Chapter 1027 - 248: Shaman and Demon Dragon

The defenders of Khovard were greatly encouraged, shooting a rain of arrows at the retreating Tatars.

But the fighting prowess of these Tatars was indeed formidable. Even in retreat, they maintained a tight formation, avoiding a complete rout.

The Demon Dragon overhead was indeed terrifying.

However, the Tatars, whether during their nomadic life on the steppes or during their conquests since the unification wars began, had encountered plenty of demons, fierce beasts, and extraordinary beings. Their great shamans never let them down.

They believed that with the Sky-reaching Shaman and the new generation of Beiqi Wusun Shaman present, no matter how terrifying the enemy's Demon Dragon, it could not threaten them.

The Tatars were full of confidence, but the newly joined Contract Army under Tatar command did not share the same level of assurance.

They had long heard of the Demon Dragon's terrors. Even a glorious dynasty like the Ayyubid collapsed under the Dragon Flame, and the entire Fire Worship world trembled under its fierce power. They had no courage to confront the Demon Dragon head-on.

Ivan and Fulk, just withdrawn from the battlefield, couldn't help but worry.

The core members of Ivan's unit were Syrians under Ayyubid rule, although they later absorbed many Central Asian nomads, the core circle had barely changed.

These people, strictly speaking, had fled to avoid the Frankish Demon Dragon. Now seeing the Pagan Demon King riding the Demon Dragon towards them, their legs grew weak.

"Thousand-man Commander, why has that damn Pagan Demon King come upon us? Isn't this the domain of the Sassanids?"

"Damn it, could it be that the Sassanid cowards, seeing they're unable to resist our military might, have defected to the Frankish barbarians?"

Ivan shook his head. He had no idea what was going on. It couldn't be that during his sea voyage from Eira Port to the Persian Gulf, the Franks had conquered the whole of Mesopotamia, right?

Fulk also wore a worried expression. He had anticipated that when Toqa Khan insisted on continuing the westward campaign, they might clash with the Franks, but he hadn't expected it would happen so soon.

"Should we report to General Subutai to find out where the Frankish army is?"

They both knew that the Frankish Demon Dragon was fierce, but the Crusader Emperor Losa rose not just because of the Demon Dragon; his army and witch consultants were also formidable.

"Let the Tatars' overseer report. The Franks are adept at using heavy cavalry for long-distance raids and have mysterious witchcraft to mask their movements. Be careful not to let them quietly circle behind us."

Having sent the Tatar overseer away, Ivan and Fulk exchanged a glance. Long before, when they heard that Toqa Khan was determined to break the alliance and proceed with the westward campaign, they had already discussed it privately.

Accumulating so much wealth wasn't easy for Ivan's unit. If things became untenable, they certainly wouldn't accompany these Tatars to their deaths, though they wouldn't betray on the battlefield either. But abandoning the Tatars to escape was definitely an option.

Boom—

As a fiery glow exploded in the sky, both the spirit of the Great Eagle and the Three-headed Demon Dragon vanished at the same time.

The Tatars looked up, their hearts trembling intensely. A terrifying aura rippled through the air, as if an exceedingly fierce battle was being waged in the sky.

The Wusun Shaman had unfolded his domain.

The Shaman and the Western Casters do not walk the same path, but in terms of destructive power and the application of spiritual power, the Wusun Shaman had undoubtedly long traversed the chasm of legend, effortlessly opening his own domain.

As the successor to the Sky-reaching Shaman, the Wusun Shaman's strength wasn't the most outstanding among the prairie shamans, but having assumed the title "Beiqi", as the highest leader of the Longevity Heaven Shamanism sect, it wasn't just a title.

In the East, "name" and "function" cannot be given to others. The Wusun Shaman's "Name of Beiqi" embodied the countless beliefs of the prairie, which the Sassanid priests failed to harness properly. That didn't mean the Wusun Shaman couldn't either.

The array of ceremonial instruments, which only Beiqi could wield, significantly closed the gap between him and the Sky-reaching Shaman, making him a formidable force even in the legendary domain.

The wolf's skull emitted a greenish glow, transforming into a massive grey wolf.

Legend has it that the Grey Wolf and the White Deer passed through the Tenggis Sea, arriving at the source of the Onon River in the Burkhan Khaldun, giving birth to the Tatar ancestor, Batachi Khan, and thereby the Grey Wolf Borjigin Chono is regarded as an ancestor of the Tatars.

This skull, both an ancestral spirit and an animal spirit, also embodies vast, magnificent power.

The Grey Wolf let out a long howl, and instantly the sky grew dim. Under the bright Milky Way, a bright moon hung in the sky.

The Grey Wolf howled a second time, simultaneously causing the splendor of stars and the bright moonlight to vanish as if swallowed whole by the great wolf, plunging the world into pitch darkness in the blink of an eye, where one couldn't see a hand in front of one's face.

This darkness was an application of laws. Even the Demon Dragon and Losa, at that moment, found themselves plunged into darkness, unable to see anything.

Longevity Heaven is an amorphous nature spirit, which can be a Grey Wolf, a White Deer, or a Great Eagle.

In an era when the tide of the Ancient God's collective demise was unstoppable, this nature spirit, much like the Christian God believers' faith, never truly descended to impose its will, leading followers like primitive settlements, driven by evil gods, endlessly struggling for live sacrifices without liberation from ignorance.

Yet, like the Totem Gods of primitive tribes, it could lend its mighty power to the clergy.

Moreover, the power of Longevity Heaven was far stronger than those Totem Gods.

"Impressive, even ordinary legends seldom command the application of laws. Is this the so-called power of Longevity Heaven?"

Losa praised as golden light bloomed in front of him. Dragon blood surged and roiled within him, transforming his eyes into a golden hue.

A screech—

At the instant his eyes regained sight, a sharp eagle claw assaulted him head-on.

Anyone might assume Losa, the dragon rider of the Demon Dragon, to be an absolute soft target for the fearsome Three-headed Demon Dragon's three heads, but the Great Eagle Spirit evidently picked the wrong target.

With a roar.

The golden javelin already launched from Losa's hand struck the Great Eagle Spirit head-on, shattering it into countless brilliant lights. These lights reassembled in the Wusun Shaman's hands. When he tried to revive it, he was stunned to discover that the spirit within the eagle's skull was utterly extinguished.

With just this one throw, this Western Emperor riding the Demon Dragon had obliterated one of his most powerful animal spirits right from its source?

"Impressive!"

The Wusun Shaman's eyes grew increasingly solemn as he began to regard Losa and the Demon Dragon as formidable rivals comparable to the mighty Sky-reaching Shaman Quanqu Chu.

The Wusun Shaman was formidable, but Ladon, the dragon that once destroyed Constantinople and made all of Christendom tremble under the Ottoman's iron hooves, also mastered the power of domains.

If Maham IV had tamed it when laying siege to Vienna, even the Winged Cavalry wouldn't have had the chance to shine.

Boom—

The domain of Demon Dragon Ladon, for the first time since Losa's battle with it in Constantinople, unfolded, enveloping the Wusun Shaman within.