Chapter 88. The Nightmare of the Battlefield (1)
Dong Bong-su cut down the archer unit and the crossbowmen and leapt across the wall into Guisui Fortress.
After that, he moved here and there, scattering corpses all over the inside of Guisui Fortress.
Under Timur Khan, there were many outstanding generals besides Mamorota. They blocked Dong Bong-su's path, but he did not bother to deal with them directly. If he foolishly tangled with them and ended up being surrounded inside Guisui Fortress, there would be no answer.
He rode Kaiji and moved like the wind, looking for empty gaps to move through. It wasn't like Dong Bong-su, but at the same time, it was very much like Dong Bong-su. For the sake of later, he did not kill anyone.
"Corpses! Clear away the corpses!"
Timur Khan followed behind Dong Bong-su, shouting like a madman.
Dong Bong-su especially avoided Timur Khan even more. The reason was simple. From the moment he approached the wall at the very beginning, his spiritual vision had been warning him to avoid that man at all costs.
[The activation conditions for spiritual vision have been met, spiritual vision is automatically cast.]
[An enemy whose level is at least 10 levels higher than yours has approached within 20 meters. 19, 18, 17 ... ]
Tiring, tiring, tiring, tiriririring ...
Even so, Dong Bong-su ran here and there in order to throw all the corpses into Guisui Fortress. But no one except Timur Khan could easily stop him. Moreover, the movement technique that activated once every five minutes made it even harder to catch him.
Also, when Timur Khan disappeared from the top of the wall, Lee Ja-song's main force narrowed the encirclement and struck Guisui Fortress directly. Even though they did not have a war giant, the fact that the gate was being attacked was never a good thing.
On top of that, several ladders had already been placed against the walls of Guisui Fortress. If they were left alone without being pushed over, a single mistake could allow the enemies to infiltrate into the fortress.
'This isn't just one loach muddying the whole water, the entire rice field might end up completely ruined.'
In the end, Timur Khan stopped chasing Dong Bong-su and returned to the top of the wall.
After that, Dong Bong-su much more easily threw corpses all over the east, west, south, and north, and then leisurely left Guisui Fortress. It was difficult to come in, but leaving was far easier than that. All Dong Bong-su did to escape was climb up a slightly less guarded wall and jump out of Guisui Fortress.
Thus, Dong Bong-su's busy day passed, and Timur Khan's nightmare-like day also passed.
***
As Dong Bong-su stuffed the 'corpse biochemical bombs' into Guisui Fortress, the situation reversed sharply.
While the spread of the plague slowed drastically in Lee Ja-song's camp after moving their position to the banks of the Yellow River, in Guisui Fortress, where the only way to obtain water was from the wells inside the fortress, the plague began to rage rapidly.
Especially because Dong Bong-su threw corpses into the wells inside the fortress, the speed of infection became much faster. There is no human who can live without drinking water. Even though all the wells were contaminated, they had no choice but to drink the water.
Moreover, even after that day, Dong Bong-su would frequently fly into Guisui Fortress and throw in the 'additionally produced' biochemical weapons, then disappear. On top of that, killing dozens of nomad soldiers each time as a bonus.
Time gradually passed, and even Timur Khan could no longer endure it. At last, the finale of the war was approaching.
***
Huff, huff.
Dong Bong-su was sitting together with Kaiji on the grass, far away from the camp.
He was still wearing his tattered clothes, and had the wanderer's sword that had now become his symbol slung across his shoulder.
His indifferent eyes were no different from before, but somewhere in his appearance, exhaustion could be felt.
"It's really hard to hold on any longer now ..."
Dong Bong-su muttered in a low voice. As heavy as that sinking voice was, his body and mind were exhausted.
It was because [Status Ailment: Plague] had broken out.
In fact, the plague had been gnawing at his body for quite a long time. The reason he had been changing infiltration points and going in and out of Guisui Fortress every night was actually to use [Bloodsucking]. If he didn't replenish his dropping stamina like that, he felt like he would die soon.
Even so, it seemed he could no longer hold on. Now, the stamina he gained by killing enemies was less than the stamina he lost due to the outbreak of the plague.
The enemy was tired, Lee Ja-song's main force was tired, and Dong Bong-su was also tired.
Even so, Dong Bong-su was still preparing for what came next.
Timur Khan would likewise be preparing for the end. Dong Bong-su knew very well what Timur Khan was waiting for, even after being pushed into a situation where he could not even drink water.
They should be coming soon now. When they came, Timur Khan would open the gate in order to fight a decisive battle.
How much more time passed?
Tututututu -.
