The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 322

Clang!

The chair Borte was sitting on shattered into pieces.

Borte, who kicked and destroyed the chair, glared at the Great Chieftains who had demanded to go to war.

He was burning up inside.

After prohibiting any external activities and ordering them to stand by, the internal dissatisfaction had slowly been building up as time dragged on.

It was a situation where a rebellion could break out at any moment.

“You’re saying you want to leave the main force?”

The Great Chieftains offered their reasons in response to Borte’s voice, which was filled with murderous intent as he growled lowly.

“We must not overlook the growth of their power any longer. We must mobilize our forces and begin the attack now.”

“If we continue to stand by, we will be overwhelmed by their numbers and defeated without even being able to use our full strength when the battle finally breaks out.”

The argument that they should attack before the tribes united further seemed plausible at first glance.

However, Borte could see their intentions all too clearly.

Although they were bound by his orders now, there was no guarantee that those who left would ever return.

“Do you think I’m joking?”

Borte’s face contorted.

Every glance and word from the Great Chieftains seemed to suggest that they did not acknowledge him as their leader.

Those who couldn’t even breathe properly under the Dark Lord’s power were now slowly starting to voice their own opinions.

Even now, that was the case.

No answer came back to his question.

At that moment, a subordinate suddenly burst into the ger [a traditional Mongolian round tent] and spoke in a hurried voice.

“Those who went hunting have returned empty-handed.”

“What?”

“They say that the beasts in this area have disappeared as if by magic.”

“……!”

“It is suspected that they have played some trick. As a result of the investigation, similar situations are occurring simultaneously in several places.”

Borte finally realized the seriousness of the situation upon hearing the subordinate’s report.

“We must secure food as soon as possible. At this rate, we won’t be able to last ten days.”

Borte groaned.

It was obvious what kind of situation would occur if the food ran out immediately.

As expected.

“If you allow it, I would like to head to a more distant hunting ground to search for prey.”

One of the Great Chieftains opened his mouth as if he had been waiting for this moment.

It wasn’t difficult to guess his true intentions.

He was planning to leave the main force and find his own way to survive.

However, if he readily allowed this, it would clearly encourage other Great Chieftains to defect.

Suppressing the rising anger, Borte ordered.

“Organize a hunting party. Secure food as quickly as possible, but don’t go too far. It is highly likely that they have set a trap and are waiting.”

“……Understood.”

He didn’t like the way they reluctantly answered, but there was no other way for now.

After the Great Chieftains left, Borte, who was left alone, opened his mouth irritably.

“How long are you going to stand by and watch?”

Even though he knew they were watching from somewhere, the other party did not respond.

So Borte spoke once more.

“Didn’t you say you would help me? It seems like we need to make an example at this point for the sake of my authority.”

“How pathetic.”

“What did you say?”

Borte turned his head towards the direction where the voice came from.

Galyun-ui, who had revealed himself nearby, was standing there with a cold look in his eyes.

“Isn’t it time you realized it?”

“Realize what? What are you talking about?”

Galyun-ui’s lips twisted slightly at Borte’s question.

“Isn’t it true that you didn’t acquire the power yourself in the first place?”

“……!”

“Originally, rewards without effort are as fleeting as this.”

Borte’s face turned red at Galyun-ui’s mockery.

Regardless,

Galyun-ui continued.

“Is that what the leader of an army about to go into battle should be thinking? If you kill the Great Chieftains now, the Blood Cloud Squad’s morale will plummet.”

Borte’s eyes widened.

“What? Are we about to go into battle?”

Galyun-ui nodded readily.

“Bayan’s movements don’t seem normal. It seems like they will move in some way soon.”

“Why didn’t you…….”

“Didn’t I tell you in advance?”

Borte couldn’t hide his displeasure at being cut off by Galyun-ui.

However, he finally exploded at Galyun-ui’s next words.

“If you had told me? Would you have had the ability to do something with that information? You would have ruined our plan by acting rashly.”

“How dare you!”

Borte was furious at Galyun-ui’s attitude of ignoring him.

Borte, who was reaching out to grab his spear, paused.

A chilling presence reached his neck.

When he lowered his head, he could see a white dagger smiling just below his chin, and the assassin holding it.

Galyun-ui, who had easily subdued Borte’s outburst, opened his mouth in his unique, monotonous voice.

“If you don’t have the ability, you should at least have some sense. You still don’t realize your position.”

“…….”

“Don’t forget. You’re not the only one aiming for that position. Besides, there’s no rule that the leader of the Blood Cloud Squad must be you.”

Galyun-ui, who had been staring silently at the subdued Borte, chuckled and nodded.

Then, the assassin from the Black Night Bees, who had been holding the dagger to Borte’s neck, slowly stepped back.

Borte swallowed hard and stroked the area around his neck.

Then, he glared at Galyun-ui and growled lowly.

“When will your work be over?”

Galyun-ui smiled bitterly and sighed.

“It’s not easy. It’s really not easy.”

After the Dark Lord’s assassination failed, Cho Ak-ryang and Han Seol-hwa had been staying by Dan Ak-seon’s side at all times.

“The opportunity will come soon. When they move, we will be able to complete our mission.”

At that moment, Borte could sense it.

He was not included in the “we” that Galyun-ui was talking about.

* * *

“We have discovered two scouts.”

Turga groaned at the report from his subordinate, who had been scouting the hunting grounds.

“Is it a trap after all?”

He had set out to hunt with a large number of subordinates.

