The battlefield had become something no strategist could fully control anymore.
The second hill was no longer a position.
It was the hinge of the entire war.
And it was breaking.
Mud, blood, and shattered armor covered the slope as Bao Jun finally reached the front line where Mo Yun stood.
Bao Jun let out a rough breath. "You really like stealing all the glory alone, don't you?"
Mo Yun didn't even turn. "You're late."
Bao Jun smirked. "And you're still alive. So I'll forgive it."
A pause.
Then both looked up the hill.
Wei still stood there.
Barely.
Bao Jun lifted his weapon. "We end this climb."
Mo Yun replied coldly: "We end it now."
And they moved.
At the summit, Bai Guixi watched the battlefield fracture below him.
A messenger shouted, "Lieutenant General! The center is collapsing! Go Kei is..."
"Still standing," Bai Guixi cut in sharply.
Another officer hesitated. "But Qin has already breached the lower slope!"
Bai Guixi's expression hardened.
"Then I break them before they reach the top."
He raised his blade.
"ALL UNITS DOWNWARD FORMATION! CRUSH THEM!"
Wei roared and surged down like a collapsing wall.
The 4th army and 1st army of Duke Hyou surged forward.
At its front rode Shin.
A soldier shouted, "Shin! You were ordered to be under house arrest!"
Shin didn't slow down.
"Then they should've built a better cell."
Another soldier shouted back, "That's not how it works!"
Shin smirked. "Then fix whatever that is after we win."
He vanished into the enemy line.
Hidden within the terrain, Ri Yue observed the battlefield.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Bai Guixi is overextending…"
A pause.
"…And exposing his rear."
She exhaled.
"Change of plan."
A commander asked, "We still aim for Go Kei?"
Ri Yue answered immediately.
"No."
"The second hill is the key."
Her voice sharpened.
"We take it before Wei understands why they lost."
The Hidden Strike Begins….
Bai Guixi's downward charge slammed into Qin's vanguard.
Steel exploded across the slope.
But then…
Silence behind him.
A report vanished.
Then another.
Bai Guixi narrowed his eyes. "…A second force."
Ri Yue's unit was already inside his formation.
No banners.
No warning.
A soldier screamed then fell before finishing his sentence.
Ri Yue's voice cut through the chaos.
"Next."
Bai Guixi and Ri Yue finally meet….
"You think hiding decides wars?" Bai Guixi growled.
Ri Yeu tilted her head slightly. "No."
A pause.
"But it helps."
Bai Guixi lunged.
His blade came down like a hammer.
Ri Yue stepped inside the arc.
Too close.
Too precise.
Her blade redirected his strike instead of blocking it fully.
Bai Guixi grunted. "Tch!"
He followed immediately with a horizontal sweep.
She dropped under it.
Then struck upward.
A cut landed on his armor joint.
Bai Guixi stepped back, surprised. "…Sharp."
Ri Yue replied flatly. "You're slow where it matters."
Bai Guixi changed tactics.
"Form containment! Don't let her move freely!"
Wei soldiers formed a tightening circle.
But Ri Yue didn't panic.
She walked into it.
A soldier shouted, "She's inside!"
Another screamed, "She's breaking the formation from within!"
She wasn't fighting individuals.
She was dismantling coordination.
One step at a time.
One gap at a time.
Bai Guixi finally broke formation discipline.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
He charged directly through his own soldiers.
The ground shook.
"Enough tricks!"
His blade came down with full force.
Ri Yue met him head-on.
Steel collided shockwave blasting outward.
Bai Guixi growled, "I've got you!"
Ri Yue's eyes sharpened.
"No."
She let his force overcommit
Then slipped under his arm.
One clean motion.
A blade through armor seam.
Bai Guixi froze.
"…When?"
Ri Yue stepped back. "When you stopped thinking."
He staggered.
Then fell.
With Bai Guixi gone, Wei collapsed at the second hill.
Shin cut through the disorganized line.
"Don't let them regroup!"
An unknown 5000 commander screamed, "Hold the line!"
Shin replied loudly:
"There is no line anymore."
One strike.
Collapse.
The battlefield briefly cleared.
Shin stood breathing hard.
Then he felt it.
A presence.
Ri Yue.
She looked at him.
"…So you weren't under house arrest."
Shin blinked. "You know about that?"
"I received the letters."
A pause.
Then quieter:
"…My mother-in-law writes too much."
Shin frowned. "Your what?"
Ri Yue ignored him.
"You're reckless."
Shin shrugged. "I've been told worse."
"…Good," she added softly.
Then turned away.
A faint expression lingered.
Not approval.
Something closer to reluctant pride.
A pressure swept across the battlefield.
Ouki arrived.
Shin stiffened.
Ouki looked at him.
Shin frowned. "And you are?"
Ouki smiled slightly.
"A man who knows generals are not defined by strength."
Shin asked: "Then what defines them?"
Ouki replied:
"The belief they create in others that the impossible can still be reached."
Silence.
Then Ouki and Shin continue their talk….
At the center battlefield, everything narrowed.
Go Kei stood bloodied.
Opposite him, Duke Hyou remained steady.
Go Kei laughed weakly.
"You Qin… never stop advancing."
Duke Hyou answered:
"If we stop, we die."
Go Kei nodded.
"Then I respect that."
He raised his blade.
"One last exchange."
Duke Hyou lifted his glaive.
"No regrets."
They clashed.
Then
Silence.
Go Kei's blade slipped.
"…A Good war," he whispered.
And fell.
A stillness spread across the battlefield.
Then…
Wei collapsed.
Banners dropped.
Command structure disappeared.
Soldiers fled.
From the second hill, Shin looked out.
"…It's over."
Bao Jun exhaled. "We actually won."
Mo Yun lowered his weapon. "Qin victory…"
The battlefield should have been silent.
Wei banners had fallen. Commanders were dead. Formation lines had collapsed into scattered groups fleeing in every direction.
Qin had won.
But Ri Yue was still watching.
Her eyes tracked the retreating Wei soldiers disappearing down the slopes.
"…They're running."
A Qin officer beside her exhaled in relief. "The battle is over. We've won."
For a moment, Ri Yeu said nothing.
"Winning a battle," she said quietly, "is not the same as ending a war."
The officer blinked. "My lady?"
Ri Yeu raised her hand slightly.
Her tone changed.
Sharper. Colder.
"Look at their formation."
The officer hesitated. "It's broken…"
"Broken armies still regroup," she interrupted. "If they reach the valley, they become a second war."
A pause.
Then her decision landed like a blade.
"Pursue them."
Silence.
Even her own commanders stiffened.
One finally spoke carefully. "A pursuit? After total victory?"
Ri Yeu's gaze did not move.
"This is not pursuit."
A faint pause.
Then colder,
"This is removal."
She turned slightly, looking down at the fleeing Wei remnants.
"Do not let them reform. Do not let them breathe."
A breath.
Then the final order,
"Crush the routing Wei army. Until nothing remains that remembers this battlefield."
For a moment, no one moved.
Then her officers straightened instantly.
"Yes, Commander!"
Drums changed rhythm.
Qin's exhausted soldiers moments after victory reformed again.
And began to advance.
Down the broken slopes.
Into the fleeing remnants of Wei.
From a distance, Ri Yue watched the second wave of slaughter begin.
Not urgently.
Not emotionally.
Just calmly.
"…Now it's finished," she said.
And turned away from the battlefield.