Hey there, people! This is KnightMan1890, here with the newest installment of Chaos Reigns: RNH. Unfortunately, it seems that I've made yet another time miscalculation. I have 3 more weeks of school instead of 2; my classmate informed me of this just today. Oh, well.

Anyways, last time, we finally reached the end of the Dong Zhuo saga and transitioned into the next battle over Xu Province between Liu Bei and Cao Cao. And now, that battle begins...

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters.

"speech"

'thinking'

"inner speech"

'inner thoughts'

"rage speech"

(author notes & comments)

((scene change))

flashback

narration

Review Responses:
Awesome PJOHarry – Glad you liked it. Yep, I'm finally back; hopefully, I can get the next chapter out of the way shortly. Oh yeah; Zhao Yun. I've thoroughly liked his character since day one, and his new Dragon Spear for DW7XL is just ridiculously awesome. And, Cao Cao may not find as much trouble as you may expect...or will he?

(Last time, on Chaos Reigns...)

"He wishes to seize the land for himself. That is where his ambition lies." Ren started as he, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei joined Liu Bei and Zhao Yun. "And what kind of land would that be, with no one left to rule over?" Fei responded, his anger at the situation nearly palpable. "Hmm...If he truly is so powerful, then we will have no choice but to eliminate him." Bei began, catching the attention of the others. "That is the message we shall send to Cao Cao in this battle!" he declared, the others nodding in affirmation. "Now, prepare to march! We must rescue Tao Qian, and drive Cao Cao from this land!" he ordered, the troops complying immediately and beginning their final preparations.

Gazing into the distance, Ren only had one thought on his mind...

'Cao Cao...you'll pay for this! I will not allow your ambition to ruin this land!'

(And now...)

Even after the defeat and death of Dong Zhuo, the land still is not at peace.

With a new and potentially more powerful threat on the horizon, Ren Jiang and his allies must fight for the land of virtue that they so envision...

((Xu Province; outskirts of Xu Zhou Castle))

The preparations were complete, the troops were ready, and it was time for the battle to begin...now. With the village gates finally opened, Liu Bei's forces wasted no time in advancing.

"So, we have to take down Cao Cao? No problem at all!" Zhang Fei said, excited at the prospect of battle and assured of victory.

'Hmm...I wonder where Uncle is?' Ren inwardly questioned, not having seen Jin Zang within the camp. During his inner thoughts, however, an urgent message came from the front.

"My lords! Lord Tao Qian's main force is surrounded and in dire straits!" the messenger relayed, the tone of desperation not lost on either Liu Bei or his generals.

"Sounds like Tao Qian's in serious trouble. We have to rescue him, now!" Ren said, already moving to march towards the location of Xu Zhou Castle. "Indeed; head towards the castle, and hurry!" Liu Bei ordered, his forces complying and moving forward at an accelerated pace.

About halfway to the castle, however...

The army came across a mountain path off to the side, where the sounds of fighting echoed across the landscape. A practical sea of blue-wearing soldiers signified that a large amount of Cao Cao's troops were there.

"Has Lord Tao Qian been driven out of his castle already?" Ren asked incredulously, noting how far they still were from the castle. "It would seem that way. We must break this stranglehold quickly! Attack!" Bei ordered as their battle truly began.

The skirmish swiftly turned in the favor of Liu Bei's advancing forces. No important generals of Cao Cao's seemed to be here, and the troops that were present appeared to be completely unprepared for the sudden assault.

Scores upon scores of the apparent ambush unit fell to the blades of Liu Bei and his officers. The narrow mountain path had forced the blue-wearing soldiers to be tightly packed together, and that made them easy prey for the long-ranged weapons of the attacking generals.

Zhao Yun set the precedent by using his spear to launch himself into the air, only to come crashing down on the enemy with an overhead smashing blow from above.

Ren Jiang wasn't far behind; using one of his twin spears to block a troop's strike, he planted the other against the ground and used it to propel himself forward into an airborne spinning attack, downing more than a few soldiers and helping to keep pushing the enemy back.

Guan Yu was downing enemies left and right through long, horizontal swings with his crescent blade. Some troops tried to block the attacks, but they were easily swept aside and cut down by the hundred-pound weapon.