He couldn’t return empty-handed.

After a moment.

“First, eliminate the scouts to buy time. Then, return quickly.”

As soon as the Great Chieftain’s order was given, several members of the Blood Cloud Squad carefully climbed the hill.

Two horses grazing leisurely in the distance.

And as Bayan’s warriors sitting on them and chatting came into view, they nocked their arrows.

Shoosh.

The arrow that left the bowstring drew a long curve and hit its intended target.

The Blood Cloud Squad, confirming the enemy scout falling powerlessly from his horse, hurriedly began to return with the hunted beasts.

A little later.

“Did they leave?”

Surprisingly, the man who had been shot by the arrow and fell was slowly getting up.

The other man, who had fallen with him, threw away the arrow he had been holding and grinned.

“They’re running away as fast as their tails can carry them.”

“They probably guessed that there were allied warriors ambushing nearby.”

“This will prevent them from having any other suspicions, right?”

Dokreungsan-eung, Jo Maeng-bang, and Hyeoleum-nobong, Yang Ik-cheon, who had been disguised as Bayan’s warriors, looked at each other and nodded.

In fact, pretending to be hit by an arrow was not a difficult task for masters of their caliber.

They could easily catch an arrow flying towards them if they knew in advance and prepared for it, let alone a stray arrow flying in the midst of a battle.

Moreover, the distance was far, so the enemies had no choice but to be caught off guard.

Therefore, they would firmly believe that they had shaken off the conspiracy, and they would not notice the real trap hidden within.

This was a strategy of Iyang-yeokwoo (以羊易牛) [sacrificing a sheep to save a cow, meaning giving up something small to gain something big], which meant giving up something small to get something big.

It was a method of hiding another scheme within a scheme, like covering a small fire with a big fire.

“Then, let’s go. To report to Lord Gokju.”

“Hehe. My body has been feeling sluggish for a while, but I’ll be able to properly loosen up soon.”

They felt a mix of relief and regret at the thought that this tedious prairie life would soon be over.

* * *

The next morning.

Two thousand cavalrymen lined up and prepared for battle.

“We have a duty.”

Bayan, standing at the head of them, opened his mouth to the warriors.

“We must pass on this prairie, which our ancestors pioneered with blood and sweat, to our children. That is the duty and right of a man and the master of this prairie. But we are now standing before a test of survival.”

Bayan continued his speech like a skilled motivator.

“This prairie is the only place where we have lived, will continue to live, and will lay our weary bodies to rest on the day our last breath is taken.”

Bayan raised his voice, meeting the eyes of each and every warrior who was burning with fighting spirit while holding their breath.

“Even if the world does not pay attention to what is being said in this place right now, we will remember it clearly. I dare say that our fight will remain as the most glorious record in history.”

Bayan could feel the military spirit emanating from the cavalry force that had formed a single entity.

Bayan’s encouragement reached its peak.

“Fight honorably under the protection of the prairie, and die honorably!”

“Waaah!”

The deafening roar that two thousand cavalrymen burst out at once filled the prairie.

“Let’s go! Today, we will wipe away the past disgrace with the blood and screams of the enemies who have desecrated this sacred prairie and regain the pride worthy of our honorable history.”

With those words, the two thousand cavalrymen, led by Bayan, began to gallop across the prairie.

Their only goal.

It was to wipe out the Blood Cloud Squad from this land.

At that moment.

The Blood Cloud Squad’s main base was in utter chaos.

This was because groans and screams were erupting from all over the place due to a sudden outbreak of a strange disease.

A mysterious skin disease that started in the morning.

The symptoms, accompanied by chills, fever, and lethargy, spread rapidly throughout the entire Blood Cloud Squad.

‘Damn it!’

Borte gritted his teeth as he scratched his arm, which was covered in blisters, as if he was tearing it apart.

He had never heard of a disease that spread so quickly.

Then there was only one cause.

It was poison.

Thud.

Eventually, the blisters burst and blood mixed with pus flowed down his arm.

As a result, his skin was already tattered like a rag, but he still couldn’t stop scratching.

It was then that he noticed the armor scattered here and there.

Borte shouted at the pathetic sight of his subordinates scratching their entire bodies, neglecting even the minimum amount of armament.

“Get a hold of yourselves! You morons!”

However, no one paid any attention to his words.

There was another person watching the scene from the darkness.

It was Galyun-ui.

“It seems there was a problem with the food they hunted.”

Galyun-ui smiled mockingly at his subordinate’s words.

“They’re utterly pathetic. How could they not even check such basic things?”

The Black Night Bees had been relying on dry food since they came here.

So they were able to avoid the disaster before their eyes.

At that moment, someone approached him and prostrated himself.

“The tribes, led by Bayan, have begun their advance towards this place.”

“Then we must prepare as well.”

“But is it okay not to inform them of this fact?”

Galyun-ui twisted his lips at his subordinate’s question.

“What does it matter to us if the Blood Cloud Squad collapses?”

“I’m sorry.”

“We only focus on eliminating the Divine Devil Immortal. That is the order we received.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

“A free-for-all will soon break out here. There won’t be a better opportunity than this.”

“But even the Dark Lord failed. Do you have a way?”

“He has a big weakness.”

“If you’re talking about a weakness……?”

Galyun-ui curled up a sinister smile.

“You will soon find out. I will take care of him with my own hands, so you guys move as instructed.”

“Understood!”

The assassins of the Black Night Bees melted into the darkness.