Yuuto Kiba wouldn't claim himself to be a righteous person. But he could certainly tell if there was injustice being done right in front of his eyes. He knew what was right and what was wrong, and if he could help himself, he would do his best to right the wrong and preserve the right.

Right now that the people had accepted him as the Messenger from Heaven, he would like to help these people. Thanks to Kan'u's speech, hope was restored and the people were in high spirit again. They would gather more men in order to fight the Yellow Turbans that had become the menace to their people, and with Heaven by their side, they believed that they would emerge victorious.

Even so, Kan'u seemed flustered and a little ashamed. Kiba could understand why she was like that. Despite the positive outcomes that might come out of this, she had just essentially lied to the people.

"You did the right thing…" Kiba said to Kan'u reassuringly. Despite the lies they had told the people, those lies were ultimately for their own good.

Kan'u nodded weakly. "I know. It is just… I cannot help but hate myself for what I did to these people. Right thing or not, this is still deception." She let out a sigh after saying that.

"Sometimes, it is necessary for us to tell lies instead of the truth…" Kiba said. "Right now, what they need the most is something to raise their morale and spirit. Telling them the truth now will just hurt them more."

Kan'u studied Kiba's face before she nodded. "You're right…" Then, her expression hardened. "There is no time to waver. Right now, we will make sure that those bandits will no longer be the menace to the people." Then, with her eyes filed with determination, she looked at Kiba. "Please forgive me, My Lord. I almost lost my will to protect the people. It is so disgraceful of me for being so weak-willed."

Kiba's brought his hand to Kan'u's shoulder. "We all have our moments. Don't beat yourself up for it. Right now, let's focus on what we can do instead of what we can't do."

"Yes, My Lord," Kan'u said. "Alright, I shall go and request aid from the villagers as well." She glanced at Chouhi, who wasn't too far from them. "Rinrin, take command of several swift-looking people and scout out the whereabouts of the Yellow Turbans for us," she ordered the petite girl.

Chouhi grinned and gave them a salute. "Roger!"

Then, Kan'u looked at Kiba. "And it would be a great help if you could accompany me, My Lord." By having the Messenger from Heaven with her, she would be able to get more helps from the villagers in order to fight the Yellow Turbans.

"Alright," Kiba nodded before he glanced at Chouhi. "Be careful out there, Rinrin."

Chouhi giggled childishly and nodded. "Of course I will!" She dashed out of the tavern, leaving both Kiba and Kan'u alone.

After Chouhi left, Kan'u spoke to Kiba, "Are you ready, My Lord?"

Kiba considered telling her to stop calling him 'Lord', but he figured out that it's useless to tell her that, so he nodded. "I'm ready. Let's go, Aisha."

When both Kiba and Kan'u stepped out of the tavern, they were greeted by the sight of many people lined up, armed with weapons. There were a handful of them armed with swords, but most of them were armed with polearms and spears, as well as farming tools. Most, if not all villagers were famers, so it was already expected. They seemed to be wearing makeshift armors. While they weren't much, at least those armors could give them protection while in battle.

Some of them were murmuring when they saw Kiba. He could tell that a handful of them were still skeptical about him being the Messenger from Heaven. Also, that was expected, because not all could buy what Kan'u had told them. They were still distrustful of him, a person of unknown origin.

Both Kan'u and Kiba went to talk to these people, asking about how they were doing and many things. And Kiba was rather amazed by Kan'u's oratory skill. She was able to raise these people's morale by mere speeches and sheer charisma.

But Kiba knew that there might be people who weren't bought by mere speeches and sheer charisma. And he was proven right when a voice shouted to them.

"Hold it right there!"

Kiba and Kan'u looked at the source of the voice before a man stepped out. He was rather tall and muscular. He was holding a polearm in his hand, and he was glaring at Kiba after stepping out from the crowd.

"Do you expect me to believe all these?" The man asked. "Do you expect me to believe that this guy's a Messenger from Heaven?" He pointed his polearm at Kiba.

