Chapter 115 - Can't Stop

"That was within our expectations. Just keep doing what you did, and things will be fine," Verkan said with a vicious smile on his face. "You saw, didn't you? We passed through this company easily. Your flashy attacks are very useful to scare the enemies. You should use that against the cavalry, but… I don't think much damage will be caused."

Zaos could see that the enemy cavalry had long spears and shields to protect most of their bodies with a single movement. Long-ranged attacks won't be that useful against that much weight. While Verkan was organizing the company to move once again as fast as possible, Zaos drank two potions and recovered the rest of his mana. Those were some impressive potions… to think that they could have the same effects of seven hours of meditation…

Verkan finally finished the preparations, and the guards that he had selected to watch their backs were on the left side of the company. That was weird considering that they were right behind them before, but it was obvious that Verkan had something in mind. Despite their overwhelming success, they still lost twenty or so soldiers, so they had to be careful.

Zaos and Verkan led another charge, and when they did it, the enemies' cavalry also moved toward them. At least half of it, but it was more than enough to overwhelm a single company of specialists. At least that was what they looked like from the enemies' perspective.

Zaos finally understood why the soldiers that Verkan brought were on the left side. It was because they were there to hold the cavalry. When the enemies arrived, the first ones to receive their attacks had been Zaos and Verkan. Their spears were blocked by Zaos and Verkan's swords, and while they didn't get hit, the weight alone made them feel their bones cracking. Zaos had cast wind magic around his sword, but speed and range clearly weren't what he needed there.

When the first riders finally passed by them, Zaos and Verkan swung their swords and cut one of the legs of the horses. Before the second group could arrive, Verkan finished the two riders, and Zaos cast his magic. Suddenly, his sword grew darker and longer until it reached a point that it looked more like a brown spear than everything. Despite that, its weight didn't increase. Zaos easily deflected the spear that was aiming for his head with his weapon and then attacked the rider. His sword hit the rider's chest, and thanks to the momentum, he fell from the horse.

"Another neat trick… who could have thought that I would learn so many things in a fight," Zaos frowned as he watched the enemies approaching. 

More and more riders noticed that Zaos was an abnormal foot soldier, and they tried to take his head, but he was much faster and had the same range thanks to the earth magic on his sword. His company reached the enemies' archers in no time, but they welcomed them with a barrage of arrows.

Zaos clicked his tongue when he noticed that the cavalry retreated in order to give the archers that chance. Regardless, he swung his weapon too high in the sky, and the wind caused by it made most of the arrows of the first company be stopped in the air. However, several of them fell behind Verkan's company, and they heard the sound of soldiers grunting in pain.

"Don't stop, men!" Verkan shouted. "Arrows mean nothing against our might! Let's send this invader to the next world."

In the end, the idea of stopping the company with a few volleys of arrows backfired splendidly, all thanks to Zaos's weapon and magic. When Zaos and Verkan reached the archers, they didn't have the chance to draw their bows. Like a hot knife cutting through butter, they defeated one after the other. With his long rage, Zaos's sword knocked two or three archers at the same time. Verkan was even better when with a single delicate swing of his sword, heads would roll on the ground. Despite his vicious nature in the middle of a battle, he knew how to fight in a calm manner.

The company followed them behind and did the clean-up, defeating the enemy on the sides and those who had been almost killed. However, when Zaos and Verkan were about to reach the last line of archers of that company, they heard a very unnerving sound. The sound of arrows being fired… half of the archers of the company were still alive. Still, the next company already decided to sacrifice them.

Zaos used his sword to repel some arrows in the sky as well. While he succeeded, he left himself wide open to the enemies in front of him. Before he could do anything, two archers shot him. Verkan noticed that and blocked one of the projectiles with his sword, but the other hit Zaos in the stomach.

"Ugh… shit," Zaos grunted in pain as he felt a burning pain in his stomach. 

The men who were supposed to protect Zaos finally showed up and killed the nearby archers and spread the destruction again. Meanwhile, Verkan approached Zaos and checked the wound.

"It isn't deep. The chainmail protected your guts," Verkan said. "But we need to take the tip. It might pierce your vitals if you move just a bit."

"Pull it out…" Zaos said and then clenched his teeth.

Verkan didn't hesitate even for a second and pulled the steel arrows. Zaos moaned in pain and then used Heal to stop the bleeding and close the wound. He had to do that a few times in order to reach a level where the pain wouldn't slow him down.

"Those shit arrows are troublesome," Verkan said as he threw the projectile on the ground. "We did the right thing in planning this."

"We can't stop now, sir," Zaos said as he watched the enemies' army turn around. "They noticed that they can't stop us and are retreating."