1453: Revival of Byzantium

Chapter 392: You Got Buffed!

"When he had shot his bolt and had smitten one in the throng, then would that man fall where he was and give up his life..."

-        Homer, The Iliad

The Ottoman soldier who passed his commander the bow a while ago gaped in awe as he listens to the bellows coming right beside him. He had never knew that the rival his commander is aiming at is the Basileus of the Rumelians, and furthermore he remembers that there are clear instructions from the higher ups that they should never take any form of action against the important members of the Rumelians for a simple reason; The Sultan's government is still thinking of negotiating a peace deal with the Rumelians and get a relatively peaceful eastern front while they deal with the rebellious pasha in the north and the beast in the south. 

But what can he say, it is not like he is a commander commissioned by the Sultan or some thing, he is merely a soldier serving his terms. He took a deep breathe and hissed. "Commander! Bey! We need to get out of here now, we might be surrounded!"

Emir Bey is clearly displeased by this rookie who just came to disturb him from showing his man hood and trophy in slaying a ruler from the rival state, but still he too saw a fleet of heavy infantries approaching them from two directions. Knowing that if they stay rooted here for any longer their consequences might end up just like the target they picked down a while ago. "Fine!" Emir Bey sighed and raised the bow in to the air again. "Boys! Let us get the hell out of here! And for the very last time! Shout out for me! We have slain the emperor of the Rumelians!" 

The soldiers around Emir Bey followed their commander and shouted out the exact same thing and started planning for another round of charge to slice in to the wings of their enemies aiming to get out of this place right through the Romans causing a stampede in the enemies in the process again, it always have worked in the past against the enemies who have lost their will to fight due to the loss of their commanders. And Emir Bey has faith that these Rumelian peasant conscripts does not stand a chance against his superior armoured mounted troops. 

But amidst the shout, it seems like the arrow Emir Bey shot just now has used up all of his luck, as the target who is supposed to be dropping dead now suddenly stood back up again with the help of his sword, with all of his might Constantine stood firm again, removed the helmet with a dent on the back protecting his head, and revealed what it seems to be a layer of silken linen, exactly the thing that successfully absorbed the impact of the arrow, making him look like he is not injured at all from the front. Constantine took two big gasps of air trying hard to not black out and fall again, realizing he has already lost any sense or feeling on the back of the head he still persevered and shouted.

"Hey! Infidels! Ottomans! Are you looking for me?!... I must tell you since you are standing on the Roman lands, that spreading rumor of the Augustus' demise can be charged in to death!? And my sons I am alive! I am alive!" Constantine took a look at a soldier with a teenager's face who was running alongside him all the while, never realizing that he was attempting to flee the battle field together with the Basileus. "Come soldier, you got the strength that my aging body does not have Do me a favour, lift me up from the ground and show to the others that I am still alive, please." 

It took a second for the boy to come back to realisation and nod his head frantically, then he squatted down allowing the emperor to sit on to his shoulders and lifted the emperor up, instantly making the face of the emperor visible to almost every one, including that of the Ottomans. Feeling powerless Constantine hugged the teenager by his leather helmet, raised his hands and continued giving his speech. "My sons! Do not worry! I have been blessed by the virgin Mary; I have received my power of slaying all evils lurking on the world by Saint Michael! Believe in me, my sons! I shall bring you, all of you out of this crap hole. But first we need to chase these four legged bastards out from our lines! Come with me!" 

Seeing the emperor giving the speech as usual, Mauro heaved a sign of relief and hurried his reinforcements to come to the side of the emperor. He saw the Ottoman charge ten minutes ago from his position, and immediately he realised that the emperor must be in trouble and quickly scrambled a task force to reach there as fast as possible himself. And he got to say, that when he heard the Ottomans shouting that they have slain the emperor he almost crapped himself in the pants, because his superior Giovanni has reminded him countless times before his departure that the emperor can be a nuisance and distraction when it comes to military planning and execution, but still if he loses a finger the war is considered to be an instant failure, and he needs to be protected at all costs, even if it costs Mauro's life.

Mauro is relieved, but that does not mean that the emperor is now safe as from his angles on a mount, he can clearly see the Ottomans attempting to regroup and charge towards the direction of the emperor again. Mauro immediately gave a hard slash on his scarlet horse's back side charging forward frantically while his vice commander continued to lead the Latin heavy infantries forward in shield and cross bow formations. It is not only Mauro, the one who is here to save person, is frantic, his opponent Emir Bey, who is here to kill person, is even more frantic entering a berserk state where by he could hardly see any other target within those red eyes other than the target sitting on another person's shoulders. 

The teenager soon lost his sense of pride and honour of getting seated by the Basileus as he saw the almost four meter tall figure charging at him once again, he ended up running like a panicking duckling with the pride vanished in to thin air almost making Constantine fall from his shoulders. Still his actions are worth some compliment in the end, as due to his quick reactions he is able to bring the emperor further away from the enemies, successfully buying time for Mauro's horse. But there is still a maniac rushing behind them, pounding in to countless people on his way totally not giving a damn about his mount's health, creating a havoc inside his horse's interior organs with every meter he advances. 

The bey tried to do that trick again, pulling out his bow and fired an arrow at the target again only to prove the fact that doing the skill of a ride by shooting with precision is way too hard for him. That arrow glided past the emperor perfectly above his head, soaring in to a distance away beyond the sight of the naked eyes, not knowing which unlucky fellow shall it hit. The bey tried for a second shot, but there is one thing he failed to notice, that is the Latin mercenary that is fast approaching him with that unfamiliar riding skills. 

Mauro's heart almost leapt out of his ribs when he saw the enemy pulling his bow string, he literally pulled out his dagger and stabbed it right on to the back of his mount just to get some extra acceleration to compensate his poor riding skills. The poor mare let out a pitiful neigh and increased her speed, maybe Mauro knows that this time shall be the last time she can gallop at such speed on a battle field and later on she shall be killed from an infection by the untended wounds, but he could not care more or less. Seeing that he is approaching the target, Mauro took out his weapon of the day. 

It is a war hammer, with a metal rod acting as the handle and a small sized bronze ball that looked no bigger than those kinds of wooden balls played by kids nowadays, making people question whether it has any real combat capabilities. But Mauro is going to show them this time around, as he quickly approaches the unprotected maniac from the side, took his aim, raised the hammer and slammed it on to the head of the Ottoman maniac that is still wobbling unclear words in his mouth, unable to accept his defeat. Since he is having so much pain in trying to achieve a goal that is no longer possible for him to get, then perhaps it is the best if there are some one who can relieve him of the pain.