The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 323

The disaster struck as it always did: without warning.

“Attack!”

The scream-like shout jolted the Blood Cloud Squad, who had been sprawled out, to their feet.

But even as they rose, a cloud of black arrows blotted out the sky.

“Kugh!”

“Keuk!”

Screams echoed as the arrow rain poured down, turning the camp into a scene of carnage. The surprise was complete.

Caught off guard, Borute struggled to gather his wits.

“What in the hell were the scouts doing?”

How could the enemy have approached so closely and launched a surprise attack without anyone noticing?

Borute’s eyes darted around wildly as he barely managed to mount his horse amidst the downpour of arrows.

The enemy’s size, now confirmed, far exceeded expectations.

He estimated roughly two thousand warriors.

It was absurd.

Such a large force approaching should have been detected long ago by anyone who wasn’t blind or deaf.

“Rearrange the ranks!”

At Borute’s command, the warriors of the Blood Cloud Squad, with minimal equipment, scrambled onto their horses.

Meanwhile…

“Only about a hundred or so…”

Bayan clicked his tongue inwardly as he watched the Blood Cloud Squad quickly form ranks and begin their retreat.

The Blood Cloud Squad’s total strength was five hundred.

Yet, the initial arrow attack had only taken out about one-fifth of their forces.

Considering the element of surprise, it was a disappointing result.

It was also proof of the Blood Cloud Squad’s combat specialization.

Even as they retreated, they launched arrows into the air.

At first glance, it seemed like random, excited firing, but any experienced warrior would recognize the outstanding technique.

A method designed to fundamentally block any pursuit.

They were accurately calculating their shots, ensuring that pursuing horsemen would be struck by arrows falling at different times as they passed the same location.

Moreover, even while retreating, the riders twisted in their saddles to fire arrows backward.

It was a technique known in the Central Plains as ‘back shooting’ (背射), a skill they were very wary of.

However, Bayan had no intention of relinquishing the victory he had seized.

“Pursue them from a distance! They’ll soon run out of arrows!”

Like most grassland warriors, the Blood Cloud Squad primarily consisted of light cavalry archers (輕裝弓騎兵) [soldiers who favored mobility over heavy armor, specializing in archery from horseback].

They minimized armor and equipment to enhance their mobility, specializing in long-range attacks with bows.

Their tactics relied on the excellent archery and horsemanship of each individual.

In reality, the tactics were simple.

They initiated battle within arrow range.

Using the distance to their advantage, they rained arrows in a hit-and-run fashion from beyond the enemy’s reach.

Only after the enemy had suffered significant damage and their ranks had begun to collapse did they engage in close combat to deliver the final blow.

Also, unlike the rigid soldiers of the Central Plains, the grassland warriors felt no shame in retreating.

They avoided getting bogged down in melee combat, instead circling on horseback, peppering the enemy with arrows. If the enemy pressed too close, they retreated without hesitation.

Using this strategy, they lured the enemy, and when the opponent’s ranks stretched thin, they used their superior mobility to encircle and annihilate them.

They also employed swivel tactics, constantly harassing the enemy with arrows.

The cavalry archers were organized into several groups, taking turns shooting.

The cavalry archers who had advanced to the front and exhausted their arrows would fall back to the very last rank to reload and rest.

Usually, each cavalry archer carried more than fifty arrows and had several horses, switching mounts to maintain the speed of the swivel tactics.

This allowed a single cavalry archer to rain arrows for over an hour.

Thus, a reserve of arrows was paramount.

The problem was that the individual capabilities of the Blood Cloud Squad far surpassed their own.

Because they were familiar with each other’s combat methods, they didn’t easily close the distance.

They repeated the process of firing arrows from a precarious distance and then retreating.

It was then that large flags appeared in various places within Bayan’s camp.

Flutter.

The flags fluttered in the wind.

Borute’s eyes widened as he read the words emblazoned on them.

―Those who desert the ranks will not be pursued.

Borute quickly scanned his surroundings and gritted his teeth.

They had suffered an unexpected surprise attack, and the situation was dire.

Furthermore, some members of the Blood Cloud Squad, weakened by the poison, were clearly showing signs of agitation.

“Don’t be fooled by their cunning tricks! They have no intention of letting us live! I will personally behead anyone who turns their back!”

Borute’s murderous shout restored some composure to the Blood Cloud Squad.

It was true.

They would show no mercy, just as they had shown none.

They knew all too well the evil deeds they had committed.

Nevertheless, as time wore on, the Blood Cloud Squad continued to suffer losses.

Horseback against horseback.

Moreover, since both sides were using the same strategy, it required intense concentration.

However, their poor physical condition, a result of the poison, and their minds in turmoil, prevented them from fully focusing on the battle.

