Chapter 823: Chapter 82 Enemy_4 Chapter 823: Chapter 82 Enemy_4 “Are these our captured brothers?” Samujin thought in agony, “But I have no strength left to save you!”
The captives on the shore were actually shouting just one sentence—”Don’t come over!”
However, the boats on the river were speeding up instead of slowing down.
The captain with his face covered became frantic, his eyes bloodshot, as he grabbed an axe, “It’s too late! Follow me!”
With those words, he charged ahead, leading the way toward a tent of the Terdun people on the shore.
The other captives hesitated slightly, but quickly picked up tools and even stones, following the masked captain towards the Terdun people.
Meanwhile, accompanied by the grating sound of winches turning, the oarsmen in the leading boat were horrified to see a long serpent leap up from the surface of the water, blocking their way.
No, not a serpent! Samujin recognized at a glance what it was—a thick cable stretched between both banks of the river.
The cable hung naturally, with the near-shore portion suspended above the water’s surface and the far-shore portion half-submerged.
The leading boat, caught off-guard, struck the cable and spun out of control.
As it turned, the small, stone-laden boat swayed like a leaf before abruptly capsizing.
The hastily constructed boats were flat-bottomed, shallow in draft but not shallow enough to glide over the cable, especially now that they were fully loaded.
“To the shore!” Samujin shouted with all his might, giving the order, “To the river shore!”
Before the sound of his voice faded, another boat crashed into the cable and overturned. The other oarsmen quickly turned their boats and drifted toward the shore.
With the near-shore cable hanging above the water, the small boats, now armed with axes and swords, could cut through it.
However, the Terdun archers were also on the shore, and as the fleet approached, they began shooting arrows.
Arrows fell like rain, and even the shields were not enough protection; oarsmen kept getting struck and falling into the water.
What happened next drove Samujin to despair—the watercourse successively rose with a second and then a third cable.
Even if the cables were not made of iron chains, three barriers were enough to destroy the entire fleet.
“Retreat!” gritting his teeth, Samujin gave the order.
It was at that moment that something unexpected occurred.
As if suddenly released from their constraints, the first cable violently retracted and then went limp, floating on the water’s surface.
The masked captain, having slashed through the cable, delivered a mighty axe blow to a Terdun attacker, nearly faltering himself.
He steadied himself and roared to his surviving men, “The next one!”
Seeing the commotion on the West Bank, Samujin realized that someone was risking their life to help.
“Do not fail them!” Samujin banged the war drums forcefully, “Row! Charge!”
The fleet returned to its original course, the oarsmen chanting as they swung their arms, the stone-laden boats ramming against the Floating Bridge with full force.
The Terdun were caught off guard, and the second and third cables were also severed by the masked captain.
The sound of hoofbeats came from behind, but the captain paid no heed; he just stared as the boats crashed into the Floating Bridge he had helped build, feeling a sense of satisfaction.
Aboard the boat, Samujin noticed the strange man wearing a mask, leaning on an axe, standing alone on the shore.
Samujin rose to his feet and saluted the man from a distance.
Beneath his scarf, a faint smile crept across the masked man’s face as he returned the salute with gravity.
More than ten boats broke through the river-blocking cables and resolutely smashed into the Floating Bridge. A few Terdun still held their positions, but most of them dropped their poles and turned to run.
“[Herde Language] Your people really are clumsy…” On the riverbank, a man watched the chaotic scene of horses and men fleeing, then turned to the others and said resignedly, “[Ancient Language] Help them… fortunately, the river is low now.”
Amidst the booming of the war drums, oarsmen leaped overboard to survive, and the leading small boats fiercely collided with the Floating Bridge.
The Floating Bridge tensed instantly, trembling slightly as if in pain.
Several anchor ropes securing the pontoons snapped, the boats capsized, and the bridge rebounded significantly.
“Good!!!” both Samujin and the masked captain shouted simultaneously. With ongoing collisions, the Floating Bridge would inevitably fail.
However, at that moment, the Big Horn River, which had been flowing quietly, began to swell. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novｅlfire.net
At first, there were only a few ripples, but quickly the ripples amplified into waves.
Under the gaze of everyone on both banks, the waves visibly grew more turbulent and the crests increasingly high.
The flat-bottomed inland vessels simply couldn’t withstand such large waves.
“Damn! This is…” Samujin cursed in anger and despair. Before he could finish, a wave as high as a man flipped over his boat.
The Floating Bridge, too, was rocked by the “tidal wave,” smashing back down onto the water’s surface and snapping a dozen more anchor ropes.
The river pulled people and splintered planks under the water, with the remnants of the wave reaching far and wide. The waves gradually subsided, and the raging river slowly returned to its usual calm.
Witnessing this “miracle,” the Terdun fell to their knees in worship.
The masked captain had no time for contemplation; he discarded his clothes and dived into the frigid waters.
Samujin could swim, but after gulping down a couple of mouthfuls of water, all that remained was the instinctual flailing of his arms. Soon, he lost consciousness.
As Samujin sank deeper and deeper, a pair of iron arms wrapped around him from behind, dragging him toward the surface.
Slightly conscious, Samujin faintly felt someone poking his mouth and throat, urgently, then he felt the air.
“Breathe!” said the stranger anxiously.
Samujin instinctively drew a deep breath, as if to burst his lungs. His body curled involuntarily like a shrimp, and his consciousness became clearer.
Then Samujin saw a face, a face without a nose, without ears, one side horribly scarred from burns.