The battlefield of Sai had finally fallen silent.
The endless cries of battle that had echoed across the city for seven straight days had been replaced by nothing but exhausted breathing.
Standing before the gates of Sai were the leaders of the Mountain Realm.
Yotanwa.
Beside her stood Hyou Ren, his armor still stained with the blood of countless battles.
Before them stood Qin's young king, Ei Sei.
Yotanwa looked around at the battered walls and the countless wounded soldiers before speaking.
"It is impressive that you managed to hold out for this long, Ei Sei."
Her crimson eyes swept across the city.
"Few kingdoms in China could have endured what Sai has endured."
Hyou Ren smiled faintly.
"It is a relief we made it in time."
For a brief moment...
Silence filled the air.
Then, to everyone's surprise…
King Ei Sei slowly stepped forward.
He lowered his head.
And bowed deeply before both of them.
"Thank you."
The king's voice trembled with genuine gratitude.
"You truly have saved us all."
"Thank you."
Everyone present froze.
The soldiers.
The officials.
Even the mountain tribes.
For the King of Qin to bow before another was something almost unimaginable.
Yotanwa simply smiled.
"You have become a fine king, Ei Sei."
Hyou Ren scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Raise your head, Your Majesty."
"I simply did my duty."
That Night
For the first time since the Coalition War had begun...
There was laughter.
The citizens of Sai shared food and drink with the mountain tribes.
Bonfires illuminated the streets.
Children laughed together with mountain warriors.
Men who had been enemies of fear only hours before now toasted one another.
Yet...
The celebration never truly became lively.
The citizens of Sai had spent seven days fighting without rest.
The mountain warriors had crossed impossible terrain, marching day and night for an entire week.
One after another...
People simply fell asleep where they sat.
Some still holding cups.
Others leaning against broken walls.
The city that had refused to sleep during war finally surrendered itself to peaceful slumber.
Watching the sleeping city from atop the wall...
Hyou Ren quietly spoke.
"It is time."
Ei Sei looked toward him.
"So soon?"
Hyou Ren nodded.
"Kankoku Pass is still our battlefield."
"My men have not finished fighting."
"I must return."
Yotanwa crossed her arms.
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"You truly are a fine warrior, Hyou Ren."
"There are not many who would leave a celebration to return immediately to war."
Hyou Ren merely smiled.
"If Qin falls at Kankoku Pass..."
"Then everything we've done here would be meaningless."
Without another word...
The Hyou Army gathered.
Their banners rose once more beneath the night sky.
Their destination…
Kankoku Pass.
Several days later...
Riboku finally reunited with what remained of the Coalition Army before Kankoku Pass.
Behind him...
Only five thousand soldiers remained.
The once-mighty Zhao army that marches to Sai had been reduced to a mere shadow of itself.
Watching his arrival from atop her command tower, Karin rested her chin upon her fan before laughing.
"I truly am amazed."
"A defeated commander can shamelessly crawl back alive."
Several Chu officers burst into laughter.
Riboku ignored every insult.
His expression remained unchanged.
"There remains one final obligation I must carry out."
The laughter stopped.
The commanders turned toward him.
"To decide where the raised blade of the Coalition shall fall."
"To bring this affair to its conclusion."
"Our next target..."
"...has already been decided."
He slowly swept his gaze across the assembled generals.
"Right from the very beginning..."
"There has existed a traitor within this Coalition."
His finger pointed east.
"The State of Qi."
Soon afterward...
To the astonishment of every Qin soldier defending Kankoku Pass...
The Coalition Army withdrew.
Victory cries erupted from the fortress walls.
The impossible had happened.
Qin had survived.
But the Coalition did not disband.
Instead...
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers wheeled eastward.
Their destination…
The prosperous State of Qi.
Having failed to conquer Qin, the four states sought compensation through an alternative conquest.
If Qin's land could not be taken...
Then Qi's wealth would suffice.
Thus began the invasion of Qi.
The King of Qi
Inside the royal palace of Qi...
King Ouken calmly received the latest reports.
A messenger fell to one knee.
"Your Majesty!"
"The cities of Hei and Sou have fallen!"
The ministers erupted into panic.
King Ouken merely folded his hands.
"So..."
"They have come to take from Qi the land and wealth they originally expected to receive from Qin."
He slowly stood.
"If the enemy advances beyond Jouan..."
"Summon my generals."
"Kanshu."
"Denkaku."
"It shall become an all-out war against the Coalition Army."
Before the order could even be carried out…
Another messenger burst through the palace doors.
"Urgent report!"
"The Qin Army has entered Qi from the yellow river!"
"The armies of General Mou Bu and Great General Hyou Ren are attacking the Coalition's rear!"
The palace became silent.
King Ouken allowed himself a faint smile.
"So..."
"Qin chooses to repay its debt."
The Coalition Army, though battered by its failed invasion of Qin, still numbered in the hundreds of thousands. While its morale had been shaken by the disaster at Kankoku Pass and Riboku's defeat at Sai, each state still hoped to salvage something from the campaign.
If Qin could not be conquered...
Then Qi would pay the price.
The Coalition swept across Qi's western frontier like a tidal wave.
