Who is the Marynku people?
To the people of Yan, the first records of the Marynku dates back earlier even before the formation of the Yan dynasty
At that time, they were not called Marynku people. They have many names because the Yan people usually grouped these people as the same
To them whether is the Wusun, the Ashran or the Eresian, they are all the same barbarian.
But they do recognize something about the people of the Great Steppe.
It is that they are brave fighters who knows no fear.
And after initial contact with each other, and fighting against each other Yan dynasty also knows that there are different tribes with different desires and different objective just like the people of the Great Steppe knows about the Yan people
Just like the people of Yan grouped them as the same, it is the same for the people of the Great Steppe.
The tribes of the Great Steppe began calling the people of Yan as Yan people and the name stuck and since then even the people that lies in yan empire began calling themselves as Yan people.
As for the Great Steppe, it has remained disunited with the occasional minor unification before it broke again.
There had been powerful confederations, and even some empires, on the steppes but … no could see the potential of this Great Steppe
But there is someone who is betting on the Great Steppe.
Garron hidden in the darkness bet on a young man. That young man on the other hand is betting against the world
Aeryon fought valiantly and by now almost four hundred people was felled down by his sword.
Dawn is almost breaking, the sun is about to show its face, Belarion and Mayeux harassing the rear and more and more warriors rushed toward the battle trying to kill this beast
To the eyes of the Xewa tribe, Aeryon is now no longer human but a killing beast, a monster.
But even though they have trapped this beast, for some reason this trapped beast still manages to find a way to live. And the way it survives is simply by killing people without stopping
He didn't care about the schemes and plots of the warriors and their leaders and their chiefs, he simply keep smashing them without mercy.
Young or old, experienced or inexperienced, it didn't even matter.
They all die the same under his sword.
Aeryon right now is covered with blood and he feel the heaviness on his body.
It is like iron is push down on his shoulders.
His entire attire is drenched with blood that all of his attire turns red and it became heavy because of how it soaked the blood.
The blood on his face could not have the time to cool down instead it keeps being replaced with new warm blood.
He is drenched in human blood and he leaves a mountain of corpses behind him. The trail he walks is like a path of hell, no one alive and river of blood flows beneath his feet
He breathes heavily.
He is not tired but he feels suffocated.
Not a physical problem but of psychological problem.
Aeryon is James.
Even though he inherited certain thing from Aeryon, in the end, he still has many traits that James has.
And one of them was that he never killed a person before.
But tonight, he kills hundreds of people and he kills them in such a personal way.
It is not like killing people with a gun, impersonal and distance dull the feeling of just taking a man life.
With cold weapon, you could see the face of your enemy as you snuff the life out of them. He could hear the screams and shouts but to his ears nothing is intelligible. He doesn't even know what they are shouting about.
H simply…. like a machine…. keep advancing forward, killing and killing.
And the thin in his mind that keep him from breaking down, kept him from letting go of the sword in his hand was the desire to survive and his great ambition.
He knows if he is kind hearted tonight, after three days is up, it would be him and his tribe that would suffer the fate of annihilation.
So, no matter how repulsed he was, no matter how tired he was in his heart, he keeps moving forward.
It is lower than before but as long as he determines to put one foot forward the other and keep moving, he could do it.
It is at this time suddenly there is movement from the north. Two hundred horse riders' rides from the north side and a hundred warriors marched from that area.
Belarion and Mayeux who was in the distance also see it and they could see it was Garron and his men.
Mayeux frowned.
Belarion however was panicked.
'My brother!'
He could only utter this word and could only worry for his sworn brother.
Aeryon choose this kind of crazy plan and it seems that it is working.
But now there is Garron forces aiding.
This would bolster Xeqani forces even more
From midnight to morning, both soldiers are at the breaking point. It is better for Belarion and Mayeux since they have only a few men and they were not subjected to full attack instead they simply attack for a few moments before retreating.
Sometimes, they attack every fifteen minutes, sometime half an hour sometime every five minutes, harassing the formation of the horse riders each time
But each time, the horseriders has to let them go because of the mobility of the people that both Belarion and Mayeux commanded.
However how could these two forces, the Xeqani forces and Brolgadhr forces compare to the forces of the Utgard tribe.
From the beginning of the battle, they did not appear even once. Thy have been biding their time and they must have enough rest.
So, compare do the exhausted warriors of the Xewa tribe, the forces under Garron right now have high morale sand even higher combat power.
Aeryon could not see what is happening but he could hear ruckus. Then a voice spreads through the area
'I raise my banner following Aeryon the son of Rakarys. People of Utgard, attack the Xewa tribe!' the shout shocked everyone and the content of that shout stunned people
Xeqani who was smiling when he saw the reinforcement suddenly wanted to faint. It was at this moment, that he knew that Garron had never truly surrendered to him
'People of the North!' he shouted with gritted teeth.
