CHAPTER 23: [The curse land] - [Taste lost] - [The raging slaughter of war] - [3]

A few hours earlier, the beginning of the battle.

Gu-shisan looked around him puzzled, he had seen great battles but that was something far worse. He couldn't even dare to compare the atrocity of the battle and the number of deaths to his past experiences.

This wasn't like a battle for leadership between two groups, it was war.

He followed behind Ying-ba that was leading the group of generals to the battlefield. Around them there were countless fights, but the enemies ran as they advanced to the door of the temple's main building.

Gu-shisan could see that the strongest warriors on the opposite side were killing eagle soldiers, and at their center was an old monkey that seemed to be the temple's master from his natural aura.

Ying-ba gave the generals the order to disperse and help their soldiers and to send the second wave of soldiers and quickly attacked one of the eagles sending him flying using a powerful air rush.

The generals all went in different directions and once they were far enough they all took whistles that they had tied around their necks and blew it to give the signal of the real wave of attack.

Gu-shisan had decided to take on the disciple of the temple master after he had seen both Ying-ba and the temple's master leave.

He approached them full of rage and resentment and swung his sword with both his hands as he dashed to his first target.

Sensing his presence and strength all the disciples finished slaughtering their opponent and all turned around to face him.

His first opponent used his sword to parry the hit but was pushed back by the strength and coughed blood as he had taken damage to his internal organs.

All the disciples decided to attack him at the same time so that they could quickly kill him to continue killing more eagle soldiers, they also feared his strength and wanted to ensure their victory.

Gu-shisan that had trained after his defeat when he was hiding as a night patrol guard as he had found himself to be too feeble, and after the training he had undergone he was now stronger than he had ever been.

He would have usually charged his enemies but this time he remained at the same location and moved his sword in front of him and closed his eyes.

The disciples all attacked him from a different angle, they also seemed to be able to fight using beast like movements that looked almost instinctive. They wear their fast but they didn't take the time to properly think about their surroundings or an incoming enemy, as they moved while reacting to what was happening and solemnly relied on their senses.

As the disciples' attacks were going to reach Gu-shisan he suddenly opened his eyes and ten swords appeared in the sky beside him. They were exact replicas of his own and they perfectly followed his will.

His swords all protected him from the disciples, and soon each disciple was facing a floating sword. He could control each of his aura swords at the same time and could replicate his fighting style using them.

This meant that he had the fighting power of ten of himself until he ran out of mana to form the sword, when that would happen his swords would all disintegrate and he would be able to summon them for a while.

Gu-shisan separated all the disciples, he forced them to individually fight one of his floating swords while he took on the previously injured disciple and another disciple.

He now swung his sword in one hand and it looked as if his sword was cutting the air itself creating trailers of sparks that followed his sword's path.

Both his sword and the injured disciple's sword collided and Gu-shisan's sword cut through his opponent's sword like butter. Gu-shisan had actually purposely hit the exact same location on the sword and had concentrated his aura in his blade to augment its destructive power.

His sword then directly headed for his bust and the injured disciple was cut in half in a single motion from Gu-shisan's sword.

The second disciple was horrified by the strength Gu-shisan was displaying and jumped back ro escape from his opponent.

Gu-shisan moved forward pointing his sword forward to his enemy, but the disciple reacted by stepping aside and successfully dodged the attack.

Gu-shisan then swung his sword sideways and hit the disciple in the back, making him fall to the ground.

The disciple turned around as he felt a sword coming down on him and both the swords shocked each other, making the disciple's hands numb. He could barely stop Gu-shisan strength using both his hands and felt that the strength in his arms was abandoning him as Gu-shisan pushed his swords down while adding more strength.

His knees started to bend as he was overpowered by Gu-shisan's strength, he was holding his sword with one hand on the handle and the other one on the blade's side to stop Gu-shisan's sword.

Gu-shisan removed his pressure and stroke with a powerful direct attack. The opponent that had just been relisted from his position of weakness barely had time to move his sword in the way of the attack. His arm was pushed back by the strength as he was holding his sword with one hand while getting up using the other.