That subtle difference accumulated, and the damage gradually increased.

‘Even so…’

A deep suspicion began to form in Borute’s mind.

Even considering all the unfavorable conditions, their mobility was significantly impaired.

It didn’t take long for him to realize the reason.

He belatedly noticed that some of their ranks were strangely tangled.

Borute’s eyes flashed with cold fury as he observed this carefully.

Bilge, who had betrayed the Khan, his own father, and joined the Blood Cloud Squad with his forces.

That bastard was subtly disrupting the retreating troops, hindering their movement.

‘Come to think of it?’

The soldiers under his command had also been responsible for today’s scouting.

More than that, unlike the rest of them, Bilge and his subordinates were already fully armed, as if they had known about the attack in advance.

Suspicion quickly hardened into certainty.

“That traitor!”

Borute spurred his horse toward Bilge.

Realizing this, Bilge frantically turned his horse.

However, he couldn’t outrun Borute, who had already gained momentum and reached his peak speed.

Belatedly, Bilge tried to draw his sword.

Swish.

But it was too late.

Borute’s sword, already past him, slashed across his neck.

With a spurt of blood, Bilge’s head rolled to the ground.

It was the miserable end of a man who had betrayed his father and then betrayed the Blood Cloud Squad.

However, Borute also paid a price.

Consumed by a moment of anger, he had left his command area, and the messengers conveying his orders had followed him, causing the formation to stretch out.

This became the decisive mistake for the Blood Cloud Squad.

“Now is the time!”

At Bayan’s command, heavily armed heavy cavalry began to charge.

The balance was broken in an instant.

The Blood Cloud Squad hurriedly formed ranks, raising their spears and swords, but it was impossible to stop the momentum of the charging heavy cavalry.

“Kugh!”

“Aagh!”

Blood splattered, and screams erupted throughout the Blood Cloud Squad’s ranks.

As the defending front ranks collapsed, agitation spread among the tribes that had been forced to submit to the Blood Cloud Squad’s power.

This led to desertion.

It was easy to start, and once it began, the numbers quickly grew.

The battle had tilted so far that even the mighty Blood Cloud Squad couldn’t recover.

Perhaps sensing their end.

Some of the Blood Cloud Squad rushed forward, disregarding their lives in a final, desperate stand.

However, their last stand, aimed at mutual destruction, didn’t last long.

“Do not pursue.”

Bayan did not pursue the remaining forces of the Blood Cloud Squad as they retreated in defeat.

A promise was a promise.

Besides, they had already suffered irreparable damage.

With their center of gravity gone and their solidarity shattered, it would be difficult for them to regroup.

Due to the evil deeds they had committed, they would never be able to set foot anywhere in these grasslands again.

They would slowly wither away in complete exclusion and isolation.

“Bring the injured this way!”

Meanwhile, Dan Akseon was busy treating the wounded from the battle.

Although they had won, many of their allies had been injured.

It was then.

“Seriously injured!”

At the shout, Dan Akseon turned.

A blood-soaked man, limping as he supported another, came into view.

Dan Akseon reflexively ran toward them.

Gal Yeom-ui, disguised as an injured man, inwardly sneered at Dan Akseon’s eagerness.

He now held the grand title of Divine Devil Physician and had established himself as a figure of significant influence in the Murim world [martial arts world], including the Nine Great Sects and the Green Forest [a collective term for bandits and outlaws], but before completing the petition to ban martial arts, he was just a young boy known only to a select few.

However, the New Cult had been watching Dan Akseon from the beginning.

Coincidentally, every move he made interfered with the New Cult’s plans.

Absurdly, these moves weren’t even aimed at the New Cult.

However, as a result, the New Cult’s carefully laid plans were severely disrupted.

Two of the Six Demon Sovereigns had already died, and the Bukhae Ice Palace and the Tang Clan had fallen too easily.

The plan to reorganize the orthodox Murim world around the Zhuge Clan had also failed, and the goal of using the heretics as vanguards for the conquest of Murim had only achieved limited success.

‘Does fate really exist?’

Perhaps it was because of the blood of those two people, the Divine and the Demonic, that the monster called fate had brought that child to where he was now.

But what was certain was that today was the last day.

There had already been several assassination attempts against Dan Akseon.

All had failed.

But they hadn’t been without results.

Based on the accumulated data, they had thoroughly analyzed Dan Akseon’s personality and behavior patterns.

‘People don’t change easily.’

Among the assassination attempts, the closest to success had been when the assassin was disguised as a patient.

That had been the case in Kunlun, and that was the case here in the grasslands.

In fact, the Dark Lord had almost succeeded.

The defenselessness he displayed when dealing with patients.

That was Dan Akseon’s only weakness.

‘There is only one variable.’