The fifteenth day of the Coalition War had arrived.
While every eye in China remained fixed upon the bloody struggle at Kankoku Pass, another battlefield had quietly begun to emerge.
Far away...
Within the royal palace of Kanyou.
The court was in session when hurried footsteps echoed through the grand hall.
A messenger, covered in dust, fell to one knee before the throne.
"Your Majesty!"
Ei Sei immediately rose from his seat.
"What is it?"
"The city of Kasa has come under attack by an unidentified enemy force!"
The entire court became restless.
"Kasa?"
"The city in the south?"
"Who would attack such a place?"
Even Chancellor Shou Bun Kun frowned.
"Kasa...?"
He slowly walked toward the large map spread across the chamber.
"That city is nowhere near the Coalition's main invasion route."
Shou Hei Kun stepped forward.
"Apart from Kankoku Pass in the north..."
"...there exists only one other route capable of reaching Kanyou."
His finger moved toward the southern border.
"The Bu Pass."
Everyone in the chamber understood what that meant.
Unlike the mighty Kankoku Pass, whose broad plains allowed armies numbering in the hundreds of thousands to march, the southern route was infamous throughout Qin.
Its roads twisted through mountains.
Steep inclines stretched for dozens of li.
Narrow valleys allowed only a handful of men to advance abreast.
Numerous Qin outposts had been constructed over generations, each overlooking the mountain paths like watchful eyes.
Because of these natural and man-made defenses...
No nation had seriously considered invading Qin through the south for generations.
"Kasa lies halfway along that southern route."
Shou Hei Kun narrowed his eyes.
"But why attack Kasa...?"
Before anyone could answer…
Another messenger burst into the hall.
"Urgent report!"
He collapsed to one knee.
"The cities of Sou and Ran have fallen!"
Silence.
Every minister stared in disbelief.
Three cities...
All along the southern road.
Shou Bun Kun's expression slowly changed.
"They're advancing..."
Ei Sei immediately asked,
"What of Bu Pass?"
The messenger lowered his head.
"No reports of Bu Pass falling have reached us."
The room instantly became even more uneasy.
If Bu Pass had not fallen...
How had enemy troops managed to appear beyond it?
Another set of hurried footsteps interrupted everyone's thoughts.
A third messenger arrived, breathing heavily.
"Emergency!"
"The fortress city of Naifu has been attacked!"
"They have requested immediate reinforcements from the neighboring city of Jinshi!"
The court erupted.
"What is happening?!"
"Where did these soldiers come from?"
"This makes no sense!"
Ei Sei stared at the map.
One city...
Then another...
Then another...
Like stepping stones...
The attacks were drawing closer and closer to Kanyou itself.
Shou Hei Kun clenched his fists.
"...Just what on earth is going on?"
That same night...
Far from Qin's capital.
On Zhao's battlefield.
Moonlight bathed the silent camp as a lone cavalry force galloped into the Qin encampment.
At its head...
Hyou Ren.
Having departed the Chu battlefield under the cover of darkness, he had ridden throughout the night before finally reuniting with Ri Yue.
No sooner had the two commanders entered the command tent than hurried footsteps were heard outside.
A messenger rushed in and immediately knelt.
"General Hyou Ren! General Ri Yue!"
"I bear an urgent report from the cities along Qin's southern route!"
Hyou Ren accepted the dispatch and quickly read its contents. His expression immediately darkened.
Ri Yue noticed the change.
"What happened?"
Without a word, Hyou Ren handed her the report.
As Ri Yue read through it, her eyes widened.
"Kasa..."
"Sou..."
"Ran..."
"They've all fallen?"
The messenger nodded.
"Yes, General."
"The latest report also states that the city of Naifu has come under attack and has already dispatched a request for reinforcements to the neighboring city of Jinshi."
After dismissing the messenger, Hyou Ren spoke.
"The first thing I noticed after leaving the Chu battlefield..."
"...was that Riboku is no longer at the Coalition Headquarters."
Ri Yue nodded.
"I noticed it as well."
"Only a handful of commanders within the Coalition Army seem aware of his disappearance."
The command tent fell into complete silence.
Both instinctively looked toward the campaign map.
Then...
Almost simultaneously...