The disciple's arm now out of the way Gu-shisan used the opportunity he had created to cut through his opponent's left pectoral and shoulder with a strong and precise single movement.

Having lost the use of his left arm the disciple could only use one of his hands to hold his sword and he began to lose a lot of blood.

The disciple struggled to fight Gu-shisan's blade, as time passed he was getting slower and his reaction time was getting wider. One minute later the disciple was completely worn off and was ready to go to the afterlife without Gu-shisan helping him, his legs faltered and he fell to the ground like a rock, his face directly hitting the floor.

Gu-shisan looked at him from above and his eyes looked like the pathways to hell, his deep hatred could be seen by looking at his eyes.

"S-spear me ple-eas don't kill m-me, I wi-ill be useful as a pris-soner, I have infor-rmation that could g-greatly help you in your war." The disciple said as he gasped for air and tried to hold on to his life.

Gu-shisan didn't answer him, he looked at him with a face that showed deep disgust. A true warrior even if he had committed countless unforgivable acts would never commit treason to save his life.

He took his sword with both hands, the blade facing the ground and with a downward motion he impaled his enemy to deal him the final blow.

"It's the essence of a warrior to have loyalty to the person they serve. You are not a true warrior, you don't deserve to die on the battlefield killed by a sword. But you have to die for the sins you've committed, I hope that you will remember what a true warrior is in your next life." Gu-shisan said as he removed his sword and swung it in the air to remove the blood.

The disciple gave his last breath after hearing Gu-shisan's words and tears appeared in his eyes as he left to meet death's embrace.

Gu-shisan looked around him, the situation was now in favor of the eagles as their temple master was nowhere to be seen, and half of their main disciples had been killed by his blades while he was fighting the two disciples.

To control his blades he had to divide his brain in multiple parts that would each control one sword. This demanded extreme concentration, as he had to keep providing aura to his swords so that they didn't dematerialize. It also took a lot of mental strength as he was fighting multiple persons at the same time.

It could be said that his aura swords were stronger than himself as they weren't restrained by any physical body that held them, they could easily maneuver while flying and there was no risk of injuries as they weren't living things.

As Gu-shisan finished his fight a student wave of war cries came from the fall. He looked up and witnessed a wave of eagle warriors coming down from above and falling on their enemies like a deadly rain.

Hundreds of berserk eagles all attacked as a united front with the only fight to kill their enemies until none was left.

The fight that was already in favor of the eagle after the defeat of half of the main disciples, quickly turned into a one way massacre. The monkey soldiers were getting pushed back and killed by the overwhelming number of enemies.

Gu-shisan killed the rest of the top disciple easier as he could now send two swords against one opponent.

After another hour of war the only people standing were the eagles. The battlefield was a gruesome sight, this battle was a victory but every eagle present on the battlefield stayed silent and mourned the fallen.

The cries of dying eagles and injured filled the space and the warriors stood covered with the blood of their enemy and comrades.

The soldiers slowly regained movement and started to take care of the injured, they were brought to the medical that had been set up at the rear of the camp that had been set up in front of the temple.

Ying-ba had asked for a very long tent to be made as he had anticipated that they were going to be a lot of injured in the battle. He had also asked the doctors from each settlement to train more assistants so that they wouldn't be overwhelmed when the time came to heal a lot of soldiers.

Gu-shisan returned to camp and headed to Ying-ba's tent. All the generals arrived one after another but it seemed two of them had perished in the war. The generals waited patiently for their lord to return seated on their respective chairs that surrounded a round table.

Time passed and it had been thirty minutes when a huge explosion happened on the mountain behind the temple resulting in its destruction. Forty-five minutes later a soldier hurried into the tent to inform them that their lord had been brought back unconscious by Gu-washi.

The generals all rushed to the medical tent where there was a separate room created for Ying-ba. Ying-ba was in a coma and didn't seem to have suffered from too much damage and Gu-washi was seated on a chair beside him. He had an absent look and was covered in blood as his injuries had reopened when he had escaped the explosion.

TO BE CONTINUED…