Ben is guarding the leaders who have a meeting in the big room. He is sitting boredly on the side while hearing the leaders talk about this and that. He even puts a soundproof barrier around himself just to avoid hearing those boring political stuff.
The 1st & 2nd days went normally, but then an incident happen on the 3rd day. Some terrorist groups suddenly attack the town using magic items even though they are not Mages. Of course, they get subdued easily by the Magic Council squads who guard the town.
The Wizard Saints don't even need to act yet. Well, Ben has acted one way or another because his enchantments are stopping most of these terrorists. He has set traps all over the town and these traps catch a lot of these terrorists.
Then after small fry terrorists, they get attacked by some Dark Guilds. Now, The Wizard Saints need to move, but it's only Jessica & Ellie. Both of them are enough to handle the current situation, so Ben doesn't need to move.
His act is required on the last day of the leaders' meeting. When Ben is playing with his magic on the side of the meeting room, the world suddenly turns black & white. Everyone in the room stops moving and only he can move.
"Time Magic?" ponders Ben while looking around seriously.
Ben gets very serious now because he knows that the enemy is very strong. Also, he is the target right now because he is the only one who can move in this stopped time. He looks around for the one who cast this Magic and finally finds the culprit.
"I never thought that we'll meet here and you are the one who approached me first. Long time no see, Zeref you bastard," says Ben annoyedly.
Zeref just smiles while looking at Ben, "You have gotten stronger very fast. If you were this strong back then, you would be able to take everyone out of that island."
"And if you were this brave, then you would fight that Black Dragon there. But you were too afraid and chose to run away. So much for someone who has lived for hundreds of years and has immortality. You took your time to kill Hades, but you didn't even try to fight Acnologia," says Ben.
"I have my reason," says Zeref.
"And I don't care," says Ben.
Both of them get silent and only look at each other as the tension rises.
Suddenly, Zeref says, "I wonder if you will be able to reach that level."
"What level?" asks Ben curiously.
Ben doesn't attack Zeref at all for now because he knows it will be useless. He is in Zeref's time domain now, so Zeref will be able to do anything. Ben can only try to get as much information from Zeref so that he will be able to face the Black Mage one day.
"Acnologia's level. You have a high potential to be that strong or maybe stronger than Acnologia. If that happens, then you will be able to defeat the undefeated Acnologia. Achieving the thing that I couldn't do even in 400 years," says Zeref while smiling.
But that smile suddenly disappears and he says, "However, that also means you will be the next Acnologia. He is already a big threat to this world, so we can't afford to have the next him. Maybe I should kill you right now before you become a bigger threat than Acnologia."
"You talk as if you aren't as big of a threat to this world as Acnologia. You and him are the same, both of you are entities that endanger the people of this world. Your demons are causing destruction everywhere, your empire is trying to invade this continent which will kill many people, and you also have killed many people in your 400 years of life. For me, there is no difference between you and Acnologia. Both of you are trash," says Ben pissedly.
Zeref's serious face suddenly disappears and he laughs, "Hahaha, I never meet someone who is so brazen saying all those things to me. But I think you have the qualification to say all those things."
For Ben, Zeref & Acnologia are really the same. They have ruined his or his friends' lives directly or indirectly. So Ben hates Zeref as much as he hates Acnologia. There's nothing he wants more than beat up the guy in front of him, but that's a stupid thing to do in his enemy's domain.
"Well, I guess I will watch what you'll do from now on before deciding what I'll do," says Zeref while making a big black orb beside him.
Ben knows Zeref is about to leave, so he knows it's his last chance. He flashes as fast as he can and suddenly appears in front of Zeref. It surprises the Black Mage because Ben's right foot has touched his cheek, Ben is just too fast even for Zeref.
*BAM*
A kick lands on Zeref's cheek and flings him into the orb. He enters his own orb and suddenly disappears from the room. The time also suddenly resumes after the caster, Zeref disappeared.
"Take that, you bastard. Speed is power," says Ben while smirking. He feels very satisfied after kicking that bastard in the face. He doesn't know where Zeref has gone using the orb that seems to connect 2 places like a teleportation device, but he doesn't care as long as he can at least kick that guy for once.
'Quorra, have you scanned the magic that he used to stop time?' asks Ben in his mind as everyone in the room gets confused because he suddenly appears in a different spot. No one realizes what happened because time was stopped.
[Yes, scanning complete. After comparing it to our data, I concluded that he used Ankhseram Black Magic. A type of Black Arts granted by The God of Life & Death, Ankhseram, through his curse.]
'The Curse of Ankhseram, right? That god has done unnecessary things. He was cursing those who play with life & death. But that curse is creating more problems instead,' grumbles Ben in his mind.
Ben then remembers that Mavis also gets cursed by Ankhseram. But it seems Zeref's curse is stronger or maybe he has higher mastery of his curse than Mavis.
'Quorra, find a way to counter that time-freezing magic. If he didn't target me, then I won't be able to move at all. I don't want to be put in a hopeless position. Also if he does that again to me, then I will be able to fight without worrying about anything,' thinks Ben.
[Understood. Also, this is information that I have not shared yet. That magic only froze the time in this town. So everything outside the town is normal.]
'How did you find out?' asks Ben.
[My connection with Jarvis is normal even though the time has stopped. That means the time only stopped in this area.]
'Hmm, alright, that means this magic is not invincible. If it's an absolute magic, then it should be able to stop this world's time. We should be able to find a way to counter it,' thinks Ben.
Ben continues his job while still thinking about Zeref. That guy's talk about Acnologia reminds him that Acnologia will appear soon. He needs to get stronger faster and he already has a plan for it. The problem is whether he'll be strong enough when Acnologia appears.
Zeref might have said that he has a high potential to be as strong as Acnologia or maybe surpass the Black Dragon. But he never said when or if it will be soon. The only thing that makes him glad is Zeref's confirmation of his potential. That means he just needs to do his best and reach that level soon.
'Quorra, ask Jarvis the progress of our main project in the basement,' orders Ben.
[Please wait.]
[Project Upgrade is reaching 92.43% completion. Estimated to be finished in a month.]
'Good, that project will be a big help for me to get stronger. I don't know if it will be enough to help me fight against Acnologia. But at least my chance will be higher,' thinks Ben.
Just what is this project that he has built?
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