Episode 19 : The Great Advance - Part 4

"Linda--"

 Remus was screaming under his breath, his foot catching on the strong roots of the grass several times and nearly falling over.

"Linda--Linda--oh!"

"Remus!"

 Linda's cheeks were turning red. Her lungs gasped for air, and her side ached like a twitch. But behind her, a wild rant, "Get him! Get him!" and the cracking of the horse's hoofs and outstretched hands.

 They were the two helpless prey of the Red Wolves in their rabbit hunt. Linda's proud heart burned so fiercely that the rightful heir to the throne of Paro, the oldest and noblest of the Middle Kingdoms, could not even face the shame of being hunted down, but even her pride called down from the heavens an angry horn to bring down on her ruthless captors But even her pride could not call down from heaven the angry hammer of wrath upon the wild captives.

"Oh--Linda, I can't run anymore!"

"No, Remus! We have to run. Run!"

"We're not-- we're not gonna make it, we're not gonna make it!

"What are you talking about, Remus? You're the only king of Paro. You can't just-- ..."

 Their hearts are filled with the tragedy of the Crystal Palace, where their fathers and mothers and vassals were hunted down and cut down by the same soldiers of the Mongols, and where they bled to death in the hall of their traditional throne.

I can't die. I'm not dying. I'm not dying at the hands of Mongol. I'll take Paro-- Paro ...)

 Someday, Linda and Remus' hands will be separated.

 Rems said he hurt his ankle when he fell earlier. Somehow, he tended to lag behind Linda, and his voice, "Linda--Linda--! her voice became strained.

 However, Linda, who has lost the time to reflect on this and continues to run to escape, has already left the grassland around the oasis and is now running on soft sand, and her feet are caught in the sand and she cannot run as she wishes.

(Oh--Guin, Guin ... Guin, help me, Guin!

 Before she knew it, Linda was stumbling and running, mouthing the words.

(Guin--come on! Save me, Guin-- oh, Guin!

 All hope was in the leopard-headed warrior, and there was no help to be had but from Guin. Suddenly, Linda heard her brother's piercing scream behind her, and..,

"Run, Linda!

 I heard him scream. At last Remus, who had been caught by his foot and had fallen, fell into the hands of Mongol's army.

"Remus!"

 Screaming, Linda stumbled and ran, not daring to look back. She knew that she would have to escape on her own, get Guin's help, and then return to help Remus. Guin could do it - he could do any miracle he wished. He had saved them even from the burning castle of Staphorus, hadn't he?

 Never had I loved or lusted so much for a monster of such a strange shape. If only Guin had been there, standing at the head of Shem's army, wielding the great sword he grasped so easily in his thick arms. Hot tears welled up in Linda's eyes. But this was no time for weakness.

 If you run to the rocky mountain over there, you'll be safe.

 She no longer cared what happened to Shem and his friends, or what had been done with her brother. The rabbit being chased by the hounds of the Grim Reaper, that was Linda. Her moans of "I can't run anymore" were almost overwhelmed by her intense fear and obsession with life. She wriggled her legs, which were so slow that it was almost pathetic, and kept on staggering.

 And then it hit me.

 Behind you, they're saying, "After him! After him!" can hardly be heard anymore.

 Before she knows it, the sand and spray on her back, the screams of Shem and the spray of blood, are no longer behind her.

 But the change did not bring Linda any relief. On the contrary, something numbing, terrifying and perplexing rose in her brain.

 The Red Knights of Mongol are no longer following us from behind.

 Linda's legs grew slower and slower, and she staggered - and finally stopped. Almost without being aware of it, Linda raised her hands lazily, covered her mouth with them, and screamed.

 No--I thought I did, but in reality, my voice didn't even come out. All he could do was stare at the ruthless black-robed knights blocking and blocking his way, his eyes darkened with despair and his expression dim and dull.

 His knees buckle lazily and he sits limp on the sand. Her hands are still clasped over her mouth. The ranks of the Black Knights of the Ilum did not bother to come near to humiliate the wretched girl. They waited for Shem's main force to come looking for a way out, and continued to expand in a half-moon shape, almost unharmed. Linda felt as if her path had been ruthlessly blocked by a huge black wall.

 A knight of Mongol is approaching from behind, making a cloud of dust. A red knight. His helmet was flung back and his face was still young. A strange and mad hope seized Linda's heart.

"Istvaan!"

 She screamed, but quickly realized she was wrong.

 Black hair, black eyes, a sallow face with a long face - it could be mistaken for a Valakian mercenary, as if Istvan had infiltrated the Mongol army and was secretly waiting for the time to give her a helping hand. But her youthful, innocent, and fresh expression, and her dignified, somehow elegant face, were not what she was looking for. In front of the shiny black figure of the black knight's wall, the single red knight looked bright and even almost gorgeous.

(Yeah, right. ...)

 Such a low murmur escaped from Linda's mindless mouth.

He's not coming. Istvan is coming to save us. ...)