"Did I not make myself clear earlier?" Kan'u said. "There were rumors about the Messenger from Heaven descending from the sky above at Luoyang! And even I had seen with my own eyes the Messenger from Heaven coming down to deliver us salvation! Are you calling me a liar?"

Well, technically, she was. But Kiba kept that comment to himself as he continued observing the situation before him.

"Heh… just because you said so doesn't mean we have to believe everything you said…" The man said in a rather arrogant manner. "We don't even know there are rumors about Messenger from Heaven at Luoyang!" He glared at Kan'u accusingly. "For all we know, you might have been lying through your teeth!"

The other people started murmuring to each other. "Well, this isn't good…" Kiba thought.

But the man wasn't finished yet. "And this guy… this so-called Messenger from Heaven…" He walked over to his direction. He was taller than Kiba, and much bulkier. "Where's the proof that you're a Messenger from Heaven? Do you expect me to believe everything without asking? If you cannot prove it, then I have no reason to believe in you!"

"H-how dare-" Kan'u was outraged by the man's accusation, but she was stopped when Kiba held out his hand.

"I'll handle this, Aisha," Kiba said.

"B-but…!"

Kiba looked at the man before him before he spoke, "It is true that I have no proof of me being the Messenger from Heaven other than Kan'u's words, but you cannot just accuse her of lying…" He glanced at Kan'u before he continued, "She desires to protect this village and the villagers, yet you accuse her of telling lies. Even if what you said might be true, you cannot simply disregard her desire to help others." His expression hardened as he looked straight into the man's eyes. "What I see just now is ungratefulness."

More villagers were murmuring while the man continued glaring at Kiba. Standing right next to Kiba, Kan'u was a little stunned.

"So… are you saying that she's lying?" The man asked. It didn't look like he's going to let the matter go.

"No, I did not say that…" Kiba shook his head. "What I said here is that you're not seeing a bigger picture here…" Then, he sighed. "Still, if you want proof, then I'll give it to you." With unwavering eyes, he looked at the man who stood before him. "I will show you the proof that I am the Messenger from Heaven."

"Oh… you're gonna prove it, huh? You want to fight?" The man asked, grinning.

"If it can help you to shut up, sure," Kiba shrugged. "Just between you and me. If any one of us yield, it's over."

"Alright," the man said before he stepped behind. Others moved aside, giving them enough space for the duel between them.

Kan'u gave Kiba a worried look. "M-my Lord, this-"

Kiba smiled at Kan'u and spoke, "Trust me, Aisha. I know what I'm doing."

After studying Kiba's face, Kan'u nodded. "I trust you, Lord Kiba."

"Thanks," Kiba said.

There shouldn't be a time for them to settle their dispute by fighting like that, but since the man wanted proof, then Kiba would gladly give him some.

"Don't you realize that the Yellow Turbans will destroy everything if we do nothing?" Kiba asked as he studied the man before him, who was holding the polearm with both hands, preparing to attack him.

"At least it's better than following a couple of liars," the man answered. "We can just run away from this village and start anew." He noticed that Kiba had no weapon with him. "Pick up your weapon, 'Messenger from Heaven'," the way he called him was so condescending, and Kan'u who was watching from a distance was restraining herself from shouting at the man for the disrespect he displayed at her Lord.

"Nah, I'm good," Kiba said. Considering what he could do, picking up any of those makeshift weapons was unnecessary. "I'm ready whenever you are."

Kiba's nonchalance seemed to grate on the man's nerve, and he shouted as he charged towards the blond boy. With his polearm, he attacked Kiba, trying to stab him. Nimbly, Kiba dodged the attack. Seeing that he missed, the man continued his assault, and Kiba just avoided the attacks.

The other villagers were watching the fight between Kiba and the man, and were amazed by Kiba's display of agility as he dodged the continuous assaults from the polearm-wielding man. Even Kan'u was astonished by this.

"Gkh… stand still, you bastard!" The man shouted before he attacked Kiba with a thrust of his polearm.

Thinking that he had enough of dodging, he held out his right hand, grasping for something in empty air before he pulled it out. He pictured the image of a black blade, demonic in nature, and the image came into reality.

