Eberius stood with his arms folded, his half-hidden face unreadable,
Though a cold glint flickered in his eyes.
He turned slightly toward the shadow figure, voice low but commanding.
"You stay here. Watch everything. I want a detailed report—their strengths, their weaknesses… how long they take to react, their teamwork, magic reserves, even their emotional impulses."
The shadow bowed mockingly, eyes gleaming like twin moons.
KEKEKE!
"Oh… I'll watch them very closely. Especially your precious king. He does seem to enjoy the spotlight."
Eberius didn't react to the taunt.
"____"
He reached into the folds of his robe and pulled out a bone-white pendant,
Cracked and old, etched with cursed runes.
Whispering an incantation in a tongue long forgotten, he activated the pendant.
All throughout the forest—
Hidden in burial mounds, underground chambers, tree hollows, and even beneath the riverbed—
The remaining zombies he had stockpiled over the years suddenly stirred.
Their white, pupil-less eyes snapped open.
Faint groans echoed through the trees. Birds scattered. Magic in the air thickened.
Dozens upon dozens of fresh, stronger, and more grotesque undead began to rise—
These were older, more enhanced, some fused with elemental cores and fragments of cursed magic stones.
They began to move in packs, driven by a single order that echoed through their cursed minds:
"Eliminate the King. Make him your target."
Meanwhile.
Ben, still as Heatblast, stood beside Mereoleona, his flame body pulsing as he scanned the aftermath of the previous wave.
Nebra had moved nearby, her mist creating a shroud to block enemy sight lines.
Suddenly, an intense pressure washed over the area—
Dozens of malicious presences emerging from every direction.
BOOM.
From the trees, ground, and even nearby water, a new tide of zombies charged, these ones more erratic,
Some with partial armour, others with glowing marks across their bodies.
And unlike before, many of them launched spells—
ice shards, cursed mist, acidic vines.
"TCH… THIS ISN'T OVER YET."
Heatblast growled, raising his flaming arms.
Mereoleona let out a deep, primal laugh.
Fufu!
"Hah! Now it's getting fun!"
One of the zombies lunged toward Ben, its arms crackling with black lightning.
In response,
Ben slammed his foot, igniting a shockwave of magma, instantly turning the earth around him into a fiery moat.
Nebra, wide-eyed, activated her spell again, pushing several zombies toward Mereoleona, who caught one mid-leap and punched its ribcage into dust.
Ben growled into his magic communicator:
"THIS IS BEN. REINFORCEMENTS INBOUND. I'VE GOT HOSTILES CONVERGING FROM ALL DIRECTIONS—THEY'RE TARGETING ME SPECIFICALLY."
The shadow figure,
Watching the scene unfold through a swirling pool of black liquid, let out a raspy chuckle.
"They're all dancing… but your king burns brighter than the rest."
Eberius turned without speaking, descending into the swirling portal once more—
Perhaps to prepare another move… or an elite zombie commander of his own.
Just as Ben incinerated another zombie with a flaming uppercut, a sudden chime rang out in his mind.
A blue translucent screen flashed before his eyes—his system interface.
[DING...]
[🔔 New Task Generated!
Objective: Eliminate all zombies targeting the King
Condition: Stay alive and prevent damage to any nearby civilians or allies
Reward:
🔥 250 FP
🛡️ Curse Resistance (Level 1)
🎖️ Title: "Beacon of Fire" – Increases morale of nearby allies by 20%]
"____"
Ben narrowed his eyes.
"SYSTEM, ACCEPT TASK."
As the panel vanished, another wave of corrupted zombies, now faster and more erratic, surged through the trees, snarling with glowing eyes locked on him.
Suddenly,
A blur of blue roses and mist darted into the chaos—
"You shouldn't hog all the fun, Your Majesty!"
It was Charlotte, her vines lashing through zombie limbs, eyes sharp beneath her helmet.
