Chapter 65: Balls of Steel.

The day that the mysterious fog appeared and surround the city is the day that changes everything.

- Written by Lucas after a month of being trapped inside the Florentine city.

--------+++++------++++++--------

"Young Master you heard what he said, we need to regroup with the others, sir Hugo can already stop them from here. We will only be a hindrance if we stayed here with him." Michael says as he pulls Lucas towards the retreating army of soldiers.

Some of the soldiers already have large wounds covered in dark patches and even some are already being carried over by their comrades since they are already unconscious due to the combination of fatigued and severe injury.

"Aaackk, Son of a b****! D-Don't, Don't! stop it, stop it, Stop biting my balls ahhhhhh, Help! Help your gonna tear it off." A terrified voice said with utmost urgency.

"It's the Captain's voice." said by a soldier clad in broken armor.

"It's coming from that place." Michael said as he listen carefully.

With the ongoing skirmishes around them, it would be hard for anyone to discern in which direction is that voice coming from, thanks to all the noises cause by the ongoing siege. Thankfully, all transcendent humans have an amazing sense of hearing that helps them discern in which direction to go.

"Let's go!" Michael says urgently as he stands guard beside Lucas carefully guarding him against any danger.

As their group moves among the dead piles of mutated creatures they started to see the damage it did to the city wall, as huge chunks of fallen stone and long cracks can be seen along the entire vicinity.

"Something isn't right here." worriedly said by Lucas while looking at their surroundings.

"What is it young master?" asked by a young rookie while carefully observing everything around him.

"Doesn't anyone of you notice-" Lucas added before he was cut off by a loud shriek followed by a huge fluctuation of aura.

"It's in the same direction where Captain's voice is coming from." Revealed by the soldiers as they run towards it while killing the mutated creatures that are on their way.

"Notice what? young master just say it right here." Michael said irritated with how Lucas doesn't just say what's on his mind.

"It's these creatures, they're all here." Lucas said as they were running towards the direction where the loud shriek is coming from.

"Of course they here, most of our soldiers are stopping them from going inside the city and most of these mutated creatures don't really have a brain to think but only have a pure desire to destroy anything within their sight." Michael said while running.

"No, No, No that's not what I meant. I mean look around us. What did those monsters do after climbing the wall? most of them didn't even go to the city center, they're all staying here with us, despite the fact that we are terribly outnumbered." Explained by Lucas as they reach the place where they found a soldier trapped in a huge bolder while persistently defending himself from the onslaught of the mutated creatures.

"or maybe there's something to us that attracts them." Michael said as if he realizes something before he was interrupted by another soldier.

"It's Captain Jack." Suddenly exclaimed by one of the soldiers in the back before both Lucas and Michael move into action to clear the area freeing the trapped man in the boulder.

"Here, your alright now we have already cleaned up all the monsters around." Michael said to captain jack as he removed the bolder and pulls his hands to help him stand up.

"Ehmmm.... Forgive me young master and sir Michael I let you see such an embarrassing sight of me, but thank you for saving m-my b-balls if ever you come a bit late I don't even know how would I explain this to my future wife." Captain jack said in embarrassment while trying to cover the blood leaking from his crotch with his own hands.

"You almost got yourself castrated captain jack but how did your balls survive from that tenacious bite." Lucas stated in horror while trying to erase that horrific scene he just saw, from his memory.

Due to the design of the metal armor that their soldiers are using it has a small flaw and that is the animal leather used to cover the crotch area since it was made on purpose so that soldiers that are wearing this armor could remove that leather if they need to use a toilet.

"The leather didn't survive the attack but your balls did,  An incredible feat Captain Jack you must have some balls of steel." Michael jokes in pain while trying to lighten up the mood of everyone.

"I-It's not like that at all! I-I guess I was just lucky it didn't manage to completely tear it since you came on time to help me avoid that situation." Captain Jack with a red face due to shame.

"I guess you're indeed lucky ha, I can already see that you're starting to manifest some bronze aura on your body congratulations captain Jack you're about to break through to junior knighthood." Lucas said in glee as there would be another knight in the territory that could greatly help them tread this fate.