It was his ability; creating demonic swords. As he pulled out the demonic sword, he used it to cut the incoming polearm. With just a swing, the polearm was severed. The man was stunned and he was unable to stop Kiba from kicking him on his torso, pushing him back.

The crowd was stunned when they saw the black sword coming into existence in Kiba's hand. Even Kan'u, who managed to take a look at what Kiba was able to do. He remembered seeing him pulling out a sword out of thin air while dispatching the bandits back then at the desert.

"D-did that sword just suddenly appear?!"

"What am I seeing?!"

"What a strange-looking sword!"

"I-is this magic?!"

Now that his opponent was on the ground, Kiba spoke, "Now, is there anything else you'd like to say? Or is just one sword not enough for you? That can be arranged," he stabbed the sword to the ground before more swords appeared around him. All those swords, the demonic swords that were created from his Sacred Gear, Sword Birth, were all around him, stabbed on the ground. At least there were more than a dozen of them around him. "Now… do you need another proof? Proof that the Messenger from Heaven is standing right in front of you?"

Kiba wasn't sure where he got the courage to say those words, considering that he still felt rather squeamish with being the Messenger from Heaven, but he still needed to convince the man and the others that he was one, even though he actually wasn't. In order to save the village from the Yellow Turban, he would gladly become one, putting his squeamishness aside.

Seeing all those swords, the man trembled, and then was frightened when Kiba picked up two of those swords.

"Or does this not convince you?" Kiba asked, smiling politely.

"I-I… I yield!" The man cried. "I believe you! I believe you are the Messenger from Heaven! There's no way a normal man can do this!"

Seeing that it was the right time for her to intervene, Kan'u stepped forward. "Indeed! This is My Lord's gift from heaven! Look at what he is capable of doing! With his capability of conjuring swords out of thin air, there is no way we cannot emerge victorious against those Yellow Turbans!"

The villagers were talking to each other, their eyes filled with amazement as they looked at Kiba. After seeing what he was capable of, their doubt had been cast away.

"W-we can stand a chance against those Yellow Turbans!"

"We can save our village!"

"Look at him! He's going to deliver us salvation!"

Kiba just looked at the villagers awkwardly as he dismissed the swords he conjured earlier. Kan'u went to his side, smiling gratefully at him. The villagers were raising their voices in a cheer now that they were given a chance to defend their village against the enemies.

"That was splendid, My Lord…" Kan'u said. "Such an amazing ability you have…"

Kiba smiled at Kan'u. He had promised to her to help these people, and he didn't want to let her down. He knew that Issei would have done the same thing, if not more, if he were to be placed in this situation.

Well, it might involve some sort of perversion, if it were him.

Before Kiba could say anything to her, a voice shouted.

"Onii-chan!" That was Chouhi, and they saw the petite girl rushing over to their direction. She stopped right in front of Kiba and Kan'u before she spoke, "We found the Yellow Turbans!"


Fang Knight of the Three Kingdoms

High School DxD and Koihime Musou Crossover

Chapter 03: It's Raining Yellow Turbans

Chouhi had just returned from her reconnaissance mission, reporting that they had found the Yellow Turbans campsite. Located in the prairie about one li west of the village, it was estimated that there were four thousands of them.

"And they're all carrying shoddy weapons, from what we have seen," Chouhi added.

"I see…" Kan'u nodded before she turned to address the men who were willing to fight. "People of the village! It is as you said!" She spoke loudly to the villagers so that they could hear everything she said. "They may be vast in number, but they are merely a mob!" She glanced at Kiba before she continued, "With Heaven on our side, they are no match for us!"

Kan'u continued her speech to rouse their morale. They definitely needed it so that they would be able to fight those Yellow Turbans. Considering that many would die in the upcoming battle, they had to be prepared. Casualties among their ranks couldn't be avoided, but they needed to be in high spirit in order to stand a chance against the enemies.

"Lord Kiba…" Then, Kan'u said to him. "Will you give us a few words before we depart?"

"Eh?" Kiba blinked. He wasn't used to this kind of thing. He almost refused, but after looking at Kan'u's face, he was unable to find it in his heart to refuse it. "W-well… I'm not so sure about it, actually…" Still, he voiced out his hesitation to Kan'u.

