ROTK - War of the Gods

Chapter 6

After reports arrived to Dong Zhuo that the three prisoners had escaped and that the other Gods were flocking to them in order to challenge Dong Zhuo's rule, he sent out word to all the nations on earth through the Angel of Death that if anyone attacked his Temple in Luo Yang, he would release the Titans once again.

Almost a fifth of the world's population had been killed and almost ALL of the cities destroyed after Zhang Jiao had released them from their prison. Though the Titans were dead now, Dong Zhuo was declaring that because he was supported by Lu Bu, he could bring the Titans back from death. This was, theoretically, supposed to end any plans for an insurrection, but instead it only drove Sun Jian further over the edge.

"Raise the Titans from death? His blasphemy has gone too far this time. I risked my life and the lives of my children to defeat them the first time, and he has the audacity to say such a thing? It is settled, we attack before the week is through."

Sun Jian had been in his tent with only his most loyal of children when he said this, but Liu Bei was close enough to hear. He gathered Zhao Yun and his two brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei and went into Sun Jian's command tent. "What do you want?" Sun Jian asked bitterly.

"I just want you to know that no matter when you attack, we four are here to help you."

"A shadow, two humans, and a betrayer for a son," Lu Meng said under his breath. "A lot of help that will be."

Zhao Yun was once more coming forth to defend his honor, but Liu Bei stopped him. "Dong Zhuo is the threat now," he said. "Cao Cao will probably not be coming to help. Without him or his supporters, this will already be a difficult battle. What honor do you hope to have in death?"

Lu Meng did not respond this time, nor did he recognize the fact that Liu Bei had spoken at all. "We accept your support Liu Bie," Sun Jian said. "Be prepared for the fight of your life though. With Lu Bu on his side, we may all be killed."

Liu Bei looked Sun Jian directly in the eyes and said, "We've defeated Titans before. What fear should we have?"

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Less than a week later, Sun Jian's grand army was marching toward Luo Yang, with Liu Bei and his supporters in the rear. He had assembled close to a million men from across the land, due in no small part to his heavenly influence. He was betting that Dong Zhuo would not be able to assemble half as many in the time given. At sunset on the last day of the following week, they arrived at a bridge that would take them into the province of Luo Yang. Camped between the amazing army and the bridge though was a small encampment with thousands of standards bearing Lu Bu's name fluttered in the wind. The Angel of Death was not there though. In fact, there was no one there.

"This is some sort of ruse," Sun Jian said, stopping his force. Liu Bei and his supporters came up from the rear to see what had halted the procession.

"This is some sort of ruse," Liu Bei said to Sun Jian. The other man just gave him a funny look like he had just said that. "Send one of your men in to investigate."

Sun Jian signaled one of his more experienced human fighters to run to the encampment and scout out any danger. A few moments passed. Then, a few moments stretched into about half an hour.

"Let me go look," Zhang Fei said, getting impatient. Sun Jian shrugged and Zhang Fei ran out to the encampment from which the scout never returned. Liu Bei waited a while and then started to get nervous. If anything happened to Zhang Fei...

"Look sir! There!" A soldier said, pointing into the sky. The looked and made out a small dot upon the blue sky. It appeared to be getting bigger. "Incoming!"

Everyone dashed off the main trail just as Zhang Fei and his horse smashed down onto the ground at about seventy miles an hour. The horse was killed instantly, but Zhang Fei appeared to be alive... Barely.

"Lu Meng, Huang Gai, follow me!" Sun Jian yelled. He darted forward toward the small encampment on his horse, his generals close behind.

"It's too dangerous," Liu Bei shouted after him. Of course Sun Jian ignored Liu Bei, so the man left behind went to his fallen brother's side. "Zhang Fei, are you all right?"

"It's a trap..." Zhang Fei muttered, and then passed out.

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Sun Jian and his generals Lu Meng and Huang Gai ran through the gate of the encampment and then skidded to a halt. There wasn't anyone where. "Lu Bu! I know you're here! Come out and fight the Tiger of Jiang Dong if you dare!"

