The battlefield at the third hill had already descended into chaos.
Mo Yun's formation was meant to be the spearhead that would break through Wei's defensive line but instead, it had been forced into a brutal two-on-one.
Zhu Gui and Ma Gui moved like twin predators, coordinating every strike with ruthless precision. Mo Yun could only defend, his glaive ringing out again and again as he was pushed step by step across broken earth and scattered corpses.
"Your strength alone is meaningless!" Zhu Gui roared, pressing forward.
Ma Gui followed immediately, cutting off every retreat path. "You will fall here!"
Mo Yun gritted his teeth. For the first time, he understood that he was being outpaced.
And worse… Bao Jun was still too far. Reinforcements would not arrive in time.
Above the chaos, hidden beyond the reach of normal sightlines, Hyou Ren stood calmly.
His bow was already drawn.
One breath.
One opening.
Zhu Gui shifted half a step to strike
TWANG!
The arrow tore through the battlefield like a streak of death.
Zhu Gui's eyes widened for only an instant before the arrow pierced his throat. His body froze mid-motion, glaive slipping from his hand as he collapsed without a sound.
The battlefield went silent for a heartbeat.
Ma Gui barely had time to register what happened.
Mo Yun didn't hesitate.
"Now!"
He surged forward with everything he had left, slamming his glaive into Ma Gui's guard, breaking his stance in one decisive exchange. Ma Gui staggered still shocked from Zhu Gui's sudden death.
Mo Yun did not give him a second chance.
A single downward strike.
Ma Gui fell.
The two commanders lay motionless.
For a brief moment, Mo Yun stood still, breathing heavily then turned his gaze forward.
"There's no time to rest," he muttered.
Without waiting for orders, Mo Yun rallied what remained of his force.
"Advance! We push to the second hill! Prevent Wei reinforcements!"
His army responded instantly, moving past the fallen commanders and surging forward like a tide refusing to be stopped.
At the same time, the battlefield on the opposite side was shifting in an unexpected direction.
Go Kei, instead of committing to the bait Hyou Ren had prepared Tian Hao's exposed position made a cold decision.
"We ignore the trap," he said. "Advance toward Bao Jun. Crush the center before it stabilizes."
Wei's second wave moved aggressively, cutting through the battlefield with terrifying discipline.
But they did not go unchallenged.
From the front lines, dust rose like a wall.
A single figure stood at its center.
Duke Hyou.
His presence alone caused the advancing Wei army to hesitate for a fraction of a second.
That fraction was all it took.
The ground between both armies collapsed into chaos as the two generals finally met at the center of the battlefield.
Steel met steel.
Command met command.
The duel had begun.
Neither spoke at first only watching, reading, measuring.
Then Duke Hyou finally spoke, voice calm but heavy.
"So you are Go Kei… the man Wei trusts to end this war."
Go Kei narrowed his eyes. "And you are the wall Qin places in front of its future."
A silent understanding passed between them.
No reinforcements.
No distractions.
Only victory or death.
Their blades clashed again, shaking the ground beneath them.
Far from the center, unnoticed by both sides, something was happening.
An army that should have been visible on the battlefield… was gone.
No flags. No movement. No sound.
Ri Yeu's army.
Hidden beyond sight, they had already slipped away from the main conflict, moving like a shadow through the terrain itself.
Inside the formation, Ri Yeu raised her hand slowly.
"Now," she said quietly.
Her officers looked at her, waiting.
"The battlefield thinks it understands the shape of this war," she continued. "Let's show them what they failed to see."
The troops began to shift quiet, precise, invisible.
They were not retreating.
They were disappearing into position.
No one on the battlefield noticed.
Not yet.
Because all attention was locked on the duel between Duke Hyou and Go Kei…
and the advancing chaos left behind by Mo Yun and Hyou Ren.
But in the silence beyond the battlefield
Ri Yeu made her move.
And the real turning point of the war had not yet begun.