88
Chapter 88: Nightmare of the Battlefield (1)
Dong Bong-su killed the archers and crossbowmen as he crossed the walls and leaped into the fortress.
Then he moved here and there, pouring corpses all over various places inside Guisui.
Under Timur Khan's command, there were several excellent generals besides Mamorota. They blocked Dong Bong-su's path, but he didn't bother engaging them directly. If he got surrounded inside Guisui while dealing with them, there would be no answer.
Riding Kaiji, he moved like the wind, seeking empty spaces. It wasn't like Dong Bong-su, but it was also very much like Dong Bong-su. He killed no one for the sake of later.
"The corpses! Remove the corpses!"
Timur Khan shouted madly as he followed behind Dong Bong-su.
Dong Bong-su especially avoided Timur Khan more than others. The reason was simple. From the moment he first approached the walls, Spirit Eyes had been warning him to avoid that man above all others.
[The activation conditions for Spirit Eyes have been met, and Spirit Eyes will automatically activate.]
[An enemy with a level difference of 10 or more from you has approached within 20 meters. 19, 18, 17......]
Ding. Ding. Ding—ding-ding-ding......
Still, Dong Bong-su ran here and there to throw all the corpses into Guisui. However, no one except Timur Khan could easily stop him. Moreover, Footwork, which activated once every five minutes, made it even harder to catch him.
Also, once Timur Khan disappeared from the walls, Li Zi-song's main force tightened the encirclement and directly struck Guisui. Though there were no battering rams, the city gates being attacked was never a good thing.
Furthermore, several ladders had already been placed against Guisui's walls. If they weren't knocked down and left alone, they might accidentally allow enemy infiltration into the fortress.
'At this rate, it's not just one loach muddying the whole pond—the entire rice paddy might be completely ruined.'
Finally, Timur Khan stopped chasing Dong Bong-su and returned to the walls.
Afterward, Dong Bong-su threw corpses much more easily in all directions—north, south, east, and west—before leisurely leaving Guisui. Coming in had been difficult, but leaving was much easier. All Dong Bong-su did to escape was climb a somewhat quiet section of wall and jump outside Guisui.
Thus Dong Bong-su's busy day passed, and Timur Khan's nightmarish day also passed.
***
The situation reversed dramatically when Dong Bong-su pushed the 'corpse biochemical bombs' into Guisui.
In Li Zi-song's camp, which had moved its position to the banks of the Yellow River, the spread of the disease was extremely slowed, whereas in Guisui, where the only way to obtain water was from wells inside the fortress, the disease spread rapidly.
Especially since Dong Bong-su had thrown corpses into the wells inside the fortress, the infection rate of the disease accelerated much faster. No human could live without drinking water. Though all the wells were contaminated, they couldn't avoid drinking water.
Also, even after that day, Dong Bong-su frequently flew into Guisui, threw 'additionally produced' biochemical weapons inside, and disappeared. Additionally, killing dozens of nomadic soldiers came as a bonus.
Time gradually passed, and even Timur Khan could no longer endure. The grand finale of the war was approaching.
***
Huff… huff..
Dong Bong-su sat alone on a base far from the camp with Kaiji.
He still wore tattered clothes and had the Wanderer's Sword, which had become his symbol, slung diagonally across his shoulder.
His indifferent eyes were no different from before, yet somewhere in his appearance, one could feel struggle.
"It's really getting harder to endure now......"
Dong Bong-su spoke in a low voice. His mind and body were as exhausted as that sunken tone.
It was because [Status Abnormality: Disease] had developed.
In fact, the disease had been gnawing at his body for quite some time. The reason he changed infiltration positions and went in and out of Guisui every night was actually to use [Lifesteal]. If he didn't replenish his falling health that way, he felt like he would die soon.
Even that seemed difficult to endure any longer now. At this point, the health lost due to the disease outbreak exceeded the health he could gain from killing enemies.
The enemy was exhausted, Li Zi-song's main force was exhausted, and Dong Bong-su was exhausted.
Nevertheless, Dong Bong-su was still preparing for what came next.
Timur Khan must likewise be preparing for the end. Dong Bong-su knew well what Timur Khan was waiting for even in this situation where he couldn't even drink water.
They will come soon. When they came, Timur Khan would also open the city gates to engage in a decisive battle.
How much more time had passed?
Dududududu—
"They've finally come."
In the far southeast, along with dust clouds, cavalry too numerous to count appeared. They were Salacat's twenty thousand nomadic cavalry who had conquered Datong.
