Chapter 553
Chapter 553
A spectacular scene unfolded once again. Two thousand men of the new army raised their top-grade executioner's blades in perfect unison, then brought them down together, cleaving through the enemy.
‘One strike, two pieces! One strike, two pieces!’
The stench of blood on the battlefield pierced the heavens, mingling with the miserable screams of warhorses and the thunderous beat of drums that seemed to shake the sky. Soon, the scene of slaughter continued. Although this battle was not a one-sided massacre, Shen Lang's invincible army demonstrated even greater combat prowess than the Tang dynasty's executioner blade units. This was only natural. The armor worn by Shen Lang's army was several times sturdier than that of the Tang units, their blades three to four times stronger, and their own strength several times greater. Their fearless, intense focus also far surpassed that of the Tang executioner blade units. Thus, even when facing heavy cavalry, they still crushed their enemies and maintained the upper hand.
***
Meanwhile, in another part of the field, three giants were locked in a chaotic brawl. Big Dummy was fighting two-on-one, against both Duo Da and Duo Er. To be honest, Big Dummy was at a slight disadvantage at the start. This was a contest of absolute strength against strength, with no room for tactics like blocking or dodging. Three warriors of immense power clashed head-on to see who was the strongest. Big Dummy had only been training in martial arts for about a year, while the other two had been at it for over a decade. In terms of pure strength alone, Duo Da and Duo Er were no weaker than Big Dummy.
The three of them fought with such tremendous force that it seemed to shake the very heavens and earth. Every time they clashed, the onlookers were left stunned and breathless. An ordinary person would have been turned to mincemeat by a single blow. But Big Dummy was clad in top-tier heavy armor, as were the Duo brothers. Sparks flew in all directions as the three fought.
Clang!
A spiked mace weighing three or four hundred catties slammed viciously into Big Dummy's back, creating a deafening crash. Sparks flew so brightly they were clearly visible even in broad daylight. Yet, Big Dummy didn't even stagger.
‘I’m fine!’
The armor he wore was incredibly thick, nearly half a finger's length.
He swung the large log in his hands and smashed it fiercely against Duo Er's waist, sending him flying. Duo Er rolled and scrambled back to his feet.
‘Hmph, I’m perfectly fine.’
Watching the three of them fight, everyone gritted their teeth in frustration. These men were not normal human beings. Their battle wasn't about who was stronger or faster, but who was tougher and whose equipment was better. In a short time, Big Dummy had taken over a hundred brutal hits from the spiked maces, and his top-grade steel armor plating—yes, plating, not just armor—was slightly deformed. In contrast, the Duo brothers had been knocked down dozens of times by Big Dummy's log, yet they would still get up, proclaiming, “I’m fine!” and continue to swing their maces.
Watching the battle between these three invincible warriors, the envoys felt an overwhelming sense of inferiority, wondering why their own countries lacked such champions. In truth, the State of Yue had another supreme warrior named Nan Po, who also favored the spiked mace.
***
Compared to the brawl between the three giants, the duel between Gou Duhuan and Hu Yanye elsewhere on the field was a dazzling spectacle that was both a feast for the eyes and a delight to the soul. Both were not only masters of peak martial arts but also formidable warriors on the battlefield. Every move they executed was as precise as a textbook example of martial arts, and they fought with exhilarating skill.
In fact, Gou Duhuan was at a significant disadvantage in this fight. For the past few years, he had dedicated himself to honing his personal martial arts to avenge the Zhuo clan, making it a great disadvantage to fight with a sword on horseback. The silver spear wielded by Hu Yanye was over two meters long. The saying that a longer weapon makes one stronger was no empty boast.
Of course, if Gou Duhuan had immediately cut down his opponent's warhorse and forced the fight to the ground, his sword would have given him the advantage. But how could a man as proud as Gou Duhuan resort to such a crude tactic? The more worthy the opponent, the more thrilling and enjoyable the fight. It had been far too long since he had met such a powerful adversary.
His opponent was also a man of honor; every move was direct, with no hint of cunning or deceit. As they fought, their mutual respect grew. They were torn between the desire to defeat each other immediately and the urge to grasp hands and become sworn brothers. It truly felt as if they had met a brother from another family. It seems the saying that a person's true character is revealed in a life-or-death battle was not wrong.
***
The envoys had already forgotten their mission for the day. The battle unfolding before them was too magnificent, almost too much to take in at once. A climactic showdown between the strongest armies, a peak confrontation between the most monstrous battlefield warriors, and a supreme duel of martial arts between the greatest generals. This was truly a fortunate day. A battle like this was a once-in-a-century spectacle.
And the first contest to be decided was the one involving Big Dummy. After fighting like madmen for a quarter of an hour and swinging their massive spiked maces a thousand times, Duo Da and Duo Er finally began to tire. In contrast, Big Dummy, a powerhouse of absolute stamina, maintained his strength from start to finish.
‘If my first strike has this much power, my thousandth strike will have the same.’
He had started at a disadvantage in the two-on-one fight, but the situation soon became evenly matched, and eventually, he gained the upper hand. The Duo Da and Duo Er brothers were hit more and more frequently, and were knocked to the ground.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
The two giants were sent flying and crashing down again and again as Big Dummy relentlessly crushed them, sending them flying with his log. Big Dummy began to send them flying farther and farther. Finally, without realizing it, he found a banner standing tall before him.
