"Boom!... Wuuu!..."
The sunlight was clear and cold, the north bleak and murderous—perfect weather for killing. The Tendai Sect's fleet of Kan-style ships cut ten soaring trails of spray through the water, lunging toward the camp on the shore like vicious wolves. Then, at a distance of a hundred paces, the ten Kan-style ships nimbly turned as one, presenting their broadsides while their formation remained perfectly orderly.
"Swish!! Swish, swish!..."
A fierce shower of arrows shot out from the arrow slits along the sides of the Kan-style ships, flying toward the Kingdom's ship barricade. Through those narrow gaps, two staggered rows of warrior monk archers could be vaguely seen loosing one volley, then another.
"Swish!! Swish, swish!..."
"Thud! Thud, thud, thud!"
In just a few breaths, the Kingdom's ship barricade on the shore—from the bottoms of the ships to the middle hulls, from the gunwales to the raised shields—was bristling with long arrows with bluish-white shafts. Captain of Warriors Tami-kusa was sharp-eyed and quick-handed; he reached out, plucked free a long Wajin arrow, and examined it, his pupils shrinking.
"?!... Iron pointed arrowhead, a long wooden shaft, and evil runes carved on it?..."
Clearly, the Tendai Sect's fleet was rich and overbearing, and for this "Sanda gold-seizing," they had spared no expense. At this moment, even the Feathered Arrows they loosed were all "Iron-tipped Arrows," rare among the nomadic tribes of the north. And on the bluish-white shafts, tiny "Swastika Symbols" were carved—perhaps they had all been consecrated by high monks!
"Main God bless us! Shoot! Shoot!"
"Whoosh! Whoosh, whoosh!"
The Kingdom's bows had been influenced by Deer Tribe Sanda hunters and Jurchen tribal archers, using sinew tendons as bowstrings, their sound even sharper. Two or three hundred keen Feathered Arrows sprang up from the shore and, in the blink