BACK WITH SEI CHOU V DUKE HYOU
SEI CHOU POV
Seeing the smoke billowing into the sky, let me know that Fu Jin had completed his task and was preparing to charge directly here, crushing everything in his path. Yet, I emptied that all out of my head as soon as it came, and fully focused on my fight against Duke Hyou.
The last hit from Duke Hyou carried a considerable weight to it, sending both me and my horse skidding backwards. I felt the small cuts on my face more than I could see them; my blood was pumping, and I felt like I was ascending.
Duke Hyou sharply turned his head to see what I was seeing. He stared for a moment. I only looked at the back of his head with hope, a silent hope that he saw the smoke and did not do the conventional thing. I didn't know where this desire for battle was coming from; I had only felt it before when I fought against Wei's Shi Ei.
"I see." I heard Duke Hyou say before he turned back to me, "You delayed the time you would start your great blaze." Though it sounded like rambling, I understood just what Duke Hyou meant. It was just the way he saw the battlefield, and I managed to counter it.
"You're a difficult person to face off against. I could see why you are regarded as such a monstrous opponent." I truly praised him; the guy was a ferocious Great General.
A true Great General in every sense of the word.
"Bahaha! Just as I thought, Sei Chou. I feel that thing from you, the strength that flows out from one's body. That blazing fire spun by men. I can see it and smell it, even at your young age. You're one of us!" It was an odd thing to hear your opponent give you such grand praise.
"Yet, I am a Great General of Qin. Born and raised on the battlefield, my life has been dedicated to it. Day in and day out… And since you're a General of Zhao, I must be rid of you in the name of Qin." As soon as Duke Hyou finished his speech, he saw his glaive was already upon me, swinging down with enough power that the air seemed to crack, as if a whip was snapped.
It was only instinct that saved my life, the pole of my treasure blade blocking the heavy strike. My muscles rippled, feeling the full force, my steed almost buckling under me.
Yet, I held on. And delivered him a strike of my own, with a two-handed grip, I brought my glaive to bear in a downward strike, one that sent Duke Hyou reeling. There had to be more than a hundred rounds of moves, from both of us, in this fight alone. And still the old man's strength did not wane.
The fight was a seesaw; I would gain momentum, then it would go back to him. Over and over, something had to give. The few times I could glimpse my troops fighting in the surroundings, I saw them winning, but I could not see the whole battlefield. I could not focus on my map, because Duke Hyou kept upping the pace and practically shouting at me to match it or die.
It was why I knew I was getting better; more and more strength was being released as if there were invisible seals on my power. My skill with the glaive was reaching higher and higher.
One more time, I swung and landed a colossal hit on Duke Hyou, one nearly sent down from his horse. But still… "Tired?!" Came the rough voice of Qin's Duke. His white/grey hairs were half covered in blood, a dozen wounds on his face and a diagonal wound that went from his shoulder down to his hip, which was still leaking blood.
"Not a chance," I replied, trying to regulate my breathing, my warhorse was stomping the ground fiercely as if it knew just the words I wanted to hear.
Duke Hyou looked back on his shoulder and saw Fu Jin closing in before whipping his head back to me. "With this next move, I shall end your life." Duke Hyou declared to me, I looked behind him and saw Fu Jin closing in, it would've been easy for me to sit and wait. To just defend and wait for Fu Jin to arrive and pincer the man.
However, that was not me. "Let's see you try!" I roared back, and we both rushed each other with a beastly roar.
"HAAAAAHHH!!!"X2
Everyone seemed to hold their breath and watch on. I was sure that even the heavens had their eyes peeled on this moment. Our weapons collided, and the world shook. A deafening clang went off.
Neither of us being able to push the other back, looking into the whites of Duke Hyou's eyes, I saw my victory. I released my grip only a little, giving him momentum and allowing his glaive to slide. My horse swung around, causing Duke Hyou to jerk forward.
His neck was open, and there was no way I would miss it. My glaive swung in one hand, cleanly through the air.
