Episode 8 : The Valley of the Id - Part 4

 Of course--

 What Asturias and Polack saw was equally visible to Guin's party, who stood like leopard-headed gods on the cliff.

 The scouts would have noticed it sooner than Asturias and his men. At first it appeared to them as a misty band of dust that interrupted the blue glow of the river Kes in the west.

 But eventually, the dust clears and the whole picture of what is there becomes clear.

 As soon as I saw it.

"No, no, no, no, no, get down!

 As soon as Guin shouted, he jumped out of the horse.

 Raku's reaction was swift. Without saying a word, they lie down on the rocks. Some of them already have poisoned arrows in their bows.

 Guin has got it under control.

"No, no-- stay down, stay down. If you see anything that reflects light, put it under your body."

 Istvan drove Guin and his horse to the back, let them rest there, and then, thinking that his black equipment was particularly conspicuous on the white cliffs, crept slowly up to Guin's side, flat and still.

"Hey, what the--"

"Yeah."

 Guin nods his head. However, the leopard face is always the same.

 With a small gasp, Istvan gazed at the astonishing scene unfolding below him.

"To the lure and his army of fire-- damn it!"

 I can hear him whispering curse words in my ear. Guin didn't care.

 He squinted and stared at them with a disturbing gleam in his eyes. And when the dust had cleared, what they could see was beyond all their expectations.

 The great army of Mongol, which filled the west bank of the Kes River in a splendid and brilliant formation.

 At a rough estimate, there were probably more than ten thousand of them. Their armor, headgear, swords and spears glittered in the sunlight of the frontier, creating an untimely pool of light in the desert.

"The White Knights in the center - the Red Knights on the right are probably Arvon's remnants. The blue-robed troop spreading out to the left could be the friendly troops from Castle Turid. It might be led by Count Mars, the Lord of Two Reed Castle and Captain of the 8th Blue Knight.

 The Black Knights who will be taking up the rear are probably a force from the Talos stronghold, or--"

"..."

"Or they could be the spies of a larger force being sent from Torus."

 Istvan's voice was calm, but if you listened carefully, you could sense a faint hesitation in it.

"10,000 to 15,000, something like that. 5,000 crossbowmen, 3,000 foot soldiers, and 5,000 elite cavalry, something like that.

 This arrangement is a smaller version of the Five-Colored Formation, the pride of Mongol. There is only one color in the Five-Colored Formation, but officially, five troops painted in each of the five colors capture the enemy as if they were squeezing from each direction. Why do you think the Mongol army has such a color-coded formation? It is to prevent the two armies from fighting each other, and also so that the commander can distinguish at a glance which direction is inferior and from which direction the troops should be sent.

"Asturias' troops have been welcomed."

 Guin, who was looking down from above, pointed out.

"Is that the rebellious girl in charge, Istvan?"

"Yes. The troops under his command are the white knights, and the flag is the grand duke's flag of Mongol and the black lion's flag of the three grand dukes of Gora on both sides, and the reason it is so high is because it is indeed the flag of a princess."

"Are you planning to lead an army of 15,000 women and take charge of the No Man's Land expedition?"

 Guin said. There was a sarcastic mockery in his voice that would have made Amneris blush with humiliation if he had heard it.

"The Lady General of Mongol is a famous female heroine in the Central Plains. I believe that the one who commanded and brought victory to Mongol in the Black Dragon War during the Paro siege was none other than the Lady herself. It was widely rumored that she would eventually assume the position of Grand Duke of Mongol with her fake beard and white mantle, since her only son, His Highness Prince Meir, was ill. Ha! So Mongol, as far as his troubles are concerned, is a twin of Paro, who is not now."

"What do you mean?"

"The woman is strong, and the rooster just cries with eggshells stuck to his ass."

 Istvan said bitterly and laughed himself silly.

 Guin shook his head.

"Is that supposed to be an insinuation against Princess Linda and Prince Remus? Then you're letting the prince's soft cheeks and smooth hair fool you into thinking you're missing the dragon that lies inside the egg. I know that boy...

 Ya!"

 Guin suddenly stopped talking and looked down, and the people looked at him to see what was the matter.