Zhang Fei found himself encircled by several soldiers, but he didn't let that stop him, as his dual-bladed pike easily enabled him to cover his own back, as well as dishing out damage on the front. Lancing his blade backwards, he stabbed one enemy and began to swing the pike around, slamming the now dead enemy's body into the other soldiers with devastating force.

Even Liu Bei himself was battling against the enemies with ease. Deftly avoiding a stab by a spear, he dashed forward, rapidly spinning himself around while holding his twin swords outwards, taking down several enemies.

It wasn't long before the enemy force was annihilated, and Liu Bei's forces advanced further into the mountain path to see just whom they had rescued.

Luckily, it was indeed Tao Qian they had saved, and their two forces now melded together, Cao Cao's troops having been expelled from this area. The aged ruler was accompanied by Jin Zang, who had apparently gone ahead of the main force.

"There you are, Uncle! I was wondering where you'd gone." Ren said, relived in seeing that his family member was safe "Thanks, Ren! Oh, sorry for worrying ya; I had gone forward on a scouting mission, and I got caught up in Lord Tao Qian's situation here." Jin responded.

"I thank you for rescuing me. Your arrival was most timely." Tao said, happy to have received reinforcements. "You are quite welcome, Lord Tao Qian. However, this battle isn't over yet. Allow us to escort you back to your castle." Liu Bei responded, the combined force beginning to head towards Xu Zhou Castle.

They strangely encountered little interference on the way there; although, the reason for that become clear once the castle was in sight. Blue and white banners hung over the castle walls...

It had already been taken over by Cao Cao's forces.

"M-My castle...It has already fallen into enemy hands..." the aged prefect lamented, slightly in disbelief at how quickly Cao Cao's forces moved. "Then we'll just have to take it back!" Zhang Fei responded, in true fashion of his own demeanor. "Right. Continue the advance; we'll need to secure a main base before launching a full assault against Cao Cao's army." Liu Bei ordered, the combined force's march proceeding as before.

However, something even more strange happened when they reached the castle.

The front gate was wide open, and it appeared that no one was inside. Although the banners signifying Cao Cao's forces still hung on its walls, no one seemed to be defending it, or was even there.

"What the hell is this? They went through all that trouble just to keep us away from an empty castle?" Fei yelled, slightly confused and outraged by the perceived stupidity. "I don't think it's that simple, Master Zhang Fei." Ren started, already having a thought as to what the real issue was here.

'The old bait and lure...an 'empty castle' operation...' Ren thought. Suddenly, a strong wind seemed to burst forth from nowhere, forcing everyone to cover their faces for a scant second. However, the gale was gone within a moment, and nothing appeared to have happened, except...

"Hey, Ren! Look at this!" Jin Zang called out, holding up a fallen banner that looked to have been snapped right off from its perch by the wind that just passed through.

That could only mean one thing...

"I knew it. They've set a trap." Ren said, a serious contemplation flitting across his visage. "Are you sure of this?" Bei asked, unknowing as to how the white-haired young man had come to such a revelation. "Positive. Remember the old saying? 'If a banner breaks in a strong wind, then the enemy is planning an ambush.' And with Cao Cao as our enemy, I'd say that it's a pretty safe bet." Ren answered, certain of the old adage as truth in this scenario.

"What course of action do you suggest, then?" Guan Yu asked, the others mentally questioning the same thing. "What else is there to do, but spring the trap and counter with one of our own?" Ren answered, a plan already beginning to form in his mind. "What is it that we need to do?" Zhao Yun asked.

"I've got an idea for a plan in mind...but first, Lord Tao Qian, is there another way to get inside your castle?" Ren asked the ruler, the aged man nodding in affirmation. "Yes, only one. There is an eastern gate to Xu Zhou, but the way there from our current location would force us to traverse the way through the mountain path you rescued me from earlier." he answered, Ren humming lightly in thought.

