Chapter 17

RUUUUUUUMBLE!

“General…!”

A deputy, riding his northern horse hard enough to make its tack scream, twisted around in the saddle and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“The enemy doesn’t seem to have any intention of moving…!”

At that report, Ulji Bator, the general commanding the right-wing cavalry legion, pressed down on his stirrups and rose to a half-stand. Narrowing his eyes, he personally surveyed the Grand Young Master’s encampment.

He didn’t need to employ any visual arts. Having lived his entire life on the boundless great plains, the general’s eyesight was more than sufficient to read the enemy’s formation from this distance without difficulty.

“Hmm…”

Moreover, the way he absorbed the jarring impact of his galloping horse with nothing but the flexibility of his waist, without drawing on a single shred of internal energy, proved that the title “Northern Equestrian Tribe” was no exaggeration.

“Do they intend to use the terrain and hold out in a siege…?”

The deputy urged his horse closer to catch the general’s words and bellowed with a grin that was already turning cruel.

“Just like the cowardly Central Plains bastards they are!”

A twisted smile curled his lips.

“Those bastards clearly don’t have the courage to test their strength against our magnificent cavalry legions on the open plains—!”

“Such shallow thinking!”

The general cut him off with a harsh reprimand.

“The group gathered there is an absolute elite force, even by the Central Plains’ standards!”

They themselves were warriors of the plains, armed with countless combat experiences and wartime techniques passed down through generations. However, those martial artists of the Luoyang Sword Clan were a fundamentally different breed.

They were a group created for one specific purpose: to systematically, professionally, thoroughly, and definitively murder their opponents.

“Have you learned nothing from the tales of our foolish ancestors, who were ruined because they underestimated their enemies?!”

Despite his age, the general’s voice boomed with such force that it drowned even the thunderous hoofbeats.

“I-I apologize, General…!”

After sharply warning his young deputy, General Ulji Bator turned his gaze back toward the Grand Young Master’s encampment.

“……”

The endless information and rumors about Grand Young Master Yeon So-hyeon, a man said to be as elusive as a ghost and as calculating as a god, were practically seared into his brain.

What are you aiming for…?

“General…!”

The deputy called again, catching the slight pause in the general’s posture.

“The cliff is getting closer…!”

Then he shouted the question that mattered.

“Should I order the charge as planned?!”

“Hmmm.”

When General Ulji Bator hesitated, the deputy rushed to fill the silence with his own certainty.

“No matter how elite the enemy is, if a cavalry charge of this magnitude strikes them in sequential waves, we can completely exhaust their stamina before the sun sets!”

From farther ahead, another deputy’s shout carried back to them, torn ragged by the wind.

“We will soon be within arrow range!”

“General…!”

It was time to decide. The hand gripping the reins tightened.

The enemy is being personally commanded by the Grand Young Master himself.

He couldn’t even begin to imagine how many traps and countermeasures had been laid near that cliff. There had also been reports about the enemy’s use of explosive weapons.

With our allied forces fully intact behind us, is there really a need for our cavalry to take the first risk?

The information surrounding the Grand Young Master’s prowess, and the reassuring presence of their still-intact main unit that had yet to suffer losses, gradually tilted his mind toward the safer option.

There’s no reason to. No need to shove our heads into the gaping maw of a tiger.

If they dragged this out, then ultimately the side with far more reinforcements arriving from the rear was Dread King Yelü Nuzhucha’s.

“I will issue the command!” General Ulji Bator shouted. “We will encircle the enemy and form a ring formation!”

Once the general made his decision, no further dissent was tolerated.

“Hyah!”

“Hyah!”

As one, the riders began to draw their bows.

The left-wing cavalry legion, riding slightly behind the right-wing.

“General…!”

Displaying the impressive skill of standing on his galloping horse’s saddle with both feet, a subordinate observing their allies shouted.

“The right-wing cavalry legion has begun circling around the enemy encampment!”

A general capable of commanding the left wing grasped the tactic from that report alone.

“A ring formation…!”

As if to prove the deduction, soon—

Swoosh-swoosh-swoosh-swoosh-swoosh!
Swooooosh!

Countless arrows launched from the circling right-wing cavalry legion soared toward the sky. Fired in a high arc, they climbed until they blackened the heavens, then began to fall, ready to rain down upon the Grand Young Master’s forces like a torrential downpour.

“…General Ulji Bator.”

Looking toward the right wing, the general commanding the left-wing cavalry legion bared his yellowed teeth in a savage smile.

“Taking the safe route, like the old man he is…”

“General…!” a subordinate asked. “Do we also begin circling with the right wing?!”

If they had arrows, there was no reason not to shoot them. Furthermore, their cavalry’s numbers were overwhelming. They could encircle that narrow terrain with an airtight blockade, pour down an endless barrage, and steadily grind away the enemy’s internal energy.

However—

“General, your decision—!”

“His Highness the Dread King!” the general bellowed like a thunderclap, cutting his subordinate off. “Ordered us to tear them all apart alive and return with their heads impaled on spears!”

“……!”

“……!”

The subordinates startled, then bared their teeth in cruel, eager smiles.

“His Highness the Dread King did not send us to stand at a distance like cowards and simply shoot arrows while encircling them!”

Although he invoked the Dread King’s name, his true intention was clear: to use the right wing’s barrage as covering fire, take the risk, and claim the glory of the first strike for himself.

Dragging things out might drain the enemy’s stamina and internal energy, but it also increased the chance that someone else would steal the honor.

“Draw your swords and raise them high! Warriors of the plains!”

Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!

Swords with long, gentle curves were drawn en masse like a surging wave, blindingly reflecting the sunlight.

“We will overwhelm the enemy with countless charges! Before the sun sets today, we will monopolize every single one of their heads!”

