Chapter 86 - Taunting

When Zaos's group arrived, they couldn't help but open their mouths in amazement. Although it was only natural that Drannor would put a better fight if compared to others, his skills were beyond what everyone had imagined. Every time his spear moved toward an enemy, one of them was destined to fall on the ground while agonizing with a hole on their throats. Thanks to that, even the mercenaries were hesitating in charging toward him… that wasn't a normal brat.

"Enter in formation!" Zaos shouted as he watched the other mercenaries that climbed the walls moving toward them.

As expected, the mercenaries' goal was to take the town because it was an important post in the region. Considering that, it was only natural that they would kill every single soldier in the city first and look for the loot later.

As they charged toward the recruits, Zaos noticed that the mercenaries weren't that organized… how come he never noticed that before? So while they didn't need much strategy to defeat a small group of trainees, it wasn't a good idea just to charge at them like idiots as well.

Zaos's group formed a single line to cover for Drannor's group and make sure that they wouldn't be flanked by the mercenaries coming from the walls. However, upon noticing that their allies were coming from another direction, the mercenaries charged for attacking Drannor's group. Still, the recruits stood their ground, and their formation didn't collapse even when a few dozen mercenaries fell dead nearly above them.

Some enemies tried to circle around that formation, but they were hit in the head by a spear that came out of nowhere. But, of course, Drannor had been responsible for that… despite his size, his reach was pretty long, even though he was behind his friends.

Zaos's group was having an easier time if compared to Drannor's because the number of enemies coming from their direction was small. Only a few mercenaries could climb the walls at a time, after all. Not only that, most of them didn't even notice that the walls weren't being protected anymore.

While Zaos felt more comfortable using a longsword, he still decided to fight using a shield and spear, which would make his allies that had close to no training with that kind of weapon feel less afraid of making mistakes… possibly. Of course, it was hard to be sure since they saw many of their friends slipping due to sweat and blood and opening their guard, only to be killed a few moments later.

The mercenaries still had spears, but they had no shields, so they also exposed themselves the very moment they attacked. While standing on the same ground, the bigger mercenaries had the advantage in reach, but even when one recruit fell, the other nearby made sure to use the opening and attack.

While they were retreating and fighting at the same time, Zaos noticed that the mercenaries were making sure only to attack the recruits that seemed less skilled. Those who killed a fair number of mercenaries were being avoided by them. However, that was only a tactic for them to gain some time while the mercenaries who hadn't entered the city to have plenty of time to kill the riders. They were the real problem of that battle.

"Hey, dumbasses," Zaos shouted. "I am Zaos Sielders, son of Laiex Sielders and sole heir of the Sielders family. We are the shield who protected the royal family for thousands of years. I will show you how a true man fight!"

That was quite a funny thing to say since Zaos's height barely reached the shoulders of most mercenaries. Regardless, Zaos achieved his goal of making the enemies focus on him. While that was exactly a good idea, his tired allies managed to gain some time to recover their energy. However, it didn't take long for Zaos to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies. Nevertheless, he managed to defeat a few mercenaries, even when three of them attacked him at the same time. However, Zaos felt his left arm cracking when he hit behind his shield, and four of them attacked him at the same time. His allies killed three of the enemies, but the price was bothering him already.

"… Oh… I can try that…" Zaos muttered when he suddenly had an idea.

The mercenaries noticed that Zaos was already in pain, and the greed inside them grew stronger. Everyone wanted to become famous on the battlefield after defeating a powerful soldier. While Zaos wasn't quite at that level, he belonged to a famous family, and that was more than enough.

Much to everyone's surprise, something unexpected happened when four mercenaries attack Zaos with their spears. They should have known that Zaos had planned something since he assumed a complete defensive stance… their spears broke when they collided against the shield… Zaos's had enchanted his shield with earth magic and increased its durability.

"What is wrong, retards?" Zaos smiled from ear to ear. "Who taught you how to fight??

Zaos could tell that the magic in his shield still was strong, so unlike his sword that could only be used for ten or so seconds, it could be used for quite a while. Defeating the mercenaries was the best thing they could in the middle of such a massive battle, but making them lose their weapons was also important. However, the mercenaries only fell for the dead for so long. Since Zaos was at the border of the formation, the enemies tried to surround him. Four enemies tried to surround Zaos again, he blocked the attack of two and broke their weapons, at the same time, he cut the throat of another, but the last one almost killed him… Drannor prevented the attack by attacking the enemy by surprise.

"What are you doing, idiot?" Drannor asked. "Revealing your name and taunting your enemies like that… have you lost your mind?"

"Shut up…" Zaos said after a long sigh.

"Anyway, make your group move a bit faster," Drannor said. "I have a plan."