"I guess it was this meager aura that helps you protect your balls from being destroyed. You must have unconsciously covered that part of your body with a thin veil of aura due to extreme desire for protection." Michael added before he consume another bottle of pink potion that can help him suppress the pain.

"Yeah, yeah, that must be it." Eagerly said by Captain Jack before Lucas heard him mutter another sentence.

"In the first place, it wasn't my balls that was bitten by it." Captain Jack whispered in a sad tone.

Which Lucas and Michael heard clearly causing them to look at him in astonishment.

"Wait, you mean?" Lucas said in shock while giving him some strange look.

"So it was your Di-" Michael was about to say that word but he was immediately cut off by Captain Jack's loud voice.

" That's it!" Exclaimed by Captain Jack before going back to normal tone. "I'm still bleeding from there so could we just forget this." Captain Jack said in shame while looking down at the ground.

"Cough" "Cough" As Lucas tried to act normal.

"Yes, absolutely. Ah, you should probably take better care of it first." said by Michael in astonishment.

"So, Captain Jack doesn't have a ball of steel but a steel rod instead." Michael teased in a low voice just enough for Lucas to hear everything.

"Honestly that's an interesting ability to have." Lucas said in envy before he glared at Michael in horror.

"You didn't hear anything, Alright." Lucas said in a mighty manner trying to intimidate him but Michael only ignores his warning.

"You should drink this potion first, if you won't t cure it in time, you might really lose all the function down there." Michael suddenly warn as he handed him a small bottle containing a reddish liquid.

Although Captain Jack managed to protect that precious part of his body it still sustains some injuries as he wasn't that proficient yet in controlling his aura since he still hasn't broken through the official ranks of knighthood.

"Thank you, sir Michael." Captain jack said in a hurry as he quickly gulp down the healing potion.

Thanks to this incident the armor design for the future army of Beaufort territory would focus more on the defense of key and crucial parts of the human body to avoid this kind of accident from happening again, a decision that would greatly benefit them in their future endeavor. This would also make a traumatic mark on Captain Jack's heart causing him to immediately marry a wife after this fight and would push her to have a dozen children in the future.

"Ah I feel so much better now, But we have a more important task to do, we need your help to assist sir Daniel, he-he was entangled with this special monster that doesn't die no matter what we do, unlike the others." Jack said hysterically before pausing for a moment and continuing his narration while still trembling from the psychological pain.

"He decided to lure it away from here and fight it on his own, but I know that he was already running out of mana. He uses too many large skills that consume too much aura just to kill that thing and yet, it didn't d." Jack said while walking and limping on his right leg as he leads their squad to Daniel.

"Sir Daniel needs help? it sounds impossible to me, he is only next to Hugo when it comes to strength. He should be able to handle that monster on its own." Lucas said unbelievably since he already has a notion of how strong Hugo and his father is, such he also assumes that Daniel the 3rd strongest knight in the Florentine city won't encounter any difficulty.

"That's also what I want to believe young master but the things that I have witnessed are far from it." Jack said in worry as they approach a place full of the dead carcass of mutated creatures.

"Wait, I'm hearing something." Michael uttered as he stopped for a moment before taking the lead.

"It's right here.... There he is, it's sir.... D-D-DANIEL." Michael shouted the last words, disturbed by the sights that welcome their group.

"This is Impossible." Jack muttered in distress.

"How could it be?" A soldier questioned himself in shock by what he saw.

"Ho-How did this happen?" uttered by Lucas as they all run towards him.

"W-What happen here?" Michael says as he carefully observes their surroundings wary of a possible enemy.

"Sir Daniel." The group of soldiers called, worried about his dire situation.

What their group found is not what they wanted to see at all.

It was a weak and gravely wounded Daniel, desperately holding his huge silvery sword while kneeling on the blackened soil bathing in his own blood, and beside him is the dilapidated corpse of the 4 legged creatures that has 3 different heads, it's body is now covered in deep sword wounds, oozing with golden aura from the leftover attack that Daniel has inflicted to it. The surroundings are also a mess, as everything has been destroyed and even the soil has been dug up several meters deep.

But despite its grim situation, the mutated creature seems like it was still slowly recovering from its grave injury putting Daniel in a dangerous position.

"Don't come near!" Angrily warned by Daniel as he saw them approach him.

