Ben wanted to burn the 2 guard's balls like he did with their friends. But there were children present, so he couldn't go through with it. He just used his knee to crush their balls while he held their heads high and burned their mouth with his flame.
The guards froth from the mouth as they lose consciousness. Ben threw them to the side before approaching the hostages. His sudden appearance surprised the hostages and made them wary even though he just took care of the guards.
"I'm a mage from Cait Shelter. The mayor sent me here to free all of you, so you can rest assured." Ben said as he displayed his guild mark on his forearm.
The hostages were relieved to see Ben's guild mark. Even though they had never heard of Cait Shelter, Ben's actions proved he was their ally. However, Ben frowned after counting the number of hostages.
"If I'm not mistaken, there should be 23 of you here, but there are only 19. There should be 1 more kid and 3 women." Ben said.
"Y-Yes, they were detained separately." A green-haired woman said.
'She must be the woman the guards at the entrance were talking about. They've done a terrible thing to her, but she's still this strong. It makes me feel shame. I need to control my emotions better.' Ben thought.
"Is it the noble's daughter?" He asked.
"Yes, it's Ms. Elefsia and 3 of the youngest maids." The woman answered.
"Alright, I'll take care of it. You guys just follow me for now to get out of here." Ben told them.
"You're not going anywhere." A man behind Ben said.
Ben looked back and saw 3 men standing at the entrance of the room. They're the dark mages that kidnapped the kids and women. There are 15 of them and they brought the noble's daughter and 3 maids with them.
"I've defeated 5 already, so now there are 20 of you, not 16. Do you have any other members that haven't shown up?" Ben asked.
"Humph, why should we tell you?" A bald man scoffed.
"There's no one else." A short man replied.
"Idiot, don't tell him that!" A fat man yelled while hitting the short man on the head.
"Good, so all of you are here. It will make my job easier. Now release them and you won't suffer like your friends there." Ben said, pointing at the 2 unconscious guards.
The dark mages look at their friends and curse the 2. They ignore Ben's threat and start to threaten him back with the noble's daughter.
"Oi legal mage, don't move or I will cut this kid's throat. You know that dark mages like us will really do it, unlike you." A red-haired man said as he held a knife to the noble's daughter, Elefsia's neck.
"Hi! He-help me." Elefsia pleaded. She had blonde hair and a panicked expression on her face.
"SHUT UP OR I'LL KILL YOU NOW!" The red-haired man shouted.
Elefsia closes her mouth and eyes while trembling out of fear. Ben looked at them and thought of a way to free the 4 hostages. It was a challenge because they've found him out. He made a mistake by not taking them out first.
"Stay back." Ben told the hostages behind him as he raised his arms like he was going to surrender.
The hostages move back to the corner and the dark mages approach Ben. They kept their guard up as they got closer to Ben. He remained still as the dark mages approach him slowly.
The dark mages finally surround Ben and grin because he didn't do anything. Then they start to attack him using their bare hands and feet. None of them use magic to make it more satisfying.
BAM BAM BAM*
Ben remained silent and took all the attacks. He kept getting hit, but his eyes were still firm, and kept looking at the 4 hostages that were held by the dark mages. None of the attacks made him flinch or scream in pain and the dark mages were frustrated.
"Damn, he's trying to be tough. Let's see how long you can keep that act up." A blue-haired man said as he went on the attack.
BAM BAM BAM*
They keep hitting Ben from every angle, but he still doesn't fall. The hostages who look from behind are looking at the scene with horrified expressions. They felt very bad for Ben because he took all those attacks for them.
Seeing Ben still stand firm after being hit numerous times frustrated the dark mages to no end. They finally decide to use their magic to attack Ben now. All of them move back and prepare their magic to attack Ben.
"Now you won't be able to stand again." The blue-haired man said as he created a yellow magic circle.
The dark mages shoot different types of magic at Ben. He just looks at it and took all the magical attacks without any defense. Luckily, some of the attacks are Fire and Light Magic, so they don't affect him. The other attacks still affect him, but at least it reduced the damage he took.
BOOM BOOM BOOM*
Explosions went off on Ben's spot as the magical attacks hit him from every side. Smoke and dust are scattered because of it and cover Ben's location. No one can see him because of the thick smoke and dust around him.
The dark mages grin because they're sure Ben had been defeated. He had been injured by the previous attacks, so now he will surely fall. They let their guard down because of it, a lethal mistake.
BANG BANG BANG*
Shots were heard from Ben's position. The dark mages see some flashes of yellow light come out of the smoke toward their group at the entrance. They look at the entrance and see their friend who was holding the hostages fall to the ground while holding their arms, legs or stomachs that had blood gushing out.
"Wha-what happened?" A man standing near the falling dark mages asked.
"They were shot, duh." Ben said as he suddenly appeared in front of the man in his Light Mode.
"WHA-!" The man shouted before he was punched into the ground by Ben. He defeated 5 enemies quickly.
Ben grabbed the 4 hostages and flashed to the other hostages at the back of the room. He put the 4 down before turning around and looking at the shocked dark mages. The sudden change of events happened very fast and they still can't process it.
"Yo-you, how can you-?" The blue-haired dark mage asked while pointing at Ben with his trembling hand.
"How can I survive your attacks? Simple, they were too weak." Ben answered casually.
The dark mages eyes widen and thought that Ben was bluffing. But they can't refute his statement because he was standing in front of them with virtually no damage. They knew they weren't weak, so it only meant Ben was way too strong for them.
The dark mages start to get nervous which is exactly what Ben wanted. Of course, there's no way he would be injured by that barrage of attacks. Even though he wore armor that reduced the damage, he was still injured.
However, injuries like this are common for mages that have fought in many hard battles. If he went down easily after attacks like that, he wouldn't be classified as a S-Class mage.
"Now, it's my turn, right?" Ben asked while grinning and dispelling his Light Mode.
His body was covered in wounds from the dark mages' attacks, but he still looked strong. The dark mages step back while putting their guard up for any potential attack from Ben. He raised his hands and created a dark purple magic circle in front of him.
"Sun Dragon Gravity Increase: 10 Times!"
The remaining 10 dark mages suddenly feel the heavy gravity and fall to the ground. They can't move their bodies and can only watch Ben prepare another attack.
"Too bad I can't use big attacks otherwise this cave would collapse. But to defeat you guys, I don't need a big attack." He said, generating a big light ball on his right hand.
"This is the end. Sun Dragon Rays!" Ben exclaimed while raising his light ball
Pshew pshew pshew*
Many small light bullets were fired from the big light ball. They flew towards the dark mages and rain down on them. Ben kept shooting until all the dark mages were defeated.
"Job's done." Ben said as he dispels his magic.