The dawn of the third day broke over Choyou.
A sea of banners covered the plains as the armies of Qin and Wei prepared for the battle that would decide the campaign.
The horns of war echoed across the valley.
The third day had begun.
At the center of the Qin army.
Duke Hyou Ren calmly surveyed the battlefield from atop his horse.
Beside him stood Ri Yue, her gaze fixed upon the distant Wei headquarters.
Behind them, thousands of soldiers silently awaited their command.
"The center."
Hyou Ren spoke without taking his eyes off the enemy.
"Mo Yun."
Mo Yun stepped forward.
"My lord."
"You will command the center today."
Mo Yun nodded.
"My task?"
"You are not to defeat Ryuuhan."
Hyou Ren pointed toward the Wei center.
"You are to pierce holes through his army."
"Do not fight the body."
"Attack the joints."
"Force him to react."
A grin spread across Mo Yun's face.
"Heh... an instinctual battle."
"It has been some time."
Without another word, Mo Yun rode toward the front as his army followed.
Unlike the previous days where Lu Shen had led the spearhead, today the center belonged to the instinctual general.
The battlefield slowly began to shift.
Far behind the Wei lines...
Inside Rei Ou's mobile headquarters...
The strategist quietly observed the battlefield through countless reports and signal flags.
His sharp eyes suddenly narrowed.
"...Hm?"
One of his officers pointed ahead.
"My lord."
"There appears to be a gap within Duke Hyou Ren's formation."
Several officers immediately became excited.
"They've made a mistake!"
"We can split their headquarters apart!"
Rei Ou remained silent.
His fingers tapped against the map.
"No..."
His eyes narrowed further.
"It is an obvious trap."
The officers became confused.
"...Then should we ignore it?"
Rei Ou slowly smiled.
"A trap…."
"....that is extremely fatal for Qin."
"So long as one possesses enough strength."
He raised his hand.
"Signal Gai Mou."
"And Ranbihaku."
"Coordinate an assault."
"The objective remains unchanged."
He pointed directly toward the center.
"Smash through."
"Kill Duke Hyou Ren."
Flags immediately rose across the Wei army.
Moments later...
BOOM!!
The earth trembled.
Like a tidal wave...
General Gai Mou's enormous army surged forward.
At the same time…
Ranbihaku laughed wildly as his cavalry burst through another section of Qin's front.
The Wei offensive crashed into Qin's center with terrifying momentum.
Within Qin's headquarters...
Dust filled the air.
Reports arrived one after another.
"Ranbihaku has broken through!"
"Gai Mou is advancing!"
"They are both heading directly for headquarters!"
The officers looked toward Hyou Ren.
Everyone waited for his command.
Ri Yue quietly smiled.
"...It's time."
Hyou Ren slowly raised his hand.
"Ryūdō."
Every officer froze.
The next moment…
"Raise every banner of the Mobile Headquarters!"
"The headquarters advances!"
"We shall cut into our own formation!"
The order spread across the battlefield.
Thousands of signal flags rose into the air.
Drums thundered.
The headquarters itself suddenly began moving, not away from danger...
...but directly into Qin's own ranks.
Entire companies shifted.
Infantry peeled apart.
Cavalry crossed through narrow corridors of soldiers.
Soldiers who moments ago stood shoulder to shoulder suddenly flowed around the moving headquarters.
From above...
The Qin formation no longer resembled an army.
It became...
A spiral.
Like a gigantic whirlpool.
Every movement revolved around Hyou Ren's headquarters.
The army itself had transformed.
The battlefield flowed like a great river.
The Qin soldiers were its current.
The Wei army were leaves carried helplessly upon its surface.
Yet hidden throughout the current...
Were countless immovable rocks.
Companies led by…
Lu Shen...
Tian Hao...
Bao Jun...
Veteran infantry blocks...
Heavy shield formations...
Rather than resisting the current...
They became anchors within it.
As the Wei soldiers rushed forward, the flowing Qin formations continuously diverted them.
Each time the Wei advance attempted to gather momentum...
The current split them apart.
A company of one thousand became five groups of two hundred.
Then ten groups of one hundred.
Then scattered clusters.
Like leaves striking hidden rocks inside a violent whirlpool, every collision altered their course, dragging them farther away from one another until no unified assault remained.