 I had been worried about the fact that Istvan had disappeared for so long, thinking that he might be fighting somewhere, or that he might have gone on a reconnaissance mission and been caught, but when it became clear that he was not coming to help me, I felt a sense of despair that was different from that of Guin's disappearance, as if my whole body was losing strength. But when it became clear that Guin was not coming to help him, he felt a sense of despair that was different from that of not seeing her.

 The Red Knight approached, letting the horse dart slowly to avoid getting his feet caught in the sand, but when he reached Linda, he stopped the horse and jumped down. He held out his hand.

 Linda reflexively jumped and stared at him with hostility and hatred. Asturias looked bewildered.

"Come on, you can't run away from this."

 He spoke in a vague tone, as if he did not know how to deal with this person who alternated between the dazzling dignity of a queen and the misery of an orphan without a patron.

"Come here."

"Don't you dare touch me! I'd rather bite my tongue right here than let Mongol's enemies grab me by the arm and drag me away."

 Linda exploded.

 Asturias shook his head, looking completely annoyed.

"Your brother's already been captured and taken away."

 He said in a somewhat hesitant tone and reached out again to grab Linda's arm.

 Linda pretended away.

"I'll walk myself."

"That's better."

 Asturias said, somewhat relieved, and watched as Linda stood up and brushed the sand off her knees.

"Ow!"

 When she stood up, Linda suddenly shouted. She hadn't noticed it while she was running, but it seemed that she had also injured her ankle a little because she had been running on the sand.

 Asturias, seeing this, stretched out his hand as if he were treating an unfamiliar bobcat with trepidation.

"Get on the horse."

"No. I don't take kindly to my enemies."

"No mercy. There's still a lot of fighting going on and I need to get back to the battlefield. That's an order."

 Asturias, without further defiance, placed the hostile prisoner before the saddle of his horse, and straddled him himself. The weight of the horse was almost nothing on his strong arms. Linda clenched her teeth and gripped the horse's mane tightly, trying not to let the enemy hear her sobs.

 Asturias, feeling somewhat overwhelmed, silently took the young captive back. He bypassed the oasis, where fierce fighting was still going on, and set out to bring back Amneris's bannermen, Helinda.

 Suddenly, a diminutive figure came running out of the oasis.

"Linder!"

 He screams and tries to jump on the horse.

 Asturias' sword was struck down in reflex.

"Caw!"

 It was Linda, not the fallen Semites, who let out a piercing scream.

"Suni! Suni!"

 She tried to jump off the horse, but Astorias' hands held her firmly in place.

 When Linda realized that there was no point in struggling, she fell silent. Then she twisted her head and stared at Astorias, as if she wanted to remember his face.

"I killed Suni."

 Linda said in a calm voice, her eyes full of uncontrollable tears.

"Murderer of Mongols. You killed my father and mother, you killed Suni, you killed me and Remus. Let's see how long you can stay blind to Janus' judgment. I'll remember your face when I'm dead."

 Asturias remained pouting and did not answer. There was no point in answering, because it would not help.

 He remained silent, and without further hindrance sent and delivered Helinda, the White Knight's main body. He could not help but secretly hope for a word of praise from Amneris, but the bannermen were too busy with the passing messengers and nurses to do so.

 Asturias, feeling uncomfortable, had to immediately turn his horse around and head back into the battle for the oasis.

 When Linda was taken off the horse, she was driven to her brother, who had already been carried there, and thrown out with her ankles bound, just as her brother had been. Linda and Remus called each other's names and hugged each other without saying another word. Remus was sobbing, but Linda did not even try to cry. Her tears, which had only welled up when Suni's tragedy had occurred, were already dry.

 While hugging Remus, the slender, winsome girl pursed her lips tightly and swallowed down the lump that clutched at her throat. She had already forgotten how many times she had fallen into the hands of Mongol. Until now, however, he had been able to trust that Guin would be there and would rescue him.

 But this time, no Guin, no Istvan.

 The twins were alone this time. And the Mongol soldiers were chasing the little Semites with their horses, as if they enjoyed killing them. Linda bit her lip so tightly that it bled.

Guin, where are you-- Shem is defeated. Guin-- you're all that's left. (Guin)

 I'm glad to say that it's all settled.

 It was obvious who would be stronger in a head-to-head contest of strength and power. Even though the Semites had the advantage of the land and made full use of their agility and small size, the power of the iron, tempered long sword and long spear against the stone axe and poisoned arrow was different. On top of that, the Mongol soldiers were getting used to fighting against these little ape-men and were getting the hang of it through their frequent battles with Shem.

 The stone axe can be easily chipped by a sword, and its strength is reduced by half. On top of that, the weight of the heavy and strong helmet and the horse's armor would weigh him down, and unlike the sandy ground where the horse would be trapped, this time the battlefield was around the oasis, where the ground was relatively hard and the grass grew thickly.