"B-But si-sir D-Daniel your injuries-" Captain Jack said in worry as they all stop approaching his place.

"It's not important for now, I can still handle myself, but this beast is far too dangerous to be approached by any one of you." Daniel replied to them as he attack it once again using his concentrated aura causing the monster to shriek in anger.

"What's going on sir Daniel how did you end up in that state?" Lucas asks in worry while still in shock.

"This isn't my fault this monster doesn't die no matter what I do." Daniel uttered weakly.

"Besides I didn't expect that it could hurt me to this extent. Its attack is so strong that it can even penetrate my defense." Daniel seriously said while staring at the deformed monster.

"Sir Daniel try the lightning element it should help you weaken that creature." Michael said as he take one step toward Daniel causing him to enter the creature's attack range.

"DON'T!" Strongly warned by Daniel as the 4 legged monster suddenly releases its long black tongue toward Michael's direction.

"What?" Uttered by Michael in shock as he quickly tries to deflect it with his sword covered in his coppery aura.

"Tang!"

A loud metal sound could be heard as the creature's tongue hits his sword causing him to fly dozens of meters due to the huge force behind its simple attack.

"Michael!" Lucas said in alarm as he immediately went in Michael's direction to help.

"Sir Michael!" The soldiers said in shock as they all saw him flying backward.

"Uck-" "Cough" "Cough" Michael said in pain as a mouthful of blood spurted out from his mouth.

His body is now embedded into a huge rock creating a huge crack in it. A strong proof that a simple poke from the creature's tongue contains a strong power beyond his own.

"Ahhh" Michael painfully moan as the coppery aura that covers his body flickered into oblivion.

"Michael are you ok?" Lucas ask in concern as he carefully pulled Michael out from the huge rock.

"I'm good, although I think I broke a few bones on my chest." Michael said as he drank a recovery potion that was given by Lucas. "Thank you, young master." Michael said before drinking the potion.

"Consider yourself lucky as you only suffered a few broken bones from that attack, even sir Daniel is having a hard time killing it. It's a good thing you managed to block its attack on time, if not, I don't know what would happen to you." Lucas said in worry as he help him to stand up and handed him his broken sword that is now half of its original length.

"It's no wonder why sir Daniel is in that state, that creature is far too strong a simple attack from it is already enough to almost in capitate you." Lucas added as they suddenly heard a loud shriek from the 3 headed creature followed by a huge boom.

Daniel has managed to cut its tongue with his silver sword covered in a golden aura that is now spitting sparks of lightning. A huge burnt mark can also be seen on the body of the creature as the black sludges that covers its body started to collapse.

The 4 legged creature with 3 different heads is now covered in blister and boil. As it suffers from the devastating damage of Daniel's attack that also inflicts lightning elements into its body and without the help of the black sludge to restore its body. The mutated creature is now in a dire situation but it doesn't mean that Daniel can defeat it easily as even he is already injured.

"Raaaaggggggghhhhhhhh" Roared by the mutated creatures as all of its 3 heads open their mouths before black particles of light start to gather on its opening forming a growing black sphere ball that radiates an intense amount of energy that can be seen by the naked eye.

"Not good everyone get out of here, you can't stop it." Daniel shouted in alarm as he warns them about the incoming danger.

"Young master let's go." Michael said with difficulty as he rushes them towards safety leaving Daniel behind to deal with the mutated creature.

With Michael's insistent they were able to leave the area on time before a loud explosion occurred, and the last thing they saw is the 3 beams of black light that hits Daniel's body before they were blinded by an intense flare of light.

"Sir Daniel!" uttered by the soldiers in dazed.

"Boooooooom."  A loud sound of explosion followed by a strong shockwave was felt throughout the land, which disoriented most of the soldiers in the area, and as the dust and smoke clears out they were able to finally see the result of the battle.

A fairly deep crater that is still smoking was created by the impact and in the center of it is Daniel standing with his tattered armor while holding a silver sword covered on his golden aura.

The ground under his feet is the only land left untouched by the explosion. While in front of him is a long deep gash that travels into the depths of the fog but the most important thing is that he managed to slash the mutated creature into two successfully killing it in the process, in exchange for using most of his powers.

