the stories from the others about Hauxwell's power, but feeling it in person was boggling his entire being.

  Jerry approached and patted Ben on the back. “If the two of you think this is power, wait till he warms up.” He looked around before adding, “Speaking of which, what he did at Dimmiwood was nothing. We should move back to a safe distance so we don’t get caught up in their attacks.”

  When Ben and the others moved back out of the way, the immense light around Hauxwell simmered down.

  “Whoah!” Ben exclaimed, mesmerized by the glowing glittery particles that radiated off Hauxwell's body. “It’s like he’s not even human anymore.”

  Hauxwell raised his sword and pointed the end at Sudfield. “Let’s see if you can beat me this time!” He lunged forward with such speed that he vanished from sight before Sudfield did the same.

  Ben scratched his head as air-shattering shockwaves erupted across the surrounding area. Dirt was being flung all over the place while trees lost what little leaves they had left, and even a few smaller bushes were completely uprooted and began rolling like Wild West hay bales. It was hard to stand still without leaning forward at an awkward angle.

  Ben pointed towards the van. “We should stand behind there to soften the blow of all this wind.” Once they were there, the intensity of the blasts became more apparent, and they started shaking the ground as if countless earthquakes kept coming. “It’s pointless trying to watch this battle. We’ll be better off closing our eyes and sensing their energy.”

  Hauxwell and Sudfield were shooting around the air at hypersonic speeds that even advanced fighter jets on Earth couldn’t achieve. Over a dozen blows landed from each side in a millisecond space, making it hard to determine the details of their combat. It was neck and neck.

  The duel had continued for some time, with Ben and the others getting used to the constant turbulence. There were even a few times when the van had been pushed back, causing its tires to smear dark marks across the cobbles. Most nearby trees had toppled over; some had snapped while others were uprooted. The road beneath where the battle was being fought had been filled with craters where meteor showers of residual magic had rained down.

  “I don’t know how they can keep this up for so long. They will continue for the next week at this rate.” Ben muttered, still mesmerized by the show.

  Alfred glanced at Ben and frowned with a look that told a different story. “I’m afraid it won't last much longer.”

  Ben raised his brow. “What do you mean?”

  Alfred huffed a sigh. “You might not be able to feel it, but Hauxwell’s energy is slowly decreasing with every strike. At this rate, this battle will be over soon.”

  With the sky getting increasingly darker, another hour passed, and Hauxwell’s movements became sluggish. A few attacks from Sudfield had managed to land before one big blow that knocked Hauxwell with such force all his magic dispelled, and he bounced off the ground before scraping to a stop near the van.

  Sudfield landed on the ground some distance away and began his sinister laugh. “It’s finally time for you fools to face death. Once I’m done with you, I will ravage the Hollow lands and take your Canrich Kingdom. They will beg on their knees for their lives, but I will ensure they meet slow, painful deaths.”

  Hauxwell got up, patting the dirt off his armor, and laughed. “You and what army?” He pointed backward with his thumb. “Seems like your friends over there are all dead.”

  The malicious grin on Sudfield's face vanished as if he realized something. “How can this be? You were stalling me all this time.”

  During that whole time, Ben and Alfred were occupied with Hauxwell and didn’t take the time to check up on the progress at Robynhill. He was about to close his eyes and start sensing the energy from there when a beige-colored light swept across the sky, pushing all traces of the darkness back towards the Chateau.

  Sudfield started growling like a wild animal before putting his hands together. He started charging his energy again before a black ball of decay appeared, with sparks of lightning dissipating through the air and filling it with dread. “I’m going to destroy you all and everything that stands in my way!”

  Hauxwell hissed some curses and kicked the ground in anger. He also put his hands out and started preparing an attack of his own.

  “He doesn’t have enough energy to counter whatever Sudfields conjures up. There’s enough power in that ball to destroy this entire valley and some chunks of the Hollow Lands.” Alfred exclaimed.

  Ben shook his head. “I don’t know about you lot, but I’m not going to wait around here to die. I might have a plan that could work. When I tell you, force your energy into my body.”

  Ben sat on the ground, closed his eyes, and started to meditate. He used every ounce of concentration to search and find the strands of magic Hauxwell used to siphon magical energy. One looked like it could handle more energy than it was transferring.

  Ben forced his magic to create a needle and spun it around so the energy formed a thread. He shot it through the air, intercepting Hauxwell’s before tying it around. “That’s it!” The connection, which felt like a small tunnel, was formed, and he could push what remained of his magic into it.

  Hauxwell glanced back briefly as if he figured out what Ben was trying to do before shouting, “As much as you can give me!”

  While regenerating, Ben turned and yelled. “Do it now and keep regenerating at the same time!” He felt Alfred’s hand upon his shoulder before their magic started to knit together. It was just in time before the two powerful attacks were released.

  Hauxwell and Sudfield engaged in a constant battle of energies. Both hurled every ounce of their power, but neither could overpower the other, resulting in a stalemate.

  Surely, there’s another way!

  I could try that other thing!

  Ben closed his eyes again and shifted his concentration towards the mine area. He mentally rushed over there before zooming through its inner structure. He found the Mirium deposit in the cave, quickly created another strand, and ran it back to himself.

  The moment the energy connected with Ben, he felt a sudden boost, which he transferred directly to Hauxwell. The magic stalemate shifted towards Sudfield before exploding like a small nuke, knocking everyone back dozens of meters.

  When Ben opened his eyes from the ground, he saw the evening sky ablaze with a light so bright he had to close his eyes to avoid permanent blindness. He covered his eyes with his arm and realized that Sudfield’s energy signature was almost unreadable, and Hauxwell used his magical fumes to redirect the attack to the sky.

  Ben huffed a sigh of relief. “At least that’s over now.”

  Name: Benjamin Bailey

  Titles: Owner of the Bailey Mine

  Level: 9 (848/1000XP)

  Skill points: 1

  HP: 34/50

  SP: 37/50

  MP: 0/150

  Currency:

  Copper Penny: 10/12

  Silver Shilling: 15/20

  Gold Pound: 26

  The Bailey Mine: 150 GP

  Active Vehicle: Valkyrie, Level 3

  Bull Bar Mk.1, Armor Plating Mk.1, Off-Road Tires, Fuel Efficiency Mk.1, Off-Road Drivetrain

  Class: Mechanical Mage, Level 2

  Class Skills: Repair Mk.1, Refuel Mk.1, Kunai Outburst Mk.1, Exponential Mass Mk.1

  Profession: None

  Profession Skills: None

  Faction: Order of the Hollow Moon

  Faction Rank: Sergeant Major

  Faction Skills: Basic Training

  Vehicle: Valkyrie, Level 3

  Type: Camper

  Condition: 62%

  Fuel: 78%

  MP:200/200

  Power: 140HP (Mechanical)

  Mass: 2168KG

  Armor Rating: 99

  Thanks for reading and supporting the story :)