But, My Lord…" Patiently, Kan'u said as she smiled at Kiba. "If you could give us a few words, I am sure it would raise our morale."

Recalling what he had promised to her, Kiba nodded. He couldn't help but feel nervous, though. After all, he never did this sort of thing before. He had served under Rias Gremory, and assisted others, but he never actually did something that had something to do with leading. He looked at the villagers waiting for his words. He realized that there were more of them than before. Perhaps his stunt before might have convinced more people to join in order to fight the Yellow Turbans.

"Well… hi," Kiba began as he smiled at the people. After clearing his throat, he spoke with clear voice, "We're going to head off to battle, in order to save this village. And I'm not going to lie to all of you. In this battle, people will die." He wasn't that naïve to say otherwise. "This is something that we cannot avoid." He could tell the men before him tensed when he brought the possibility of dying in battle up. "Even so, all of us have something we hold dear, something precious to us. All of you have loved ones, families and dear friends…" He held out both hands as he continued, "We all are well aware of what will happen if the Yellow Turbans are not stopped, right?"

He smiled when the villagers nodded and spoke among themselves.

"So, even though it is possible for us to die in the battle, please rest assured," Kiba said. "If we fight for the sake of our friends, our loved ones… If we fight to protect those precious to us, those we hold dear to ourselves, there is no need for us to fear anything, not even death. We will march to the battlefield, knowing that no matter what happen to us, we are doing the right thing for ourselves and our loved ones."

Taking a deep breath, Kiba closed his eyes before he said as loudly as he could to the villagers before him.

"So… are you ready to kick some yellow asses?!"

The villagers cheered loudly in response to Kiba's question. Even Kiba couldn't believe that his speech worked quite well. Too well, as a matter of fact. As he looked at the villagers holding up their weapons in cheer, Kiba felt a hand touching his shoulder. He looked behind and saw Kan'u, who seemed to be impressed by his speech. They looked into each other's eyes wordlessly before Kan'u nodded.

"Aisha…" Kiba said. "Let's do this…"

"Yes," Kan'u responded. "My Lord…"


Together with the group of people who were willing to fight, Kiba, Kan'u and Chouhi marched out to the Yellow Turbans encampment. Just like the report, there were really four thousands of them. While their weapons were extremely low-quality, the same could be said about the weapons brought by the villagers. At the very least, the Yellow Turbans did not have advantage of superior weaponry.

Kiba created two demonic swords and checked their weights. He was used to wield two swords at the same time, and he wanted to make use of his skills in this battle. Earlier, Kan'u had suggested to him to use his ability to create swords to provide weapons to the troops, but Kiba reasoned that they wouldn't be able to easily wield those swords due to their nature. He didn't tell her that they were demonic swords, but letting ordinary people wielding those swords might bring unfortunate implications that he didn't want to see anytime soon.

After convincing that the men would be able to fight the Yellow Turbans, even with their makeshift weapons, Kan'u finally relented. The Turbans were, simply put, a group of bandits, disorganized and unruly bunch of pillagers and rapists. As long as they used the tactics that they devised before moving out, those marauders wouldn't be able to stand a chance.

With the enemy encampment not too far from them, Kan'u looked at the villagers and addressed them, "Remember what we have devised. Remain in pairs while attacking the enemies. If you follow my commands, then Heaven will surely smile upon us!" Raising her guandao high, she shouted, "Those honorless villains will learn the might of Green Dragon Crescent Blade, as I, Kan'u Unchou, bring forth retributions for all the crimes they did! Remember, the will of Heaven is on our side! Do not fear! Draw out your courage! Fight to protect your wives, your children, your friends, your comrades and your loved ones! Fight to protect your precious village!"

The villagers let out wordless roars as they responded to Kan'u's words. Seeing that the men were all fired up, Chouhi also yelled, "Remember that Chouhi Yokutoku and the Viper Spear is here too!" She spun her heavy-looking spear, a grin etched on her face. "Don't be scared! Charge!"