Only to be stopped by the but of his glaive, my nostrils flared, and I put my all into making my arm move. Duke Hyou was slowly losing strength, and my treasure blade began sinking deeper and drawing out more blood.
"HMPH!" Duke Hyou huffed and pushed away my glaive. A cut was left behind a severe slash wound was left in its wake.
There was little more than a few paces of distance between us, and as we stared each other down, weighing up the prospects of duelling some more. The tension was broken by my army being brought to bear. The hammer had met the anvil, and everything in between was being eviscerated.
"It's your win." Was all Duke Hyou said before ordering a retreat, I didn't say anything back to him. Just watching him go, I felt bittersweet about the victory. I had won, but I didn't manage to take Duke Hyou's head.
"Hah! Qin dogs have no face. Even their Duke is running away to save his hide!" One of the Zhao soldiers, I chuckled under my breath before shaking my head. "Where did he even come up with that insult?"
….
Fu Jin POV
As he reached Sei Chou, he saw he was in worse condition than he had ever seen him, to the point that he barely stayed upright on his horse. The surrounding soldiers came and filled Fu Jin in on what had happened, even though he saw his Lord fighting the Qin Great General.
Everyone knew of Duke Hyou, the man was infamous for fighting on the frontlines and never retreating. So, Fu Jin's surprise could not be any bigger to find out that Sei Chou almost killed him and forced him and the entire Qin army into a full retreat. 'His strength has definitely increased!' The thought came to the fore of Fu Jin's mind.
There were a scant few Generals who could match his Lord at the age of 17, to hold both terrifying intelligence and martial might. The heavens seemed to have blessed his Lord, and he had yet to come of age.
Fu Jin followed behind Sei Chou until they reached their headquarters, before they started to delve into the details of the war against Qin. The reports poured in from all sides. Den Pou had defeated and slain Qin General Kou Ri. Whilst the Jo brothers defeated Qin General Dan Shi, both flanks had casualties as everyone seemed to throw all caution to the wind.
After reading the reports and sending orders, Fu Jin heard Sei Chou sigh as he picked up a cool cup of tea. "Now we wait and see for the reactions of the other States."
….
256 BCE
NARRATOR POV
Whilst Qin fought a war in Zhao, they also fought two more. Great General Kyou led an invasion into Han. The battle was fierce, and her skill was too overwhelming for Han, who lost two major cities. Cities You and Fusou were conquered by the Great General, and over 40,000 Han soldiers were slain in the war.
However, the second invasion force, things took a turn for the worse. Qin 6 Great General Oukotsu invaded the mighty state of Chu, and came up against the Tiger of Chu Kou En/Xiang Yan and his young prodigious General, Kan Mei/Han Ming.
NARRATOR POV END
256 BCE
STATE OF CHU: Just beyond the Nanko border…
A battle of colossal scale was about to occur between Qin and Chu, two of the most powerful states in this era. Qin's Great General and the strongest man in all of China, Great General Oukotsu, rallied a full 350,000 soldiers to begin his invasion of Chu.
*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*
The booming sounds of war drums brought the feeling of the inevitable to all near the Nanko border; Chu and Qin soldiers alike prepared to face off against each other. For multiple days, the Tiger of Chu had been strategically outclassing Great General Oukotsu of Qin, leaving the man frustrated at the fact that no pitched battle had been fought yet. However, now it seemed OuKotsu was going to get his wish.
The battle began, and many could see that Great General Oukotsu could not keep pace with the strategic ingenuity of Kou En. So, he chose to do the only thing he could do at that moment. His Qin army was driven into a corner and battered, their morale needing to be raised. The Great General stepped onto the battlefield. He raised his mighty Yue axe into the air and was met with raucous cheers from the Qin soldiers.
A smirk came to the face of Kou En, seeing the flag of Oukotsu in the distance and hearing the shouting of Qin's soldiers. Oukotsu did not know it at the time, but Kou En had been waiting for just this moment.
"Bring me, Kan Mei." Chu's Great General gave the order, not a moment later, Kan Mei inclined his head towards Kou En.
