The dark mages advance and start the battle. They spread out and surround Ben and co from every side. But there are two men including their leader and a woman who didn't join the other dark mages and opted to return to the mansion instead.
"Why'd they leave?" Elfman asked.
"Humph, there's no need for our guild master and vice-masters to deal with you. We're more than enough to defeat brats like you." A middle-aged man said.
"What did you say?" Elfman angrily demanded.
"Calm down, Elfman! This is their strategy. They want to test our strength using these guys. If these guys can defeat us, then that's good for them. But if not, then those 3 will have an easier time to fight us because they know our power and we will get tired." Ben calmly stated.
Elfman realized this.
"I guess you're right, sorry. A man shouldn't be taunted that easily."
"So we need to defeat them fast?" Mira asked.
"Yeah, that's the best thing to do. I have a plan, get close to me." Ben told the other two.
Mira and Elfman had no idea what Ben was planning, but they need to believe in him. So they get closer to Ben while still looking at their enemies.
"Hi hi hi hi, no matter what you're planning, it will be useless. We have 10 people while you have 4 including the cat that doesn't seem to be able to fight. It will be better for you to surrender before we hurt you." A middle-aged woman said.
"Surrender? Sorry, but that word isn't in my dictionary." Ben smirked, spreading his hands.
"Humph, arrogant brat. Attack them!" A bearded man ordered.
The dark mages start to move and charge their magical weapons. They have swords, spears, whips, staffs, rifles, shields, chains and armor. They made their move and Ben also made a big move.
"Sun Dragon Gravity Domain!" Ben chanted.
A big, dark purple magic circle appeared on the ground and covered everyone there. Suddenly, the dark mages feel strong gravity underneath them. It was a strong gravity they had never felt before and it made them fall at the same time.
The gravity only affected the dark mages, not Ben's group. Mira and Elfman weren't affected because they're close to Ben, so he can exclude them from his gravity targets.
"You said Bella couldn't fight because she's a cat, right? Too bad they're wrong, right Bella?" Ben asked her.
Bella nodded.
"Bella fight. Requip." She said.
A small gunslinger appeared on Bella's right hand. It surprised everyone except Ben to see Bella use Requip Magic. Ben had trained her in this magic because it's very useful. She can summon her gun whenever she wanted.
Bella then starts to fire at the dark mages who were lying on the ground. The gravity prevented them from moving so they couldn't dodge the shots. But Bella's bullets were also affected and her aim is off.
It was a minor inconvenience though because all she needed to do was aim higher and finally hit the defenseless dark mages. They try to use their armor to defend themselves, but the strong gravity messed with their concentration and prevented them from using their magical items.
Bella kept shooting until she ran out of bullets. Now, there were only 4 dark mages that were still conscious. Ben took out his twin revolvers and fired at them to finish the job.
"2nd step down." Ben said after canceling his gravity domain.
"Easy peasy lemon squeezy." Bella happily said.
"Whoa, Bella-chan, you're great." Mira praised her.
Bella was happy to hear Mira praise her and she flew over to Mira's head. Ben was surprised to see her on someone else's head. She never got on Wendy's or even Roubaul's head before.
"Elfman, let's take their magical items first before we enter the mansion." Ben told him.
"Alright." Elfman replied.
Ben and Elfman then take all the magical items from the defeated dark mages. Ben then stored all the magical items in his pocket dimension with Requip after wearing them. He needed to do it one by one before storing everything.
This is one of the Requip Magic's weaknesses. He needed to wear them first before he can store them. But that's the concept of Requip, where he stores something that he wears in his magical storage to wear them again later.
Mira is playing with Bella while Ben and Elfman were busy with their work. Well, Ben is glad that Bella is happy playing with Mira. Although he and Elfman want them to at least help gather the magical items.
They were finally done after 5 minutes and they head to the mansion. Ben tried to sense the 3 remaining enemies inside. He sensed them in different locations. Their guild master was on the 3rd floor, while the other 2 were on the 2nd floor in opposite directions.
"I'll handle the guild master. Mira will go to the left, she is the 2nd strongest. Elfman, you go to the right, he is the weakest of the 3, but he is still a strong mage." Ben instructed.
"Alright." Mira nodded.
"Whoa, you can even sense their strength." Elfman said.
"It's just their raw magic power, not their battle prowess. They might be stronger than predicted, that's why you need to be very careful." Ben said.
Mira and Elfman nod before they enter the mansion. They stand in the lobby and see a staircase in the middle. They climb it and Ben told them where to go by pointing toward it with his finger.
The siblings then head in different directions to deal with their enemies. Ben kept walking with Bella on his head towards another staircase to the 3rd floor. He walked calmly while looking around at the creepy corridor.
After walking for a minute, Ben arrived in front of a big door. He opened it and saw the guild master sitting behind a desk looking at him. Ben entered the room and looked back at his enemy.
"Those guys are really useless. They can't even stop you for 10 minutes. But even if they're useless, they're not weak, otherwise I wouldn't recruit them. That means you are very strong to be able to defeat them alone." The man said.
"I'm not alone. Bella defeated 7 of them." Ben countered, pointing at her.
"You're not fooling anyone here, kid. The cat could only shoot those guys because they couldn't move. And the reason is your magic. I have to say I'm impressed to see someone your age being able to use strong Gravity Magic like that." The man complimented him.
"Cut the crap, Leonardo. I didn't come here for that." Ben mocked him.
"Le-Leonardo? Who is that? My name is Juan Carlo." Juan said.
"Ah, yes. I meant that. Juan." He twitched.
'Bastard, who cares about your name. I was mocking you.' Ben thought angrily, but still tried to keep his face straight.
Ben didn't know this guy's name at all and just used the random name as a joke. But this guy thought it was real and corrected him. It made Ben feel like he was in the wrong, even though he wasn't.
Seeing Ben was distracted, Juan made the first move. Suddenly, a big yellow beam of lightning came out of Juan's desk. It moved towards Ben and caused him to come out of his stupor.
Ben jumped to the side and dodged the beam of lightning. He then looked at Juan who was wearing a full set of golden armor. He wielded a long sword and long shield. Then yellow lightning came out of Juan's magical items.
Juan looked at Ben with a grin.
"Come then, little rascal." He said.