A moment later,
From the southern ridge, Yami casually cracked his neck while drawing his katana,
Finral, grumbling as he opened a spatial portal beside him.
"Can't even smoke in peace..."
Yami muttered before vanishing into the portal.
From the western slope, Nozel and Nebra soared in on enchanted brooms,
The Silver Eagle siblings looked down at the horde below with growing disgust.
As the three squads converged on Ben's location, their eyes widened.
A tidal wave of zombies—dozens,
maybe hundreds—
Were storming toward a single target.
"Ben?"
Charlotte whispered, stunned.
"They're all after him?"
"No..."
Sol clenched her fists.
"They're after our Ben!"
Yami's smirk faded.
"Someone's got a death wish, sending all this crap our way."
Without hesitation, the three captains and their accomplices dived into the battle, unleashing their magic in synchronised strikes.
Steel, shadow, mist, and spatial rifts tore through the undead.
Ben, already transformed into Heatblast,
Stood at the centre of the battlefield—
His flaming form glowed like a beacon in the dark.
"YOU TOOK YOUR TIME,"
Heatblast bellowed with a grin.
Grin~
"LET'S TURN UP THE HEAT!"
With his allies beside him and the battlefield ablaze, the King of the Clover Kingdom was ready to show the enemy why he wears the crown.
Heatblast stood at the centre of a blazing inferno,
Surrounded by a sea of snarling, snapping undead that surged toward him like a tidal wave of death.
His molten hands clenched into fists, emerald flames flickering wildly across his body.
He glanced toward the treetops, spotting Fuegoleon, William, and even the Wizard King Julius Novachrono descending—
Too late.
"TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH,"
Heatblast growled, embers flaring from his jaw.
"BUT I DON'T HAVE TIME TO WASTE."
With a deafening roar, he slammed both fists into the scorched earth.
A volcanic eruption of fire and magma shot upward in a blazing arc, engulfing the nearest cluster of zombies.
Their bodies hissed, cracked, and split as cursed flesh boiled away, but still more charged forward with unrelenting fury.
From all sides they came—
Claws outstretched, eyes soullessly white, mouths drooling with hunger and madness.
A zombie lunged from behind—
Heatblast twisted midair, igniting his elbow in hot fire and driving it backwards into the monster's skull, which exploded in a puff of ash and bone.
Another hurled a blade of ice magic.
"CUTE."
He caught it midair, his flaming hand melting it instantly.
He fired a concentrated solar beam that pierced through four zombies in a line like butter under a torch.
Then came a barrage of enemies from above—
Leaping through trees, some glowing with the faint hue of enchantments—
Zombies with magic.
One launched wind blades.
Another conjured jagged shards of earth.
But Heatblast didn't flinch.
"BURN."
He raised both arms high, flames spiralling up into a giant vortex before unleashing a spiralling inferno that twisted through the air like a dragon of fire.
It swallowed the undead mid-jump—
Their limbs turned to char, their magic snuffed out in seconds.
Then, through the inferno, he saw it—
A massive undead knight, nearly 10 feet tall, armoured in rotting metal, carrying a sword etched with runes of decay.
It pointed the blade at Ben and let out a guttural snarl.
"SO, YOU'RE THE BOSS?"
The creature lunged—
Fast, too fast.
Ben dodged, barely avoiding a swing that split a tree in half behind him.
The tree exploded into splinters, then froze midair, held in Julius' time magic as he and Marx finally arrived.
"Impressive reaction speed,"
Julius said calmly, watching the battlefield with analytical glee.
"These zombies… they're using adaptive spellcasting. Curious."
Fuegoleon landed nearby, his flame lion roaring to life.
"My Lord! Stand down. I'll take the lead."
"NOPE,"
Heatblast snapped.
"THIS ONE'S MINE."
With a wild grin, Heatblast ignited both hands, spun on his heel, and uppercutted the knight's sword with such force the metal glowed red-hot before snapping in half.
