253 BCE
STATE OF ZHAO: BAYOU
QIN SIDE POV
"So that's Sei Chou?... Sei Chou, the one who claimed both Lord Ko Shou and Lord Ou Kotsu's heads… Student of Rin Shou Jo…" Said General Kan Ou of the Ouki army.
"I want to test my strength against him." Replied Dou Kin, also of the Ouki army. Dou Kin had heard the many stories of Ou Kotsu's defeat in martial might and Ko Shou's loss in wits to Sei Chou, and since then, some years had passed for Dou Kin; that only meant that Sei Chou's strength had increased.
"Hmm, so it was true then… One of Wei's Fire Dragons defected and went over to Zhao." Ge Ni said before spitting on the ground. He frowned deeply, staring at the flags of Earl Shi, which bore the "Shi" characters but in the colours of the Sei Chou army.
"It does seem so," replied Dou Kin, who, similar to Ge Ni, had a deep frown. As these two men were extremely loyal to Ouki, they couldn't understand Earl Shi's decision to leave his homeland behind and serve another Lord.
"And he killed his own father as well; what a despicable dog!" Ge Ni was really displeased with Earl Shi as he spat on the ground once more. "Even if he is very talented, a man should always follow the righteous and loyal path." For these men, it was the way of the times.
"As the sages of old say, a man can only follow one Lord." Replying to Kan Ou, who had been silent and grim-faced throughout the conversation between the two commanders, he shared their sentiment entirely and thought Earl Shi a disgrace to the sacred honour of Generals.
"Well, it matters little. After this battle concludes, his blood will soak the earth alongside that scoundrel of a Lord he serves." General Kan Ou added, by no means were these men going to underestimate the Sei Chou army or the Ren Pa army, but they had such belief in their own two Great Generals that they simply saw victory at the end of the road.
"Leave it to me, General Kan Ou, my cavalry will rip them to pieces." Ge Ni said, and after receiving a nod from Kan Ou, he and his cavalry troops moved forward. The Ge Ni cavalry troops comprised 2,000 troops in total.
…
ZHAO SIDE POV: SEI CHOU
I watched as two thousand Qin cavalry left their position and charged directly towards me. For a moment I wondered if this was a trick, but then dismissed it and accepted the challenge. As I was in the vanguard, it was on my shoulders to set the pace for this battle, and I wanted to put the Qin on the back foot without a damn second to catch their breath.
This was meant to be a blitz, one so overwhelming that even the monstrous bird finds himself fatigued from his continuous flight; still, I knew it would be so very tricky to pull off, however. Ouki and Kyou were no joke, and there was a man named Tou in the Ouki army as well who, by all accounts, was powerful enough to be a Great General.
Still, there was no point in being fearful; I believed in myself and my own might whilst the Qin charged at me with 2,000. I called upon 800 of my own cavalry and decided to set the tone of this battle early on.
Pointing two fingers forwards, all I said was, "Charge." And my troops were chasing after me like bloodhounds; I could feel their bloodlust rising with each gallop of their horses. As we neared the enemy, I felt my own lust for blood rise; the Qin shouted their war cries as they got closer.
"TASTE THE BLADE OF GE NEI! SEI CHOUU!!!" The man who led their charge, Ge Nei, his name screamed at me, as we were about to make first contact. He raised his spear with deadly precision and speed, but it was nothing like what I had previously experienced. Instead, it looked painfully slow and predictable to my eyes. Raising my glaive and unleashing my strength on Ge Nei, I cut him in half before quickly backhand-swiping my glaive to cleave through a few more Qin troops.
We completely blunted their charge in such an overwhelming display that emboldened me and my men to charge at the Kan Ou army directly. I didn't have to look over my shoulder to know that the rest of my 19,2000 troops were chasing after me and ready to roll over the Dou Kin army.
My glaive continued to swing and cut down enemies; it was as if I received another wind each time I swung my treasure blade. As I was fighting, I could hear the loud thundering of hooves coming from in front of me, but just to the left. As it was an open plains battlefield, my view was unimpeded; I could see that one of the Qin armies had decided to charge forward with their entire contingent.
It seemed to be one of Ouki's Generals. The few times I glanced at my minimap, I could see that the Qin General Roku O Mi was causing some damage to the Kai Shi Bo army. I couldn't see what Kai Shi Bo did in response, as the Qin decided I'd had it my way enough and General Kan Ou of the Ouki army charged directly towards me.
"My Lord!" Some of my cavalrymen were alerted and raced in front of me; they were the first to be killed by Kan Ou's glaive. His blade sliced open their necks, and before he looked towards me with a serious expression in turn I grabbed the nearest Qin soldier and punched him so hard in the head that his skull caved in.
Who didn't like to win a pissing contest? After tossing the dead Qin soldier, I welcomed Kan Ou's glaive strike with a one-handed backward swipe of my own, causing a loud bang. The strike shook him off rhythm and sent his horse careening backwards and crashing into his men. Yet it seemed Kan Ou had not come unprepared, because out of the corner of my eye I saw Dou Kin of the Ouki army charging me; just before he began to swing his own glaive, my head snapped towards him sharply.
As my eyes met his own, I saw him hesitate for just a split second; it made me realise that whatever plan the two had come up with had failed. However, their failure didn't mean they could not adapt; Dou Kin quickly rushed me and swung his glaive with all his might.
Another loud bang sounded as I met his weapon with my own, before locking him in place and throwing another punch with my free hand. My left fist ripped into his body with deadly precision; I could feel his ribs shake with that one punch alone. I was sure at least one of them cracked, as Dou Kin's eyes widened after feeling the impact of my punch.
