Chapter 81. Black Death (4)
What was he talking about? He put all the stones to be used as stone shot for firing into baskets? What on earth was he trying to shoot?
Dong Bong-su's words were not easy to understand.
However, some of them followed Dong Bong-su's line of sight and realized what he was trying to do.
It was a chilling thought, but...
This was a battlefield.
A place where anything was permitted in order to win.
And.
The fact that the commander was Dong Bong-su was nothing short of a disaster for the enemy.
"If they don't come out, we'll make them come out."
Dong Bong-su's low voice, mixed with the foul stench, drifted all the way to Guisui Fortress.
The real war began now. Because Dong Bong-su had arrived here.
***
Thud.
Timur Khan, who had been greedily tearing into a horse's hind leg, placed the meat down on the table with a sound.
Then he lifted his head. In front of him stood a giant who hardly looked human. The one who had come during Timur Khan's mealtime—which no one in the Northern Plains dared to disturb—was none other than Mamorota.
Timur Khan looked at him and said,
"What did you just say?"
"I said the Central Plains bastards who set up camp in front of the fortress are dismantling their cannons and making something strange."
He had not misheard.
The enemy really was dismantling the Whirlwind Cannons.
Timur Khan's heterochromatic eyes widened slightly, then closed again.
In that brief moment, one of his blue eyes shone with an intense light.
"Immediately use all catapults and crossbows installed on the walls and fire a full barrage at the enemy."
He did not know what they were trying to make, but the mere fact that the enemy was attempting something new displeased Timur Khan.
In truth, the reason he had left them alone while they fired the Whirlwind Cannons until now was because he knew very well that they posed no threat to Guisui Fortress.
The Whirlwind Cannon was something already known.
Something new was, quite literally, something new.
On a battlefield, when something new appears on the enemy's side rather than ours, it is always a bad omen.
Before it becomes a threat, it must be eliminated. That was common sense in the art of war.
But...…
"Hyung-nim. But the place where they're dismantling the cannons is a full hundred jang away from the fortress. Our catapults can't reach that far. The crossbows and arrows can reach, but they've got shield-bearers, so it wasn't very effective."
"...!"
At Mamorota's words, Timur Khan's face hardened in an instant.
A hundred jang?
They were dismantling them that far away and making something new?
He stopped speaking.
His instincts sensed danger.
Paat!
In the still air of the inner chamber, a sudden gale blew.
It was caused by Timur Khan using Lightness Skill at the highest level and leaving his office.
"...!"
Sensing something was wrong, Mamorota quickly followed after him.
***
"Trebuchet...!?"
Standing atop the fortress wall, Timur Khan saw the "new catapult" the Whirlwind Gunners were assembling.
He did not know it well, but he knew it to some extent.
A device that throws stones using the power of a falling counterweight.
Its range and power far surpassed the Whirlwind Cannons or Tiger Fang Cannons used in the Central Plains.
"If it's a trebuchet, isn't that something those long-nosed Western Region guys use? But even if they make that now, what good will it do? This Guisui Fortress wall is incredibly sturdy, and the gate is made of steel. I don't know what you're worried about, hyung-nim, but to me it doesn't seem like there's much to worry about."
But even at Mamorota's words, Timur Khan's expression did not relax.
His eyes were so narrow that it was hard to tell exactly where he was looking, but judging by the angle of his face, he was not looking at the catapult they were making, but much farther behind it.
When Mamorota frowned and enhanced his spiritual vision, he indeed saw something in the direction Timur Khan was watching.
A small hill formed by a large pile of something.
Mamorota had no trouble figuring out what it was.
"Hm!? Corpses? Why did those bastards pile those things up there?"
"Mamorota."
"Yes?"
"Take the Gora Huma immediately and go destroy all of that."
Even at the sudden order to sortie, Mamorota's expression did not change.
Rather, a strange smile spread across his entire face, making it clear that he was pleased.
"Can I take them all?"
Timur Khan nodded while still staring at the pile of corpses.
"Hahaha! I was already getting itchy being stuck in the fortress anyway, so this works out great! I'll smash all of that to pieces and come back..."
Mamorota's last words were barely audible.
He had already gone to fetch the Gora Huma, the "Gray Wolves."
At that moment, Timur Khan saw several of the Whirlwind Gunners approaching the pile of corpses.
"My brother. Didn't I tell you? Now there is nowhere on this steppe where you can avoid that monster, and they have no eyes. The moment you go out onto the steppe, you will never return. If you do return..."
I will have to close my eyes and swing my sword at you.
***
Kugugugung.