The cities of Hei and Sou fell after brief but fierce resistance. Their walls were battered down by siege engines, while exhausted Qi garrisons, outnumbered several times over, were forced to retreat eastward.
News of the invasion spread rapidly throughout Qi.
Refugees fled toward the capital.
Storehouses were emptied.
Fortresses along the eastern road prepared for a desperate defense.
Meanwhile...
The Coalition Army continued its advance.
Karin rode near the front, lazily waving her fan.
"Qi's resistance is weaker than I expected."
Wei's commanders discussed dividing the captured territory.
Zhao's officers dreamed of the wealth awaiting them in Qi.
Even Yan's generals believed victory was finally within reach.
Only Riboku remained silent.
His eyes constantly drifted west.
He was waiting.
Then...
A scout galloped into the Coalition camp.
His exhausted horse collapsed the instant it stopped.
The scout stumbled forward before falling to one knee.
"Emergency report!!"
"The Qin Armies has appeared behind us!"
Every commander stood.
"What?!"
The scout continued between desperate breaths.
"It is General Mou Bu!"
"And Great General Hyou Ren!"
"Their armies have crossed into Qi and are attacking our supply lines!"
Silence engulfed the command tent.
Far behind the Coalition's main army...
Thunder shook the earth.
Leading fifty thousand Qin soldiers, General Mou Bu smashed into the Coalition's rear.
"CHARGE!!"
His enormous mace crushed soldiers, horses and wagons alike.
Entire formations exploded apart beneath his overwhelming strength.
Supply depots burst into flames.
Siege towers were burned before they could be turned around.
Panic rapidly spread through the Coalition's rear.
Beside Mou Bu...
Hyou Ren led the Hyou Army like a sword thrust directly into the Coalition's heart.
"Do not let them reorganize!"
"Destroy every supply convoy!"
Ri Yue raised her hand.
"Their left flank is collapsing!"
Hyou Ren pointed forward.
"Drive through them!"
The Hyou Army surged ahead.
Veterans who had survived countless battles carved through exhausted Coalition soldiers.
The black banner of the Hyou Army soon became a symbol of terror.
Supply wagons disappeared daily.
Messengers vanished before reaching headquarters.
Food convoys burned across the countryside.
Within days...
The Coalition Army began starving.
Horses weakened.
Soldiers received half rations.
Discipline slowly crumbled.
At the same time...
Qi completed its full mobilization.
General Kanshu marched into Jouan with eighty thousand elite soldiers.
Soon afterward...
General Denkaku arrived with another seventy thousand.
The mighty fortress of Jouan became an iron wall.
Fresh defenders filled every battlement.
Countless arrows lined the walls.
Massive food reserves ensured a prolonged siege could be endured.
King Ouken had no intention of surrendering another inch of Qi.
The Coalition commanders gathered one final time.
Karin folded her arms.
"Our rear burns every day."
"Our supplies continue disappearing."
Gohoumei slammed his fist upon the table.
"We cannot continue!"
Keisha nodded.
"Our soldiers are starving."
Ordo added.
"Qi is blocking our path."
Silence followed.
Finally...
All eyes turned toward Riboku.
He slowly stood.
"The campaign has failed."
No one disputed him.
"Our objective was Qin."
"When that failed..."
"We turned toward Qi."
"But now..."
"Qi bars our advance."
"Qin attacks our rear."
"We are trapped between two kingdoms."
"There is no path to victory."
Even Karin clicked her tongue.
"...How irritating."
One after another...
The Generals reluctantly nodded.
The order was given.
The Coalition Army...
Would withdraw.
The retreat proved almost as costly as the invasion itself.
Mou Bu relentlessly pursued the fleeing armies, crushing every rear guard that attempted to delay him.
Whenever Coalition troops formed defensive lines, Mou Bu shattered them with overwhelming force.
On the flanks...
Hyou Ren hunted like a wolf.
His cavalry struck isolated detachments before disappearing into the hills.
Supply trains were destroyed.
Officers were captured.
Retreating columns were thrown into confusion again and again.
The once-proud Coalition Army, which had marched toward Qin with over half a million soldiers, now retreated in scattered columns, harried day and night by Qin's relentless pursuit.
Ultimately...
The Coalition managed to seize only the frontier cities of Hei and Sou, advancing no farther than the great fortress city of Jouan.
There...
The greatest military alliance ever assembled during the Warring States Era finally collapsed.
One kingdom after another withdrew its armies.
The banners of Chu.
The banners of Wei.
The banners of Yan.
The banners of Zhao.
The Coalition Army ceased to exist.
At the Qin camp...
Hyou Ren stood atop a hill overlooking the departing enemy.
Beside him stood Ri Yue.
For a long while...
Neither spoke.
The winds carried away the dust raised by the retreating armies.
Finally...
Ri Yue smiled.
"...Now it's finally over."
Hyou Ren looked west, toward the homeland they had fought so desperately to protect.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Yes."
"We've won."
He mounted his horse.
"Time for us..."
"...to return to Qin."
Far away, the setting sun bathed the land in crimson light.
The Coalition War…
An invasion that initially had brought together six great states in an attempt to erase Qin from history….
had ended in complete failure.
Against impossible odds, Qin had endured.