Seeing the Turanian host surging across the river, Giv galloped ahead to secure the bridge and afford the Iranian champions time to don their war gear. Yet Afrasiab had already crossed at the head of his legions. Rostam arrayed himself in the impenetrable Babr-e Bayan and mounted his colossal steed. At the sight of Rostam’s towering frame and massive mace, terror struck the heart of Afrasiab. Alongside Rostam stood the elite realm-guardians: Tus, Goudarz, Gorgin, Giv, Bahram, Zangeh of Shavaran, Farhad, and Barzin, all readied like enraged leopards.
Giv plunged into the ranks like a lion deprived of its prey, scattering the frontline warriors of Chin. Trembling before Rostam, Afrasiab retreated behind his lines and taunted Piran, sending him forward with ten thousand seasoned Turanian troops. But Rostam, foaming with incandescent rage, roared like a boiling sea and cut down two-thirds of Piran's host. Desperate, Afrasiab called upon Alkus, the champion who had boastfully vowed in drunkenness to slay Rostam and Giv.
Stung by the king's rebuke, Alkus mounted his dark charger Shabrang and charged with a thousand horsemen toward Zourah, mistaking him for Rostam due to his noble Neyramid lineage. Zourah fought valiantly, but a crushing blow from Alkus's mountain-like mace knocked him unconscious from his saddle. As Alkus dismounted to sever Zourah's head, Rostam's thunderous war cry echoed across the plain. Terror paralyzed Alkus, but before he could flee, Rostam impaled him on his lance, lifted him high above his saddle, and slammed him down onto the earth like a falling mountain. Led by Rostam, the seven champions swept through the Turanian ranks, leaving the battlefield paved with corpses and soaked in crimson.