Chapter 9 ( the Colossus attack)

Mingye Yan Naing had to control the fleeing soldiers. He yelled at them not to and ordered that anyone who fled from the battlefield shall be executed. All these efforts were in vain as the soldiers continued to run.

To add up, the elephant he rode was also showing aggressive behaviors due to all the noises, smoke, and screams. As it was shaking its back off, the driver began losing control. Mingye Yan Naing had to take off from the elephant and jump onto a horse quickly, escaping the deadly steps of the elephant. The soldiers from the front who had seen this thought that Mingye Yan Naing had also fled and began running.

He had to regroup the soldiers on the horse’s back. After reuniting with the commanders, he ordered the artillery troops to come closer to the wall. Meanwhile,

“Bang!”

A secret door on the wall was wide open. Through the door, there came horse-riding soldiers including Shin Ye Htut numbered up to sixties. They were the best among the experienced and were no match for ordinaries. They scattered their hair and wore darkened, soothed armor. Ashes were smeared on their faces and bodies. Stripes of phosphorus on their face and armor also gave a gloomy, phantom-like appearance. Amongst the dark, their phosphorus-smeared bodies glittered. Their weapons_ swords, spears, and maces also gleamed after swings due to the phosphorus. They might sickening yells like wrathful phantoms. Their attacks were as brutal as ogres. The fear lying in the hearts of imperial soldiers was unspeakable. After they got outside, the door closed.

These soldiers attacked mainly the artillerymen. The Ava soldiers, who had to fight phantom-like soldiers, being afraid of the witch and the weizza, and not having broken the wall, were left terrified and ran. Only Mingye Yan Naing and a group of commanders were left. The horse-riding soldiers quickly surrounded and caught them.

But Mingye Yan Naing wasn’t ordinary either. Wielding his sword, he dashed forward. His sword was long but as light as feather. Attacking the blocking soldiers, he escaped the capture. But other soldiers, including Shin Ye Htut, chased him. Shin Ye Htut began his speaking.

“Mingye Yan Naing, aren’t ye a man of truth? Why did thou commit unjust?”

“Hey, ye filthy rebel. I vowed only for the throne of Ava. Defeating ye rebels is my duty. Thou didn’t hand what we desire and committed against the Lord of Golden Palace,”

Zeya also approached while flying and asked,

“If ye truly are a man of duty, then why did thou saith nothing against the plan of turning young men into Nanarupas (cyborgs)? Is not thy duty to speak what is unjust? Were ye muted? Were ye worshipping the heretical ascetic?” Zeya could have stopped him via power, but he didn’t.

These questions truly muted Mingye Yan Naing for a while as he had been insecure about his actions. He favored neither U Agga nor his plan. He hadn’t spoken up against it just because it was the last straw for the country. Yet, deep inside, he was insecure. His heart was weary, and he felt sinned. Thus he could not speak against Zeya. At the same time, Saw Nan Mon also flew near him and said,

“O Minister, we, peasants, never planned to rebel. By saving the villagers, we have committed against the throne. If we will, we can raid the palace tonight,”

“Ye, witch! How dare thou speak that?” Mingye Yan Naing snapped and attacked her with his sword. Lady Saw Nan Mon protected herself with her swords and said,

“O Minister, witches have been in thy palace for so long!”

Her words confused Mingye Yan Naing for a moment. Slowly, he could interpret it. He had a suspect too.

“Gree…”

“BANG!”

A strike of thunder rumbled the earth. Mingye Yan Naing fell from his horse. Shin Ye Htut’s horse also stopped suddenly. For a moment, everyone’s ears were muted by the thunder strike. The smell of ashes and burning appeared. It wasn’t a cannon shot as the artillery troops had been defeated. By looking at the defensive wall in suspect, the view shocked everyone. Even Mingye Yan Naing screamed in fear.

A mangled humanoid creature, half once taller than the wall, was standing in front of it. Some parts of it were bone, some were maggot-filled flashes, and some were absent. Its eyes were gouging, and its mouth was filled with razor-sharp teeth. Even the tallest palm trees stood shorter than it. Its limbs were long and slender. Its ribs were visible. Putrid and vomiting smells appeared from it. The smells resembled that of bloated corpses. People inside the wall who saw the face were terrified. They were saying their prayers.

Zeya could see some string-like things on its back, coming from somewhere. Although they resembled strings, they were translucent. Zeya could see through them. He was confused. Others did not seem to see them.

“Are you seeing the ropes on its back?” Saw Nan Mon asked him. Zeya nodded in agreement. Finally, he was not the one seeing it.

“Those are strings from a witch. We must cut them,” She said and flew directly to the walls, and Zeya followed her.

The creature made an ear-bleeding, uncanny yell and kicked the wall, making a massive hole. Residents inside the wall were too terrified to move. Then, it stretched its slender limbs, posing to destroy the wall completely.

“Cring,” “Chuan,”

Saw Nan Mon cut the strings from its moving hand and back. Zeya cut the ones from the legs. Then he flew above, barely escaping the other moving hand. He broke the strings on the remaining hand and flew up more. He reached the height twice of the creature. Then, he came downward at a bullet’s speed. The creature opened his mouth, revealing its razor-sharp teeth, planning to eat Zeya as he arrived. But the creature missed. With great momentum, Zeya kicked the forehead.

“Gring!” A loud noise of bones switching appeared as the head was turned backward.

Cheers appeared from the residents inside the wall. Zeya’s plan was not to make it fall to the side of the wall after getting all his ropes destroyed. But the reality was in contrast. The creature didn’t fall after getting all the controlling strings cut. In reality, it was freed, became uncontrollable, and rampaged everyone in its sight.

As its head was turned backward, the creature unleashed its rampage on the fleeing imperial soldiers. It began grabbing them with its hand moving backward and fed on them, devouring them alive.

Although exhausted, Zeya was sympathetic toward the soldiers. He attacked the creature, by cutting all its limbs by hand. Only after he crushed the head, the creature stopped. Zeya finally sat on the wall, being tired. He was sweating and his chest rose and fell rapidly after all these long-haul fights. Yet, he managed to keep a smile towards the cheering crowd.

The creature’s master knew it was out of control since the strings got destroyed and fled. The person was wearing a dark Longyi and covered her face with a shawl. Saw Nan Mon chased her.

As soon as she noticed the chasing, the person threw pieces of paper backward. The pieces turned into flaming birds and charged towards Saw Nan Mon. Saw Nan Mon summoned snakes and made them eat the flaming birds.

The person then threw her with cotton strings, which turned into hot iron chains. Saw Nan Mon used her sword and cut them. Then, she threw a dagger toward the person. The dagger cut a finger from the person’s hand as she used her hand to cover. Mingye Yan Naing blocked the person on his horse and tried to catch her. But thick smoke appeared, and the person disappeared.

Mingye Yan Naing grabbed the cut finger from the ground. Upon seeing the royal ruby ring, he had guessed the owner.

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