The morning sun had barely risen over the vast plains before Kankoku Pass.
An endless sea of soldiers stretched beyond the horizon.
From one end stood the armies of Qin.
From the other...
The greatest Coalition Army ever assembled in history.
The wind swept across the battlefield, carrying with it the scent of iron, leather, horses, and the inevitable bloodshed that would soon stain the earth.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
It was as if even nature itself held its breath.
At the forefront of Qin's Zhao battlefield...
One hundred thousand soldiers stood in perfect formation.
Their banners stretched into the distance like a black ocean.
The Hyou Army.
At its head rode a single horse.
Upon it sat Great General Hyou Ren.
His black armor gleamed beneath the morning light, his crimson cape dancing with the wind. His hand rested calmly upon the hilt of his sword while his eyes slowly swept across the faces of every soldier before him.
Veterans who had fought beside him.
Young recruits who had only heard stories of his victories.
Men who had marched through rivers of blood.
Men who had left behind wives...
Children...
Parents...
Perhaps for the final time.
Beside him rode Ri Yue.
Unlike the nervous officers around them, her expression remained completely composed.
She knew.
She knew her husband better than anyone.
She knew that whenever he remained this quiet...
History was about to change.
Several steps ahead stood the four generals personally promoted by Hyou Ren after becoming a Great General.
General Lu Shen.
General Bao Jun.
General Tian Hao.
General Mo Yun.
Each of them slowly turned toward the army.
Without needing a single command...
All four generals raised their weapons toward the heavens.
Lu Shen's roar exploded across the plain.
"GREAT GENERAL HYOU REN!!"
Immediately…
Bao Jun raised his massive glaive.
"GREAT GENERAL HYOU REN!!"
Tian Hao followed.
"GREAT GENERAL HYOU REN!!"
Mo Yun thrust his glaive skyward.
"GREAT GENERAL HYOU REN!!"
Then...
One hundred thousand soldiers answered.
"GREAT GENERAL HYOU REN!!"
"GREAT GENERAL HYOU REN!!"
"GREAT GENERAL HYOU REN!!"
The chant grew louder.
Then louder.
Then louder still.
Until individual voices disappeared.
Only one overwhelming sound remained.
"GREAT GENEREAL HYOU REN!!"
"GREAT GENEREAL HYOU REN!!"
"GREAT GENEREAL HYOU REN!!"
The heavens themselves seemed to tremble.
Birds burst from distant forests.
The horses neighed violently.
Dust rose into the air as thousands upon thousands stamped their feet in perfect rhythm.
Boom...
Boom...
BOOM...
The earth itself shook beneath them.
Miles away...
The Tou Army turned.
One officer's eyes widened.
"...They're shaking the ground."
Tou slowly looked toward the source of the sound.
A faint smile appeared.
"So..."
"The sleeping dragon has finally unsheathed his fangs."
Even the ever-composed Tou Army could feel their blood beginning to boil.
Many found themselves gripping their weapons tighter.
On another battlefield...
Mou Bu stood atop his massive warhorse, his colossal mace resting across one shoulder.
The thunderous cries of the Hyou Army rolled across the plains until they reached the center battlefield.
The officers of the Mou Bu Army instinctively turned toward the sound.
"...What a roar."
"It came from Great General Hyou Ren's army."
For a long moment, Mou Bu remained completely silent.
His sharp eyes stared toward the distant banners of the Hyou Army.
The overwhelming battle cry echoed across the land, refusing to fade.
At last...
The corner of Mou Bu's mouth rose ever so slightly.
"...Good."
Just a single word.
Yet everyone around him heard it.
One of his veteran officers clenched his fist.
"General..."
Mou Bu slowly lifted his massive mace and pointed it toward the Coalition Army.
His voice was calm, but it carried the weight of a mountain.
"An army that roars like that..."
"...has already cast aside death."
He lowered the mace toward the enemy ranks.
"Do not let them surpass us."
For a heartbeat, the Mou Bu Army stood frozen.
Then every soldier raised their weapons.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
The warriors of the Mou Bu Army answered with a deafening war cry of their own.
On the Zhao front...
Duke Hyou listened.
His wild eyes slowly widened.
Then...
"KUKUKUKU..."
The chuckle became laughter.
The laughter became madness.
"KUUUUUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
He slammed the butt of his glaive into the earth.
"THAT'S IT!!"
"THAT'S EXACTLY IT!!"
"THAT'S WHAT A GREAT GENERAL SHOULD SOUND LIKE!!"
His officers immediately understood.
Without waiting for orders…
The Duke Hyou Army began cheering alongside the Hyou Army.
Across the battlefield...
The Chu Army fell strangely quiet.
One soldier swallowed.
"...What is that?"
Another tightened his grip on his spear.
"It..."
