Mael and his army victoriously emerged from the battle, so the others hurried to help the injured people. Since the heat burned mael's clothes, he stayed on the floor for minutes to calm down while his soldiers called for his mother. He lingered on his life that slowly faded away as he thought that [Limit breaker] may be the answer to his problem, but it led to another one.
'Damn it! I can feel my life force fade- if only it has no setbacks… it will be the ultimate skill. I can't move a muscle, and my face touches the ground… the taste of the dirt is disgusting; I wish I can move my mouth. I wish I can move and scratch my itching back! This is suffering, how much longer?' he whined, but nobody could hear what he needs, so he tried to move his fingers slowly, and it did. He gave his best effort and managed to scratch his back. It was almost like a comatose.
His body began to cool down, dissipating the heat for a little, being able to manage to swiftly move his face to spit the dirt before dropping his face back again. He also breathed slowly, but it- along with his heart, became harder to execute as time passed.
'Is this the end of me? Will all my plans go to waste? No. No, I must think of a plan. I should focus on breathing. Yes, that's it. Just breathe, and everything will go smoothly. But, my heart is losing strength. So I better reserve every ounce of it to live. Breathe, fella, breathe. Inhale… exhale… That's it; you have to live!' he thought.
As Mael fought for his life, the crunch of dirt from someone's footsteps that seemed to be approaching him caught his attention. His eyes searched for it. "He's still breathing and fighting for his life even though he used it? I better hurry, then." said Erza before casting an unknown spell. "If I were late- even for a minute, his life would have been in greater danger. Thanks for informing me," she told her guards.
"To think that you forced yourself that much, you must love your people deeply," said Erza as she watched Mael lie his head on her lap. He woke up not long after and noticed that his mother caressed his hair. "Mom-"
"Shush… you wanted to exterminate them so bad you resorted to using [Limit breaker]. Did you even think that it's detrimental to your health? Well, there is no helping it- what's done is done... But you need to promise me you'll never do it again! You never know what happens if you use it. It's a fifty-fifty chance to survive without my spell, and you can die if used recklessly; so promise me!" she pinched his cheeks.
"Yes, mom, I promise."
"What about the people, mom? Are they safe?" Mael added.
"With the ghouls exterminated, we set up a tent and moved the injured to aid them. Although we saved many, there are still many casualties- people lost their lives from the attack. The army covered their faces with a white cloth as their loved ones lamented. The other survivors cooperated to save lives before my army's arrival, and with their help, things were more efficient; even Alibaba, the local priestess, came and helped to heal the wounds of those in critical conditions- along with those experiencing excessive bleeding- bitten and clawed, specifically. She managed to heal those who are in a near-death state, which is great," said Erza.
"I want to help! Where is she?" Mael stood up with haste.
"Let's go find her," Erza smiled.
Without a trace of setback from his [Limit breaker], Mael ran as fast as he could towards the town square, followed by her mother, who didn't get the chance to use a carriage.
"Wait, son! You're leaving me behind!" She stopped and breathed before catching up.
Mael witnessed the injured and saw a troubled priestess wearing white robes, so he approached her.
"What's the problem? Can I help?" he said. Erza successfully caught up with him, panting for a second.
"I ran out of mana," Alibaba said, looking at the rest of the injured while she wiped the trickling sweat off of her face. She looked exhausted. "I already drank bottles of mana potion- but I am still not halfway through. The health potions ran out, and I don't know what to do," She said to Mael.
"What can I do to help? There's still so many who need us," Mael felt worried.
"If only I can extract mana from a donor," she looked at Mael.
"I have plenty. Please save as many as you can with it," Mael offered his mana to the priestess.
Alibaba smiled, relieved. "This would be painful, and you might collapse midway; that's why I refuse to use it unless there's no other choice."
.
"If that's the only way to save them, then why not?"
"Okay…you have to endure it," she said as she pressed his back.
Mael started feeling the excruciating pain from the quick suck for his mana. He wanted to scream due to the pain, but he held back and groaned instead. Erza held his arms to guide him. "The world is spinning…" he said, maintaining his balance. He collapsed the moment the extraction was completed. Erza managed to catch him and ordered a guard to help place him in a bed.
Alibaba thanked his mother and resumed healing. "Whoa… His mana is enormously huge- how did he get this mana capacity?" she tilted her head, wondering. At the moment, Erza went outside to manage the troops that distributed food supplies to the resting survivors. She went back to where his son slept and watched over him when a scout suddenly appeared.
The scout knelt and bowed his head. "Lady Erza, I have brought you bad news, monsters are coming from the west, and they will arrive here soon; we suspect that they came from the Golden Mountains. a scout also reported that he saw them come out of the dungeon gate. I suggest that you rally the troops."
"Oh my, thank you for your service. You may go back to your post." Worried, Erza called Maledic as soon as the scout left the tent. "Assemble the troops. We've got company."
"Yes, Lady Erza, as you command," he bowed down and left. She sat on Mael's bed and stayed silent for a moment. "If Melvin is here, this wouldn't be burdensome," she sighed and kissed Mael on the forehead. "Rest well, my son. We will come back safe."
Erza, who equipped her gold-plated armor, left a third of the troops to guard the town and prepared the rest on the west side. The wail of monsters became audible as they approached nearer and nearer. Maledic, who wore a full plated armor, assembled them in the west part of the village and was now waiting for orders.
The moon shone brightly, providing light for the upcoming battle, and the wind blew cold enough to make anyone shiver. "Men! Attention!" Maledic yelled like a battlefield commander. He then went to Erza, who was in her war mount, and said, "As you've commanded, they are ready to attack anytime."
