Drawing Cards in the Middle Ages to Rise in Ranks

Chapter 688 458: The Death of Esen

The sound of hooves was like thunder.

The red sweat-blood horse and the black unicorn nightmare horse, overshadowed, one red and one black streak like lightning, passed through the volley of arrows like gale and torrential rain.

Golden and dark green flames burned upon them, their hooves left tracks on the ground akin to beacons, yet behind them, only fewer than two hundred followers remained.

"These are truly divine steeds!"

"I heard that the foreign envoy came by ship from the Great Shi Country. It was said that King Hulegu Khan's campaign against the Great Shi Country was precisely for the fine steeds there."

The group of Mamluks couldn't help but marvel; prairie men cherished divine fine horses, more important in many prairie men's eyes than anything else besides their first wife.

"King Dahan, send me to fight. I will definitely subdue these two divine steeds and present them to you!"

Esen ignored the requests from his subordinates, took a deep breath, and bent his bow, nocked another arrow.

As the bowstring stretched back, the carvings on the Jebey Divine Bow came alive again. This time, Esen aimed at the Hu Ji holding the golden lance, she had no shield, her defense was clearly not as good as the other Hu Ji.

Yet as the arrow flew forth, that Hu Ji seemingly had foresight, suddenly clamping the horse belly, the divine red horse raised its head to neigh, leapt nimbly to dodge Esen's supposedly inevitable arrow.

Esen's expression turned grim, a strong sense of unease surged again within him, though he couldn't fathom why.

Perfect opportunity from heaven, can two mere Hu Ji really ruin it? Even with whatever grand skills they might have, they were left with fewer than three hundred people.

Could these three hundred truly stand against the thousands of elite cavalry by his side?

Thinking this, his voice grew irritable: "What are you dazing at, aim at those two Hu Ji. Whoever hits, reward of a thousand households, whoever kills, knighthood of ten thousand households!"

"Roar!"

The Mamluk troops roared in excitement.

These Mamluk guards beside Esen were all night guard of the hostage army, of higher rank than the Tuluwa troops besieging the Hu infantry, yet after all, still hostages, their tribes not necessarily of ten thousand households.

A count of ten thousand households could establish a unit of its own, rove the prairie, a veritable lord, a person of significance throughout the prairie.

Arrows rained down.

Each Eagle Shooter, each Mamluk elite, all aimed frontward at the two riders to release their arrows.

Clang—

An arrow flew with tremendous force, shot by an unknown expert, pierced through Jeanne's chest armor.

The steel at the hole melted away, revealing her body already fully transformed by the Holy Flame.

Jeanne spared not a glance, continued urging her mount to swiftly close the distance between both sides.

This Battle of Tumu Castle, though not far from the era of the Hundred Years' War, saw Eastern and Western armies with absolutely incomparable combat strengths. Restricted by the Church, in her era in Europe, extraordinary beings almost never participated in mundane warfare.

Unless it was against heretics, or dark creatures from Two Sicilies, the Balkans, only then would the Church deploy elite Holy War Army units.

Otherwise, Mad King Charles, King Charles VII's father, wouldn't have been afflicted by wolf poison merely from a werewolf assault during a trip, with no competent fighter around to deal with the pure-blooded wolf race, despite being Europe's most eminent king.

Yet these Tatars are utterly different, hidden among their seemingly ordinary troops are untold numbers of experts, their bows and arrows include many precious treasures, extremely lethal.

Arrows rained in waves.

More and more cavalry from the envoy fell.

The armored cavalry with the thinnest armor, the winged cavalry, almost none of them were spared, fell on the charging path. Only Iron浮屠 and the armored archers amid the armored cavalry clad in triple-layer heavy armor could dismount their riding bows to counterattack.

The distance between both sides shrank further.

The female knight charging at the forefront suddenly raised her Holy Spear, aiming it at Esen under the White Ox Banner.

Holy Flame!

The radiant Holy Spear at this instance seemed to pierce through spatial barriers, almost as swiftly as a blink of the eye, arriving before Esen.

It came too fast—this Spear of Destiny, forged by God King Odin with branches from the World Tree, seemed to have predetermined the target's death prior to its launch.

"Father Khan, be careful!"

Esen's eyes widened, too late to react, when a seemingly foolish yet robust Mamluk soldier behind him gave a sudden outcry, rapidly transforming into a giant over five meters tall, yanking Esen off his horse and tossing him behind.

With hands together, he seemed intent on grasping the lightning-like arrow.

Yet such an act was laughable, akin to a mantis trying to stop a cart.

The Holy Spear pierced through his chest, its shaft emerging from his back, the fiercely burning purifying holy flame, like a pus oozing from attached bones, consumed his body's blood, quickly spread over his entire being.

"Chahan!"

Sprawled on the ground, Esen bellowed, just coming to his senses.

This robust figure wasn't his biological son but born from his second queen's travels abducted by prairie wolves. He disregarded the birth, considered him a true son, said by the shaman Bayantu to possess divinely granted might from Longevity Heaven, truly formidable were it not for innate foolishness.

Yet precisely due to innate foolishness, demonstrating utmost loyalty, making Esen trust him as someone most reliable.

The burning figure screamed in agony, faintly visible a sinister wolf head flying from his crown, shrieking as it lunged toward the Hu Ji casting the spear, yet midway through it faded and dimmed, burned into ash by the golden holy flame attached upon it.

"Kill! Kill them!"

Esen roared in fury.

For this battle, he lost brothers, now the son he deemed his own, Chahan. This, all brewed by these Mongolians and other Central Asians, he vowed, after this battle, he would personally lead his troops westward, find that 'Khanate' no matter what, annihilate it, exterminate its people!

Dozens of elite Mamluk cavalry rode forth.

Yet suddenly a dense fog appeared.

Within the dense fog, dozens wearing flying wing iron helmets, their only exposed pairs of frost-like blue flame eyes of Mad Hunt Cavalry emerged again, indifferent, unfearing of death, selflessly tangled with those Mamluk troops riding forth.

The remaining envoy cavalry also joined battle with the Mamluks with only one purpose—to escort Prajna and Jeanne to Esen.

"Die!"

Esen bent his bow, nocked his arrow, gritted his teeth.

This time, he unmistakably employed a secret technique, veins bulged upon his surface, crimson blood vessels filled his eyes—easily drew the Jebey Divine Bow to full, the golden eagle following as he fired the arrow.

The Divine Arrow pierced through the air, emitting a piercing shriek.

Almost upon the release of the bowstring, the arrow reached Jeanne's fore, pierced the galloping warhorse's body.

Esen set down the Divine Bow, hate filled his gaze: "She fell! Capture her, I want her buried with my son!"

Yet the next moment.

The female knight supposedly fallen, armor melted away, her whole body transforming into a blazing golden flame soaring into the sky.

Her wings were formed of golden holy flame.

Wings spread wide, the angel soared.

Some Tatars' faces changed.

Tatars held complex beliefs,

When the Mamluk Dynasty was once cathed by Il-Khanate, founded by Hulegu, grandson of Genghis Khan, his wife believed in Nestorianism.

Only as Nestorianism waned with the rise of the Green Religion and merging with Buddhism.

But a small faction of Tatar nobility still clung to Nestorian beliefs.

"Face judgment, sinner!"

The blazing wing angel hovering high, raised again the radiant Holy Spear, replacing the blazing sun aloft, becoming the sole source of visible light.

All people were compelled to squint.