Chapter 8: The Establishment of Shu Han: Part I

Evening

Although the imperial metropolis of Luoyang was, in name, also the capital of the Wei Kingdom, Cao Cao's de facto headquarters remained at Xuchang. There was a practical and sentimental value about that city – after all, Luoyang had been ravaged so badly by civil war that it became unfit to be an administrative centre. So it was to Xuchang that he retreated after his disastrous rout, along with Galatea and several hundred survivors of his decimated fleet. Having arrived there after several weeks of somnolent horseriding, he feasted his weary, demoralized troops and subsequently withdrew to his private chambers to recuperate. He was truly fatigued, and Galatea could not blame him. Sometimes she forgot that he was but a human being, a frail human being that was not much different from the men that she met on the Isles.

She sat by his bedside, unable to leave the snoring King, whose eyes were closed in blissful respite. The night was peaceful, and the cool breeze that blew past the lanterns was lovely, refreshingly so. The drapes fluttered relaxedly, revealing the moon, which gave more than enough light for her to watch over him. That was her duty, after all. At least, she wished she could convince herself of that, that she sat beside him out of a dispassionate, obligatory sense of service. But the thoughts that were running loose in her head! They were aggravated yet affectionate, a confused ball of feelings rolled into a mush of useless junk. Some of her musings were outright absurd:

He looks almost ridiculous without his kingly, ministerial regalia. I can see through it all. He's just another human being who grieves for the loss of life that his nation suffers each day. It's all a façade to me, except perhaps that self-assured smirk on his face. He carries it even in sleep.

King of Wei? Imperial Chancellor? No. He's just a handsome, charismatic man dressed in silly Chinese nightclothes.

As if noticing her mind's insolent observations, Cao Cao slowly opened his eyes, and turned his head to scowl at her. "I'm surprised my attendants haven't kicked you out of my chambers yet," he muttered.

"Well, good evening to you, too," she grumbled. "Do you wish for me to leave that badly?"

He looked amused. "If you ask nicely, you may stay."

She moved to take his hand in hers, and for the first time, she allowed him to glimpse the concern that lined her noble face. "You've been asleep for a while, you know that? Not one day, but three."

"I believe I deserve to indulge myself in slumber's pleasures after our unhappy affair at Chi Bi."

"This hasty retreat has taken a heavy toll on your constitution," she observed. "It's been quite a long trip from Jiangdong. You may be powerful, and by the gods are you a competent fighter, but you are still a human."

"I'll work with what I have," he said wryly, smiling at her touch. He shifted up into a sitting position to meet her eyes. "This body of mine is enough to realize peace for the land. As soon as the morrow dawns, I will begin the task of reorganizing my troops for the next phase of this war. I will need your help in – "

"I don't think you realize how weakened you were," she insisted, shaking her head in rare, visible frustration. "You almost fell off your horse at one point. If it weren't for me, you'd have broken something inside of you. You barely survived this exploit of yours. Would you blame me if you died of exhaustion?"

He was about to answer in the negative when she cut him off. "Every waking moment, I see that you remain obsessed with your conquests. Every word that comes out of those lips is more war, more bloodshed, and more power. I joined you because I'm curious to see if you can live up to your promise of a new world. But the novelty is wearing off, my Lord. You are not a god, you can bleed – "

"I 'obsess' over this ambition because it is the path of the conqueror need not be the path of the ruler. When I am dead, my purpose will live on. It will live on in you, and all my brave officers, whom I failed at Chi Bi. That is why my Kingdom must reign supreme, so that – "

"Oh, stop it!" she ordered suddenly and irritably, her abrupt words stunning him into a scandalized silence. "Enough. Stop talking as if Wei is all I fight for."

She took a deep breath as his narrow eyes stared at her, demanding a reason for such gall.

"My allegiance is not so cheap. It is worth more than that. I couldn't care less if your Kingdom crumbled to dust overnight. After all, it's useless without its King, isn't it?" Her eyes softened as she lowered her voice and drew closer. She leaned forward, her lovely body inches from him. "A King decides his nation's fate," she maintained. "So it is you from which I wish to see your vision eventuate. Not from some vague idea of Kingdom, not from your ministers, not from me. I want you to be what this nation has been yearning for."

She stared at him, stunned at her own impassioned words. Wonderful, Gal. Why don't you just invite him between your legs right now? Same deal, no bullshit.

On his part, he simply paused in bemusement. I see. So you would wish that I essentially impress you. I should have expected such a… demanding answer.

