Chapter 299 - Poison

Zaos led his unit toward the third battalion because Luvon and Camus stopped their army right behind those mercenaries. They sure liked to play with their tactics, but it was to make them understand their days playing with the enemies' heads were over.

While his mana was full again, Zaos decided to save it since he didn't know what might happen or what the enemies had prepared for him. Thanks to that, his unit didn't advance as fast as he wanted through the enemy's lines. They had lost some men, and those who survived were pretty exhausted if not wounded. Fortunately, not everything was bad news. Since the commanders were so close, the siege weapons weren't being moved or used toward them.

While Zaos attacked the enemies and blocked their spears with his sword. He noticed that fighting without magic against so many enemies was more difficult than he had imagined. While he still had the advantage considering speed, ability, and strength, there was only so much someone normal could do without using magic. It took a while, but his unit passed through the third battalion, and while Zaos was exhausted, his mana was full.

When the heavily armored mercenaries protecting the commanders finally began to ride toward Zaos's unit, Zaos couldn't help but smirk.. He had saved all his mana for that kind of moment. Without thinking twice, he enchanted his blade with wind magic and fired an enormous wave of wind toward the mercenaries. Although those guys and their horses were armed like the royal guard with heavy armor and spears, Zaos attack cut several of them in the middle.

"Not as much as I had imagined, but… this is better than nothing," Zaos frowned slightly.

Zaos looked at Nyana, and she recognized that Zaos wanted the mages to attack those mercenaries with all their might. So they began to fire their spells toward the enemy. At the same time, Zaos dashed toward the mercenaries through the hole in their formation. The enemies tried to block his path with their large shields, but Zaos enhanced his arms, and his strikes easily knocked them out. However, due to their sheer number and to his exhaustion, Zaos started to get hit by their heavy spears. His armor protected him from most attacks, but he started to get scratched on his arms and legs. At first, Zaos didn't think that was dangerous, but then he heard something…

Your Poison Resistance has reached level 15.

"What? Poison?" Zaos said, surprised.

Before Zaos could understand what was going on, the three mercenaries attacked him at the same time with their spears. Zaos swung his sword to deflect them, and he actually succeeded, but he had to put in a lot more effort to do that… his enhancement had ended much sooner than he had predicted.

"What the hell is going on here?" Zaos asked him, surprised.

Zaos noticed that his body had grown weaker since the last time he checked. It seemed that he had been poisoned, or perhaps the spears that touched him had some sort of poison. Either way, he checked his status and noticed that things were pretty bad.

Health: 770/1100

Mana: 1950/2700

Stamina: 1820/2920

Strength: 555

Magic: 1350

Endurance: 1460

Resistance: 1350

Focus: 08 + 01 

Sorcery Lv 75 (+ 05 UP), Meditation Lv 40, Magic Perception Lv 24 (+ 04 UP), Magic Swordsmanship Lv 47 (+ 04 UP), Magic Spearmanship Lv 15, Magic Archery Lv 20, Magic Martial Arts Lv 21 (+ 08 UP), Alchemy Lv 09, Magic Resistance Lv 16, Swordsmanship Lv 65 (+ 06 UP), Axemanship Lv 17, Spearmanship Lv 20, Archery Lv 36, Martial Arts Lv 22 (+ 07 UP), Assassination Technique Lv 13 (+ 04 UP), Throwing Technique Lv 14 (+ 03 UP), Shield Mastery Lv 26 (+ 04 UP), Pain Resistance Lv 47 (+ 05 UP), Poison Resistance Lv 14 (+ 05 UP), Blacksmithing Lv 15 

Zaos had lost more health and mana than he had imagined. He couldn't tell if he had used that stamina since the fight in the last minutes had been pretty difficult, after all. As if something smells really fishy, Zaos noticed that the mercenaries were attacking him and practically ignoring his allies. Those who couldn't attack him were aiming for his subordinates, and those who were wounded seemed more exhausted than they should be for just half an hour of fighting.

"Captain… their spears have poison," Melisse said after she suddenly approached. "Don't let them wound you too much because that potion drains your vital energy."

Your Poison Resistance has reached level 16.

Your Poison Resistance has reached level 17.

Zaos nodded, even though it was a bit too late for that. He could see his health, mana, and stamina decreasing with every passing second. To think that the enemy would have access to poison that could damage the target's vital energy and the poison directly to be able to take effect that fast…

"I am really going to like it when I kill those rat bastards…" Zaos clenched his fist and then prepared to fight.

Since he was going to run out of mana anyway, Zaos decided to go all out. He jumped from his horse and then enchanted his arms and legs with wind and earth magic. The heavy cavalry tried to attack him since, from their perspective, he had become an easier target. Still, once he began to move, no one had time to attack him. 

"Follow the Captain!" Melisse shouted as soon as he managed to grab Moody's reins.

The bloody knight's noticed that Zaos began to fight seriously, and they began to follow him with all their might as well since they could tell that their energy wouldn't last forever. Imitating Zaos, they began to fight like beasts, and the heavy cavalry didn't slow them down even a little bit.

Zaos' unit members already saw him fighting once, so the rain of blood and body parts didn't bother them all that much. However, the recruits couldn't help but gulp and feel goosebumps. Following Zaos seemed like following a monster… fortunately, that monster was fighting to protect the kingdom. So, in the end, they followed his lead.