Chapter 121 - Help

When Zaos's mana was full again, he couldn't help but wonder… what was happening to him. He was killing people, people were killed by the droves around him, and he wasn't feeling anything anymore. He knew that humans are creatures that grow used to most types of things after they experience it over and over again, but he couldn't help but feel bothered by that… getting used to war.

Zaos shook his rage and then began concentrating when he saw his allies being pushed back by some riders. It hadn't been him who brought the fight to the enemies. It was the other way around. He may be fighting without considering how much all that killing was chasing him, but he was fighting for the right reasons, not because he liked it.

Zaos used wind magic on his sword two times, and then he stabbed the air to fire the wind balls at the enemies' heads. They didn't notice the attacks coming, nor did they have the chance to react in any way. The attack knocked them down from their horses, and his allies finished the work.

"You can't use this attack in a melee, Zaos," Verkan approached and then said. "We can't risk you hitting our allies."

"What is the plan, then?" Zaos asked.

"Let's slowly kill the cavalry," Verkan said. "We need to make the enemies think that we are having a hard time, once they send the second wave of enemies, we will go all out and cause another massive damage. Focus on knocking down the riders, they are the real troublesome foes here."

After hearing that, Zaos nodded. In the end, even he couldn't expose himself all that much all the time. Some enemies already memorized his face, and they were bound to target him, the troublesome kid with weird skills. Using his sword and wind magic, Zaos knocked down several foes. He learned that he could fire many projectiles that way, quite a few more than he could use when using only Wind Sword. The reason for that was probably the fact that he was using his strength to increase the speed and power of the wind balls.

Zaos managed to save his stamina thanks to it, but he was having a hard time keeping his head cool. He managed to do that even when he stayed at the frontlines, but now that he was offering support from the backlines, he saw his allies being killed. That was beyond unnerving for someone like him… Despite this, he didn't leave his position. The riders were wasting a lot of time looking for him. They probably received orders to kill any kid who looks suspicious. Zaos made sure to knock those idiots one after the other, even after drinking five potions in a few minutes, and his stomach was completely full with the liquid. Much to his despair, mana potions didn't taste good. They tasted like medicine, actually. So, his task was unpleasant in many ways.

"Let's see, when I combined swordsmanship and magic, I learned magic swordsmanship…" Zaos muttered while he was looking for other targets and then found a rather looking fancy enemy spear near him. "I wonder if I can learn Magic Spearmanship by combining magic and a spear."

It wasn't the best of times to learn that, but Zaos made sure to pick the weapon and store it on his back. After that, the battle only lasted for a few more minutes, and Zaos's stomach was thankful for that. The mercenary's infantry and cavalry retreated after suffering quite a loss. If their goal in that attack was to kill Zaos, then they failed miserably.

All the men who were standing began to celebrate another victory, but Zaos couldn't do the same. Verkan even scolded him because he had to celebrate at times like these. Otherwise, he might decrease the morale of the army. Still, he couldn't do it since the smell of death was strong, and too many people were moaning in pain. Some of them could be healed, but some of them were beyond salvation.

Zaos turned around and confirmed that his squad was decreased by half. It was not surprising that hundreds of riders were looking for him and were positioned to kill Zaos and the nearby soldiers who might get on the way.

"You did well, kid," Verkan said while looking around, seeing the number of dead horses. "We saved the energy of our cavalry and managed to deal a decent blow to their cavalry. They will think twice before trying to get us next time." 

"I think so, too, sir," Zaos said. "Still, we are losing too many people and the enemy is also saving their forces."

"You don't need to worry about that, the officers are the ones who need to worry about how to deploy our forces and consider how many we lost here," Verkan said and then slightly hit Zaos's back. "Remember, from the very beginning, we knew that many of us would die. Those who came to this town to fight, knew that they might lose their lives, but they still stayed because it was their duty and because we couldn't let the northern base be attacked from two sides by twenty thousand mercenaries."

Zaos nodded. He knew that all too well. The number of times where he thought that he would lose his life wasn't few, even before the battle. Still, now that he was fighting, he wanted to win no matter what.

The cavalry and three hundred archers stayed behind to make sure that the enemies would face someone if they tried to attack again. Still, as for the others who survived the battle, they returned to Rustburg to see their wounds. After clearing his body and the few scratches he suffered, Zaos walked around to check his squad. He didn't have time to heal everyone, but at least he made sure that no one would have to move toward the battlefield while limping or not being able to use both arms.