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Chapter 17: So, Did We Clear the Main Storyline?
The fizzing out of Ottomain’s Thunderbolt left all of the Ottomains frightened and confused.
Even Sultana Momoana’s head went blank. She had never thought that a veteran who had served three generations of rulers would die here just like that, but she knew this wasn’t the time for her head to be wandering.
“Wu!” She viciously bit her tongue, and the pain jolted her awake. Then, she roared loudly, “Warriors of our great Ottomain Empire, kill our enemies and avenge the old general!”
“AHHH!” The Ottomain army finally snapped out of their shock.
Dust rose all over the battlefield, as thousands of elite Ottoman soldiers raised their bright red flags and charged at Shu Yichao.
Sultana Momoana didn’t order for an all-out attack, as she hadn’t completed her battle preparations. To order an all-out siege on Constantinope right now was no different than making them living targets for the Romains.
All she could do now was to dispatch her elite cavalrymen to even the score and secure Bayezid’s body.
What she didn’t know was that her decision was even more foolish.
“Just a thousand soldiers? Who are you looking down on?!”
Shu Yichao didn’t even have to issue his order for his Grassland Horse Archers to gather around him. Then, he led them on a counter charge against the Ottomain cavalrymen.
Bam!
The two forces violently clashed, shaking the earth.
“What in the world…”
Sultana Momoana could clearly see the results of the clash from her vantage point. She could only lament that the power gap between the two troops couldn’t have been more obvious.
Just the result of the first clash had knocked over a hundred Ottomain cavalrymen off their steeds, whereas Shu Yichao only had eleven people who were knocked off. The gap further widened when they began close-quarter combat.
Their armor was around the same, but the damage of the Ottomain cavalrymen was only between 20 to 30, whereas the damage of the Grassland Horse Archers was at 70. Given so, how could the Ottomain cavalrymen be a match for the Grassland Horse Archers?
Not to mention it was Shu Yichao leading the Grassland Horse Archers.
He merely needed to charge straight ahead with his scimitar held horizontal like harvesting wheat in a field, and the Ottomain cavalrymen in his path would collapse.
“It’s the Holy War. The Priest King is obliterating the enemies like the blinding sun driving away winter’s snow…” someone murmured with a shiver,
The Ottomain cavalrymen fell into despair. The sight of their allies being swept away like autumn leaves struck fear into their hearts, making them forget that they were valiant warriors of the Ottomain Empire. They tossed away their helmets and fled in a fluster.
No matter how their commanders shouted at them to maintain position, or how the Khitans chased after them and massacred everyone on the way, they continued fleeing without turning their heads around.
This was a depressing sight for the Ottomain army, seeing their valiant elites being chased by a fewer number of Khitans like defeated dogs.
“Release the arrows!”
Seeing that the Khitans were about to reach their camp from pursuing their cavalrymen, the Ottomains quickly fired a volley of arrows to force them back.
“Stop!” Shu Yichao ordered before leading the Grassland Horse Archers back.
Cavalrymen are difficult to catch. At this rate, we’re going to chase them into their main army.
Shu Yichao might be a berserker, but even he could tell that his 300 nomads were at a slight disadvantage against the enemy’s 200,000-men strong army.
…
“All hail the Romain Empire!”
“Long live the Khitans!”
Constantinope celebrated Shu Yichao’s victorious return; this was the hero who had crushed the Ottomain’s morale, bringing them a sliver of hope.
The civilians rushed outside, crowding an entire stretch of streets. They tossed fresh flowers and fine wine at Shu Yichao and his subordinates without any regard for their finances.
When the pope, who escaped through some unknown means, appeared on the streets, the mood was pushed to a new high.
“You’re here. You’re finally here!” the pope raised his staff high as he shouted. “The Eastern Priest King, the Invincible Commander, the Savior of our Empire!”
Many people recognized the pope, and it reminded them of the prophecy that had been spreading for a long time.
The Eastern Priest King shall arrive to save the empire… God, is this the revelation you have shown to your devout believers?
The cheers further crescendoed, as the people started waving their arms in a frenzy.
“Priest King!’
“Priest King!”
Shu Yichao couldn’t understand their words, but he could tell as much that they were celebrating him. He smiled and nodded at them as if acknowledging their words…
That, with his ‘Empire Bewitcher’ talent, ignited Constantinope’s fervor. Cheers that shook the sky and rattled the earth ensued.
“Ey, at least we survived the day,” Constantin XI remarked.
Despite his pessimistic words, he couldn’t suppress the smile emerging on his face at all.
In contrast to the Constantinope’s overflowing optimism, the Ottomains’ barracks were gloomy.
An enemy had charged forward alone to provoke them, but it ended with the death of their number one warrior. They were only able to retrieve his headless corpse. On top of that, the platoon of 1000 elite cavalrymen that they dispatched suffered more than 500 casualties within a matter of moments…
Sultana Momoana knew that she couldn’t forcefully siege the city when her army’s morale had plummeted so much. So, they could only retreat to their base camp and wait for tomorrow.
She knew that she had to do something in the meantime to salvage her army’s morale.
“I was naive.” Momoana, who had sat alone in her tent for hours, sighed. “I didn’t think that the Khitans would be that strong. Where did the heretic emperor find such powerful reinforcement?”
She couldn’t make sense of the situation.
“Fortunately, I have my own secret weapon too…” Momoana murmured.
Just then, a messenger spoke from outside the tent, “Great Sultana, we have completed the installation of the Indomitable Cannons. We’re awaiting your inspection.”
“Good!” Sultana Momoana rose from her seat. “Inform the army that heavenly lightning will descend in a moment’s time. Tell them not to be alarmed.”
“Hmph,” she smirked, “Romains, do you think your walls can protect you till the end of time? What a pity. Times have changed.”
…
【This is very weird.】
System 12345 was intrigued.
【My host, Bayezid’s impression of you has dropped to zero, but somehow Momoana seems to be getting more and more interested in you? Did you insult Bayezid to fawn on Momoana?】
System 12345 had no idea how to make sense of the data it had.
【But there are no signs suggesting a conflict between those two. Could there a hidden element I’m unaware about?】
System 12345 figured that this was the only possibility.
【I guess there’s more than one way to conquer the femme fatales… It should be fine as long as we clear the main storyline.】