Kan Mei, much like Sei Chou, was a young rising star, yet his name had not yet been known to all the world just yet. The youngster who boasted about being the strongest man in all of China was now seeing the person who held that very title.
"Any words?" Kou En asked the young General Kan Mei.
"I'm disappointed." Kan Mei replied. Much to the amusement of Kou En, who shook his head in near disbelief.
"Go and bring me his head."
"As is your wish, Lord Kou En."
Kan Mei set out immediately; his charge went unimpeded as the Chu soldiers made way for him. Knowing their Vice General and his flags, the only resistance he met was from the Qin soldiers. Yet, he butchered them as if they were mere rabble; it did not take long before a wide circle was made between him and Oukotsu.
"A foolish youngster who has yet to realise the gap between heaven and earth dares to challenge me?" Oukotsu remarked in disbelief. As if his eyes were deceiving him, he saw Kan Mei as nothing more than a green boy. He would've expected the challenge to come from one of Kou En's more prominent generals.
Kan Mei stretched his neck and shoulders before replying with the utmost confidence, "I've come to claim my title." He said.
"Your title? Boy, do you truly not understand the difference in strength between you and me?" Oukotsu replied.
"Then let's see." Kan Mei's steed was already in a gallop before he finished his sentence, and both of his hands moved towards the great sword at his back. Oukotsu was caught off guard. Not believing Kou En would send such a young person to challenge him, his mind had not caught up with what Kan Mei was doing.
With a brutally savage slash down the right shoulder of Oukotsu, Kan Mei's sword cut a deep and grievous wound into Qin's Great General. Though Oukotsu had tried to swing his Yue axe to bisect both Kan Mei and his horse, it missed. The Chu soldiers flung themselves at the Qin troops who were paralysed by the shock of seeing Ouktosu downed so quickly.
The war quickly turned into a complete rout, as Kou En masterminded it all. The Tiger of Chu proved once again why he was one of the most fearsome Great Generals in all of China.
STATE OF QIN: KANYOU
KING SHO POV
King Sho of Qin, the man who created Qin's Great Generals. The man whom the world titled the War God. Was seething with rage; it was only a year since the death of Haku Ki, and every other King seemed to grow emboldened. The Qin six was now gone, with only Ouki and Oukotsu surviving from that era and yet…
The reports had come back from the three wars that his army had been fighting, one victory in Han(the weakest Kingdom), and two losses to Zhao and Chu. Two losses that set his plans of seeing China united, truly united under one dynasty. Not like how it was "ruled" by the Zhou. For the longest time, King Sho had seen the world differently. Where everyone saw a helpless cycle of blood and war, he wanted to break it.
To shatter that cycle and right the world, he didn't care if the people called him a Warmonger, a War God or the God of war. He just wanted to bring it all to an end. Yet, he could not do that. He understood that now, nearing the end of his life. As the sun began to set on his era, he had decided on one more great push. To eat up as much land as he could, but he gained little from his gamble.
Duke Hyou, the ferocious man who lived on the battlefield, a man who King Sho wanted to recruit as one of his Qin Six at a time, was forced to retreat by a young General from Zhao, a boy of 17 by the name of Sei Chou. It was a misstep, a massive one, but not something that could not be worked around, but when that is added to Oukotsu's heavy defeat against the Chu at the hands of another youngster.
"How do we recover from this?" One of the court members took the words out of King Sho's mouth, because even he did not know. The loss to their military reputation was grievous; the wound was not unrecoverable, but it would not happen in his lifetime. King Sho did not have that much time. 'The sun is truly setting on my era.' The thought made him look over his court and his many sons.
He had to hold back the tired sigh, 'Heavens…' King Sho had been so focused on conquest that he had neglected his sons, and it showed. Though he had many heirs, all of them were either building or joining each other's faction. He knew the day he passed, a bloody and chaotic fight would ensue within Qin.
He next looked over his court and saw the greedy eyes of men, who would definitely try to carve a piece out of themselves.
He stood from his throne silently, walked down the steps, waving off the protest from his ministers and walked out of the war council… The War God found himself more tired than ever before…
CHAPTER DONE