Cough, cough... "Miss Zhao... do you think this will really work? I feel like my magic is being drained away..." Karls seemed to be getting a bit panicked. Even though he was standing in front of the descendant of the legendary hero family, he was still freaking out.
His rise to fame had only just begun! How could he let himself die from having all his magic drained?!
You know, dying from having your magic sucked out was a pretty grim way to go—it's practically like a mummy's death! And it's definitely not the kind of death he wanted! At the very least, give him a cool death!
"Are the students all evacuated?" Zhao Shishi asked, her tone cool and unbothered, even a bit detached. She wasn't sure if Karls was just pretending for her benefit.
"Could this be... the legendary Dark Soul?" Suddenly, Benjamin appeared beside Zhao Shishi, asking seriously.
"Yes, you really are sharp. As expected from the descendant of the Priscilia family," Zhao Shishi nodded, masking her surprise with a furrowed brow.
She didn't expect Benjamin to stay.
"Uh... looks like you've figured it out. Not many in the class believe in my identity..." Benjamin awkwardly scratched his head. Although he had never hidden his background, only a few of his close friends actually believed him, and they had even visited his family.
"Of course. I've looked into everyone's background," Zhao Shishi said with a calm nod. "But, I'd suggest if you only have mediocre magical skills, you should leave. It could be dangerous."
"Don't worry. I'm confident in my combat skills. Besides, Karls is one of my closest friends. I can't just watch him suffer," Benjamin said, full of determination. "I've seen descriptions of this Dark Soul in some ancient books at home, so I might be able to help."
"Hmm... fine." Zhao Shishi nodded, seeing this as a good opportunity to observe Benjamin. After all, he was still on her list of suspects. From the very beginning, she had her eyes on Luo Qi, Benjamin, Dylan, and Karls, and there were definitely some issues with this group!
She wasn't sure who the culprit was yet, but finding the right direction was the first step.
"Everyone's been evacuated. We can take action now," Benjamin reminded her seriously. "I'll go rescue the others, and you can handle the Dark Soul."
"Hmm." Zhao Shishi nodded, and as she raised her right hand, a complex magical circle appeared. After emitting a flash of light, the circle transformed into a beautiful metallic gauntlet that encased her right hand.
"Magic Stone Battle Armor...? You guys really are loaded..." Even Benjamin couldn't hide a hint of envy on his face at the sight.
"Stop chatting. The enemy's coming!" Zhao Shishi frowned. The Dark Soul had apparently absorbed enough magic and was about to attack.
"Yaaaaaaaaa!" In the next moment, the Dark Soul, now as large as a person, screeched and lunged toward them, claws outstretched.
"Magic Barrier, activate!" Without hesitation, Zhao Shishi thrust her metal-wrapped right hand forward, quickly forming a magical shield.
Boom!
Despite the fierce charge, the Dark Soul slammed into the barrier with a loud crash, but it was completely ineffective. The creature staggered back, but it quickly recovered, its menacing form now larger than before.
However, Benjamin charged toward the now-confused Karls with dramatic speed.
"Take my righteous iron fist!" Benjamin yelled, and a magical circle appeared around his fist. A flash of light shot out, severing the connection between Karls and the Dark Soul instantly.
"Is he trying to be a melee mage?!" Zhao Shishi looked on, utterly speechless. She hadn't seen such a fighting style in ages. The Priscilia family was known for magic, but now, Benjamin was acting like an old-school oddball? This was too unbelievable.
The "melee mage" profession used to be quite popular. It sounded incredibly powerful: long-range magic to kite enemies, and close combat with warriors, using instant-cast spells to catch opponents off-guard.
But that was the idealized version of the job. In reality, most melee mages ended up as an awkward hybrid—neither strong enough to tank like a warrior, nor powerful enough to nuke like a pure mage.
And, let's be real, this role was more suited to demons with strong physical abilities, not humans. So after the trend faded, melee mages were pretty much obsolete...
If you really thought about it, wasn't this just a weak version of the Demon King's own combat style?
Benjamin, having become obsessed with this path, was practically disowned by his family, who thought he'd lost his mind from all the magical "bombardment."
At least Benjamin didn't care about what his family thought, and after gaining freedom, he became even more immersed in his "melee mage" development.
"Good thing you're here, Benjamin..." Karls said, grateful, as he was saved from becoming a dried-out husk. "You really are my savior!"
"We should retreat for now," Benjamin said confidently. Once the Dark Soul's connection to Karls was severed, the fight would be a lot easier. Now, they just had to deal with the Dark Soul itself.
"Wait... something's wrong," Zhao Shishi suddenly noticed. The Dark Soul had grown even bigger, its height now towering over two meters!
This was completely different from what she had expected!
"It's gotten bigger? What's going on?" Benjamin was also confused. "This is odd."
"I'm not sure... This Dark Soul might have mutated," Zhao Shishi said, frowning. She had never encountered a Dark Soul before, only read about it in records.
The Dark Soul was a monster formed from the negative magical energy in the world.
Everything had both positive and negative aspects. When magic consumed elemental energy, it created these Dark Souls in a separate dimension from the elemental realm.
Like elemental fairies, the Dark Soul resided in its own parallel dimension, known as the Dark Soul Plane.
Normally, this dimension wasn't accessed unless the summoning went wrong. And even then, the creatures shouldn't have gotten so out of control...
Unseen in the chaos, Luo Qi facepalmed. This catastrophe?
Probably his fault.