"We could set up ladders in order to reach the peak of the castle walls, and smoke out their ambush...however, I'm almost certain that they'll have a contingency plan utilizing that other gate." Ren thought aloud, worried at a potential reverse of fortune. "That's true...our entire main force is here. Even if we do spring them for an advantage of ours, they can just call in reinforcements, and then we'll all be in danger of annihilation." Jin said, seeing where Ren's train of thought was going.

"Hmm...However, I might have a plan for that as well. Lord Tao Qian, is there an hill or mountain that our army can ascend near the eastern gate?" Ren asked, thinking that the terrain could be used to an advantage. "Yes; the aforementioned mountain path will actually take us straight to the peak of the cliffs that overlook the castle surrounds. We would be directly above the eastern gate's area." Tao answered.

"Excellent. Then this just might work." Ren said, a full strategy in mind. "Alright, if you've got a plan in mind, kid, then hurry up and tell us!" Fei said, ready to get going. "Okay then...we'll need to split our army into two separate forces, for starters. One force will ascend to the mountaintop and launch an assault on any potential reinforcements waiting near the eastern gate. The other will have to enter the castle from here, and spring the ambush on themselves." Ren explained.

"That is quite a dangerous gambit...if this plan is discovered or nullified..." Guan Yu started, revealing the potential ramifications should the plan fail. "...Then we just might be done for. I know this is dangerous, but it's something. We'll need all the help we can get with beating Cao Cao. I'm sure that we can make this work." Ren responded, confident in the success of his plan.

"Supposing that we do go along with this, who's gonna do what?" Fei asked, wanting to see how far the young man had thought into this plan of his. "Well; Uncle, Zhao Yun, and myself will ascend the mountain for the surprise assault, and, although I am loathe to attempt such a thing, I would ask you, Lord Tao Qian, to be the bait for the ambush while accompanied by Lord Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei for support in case anything goes wrong." Ren explained gravely, shocking several of the others.

"What? Why must Lord Tao Qian be the bait?" Bei asked incredulously at the notion of using the venerable prefect in such a way. "Because he is who Cao Cao is after. If Lord Tao Qian is not present within the ranks of those whom are attempting to retake his castle, the enemy will know that something is amiss. Regardless, I will not force any of you into this. We must all be in agreement." Ren consented, unwilling to proceed with this strategy unless everyone was behind him on it.

"I am willing to fulfill the role that is necessary of me." Tao relented, agreeing to the plan. "Are you completely certain about doing this, Lord Tao Qian?" Bei asked. "Indeed, I am. I understand your misgivings, Master Liu Bei, but Cao Cao and his forces must be driven from this land, no matter the cost." Tao answered with conviction, fully committed to his part.

"Very well. Is everyone else consented to this plan?" Liu Bei asked the others of the army, receiving many nods from the various soldiers in response. "I'm up for it, as long as I get to bash some heads!" Fei responded in affirmation. "I will work toward the fulfillment of this strategy as well." Guan Yu answered. "I am also in agreement." Zhao Yun answered. "I'll do what I have to do; I'm in too, Ren." Jin Zang answered. "Then it's settled. Ren Jiang, we are all behind you." Liu Bei said with finality.

"I thank you all for your support. Now then, let's get started! We'll proceed with the setting up of ladders; I'll need all of the archers we can spare to set up along the castle's perimeter in support of the force we'll be stationing here." Ren ordered; with that, the stratagem was underway.

((two hours later))

The beginning of the plan was executed swiftly; the archers were armed and ready to assist at any time.

The two forces had separated; the contingent led by Tao Qian and Liu Bei were to wait for a bit before entering Xu Zhou, so as to give enough time for Ren Jiang's and Zhao Yun's force to set up the pincer.

"It's time...Once the ambush is sprung, we'll need to hold out for our reinforcements." Bei said, the army at the northern gate beginning to advance into the castle...

((with Ren's forces))

Having already cleared out this way before, the advance along the mountain pathway went smoothly; it wasn't long before they reached the cliffside summit.

"You've really put some thought into this plan of yours, Ren; using the terrain to your advantage, as well as having a counter for the enemy's own potential contingency...I'm impressed. You are becoming quite the strategist." Mei praised within Ren's mind. 'Well, I had some extremely valuable teachings. Thank you, Mei...I don't know how my life would've gone without you.' Ren responded wholeheartedly, bringing a smile and a light color to the ice deity's visage. "Ren..." she thought wistfully, her feelings towards him growing at these constant acknowledgments of her.