He finally nodded, indulgence and gratitude reflecting in his irises. "Fair enough," he conceded quietly, his hand returning her affectionate squeeze.

Despite his exhaustion, the loving kiss that he granted her was energetic all the same.

*

She had fallen asleep by his bedside, her hair spilling over the blankets that covered his body, and when she awoke from the sun's early visit, she withdrew quietly into the shadows, leaving him to his dreams of domination. His Eye, watching over him vigilantly. And his kiss… his wordless kiss had told her how he felt a hundredfold more than the most eloquent of his oratories.

*

Western China

The fog was ethereal, obscuring the cold surroundings from afar. But despite the vapour that kissed and enveloped her body, partially shrouding her sight, Flora could not express in words how beautiful this country was. The soldiers had told her that the trees in this area were called "bamboo." Mist swirled around them as they marched cautiously through the thickets. For her part, every step she took was almost reverent. They were surrounded by foliage, deep in the forests of the west, and had there not been reports of Yoma here, it would have seemed a paradise, a mysterious, shy realm that overwhelmed one's senses, its moisture almost choking the very life that it sought to nourish.

Beside her walked her respected senior, Miria. "So this is Yi Province," said the Number Six, striding at the head of a Shu platoon, flanked by her team members Clare, Helen and Deneve. They shone out amongst the emerald-green battalion, their grey capes fluttering beside Grand General Yue Ying, who had mounted a burly warhorse. Miria's platoon had returned to Moling city before reuniting with Zhuge Liang and Yue Ying to begin preparations for the liberation of Yi. Clare's blonde mane was short, cut at neck-length, and she looked as plain as her peers Helen and Deneve, both of whom sported unremarkable hairstyles. Only their eyes distinguished them. Their uniforms were also similar, as standardized as those of the other Claymores that had arrived in the Middle Kingdom.

"It seems we would be dealing with two enemy factions. A pity, considering our own forces are divided," stated Miria, her greaves brushing along the dew-kissed grass and shrubs of the early morning. "As if we're not already undermanned, Liu Bei's sworn brother, Guan Yu, has set off for Jing alone, taking a portion of the troops with him. I don't know how he intends to hold so much land given our current army's size, but…" she raised her head. "I'm more worried about the Yoma we could face here. Can these men really deal with them?" she wondered, looking at the Chinese soldiers who shuffled in rank behind them.

"Hey, guys… this forest does seem a bit too quiet," growled Helen, a tomboyish lady who guided the reins of Yue Ying's warhorse. Her eyes darted to one side, and Clare raised an eyebrow. "I just got one question, Moony. Who is in charge here, and are his forces nearby? Wouldn't the Yoma already have attacked him by now? We've been marching for more than a week now, after all."

Moony? Is she referring to Lady Huang? thought Flora, her eyes widening in embarrassment. What a nickname!

But Yue Ying did not seem to mind as she glanced down at Helen. "The ruler of this province?" Her face turned sombre. "His name is Liu Zhang, a distant relative to Lord Liu Bei. It weighs heavily on our Lord's conscience that he must wrest this realm from him, but Liu Zhang is not competent enough to oppose Cao Cao, nor are his forces strong enough to resist the Yoma. For the greater good of the Han, we must secure our foothold in Shu… even if it will be at his expense." She stroked the red bindi on her forehead tiredly, but suddenly snapped back up when the rumbling of deep, low growls became evidently audible. "What was that?"

Her Yoki sense flickering, Flora drew her sword as the rumble became omnipresent and echoed throughout the cool morning woodlands. "I believe it is our unwanted guests, Lady Huang. They hoped to catch us by surprise, but I do not believe they expected us to be accompanying you."

"So they've really taken over this area," muttered Clare, as the other Claymores revealed their greatswords. Rustling could be heard in the distant trees, and almost immediately, growls loudened into threatening roars and ravenous howls of hostility. From the shrubbery around them emerged several large humanoids, at least seven feet tall, generally larger. Yoma. Toxic slag dripped down their wild faces, their fangs bared in appetite for human innards. At their sides were several desecrated human bodies – the corpses of Liu Zhang's warriors. Their bodies were torn open, their horrific faces twisted in the grip of terror's final moments. Their innards had disappeared, and only bone, flesh and gore remained.