The undead reeled back—
Ben didn't let up.
He leapt forward, flames gathering in both palms, and blasted the knight point-blank in the chest.
BOOOOM!
The impact cratered the earth, sending shockwaves that shook the forest.
When the smoke cleared, only molten armour remained.
More zombies flooded from the trees—
But now Julius, Fuegoleon, and William joined the fray, unleashing time magic, flame constructs, and world tree roots that crushed, burned, and entangled the enemy.
Above them all, Heatblast rose once more on a burning platform of magma, the forest glowing in his wake.
"BRING MORE,"
He roared into the sky.
"I'LL TURN THIS ENTIRE ARMY TO ASH!"
This was the first time the captains had seen Ben—
King Ben—
In such devastating action.
The way he moved with power, precision, and fury—
It was hard to believe he had only joined the Magic Knights a year ago.
From a newly initiated knight to now standing at the epicentre of chaos as a blazing warrior, he wasn't just holding his ground—
He was the battlefield's axis.
Charlotte's lips parted, seeing her hubby fight slightly as she watched him fight.
His flames bending around him like a living creature, incinerating everything in their path.
Even Yami raised an eyebrow, smoke trailing from his cigarette.
"Damn,"
He muttered.
"He's cookin' hotter than Fuegoleon."
Nozel narrowed his eyes, not in doubt—
But in realisation.
Even William, standing amidst his World Tree magic, glanced up.
"____"
But then it became obvious.
All the zombies—
Dozens upon dozens of them—
Were ignoring the others.
They didn't care about the captains.
Not Julius.
Not even Mereoleona.
Every pair of undead eyes burned toward Ben.
Like moths to flame, they came—
Snarling, twitching, crawling, and flying—
Desperate to tear into him.
It wasn't random.
It was a directive.
A targeted one.
Julius stood in the back, arms folded, that familiar childlike glint sparkling in his eyes.
His curiosity was stoked, lit like a torch.
"Ohhh,"
He murmured, eyes scanning the battlefield with fascination.
"So fascinating… they're fixated on the king. Someone set this up with precision. And these spells… the layering of dark necromancy with cursed channelling…"
"ENJOYING THE SHOW, ARE WE?"
Heatblast's irritated voice rang out, echoing across the forest.
"IF YOU'RE DONE BEING A FANBOY, HOW ABOUT YOU ACTUALLY HELP?"
Julius smiled sheepishly.
"Ah… Right."
With a casual raise of his hand, he snapped his fingers.
Snap!
Time halted.
Every zombie mid-charge, mid-leap, mid-cast—
Froze in place, suspended in a time-stasis bubble.
Their grotesque faces, twisted in rage, now stuck like insects in amber.
The battlefield fell eerily silent.
"____"
"____"
"____"
Only the flickering crackle of Heatblast's flames remained.
Julius tilted his head with a smirk.
"Better?"
Heatblast crossed his arms, flame still rippling across his shoulders.
"YEAH. NEXT TIME, MAYBE DON'T WAIT UNTIL I ALMOST GET DOGPILED, TIME DADDY."
Julius chuckled.
Chuckle~
"But how else would I gauge your combat growth under pressure?"
Yami exhaled a breath of smoke.
Puff~
"Tch. Bunch of lunatics."
Charlotte, still stunned, whispered to Sol,
"I've never seen him like this before..."
Sol nodded slowly.
"Our king's kinda hot—uh, I mean strong. Really strong."
As Julius began inspecting the frozen zombies with laser focus, the others gathered around Ben—
Who stood at the heart of the battlefield, flames flickering off him like a divine torch in the night.
And high above, unseen, Eberius watched them in shadows, now frowning.
"So… as expected, the Wizard King's power... But the king… is more dangerous than expected."
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(Author's POV)
(A/N)Thanks for reading the chapter!
Please give a review on this Fanfic.
Don't forget to send your power stones!!!