Chapter 185 Re-Taking Zoren (Part 2)

"Leo!" Connor called out as he watched a red humanoid creature with wings drag Leo into the air.

"I can't do anything if it's in the air, can you help him?" Duke Wesley asked with urgency in his voice.

"No, my Golems can't hit something in the air, especially when it's that fast." Connor replied

"Captain, look." Duke Wesley said, pointing at the main road 100 meters from the Royal Army soldiers.

There was a figure walking down the road, heading for the soldiers. It was hard to see at first but now that his attention was focused there, Connor could see a group of people coming down the road.

"The cults reinforcements are here." Connor said.

"That's right." A voice said from behind.

Connor and the Duke both spun around and saw man with red skin and three eyes smiling at them.

"John..." Connor said with a look of realization and surprise.

"Your name is Connor, right? From what I've heard you're practically the one they replaced me with." John said as he looked Connor up and down.

"I'll take of this, you go helo the others." Connor said to the Duke, not taking his eyes off of John.

"Alright. I know I can't be of help up here so I'll just wish you luck." Duke Wesley said as he turned to leave.

As the Duke made his way down the wall to the others, Connor was giving John a cautious glare. He had heard from the others about what happened to John and who he was but it was his first time meeting him.

"Are you the Imperium that was in charge of the city?" Connor asked.

"No, I only just arrived." John replied. He took a few steps back and started leaning on the edge of the wall behind him, folding his arms as he did.

"Just arrived? How could you have known about our plan to take back the city..."

"Oh I had no idea about that, I'm here for something else." John replied. "It was actually quite a shock to see what was happening here."

"If you're not here to defend the city then why are you here?" Connor asked with a skeptical glare.

"Maybe I just wanted to see what makes you so special that not just Leo, but all the others accepted you into the group. That's what I'm curious about Connor, so why don't you show me what you've got."

John suddenly dashed towards Connor with immense speed, causing his body to blur slightly. It was too fast for Connor to react, he felt a slight cut on his arm and then watched John's blurred figure run a few meters away and stop.

" Ahh what the... " Connor looked down at his arm and saw a cut that was 5 centimeters long at most.

"Sure I could have killed you then but what fun would that be. This will be much more interesting." John said with a smile.

"What did you do...?" As Connor spoke, his vision started to blur and his body lost its strength. He dropped down to one knee and his breathing became heavy.

"Poison..." Connor said as he shook his head, trying to maintain his focus on John.

"That's right. It's not strong enough to kill you unless I use it on you a few times but that's not what I'm going for anyway." John explained.

The two Golems Connor had summoned, the one near the city gate and the one on the wall, they both crumbled away and disappeared into a hole that opened in the ground below them.

In just a few seconds both of those Golems, as well as a third one, burst out of the ground and surrounded John in a triangle formation.

Two of the Golems were a dark black colour while the third was an emerald green. The green Golem was standing between John and Connor while the black Golems were behind John and to the sides.

"Since there's only one, I'm assuming the green one is the strongest? I'll leave it till last then." John said.

As he finished his sentence the two black Golems swung both their arms down towards Johns head.

A transparent barrier made of energy appeared in front of one of the Golems. It looked like a dozen triangles stacked next to and on top of each other like bricks in a wall.

The Golem slammed its fists into the barrier but couldn't break through its tough defense. The other Golem didn't have a barrier in its way and continued its attack.

From Connors perspective it looked like the Golem would land its attack. It's fist was about to connect with John's head when Connors vision went blurry and he was forced to blink and shake his head.

When he looked up again, he couldn't believe his eyes. The Golem that wasn't being blocked was missing its upper body and there were pieces of it all around it's legs on the ground.

'How is that possible... Even Leo had a hard time with the black Golems, how did he destroy it so quickly? I didn't even hear anything!' Connor thought in disbelief.

"It's not as durable as I thought it would be and that one still can't break through my barrier after several hits. I'm disappointed, Connor." John shook his head in a disapproving manner.

"Shut up..." Connor said as he struggled to his feet. "You're acting like you're all so powerful, yet you're here fighting me. Why don't you go and fight Leo instead if you're so strong?"

A visible frown appeared on John's face as his muscles tensed and he clenched his fists.

"So that's how it is. You're fighting me because you're too weak to fight Leo, is that it? How pathetic can you be, only targeting someone weaker than yourself to feel like you're powerful."

Connor started laughing, which agitated John even more, causing a vein to bulge in his neck as he started gritting his teeth and looking down.

"Stop." John said with a shaky voice.

"You know, the others told me you weren't very powerful, that you were bullied as kid and maybe even at the academy. So what, you're acting like a bully now to feel better about yourself? Grow up."

"I said stop!" John shouted as he swung out his arm towards the remaining black Golem. A large red spike shot out of the ground and impaled the golem in its chest.

Several smaller spikes extended out in all directions from the large one, turning the Golem into a pincushion. John retracted the red spike, causing the heavily damaged Golem to crumble to pieces.

"You don't know anything! Don't pretend like you know me or my circumstances!" John shouted, an immense rage being carried through his tone.

"It seems I managed to hit a sore spot for you. Come on then, if you're so much more powerful than my Golems then try getting passed this one." Connor said.

The green Golem started to change colour, becoming a much darker green. It formed spikes at the end of its knuckles and gained two more arms under the originals.

"Gladly." John replied as he lifted his hand. The Golem charged towards John as several shards of red crystal were created in the air around him.

"I wasn't going to kill you at first but I've changed my mind. I'll be sure to hang your body from the wall for your comrades to see it!" John shouted as he begun to attack.

***

Duke Wesley ran down the stairs on the side of the wall and rushed to join his soldiers. They had also noticed the approaching group and were preparing to face them head on.

"Alright soldiers, listen up! We have an advantage in numbers and our reason for fighting is stronger! Will you accept defeat at the hands of these cultists!?"

"NO!"

"Will you allow them to turn innocents into beasts!?"

"NO!"

"Will you allow them to murder your families!? To take control of this kingdom and it's people!?"

"NO!"

"Then let's show them why they should have never started this war in the first place!"

"HUA!" The soldiers began shouting their battle cries as their spirits were raised. The group approaching them became illuminated by a nearby light crystal for the first time and the soldiers battle cries started to fade.

Their morale was extremely high after Duke Wesley's speach, that was until they saw the enemy.

The group was mostly regular cultists that numbered no more than 35. The thing that caused the soldiers morale to drop was the thing leading that group.

It was a large humanoid creature that was easily 3 meters tall. It was so big that the ground beneath its feet would crack with every step.

'What the fuck is that thing...' Duke Wesley thought in disbelief as he watched the creature approach.

All the soldiers around the Duke took a step back as the creature lifted its head to look at them. Their weapons were shaking in their hands due to the fear they felt. The Duke couldn't blame them for feeling such fear when faced with an opponent like this when any sane man would back away out of instinct.

"I'll handle that creature, you just focus on the rest!" Duke Wesley shouted as he pulled his sword from its sheath and prepared himself for battle.