Their eyes shifted toward Zhao's position at Kankoku Pass.
Ri Yue whispered,
"...Wait..."
Hyou Ren's pupils contracted.
"The Zhao army..."
"...occupied the battlefield furthest to the eastern flank."
She slowly continued.
"We believed Riboku chose that position because he intended to fight conservatively..."
"...or perhaps because it allowed him to observe the battlefield."
Hyou Ren slowly shook his head.
"No..."
"We were wrong."
His finger traced the mountain ranges stretching southward.
"The reason Zhao occupied that position..."
"...was because it was the closest battlefield to the southern route."
Silence filled the tent.
Everything suddenly connected.
Riboku...
The man who conceived the Coalition Army.
The man commanding the greatest invasion in China's history...
Had deliberately positioned Zhao on the eastern flank.
Not to remain cautious...
But so he could disappear unnoticed.
Ri Yue's breathing quickened.
"He wasn't hiding..."
"He was preparing."
Hyou Ren clenched his fist.
"We were so occupied..."
"...planning how to destroy the Coalition Headquarters..."
"...that this possibility completely slipped our minds."
Ri Yue lowered her head.
"We spent every waking moment devising strategies to strike directly at Riboku's headquarters and end the Coalition War in one decisive blow."
"We believed that defeating Riboku there would decide everything."
"...Yet all this time..."
"...Riboku was preparing an entirely different battlefield."
Hyou Ren nodded grimly.
"He counted on us thinking exactly that."
"He slipped away with an elite force..."
"...using Zhao's battlefield as cover."
"...Then crossed into the southern mountains."
He looked toward the map of Qin.
"The Bu Pass never fell..."
"...because Riboku never intended to attack it."
Realization struck them both like lightning.
There were countless hidden mountain trails known only to hunters, smugglers and the mountain tribes.
A force of merely tens of thousands of elite soldiers...
Could traverse terrain impossible for an army of hundreds of thousands.
If the route had been prepared in advance...
They could emerge beyond Bu Pass without ever engaging its defenders.
Ri Yue gritted her teeth.
"So that was your true objective..."
"Riboku."
Hyou Ren slammed his fist onto the table.
"The messenger's report is already several days old."
"Time is of the essence."
"If we delay even another day..."
"...Riboku may already be nearing Kanyou."
Ri Yue suddenly remembered something.
"Duke Hyou..."
Hyou Ren looked up.
She continued,
"Four days ago..."
"He suddenly said something felt... strange."
"He couldn't explain it."
"He only said his instincts were screaming."
"So he departed with five thousand cavalry..."
"...along with Shin and the Hi Shin Unit..."
"...to scout the southern route."
Hyou Ren's eyes widened.
A faint smile appeared.
"So the Duke sensed it..."
"As expected of father whose instincts rival the heavens."
His smile quickly disappeared.
"But five thousand men..."
"...will never be enough to stop Riboku."
He immediately stepped outside.
The officers gathered before him.
"Tian Hao."
"Bao Jun."
The two generals stepped forward.
"Yes, General!"
"You two will accompany me immediately."
"We march for the southern route."
He then turned toward Ri Yue.
"You will remain here."
Ri Yue frowned.
"You intend to split our forces?"
Hyou Ren nodded.
"The Zhao battlefield cannot be abandoned."
"If we withdraw completely..."
"Keisha will immediately realize something is wrong."
He looked toward Lu Shen and Mo Yun.
"Lu Shen."
"Mo Yun."
"You two will remain under General Ri Yue's command."
"Maintain pressure against Zhao."
"Continue the battle exactly as planned."
"Do not let Keisha suspect that anything has changed."
Both generals saluted.
"Understood!"
Ri Yue looked directly into Hyou Ren's eyes.
"And if Riboku truly is heading for Kanyou?"
Hyou Ren mounted his horse.
His expression had become colder than ever before.
"Then..."
"...we will intercept him."
"No matter the cost."
As Hyou Ren, Tian Hao and Bao Jun rode south beneath the moonlit sky, while Ri Yue, Lu Shen and Mo Yun remained to hold the Zhao battlefield...
None of them realized...
That the decisive battle of the Coalition War...
Was no longer taking place at Kankoku Pass.
It was racing toward Qin's royal capital itself.