"The Mongol army is on the move."

 Guin says calmly.

 It was a magnificent and imposing sight that was quite fantastic, but also strangely familiar, like a mural.

 Red on the right, blue on the left, and black at the back. One of the four petals is missing, and at the center of the flower, which has opened to the front, is a dazzling white.

 The human flowers, clearly smeared in the desert, each forming a triangle that tapered outward in the order of cavalry, crossbowmen, and infantry, moved smoothly without any hesitation or hesitation, as if they were all made of the same huge creature of the same color, rather than hundreds or thousands of soldiers. They moved smoothly without any hesitation or hesitation.

 The movement, however, seems to be that of a faithful puppeteer, with invisible strings attached at key points that converge at one point and move in accordance with the commands issued from there. And the point where the invisible thread concentrates would be the white, gentle fingers of Amneris, the duchess of Mongol, who stands proudly protected by knights who are loyal to her under many banners in the center of the white heart.

"Tsk!"

 Suddenly, Istvan murmured.

"Why did they suddenly manage to arrange the formation so perfectly? With this formation, it's as if they've known about this day for months and prepared for it."

"Probably, yeah."

 Guin lowered his voice gravely.

"Perhaps we were just the catalyst, or perhaps we were just pouring the last oil on a fire that was already burning. It seems that Mongol had already decided to advance to Nosferus and to pacify Shem and Ragon as his next move after Paro, and it seems to me that, while he stretched out his hand to Paro and neglected the back, he had already decided to send his army to Nosferus in case Kumu, Yulaniya or the remnants of Paro should be killed. This is probably due to the fear that they might advance their forces to Nosferus and hit Mongol from behind.

 The fact that I - and Paro's twins - had relieved Astorias' troops with Shem's help had given them the final assurance, so to speak. Probably not all of the expeditionary force, but certainly another 20,000 or 30,000, the main body of the expeditionary force from Torus, would be heading down the road to Nosferus right now, hurrying ahead to meet up with the advance troops.

 It's a good thing you didn't immediately enter the village of Rak, Red Mercenary. If this expeditionary force had rushed into a village with only 2,000 defenders and we hadn't even heard of it, no matter how brave Shem is, we would've been helpless and we would've been killed or beaten to death."

 Guin looks back at the Semitic youths and repeats in Semitic.

 The Lak youths were visibly upset. The head, a young man whom they called Shiva, spoke loudly to Guin.

"What are you saying, Guin?"

"We must return to the village now and prepare for war. It's the last day of Nosferus, they say."

"Ha! Two thousand monkeys against 15,000 of these well-equipped troops?"

 Istvan laughed.

"Oh, my God, this is so funny! It's so sweet!"

"At any rate, it is to our advantage that we are thus aware of the enemy's intentions, and that he does not yet know that we are aware of them."

 Guin was trying to discourage him,

"And the exact location of the village of Rak is certainly not known to them, who have not yet travelled more than a day's ride to Nosferus. And the village of Rak is guarded by an obscure valley. If we're lucky, we'll make it five or six days. If we're lucky.

"I don't care what you know, I'm not surprised anymore."

 was Istvan's resigned reply.

"So you also know the position of the great village of Raku, which you've never been to."

"Don't get me wrong."

 Guin snarled,

"I don't know everything. I don't know the exact location of Raku's village, but I can vaguely see the scene around it as if it were in a fog."

"Whatever--anyway."

 Istvan groaned.

"Anyway, there's nothing we can do but stay here. As soon as possible, I'll have to tell you to leave the village of Raq or whatever and run, or fight like hell, or do something. Isn't that right, Guin?"

"Oh, well."

 was Guin's answer.

 The scouts decided that by that time they had seen all there was to see. So Guin made a sharp warning in Semitic, and they prepared to pull out. At the bottom of the cliffs, like a giant four-coloured amoeba shifting and moving, Mongol's expeditionary force was beginning to move towards the depths of Nosferus.

"We will follow the rocks until we are out of sight of their camp, and then we will go down to the sand, and then we will ride eastward."

 Guin told the Semitic youths.

