Chapter 4

How did this man survive my last fight? Gat Su thought to himself as he reminisced their first encounter. He was sure he had dealt a mortal blow to the demon warrior.

"HAHAHA! You still can't comprehend why I'm standing here right?" Lu Bu roared like a ferocious lion, only it's voice seemed almost superimposed by another thousand equally fearsome beasts. A screaming aura of strange energy surrounded Lu Bu as sparks of wild energy flicker across his body. "Prepare yourself for a life in hell!" Lu Bu leapt to an almost superhuman height before crashing down on the stairs where Gat Su once stood. Gat Su rolled out of the impending doom and raised his demon-slayer. Lu Bu slammed down with his Sky Piercer. As they made contact, red trails of lightning warped around the locked blades. Gat Su pushed back but found Lu Bu was much stronger than his last battle. His eyes had become blank white orbs and his face was contorted into a furious scowl. Gat Su could not risk clashing blades with this man's new force and so tried dodging a few more of his attacks.

"Is that all your good for Black Swordsman?" Somehow he knew Gat Su's epithet. He swung his halberd around in circles as he approached Gat Su. When he was within range he slashed his blade into the wall, which crumbled into grey sand. Gat Su reached the very top of the castle, the combatants were delved in battle below but the real event was occurring above. Lu Bu slammed his halberd into the ground, raising rubble and debris across the battlefield and roared with such force that it caused the others to stop fighting and observe the chaos above.

"What's happened to our master?" One of the privates watched in awe at this surreal event.

A young lady watched as her lover became consumed by his rage. "What is happening to you Lu Bu?" She stowed away her twin maces and gripped the ropes of her stallion.

"HUURRGHHH!" Lu Bu was fighting like an immortal. His blade appeared as a shimmering blur as it swung across his body. It was as if he had forgotten he was fighting someone and was merely trying to carve up as mush of the environment as possible. Gat Su tied to block his attack only to find his sword flying away from his grip. He was now defenceless against this animal.

"DIE!" Lu Bu stabbed his halberd towards Gat Su's feet, embedding his Sky Piercer into the ground. Gat Su sought the chance to attack with his crossbow. He quickly attached the device and loaded four arrows into the slot. Just as the tyrant wrenched out his weapon the Black Swordsman fired the volley of arrows into his chest. Lu Bu peered down at the arrows and snapped the ends off. "Damn mosquitoes!" Lu Bu had been unaffected by the otherwise fatal arrows. Gat Su had made sure he target his lungs and heart yet he remained standing. Something else was being conjured up here.

"DIE INSECTS!" Lu Bu stabbed his halberd into Gat Su's abdomen. Gat Su was impaled by the Sky Piercer and lurched forward as his strength was sapped out of him. "HAHAHAHAHA!" Lu Bu waved around his skewered opponent as if waving a flagpole to his followers. "Are you watching Cao Cao. This is your so-called 'trump card'! He was nothing more than a pesky worm! Now I will BURY you too!"

Through all of his gloating, Gat Su mustered up the strength to prepare a final trick up his gauntlet. Lu Bu felt the swordsman tugging at something at the end of his halberd. He turned in annoyance that his foe was still alive. That expression soon turned to complete shock as he noticed Gat Su gripping a rope with his jaw. The rope led to his fake arm which now boasted a large barrel atop his fist.

Lu Bu could barely find enough time to vent his anger at his own folly. "DAMN Y-"

BOOM. The castle was alight with scorching flames as a hail of loose gunpowder poured over the walls. Gat Su pulled out the halberd, unleashing a gushing flow of dark blood. He stumbled to the ground as he focused on his defeated opponent. His right arm and half of his body had literally been blown away by the cannon. Hopefully he was going to stay down this time.

Lu Bu's face returned to a more human like expression of sadness. Why have the God's betrayed me now? He thought to himself as he gazed up at the burning sky.

"LU BU NOOOO!" The lady from before had rushed up to save her partner, only to find that she was too late.

"Diao Chan..." Lu Bu rolled his head to the side. "I am sorry."

Diao Chan cradled his head in her lap as she brushed back his blood soaked hair. "Please don't die, it wasn't supposed to end like this."