Seeing that the generals had already signaled to them to attack, the villagers let out one last roar before they charged. With each of his hands holding a demonic sword, Kiba raced down the hill together with the others. Those who were armed with melee weapons were fighting at the front, while the archers remained at the rear. They met the Yellow Turbans in force as they got closer to their camp, and sure enough, they were disorganized.

Kiba charged straight into the force, using his inhuman speed to catch them off-guard. He carved through the Turbans with his swords, violently cutting through the enemies without hesitation. With him cutting through the enemies with his superhuman speed and skills, he let others to finish off the rest as he continued cutting down the enemies. He did not remain still as he killed any Yellow Turbans he found as he moved around the battlefield, weakening their force.

Both Kan'u and Chouhi moved to left and right respectively, leading the men to attack the Turbans. They were able to take down many Turbans with just a few swings of their weapons. Chouhi in particular made use of the weight of her spear to crush an enemy spearman's head. Then she stabbed through the headless body of the spearman with her spear before she hurled the body towards a group of infantrymen that was charging towards her, causing them to panic as they saw a headless body flying towards them. This allowed the villagers to swarm around them, taking them out.

As for Kan'u, she slashed through the enemies with her guandao, Green Dragon Crescent Blade, leaving behind countless dead bodies as she moved through the battlefield. Truly, the Yellow Turbans were unable to stand a chance against them as the villagers made use of the tactics devised by the generals beforehand. Seeing that half of their force had been decimated, the surviving Yellow Turbans were trying to escape.

"Well, can't have you guys escaping us, can we?"

The fleeing Yellow Turbans didn't see that one coming, as a boy armed with two swords carved through their ranks, fearlessly cutting through those who were foolish enough to fight him. Then he summoned more swords, discarding the ones in his hands to pick up the new ones to kill the enemies. The way he executed the enemies was methodical and calculated, as he aimed to kill each of them with just one slash or stab. He aimed for their throats and chests, making sure that the wounds he inflicted on them were fatal.

The Yellow Turbans who were trying to escape were shot down by the archers, and then cut down by the infantrymen. The villagers were on their way to the camp. With one more push, they would be able to reach it.

"Ooooraah!" Kiba could hear Chouhi shouting before he saw more than a dozen Yellow Turbans sent flying by her attack. Despite her diminutiveness, that girl sure packed a punch.

The blond boy just observed as the Yellow Turbans fell back to the ground before he allowed himself to smile in amusement. "Well, it's raining Yellow Turbans, alright…" Then he continued his assault. The camp wouldn't be coming to them anytime soon, so they needed to reach the camp to prevent more casualties among them. "Okay, here we go…" Once again, Kiba charged forward, cutting down more Yellow Turbans along the way.


In the end, the battle lasted about three hours in total. 600 were lost in the battle among 2000 able-bodied villagers who were willing to fight. As for the Yellow Turbans, they sustained much worse losses. Roughly 3500 of them were killed, and the rest surrendered and fled as fast as they could. It was due to the individual performances of Kan'u, Chouhi and Kiba that had turned the tide in their favor.

With the villagers marching back to the village after the battle, they were welcomed by those they had left behind. As Kiba returned to the village with the others, he saw the disappointed faces of those who had no one to welcome among those who returned. He understood that in this kind of battle, casualties were unavoidable, no matter how much he'd like to wish otherwise.

In a way, he felt a little guilty for leading these good men to their deaths. Somehow, he understood the burdens of those who were put in charge had to shoulder. The leaders of the biblical factions in the alliance might still have lingering regrets for having good men and women dying under them while they were in charge. This understanding made him feel more appreciative to peace.

As Kiba thought to himself, he felt a gentle tug on his sleeve. He looked down and saw Chouhi, who was looking at him with those innocent eyes of hers. She was so young, yet she was able to take down many adults with that trusty spear of hers, violently even. Kiba felt a little concerned, but considering the circumstances, he knew that she had her own reasons for her being so accustomed in taking people's lives as easily as squashing flies.

"Onii-chan, what's wrong?" Chouhi asked as she tilted her head cutely.