He tried to mask it quickly by frowning as if he were merely nothing, but I knew I had landed a big punch on him. Yet again, before I could press on the attack, Kan Ou came back. I sensed an attack coming from behind me and ducked my head; the sound of air being sliced reached my head. Moving backwards and looking up, I saw my two opponents staring at me with equally severe frowns.
"So, this is Ouki's plan; a shame I wished to face off against him from the very start," I said, seeing if I could get under their skin a little by making it seem I thought very lowly of the two. It was Kan Ou who spoke first, even though Dou Kin looked on the verge of exploding in rage and heckling back at me.
"We only follow the plan of our Lord. He tasked us with facing you, and so we shall, only hoping our might is satisfactory enough." Kan Ou's reply was strikingly cordial.
"I see, so you two will be my stepping stone to meeting Ouki; well then, come and taste death. Perhaps if I am feeling generous I will allow one of you to survive." I raised one hand and did the universal 'Come at me!' sign.
"How can you think you are near the level of my Lord! Damn you, Zhao Mongrel, for eternity, for daring to think you can enter Lord Ouki's eyes!" Dou Kin heckled towards me, causing me to smile ever so slightly.
The two circled me before stopping Dou Kin in front of me and Kan Ou behind. I could see what their plan was and knew all they wanted was at least one person attacking my blind spot. It was a good plan and one that would've worked on anyone but the very best fighters in the central plains.
And it was a pity for them that I just so happened to be one of the best.
"For that comment alone, I will leave you last," I said to Dou Kin before turning my horse around and charging at Kan Ou with my glaive ready to strike as precisely and powerfully as it could. That's when I felt something fast approaching my back. Before I attacked Kan Ou, I quickly dodged to the side, only to see a spear from Dou Kin fly past the side of my face before whirling around and charging at the now-stunned idiot.
Thinking he would've caught me off guard with a simple spear throw. "I lied!" I shouted with happiness, with my glaive ready to powerfully strike down Dou Kin, who in turn tried to defend, but my speed was too fast for him. Before I'd even swung my glaive, I spotted a small trail of blood leaking from the corner of his lip, signalling to me that he had suffered some amount of internal injury from my punch.
My glaive arched and cut into Dou Kin with skill and strength. Dou Kin coughed up more blood as my treasure blade sliced through both his armour and flesh before I wrenched my arms up and through him, sending his top half into the air. A spray of blood followed the trail of his upper body, as everyone gazed on at me with stunned faces. Not missing a beat, I turned to face Kan Ou, whose eyes were wider than they'd ever possibly been.
"One down, one to go."
SEI CHOU POV END
….
QIN SIDE: OUKI POV
"That Sei Chou is truly a monster; I sent Kan Ou and Dou Kin to wear him down, and in just so few moves…" The monstrous bird's smile grew a tad more sinister as he stared at the vanguard that was eating up ground. He was slightly surprised to see Sei Chou serve in the vanguard, thinking the Great Heaven of Zhao would stay in his headquarters and see how the battle's momentum swung as he had done in his previous two battles, but it seemed that with Ren Pa, that had changed.
"Not as monstrous as you. My Lord!" Tou quickly remarked with a serious face. Ouki felt his amusement rise just a little; the loss of Dou Kin was one he felt deeply, and such a loss must always be recompensed. And Ouki was never one to not get payback.
"Tou, I'm heading out." Was all the monstrous bird said before his wings flapped. The gust sent tremors through the battlefield as he raced out of his headquarters. A Zhao commander under Sei Chou's unit raced towards him to stop him. The man was quickly dispatched in a manner much similar to how Sei Chou had done with Dou Kin, except Ouki's was just a little more emphatic.
"Kokokoko," The monstrous bird chuckled lightly. "Has anyone told you that you make their body tingle just by a look?" Ouki said, feeling as if his body was being pricked by a million needles; there was an aura to Sei Chou, one that Ouki knew and had felt fighting alongside his fellow Great Generals of yesteryear and facing the previous Great Heavens.
He knew what the feeling was… "My uncle said the same thing a few years back, but he mentioned it was more intense now than then." Sei Chou replied; there was an air of arrogance to the younger man's tone, one that Ouki didn't mind, for he was an arrogant Great General himself.
"You certainly have IT," Ouki replied. He'd met a few Generals that had not interested him in the slightest, but here and now, truly facing Sei Chou of Zhao for the first time, he felt his curiosity turn to interest, and that said interest be notched up by the tens.
"I know what you mean, and I can certainly see that your reputation is very well deserved." Sei Chou replied to him, his smile growing more sinister by the moment. The two of them stared at one another; behind Ouki, the battered, bloodied and bruised but alive form of Kan Ou was being prepared to be taken back to headquarters.
"As is yours, I underestimated you ever so slightly and seemed to have paid the price for it. No worry on your part any further, though." Ouki's demeanour became vastly more sinister as he promised a cruel punishment to Sei Chou, "I will be paid back in interest." His bloodlust rose, and he could see that his opponent was not going to back down for one second.
"Yes, I like this. You are certainly a worthy opponent." Replied Sei Chou.
Enough was said, and Ouki galloped at the younger man with a welcoming strike of his glaive; his opponent mirrored him every step of the way. Both their horses thundered across to one another, as the world around them seemed to be charged with energy. Their glaives swung, and with a loud bang, their blades screeched.
OUKI POV END
CHAPTER: DONE