Who dares to fight me to the death

"W-what is he doing!?"

Constantine XI, who hurriedly ascended the city wall, watched Shu Yichao's actions with utter frustration.

"Does he even know what he's doing!?"

"Challenging a two hundred thousand-strong army alone!?"

"Have the Khitan people truly lost their minds!?"

Originally, according to Constantine XI's plan, all the armies would rely on the immensely sturdy western wall for defense.

This ancient Norman marvel of wisdom, not only towering and magnificent, was also extremely complex.

With various outer walls, moats, inner walls within moats, steep slope barriers, outer battlements, outer walls, inner battlements, inner walls... enough to make anyone dizzy.

The walls were built of granite boulders, with cliffs on the outside and protection on the inside, dozens of towers, hundreds of corner towers, and bastions intertwined, forming an incredibly terrifying crossfire.

Any normal person, upon seeing the endless western wall, would be deeply impressed and feel an unparalleled fear.

And it was precisely because he held the western wall that Constantine XI had some confidence to contend with the Esmans, who outnumbered them several times over.

He believed that if he could deploy Shu Yichao's well-equipped soldiers on the city wall, they could definitely deal a heavy blow to any enemy approaching the western wall.

However, the Khitan had abandoned this great advantage and gone to provoke the Esmans directly?

What was he trying to do?

Constantine XI, who labeled Shu Yichao as a "dead man," began to feel sorry for those few hundred elites.

How much could they contribute if they were used to defend the city!

"Shoot that idiot into a beehive for me."

In the Esman army, a speechless officer ordered his soldiers.

"We'll be attacking the city soon, no time to bother with this kind of idiocy."

Amidst a burst of laughter, an archer swiftly shot an arrow and then confidently put away his bow and arrow.

Well, next was to enjoy watching that fool fall from his horse, and the horse panic and run away.

"Whoosh—" A slightly pained grunt sounded.

"Thud—" The archer's eye was pierced by the arrow's immense kinetic energy, and his whole body flew up suddenly, then slammed heavily onto the flagpole.

He flapped a few times, and then any remaining life vanished without a trace.

There was a stunned hush among the Esman soldiers—Shu Yichao had unexpectedly disarmed the expert archer and sent him off with his own arrow!

"Shu Yichao is here!"

Shu Yichao, in front of tens of thousands of people, raised the bow in his hand and continued to roar arrogantly.

"Who dares to engage me in a battle!?"

"....."

"Idiot!" Immediately, some skeptical Esman soldiers picked up their bows and arrows, preparing to teach this kid who didn't know the heights of heaven and the depths of the earth a lesson.

"Thud thud thud thud!!"

After a while, the Esman army's forward banners were filled with Esman archers—one after another, as if lining up to hang themselves.

Many soldiers looked at the banners, then at Shu Yichao, and rubbing their eyes—were they dreaming?

"Wow!"

"Hail!"

"The Lord is blessing us!"

With such a world-shaking performance, cheers thundered from atop the western wall, morale soaring.

[Hehehe, Master, the things I gave you were useful, right?]

System 12345 noticed that the distance between Shu Yichao and Mumoona was closing, and Mumoona was becoming increasingly focused on Shu Yichao, so naturally, it believed it had made a significant contribution.

[As expected! Even Mumoona couldn't ignore the supplies.]

[Keep it up, Master!]

[If not now, when would be a better time to boost favorability!]

"Great King, I'll go meet him!" Seeing Mumoona's face looking a little off, one of her subordinates immediately volunteered.

Now, even if a barrage of arrows were unleashed, turning that young man into a porcupine, it wouldn't work.

He had already boldly challenged them, and using arrows to greet him would only make the enemy think their side was incompetent and unsportsmanlike.

They had to behead that young man in front of everyone, beneath their horses' hooves, to reinvigorate the morale of the Esman.

"Mm." Mumoona snorted lightly in response, indicating agreement.

When Shu Yichao first arrived at the front lines, she almost blurted out to capture him alive.

He was so handsome, not having him in my tent every night for a good time was simply a waste.

But now...

State affairs took precedence.

"Kid, don't you dare run!" The commander, with Mumoona's tacit approval, mounted his horse, brandishing his scimitar, and roared as he charged toward Shu Yichao.

"Hmph!"

Seeing the opponent finally sending someone out for a one-on-one, Shu Yichao didn't hesitate. He spurred his horse forward, swinging his blade.

"Clang—" The irritating sound of metal reverberated, sparks flew, like the blossoming of spring peach blossoms.

After just one round of probing, Shu Yichao had already figured out his opponent's weaknesses.

"What, only about 50 damage?"

"This is even worse than the elite monsters in the newbie village."

In the second round, Shu Yichao swung his sword again and directly knocked down the Esman commander who had come to challenge him.

Then, he raised his blood-stained scimitar once more and roared in front of the Esman army of two hundred thousand.

"Shu Yichao is here!"

"Who dares to face me in battle!?"

"Brother!" Another commander under Mumoona's command turned blood-red in the eyes. He didn't even ask the Sultan for permission and charged directly at Shu Yichao.

"Damn infidel, I'll kill you!"

"Swish—" Shu Yichao didn't even glance at him. With a swift swing of his scimitar, blood sprayed.

This guy was even worse than the one before.

"Who else!?"

Shu Yichao's voice echoed like rolling thunder on the battlefield.

"I ask, who else!?"

The cheers from the city walls were more exaggerated than the most violent thunder.

"Hail!"

"Hail the Normans!"

"Hail the Khitans!"

Even Constantine XI, who had thought Shu Yichao was crazy, join in the cheering.

There was no choice.

Shu Yichao's actions were indeed stupid and reckless.

But...

It was so damn inspiring!

Morale was a strange thing. Even though they had an overwhelming numerical advantage, after seeing two commanders fall before the battle even started, the morale of the Esman army inevitably began to decline.

Many became disheartened, deflated, and even wavering.

Mumoona saw it, and she was anxious.

If the army lost its morale, then there was no point in fighting this battle. They might as well all go home and tend the sheep.

She turned to her subordinates, trying to sound calm but inevitably showing a hint of urgency.

"Where's Bayed?"

"Where is he!?"

"Sultan," someone replied, "he should still be in the rear."

"Immediately have him come to see me!" Mumoona immediately ordered in a low voice.

"Hiss—" At this moment, Constantine XI on the western wall also seemed to realize something was wrong and exclaimed in alarm.

"Bad!"

"Hey, Khitans!" He quickly stuck his head out from the city wall and shouted at the steppe archers lined up not far away.

"Quickly call back your Batulu."

"The Sultan of Esman is about to unleash their Thunder!"