There was nothing but silence, but then... "Sun Jian!" a voice called out. It was quiet, almost like a whisper, but all three men had heard it and it sent shivers through all of their spines. It was the voice of Death.

Lu Bu appeared from one of the tents, holding his Crescent Halberd in one hand. Sun Jian rode toward him as fast as he could, but Lu Bu was quicker than he had thought. The Angel swung his weapon with one hand at the horse's legs. Although enchanted, the weapon still cut clean through it's legs and knocked it and it's rider to the ground.

Sun Jian got up and turned around just in time. Lu Bu's halberd was coming right now him, the blade burning with a white hot blaze. Sun Jian lifted his sword up and caught the incoming swing, though it took every ounce of strength he had to keep the Angel back.

Lu Meng charged at Lu Bu, but the Angel leaped into the air and swung his weapon around 180 degrees and hit Lu Meng square center on his breast plate, knocking him from his ride. Lu Bu then threw his weapon like a javelin at Huang Gai's horse. It pierced straight into the animal between the eyes, killing it instantly. In a matter of moments, Lu Bu had unseated all three men.

Suddenly, a great alarm was sounded and the sounds of combat erupted around the encampment. Lu Bu's troops, which had been in hiding, were now pouncing on Sun Jian's force back on the trail.

Sun Jian ran at Lu Bu who was now defenseless, but the Angel stomped the ground, causing a small tremor which knocked Sun Jian to the ground. Then, Lu Bu kicked him full in the face, sending him flying through the air. Huang Gai, ran in swinging his Battle Club, but Lu Bu caught the attack with one hand and yanked the weapon from Gai's hand. Lu Bu hook punched Huang Gai on the side of his face while swinging the club in from the other side at his rips. Both attacks hit their mark, knocking Huang Gai to the ground.

Sun Jian and Lu Meng were both running at Lu Bu now from opposite directions, so Lu Bu flung Huang Gai's club at Lu Meng as hard as he could. It knocked him square in the nose at about 600 miles an hour, breaking the cartilage and spewing blood everywhere. Sun Jian swung wildly at the Angel, but Lu Bu easily dodged the attacks and then kicked Sun Jian away when he found an opening.

"Do you hear that sound Sun Jian?" Lu Bu asked, towering over his opponent. "That is the sound of your army being crushed. It is the sound of death. Did you really think you could defeat me?"

Sun Jian saw that Huang Gai was getting up off the ground, holding his left side and wincing in pain. "Get back to the main force," Sun Jian shouted at him.

Lu Bu laughed. "You're going to fight me alone?" Sun Jian stood up, grabbing a handful of dirt as he did.

"My quarrel is not with you Lu Bu."

"When you quarrel with the master, you quarrel with his students," Lu Bu said back at him fiercely. Sun Jian knew this was his last chance. He flung the handful of dirt at Lu Bu's face and then darted over to Lu Meng's side. His general's face was bleeding pretty badly from the club hit. He lifted Lu Meng up and headed for the gates of the encampment so that they may go help the regular soldiers, but he couldn't hear Lu Bu behind him.

He chanced a look back and saw that Lu Bu was rubbing his eyes frantically, but not making any sounds. They ran out of the encampment, Huang Gai following them. It was a scene of complete devastation. The army had been taken completely by surprise on all sides. He saw in the fray Liu Bei upon his horse slaughtering hundreds and hundreds of men, but not making a dent in the attacking forces numbers.

"Retreating so soon?" a voice said from behind him. Huang Gai had already run ahead into the fray, but Sun Jian was still there by the gate of the camp, holding up an unconscious Lu Meng. He turned around slowly, not knowing what to expect.

The entire camp had been peeled back, revealing it to be nothing but a hollow shell that concealed a gigantic pit underneath. Out of this huge hole, Red Hare, the Great Red Dragon, had emerged and seated upon it's back was Lu Bu, holding his halberd which blazed with heavenly glory. "I am the Angel of Death! Your time has come Tiger of Jiang Dong!"

To be continued...