Chapter 24: Insanity

The Shu forces had been unstoppable. With the Crescent Wardens spearing the advance, they penetrated more than seven hundred li into Wu, threatening the very heartland. In addition to the raids by Yoma, ferocious and desperate battles now erupted across southeastern China. The most important of these struggles was at Yi Ling. For several weeks the main vanguard of Sichuan had camped near the city of Yidao, the chokepoint between the natural mountain barriers that protected the Wu capital. The lifeline of the seafaring Kingdom was at stake.

Most commanders would have collapsed before such strategic pressure, but Lu Xun refused to let his patience break. Preparing for a protracted war with Shu, his forces had dug in deep, allowing the summer heat to wear away at the Shu troops day and night, waiting for their supplies and rations to slowly dwindle while he fleshed out a concentrated and decisive counterattack. The morale of Liu Bei's men, previously so boisterous and arrogant, would collapse with the onset of the heat and fatigue. It was only a matter of time.

But first, sorties to break the enemy's spirit were required.

It was during the late evening on the second week that Zhou Tai commenced his strategy to open the enemy to the commander's fire attack. He led a raiding party out of Yidao to harass the Shu vanguard while the Pyrotroopers began their secret assault. A long night of bloodshed beckoned. In actuality, his so-called raiding party consisted of nobody save himself and Cynthia. He had commanded his troops to stay rooted in Yidao should Liu Bei attempt a surprise attack. The Rising Dragon General had ordered her battalions likewise. Together, they advanced to the Fourth and Fifth Encampments Shu officers Guan Xing and Wang Fu had established. The guards who patrolled the perimeters of the camp were already discernable through the darkness. Zhou Tai did not make pretence of an ambush, and simply strode towards the gates of the camp, his tattered black cape slowing behind him. "Then… we'll draw out the enemy here?" confirmed Cynthia softly, her silver eyes cautious.

"Yes. Be careful," he replied, watching the walls of the garrison intently.

The night was quiet, and Cynthia hoped it would remain so for as long as possible. She drew her sword, meeting the gaze of the guards that advanced out of the Fourth camp's gates, their armour hastily donned. "A silver-eyed woman? With Wu?" one of them muttered. "What about our Ladies – "

"There are many of us in your nation, and some of us, by chance or by choice, sided with your rivals," interrupted Cynthia, her voice loud enough to rouse most of the camp from their rest. "Who amongst my friends is here with you?"

The sentries refused to reciprocate her answer, and as they cautiously moved forward, more of their comrades began to emerge from the safety of the camp. The Crescent Troopers and pikemen pointed their deadly weapons at them. "We've occupied all your border cities, and we're going to crush Yidao and strike at Jianye. Do you want to die here tonight in your pathetic, so-called ambush before you even have a chance to resist us proper?"

Zhou Tai's fists clenched, and an aura of Yoki began to slowly swirl around him. "If it's a fight you've come to our Kingdom for…

"You've come to the right place."

Two pikemen sneered and charged, lifting up their weapons. "Brave words for a backwater pirate – "

Their smiles turned into bewildered, disbelieving grins, as their skulls were suddenly torn apart and shredded into unrecognizable tissue. Cries of surprise and outrage filtered into the night as the bodies of the blabbermouths collapsed before the Wu general. With nothing more than a wave of his hand, Zhou Tai had ripped their heads open, ensuring their sneers would be the last expressions on their ruined faces. Brains and gore trickled onto his black greaves. The soldiers watching the gruesome spectacle began to sound the alarm. "Intruders! We need reinforcements! Get support!" Cynthia blinked, but regained herself quickly and pointed her sword at a private, who desperately attempted a stab. She spun and countered with a deeper thrust, propelling her sword into his heart.

She spoke without looking at Zhou Tai. "We'll stay until we lure them all out." He nodded in agreement.

The entire Fourth Encampment had been stirred into action, and at least several dozen Crescent Wardens had joined their compatriots outside. They aimed their crossbows at Zhou Tai, their voices growing louder and more frantic. "Sh… shoot him!! Shoot him!!" Several dozen fireballs exploded from their barrels and shrieked at the Wu commander, who fearlessly advanced even as the cannon rounds smashed into his body and set him alight. He drew Duskstrike from its scabbard and held it by his side as the detonations brightened and deafened the night. The Shu soldiers fired shell after shell at him, the glowing projectiles slamming into his hissing, sizzling body. His black armour was becoming slightly dented, but the neurological miracle of his half-demon body effortlessly mended any flesh inside that was torn apart. He continued his unstoppable advance, slowly drawing nearer and nearer to the agitated Crescent Wardens. One of them cried out before his throat was slit apart by Cynthia's sword, "Support…we need backup! This one's a monster, a fucking monster!!"