‘Is... is this the banner of Chu?’
If Big Dummy captured it, the State of Yue would win the battle. Big Dummy looked at it and reached out to grab it.
‘No good. It’s too thin. The log in my hands is still better.’
He then gave up the chance to seize the Chu banner and continued to swing his log, striking at the Duo brothers. Everyone who saw this was dumbfounded.
‘Damn it! You could have taken the banner, but you didn't? Are you... are you an idiot?’
Big Dummy was no idiot. He had simply entered a berserk battle state and couldn't stop. The two-li stretch of land where the three had fought was completely torn up, riddled with countless furrows as if a thousand oxen had plowed it. These three were undoubtedly violent beasts.
***
Of course, the core of the entire battlefield was still Shen Lang's two thousand new soldiers. They were the army that demonstrated the aesthetics of war to its fullest extent. Initially, the two thousand new soldiers were surrounded and charged by the Chu cavalry, pinned in place and unable to move freely. But they did nothing else, simply continuing to swing their top-grade executioner's blades, each weighing over a hundred catties, just as they had trained.
One strike, two pieces!
During training, they had swung practice blades weighing over two hundred catties tens of thousands of times a day. Now, swinging a real blade of just over one hundred catties a thousand times was a piece of cake. Soldiers who were struck by enemy blades or sent flying by collisions with warhorses would get back up and continue fighting if they weren't dead. If they were dead, there was nothing to be done. If they survived with broken bones, they lay on the ground, unmoving. Those who didn't die continued to strike, cleaving their enemies in two. They endlessly cut, cut, and cut down the enemy soldiers. Before long, the area around them began to clear. These invincible soldiers had killed all three thousand heavy cavalrymen, completely annihilating them.
Then, they regrouped, formed their ranks, and advanced relentlessly forward, forward. Looking around again, they saw the ground littered with the corpses of countless warhorses and cavalrymen. The few hundred surviving Chu heavy cavalrymen could no longer hold their ground and fled in all directions. Even if the cavalrymen hadn't wanted to flee, their warhorses bolted at the sight of the Yue soldiers.
Wang Da felt that two of his ribs were broken, but he paid it no mind. He sheathed his top-grade executioner's blade and continued to advance. The entire army maintained the same rhythm and speed as before the battle, still marching in perfect order. It was as if the battle had never happened. In truth, no one knew how many of them were coughing up blood or had broken ribs. But none of that mattered; they could not break formation or lose their pace. Walking onward and onward, Wang Da looked up and saw a banner blocking his path.
‘This must be the banner of Chu, right? If I take this, we win, right?’
Instead of pulling it out, Wang Da raised his top-grade executioner's blade and, perhaps using the second form, swung it at an angle. One strike, two pieces. The flagpole, as thick as a forearm, was severed. The banner of Chu fell to the ground, and the battle was over. The State of Yue had won a great victory.
***
Big Dummy's fight, however, was not yet over. But he was already overwhelming the Duo brothers, beating them down. The moment the two got up, they were immediately knocked down again by Big Dummy's blow.
Thump!
This time, they took a direct hit and were sent flying more than ten meters. Anyone who saw it would have surely covered their eyes. The scene was too violent and terrifying. The Duo brothers were wearing armor and carrying massive spiked maces weighing nearly a thousand catties each. To send them flying that far, just how much incredible force must have been behind that blow? The brothers fell and got back up repeatedly. Their helmets and armor were dented, but they didn't spit a single drop of blood, acting as if nothing was wrong.
Thump, thump, thump.
After being hit a dozen, then dozens, then a hundred times, the Duo brothers were finally struck by the log one last time, sent flying, and crashed hard to the ground, unable to get up again. The two lay on the ground and shouted at Big Dummy.
“Brother, just finish us off. I can't get up anymore.”
‘Damn it. Even if I get up, your log will just knock me down again. What's the point of getting up just to fall?’
Then, the brothers spread their limbs wide, lying flat on the ground in the shape of the character 大, and stopped moving.
‘I’m not moving. You can come and kill me.’
Having lost his opponents, Big Dummy quickly snapped out of his berserk state.
“Why are you two lying down?”
Big Dummy asked. Duo Da replied,
“The ground is comfortable.”
Duo Er also said,
“Either come and kill us, or we'll get up. But if we do, you can't hit us again.”
These two were quite the sly ones.
‘If you’re going to kill us, do it quickly. Otherwise, we’re leaving.’
“Alright then. You can go. I won't hit you.”
At Big Dummy's words, the Duo Da and Duo Er brothers sprang to their feet with a bounce, looking as if nothing had happened.
“Brother, I need to pee!”
Hearing Duo Er, Duo Da said,
“Now that you mention it, I need to take a dump. That tall idiot is really something else. He beat us so hard he nearly made us piss ourselves.”
The two brothers then looked around for some bushes. Then they turned back to look at Big Dummy and said,
“Tall idiot, we’re going to take a dump. Want to come with?”
Big Dummy shook his head.
“I’m not going.”
After speaking, Big Dummy turned around and was startled.
‘Huh? How far did I come? Why can't I see anyone?’