561.There was no front or rear, no left or right
After the spear charge swept through once, the Wa line could no longer be called a formation.
The very idea of ranks had vanished.
There was no front or rear, no left or right—
only survivors writhing in place, swinging swords and spears to stay alive.
Where the cavalry passed, dust and a red mist of blood rose together.
Men screamed and rushed forward, others stumbled over fallen comrades, still others crawled left and right to escape the hooves—
when order is fully broken, only killing intent remains.
At the center of it all, Park Seong-jin felt the vibration through his entire body.
The ground thundered.
—thoom… thoom-thoom… thoom-thoom-thoom…
Hooves and footsteps tangled, and the floor of the battlefield heaved.
A Wa suddenly burst out, slashing at a cavalryman's shin.
The rider twisted the reins and threw his body sideways in an instant.
The blade slid through empty air.
The cavalryman dropped low and drove his spear upward beneath the man's jaw.
Thud.
Blood burst across the rider's face like a crimson mist.
Nearby, two Wa swung their blades at Park Seong-jin at the same time.
"Kiii—!"
Steel struck steel and sparks flew.
Leaning from the saddle, Park severed the neck of the man on his left.
The horse's forward momentum fed into the cut.
Wham!
Blood geysered from the throat.
In that moment, the man on the right grabbed Park's spear shaft.
Park yanked it back and snapped the man's wrist.
The crack of breaking bone slammed into the ears.
The man screamed and toppled backward.
Horse and rider twisted in the same direction, both seeking survival amid the chaos.
A Wa rushed in to cut at a horse's leg—
the horse reared and smashed its forehoof down onto the man's shoulder.
Crunch!
The shoulder bone collapsed and the body spread across the sand.
Another man crawled in, trying to drive his blade into the horse's belly,
but the startled horse twisted and shoved him aside.
Seizing the opening, the cavalryman stabbed downward, pinning the man through the back.
The spear point struck the ground beneath him—
thunk—
and his body was pressed flat.
Up to thirty jang ahead, no formation remained.
The Wa could no longer fight as a mass;
each man struggled to block attacks coming from front and rear with his own two arms.
Their sword arms still held strength,
but their legs trembled and their breathing turned animal-rough.
"Haa… haa…!"
Despair clung even to the sound of their breath.
One man staggered and collided with a fleeing comrade behind him; both fell together.
As cavalry thundered past them, a rider shouted,
"Clear the way!"
Hooves crushed both men in place.
The sound of breaking bodies, blood bursting from shattered sides—
flesh and entrails ruined beyond recognition.
Surveying the battle at a glance, Park Seong-jin spoke.
"Enemy formation collapsed.
Front ranks, clear them."
His voice was frighteningly calm.
The spear units gathered again into a single line.
Spear points aligned once more.
Song I-jeong shouted,
"General, the enemy center is empty!"
Park answered,
"It's not empty. It's broken."
In that instant, his spear shot forward like lightning.
"Press through!"
The cavalry carved through the mud-thick chaos once more,
charging straight into the shattered depths of the enemy.
---*
For a moment, the roar of the melee wavered and fell quiet.
After the cavalry ripped through the enemy's core, the battlefield lay confused and turbid.
Wa war cries, cavalry shouts, the groans of men and horses—
sounds devoured one another.
Then Park Seong-jin's command fell like thunder.
"Rally—!
Reform the line!!"
The words split the wind and cut across the field.
The spear cavalry, scattered while fighting, regrouped as if by magic.
(Group combat is still lacking. The training isn't enough.)
From the left, first and second ranks of spear cavalry,
behind them reserve cavalry with bows,
and finally the infantry closing the rear—
the formation reassembled in an instant.
Soldiers with blood on chest and back steadied their breathing atop their horses and reset their spears.
"Match your breathing!
Steady yourselves!
Raise the spear points!"
Crooked spears straightened one by one.
Iron, sound, and the flow of air aligned into a single, taut line.
The Wa thought the chaos they had just endured was the end of the battle.
But the moment they saw Goryeo reforming, their faces twisted.
"W—what…"
"They're coming again!"
Reduced to routed remnants, the Wa stumbled backward, raising swords with trembling hands.
Their shoulders shook with screams.
A Wa commander shouted desperately,
"Don't fall back!
If we retreat here, it's over!
Don't climb the mountain!
Hold here!!"
But morale was already broken.
No one stepped forward.
Park Seong-jin raised his hand high, pointing to the sky.
The wind paused for an instant.
Then his hand cut forward.
"Advance."
Hooves seized and tore at the earth.
Dudududududu—!!!
It was a small earthquake.
Dozens of silver spear points caught the sunlight and thrust forward like a single white arrow.
Twenty jang.
Ten.
Five.
Spear tips and the enemy's dark, gleaming eyes locked onto one another.
A few Wa whispered,
"Don't come… don't come…"
It sounded less like a plea—
and more like a prayer.
"Set!"
Park's final command struck like lightning.
The spear points dropped in unison.
And—
that was the end.
Boom—!!!!
The cavalry's second charge was heavier, more lethal than the first.
The Wa front rank was torn free and flipped away as if uprooted tree stumps.
Spear points forced their way between armor plates,
hooves stamped through blood-soaked ground,
and screams vanished into dust.
Having lost both formation and space to retreat, the Wa no longer had the strength to organize at all.
Routed men pressed in from behind, colliding with one another in the confusion.
"Aaaaargh—!!!"
"Help! Don't push!!"
Through their torn screams, the spear line flowed downhill like a river.
Where that current passed, the word formation no longer applied.
Only the scattered debris of defeat remained.