The first clash at Kokuyou Hills had erupted into complete chaos.
At the very center of the melee…
CLANG!!
General Batei swung his massive glaive, cleaving through three Qin soldiers in one sweeping strike before roaring toward the enemy.
"You Qin dogs!! Is this all you've got?!"
Before another word could leave his mouth…
SHING!!
A glaive burst through the ranks like a bolt of lightning.
SLASH!!
The glaive carved across Batei's shoulder, drawing a deep line of blood.
"...!!"
Batei immediately leapt backward, glaring at the attacker.
Standing before him atop a mound of corpses is….
General Tian Hao.
His glaive was stained crimson.
Without the slightest expression, Tian Hao pointed his weapon directly at Batei.
"Shut your trap, Zhao dog."
Blood dripped from the glaive's tip.
"And thank you for stating the obvious in your long previous speech."
"What does that tell me?"
"It tells me your objective."
Tian Hao's eyes narrowed.
"Our lord and lady haven't even made their move yet."
He smirked coldly.
"Are you dumb, you piece of shit?"
The surrounding Qin soldiers burst into laughter while Zhao soldiers gnashed their teeth in fury.
Batei's veins bulged.
"You insolent bastard..."
"You'll die first."
With a furious roar, Batei charged.
BOOM!!
The two generals collided with enough force to shake the surrounding battlefield.
Glaives clashed repeatedly, each strike sending shockwaves through the nearby soldiers as Qin and Zhao alike were blown aside by their exchange.
Several hundred meters behind the front…
The black-crimson banners of Duke Hyou Ren continued advancing as the second wave observed the rapidly changing battlefield.
Hyou Ren calmly surveyed every hill.
His sharp eyes noticed two developments simultaneously.
The hill on Qin's left had already fallen into Zhao's hands.
At the same time...
Tian Hao had become completely occupied battling Batei, who had pushed dangerously deep into Qin's formation.
Hyou Ren silently weighed the battlefield.
"...This is a dilemma."
His officers remained silent.
"Do I retake our hill..."
"...or do I eliminate the Zhao general who has ventured so deep into our lines?"
The battlefield seemed to hold its breath.
Just as Hyou Ren was about to issue another command…
A loud horn echoed from behind.
BWOOOOOO!!
Another army surged forward before any order could be given.
Crmison banners fluttered proudly.
It was…
The Ri Yue Army.
Thousands of soldiers charged directly toward the hill that Zhao had seized.
Seeing her move without hesitation, Hyou Ren allowed himself a faint smile.
"So you've chosen."
He immediately raised his sword.
"Advance!"
"The Batei Army is our target!"
The entire Hyou Ren Army roared.
"OOOOOOHHHHH!!"
Like an avalanche, tens of thousands of Qin soldiers surged toward the exposed Zhao right wing.
Meanwhile…
On Zhao Headquarters.
Generals Keisha and Kisui quietly observed the battle unfolding beneath them.
Keisha's calm eyes shifted toward Kisui.
"...Quite daring of you."
"Dispatching both of your generals into the fray this early."
Kisui never took his eyes off the battlefield.
"Here at Kokuyou..."
"...being able to seize the initiative is of the utmost importance."
"Even if we must seize it by force."
Keisha remained expressionless.
"If you fail..."
"...then your right and left hands will fall from the very beginning."
Silence lingered.
Kisui answered without hesitation.
"I have full faith..."
"...in the strength of those two."
Keisha merely smiled.
"We shall see."
On the captured Qin hill…
General Ryuu Tou stood atop the summit.
Blended together with the rows of Zhao soldiers were countless human-shaped doll figures lining the ridge.
A messenger hurried toward him.
"General!"
"The preparations are complete!"
"The straw dolls have all been set into position!"
Ryuu Tou nodded.
Excellent.
His strategy was simple.
The hill had deliberately been filled with hundreds of straw dolls dressed in Zhao armor.
From a distance, the enemy would believe an enormous Zhao force occupied the summit.
If Qin hesitated...
Even for a short while...
Their advance across Kokuyou would lose all momentum.
It was the perfect deception.
Ryuu Tou looked toward the approaching Qin army.
"...Come."
"Hesitate."
"Doubt yourselves."
But then…
His expression froze.
"...What?"
The approaching Qin army never slowed.
Not even once.
At their very front…
A woman rode fearlessly through the rain of arrows.
General Ri Yue.
Her sword flashed continuously.
SLASH!!
SLASH!!
Every swing sent another Zhao soldier collapsing.
Behind her, the Ri Yue Army climbed the steep slope as if death itself meant nothing.
Arrows poured down.
Rocks crashed from above.
Yet the Qin soldiers continued climbing, stepping over the bodies of their fallen comrades without slowing.
Ri Yue narrowed her eyes.
"...Those are dolls."
She watched another unmoving figure collapse from an arrow strike.
"They've mixed straw dolls among their soldiers..."
"...Just what are they planning?"
Instead of stopping...
She accelerated.
"Forward!"
"We take this hill now!"
The Ri Yue Army answered with a thunderous roar.
"OOOOOOHHHHH!!"
Their relentless assault shattered Ryuu Tou's expectations.
"They're not stopping...?"
"They're attacking despite the height disadvantage?"
"They're ignoring the rocks..."
"...ignoring the arrows..."
"...disregarding death itself..."
His eyes widened further after glancing toward the battlefield below.
Batei had become trapped.
From one direction…
General Tian Hao.
From another…
The advancing Hyou Ren Army.
An encirclement was rapidly closing.
Then he turned toward the approaching Ri Yue army.
Ryuu Tou immediately understood.
"Madness…."
"...This army..."
"...is crazy."
He clenched his fist.
"We've failed our objective."
He raised his sword.
"Sound the retreat!"
"Withdraw immediately!"
The Zhao horns echoed across the hill.
BWOOOOOO!!
The Zhao soldiers quickly disengaged.
Batei fought his way free before retreating alongside Ryuu Tou's forces.
The Qin Army reclaimed the hill while Hyou Ren's advance forced Zhao's right wing back.
Safely beyond Qin's reach, Batei looked back toward the sea of black-crimson banners
.
Blood continued dripping from the wound Tian Hao had given him.
"So..."
"...this is the Hyou Ren Army."
Beside him, Ryuu Tou stared at the relentless Qin soldiers still pressing forward.
"...No wonder they became one of Qin's greatest armies."
"They aren't stopping."
"They don't hesitate."
"They simply keep advancing."
Far in the distance...
Duke Hyou Ren calmly watched the retreating Zhao forces.
His expression never changed.
But elsewhere across Kokuyou...
Another pair of eyes silently observed everything from the shadows.
The true mastermind of Kokuyou had only just begun to weave his web.