"They've already penetrated into Chengdu Castle?" muttered Yue Ying, stroking her unsettled warhorse. "Then Liu Zhang could already be…"

The Yoma dropped their human meals and lunged, hungry for more. The Shu soldiers halted, their expressions cautious and slightly frightened. Of course, they had never seen such fearsome monsters. It was natural. But for their sake, Clare hoped they would overcome this instinctive fear as soon as possible. The men quickly aligned their spears at the Yoma as she, Helen and Deneve quickly scattered, their lightning-swift bodies distracting the monsters' focus, allowing Flora and Miria to engage them on their terms. A foolish monster attempted to engage the Number Six warrior, who quickly dashed around and severed it at its waist. Another two dropped down from the trees, pouncing on her. "Where are they all coming from?" she growled. "This feels eerily familiar…"

"They're everywhere," agreed Deneve grimly. Fifteen, twenty… almost thirty. She and Helen had hacked through one, cleaving it in two, but three more pounced from behind and swiped at them, their jaws bared. Flora and Clare quickly moved to assist them. "Our Continent's plague has grown veritably uncontrollable!"

Miria thrust her Claymore through her attacker's head. "Just how did the Organization send so many over into this remote realm of the Ten Directions?"

Deneve caught herself even as she decapitated two Yoma. "Wait. Did I just hear what I thought I heard? You're not suggesting that – "

Miria did not look at her. "I'll talk about that later," she muttered.

"Watch out!" cried Helen, as a Yoma charged towards the Shu soldiers, who braced themselves for impact. Many of their spears snapped uselessly against the Yoma's thickened skin, and chaos fell upon the infantry as they struggled to hold the line against the lone, thrashing ogre. Chinese blades were almost useless against such grotesque claws, such fiendish strength. Four more men dropped, their bodies ripped open. The confused and disordered phalanx was slowly pushed back past the bloodstained trees, front after front collapsing in the face of the Yoma.

In response, Yue Ying raised her own mysterious weapon, a short blade attached to a strange contraption with a long barrel at its end. It clicked against her right forearm, attaching itself tightly to her hand. "Get away from my men," she growled furiously.

She somersaulted off her warhorse, her lithe, slender form landing lightly on the ground. She lunged and slashed at the Yoma, drawing violet blood from its chest. It swiped at her, and she flipped forwards, her cartwheeling body shooting past its claws. She sprung up behind him and sliced downwards, disembowelling it, just as it had disembowelled the soldiers of Yi. She dived forwards and sweeping the Yoma off its feet with one smooth movement of her leg. And as it hovered for just one moment in the air, its eyes wide, she thrust forward, stabbing into its heart. It groaned, and then slumped. No sooner had it fallen to the ground than four of its comrades, the last amongst their ambush party, turned their attention away from Flora and lumbered toward the Grand General.

The Claymores moved to dash in front of Yue Ying when she suddenly did something very curious. She simply raised her arm and pointed her extending metal barrel at the beasts, as if she no longer needed her blade. Flora had wanted to shout a warning, but… Yue Ying stood her ground, aiming calmly at her charging adversaries.

Without warning, the blade retracted, skating backwards, and two slides snapped forth from the sides of her equipped arm.

A… crossbow?

To their collective amazement, the barrel of the bladed machine exploded with a fiery… missile… that roared towards the Yoma, hurtling into its victim with such force that it was thrown back, a gaping, smoking hole blown through its body. It shrieked, swaying, and collapsed to the ground. The monsters screeched in awe and fright, backing away. Before the echoes of the first blast had even receded, Yue Ying was spinning gracefully, twisting her body in an almost hypnotic, dance-like movement, deafening fireball after fireball spitting from her crossbow, puncturing through the remaining Yoma, the forest shaking with every ear-splitting shot that she fired into the screaming beasts, until all four lay lifeless on the forest grass, twitching in agony from this thunderous weapon.

Then, silence.

"Damn," mouthed Helen, her hands cupped over her ears.

The other Claymores kept their astonishment to themselves, for a new source of Yoki was already apparent. "Where is it coming from?" asked Deneve tersely.

"Up there," cried Miria. A giant of a monster loomed over them, towering above the forest canopy itself. He had revealed itself without warning, as if he was shrouded in camouflage. His skin was of a deep brown, and his limbs were most bizarre; four long, squirming appendages akin to tentacles emerged from his back, slithering around their owner's body, licking away at its torso even as he flexed his thick, muscular arms menacingly. "An Awakened Being?!" growled the Number Six, as the Shu soldiers backed away, their eyes wide in dismay. "Stay back, Lady Huang. These creatures were once warriors like us, but unleashed too much of their Yoki and became like… like this. Let us weaken it first."