Shu infantry lunged from the gates and leaped down from the watchtowers, smashing their weapons into him. He snarled and raised his arms, his gauntlets deflecting the wild blows from the halberds and pikes. And with several gliding attacks of Duskstrike, his assailants fell before him, blood spurting from their heads and throats. Cynthia continued to hack wildly at the surging gang of spearmen, clearing a path for Zhou Tai as the Crescent Wardens desperately intensified their barrage. The forest shook with the thunder of blazing fireballs. Even as he slashed and tore his way through to the encampment gates, his thoughts began to wander to their first day at Xiaoting, when Lu Xun had called him in for a final audience.

"Humans are ineffective at killing Yoma… or anything, for that matter. They are injured too easily… and they die too easily. They are, in a word, weak."

"Incendiaries!" shouted the squadron leader in panic, as Zhou Tai loomed over his company. "Use the grenades our Lady entrusted us with!!" Cynthia quickly decapitated him, but it was too late, and several strange, stick-like objects exploded against Zhou Tai, incinerating the surrounding trees and unleashing a small inferno around the shrubs that dotted the woodland patch. The Wu general had suffered a direct blast to his face, and it visibly tore at the tissue, his skin and flesh melting at the terrible heat and his eyeballs falling from their sockets. But even as Cynthia gasped in horror, his ravaged head began to slowly mend, closing up and fusing together indifferently. He adjusted his dark helm menacingly even as his lips fused back together and his teeth reconstructed themselves. He raised his sword and cut down the Wardens who had thrown the explosives even as another salvo of fireballs smashed into his body, enveloping him and Cynthia in thick, dark smog. But when the smoke cleared and revealed that the two fighters of Wu were still standing, a wail of despair could be heard among the Shu ranks. "Why don't our weapons work on this bastard?! Reinforcements! Get more goddamn reinforcements!!"

"By contrast, you are the perfect weapon against the Yoma… and the other Kingdoms. You are a freak of nature, a crystallization of a demon and a Chinese warrior. In other words, you are the perfect killer."

No. Not even those formidable projectiles could end his cursed life. "When is Jean reinforcing us?" asked Zhou Tai quietly.

"Very soon," said Cynthia, her face drenched in the summer sweat.

Good. The time for the fire attack draws close. He pointed a humming Duskstrike at the Fourth Encampment's remnants, encouraged. "We will continue fighting. Until we draw them all out."

Cynthia steadied her sword and charged, slapping aside a spearman's attack and sweeping him off the ground. She threw herself into the melee, scattering the faltering enemy as her lover tapped even deeper into his wellspring of Yoki.

"You are our best hope. You are our trump card. Ensure that you don't Awaken. Cynthia must stay by your side for this purpose… at all costs."

His teeth sharpened, and veins began to pop from his face. The Shu warriors screamed in terror as he tore apart the remaining Crescent Wardens, severing their arms from their beloved bows. As one, they collapsed to the grass. His gauntleted hands found the skull of a whimpering private and squeezed, crushing his skull like a flimsy peach. Pulp trickled down his fingers as he stared at the cowering sentries. A hastily assembled strike force had surrounded the couple, but at their feet were several dozen mutilated corpses. It was understandable that they were all trembling. He stabbed through a shaking corporal's chest, twisting Duskstrike brutally. He turned his attention to another crying man and split him in two, from cranium to pelvis. Intestines and organs tumbled out of the body halves and rolled onto the dewy ground. He licked his sharp teeth with his extended tongue, and for a moment, the glowing glint in his sickly eyes hinted at his secret pleasure.

Cynthia stared at her beloved's yellow eyes. "My sweet Tai…"

Are you really that quiet, gentle man who showers kisses on my body and cuddles me like I'm the princess of All Under Heaven?

Eyes glowing yellow, Zhou Tai lunged, baring his fangs. He fell upon his remaining victims viciously as their despairing screams pierced into the night.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"

*

West River stronghold

Flanked by her five silver-eyed allies, Yue Ying stood in her tent, listening to the report of the royal emissary who had arrived from Liu Bei's central command. Her mind seemed distracted after exchanging several brief words with Miria. She turned back to the envoy, nodding. "Please give me the sketch of the vanguard's deployment." He handed the parchment over to her and she rolled it open. Her kind eyes almost instantly widened as she studied the plans. A pause, and the atmosphere suddenly grew tense. Flora looked at her in consternation. Something was wrong.

