The soldiers didn't hold back, giving their best. Their mana was limited and the mercenaries were not weak, and they couldn't afford to hold back as they had been doing.
More importantly, although it would be risky to have less mana in case more enemies arrived, they couldn't risk the women! These people had to be taken care of immediately!
At this time, the mercenaries had every equipment they had out to defend themselves. They were gritting their teeth in anger, glaring at them, but at this time they couldn't do anything else but to shield themselves.
Of course, even if they were in pain and bloodied, the mercenaries were definitely not easy to take down even just by virtue of their levels and the decent equipment that they had.
They even managed to shakily stand up even when their ankles had been stabbed, showing that higher-level individuals really had different bodies from the rest of them.
Spears and swords sent slash after slash, but they were mostly blocked by the enemies' weapons and shields. Those with elements immediately sent a barrage of attacks, while the fire users focused on the aborigines' heads—which did not have any helmet of sorts at all—attacking at hard-to-defend angles.
The men struggled desperately while they were being roasted, even managing to nick a few soldiers with their swords and spears. However, the soldiers were relentless as if they didn't feel any pain, leaving the mercenaries with no choice but to focus on guarding themselves—inevitably receiving a lot of damage head-on regardless of level or equipment.
Clank!
Bang!
"AH!"
"ORCSHIITTT!"
CRACK!
Soon, their defense equipment broke and they screamed in anger as more and more of the attacks began to damage them directly.
It was all good until this point, but how long could elementalists who had just upgraded keep up with this pace?
When Ken's mana started to falter, one of the level 15 mercenaries—now with 2nd degree burns—immediately took the chance and lunged at him. Even when the man was limping, burned, and bloodied, he was strong and fast enough to catch them off guard.
Ken gasped as a quick fist met his face and Benny beside him caught his arm, jumping to kick the mercenary away while keeping his teammate from being thrown out.
It had only managed to kick the mercenary by a meter or so, however. The aborigine recovered quickly and—yelling at the top of his lungs—went berserk on them.
The opening allowed another to escape the barrage and attack the nearby enemies, breaking their formation.
Ken and the others immediately took them on, starting a rather intense brawl that would cause people to get thrown right at the walls.
Bang! Bang!
However, the soldiers were also given defense equipment, and they stood up even after they were stepped on and thrown to the walls by the strong aborigine.
This made the mercenary, who was incredibly annoyed in pain, even more annoyed!
On the other side, Victor ate his remaining Alteran Mana cookie to keep firing at the remaining mercenary while two others were keeping him at bay with cold weapon attacks.
Kok had been defending himself with his weapon from all three attackers. Now that his armor had broken, he only had his sword to capture the damage.
He gritted his teeth as intense pain spread over his body. He was already using much of his strength to even keep his stances. His eyes turned red at the fact that he was suffering so much by people with much lower levels than him!
The man moved side by side while screaming at the top of his lungs due to anger and pain. Victor sadly didn't have enough control to follow his movements, and the man quickly broke free, revealing a very angry man with no hair and third degree burns.
The man looked like a character from a horror movie at this time, with his burnt flesh, and partially exposed eyes and teeth.
The man's aura changed as he obviously used a skill—probably a berserker skill—and his attacks became so fast that the three soldiers surrounding him were taken off-guard.
He raised his big sword and slashed at a soldier who immediately fell down after a short barrage, life and death unknown. The second one managed to defend himself for about a few seconds, and he was saved from death when Victor appeared in front of him, directly taking on the enemy's sword with his own.
Victor had let his last bit of spark enflame it, maximizing the remaining mana he had. It was also how he could handle the berserk attacks of a man five levels higher than he was.
Clash!
Victor was shaking and pale, but fortunately the man's skill had already expired, leaving a further-weakened level 15 mercenary.
Their swords met with sparks, and the man's weakness leveled their differences, allowing Victor to stand his ground in a direct fight against a man a few levels stronger.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
Although he was a few levels higher, Victor had been technically trained since he was a boy, and his techniques were something the aborigine had never seen.
Bit by bit, Kok's body filled with more wounds, making his already burnt skin even more painful.
"Argh!!"
He went berserk—though this time without the Skill—waving his word around with less and less expertise, focusing on anger and brute strength.
On the contrary, Victor—who was also filled with wounds, drenched in sweat, and risked losing his arm many times—kept his cool.
Although his health and spirit was draining, Victor didn't show it on his face at all, making the man send barrage after barrage of uncontrolled attacks whose forces Victor could redirect with exquisite sword techniques.
By this time, announcement after announcement of their companions' deaths had resounded inside their minds, making them lose even more of their cool.
But it was one announcement that made the level 15 aborigine flinch and freeze.
[A Mercenary Team member, Belize, has died. Location: 0.15 miles Southwest.]
"What—"
Victor saw this distraction and immediately took advantage, finding a slight opening in his defense—right at his stomach—and—slash!—stabbed him straight through it.