"It sounds like an avalanche..."
Even warhorses became restless.
Veterans instinctively looked toward the source.
Something inside them...
Something they could not explain...
Warned them.
Farther on the battlefield...
The Zhao Army also turned.
"What are they shouting?"
"I can't even make out the words anymore."
"It just keeps getting louder..."
One Zhao commander frowned.
"...Impossible."
"How can one army produce a roar like that?"
Standing atop his horse...
Riboku silently watched Hyou Ren.
His face remained calm.
But his eyes...
His eyes betrayed the slightest hint of concern.
"So..."
"So this is the man who continues to exceed expectations."
Behind him, Zhao officers exchanged uneasy glances.
They had expected confidence.
They had expected courage.
They had expected resistance.
They had not expected...
This.
...
The chants finally subsided.
Silence returned.
An eerie silence.
One hundred thousand soldiers stood motionless.
Every eye fixed upon one man.
Ri Yue slowly looked at her husband.
"My lord husband..."
"The entire battlefield is listening."
She was right.
Not merely the Hyou Army.
Not merely Qin.
The Zhao Army.
The Chu Army.
Even Wei scouts and Yan observers in the distance had turned their attention toward him.
For one fleeting moment...
It felt as though the entire battlefield belonged to Hyou Ren.
He slowly closed his eyes.
A deep breath.
The wind brushed against his face.
He thought of Qin.
Of King Ei Sei.
Of Shin.
Of Duke Hyou.
Of every citizen who had fled their homes.
Of every child forced to abandon their village.
Of every mother praying her husband would return.
When his eyes opened…
They no longer belonged to a man.
They belonged to Qin itself.
His voice exploded across the plains.
"THE COALITION HAS SENT US A MESSAGE!"
His words echoed against the surrounding mountains.
"They believe they may march wherever they wish!"
"They believe they may burn our homes!"
"They believe they may slaughter our people!"
"They believe..."
"...that Qin will kneel before them!"
His gaze swept across the endless Coalition Army.
A terrifying calm settled over his face.
"So today..."
"We answer them."
He slowly drew his sword.
The sound of steel echoed like thunder.
Every soldier watched.
Every enemy listened.
Pointing his blade directly toward the Coalition Army, he shouted.
"THEY CANNOT TAKE WHATEVER THEY WANT!"
"This..."
He lowered his sword toward the soil beneath his horse.
"...is OUR LAND!"
"Our fathers bled for this land!"
"Our mothers raised us upon this land!"
"Our children will inherit this land!"
"We will not surrender it!"
His voice became even louder.
"There will be no more evacuation!"
"There will be no more retreat!"
"There will be no more cowardice!"
"There..."
"...WILL..."
"...BE..."
"...NO DEFEAT!!"
Every word struck the battlefield like a hammer.
"This is OUR LAND!"
"THIS IS OUR HOME!"
"THIS IS OUR WORLD!"
Then Hyou Ren raised his sword high into the heavens.
"So long as even ONE soldier of Qin still breathes..."
"NO ENEMY SHALL PASS!"
His blade slashed forward.
"SOLDIERS OF QIN..."
"MAKE READY!!"
For a heartbeat...
Absolute silence.
Then….
A single soldier roared.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
Another joined.
Then another.
Then another.
Within seconds...
One hundred thousand soldiers erupted.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
The roar became a living thing.
It rolled across the plains like an unstoppable tidal wave.
The mountains echoed.
The forests shook.
Countless birds filled the skies.
Dust rose so high it darkened the morning sun.
Even the ground beneath the Coalition Army trembled.
Tou slowly lifted his sword.
"Answer them."
The Tou Army exploded.
Mou Bu raised his colossal mace.
"LET THEM HEAR THE WRATH OF QIN!!"
His army answered with a roar that rivaled thunder itself.
Duke Hyou pointed his glaive toward Zhao.
"ROAR!!"
"LET THOSE BASTARDS KNOW WHY THEY SHOULD FEAR QIN!!"
The Duke Hyou Army unleashed an animalistic cry.
Soon...
The great armies of Qin...
Hundreds of thousands of Qin soldiers...
Were roaring as one.
The sound became so overwhelming that many Coalition soldiers instinctively stepped backward.
Some horses refused to advance.
Others reared uncontrollably.
The first cracks appeared.
Not in their formations...
But in their hearts.
Kanmei's smile slowly disappeared.
"...Magnificent."
Rinbukun's brows furrowed.
"So this..."
"...is the spirit that allowed Qin to survive for centuries."
Riboku never looked away from Hyou Ren.
He spoke only one sentence.
"...Before the first arrow has flown..."
"...he has already begun the battle."
And deep within the ranks of the Coalition Army...
For the very first time since the invasion began...
Men wondered whether they had marched into Qin...
Or into their own graves.