As it turns out, Ren's intuition had been correct; an enemy force was stationed outside the eastern gate, waiting for a signal from within the castle. Ren could see that several of them were archers, most likely planning the same type of ambush that Tao Qian's forces had already put in place. "It seems that your thoughts on the matter of enemy reinforcements were correct." Zhao Yun remarked, seeing the oblivious force below. "Yeah...and the east gate's shut, so if we hurry, we can trick the enemy forces. It's nice to know things are working out. Now then, let's go!" Ren ordered, the allied force complying immediately and charging down the mountain.

The enemy force was caught completely off-guard by the attack, and was unable to respond appropriately to the overturned situation. They were utterly ran through by the assault force, now bolstered by an invigorated morale.

In the middle of the attack, Ren got into a battle with one of Cao Cao's retainers, named Yu Jin...

((that fight))

Ren had just cut down several soldiers through a 360 degree spin-out, when his sixth sense suddenly told him to duck; in doing so, he narrowly avoided being stabbed by a long spear that passed over his head, so close that he could feel a few hairs being cut from his head.

Batting the spear away from his proximity, he turned and saw that a male, several years older than he, was the wielder, and by the looks of his armor and ready stance, he was an officer, if not a general, of Cao Cao's forces.

"Whoever you are, I suggest you give it up. We will retake Xu Zhou Castle!" Ren declared, giving the young warrior an ultimatum to either retreat, or suffer serious consequences. "I am Yu Jin, general of the grand army of Lord Cao Cao. I refuse to run away! Now, face me in battle!" the man yelled in response as he charged forth with a battle cry.

Despite his declarations and moderate skill in battle, however, Yu Jin was a pushover compared to the raw might exhibited by stalwart warriors such as Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun.

Blocking a horizontal strike from Yu Jin, Ren lashed out, knocking the older man off-balance, and slashed him once with each of his twin spears. Retaliating, Yu Jin jumped and went for an overhead smash, but Ren crossed his weapons into an 'X' pattern and blocked the strike with ease.

Breaking the ensuing stalemate quickly, Ren backflipped, using the force's carry-over to send the man crashing backfirst into the scraggly mountain itself. Battered and bruised from his admittedly short duel with Ren, and seeing that his troops had reached a total wipeout from the assault, Yu Jin admitted defeat here, and retreated along with the few soldiers he had remaining.

((afterwards))

"Well, looks like we're done here." Jin remarked, relieved that the attack had gone so smoothly. "Seems that way...that's one part of the plan down; now, what about the rest...?" Ren responded, looking towards the castle.

The eastern force was set, but what will happen within the castle...?

((inside Xu Zhou))

It appeared that Ren's warning of an ambush was right on the mark.

As soon as the northern contingent marched into the castle, the gates behind them closed. Although not shocked at this turn of events, the force was wary of the enemy making their presence known as they headed towards the center of the castle.

And make themselves known, they did. The moment they reached the middle, the blue-wearing soldiers appeared.

The castle's interior was large; enough to be considered its own town. The enemy made use of that, and made sure to place soldiers in every hidden position they could get to that wouldn't be seen immediately by those coming from the northern gate.

In total, there was a large number of enemies, and with their only escape route now sealed off, Liu Bei's and Tao Qian's main force was completely encircled.

"Well, well. It took you all long enough to get here. I was starting to fear you weren't coming." an unfamiliar voice called out from within the enemy ranks. A line of them parting, they revealed a young man walking towards the front.

The man wore a somewhat simplified outfit despite it having intricate designs throughout. He wore a blue undershirt that was covered by a collared, silver vest with long sleeves. The undershirt was segmented into a small sash on his waist by a black belt and a long, fanciful cape that flowed behind him using a golden shoulder pad on his right arm. His black pants, accented by a golden design, extended all the way down his legs and doubled into identically colored boots. He also wore stark black gloves and blue diamond earrings.

His lithe body was thin despite retaining the usual male definition; his light brown hair, azure eyes, and flawless skin made out his appearance as very young, perhaps even around Ren's own age.