'Garron The Viper!' he could not help but roar. Xeqani took his sword and sling the bows and arrows behind his back and then he rushes toward the settlements.
'I will kill you Garron!' Xeqani knows that the first target would not be him but the settlements of his tribe
At the same time, all over the settlement, the people of Utgard raise their weapons and began attacking the Xewa tribe.
Hundreds of fire arrows were launched toward the settlements.
This is unlike Belarion and Mayeux attack before.
This is now a fighting between almost an evenly matched horse warrior.
Aeryon could not see Garron but he heard his shout and his eyes shines
And many things that did not make sense before has now makes sense in his mind. So, I am the bait, he thought to himself.
But Aeryon did not have time to think more as he is once again besieged in all sides. But this time, as Aeryon breaks through this besiegement, he could see many more gaps and many more path he could walk.
'Hyargh!' he stabbed a person before jumping to the side, rolling and then cut someone else feet, get up and kick a person dodging arrows and spear and then kills with swiftness and agility.
All of this is done in a swift and elegant manner.
In the beginning, Aeryon was not very proficient.
But after killing hundreds of people, even if you did not know how to fight before, after fighting this long with this many people, even a pig could learn how to fight
It helps when your mistake did not lead to your death.
This allow Aeryon to learn how to use his attack.
Where to strike, when to strike, how to dodge, when to dodge.
And now, it felt like a second instinct to him.
He could even sense people who were about to attack him and even before the card activated to save him, he now could doge certain attacks by himself.
Aeryon thought that invincibility is the only perk of this card. But when he sues it in battle like this, Aeryon found another use of this card.
To gain experience in fighting a life and death battle.
Who could be as lucky as him to be thrown off into a battle this intense yet having the chance to always survive and learn from it?
It is like dying and living over and over again and learning from the mistake he did.
There were many times in the beginning where he would make a mistake but the card would save him by either changing the trajectories of the weapon aimed at him or controlling his body in that time to dodge the weapon.
In the beginning, Aeryon basically relied on this feature but as he thought about it, he began contemplating the movement that he did when the card takes over his body.
And slowly he himself began to become accustomed with the movement of his body.
He would attack people when they show their weakness, dodge when he felt danger, evade and swivel around his enemies like a loach, killing while swiftly moving forward.
his footwork that was clumsy in the beginning now has a trace of elegance.
And when he fights now, he no longer has any hesitation. Each strike he takes is make with the intention to completely sever one life
And amidst this chaotic battlefield, he could see in the distance the forces of Utgard tribe are now entangled with Xewa tribe forces.
Garron in one swoop manage to break the entire flank of the army.
This is because his arrival was not guarded against and so, Garron army hit the rear and quickly tore apart the defences.
Aeryon look around him and he rushed toward the direction of the battle between the forces of Utgard and the forces of Xewa tribe.
Garron make use of him. So, he will also make use of Garron.
Belarion and Mayeux who was watching this unfold was shocked
'The Skyfather is helping my brother!'
Belarion shouted and this time even the most sceptic would be moved.
Tonight, they see a miracle
Their leader fought against hundreds of people from midnight till almost dawn and killed hundreds of warriors even under heavy siege.
And their chief survived and is still fighting.
That alone boils the heart of the young warriors and shocked the veterans. Even Belarion is shocked and even Mayeux could not hide his feeling
But, then an even more absurd thing happens. Garron who they thought would reinforce the Xewa tribe suddenly defected and is now attacking the Xewa tribe
Mayeux sitting on his horse thought for a moment. Is this a trap? Is this to lure them out? Or to lure his chief out?
But then he looks at the battle in the distance and he shook his head
Maybe, Yan people could make such a crafty scheme but even if Garron could make such a craft scheme of hurting himself to gain the trust of others, it could not be done in the Great Steppe.
Because the culture is different.
The moment Garron turns his back against the Xewa tribe, and the moment he kills the people of the Xewa tribe, Xeqani had to maintain his honour
And there is no need to employ such a scheme when even in Mayeux estimation, the losing side would be Aeryon side.
So, the betrayal is real. Since it is real, what is he waiting for?
Mayeux look at Belarion with eyes shining and then said
'This is a chance for us to make great contribution!' Belarion was startled by the sudden declaration. Mayeux smiles as he looks at the fifty men and he nodded
'We could do it!'
Belarion does not understand what Mayeux is trying to do but then Mayeux explain it to him and to the men and they all nodded
'Let's make a great contribution!' they all shouted
Mayeux is the one that is most excited. His eyes are shining like never before.
He looks at the distance, and he could see that his chief is still fighting and he could not help but shake his head and spoke
'I was not wrong. There is a chance of victory!'
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