Chapter 82 - Kaiji

One by one, the creatures appeared atop Guishui Fortress's walls. They were far larger than ordinary wolves, easily twice their size, and their coats were entirely gray, as though they had rolled in the ashes of thoroughly burned wood.

On their backs rode soldiers in iron armor, carrying long weapons such as spears and halberds. The extraordinary presence each soldier exuded left no doubt that they were elite troops.

The wolf at their head was much larger than the others, looking twice the size of even a tiger. Its fierce presence easily overwhelmed that of all the other wolves combined. A cross-shaped blade scar marked its left eye, making it look all the more terrifying.

The man riding it was also a full head or two taller than the other armored soldiers.

Mamorota, the War Giant.

At Timur Khan's command, he was leading the Gora Hma—the Gray Wolf Corps—out to battle.

The Nightmare of the Steppes.

That was the Gray Wolf Corps' other name. The worst beings anyone could encounter on the grasslands, the ones no one ever wished to meet. That was the Gray Wolf Corps.

"Let's go, Kaiji! Go and unleash all your savagery! Hyah!"

Mamorota lightly patted the giant silver wolf's neck, and Kaiji shot down the ladder like an arrow.

Though Timur Khan and Mamorota had now tamed it into something like their faithful hound, it had once been the overlord of these vast steppes. Befitting that past, it moved with incredible speed despite its bulk. If Timur Khan was supreme among the northern barbarians, this creature was the emperor of Northern Yuan.

CLANG, CLANG! CLATTER-CLATTER...

The iron ladder shook, sending metallic clangs worthy of Kaiji's weight ringing across the steppes. Hundreds of gray wolves followed it. Every one of them was so agile that it descended the high, steep ladders without the slightest hesitation, even with a rider on its back.

Once down in front of the wall, Mamorota waited briefly for the other wolves to descend. In the meantime, he turned toward his target, now somewhat closer than before.

Distance made the people look like ants. Nor was it merely their appearance: they were bustling about like worker ants, too. Those ants were, of course, the whirlwind-catapult units.

There seemed to be several hundred more than Mamorota had expected, but that hardly mattered. A few extra ants did not make them anything other than ants, did they? Whether there was one, a hundred, or a thousand, ants were still ants.

"Let's go, Kaiji."

Mamorota gave the reins around Kaiji's neck a light tug, directing it toward the ants.

It was the order to attack.

And yet, strangely, Kaiji did not move.

It obeyed Timur Khan and Mamorota absolutely. Nothing like this had ever happened since they had subdued it.

GRRR...

Kaiji was growling low in its throat. Its muzzle twisted, baring its vicious teeth.

What on earth was it looking at to react this way? Its head was unmistakably pointed toward the whirlwind-catapult units.

"Easy, easy."

Mamorota stroked its neck, trying to soothe it.

Its fur...?

Something was wrong. Every hair on Kaiji's body stood straight on end. Like a hedgehog encountering a natural enemy, perhaps?

Mamorota had seen Kaiji's fur bristle like this only once before.

'Does that mean there's someone over there as powerful as my brother? Or... is there something just as frightening?'

Kaiji was a Divine Beast among Divine Beasts. It had single-handedly brought every creature on the steppes except humans to heel and ruled those lands with cunning. It would never act this way without reason.

There was definitely something over there.

'The black monster? Is that why?'

It might be. Its extraordinarily sensitive nose must have caught the scent of death wafting from that pile of corpses. That had to be it.

So Mamorota thought. It was difficult to imagine any other explanation.

"Don't worry. We won't go anywhere near the corpses. All we need to do is smash those counterweight trebuchets."

Mamorota gently stroked Kaiji's neck again.

Kaiji shuddered as though to say that was not the problem.

But Mamorota did not understand. No, he pretended not to. How could they advance if they let the black monster frighten them? In any case, they had to go over there to destroy the counterweight trebuchets.

He tugged the reins again. A second signal to move.

Kaiji gave one loud snort, then began walking slowly forward as though it had made up its mind.

One step, two steps...

It rapidly picked up speed, as though it had never hesitated at all.

THUD-THUD-THUD!

Was this what it meant to charge with the force of a storm?

A storming charge! Kaiji raced forward like mad.

PAD-PAD-PAD!

The Gray Wolf Corps raced right behind it.

All that stood in their path were Dong Bongsu and his seven hundred mercenaries, five thousand catapult crewmen, and a few soldiers transporting corpses.

Timur Khan had not sent Mamorota and the Gray Wolf Corps out blindly. He had carefully examined the surrounding situation and already grasped how Lee Jasong's entire expeditionary army was moving.