"They've finally come."
Far in the southeast, together with clouds of dust, an uncountable number of cavalry appeared. It was the twenty thousand nomad cavalry of Salakat who had captured Datong.
Timur Khan had been waiting for them.
If he stayed isolated inside the fortress, he would be finished. But if he simply opened the gate and fought, he would be finished all the same.
So he waited. To at least somewhat match the numbers. He must have known well that once Salakat learned of Guisui Fortress's situation, he would eventually bring his troops here.
Kugugugugung -.
Right on cue, the thick iron gate of Guisui Fortress opened, revealing its hidden interior.
The nomad soldiers who had already finished preparing to march were standing in dense ranks. Once they poured out, the decisive battle would begin.
Dong Bong-su painfully lifted the sword slung over his shoulder and held it to the side. With that, his preparation for battle was finished.
Dak, dak.
Someone approached from behind on horseback. Dong Bong-su did not bother to look back.
"What will you do?"
As expected, it was Adjutant Dang. He must have been sent by Lee Ja-song.
"Well. I'm weighing which side is easier and has more."
Adjutant Dang took that to mean that Dong Bong-su was looking for the side with more weaker enemies. Even in his eyes, Dong Bong-su looked utterly exhausted from the many battles so far. Honestly speaking, to the point that he shouldn't be fighting.
"Do as you see fit. If we win this war, all the merit will be yours."
Snort.
Dong Bong-su laughed when he heard that.
Merit? What even is that?
To Dong Bong-su, the very fact that he was fighting this battle itself was merit. Adjutant Dang or Lee Ja-song would not be able to understand that.
Dong Bong-su patted Kaiji's head. There was no reaction. Because of that, Dong Bong-su felt even better.
"When the battle is over, I should see if I can change the name that says spiritual beast 1. You'd like that too, right? Even if no one recognizes you, you should at least have a name."
Dong Bong-su roughly ruffled Kaiji's soft silver fur and said something Adjutant Dang could not understand. Adjutant Dang did not try to understand either. To him already, Dong Bong-su was an incomprehensible person.
Adjutant Dang, having said everything he needed to say, turned his horse's head.
At that moment, Dong Bong-su's low voice stopped his steps.
"Before you go, cut this rope for me."
Adjutant Dang pulled the reins and stopped his horse.
Then he got off the horse and approached the trebuchet. He already knew from experience that the horse would absolutely not come this way because of Kaiji.
"Seeing that you're going to fight to the end, you're quite something too. If it's too hard, there's no need to force yourself to keep fighting."
"You're talking too much."
"...…Alright then. I wish you good fortune in battle."
Good fortune? Do you even need that kind of thing? A fight is not won by luck. It's won by brains and skill, and if that doesn't work, by waiting for the right time.
And that time had come. If he didn't fight now, he would die.
"Cut it. There's no time."
Adjutant Dang shook his head slightly, then swung his sword down at the taut rope.
Thud, slash!
The sharp sound of the rope being cut.
Now.
Ssshaaaaaak!
It was time for Dong Bong-su's final hunt to decorate the finale.
***
"Warriors of the great steppe! Let's wipe them all out!"
It was Salakat's battle cry. Just like his respect for Timur Khan, it was short and powerful.
"Waaah!"
Encouraged by that, the roar of the twenty thousand nomad cavalry echoed far into the distance. Hearing that, tension spread throughout Lee Ja-song's entire expeditionary force deployed in front of Guisui Fortress.
Dudududu.
Salakat stood at the very front and began his charge toward the rear of the Northern Expeditionary Army.
The sand dust raised by the massive force of twenty thousand covered the area thickly, and at the same time, the nomad soldiers inside Guisui Fortress also poured out of the fortress. The scene looked like rivers branching out and joining the sea.
The cavalry of the Northern Expeditionary Army also charged toward Salakat's ten-thousand-strong unit as if they had been prepared for this. Although Salakat's army had the advantage in pure cavalry numbers, the enemy had archers and shield troops mixed in, so in terms of composition, they were far superior to Salakat's army.
"Let's show those worthless Central Plains trash what a blade in the gut feels li—!"
Salakat opened his mouth again to steady any soldiers who might waver, but he could not finish his words.
Whoosh, whoosh.
Because something 'strange' flew in from the front and disappeared into the rear of his ten-thousand-strong unit.
It was clearly not a bird. But it was definitely flying.
"That is ...!"
At a glance, it looked like a dog. But it was ridiculously big to be a dog. As far as Salakat knew, there was no dog that big in the world. No, there was one, but that was not even a dog, and it couldn't fly.
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