Soft tears patted over Lu Bu's face, melding with his own. "Please forgive me...I have betrayed my father and betrayed my own body...But through all of this my one regret...is making my darling Diao Chan cry." He embraced the side of her face with his other arm before succumbing to the afterlife. Diao Chan held tightly to his limp arm and stroked it with her cheek before realising her giant hero had finally lost.

"Oh Lu Bu..." She sobbed into his chest. Gat Su was unable to say or do anything. He struggled to find sympathy for killing Lu Bu but he could feel somewhat sad for his grieving wife, who'd been broken by this man's demise. He reached for his sword, he knew these hands were responsible for this lady's tears, but it was too late to repent his sins.

Diao Chan wiped back her tears and looked scornfully at her husband's murderer. "You...you killed him!" Though Gat Su was as merciless a killer as Lu Bu, he was too chivalrous to attack a woman. He could only gaze in a blank expression as she reached for her maces and tried to avenge her partner. Gat Su blocked with he flat of his blade as she pummelled the maces with added fury. She wept as she slammed the giant sword. Eventually Gat Su grabbed one mace with his arm and threw it away., The other one deflected from the sword and flung off the edge of the castle.

"Tch." She continued her sobbed filled rage as she dug out a small dagger from Lu Bu's belt. She hacked and stabbed at Gat Su until she lost all the energy to continue. She dropped the dagger and fell to her knees in a crumpled and devastated mess. "I am completely useless...Even now I cannot avenge your death Lu Bu." She gripped at Gat Su's cape for support. "Why did you have to kill him? He could have lived...He could have lived...Why?"

Gat Su looked at her with his one eye and mumbled a few words. "He was no longer the Lu Bu you loved."

She raised her head with a gaping jaw. "You're lying! I know he was still in there! I could have saved him!"

Gat Su lifted her hand off his cape and began to descend the stairs. "I'm sorry if I have made you upset, but I cannot feel guilt for slaying that demon." He began to walk off when."

"YOU BASTARD!" Diao Chan stopped him with those words which stung like daggers. "You men are all the same, killing each other with no remorse! How do you sleep at night knowing your a cold-hearted murderer...?" Diao Chan was stopped by a sharp pain in the back of her neck. Gat Su's eyes widened when he found an arrow had pierced though the back of her neck and jutted out the other side. She coughed and gagged as she tried to piece together the situation. In her final moments of life, she gazed at the Black Swordsman with bloody tears before collapsing awkwardly to the ground.

Gat Su was mortified. Someone from his army had slain this helpless woman. He found a group of soldiers led by Xiahou Yuan.

"Congratulations on defeating Lu Bu!" Xiahou Yuan beamed. Gat Su walked right past the without uttering a single response. He stopped by Lu Bu's corpse and pulled out his dagger then moved along. "Oh well, he must be tired. Hup." He lifted the corpse of Diao Chan over his shoulder and the other men lifted up the much heavier Lu Bu.

"So he actually slayed the demon warrior?" Another group of soldiers came from the other side of the castle.

"Brother!" Xiahou Yuan rejoiced as he found his brother had lived through another battle. "Your eye?" He noticed the cloth band around his eye.

"Oh never mind. I have found us something even greater in return." A man from Lu Bu's forces rode up on his horse.

"Look out!" Xiahou Yuan was about to load his bow when Xiahou dun reassured him.

"He has decided to join our forces." Zhang Liao rode up to the small gathering.

"I will serve Cao Cao with my life, which has been spared thanks to him." He swore an oath.

Cao Cao rested at his conference table with his ally Liu Bei. They were discussing their victory and the impending battle with Yuan Shao when...

SPLAT. The head of Lu Bu rolled along the table, staining all the battle plans and documents with the blood of the fallen warrior. Gat Su stood at the end of the tent. "There's that head you wanted." Before he stormed off before Cao Cao could say anything in response.

Cao Cao and Liu Bei observed the rolled eyes and protruding tongue of the head of Lu Bu.

"Gat Su has slain Lu Bu as if it were a chore." Cao Cao noted. "Yuan Shao doesn't stand a chance.

Liu Bei was equally as impressed, or rather frightened by the concept of a man who could have easily defeated the mighty Lu Bu. To make enemies with Cao Cao now would be a grave mistake.

That Swordsman, as evil and cold he may appear...may be my only key to restore the Han...


Now it seems Liu Bei is after the services of the Black Swordsman. How will Liu Bei entice Gat Su to his band of mercenaries? Don't miss the next thrilling chapter!