"On your feet depends the life of your village, your women and your children."

 The little monkey men nodded and stood up quietly.

 Then, as Istvan tried to stand, his leather boots suddenly slipped!

 But the fragile sand at the top of the cliff was shifting, and two or three pebbles that had been buried there were falling down the cliff.

 The mercenary yelped, as if he wanted to scoop up the falling pebbles with a net. Guin's strong hands grabbed him firmly by the shoulders and held him back.

"Hmm? --"

 One of the soldiers on Mongol's left flank, startled by the pebbles, looked up.

"Oya: ..."

 Unlike the sentinel in the noblewoman's tent, he is a warrior who is already in a state of readiness for battle and has his heart set on it. In spite of the silent prayers of the scouting party gasping for breath on the cliff, there is no way they would leave anything even slightly suspicious as it is.

 The blue knight looked at the cliff with a puzzled face for a while, but then he suddenly came to an understanding and left the ranks and ran to the company commander.

 The company commander, who was about to scold him for disrupting the line, listened to his words and suddenly became stern. Immediately, a message was sent to the battalion commander and then to the general commander.

 Amneris didn't take the matter lightly. Immediately, "All troops, halt!" and the army of 15,000 halts as if held back by an invisible rope. Amneris summoned a company of his men.

"No!"

 Guin and his friends, who are watching from the cliff, are in a sweat.

"They know we're coming. Lady, they're sending a platoon to scout the area."

 Istvan doesn't dare say "I'm sorry". He stares back at Shem and the others with a reproachful stare and keeps silent.

"Run!"

 Guin said simply. He ran to the horse and jumped out of the way. Istvan followed him.

"Going straight east would be like giving away the village of Raq. For now, let's run north, and when we're sure we've killed them all, we'll turn east and send word to Rak's village."

"Aye!"

 Shem and the others nod in unison.

 There was a flurry of activity below the cliff, but they did not even see it anymore. Just as a small amoeba breaks off from a giant amoeba by cell division, so a small clump of blue knights breaks away from its mother and begins to search for a way up the cliff.

 Shem and his men are not waiting for that. The two leading horses, one carrying the half-breed, half-human Silenos and the other carrying Gora's deserters, rode northward across the rocky mountain, with the wind blowing in their faces, followed by Shem's dwarves as they rolled along. They were followed by the dwarfs of Shem as they rolled.

"There it is!"

"We're just over that rock pile!"

 Three times, Guin and the mercenaries heard the screams of the Gora soldiers chasing them from behind.

"Hi, hi!"

"Run!"

 He knew all too well that the lives of two thousand five hundred Rakhs depended on their safe arrival. Even Guin had lost his cool, and, like a madman, he threw himself into the belly of the horse, and the two horsemen and fifty men began to gallop as far as their legs would carry them, towards the Asgarn Mountains, far to the north, white with everlasting snow.

"Run, raks, run!"

"Eek!"

"Liard, Liard!"

 Their hearts were of one mind, and under their feet the sands of Nosferus creaked and shrieked. O Sand," they might have whispered in the strange language of their Shem. O Sand, which hast borne us and brought us up - become, if thou wilt, living sand, and fly up, and be a veil to hide them from the eyes of the brave pursuers, and be ashes to blind them, and save the children of Nosferus from the dreadful intruder.

 From behind them a loud voice with a Mongolian accent followed them for a long time, and soon it became a volley of stones. The stone pellet, which whistled around them, rubbed their cheeks and sent up a cloud of smoke as it struck the sand at their heels. Two or three of them, running at the end of the line, were struck by a stone pellet and fell.

"Liard!"

 Shiva screams at Guin to sue and hits her with a poisoned bow and arrow.

"Leave me alone!

 Guin yelled and urged horse to hurry.

"One or two of them, and it's all the same."

"Gras, Ymir!"

 Shiva cried out in grief and anger, but he would not be dissuaded by the words of Guin, whom he had praised as a hero. The heart of Raku is loyal once he has sworn to be a friend.

