Benjamin stopped the magic after around fifteen minutes.
The whole giant grave of ice evaporated into thin air as the forest once again returned to silence.
Edmund and the other mercenaries had come out and were walking towards the direction of the grave when they were suddenly hit with a biting wind. They crouched down and braced themselves for the cold.
When they lifted their heads, they saw that the giant mound was already gone.
Seeing this, they were stunned.
"Sir…. you took care of all of them?"
They hesitated for a while but eventually walked inside to look. All that was left of the campsite that had been baptized in ice was an intense aura of death. Hundreds of corpses littered the ground, giving them goosebumps.
Other than that, every single one of the corpse was covered with a layer of frost, looking as if they had just been dragged out of a freezer. Edmund tried kicking one, but it felt like he was kicking a steel plate.
The mercenaries’ faces were filled with fear.
Was this the power of magic?
Speaking of magic, they suddenly thought of the four mages at the campsite. Thus, they searched for and eventually found, the four familiar corpses beside an extinguished campfire.
They moved the corpses aside and found a small hole underneath them.
"This is..."
"They wanted to use
magic to tunnel a way out." a voice said from behind them," But, the soil had been frozen to the point that it was harder than granite. They tried their best, but could only manage this small hole before succumbing to the cold."
They mercenaries turned around to face Benjamin. Their stances revealing equal amounts of respect and fear, "You are amazing, Lord Mage."
Benjamin nodded.
Seeing the corpses of the mages, he breathed a sigh of relief.
For this battle, he did not really run into many problems, he just saw it as a way to test his abilities.
This Giant Icy Grave represented an even higher level a mage could achieve. The fact that he had been able to maintain such a large-scale spell was proof that his magical abilities had improved tremendously.
The new Benjamin no longer feared people like bishops.
But, he quickly shook his head - it was not the time for them to relax yet.
All six squads had been defeated and all stragglers inside the forest had been dealt with, but, he still had thousands of people to deal with outside of the forest.
There were still many mercenaries hiding in the forest, not knowing they were safe. If Benjamin could find them, he could strengthen his own team.
"Tidy this place up, it’s ugly if left this way." After thinking of this, he spoke to the team, "Check their pockets
pockets for spoils of war."
The mercenaries obeyed without hesitation.
The bodies of guards can be ignored, but the merchants had a lot of money on them. The purpose of Benjamin’s participation was money, how could he forget about looting the corpses?
Pretty soon, they cleared the whole battlefield. It was only the second day of "The Seven Days of Hell" and the guards outside had no idea that the hunters had become the hunted. Benjamin still had plenty of time to deal with them.
The most important thing was for Benjamin to wait for reinforcements.
"Wait…"
Suddenly, Benjamin looked at one of the guard’s corpses and had an idea.
He reached down and took off the guard’s helmet. He held the helmet in his hand, examined it, and formulated an idea in his mind.
A day later.
The illegal mercenary group that was hired to guard the forest were bored out of their minds. Their job was to prevent any prey from leaving the forest; however, right now there was absolutely nothing for them to do.
"Damn…...why is it only the third day?" One of the mercenaries complained,
mercenaries complained, "We still have to stay in this bloody place for four more days. How troublesome. It’s only twenty people, can they hurry up with the killing?"
"It’s alright, we will earn a lot from this job. Consider it an annual bonus, cherish it." The other mercenary advised.
They were whispering to each other, but, a lazy voice suddenly interrupted them.
"Hey, what are you both doing?" Derek, who was probably the leader of the organization, walked over with an annoyed look, "Guard the place properly, don’t slack! If anyone manages to escape, the both of you will be getting it!"
The two mercenaries were stunned and slumped back to their positions. Even though they did not agree with what he said, and still felt that no one would come out, they did not argue out of fear of their boss.
Derek nodded and turned around, ready to leave.
"Wait! Are you… Lord Derek?"
Suddenly, a man dressed as a guard came running out of the forest. He was completely out of breath.
Derek turned around, "What is it?"
The guard ran slowly, crossing the boundaries of the forest, with no one stopped him. Finally, he arrived at Derek’s side. He clutched his knees, breathing hard, and slowly said, "The sirs are all angry, they are calling for you!"
Hearing this, Derek frowned. The surrounding mercenaries also showed their annoyance.
"Why are they angry?" Derek asked impatiently.
"Because the prey this the prey this year are too few - they feel it is too boring. They want you to find more people to release into the forest, or they will not pay."
Derek heard this and cursed, "Those fat pigs."
The guard was afraid, but after some hesitation said, "You better find at least ten people to send in…"
"Where am I supposed to find ten people? Will they fall from the sky?" Derek spat on the ground, shaking his fist, "Tell them, this is all they are getting. I will not entertain their request."
"But they said, if you don’t find more people, they will not pay. Also, they threatened to give out information about all of you, making you…." The guard nervously replied.
Hearing this, Derek’s face changed.
"....They dare threaten me?"
The guard nodded timidly.
Derek sighed and became silent for quite a long time. The other mercenaries saw this and looked at each other, not daring to say anything.
"So, what will you do?" The guard asked quietly.
Derek furrowed his brows, before finally replying, "It’s impossible to find anymore, let me talk to them. We can offer them refunds. We've been working with them for so long – it’s not like we don’t have any relationship."
The guard heard this, lowered his head, and did not say anything.
He merely turned around to lead Derek, and his team, back into the forest.