The enemy's main force was moving its camp to the banks of the Yellow River, some distance from Guishui Fortress—though Timur Khan could not fathom why. Naturally, that left the whirlwind-catapult units before Guishui short of fighting strength. He knew full well that if he missed this opportunity, the black monsters would come flying over the walls and into the fortress.

But there was one fact he did not know.

The enemy's true commander at present was not Lee Jasong, but Dong Bongsu.

Dong Bongsu had halted all work and been watching the Gray Wolf Corps ever since they began descending Guishui's walls.

PAD-PAD-PAD-PAD! WOOF! WOOF-WOOF!

The wolves' clamor echoed far across the wilderness before Guishui Fortress. Carried by the biting wind, it spread over the entire wasteland. Naturally, that included the spot where Dong Bongsu stood.

HOOO...

The white breath leaving Dong Bongsu's mouth scattered in the wind and soon vanished.

"So he did know all about the plague and trebuchets."

His voice was certain.

It was now clear that the enemy leader, Timur Khan, already knew a great deal about the plague and had personally directed this entire plan. On top of that, he clearly knew about trebuchets as well. Otherwise, how could he have reacted so swiftly?

Then again, given the nomads' warlike nature, even a khan who was not from that other world would have campaigned far to the west. Naturally, how could he fail to know about those two things? After all, the accepted theory was that the plague had first originated here in the Mongolian region.

It would be much the same in either world.

Even so...

That particular combination was something even Dong Bongsu had not anticipated.

A fighting unit riding wolves. He had expected, at most, a small force of horsemen to open the gates and ride out.

For cavalry to sortie, the gates had to be opened. For those defending a fortress, that was no small risk. Thus, even now, with the encirclement somewhat loosened, there was no way they could send out a large force. A few hundred at most.

Yet the force emerging was not horse cavalry, but wolf riders.

As a result, over a thousand men had burst out without the gates ever opening. A thousand wild beasts had come along for good measure.

Wolves were wild animals that did not tame easily. Yet they had raised so many, trained them so well, and put them to use in war...

It was certainly astonishing, but he was not actually astonished. Dong Bongsu scarcely knew what it meant to feel surprise in the first place. He simply found it novel. Perhaps it had sparked the slightest trace of interest. In particular, that one-eyed giant wolf charging at the very front, too enormous to look like a wolf at all, had recognized him. From that far away. With only one eye, no less. Animals were far more sensitive than humans, and sometimes they caught sight of his hidden nature and tucked their tails.

It had recognized him at once. Yet instead of tucking its tail, it had bared its teeth.

It was a predator. A fearsome beast confident enough, in its own estimation, to bare those sharp fangs.

But it seemed not to know that knowing when to hide one's teeth could be more frightening still. Perhaps that was inevitable for an animal.

Even so, it was a curious creature.

For it was not only Dong Bongsu who was watching it with interest. The New Murim Online system was, too.

Dong Bongsu's eyes—or, more precisely, the system's cursor—had enclosed the creature's entire body and were busily analyzing something. Strange characters and Arabic numerals continually appeared and disappeared in the upper right of his vision. The system was trying to analyze the wolf, but presumably these errors were occurring because it was having difficulty doing so.

Why had the system suddenly taken an interest in that creature?

Several explanations were possible, but Dong Bongsu had no choice but to set those thoughts aside for the moment.

"Wipe them all out! Chew up every last little bone until not a trace of them can be found anywhere under heaven, east, west, south, or north!"

AWOOO!

Mamorota and the Gray Wolf Corps were already almost upon the trebuchets.

In sheer numbers, this side outnumbered them several times over, but most of the whirlwind-catapult units were noncombatants. Their fighting ability was truly negligible. In practice, it would be the mercenaries against the Gray Wolf Corps.

"Everyone, form two ranks."

Dong Bongsu spoke.

His voice was low and quiet, yet it etched itself into every mercenary's mind.

In a rush of movement, the tightly packed square formation quickly became two ranks.

"All catapult crews, surround the engines."

Somewhat hesitantly, the whirlwind-catapult crews formed a ring around each trebuchet.

The soldiers carrying corpses farther back were already carrying out another task without any orders from Dong Bongsu. They flung down the bodies they were holding and ran toward the new camp on the Yellow River. Naturally, once Lee Jasong received the news, he would soon lead the main force to their aid.

Now the length of that interval would determine victory or defeat in this war...

Dong Bongsu took his place ahead of the formation's far right flank. It was to secure an escape route in case anything went wrong.

WOOF-WOOF! GRR-WOOF!

THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD!

"Kyaaah!"