"How much prey is left?" Derek asked the guard as they walked, "Are they making this request because they already killed off everybody?"
The guard continued walking, with his head lowered. He did not make any attempt at responding.
"Say something! Don’t pretend to be mute." Derek frowned and demanded.
The guard kept his head lowered but replied, "...Only four left."
"Just four?" Derek’s voice was full of surprise, "How can that be? Some of the prey were the top three warriors in the arena, how did they die so fast this year?"
The guard stopped in his tracks.
Derek’s eyes widened. He watched as the guard turned around and take off his helmet. He wore a wide grin, without any trace of his earlier meekness.
Derek was stunned.
But, before he could realize what was going on, tens of silhouettes appeared from every direction.
The men that surrounded Derek and the guards well large and well built. Their eyes glowed with killing intent as they waved their swords around menacingly.
"You all..."
Judging from Derek’s eyes, he recognized who they were.
They were the "prey" who had been forced into the forest for the merchant’s entertainment.
Their arms showed no signs of damage – despite having been broken just days earlier. Derek had a
bad feeling about this.
The man that baited them tossed his helmet to the side. Benjamin looked at them with a steely stare "We meet again, Sir Derek."
Derek grabbed the hilt of his sword, entering a battle stance.
"Who are you?"
Benjamin laughed, "I am one the prey you sent running into the forest. But, since I’ve disguised myself like this, I doubt you could recognize me."
After saying this, he snapped his fingers. A water ball appeared and washed a layer of makeup off his face, revealing his true identity.
Derek saw this, and his expression changed.
"You…...you’re a mage!"
Benjamin nodded.
Derek and his team were flabbergasted. Were they really not dreaming? How could a mage like him end up in an underground fighting ring and even manage to win three round without anyone noticing?
They thought it impossible, and yet, the truth was right in front of them.
Right now, they were surrounded by vengeful mercenaries and hopelessly outnumbered. Benjamin showed them a smile that sent shivers down their spine.
The three guards that accompanied Derek started to panic. Derek, on the other hand, was deep in thought,
"This isn’t right. What happened to the mages we hired?" He asked, "And what of our guests, where did they go?"
Benjamin shrugged and replied, "They’re all dead."
"Impossible!"
"Why would I lie?" Benjamin shook his head and said
said coldly. "How do you think I got my hands on this uniform and all their standard issue weapons? But honestly, none of this should matter to a man that is about to die."
The surrounding mercenaries clutched their swords tighter, growing even more excited.
"No… wait!" Derek panicked as a cold sweat appeared on his forehead, "Do you know the real identities of those merchants? If they’re all really dead, do you know what will become of you?"
Benjamin replied, "I honestly couldn’t care less."
Derek burst out emotionally, "You couldn’t care less? Stop dreaming! Even if we die here, everyone outside has seen your face, there is no way you can stay incognito."
"Really?" Benjamin raised his eyebrow, "Do you really think this face right now is my real face?"
Derek couldn’t believe his ears.
"I had been careful since the start. "Benjamin slowly said, "Since I first joined your underground arena, not once did I show my real identity. Even if people were to investigate later, no one would suspect
would suspect that a mage had anything to do with it."
"You…." Derek clenched his fist in silence.
Benjamin saw this but did not bother saying anymore. He silently motioned the surrounding mercenaries forward.
There was no reason to speak any further, he might as well end it.
The thousands outside the forest were easy to kill, but to do so without anyone escaping would be significantly harder. Even if he were to go on a manhunt after that, he could not guarantee that there would not be one or two survivors; those one or two survivors could end up exposing his identity.
Till now, his plan had gone exactly according to play; they did not leave any chink in the armor behind. Benjamin crossed his fingers and hoped there would not be unforeseen circumstance – he had decided to change his plans.
He realized that the only one that needed to silence was Derek.
To kill a snake, you had to cut off its head. Once Derek is gone, the rest of the guards would be in disarray - the only information they had on Benjamin was his fake appearance.
To anyone on the outside, it would seem like the merchants, hunting party and mages had ventured into the forest and vanished into thin air. There would find no clues unless they were unless they were to dig 6 feet into the ground.
But even if the wealthy merchants’ bodies were dug up, what then? It’s not like it would provide them with any clues.
Even if the Church were to use the memory reading technique on them, they would not discover anything.
Right now, the only four people who knew the truth were about to die.
"No! No don’t kill me, I promise I will not say anything, please don’t kill me!" Seeing the mercenaries edge closer, Derek’s facial expression changed again. With his dignity gone, he was crouched on the ground, groveling for his life.
Benjamin laughed coldly and shook his head.
Bang!
Suddenly, an ice wall emerged out of thin air, blocking a bullet fired by Derek.
The smoke dispersed, revealing Derek’s shocked face.
Just now, as he was begging for mercy, he had taken out a concealed gun from his pocket. He played a beggar, but in one swift motion, aimed the gun at Benjamin and pulled the trigger.
Sadly, Benjamin had already seen through his plan via the water particle sensing technique.
"No one wants to die." Benjamin blocked the shot, then looked at Derek and shrugged, "But, if it’s not you, then it’s me."
A hail of icicles flew at Derek and his team, shredding them to pieces.