The deeper the Wei army entered...
The more isolated they became.
The battlefield itself had become Duke Hyou Ren's weapon.
Inside the Wei Rei Ou headquarters...
Rei Ou's calm expression finally changed.
He stared across the battlefield.
"Our assault..."
"...is being torn apart."
Meanwhile…
Ranbihaku continued charging without slowing.
His horse burst through another stream of Qin soldiers.
Then…
THUD!
Three armies suddenly emerged from different directions.
At their head...
Lu Shen lowered his spear.
Across from him...
Tian Hao raised his glaive.
On the opposite flank...
Bao Jun drew his massive weapon.
Without hesitation...
The four generals collided.
Steel exploded.
The duel had begun.
Elsewhere...
Gai Mou's massive glaive continued cutting down every soldier before him.
No formation...
No tactic...
Could stop the monstrous warrior himself.
Although the Ryūdō continuously stripped away his accompanying troops, separating regiment after regiment from his advance, Gai Mou simply continued forward with only his elite personal guards at his side.
At last...
He broke through.
The center of the whirlpool.
The heart of the Qin Mobile headquarters.
Yet...
He frowned.
Only one person stood waiting.
Ri Yue.
The famed companion of Hyou Ren.
No Duke Hyou Ren.
No command staff.
Only her.
She slowly unsheathed her sword.
"So..."
"You finally arrived."
Gai Mou looked around.
"Where is Hyou Ren?"
Ri Yue smiled.
"War..."
"...is a spectacle."
She pointed her blade toward him.
"While every eye was fixed upon this place..."
"...the real attack had already begun."
She lowered her stance.
"I am Ri Yue."
"The Blade of Hyou Ren."
"I have never known defeat."
Gai Mou grinned.
"A woman?"
His killing intent exploded.
"Very well."
"I shall cut you down first."
Their weapons collided.
The shockwave echoed across the battlefield.
Just as Ri Yue had declared...
The true battlefield had already shifted.
On the far left...
Tou had finally pierced completely through the Wei formations.
His elite cavalry carved a straight road toward the Wei headquarters.
But Tou...
...was not the only blade striking Wei.
Inside the Wei Rei Ou headquarters...
Despite the confusion created by the Ryūdō...
Rei Ou remained composed.
"So."
"Gai Mou has reached the center."
He looked toward the swirling battlefield.
"Now..."
He pointed toward the immovable formations.
"Deploy the reserve."
"Destroy those anchors."
"Once the rocks are removed..."
"The current collapses."
"Our generals shall reunite."
"Victory belongs to Wei."
The reserve commanders immediately saluted.
"As you command…"
Before the order could even be relayed….
A messenger stumbled into the command tent.
"My... Lord!!"
Rei Ou frowned.
"What is it?"
"The headquarters..."
"...is under attack!!"
"What?"
The entire command tent froze.
Another officer rushed inside.
"The attacking force has broken through the rear!"
"They're heading directly here!"
Rei Ou's eyes widened.
"...Impossible."
"My reserves are still intact."
"Who could possibly"
Then...
The earth shook.
BOOM!!
The Wei Rei Ou headquarters' outer barricades exploded apart.
Thousands of Qin cavalry surged through the smoke.
At their head...
A single crimson banner.
The banner of Duke Hyou Ren.
Rei Ou's face lost all color.
"...So that was it."
"The headquarters in the center..."
"...was never the true headquarters."
"It was merely bait."
Through the curtain of dust rode Duke Hyou Ren himself.
His black horse thundered forward without slowing.
The Ryūdō had never been created to protect him.
It had been created to convince the entire Wei army that he was still at its center, while the shifting currents concealed his departure and opened a hidden path through the chaos.
By the time Wei realized the truth...
Their greatest warriors were trapped inside the spiral.
Their armies were committed.
And their strategist stood exposed.
Hyou Ren raised his sword.
"For Choyou."
The next instant…
The sword flashed.
A single strike.
Rei Ou's eyes widened in disbelief.
Blood burst into the air.
His body collapsed from his horse before he could utter another command.
Silence fell over the Wei Rei Ou headquarters.
The banners of Rei Ou slowly toppled one after another.
From the distant battlefield, soldiers turned in horror as the signal reached them.
Rei Ou...
One of Wei Fire Dragons...
Had fallen.