"Good! Let's march towards the plains to engage in combat, then hold the line. Initiate a phalanx formation in the front, and position the archers behind as we march forward," she equipped her war helmet.
"Remember! If you fought courageously and perished, we who were alive will forever sing of your heroism until the last days of our lives! We fight to protect the weak, and the weak pray for our victory!" she said and drew her sword.
"Everyone, march!" she yelled and whipped her horse.
They marched with excellent morale and high spirits, willing to fight for their land and die for it. Their synchronized movement made the ground rumble a little as they moved forward.
"Archers! Ignite your arrows!" yelled Erza. The archers then poured oils in their arrows and waited for the Lady's signal.
"Fire!" They released the arrows, and it lit up the skies like hundreds of shooting stars, diving down and piercing the ghouls' bodies as they charge to attack. The monsters wailed as they burn on their sight. The troops were glad it was effective.
"Reload… Fire!"
"Their numbers are increasing! They are pouring out of the dungeon gate!" yelled one of her men.
"They are coming out non-stop!" added one of the archers.
"Hold your ground!" yelled Erza. The archers whittled down the monsters, but some survived the burning arrows and headed towards them.
"Spearmen! Defend the front and lift your shields when they attack! Pierce them! Bash them! then thrust!"
"Archers! Don't stop firing! Footmen! Cover the sides! Cavalry! Form wedge! Protect the archers!" yelled Erza while changing formations. Monsters leaped at the spearmen and were skewered by the spears, but those that survived charged at the shields.
"Bash them!" They followed her orders. The cavalry confronted the ones that passed through the spear men's defenses. They repeated their routine for fifteen minutes- their strategy seemed to work out and kept firing at the enemies.
"We have run out of arrows!" yelled Maledic.
"They won't stop coming! We are surrounded!" said someone in their ranks.
"The soldiers depleted their stamina and are cornered at the center of the swarming monsters," Maledic told Erza.
"Don't lose hope! As long as we maintain our formation, we will survive!" she responded.
"The tenacity of the enemies are overwhelming, and they are regenerating their wounds- no wonder why they kept coming!" said Maledic.
"AAARGH!" cried the spearman, who was getting pulled from his defense position into the swarming ghouls.
"Don't let them pull you! Don't let them pass! Hold your position!" Erza commanded tirelessly. The troops were holding their positions when the ghouls at the front breached the formation of the spearmen.
The ghouls violated Erza's army's sturdy wall, and they came rushing through like a flood. The troops were in disarray, and they immediately murdered many of them.
"Regroup!" she yelled, but the rushing flood of monsters passed through the cavalry and attacked the leader of the army. A ghoul charged at Erza, and so Maledic immediately moved to guard her.
A loud bang caught everyone's attention, and brains splattered all over the perimeter. Everything fell silent. It was punched by a guy with clanking chains wrapped in both of his hands, and when he turned around and smile, he said, "You promised to come back, but you're late, so I checked you out!" and the rest of the ghouls continued tp attack.
"Son! Watch out!"
Shiek! The head of the ghoul that leaped behind Mael rolled over.
"You're not careful, my Lord; you might lose one kilogram of meat if you're bitten!" Maledic flicked his sword to remove its blood.
"Thanks! I plan to punch it, but I can't let it interrupt my speech." Mael stretched his shoulders. "See you later! I've got a job to do!" he added, jumped to the air, and picked a monster attractant from his potion belt before pouring it into his robes.
"Hey, I'm here, bastards!" he took their attention.
They all looked in his direction and went after him. Mael leaped unchained his chains.
"Whip mode on!" he said, gamer-like, and slammed it to the ghouls before whipping it left and right mid-air. The ghouls shrieked in pain.
'They won't die and will only regenerate, but they will still feel the pain,' Mael thought. 'They were getting nearer and nearer- my chains are at a disadvantage if used in close combat.' he added.
Some have passed through his chains, so Mael was forced to evade and kick them. He retracted the chains in his hands and whirled them in his arms, wrapping them up.
"Punching mode on!" he did another gamer shout.
'By combining the unarmed technique and the chain technique of my father, I will launch to my enemies.' Mael thought.
Bang!
Mael was busy fending off enemies, and his mother was astonished by the sight of him fighting. His soldier's broken morale was invigorated because of his presence.
Mael shot his chains and slashed his enemies before retracting them and punching them with his fist. He then backflipped away from the enemies, and he slammed his chains again. Erza saw that Mael wore another set of leather armor. "This kid was prioritizing speed than protection, huh! Well, he knows his style. He was pretty agile despite his age, and I think he can be a Grandmaster Technique user in no time. Kids grow fast these days. I better assist him." Erza told Maledic.
"Um- Lady Erza, if it is not rude to ask... Did Melvin raise him like that?" asked Maledic.
.
"Well, who knows?" she laughed.
Erza was about to command her troops to assist him, but Mael went through the enemy lines and head to the portal. "Wait! Is he planning to lure them back to the portal?" asked Erza.
"It seems like it, Lady Erza," said Maledic.
"Bastard! He's just like his father!" she cursed.
"Let's follow him to the portal! Charge!"
Mael was nearing the entrance when he noticed that the ghouls and the army were following him."Good! Now you hold them back for me!" he said as he leaped to the portal of the dungeon gate. The ghouls followed him inside, and the army arrived at the entrance.
"Surround the entrance! Don't let anything escape!" yelled Erza.
"Hmm, Is this a part of his plan?" Maledic asked, surprised.
"I guess so. Well, who knows?"