"It's dead." whispered by the injured captain Jack.

"It's finally dead." Captain Jack cries in joy before running towards Daniel's position.

"Sir Daniel you did it, you finally kill that thing." Captain Jack said to Daniel upon supporting his weak body.

"Did I?" Daniel said weakly as he tries to open his eyes.

"Yes, yes you did it." Captain Jack said once again.

"That's Great." Daniel weakly uttered before losing consciousness.

"Sir Daniel!" Lucas and Michael said at the same time when they saw him lose consciousness.

"Oh no, his injuries are far too severe for a normal potion to cure him, we need to send him back immediately for a more serious treatment." Michael said upon seeing the situation of Daniel's body, which is now covered in bloody wounds.

"Then I will send him there." Captain Jack offers as he put Daniel's body into a makeshift stretcher.

"You are also injured captain jack you can't do it alone. You should take some soldiers with you to help you on your way and also to bring back those soldiers that have a severe injury." Lucas said as he delegates a small team of soldiers that would protect them on their way.

"But young lord we need more soldiers here on the front line to defend the wall, if you send such a huge number of soldiers with me, it would affect our defense line, besides there wasn't that much monster inside the city, I can still handle them by myself." Jack insists as he tries to decline Lucas offer as it means less manpower to deal with the mutated creatures.

"But your not alone captain jack your carrying an unconscious sir Daniel with you, it means that he doesn't have any way to defend himself in case of danger. Besides I would also like you guys to protect our hospital building as there are still some people there that haven't evacuated yet."  Lucas said to him before sending them away.

The hospital building that Lucas mentioned is actually the 2 stories private building that was reserved for Ethan's potion making, which he converted into a makeshift clinic reserved to treat people with an illness.

A potion master like Ethan can use his potion to heal anyone but it doesn't mean that everything can be cured by potion as there are still some people that needed some surgery that was performed by a veterinarian he found inside the city.

Since human Doctor is not popular in this era as the church of Agatha forbids them from performing any treatment on the human body. Since they call these people a devil that performs surgery to implant the seeds of the devil into a human body. Ironically they don't care about humans performing surgery on animals that's why veterinarians already exist in this era. I think they only made this up since they don't want to lose their number 1 business which involves healing treatment.

"Would he be okay?" Lucas asks Michael in worry as Daniel's situation doesn't look good.

"Cough! Cough! Don't worry master Lucas Ethan can definitely save him with his potion but for now, we need to focus more on defending the city from this creatures." Michael said weakly as he poke the dead body of the 4-legged beast with 3 different heads.

"You look like you're in a lot of pain and you're also sweating a lot, does the potion didn't work? Are you sure you can still fight?" Lucas asks while staring at the pale face of Michael.

"I'm good master Lucas, I already drunk my potions it's just that my chest still hurts a little causing some discomfort." Michael admits as he avoids Lucas gaze.

"Really?"

"Yes - Ahhhhhhhh!" Michael shouted in pain as Lucas weakly pat his back.

"That doesn't look like small discomfort to me, come on drink this first." Lucas said as he handed him a special bottle of potion containing a purple liquid that can only be used in an emergency.

It's a rare potion that Ethan has concocted out of luck and only a few dozen of this potion were produced. This potion can help in healing some serious injuries and even restore a small amount of vitality that is very important in a Knight's recovery.

Note: This potion is not enough to heal Daniel's wounds that's why Lucas didn't give him this as it would only be a waste of resources.

"Bu-But h-how about you?" Michael asks in concern.

"You have already given me your own potion before when I get injured in casting my skill, so I'm just returning the favor back to you." Lucas said as he stand up from his place before picking up something inside the chest of the mutated creature.

"Besides I'm not even injured right now you needed that potion the most, more than me." Lucas said while inspecting the gray marble he found inside the head of the mutated creature.

"But this is not an emergency I can still fight. You will need this the most if ever you get injured." Michael says as he tries to return the potion back to Lucas hand.

"No, but's Michael, if you decided to fight in that condition I'm sure that you will only harm yourself and me. If your body is not in the right condition how would you even protect me from harm, go and drink that first before I shoved it into your mouth." Lucas strictly said as his gaze suddenly deepened upon looking at the gray marble.