“Uwaaaaaaah!”

Breaking away from the circling right wing, the massive cavalry force of the left wing began a direct charge toward the Grand Young Master’s encampment.

***

Right-wing cavalry legion.

“General…!”

A deputy shouted to General Ulji Bator.

“The left wing ignored us and has begun a direct charge…!”

“Tch…!”

At that report, curses erupted from the commanders around them.

“Those damn bastards…!”

“Do they intend to use us as mere covering fire?!”

However, unlike them, General Ulji Bator—

Thwip!

Only after releasing his drawn bowstring did he speak, expression calm.

“We might not have enough numbers to form a complete encirclement on our own, so widen the gaps!”

“But, General…!”

This time, the younger commanders protested.

“Please reconsider!”

“Do you intend to just watch as the left wing steals all the glory?!”

General Ulji Bator answered while nocking another arrow.

“Let them be.”

He continued before they could argue again.

“If those who take on great risks and massive casualties end up claiming great glory, that is only fair.”

“But…”

“General…”

The young commanders’ expressions subtly contorted.

“Furthermore.”

General Ulji Bator smiled and pointed toward the Grand Young Master’s encampment.

“Look at the big picture. This battle is absolutely not the end of our war.”

“……!”

He lifted his hand higher, pointing beyond the encampment.

“This battle is merely the beginning. Our proud tribe will cross these Northern lands and establish countless achievements right in the heart of the Central Plains…”

General Ulji Bator, who had been speaking so grandly, suddenly trailed off.

“General…?”

Narrowing his eyes, he murmured.

“It’s coming.”

***

Left-wing cavalry legion.

“Uwaaaaaaaah!”

“Right now, those bastards are too busy blocking and dodging the arrows raining down from the right wing!”

Watching the vanguard cavalry slam forward over the terrain, the left-wing general roared.

“Charge, warriors! Run until your horses’ breath gives out!”

His horse reared and snorted wildly.

“When your horses’ breath gives out, the enemies’ windpipes will also be severed—!”

Thump!

What was this?

It felt as though the fine hairs across his skin were standing up, the exact sensation that came an instant before lightning struck.

And in that same moment, perfectly aligned with General Ulji Bator’s quiet warning—

“It’s coming.”

“Huuup!”

Trusting his instincts, the left-wing general poured all his strength into his sword and swung with everything he had.

KABOOOOOM!

For a heartbeat, it truly felt like lightning had struck. A blinding white flash filled his vision, and his ears rang as if he’d gone deaf. Disoriented, unable to tell up from down, he thought he had been thrown from his horse, but—

Neighhhhh!

Unable to withstand the shock, his horse let out a dying scream and collapsed.

“G-General…!”

“Are you alright?!”

Helped up by his subordinates, the general shoved them away, forcing his posture upright.

“I am fine…!”

In truth, whether they were broken or not, he couldn’t feel the arms that had swung the sword. Yet he frantically searched for the “lightning” that had struck him first.

“…Heh.”

When he finally confirmed what it was, he laughed.

A massive metal throwing spear, deflected, now embedded in the ground.

“As expected, it was the Thousand-Li Fog, the technique of the Sword Clan’s War Department Chief.”

At his words, the subordinates panicked and immediately formed a multilayered shield wall around him.

Those shields were massive, thick iron slabs, something almost unheard of among the horse-riding warriors of the North.

“It’s an enemy sniper!”

“Protect the General!”

Ignoring their fussing over a potential second strike, the general threw back his head and laughed louder.

“Muhahaha!”

Although the Northern tribes lacked delicate techniques, he had blocked Thousand-Li Fog using the innate massive physique and brutal strength characteristic of the North, which overwhelmingly surpassed that of the Central Plains.

“Grand Young Master…!”

He gathered his internal energy and shouted toward the encampment.

“It is no longer a secret that you steal and use all sorts of martial arts from the Central Plains!”

Because he, too, like General Ulji Bator, possessed a mountain of information about the Grand Young Master. He had prepared in his own way.

“Grand Young Master!”

He raised his voice even higher, mocking.

“Is this all you have for stolen techniques?!”

Mocking an enemy commander was a traditional, textbook method to rattle the mind and provoke a mistake.

“If this is all you have to show—!”

Riding high on adrenaline, the general—

“……?”

Stopped mid-sentence.

His body went utterly still.

“General…?”

Sensing something was wrong, the subordinates turned their heads one by one.

Squelch!

The general’s frozen body had been cleanly bisected, split from crown to groin.

And before the subordinates could even draw a breath to scream—

RUUUUUUUMBLE!

A split second later, accompanied by a deafening roar, the earth split open in a perfect straight line, as if a massive jaw had unhinged.

Swoosh-swoosh-swoosh!

There were no screams.

The general’s escort armor, the specially prepared steel shields, none of it mattered.

Everything caught within the narrow, razor-clean trajectory of that single sword strike, from the cavalry charging at the very front to the cavalry preparing to charge from the very rear, everything without exception, was vertically bisected and tumbled across the ground.

“W-What is this…?”

As everyone stood dumbfounded, someone pointed upward and screamed.

“T-The sky?!”

The faces of those who looked up contorted in absolute terror.

“……!”

“……!”

Even across the impossibly high heavens, the indelible mark of that single sword strike remained deeply engraved.

***

The Grand Young Master’s encampment.

So astonishing was the profound manifestation of that single strike that even the arrows being fired by the enemy’s right wing abruptly ceased.

“T-That is…?!”

“The Great Supreme Retired Patriarch’s Renowned Ultimate Technique, Life-Severing…!”

Clap, clap.

Lightly dusting off his hands, Grand Young Master Yeon So-hyeon offered a wide smirk.

“Even if you know about this one, you still can’t block it, can you?”