This was precisely what Timur Khan had been waiting for. Remaining isolated inside the fortress would lead to ruin anyway. But if he simply opened the city gates and fought, he would be equally ruined.
So he must have waited. To even out the numbers somewhat. He must have known well that once Salacat learned of Guisui's situation, he would eventually bring his forces to Guisui.
Grrrrruuung—!
Right on cue, Guisui's thick iron gates opened, revealing their inner depths.
Nomadic soldiers who had already finished preparations for deployment could be seen lined up densely. The decisive battle would begin when they burst out.
Dong Bong-su laboriously raised the sword slung on his shoulder and held it vertically to the side. That completed his battle preparations.
Clip-clop. Clip-clop.
Someone approached behind him on horseback. Dong Bong-su didn't bother turning around.
"What will you do?"
As expected, it was Adjutant Dang. He must have been sent by Li Zi-song.
"Who knows. I'm calculating which side is easier and has more."
Adjutant Dang took Dong Bong-su's words to mean he was looking for the side with more weak enemies. In his eyes too, Dong Bong-su looked tremendously exhausted from the many previous battles. To be honest, exhausted enough that he shouldn't be fighting.
"Do as you see fit. If we achieve victory in this war, the military achievement will entirely be yours."
Heh.
Dong Bong-su laughed at that.
Military achievement? What was that?
For Dong Bong-su, fighting this battle itself was the military achievement. Though Adjutant Dang or Li Zi-song wouldn't understand.
Dong Bong-su stroked Kaiji's head but there was no response. That made Dong Bong-su feel better.
"After the battle ends, I'll have to find out if I can change the name written as Spirit Creature 1. You'd prefer that too, wouldn't you? Even if no one acknowledges you, you should at least have a name."
As Dong Bong-su roughly tousled Kaiji's soft silver fur, he uttered words Adjutant Dang couldn't understand. Adjutant Dang didn't try to understand either. To him, Dong Bong-su was already an incomprehensible person.
Having said what he came to say, Adjutant Dang turned his horse around.
Then Dong Bong-su's low voice stopped him.
"Before you go, cut this rope for me."
Adjutant Dang pulled the reins and stopped his horse.
Then he dismounted and approached the Trebuchet. He already knew from experience that horses would never willingly come this way because of Kaiji.
"Seeing you determined to fight in the end, you're quite something. If it's difficult, you don't need to fight anymore."
"You've become talkative."
"......I understand. Then I wish you martial fortune."
Martial fortune? Was such a thing necessary? Battles weren't won by luck. They were won with brains and skill, and if that didn't work, you had to wait for the right time.
And that time had come, and if he didn't fight now, he would die.
"Cut it. There's no time."
Adjutant Dang shook his head briefly and then swung his sword down at the tautly pulled trailing rope.
Snap—whip!
The sharp sound of the rope snapping.
Now.
Shrrreeeeeeek—!
It was time for Dong Bong-su's final harvest to decorate the grand finale.
***
"Warriors of the great grasslands! Let's go and sweep them all!"
Salacat's war speech. Like his respect for Timur Khan, it was equally short and powerful.
"Wraaaah!"
The roar of twenty thousand nomadic cavalry, invigorated by it, echoed far into the distance. As if hearing that sound, tension filled the entire Northern Expeditionary Force positioned in front of Guisui.
Dudududu.
Salacat took the lead and initiated a charge toward the rear of the Northern Expeditionary Force.
Sand dust rose thickly from the large force of twenty thousand, and at the same time, the nomadic soldiers who had been inside Guisui also poured out of the fortress. The sight looked like streams of river water draining and merging toward seawater.
The cavalry of the Northern Expeditionary Force, as if prepared for such a situation, charged toward Salacat's ten-thousand-man force. Though Salacat's army was ahead in cavalry numbers, the opposition was mixed with archers and shield soldiers, making them far superior in terms of composition.
"Show those worthless trash from the Central Plains the taste of our blades......!"
Salacat opened his mouth once more to steady soldiers who might waver, but he couldn't finish those words.
Whoosh—whoosh.
Because 'something strange' flew from up ahead and disappeared behind his ten-thousand-man force. It definitely wasn't a bird. But it was definitely flying.
"That's......!"
At a glance, it looked like a dog. But to call it a dog, it was ridiculously huge. As far as Salacat knew, there was no dog that big in the world. No, there was one, but that wasn't even a dog and couldn't fly either.