Episode Thirty-One: Fangs of the Backstreets, the Carnage of Urban Warfare
In the Persian Market: The Roar of an Empire
Episode Thirty-One: Fangs of the Backstreets, the Carnage of Urban Warfare
1. The Shattered Boundary
Macedonian engineers detonated the underground passages, and black smoke erupted from the surface vents.
That was the signal. Alexander unleashed the elite infantry he had held in reserve, flooding the city’s narrow alleys all at once.
“…So it begins. All units—shift to Phase Two!”
At the improvised headquarters in the central plaza, Cyrus slammed a formation map scribbled on a scrap torn from an old ledger.
On open ground, the Macedonian phalanx—its forest of long sarissas—was invincible.
But in the tangled backstreets of the imperial capital, those overlong spears became nothing more than cumbersome sticks.
2. The Call of the ‘Market of Death’
“Welcome, Macedonian gentlemen! I’ve stocked the finest death you’ll ever buy!”
Azad’s mercenaries leapt from rooftop to rooftop of two-story houses, raining down firebombs and stones onto the soldiers below.
Trapped in the narrow alleys, the Macedonian troops could not even turn, helpless under the deadly rain from above.
Then Danesh’s “false barricades” bared their fangs.
The moment soldiers tried to clear them away, hidden wires snapped tight and boards studded with countless nails sprang upward.
“AAAGH! My legs—my legs!”
“Merchant traps sell best when they’re plain—and painful,”
Kabir muttered, emerging from the shadows to methodically cut down the writhing soldiers.
3. Inaz’s ‘Poison-Smoke Labyrinth’
In one corner of the market district, Inaz was boiling something in a massive cauldron.
“Cover your noses with cloth, everyone. …This incense will make you feel a little dreamy.”
When she stoked the fire, thick violet smoke flooded the alleys.
It was a blend of hallucinogenic wild herbs and spices with vicious tear-gas effects.
Ensnared by the smoke, Macedonian soldiers mistook their own shadows on the walls for enemies, plunging into a hellscape where they stabbed one another in blind panic.
4. Nirfar Enters the Blood-Soaked Streets
“Your Majesty, beyond this point is too dangerous!”
Shahab tried to stop her, but Queen Nirfar only snapped her blood-splattered cloak and spurred her horse forward.
“When my people are collapsing in the streets, what good is it for me to tremble on a throne?”
She lifted wounded soldiers onto her own shoulders, carrying them to the rear aid stations.
Amid the chaos, her figure shone as the city’s only light.
“The Queen… she’s fighting beside us…”
That single truth reignited a near-mad loyalty in hearts already cracking under hunger and fear.
5. The King’s ‘Silent Intervention’
Deep within the alleys, from behind the panicked Macedonian ranks, a single horse advanced at a slow, deliberate pace.
The black steed Bucephalus.
And astride it—Alexander.
He rode through Inaz’s poison smoke and Azad’s rain of arrows as if they did not exist.
“…Petty tricks. Cyrus, just how much of my time do you intend to steal?”
When the king drew his sword, a single swing shattered an entire barricade.
The overwhelming martial prowess of a single man began tearing apart the labyrinth forged by market-born ingenuity.
6. The Crossroads of Despair
Cyrus received the report at headquarters.
“The Great King himself is breaking through the southern market street!?”
“Yeah—no one can stop him! He’s a god, not a man!!”
Cyrus tightened his grip around the hilt of his broken dagger.
“…Even gods can’t skip out on their debts.
Azad. Shahab. Lure him to that place.
The widest ground in the capital—what used to be the Central Market..
