One month had passed since the beginning of the Wei invasion.
The first city had fallen.
Then the second.
Then the third.
The Qin army continued its advance like a blade cutting through enemy territory.
At the front of the center invasion force, the army led by Hyou Ren continued pushing forward.
The soldiers had grown confident.
Too confident.
"Another city has fallen!"
"The fifth city has been taken!"
Cheers erupted throughout the camp.
But inside the command tent, the atmosphere was different.
Hyou Ren stared at the map laid out before him.
The distance between the three invasion forces was becoming larger.
The center army had moved too quickly.
A messenger arrived.
"General Hyou Ren!"
"The Great General Mou Gu has sent new orders!"
Hyou Ren looked up.
"What are they?"
"The center army will slow its advance from the sixth city onward."
The officers around him were surprised.
"Slow down?"
The messenger nodded.
"The center army has advanced farther than expected. If we continue at this speed, we will become separated from the northern left and northern right armies."
Hyou Ren looked back at the map.
The three invasion forces were supposed to move like a single body.
If one arm moved too far ahead...
The enemy could cut it off.
"So Great General Mou Gu has also noticed."
The sixth city fell.
Then the seventh.
Kirikan became the temporary base of the Qin army.
But instead of celebration...
The camp was filled with unease.
Inside Hyou Ren's tent, reports continued arriving.
"General Hyou Ren!"
"A commander from the Mou Gu army has been killed."
Hyou Ren looked up.
"During battle?"
The messenger shook his head.
"No."
"On the march."
The officers became silent.
Another messenger arrived.
"Another commander has fallen."
"Several soldiers have been attacked during the night."
Hyou Ren's expression hardened.
This was not random.
Wei was moving in the shadows.
"They are testing us."
Then came the final report.
"General Ragen..."
"He has been killed."
The tent became completely silent.
A general had died.
Not on a battlefield.
Not facing an enemy army.
But somewhere in the darkness.
Hyou Ren closed his eyes.
"Someone in Wei is controlling the battlefield before the battle even begins."
Then another messenger rushed in.
"General Hyou Ren!"
"There is information regarding the Wei Generals."
Hyou Ren opened his eyes.
"Their army will have..."
The messenger paused.
"Renpa."
The name froze everyone.
Even the veteran soldiers outside the tent felt the weight of that name.
"Renpa..."
One officer whispered.
"The former Three Great Heavens of Zhao..."
"The man who fought against Ouki..."
"The monster who survived countless wars..."
Hyou Ren remained silent.
A legendary general from the previous era.
A man who stood among the greatest of China.
"So Wei brought out a legend."
The three invasion forces finally assembled.
Three Hundred of twenty-five thousand soldiers of Qin stood together.
The target was no longer just another city.
It was the Wei army.
And at the head of that army stood Renpa.
Inside the Qin command tent, the generals gathered.
For Hyou Ren, this was the first time meeting the other commanders of the invasion.
"Introducing the commander of the right army."
"Vice General Kanki."
A man stepped forward.
A relaxed smile.
A dangerous gaze.
The soldiers whispered among themselves.
"Kanki..."
"The Beheader."
A former bandit.
A man who had risen from the darkness to become one of Qin's most feared commanders.
Hyou Ren observed him.
There was no feeling of a traditional general.
No pride.
No honor.
Then the next introduction came.
"Introducing the commander of the left army."
"Vice General Ousen."
A tall man wearing an emotionless expression stepped forward.
The head of the Ou family.
A noble clan with a history in Qin.
But what caught Hyou Ren's attention was not his status.
It was his eyes.
Cold.
Calculating.
A man who looked at the battlefield as if it was a chessboard.
Hyou Ren had heard the rumors.
Ousen's ambition.
The desire to create his own kingdom.
Hyou Ren looked at him quietly.
"..."
"A man who wants to become king."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"A foolish dream."
Ousen's eyes moved toward him.
For a moment...
The two generals stared at each other.
Neither spoke.
But both understood.
They were not the same.
One fought for Qin.
The other had a dream beyond Qin.
And now...
The battlefield was ready.
The old monster of Zhao.
The armies of Qin.
The next battle would decide the fate of Sanyou.