Liu Bei led his army fearlessly through hundreds of Wei forces, intent on taking Cao Cao's head when he finally arrived at the Wei base. Ignoring his won health, he plunged through enemy forces and hacked his way to the commander.

"You're going in too deep!" he heard Guan Yu shout at him, but he ignored his brother and continued on toward the center. Ha, luck! The enemy in front of him was Cao Bu, Cao Cao's elderly uncle. The old man was far from being defeated in battle, but he was surely no match for the blade of Liu Bei, a commander who was still in his prime. The Shu commander spun around with his blade out, cutting down many brave soldiers where they stood. This gave him an opening to reach Cao Bu. The old man slashed at Liu Bei, but the younger man slid to the side with his characteristic speed and cut into Cao Bu from the side.

As soon as Cao Bu's troops saw their commander be cut down, their morale was shattered and they all took off. It made no difference, Liu Bei knew. They would all be hunted down by mounted Shu forces and killed. Zhang Fei ran up. "You didn't kill the old bastard, did you?" he asked in his rough voice.

"No, he's just stunned. I want him as our prisoner."

Guan Yu rode up on his horse. "Well," he said contentedly, "That's quite a catch. Cao Cao will be sore over this!"

Liu Bei nodded. "Bring him to my tent when he is well enough to talk." With that, the commander walked off the dwindling battlefield and prepared to set up camp. Having captured Cao Bu was a great accomplishment. He would not kill the old man. That was not allowed by the customs of the time. But hopefully he could gain information about Cao Cao's army from him. He must know something of the inner workings.

A few hours later, as Liu Bei was looking over maps in his tent, Cao Bu was brought before him. The old man would be no threat, so Liu Bei signaled for his guards to leave them alone. "So, how long has it been, Cao Bu?"

The Wei commander looked up with malice in his aged eyes. "It truly has been quite a while. Don't you look on this as an accomplishment. If I was still in my youth, I would have taken you, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei at the same time and won!"

"Enough banter! Tell me what you know of Cao Cao's army! Something must have changed since the last time we fought or he would never have dared to put his own uncle out there first."

"Something has changed, but you must think I'm crazy if you think I'm going to tell you what it is. I'm sorry but you've already lost!"

"I plan on invading anyway, Cao Bu. Why can't you just tell me what he did? Is it a trap? A new warrior?"

"I intend to tell you nothing."

"I'm warning you! You better speak up or else!"

"Or else what?!" Cao Bu asked in anger, standing up, "What are you going to do, kill me?"

Liu Bei shook his head. If the old man could not be intimidated, he could really do nothing about the situation. However, he just hoped this would give him leverage when he encountered Cao Cao. "Fine, be that way," he said, and exited his tent, leaving Cao Bu.

"My Lord," he was approached by Zhang Fei, who was apparently waiting for him outside his tent.

"Yes, what is it, brother?" Liu Bei responded.

Zhang Fei looked grimly at his lord. "We have just received word of a large force coming our way, surely sent to recover Cao Bu! It's said that Cao Ren and Xu Zhu are leading up the enemy side!"

Liu Bei drew his sword for dramatic effect. "They will not be able to stop us. Let's travel out to meet them right now. They will not expect an attack."

So it was that the Lord Liu Bei decided to attack Cao Cao's frontline forces. It would be a decision he would grow to regret.

The next day, out on the battlefield, things couldn't have been going better for Liu Bei. Guan Yu had won a duel with Xu Zhu, effectively cutting the amount of enemy officers in half. Now Liu Bei only was concerning himself with seeking out Cao Ren, who was being uncharacteristically elusive. Perhaps even the mighty Cao Ren was now fearing Shu forces.

Liu Bei was about to give up and let his army do the work when a wounded soldier stumbled up to him.

"Lord Liu Bei!" he gasped, "The demon is here! He'll kill us all!"

Liu Bei ran past the man and in the direction he had come from. What could this demon be? Had Himiko come along to cause some trouble with her spells? Had an ancient dragon been revived? Had that man simply been delirious? It was impossible to tell. But for now, Liu Bei just mowed down any enemy soldiers that tried to block his passage.

When he finally arrived at the epicenter, he was horrified to see the identity to the man's demon. Somehow Cao Cao had gotten Lu Bu to join him. The legendary warrior was laughing as he took apart footsoldiers and captains alike with his massive spear.

"Lu Bu! What are you doing here?!" he shouted.

The monster of a man turned around. "Liu Bei," he started in a calm voice, "So you've finally decided to show up. I will destroy you."