An earthquake?
Suddenly, white dust rose from the base directly beneath the walls of Guisui Fortress.
The dry ground split roughly apart, revealing the hidden flesh of the steppe.
From small, round grains of sand to large, angular pebbles, everything flew up into the air. The sight was both bizarre and magnificent.
It was not the rumbling of the earth caused by an earthquake.
It was a phenomenon caused by many straight legs falling from the wall and pressing down on the ground.
Ladders.
And not just any ladders, but iron ladders made of steel like the gates of Guisui Fortress.
Dozens of those heavy things fell at once onto the dried, twisted soil, so it was only natural that the ground split apart.
Normally, the attacking side sets ladders against the wall.
And just as naturally, the defending side tries to push those ladders over or remove them from inside the fortress, and must do so.
For the side defending the fortress to lower ladders down the wall?
That was something that could not normally happen.
But it did happen.
The Northern Expeditionary Army of Timur Khan, the defending side, set ladders on the walls of Guisui Fortress.
Why?
Grr! Grrr!
This was the answer.
The sound of dogs barking?
No.
It was similar, but there was a clear difference.
Wildness, their inescapable nature, and the clear killing intent boiling up from their depths.
All of that was laid bare in the sounds made by hundreds of canine beasts.
Awooooo—!
Then came a long, drawn-out howl.
That sealed the identity of the owners of those voices.
They were wolves.
One by one, they appeared atop the walls of Guisui Fortress.
They were much larger than ordinary wolves, easily twice the size, and their fur was a pure gray, as if they were covered in the ash of burnt wood.
On their backs rode iron-armored soldiers holding long weapons like spears and halberds.
The aura each of them gave off was anything but ordinary. They were clearly elite troops.
Especially the wolf standing at their very front was much larger than the others, its bulk looking twice as big as a tiger's, and the pressure it exuded easily overwhelmed that of all the other wolves combined.
On its left eye was a cross-shaped scar, making its impression even more frightening.
The man riding on top of it was also at least a head or two taller than the other iron-armored soldiers.
The War Giant Mamorota.
Under Timur Khan's orders, he had led the Gora Huma, that is, the Gray Wolf Squadron, into battle.
The nightmare of the steppe.
That was the nickname of the Gray Wolf Squadron.
On the steppe, they were beings no one ever wanted to meet, the worst of the worst.
They were the Gray Wolf Squadron.
"Let's go! Kaiji! Go and pour out your ferocity to your heart's content! Kkiryat!"
When Mamorota lightly patted the neck of the silver-gray wolf Kaiji, it shot down the ladder like an arrow.
Although it was now raised by Timur Khan and Mamorota and had become like their loyal hound, once, it had been the ruler of this great steppe.
As such, despite its massive size, it displayed unbelievably swift movements.
If Timur Khan was the supreme of the Northern Plains, then this beast was the king of the Northern Plains.
Clang, clang! Tatatatata.....
The iron ladder shook, and metallic sounds befitting Kaiji's weight spread out toward the steppe.
Hundreds of gray wolves followed behind it.
All of them were so agile that, even with a person riding on their backs, they descended the steep, tall ladders without the slightest hesitation.
Mamorota dismounted in front of the wall and waited for the other wolves to come down.
In the meantime, he turned his gaze toward the target, now a bit closer than before.
Due to the effect of distance, the people looked like ants.
Not only in appearance, but in reality they were moving busily like worker ants.
Those ants were, of course, the Whirlwind Gunners.
They looked a few hundred more than Mamorota had expected, but it was nothing significant.
After all, whether there are a few more ants or not, ants are still ants.
Whether there is one, a hundred, or a thousand, an ant is still an ant.
"Let's go. Kaiji."
Mamorota lightly pulled the reins around Kaiji's neck.
The direction was toward the ants.
It was an order to attack.
But.
Strangely, Kaiji did not move.
The beast absolutely obeyed Timur Khan and Mamorota.
Since being subdued by them, this had never happened even once.
Grrrrr....
Kaiji was growling low.
Its mouth twisted, and its fangs were bared ferociously.
What on earth was it seeing to act like this?
Its head was clearly facing the Whirlwind Gunners.
"Whoa, whoa."
Mamorota soothed it while stroking its neck.
'Hm?'
The fur...?
It was strange.
Every single hair on Kaiji's body was standing on end.
Like a hedgehog when it meets its natural enemy.
Mamorota had seen Kaiji's fur stand up like this only once before in his life.
'Does that mean there's someone as strong as hyung-nim over there? Or...'
Could it be that there was something even more frightening?
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