Flora's eyes widened. Awakened Beings, too? Why were they here? Had the Continent imposed its physical form on the Middle Kingdom entirely through some uncanny black magic? The horned demon rumbled in ravenously, baring his teeth. His tentacles shot forward, impaling two Shu soldiers and flinging their corpses away. "You nosy women never get sick of meddling in our affairs, do you?"

"We should be the one to ask you," called Miria, dodging an attack from his free limbs, "what you're doing in such a distant nation. Not that it matters. For we're going to kill you."

Clare's sword severed its hand, and Helen and Deneve's teamwork began to overwhelm it. "You really will chase us to the ends of the cosmos, won't you?" growled the Awakened Being, as Miria suddenly lunged and pierced into his side, purple blood spattering the side her face.

A ghost of a grin flitted on her lips. "That's our job."

Yue Ying stepped back and calmly reloaded, her weird and wonderful gauntlet clicking again. "Let's do this, sisters," she said, striding forth beside Flora. "Take the left. I'll take the right." Flora obeyed, rolling away from a wild swipe. She jumped onto his hand and spun, severing a tentacle that tried to slap her away. Clare dashed forward and brought her sword down, carving up two more of creature's appendages with a technique that once belonged to a long-forgotten, elven warrior.

Yue Ying slipped past an angry punch and brought down her arm, reloading her blade and slicing off the final tentacle. Ignoring the blood that spattered across her leg, she pointed her weapon upwards, springing out its fins and aiming the barrel at the monster's chest. "You want to eat humans? This tastes better," she growled. A fireball blasted forth, smashing into the former Claymore, puncturing a wide hole inside his body, blowing apart his inner organs and ribcage. He roared in rage, but she fired again, and again, and again, until his entire torso was obliterated, his head hanging by the remaining thread of flesh that was once its neck. He fell back, reeling from this terrifying new weapon.

"What… secrets… is this realm hiding?" he groaned.

"Now!" shouted Yue Ying, and Flora and Miria hurtled upwards, raising their swords and plunging them into the creature's yellow eyes, lodging them in his skull. With little more than a choked, disbelieving gurgle, he fell back, his body smashing into the trees before slamming loudly onto the ground. Within a heartbeat, the blades of the Claymores made short work of his crippled body, dismembering it in a haze of purple gore. Flicking blood off her blade, Miria landed smoothly on the ground, silently estimating that about twenty of the Shu troopers had lost their lives. Nevertheless, they still raised their swords and spears and cheered despite their helplessness in the face of such power. Their cries of victory were not for the Kingdom of Shu. They roared for the silver-eyed warriors who had fought so valiantly and so… effectively against the invaders.

The Grand General was equally grateful, smiling at the blonde women. "I'm sorry. I've endangered my soldiers' lives and imperilled yours, too. I underestimated the brutality of these Yoma."

Flora beamed. "Please, this is our duty," she said, placing her sword behind her back. "You are refined, unmatched in skill, and formidable beyond question. We would be honoured to learn from you, your strategies, your teachings."

Yue Ying blushed. She looked at the dead monster. "To think that there would be this… thing, here… an Awakened Being, did you say? Chengdu Castle is not far off. If we take that central fort, we will take the entire province. Lord Liu Bei has commanded that we'll inaugurate the Kingdom of Shu at Chengdu."

Flora's expression was resolute. "Then let us advance on this crest to victory."

"Now that we know where we're headed next… may I ask what the hell is that?" interrupted Helen, pointing at Yue Ying's arm. "That freak of nature?"

"Miss Helen!' reproached Flora disapprovingly. "Your manners!"

"It's alright," replied Yue Ying leniently, holding up her hand. "This is my invention. It's essentially a blade that serves as a long-ranged weapon as well. We call it a bladed bow, but this particular model is unique; it's named Jade Moon. It's designed to be effective in both melee and distant situations."

"I must admit, even I was unsettled by the terrifying noise it thundered out every time you fired those projectiles," confessed Miria. "What exactly is it that's inside your weapon?"

"It's something I've been working on for some time, with the help of my alchemists. Basically, it involves combining sulphur, charcoal, and saltpetre to create a powerful residue for long-distance combat."

"Such power… it might well turn the tide against our Continent's demons!"

Yue Ying gave a knowing, almost mischievous, smile. "You sisters have never heard of gunpowder before, have you? I was thinking your Continent's demons would make excellent test subjects for this new invention of mine."

THE WAR INTENSIFIES…