This young man's name was Guo Jia, and he was an extremely intelligent strategist, highly regarded by Cao Cao himself. He had anticipated an attempted retaking of Xu Zhou Castle, and he had his forces lying in wait accordingly.

"That was a valiant effort on your part for rescuing Tao Qian. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that it has all been for naught. Your defeat has come, and we now have both of you in our clutches at once." Jia said, referring towards Tao Qian and Liu Bei.

"Is that so...?" Bei responded mysteriously before giving out a loud whistle. The archers, who had previously set themselves atop the castle walls, now revealed their presence, readying their bows and aiming towards Guo Jia's forces.

The young intellectual merely laughed condescendingly at this, knowing that he had his own plan for such an eventuality. "Now, this is quite surprising...I wasn't aware that you had a strategist in your midst as well. No matter...this may have worked, if only I didn't have my own reinforcements lying in wait just outside the eastern gate." Jia said, making a wordless signal towards the gatekeepers to open the gates for their reinforcements.

Liu Bei and his forces turned to face the opening gate with apprehension. 'Come on, kid...don't let us down!' Zhang Fei thought, hoping that the eastern forces were ready.

"I'm afraid that your reinforcements are quite incapacitated." they heard another voice, this time familiar, as the gate reached the apex of its opening.

Despite himself, Guo Jia couldn't keep the mild shock from his face at the sight of extra troops for Liu Bei and Tao Qian, not his own, entering the castle through the now open gate. 'It seems that I may just have been outwitted here...how surprising.' the young strategist thought as he reassessed the situation.

The forces of Liu Bei and Tao Qian were in front of the closed northern gate; this new force now blocked the eastern gate. It looked that his forces had been caught in their ownstratagem. He looked towards the white-haired man leading the east front.

"Hmm...stark white hair and blue eyes; you must be the famous Ren Jiang whom my lord informed me of." Jia said, noting the young leader of the group. "So, you know about me, huh? Well then, may I ask for the courtesy of knowing who you are as well?" Ren responded, his forces now fully embedded within the castle. "How very polite of you. Very well, my name is Guo Jia, and I am the main strategist of my lord, Cao Cao's, army." he answered honestly, surprising Liu Bei's forces at his identity.

"Then it's too bad you came here personally. This battle is over for you. I suggest you come quietly, or we will use force!" Ren declared, presenting the scenario before Jia, who slowly...clapped in recognition? "Bravo, very impressive. I assume that you are the one who concocted this scheme here in order to counter my own?" Jia asked Ren, who merely nodded in confirmation, causing Jia to laugh once again.

"Hahahaha! How interesting...a skillful warrior and a capable strategist; you surely live up to your name, 'Rising Star'. However, you have overlooked one crucial matter in this plan of yours." he said mysteriously, a smirk beginning to play across his face. "And what would that be?" Ren asked, wondering what plot this man could still have in store.

"A great strategist...always has an escape plan." Jia finalized, his smirk beginning to take on a more...malicious quality.

Feeling an ominous shift in the air, Ren was about to yell out in warning, but before anyone could react, Jia snapped his fingers, apparently as a signal, and then...

BOOM!

Notes

Well, that's another one down already. The homework-free weekend gave me a lot of extra time, so after I finished the last one, I got a good start on this one. I think my story writing goal is within sight; I'll try and get another chapter done before this next weekend's over.

The reason I had Guo Jia appear so early was because I saw this fight played out on YouTube, and I noticed that he was one of the first generals whom Liu Bei's and Tao Qian's forces fought. I'm sure you noticed that I changed some things around from how the fight played out in DW7(if you have seen or remember from the game), and I hope that I made the progression plausible.

Yes, I know that the archers set atop the castle walls could've simply fired without any ado, or Ren's eastern contingency could've merely attacked when they tricked Guo Jia into letting them in, but I figured that would speed things up a bit much, and I didn't want Jia to be taken down so easily. (That's also why I did the part at the very end there; can you guess what Jia did?)

Character Ages
Jin Zang: 30
Guo Jia: 24

Anyways, this is KnightMan1890, signing off! See ya soon!