Chapter 127 - Roar

"Listen to me once again, men!" Verkan shouted once again. "This kid is to become the next shield that protects the royal family. If we were to fail here, he will die and the royal family won't have their shields. If he survives, the king himself will hear about our failure here by this kid's mouth. Do you want to bring shame to all the soldiers who have been fighting in the North since ancient times? If not, then you have the duty to kill ten mercenaries each before falling!"

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The soldiers raised their voices and shouted in unison. Zaos had to cover his ears because he almost went deaf. That was some explosion of morale. While he knew that Verkan was planning to do something by using his name, he didn't imagine he would do that. The soldiers will try to protect him for all intentions and purposes while they chase the enemies' army. While they will fight more fiercely, they will die trying to protect him and their honor. All because Verkan told them some lies…

"Don't look at me like that, kid," Verkan said. "Look at our soldiers, they needed to hear this."

"Couldn't you have achieved the same goal without telling lies?" Zaos asked.

"No," Verkan quickly replied. "In any case, don't feel so safe yet, the enemies still had some surprises in store for us."

The soldiers who were being pushed back began to push back the mercenaries, even those on horses. Even when spears pierced them, they ignored the pain and charged with all their might to deliver a killing blow on the enemy. Even with mortal wounds, each soldier would take down three enemies with them before falling. That was some level of loyalty… Zaos had no idea how and why they could be so loyal. He didn't see anything his father or the royal family doing to deserve that level of loyalty.

In the end, the soldiers didn't manage to recover the side of the city that they had lost. Suddenly, some mercenaries using sets of armor pretty different from the others showed up and managed to stop the momentum that the soldiers had obtained.

"They finally showed up…" Verkan said while frowning. "Zaos, attack them with your best attack."

Zaos understood that those five men were different from the others just by looking at them. Most likely, they were vice-generals of the mercenaries' army. Zaos cast a strengthened Fire Sword and fired at one in the center, but his target dissipated the attack with a single upward swing of a spear. The heat of the flames distorted the vision of those nearby, but those five didn't even blink and stared directly at Zaos.

"That is some level of Magic Resistance that they have…" Zaos frowned. "Who are these people?"

"There is no time to explain," Verkan said. "It is time for you to retreat, Zaos. These guys are worse than I imagined."

If that were the case, you shouldn't have told me to attack them, that was what Zaos wanted to say, but there wasn't time for that. The soldiers tried to keep a tight formation in order to keep those five riders at bay, but they failed miserably. Those who stood in their way were cut down mercilessly.

When Verkan was about to give the orders for Zaos to retreat again, they suddenly heard some heavy footsteps approaching. When they turned around, they saw the old man Arlen, wearing full-plate armor and carrying a sword as big as the one Zaos saw commander Ruvyn carrying. That type of weapon still was a bit too big for him, but Zaos still couldn't help but think how much he wanted one.

"I am late, Verkan," Arlen said. "It looks like your plan succeeded in some aspects and failed in others."

"My apologies, sir," Verkan said.

The battles around the area suddenly stopped when all soldiers and mercenaries noticed that the command in charge of Rustburg finally would join the fight. While he looked like someone in his sixties, he still had a fierce presence. He wasn't a warrior to be taken lightly.

"You are the commander here?" One of the five riders, a man who had long, black-tied hair, asked.

"What if I am?" Arlen asked.

"Surrender now and I will grant you and your men a quick death," The black-haired man said. "Resist and I will chop you into pieces very slowly."

The black-haired man looked like someone in his thirties, but despite being someone who looked strong and experienced, he also looked someone reckless, even though he didn't have a single trace of scar on his face. The black-haired man wasn't wearing a helmet either, so that much showed how confident he was in his skills. The man jumped from his horse, and while he was playing with his spear, someone came to move the horse to somewhere else.

"Why abandon the advantage that a horse could give you?" Arlen asked.

"I like that horse and would aim at him to knock me down," The black-haired man replied. "I can't have you do that."

The black-haired man looked to the sides, and his men immediately understood what they should do. The mercenaries spread around the area in order to attack in order to attack the soldiers. Zaos and Verkan also moved. Even though he wanted to see the battle of two experts, he couldn't forget his job.

When the commander of the two armies finally had some room to fight, they dashed at each other. The black-haired man smiled viciously when he aimed his spear at the old man's heart, but Arlen easily stopped the attack. The black-haired man stepped back and prepared another attack, but Arlen swung down his sword to split him in half. However, the enemy suddenly moved away even faster and escaped the sword's range. Arlen furrowed his eyebrows when he saw that… it hadn't been a move a human should be able to do alone.