Hearing Chouhi's innocent question, Kiba couldn't help but smile. "It's nothing, Rinrin," he brought his hand to pat the girl on her head. "It's just that… many people died today. Not only the villagers, but also the Yellow Turbans." While he had no regret in taking the lives of those Turbans, he still wished that there were ways where bloodshed could be avoided. "I guess I'm just talking nonsense here, but… if only things could be different." He sighed. He wasn't that naïve to think that everything could be solved by just mere words, but he wished that it would be that simple.

Chouhi tilted her head again before she asked, "This isn't your first time killing people, right Onii-chan?"

"I killed many people before," Kiba nodded. "But it's my first time to actually lead people to kill other people. I guess becoming a leader can be a heavy burden…"

Then, Chouhi grinned. "Onii-chan has to fight harder, then! If we fight hard enough, many people can be saved!"

Kiba looked at Chouhi, who was radiating childish exuberance, unfitting for someone who bore the name of Chouhi, one of the important figures in Three Kingdoms. Then, he smiled. "I guess you're right, Rinrin. I'm sure you'll be able to save many people at this rate." Her reasoning was simple, yet logical. By fighting hard enough, many people who were fighting alongside them would be spared from dying in the battlefields.

"Hehehe…" Chouhi was beaming brightly after hearing Kiba's praise. "Of course! After all, Rinrin is strong!"

"Yes, you sure are," Kiba nodded. "I saw what you did. It was raining Yellow Turbans back then."

"You saw?! Well… Rinrin wanted to finish the fight as soon as possible, so Rinrin thought it would be better to take out as many enemies as possible," Chouhi said.

"So… how did Rinrin do it?" Kiba asked. "I don't think I can make it rain Yellow Turbans like you did."

"As long as Onii-chan has guts, Rinrin knows Onii-chan can make Yellow Turbans flying too!" Chouhi gave Kiba a thumb-up.

"Ah, I see…" Kiba mused. "Guts, then." He smiled at Chouhi.

Then, Kiba heard the sounds of footsteps. He turned around and saw Kan'u. She was together with a group of villagers. Somehow, she looked a little troubled.

"My Lord…" Kan'u addressed the blond boy.

Chouhi looked at the villagers behind Kan'u, and blinked. "Eh? What's everyone doing together?" She asked.

"What is it, Aisha?" Kiba asked Kan'u. "And…" He looked at the people behind her. "What's up with these people?" The people were looking at Kiba with expectant eyes.

"Well…" Kan'u began hesitantly. "You see…"

One of the villagers, the one who was the elder of the village, spoke up, "We have decided…"

Somehow, Kiba had a bad feeling about this. "Uh… what have you decided?" He asked.

Another villager spoke, "Yeah! We want you to be our chief magistrate!"

Blinking, Kiba took a few seconds to process what he just heard. "Eh?" Then, he looked at Kan'u, who seemed to have the decency to look guilty. "Chief magistrate?" He looked back at the elder.

"We want you to lead us!" Another villager said. "Our chief magistrate abandoned us when the Turbans attacked, so we need a new one to lead us! But we don't think we can govern a city on our own…" The villager bowed to Kiba while the rest looked at Kiba with expectant eyes. "So, we believe that you are the right choice for leading our people!"

From that point forward, Kiba believed that things would get more and more complicated. And appropriately, Kiba responded, "…What?"

TO BE CONTINUED


Author's Note: Finally, after a few months of inactivity, Fang Knight of the Three Kingdoms is finally updated! Hurray! So, I hope you guys like this chapter, even though it's shorter than the previous one. I hope the portrayal of Kiba is done right in this story, because it's kind of hard to characterize this guy. Also, considering that Kiba is the main star of this story, I'm sorry to say that Issei may not appear and will only be mentioned by Kiba a few times. Well, sometimes a sidekick needs his time to shine too, right?

So, thank you for lojzek92 for beta-reading this chapter. It is so nice to work alongside you. Also, please stay tuned for the next chapter, Chapter 04: The Sleeping Dragon. Until then, farewell.

Prince Arjuna (2015)