 The Mongols were horses and the Raks were foot soldiers, but the Mongols had the disadvantage of having to go around the rocky mountain, and the soft sand on the northern side of the rock was more suitable for the Raks' bare feet. The soldiers beat them with their saddles. The soldiers pounded their saddles, uttered threats and curses, and fired their crossbows in a vain attempt to keep their mouths shut, but only a few shots had any effect, and after that the rakus were far out of range, even at the rear. And the gap was widening.

 At last the Mongols gave up. Fearing their captain's wrath, they grumbled and cursed, and, catching three Rak who had fallen against the crossbow, they turned back to the main body. The only sign of the whereabouts of the fifty or so men who had disappeared in the direction of the Asgarn massif to the north was a small cloud of dust that sprang up on the horizon between the rocks, which eventually disappeared from sight.

 A strong wind is blowing, and twilight is coming to the wilderness again. The Asgarn wind, blowing from the north, blew many angel hairs on the faces of the expeditionary force, and the soldiers of Arvon, who had been part of the strange night of the past, looked up at the darkening sky anxiously.

 On the other hand--

 It was only after they had traveled north for about three zangs that Guin and the others made up their minds that they would be all right, and were willing to loosen their exhausted horses and legs a little.

 And there came no more the voice of the pursuers behind them, nor did the crossbow fly. And they stopped, and caught their breath, and called each other's names.

"Three, down, Liard."

 Sheba's coming to tell Guin.

"I hope you're dead. But if you're caught alive, those colored devils will do you more harm than you can say."

 Guin nods somberly. Not out loud,

"We had to make a great detour to sow them."

 That's all I said.

"We must turn our course to the east at once, and at the risk of advancing through the night, we must tell Rak of Mongol's ambition as soon as possible, even if it takes a minute or a second."

"All right, Liard-- we're not tired. We'll run all night."

"Don't run. Just walk fast."

 And they turned to the east. And when they had finished with the sun on their backs, they began to walk towards it with some calmness. They did not have time to dwell on it, but by that time the setting sun in the middle of nowhere, not softened by clouds, had become a huge, terrible orange disc, and was gently approaching the horizon of Kes, as if it were Dole himself, watching them with a single, malicious eye. It was as if he were a doll watching them with a single, malevolent eye.

 The road soon became a gentle descent, and the cliffs on either side of it slowly became steeper and steeper.

 It was Guin who noticed it first.

"You idiot!"

 He said, raising a huge hand and trying to brush it away from his face like a white thread.

"Silly me, there's a lot of Angel Hair around here again."

"I guess it's their meeting place, too."

 Istvan says grimly. He had been puffed up and silent ever since the Mongols had come to find him on the cliff.

 Guin didn't say anything. He just looked around and let out a low growl.

 It is true that the number of white angel hairs dancing in their limited field of vision has increased dramatically since the cliffs began to rise up and block their view. The fact that it was dusk might have had something to do with it. Shem and the others seemed to have become completely accustomed to this monster that simply melted into their faces, and they brushed it off with their small, hairy hands and proceeded unconcerned.

"Shiva!"

 I'll call out in a stern voice.

"Yes, Liard."

"I'm sure this is the right way."

"Yes, the village of Rak."

"But the road gets narrower and narrower..."

 It must have been unimaginable to everyone who knew him that Guin would have cried out in such a way, laced with wonder and, even more astonishingly, fear.

 But then--

 No one could afford to be frightened at the thought of it.

 They all gasped for breath, as if struck by an electric current, and then suddenly, around a corner, there opened up neither a nightmare, nor a fabric prison, nor a picture of a mad artist...

 The reason is that I was standing in front of that horrible scene which I could not describe.

 In front of them, the road suddenly dipped, revealing a deep valley in all its glory.

 And that valley-- a pale and infinitely terrifying sea of phosphorescence!

 With their tongues numb with horror and disgust, they saw that the soggy, swollen, pale jelly was a colony of tens and hundreds of millions of indeterminate amoebas, living mucus that was a sight to behold.

 Oh-- Id's cleavage!

 Their cries clung to their tongues, and the warmth of life fled from their limbs in fear, and they stood facing despair and ruin at the edge of the narrow road, unable to go, unable to retreat.

 And--

 And suddenly the monsters noticed them!