"Who drew this bilge up?!" shouted Yue Ying in outrage. Her slender hands shook, grasping angrily at the parchment. "Dismiss him from my army at once!"

The messenger was completely taken aback. "G… Grand General, the King himself ordered this deployment. Due to the scorching heat of this summer sun, he ordered Ma Liang to encamp the main vanguard in the cooling shade of the forest."

In a move totally uncharacteristic of her, Yue Ying flung the map onto the ground and turned away, visibly angry and upset. "Camping in the forest? That is precisely what the art of war shuns. It's simply begging for arson or sabotage. There is no way out if the enemy attacks by fire."

The emissary shook his head. "But… but the main vanguard is already entrenched in the woods."

She pointed a trembling finger at the envoy. "We should not be acting with haste. It would be wiser to observe the Wu troop movements before beginning any general assault. Our King's mistake could very well kill all our men. I want you to return now. Insist to him that we cannot afford such a terrible risk. The Wu generals are not blind. They will gleefully exploit this error if we give them the chance."

"That won't be a problem. His Majesty plans to launch a thoroughgoing assault on Yidao this very evening."

In all the time she had come to know and admire her, Flora could not have imagined Yue Ying's voice to be so full of frustration. The Chinese woman's eyes were wide in disbelief and despair. "No…" she clutched at the maps on the table. "How…" she gritted her teeth. "How could the King have bypassed my advice? He will not listen to our advice of maintaining the alliance with Wu, and yet he refuses to accept our counsel on waging war against Sun Quan… what does he want?!" she suddenly cried, flinging her strawberry hair angrily.

Miria stepped forward. "Do you mean to say that we've been left out in the loop of Liu Bei's true intentions?"

"More likely, he doesn't really give a damn about the opinions of his advisors anymore," said Deneve coolly. "He's become almost as pigheaded as Helen."

Yue Ying shot a dirty look at the emissary. "You are dismissed," she said bitterly. "It is evident that His Majesty has let his emotions interfere with military success." As the ambassador haughtily fled from the tent, she turned to her anti-Yoma division. "My sisters… I have dire need of your help," she murmured. "I never thought I would say this… but we must prepare for the worst."

"What do you mean?" said Clare.

"I mean that due to our forces' camping in the forest by the river, the Wu forces are in a perfect position to attack by fire and crush us." She unfolded her case and unveiled Sapphire Crescent. "I'm bringing all our available troops to our Lord's aid. He has no idea how much danger he is in. In the meantime, we must hold back the Wu Army to ensure my men can live to see another day."

"Wait," cried Helen, "so you're saying Wu's going to attack us with fire? In summer? While we're in a freaking forest?!"

Yue Ying's eyes flashed as she loaded a magazine into Sapphire Crescent. "They already have."

*

In Lu Xun's tent, a spy kneeled before the work desk, his hooded face eager and enthusiastic. "My Lord. Admiral Zhou and General Cynthia have engaged in sortie and thrown the Wu frontlines into confusion. They are completely exposed… and eventually, all forty thousand will follow."

Lu Xun nodded. His hands gripped the map in anticipation. "It has come time, then. Relay my orders to Zhu Ran. Do it!

"The fall of Shu… is imminent!"

*

On a rocky ledge overlooking the forest, veteran officer Zhu Ran cocked his bow with a flaming arrow and aimed it down at the green canopy. Beneath it was the soft underbelly of Liu Bei's formidable army. Here, they would make their stand. And once they consumed the forest in flames, Lu Xun would launch a crippling assault to extinguish the life of the Shu army forever. Behind him, the masked Pyrotroopers ignited their cannons, frightful, nozzled machines that spat out gouts of flame. Their technology and training had been developed in secret on order of the late supreme commander Zhou Yu, after the immensely successful fire attack at Chi Bi. While he could not live to see their advent, this battle was a perfect opportunity to bring his clandestine project to fruition.

Tonight, Wu would be rid of her invaders.

"Let our indomitable spirit… ride upon these flames!" cried Zhu Ran, his eyes wide in anticipation. He released his arrow towards the woods, and his Pyrotroopers followed suit, igniting their flamethrowers. Gout after scorching gout of flame spat from the nozzles, shooting towards the woods below the stony ridge. A sudden roar drowned out the quiet chirping of crickets in the innocent night. The screech from the machines was deafening, and would certainly rouse many from their beds. But it would be too far late… far too deliciously late.

A blanket of crimson and orange made its way towards the unsuspecting vanguard snuggled in the forest.

"Reduce these mongrels to ashes!!"