while chanting the slogan of “hang on.” In addition to his superb martial arts, all the enemies were stupefied at his grey moustache and his bay horse with white mane. He impaled the waist of a Qalmaq general named Muradil on his spear. Muzburchak was in the act of returning back to the battlefield when his stomach was pierced by the spear of another Qalmaq general named Ushang. Hardly had the senior hero fallen down to ground from his horse because of the injury when a bunch of Qalmaq soldiers surrounded him and began to punch him violently. The clothes of Muzburchak and the ground around his feet were splattered in blood soon. At such a critical moment, Kyrgolchial and others ran towards the senior hero so as to help him break through the heavy encirclement. Although Kyrgolchial was famous for his unprecedented courage and valor, he could not defeat the enemies as well. Finally, Kyrgolchial was caught alive by Qalmaq generals and tied together with Muzburchak. They showed no fear while the Qalmaq people beat the devil out of them with all different kinds of weapons. Meanwhile, Serik and Majik continued charging to and fro and hewing at enemies with their knives. No sooner had he thought of the two heroes abused by Qalmaq villains then Serik could not restrain the bitter resentment. The strong will enabled the fearless to muster up his courage once again before fighting hand to hand with the vicious Qalmaq general called Batak. After Serik struck the vicious enemy down to the ground, Majik made it in time from behind and jumped on Batak. The head of Batak was cut off in an instant. Thanks to their unrivaled courage and superb martial arts, they succeeded in breaking up the crowd of Qalmaq soldiers and saving the two heroes under siege. Majik was in the act of rushing back into the crowd for fighting when an unexpected arrow shot by an enemy lodged in his body. Majik, a faithful warrior of Manas with the exceptional courage and enterprise, succumbed to the injury in the battlefield.
Although Serik succeeded in saving the two senior heroes from the predicament, he was surrounded by more than five thousand Qalmaq soldiers tightly. The young warrior was quite composed in the face of so many formidable foes. At the thought of those deceased companions, the youth could not restrain his fury any more. He rode his magical horse and waved his spear vigorously, sweeping through the length and breadth of the battlefield without hindrance. In a frenzy of hate the warrior with a superb martial art killed a lot of his enemies. As a result, the surviving Qalmaq soldiers were so
Legend of Manas
scared that they did not dare to close in on Serik. Some of them even began to hurl curses at Konurbai and other cruel chiefs for they bullied them into fighting Kyrgyz warriors in the battlefield. All in a fluster they fled quickly in all directions in the end. Having seen all those bully-boys retreating at the top speed, Serik was ravished with joy for the first time in his life simply because the foes had learned how valorous he was.
Konurbai was also friengtened at the sight of the stalwart warrior in the battlefield. He thought of a wicked trick instantly. “Look, so many valiants of us got killed by the evil Kyrgyz people. Just look at the arrogant air those Kyrgyz villains are wearing, especially Almambet, who already betrayed his Khitan compatriots. My dear friend, Shipshiayidar, just try your best to puncture their arrogance please. They look down upon you as a coward. Please win credit for yourself by showcasing your martial art. Only you are the hero throughout the world,” Konurbai said to sharpshooter in order to play him off against the Kyrgyz warriors.
However, Shipshiayidar flared the warmonger a contemptuous glance. “I remember that you once said you were the only hero across the world. How can you feel so sad today? Do you wanna order me to fight hand to hand with Kyrgyz soldiers? I will not lose my life in the battlefield just for you right now. I have already made a perfect arrangement. Take it easy,” the sharpshooter replied. Konurbai ordered to withdraw all his troops at the request of the sharpshooter after that. They were determined to keep on fighting on the following day.
Similarly, Manas ordered his understrappers to count the casualities carefully. In spite of the grief caused by the loss of so many warriors, they were also determined to fight to the end on the following day before winning the war finally.
Though he sustained serious injuries and narrowly escaped being killed by Qalmaq soldiers, Muzburchak rode back to the battlefield in spite of the danger. He killed a total of fifteen hostile generals in order to wipe out the disgrace inflicted on him the day before. The ferocious general called Ushang was also killed by him. The senior warrior charged here and there throughout the battlefield and no one dared to challenge him. The senior warrior was in the act of cutting off the head of Ushang when he was struck down to ground by a Khitan general called Muradil. Almost at the same time, an arrow of
Numerous Warriors Die in Battlefield and Manas Khan Passes Away
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