 The warriors of Mongol wielded their long swords, and one after another they smote the warriors of Shem. The warriors of Karoi and Guro fought bravely, and though they showed considerable courage, they could not make up for the disadvantage which they had given the enemy by surprise.

"Fall back--fall back!"

 At last, the screams of the chiefs were heard, and the drums of retreat were beaten to and fro in haste.

 But it was too late for that. The chiefs gathered their troops and began to withdraw from the oasis.

"If you huddle together, you're playing right into the enemy's hands. Scatter, run in all directions. Blindside them!

 Iracelli rasps in a high-pitched voice.

"Aye!"

 In response, Shem and the others fled in all directions, scattering spiders in the process.

"Don't let them get away. If we let them go, it'll be the same thing all over again. Let's kill the monkeys once and for all."

 Messages are sent out one after another, and the Mongol army tries to contain the oasis itself from the outside. Shem and his men try to flee to the rocky mountain, but the Ilm troops, waiting for them with stroked arms, attack them at once.

"Shiva."

 Old Lothor, guarded by the brave young Sheba, was seeking a way out.

"Loto, I have an idea.

 Sheba's eyes were bloodshot. He looked around and found what he was looking for.

"I've been thinking. I wondered what Leard would do if he were here."

 Roto was silent and watched Sheba. Sheba took the fruit out of his sack and gave it to his men, and he himself took the jar of vashya oil.

"Let's go."

"Aiyah!"

 With a shrill cry, he advanced toward the left side, where the Mongol soldiers seemed to be relatively thin.

 When Sheba's men struck the berries, they burst open with a violent noise, and at the same time there was a thick smoke in all directions. Then, leaving the Mongols in retreat, Sheba suddenly turned upside down a jar of oil, sprinkled it all around, and struck a flint to light it.

 It burns instantly, pouring oil after oil,

"Come on, come on!"

 It urges the great chief. Led by the way of oil, the fire twists and turns like a serpent. In the midst of it, Heshiva and his men threw into the fire one after another, and set up a smoke screen.

"Don't let him get away."

"Do not be blinded. Be careful."

 The knights rushed about, coughing and coughing. Dozens of Raku warriors, led by Shiva, who had used the smoke as a curtain to hide themselves, ran through the shadows of the smoke as if they were rolling, protecting Loto.

"Gather the demons to the rock!"

"Run to the rocks, you demons!"

"Kaloy, Glo, Rasa! If you survive, gather at the Rock of Devils."

 As they ran, following Lotho's orders, they kept shouting in Semitic languages that the Mongols could not understand. There seemed to be a faint shout here and there, but they could not wait for it. They left the oasis of death to their own means of escape and ran for their lives. From the left, the Ilm squad that had been waiting in ambush, and from the right, the white knights of the Vron squad, were approaching each other as if the doors were slowly coming together from both sides. If they were to fit together, the encirclement would be complete, and Shem and the others would have no place to run. If, on the contrary, they managed to evade them and run out into the desert, their old advantage would be restored and they would be able to overcome the heavy cavalry.

"Run, run, run!"

 Sheba was shouting in his throat, moving his legs as far as they would go, while continuing to call.

"Run, Shem, run! Run, Rak, Tubby, Rasa! Run in a zigzag to the rock and scatter them!"

 Suddenly, Loto stopped, shouting. Sheba tried to nudge him, and saw what Roto was pointing at. It was the body of a small Rak girl, lying half-covered in the sand.

"Lady Suni!"

 The next moment, Shiva picked up Suni's body and started running again, before he could even tell whether he was lying unconscious and wounded, or whether he had become a corpse.

 It was a fierce race between life and death, a great race for the hope of the survival of the race, from the Red Iron Reaper to Shem's goal of life.

 Shiva and his men were not the only ones who were trying to break the siege and pursuit of Mongol's army. Here and there, brave warriors were trying to escape from their respective chiefs, or they were trying to rush in unison around their chiefs, or their chiefs themselves, like Iracheli, were trying to lead the way under the horse, and they were fighting fiercely.

 The battle, which began before the sun rose, shows no signs of ending, and before we know it, the sun is high in the middle of the sky, and it is slowly beginning to fade again.

 The blood that flowed from the sun that was becoming more and more intense was dying, but soon the meadow was stained with the new blood of new victims who fell on top of it.

 The siege was finally completed and the Mongols had the Semites completely under their fangs.

"Take it!"

 The relentless hand of the Commander-in-Chief waves.

"Don't let any of them live!"

 It wasn't a fight anymore.

 It was a one-sided massacre. Those who failed to escape and the brave Semites who dared to stay to escape the chief were met by the Mongol troops who straddled horses, held swords over their heads, and turned red in the face with the appearance of demons.

 Those who were wounded and fell down were crushed by the horses' hooves, and those who stood and tried to fight were cut to pieces. Blood flowed into the oasis, and the sheer volume of blood turned the water into a pool of blood and the grass into red grass.

 The screams and moans and screams seemed to go on forever.