Chapter 56: Battle of Wu Zhang Plains: Sanctuaries of the Heartbroken
The battlefield was eerily quiet. The surge of morale on both sides had died away, and most of the survivors fled, in case fortune was not so kind next time. Imperial Lancers lay scattered about the fields, their horses dead and their weapons broken. The carcasses of the Crescent Wardens were almost unrecognizable, and the mountains from which the Shu forces had descended were also utterly silent. The forts protecting the river were all but destroyed. Rubble littered the Central Plains as the survivors made do with their own lives and fled to find their comrades.
At Jieting, the Shu and Wei forces had decimated one another in a tumult of whirling blades and cascading gore. At Wu Zhang, it had been the same– the state of affairs was insufferably identical to the slaughter that had cut short the lives of so many in the war between Shu and Wei. Despite everything, everything that had transpired since China's first struggle against the Yoma at Chi Bi… there was still civil war. Like a relentless wheel of ages, history had repeated itself once again, as it always had in this accursed realm… in this bloodsoaked land called the Middle Kingdom.
But they would not stop. Nothing would cease. Nothing could change.
Until tonight. There was a chance to end it all, tonight. To end this meaningless civil war at last.
The Wei River hissed as five pairs of warboots and greaves pattered across it. The tributary was shallow and they dashed across the waters with little effort, their feet skimming on the yielding surface as they raced away from the main battlefield. King Liu Bei led the charge, gripping his twin swords tightly as Marquess Flora and Grand General Yue Ying sprinted by his flank. Rising Dragon General Cynthia and Cavalier Admiral Zhou Tai took up the rear and together, they advanced across the stream to where ascending fortress loomed. As they approached the vertically inclined foothill, Liu Bei bent his legs further and leaped up, hopping lightly from cliff edge to cliff edge until he landed about twenty feet above the foundations. The allied warriors followed, springing high into the air and past the overhang to alight on the uppermost periphery.
They raised themselves from their crouch and slowly walked towards the stone castle that stood silently before them. Its wide walls and tall gate stretched out, yawning as if to invite them to enter – if they dared.
"Our final destination, the culmination of all our purposes," breathed Yue Ying. "The grand Wu Zhang fortress."
Her eyes suddenly narrowed in suspicion as a tall, feminine figure strolled out of the open passageway and stood before them, hindering their passage. Her hair was long, beautiful, and rich. Her eyes were intelligent, sharp, but compassionate and fascinating. Her coat was her most distinguishing feature – a black fleece that reached down to her calves, with the name of the Cao clan emblazoned on its back. Her long legs peeked out from her slitted dress. "Sima Yi is a truly useless man, is he not? Whichever strategy Shu or Wei employed, we still suffered incalculable losses. I've sent him away, for the sake of preserving his life and his talents, and that he may continue to serve the Cao family. Not that he could disobey me. He is, after all, under my command now."
The five allies stood before Galatea, tired and weary, as the battle slowly died completely into a quiet stillness, along with its belligerents, by the banks of the river.
Liu Bei raised his sword, pointing it at the cloaked woman. "Queen Galatea! You and your husband are all that stands in the way of peace! Face me!"
"My King," warned Yue Ying, as she reloaded Sapphire Crescent with a new magazine. "Beware. She is not using a normal sword." Her suspicion was well-advised. Aside from her lavish, royal garb, she no longer carried a Claymore. The weapon by her side was not even of the greatsword class – it was a longsword, which meant that she had also received some bequest similar to Miria, Flora and Cynthia.
The Queen stared at them, genuinely impressed. "I applaud you for your efforts, Flora and Cynthia… all your allies. They have far exceeded my expectations. They have far exceeded my King's expectations." She swept a hand out, looking at Flora and Cynthia. "But look around you. You are the only heroes and heroines that remain of your two Kingdoms. Your combined offensive has failed. You, King of Shu – you and your Grand General have led your warriors to a deathtrap, here on the plains of Wu Zhang."
"So you are the consort of Cao Cao, who has earned favour with him to become the most powerful woman in his Kingdom." Yue Ying moved another step forward, lining up Sapphire Crescent at Galatea. Her face bespoke of her respect, but also of her refusal to give any quarter. "I challenge you!"
At Yue Ying's verbal cue, Liu Bei crossed his blades whilst Zhou Tai raised his broadsword. Cynthia pointed Excalibur at the Queen, and Flora's hands clasped the handle of Durandal behind her blue fabric. To their mild surprise, Galatea nodded in approval. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Grand General of Shu. Let us not patronize each other with declarations of our legitimacy over the other. I believe you are the woman who can truly be my match – it was your ingenious stratagem that cost me the battle at Jieting." Galatea raised her sword's hilt to chest level. "Euangelion," she whispered. "Hear me." The glowing engravings shimmered, and she pointed the tip of the blade at Yue Ying. "Let this be our final settlement," she said. "You must be as tired of this war as me. I won't preach to you of what a world under the Hero of Chaos would be like. I know your reasons for standing against me are as valid as my reasons for serving him."
Yue Ying attacked first, launching a hail of fireballs at Galatea. The latter calmly blocked each and every one of the rounds, Euangelion humming with each impact. Her blade did not suffer even a dent, and the fireballs had ricocheted off Euangelion and into the walls of the fort, causing the entire structure to tremble. The Queen kept her longsword in a defensive guard as Flora's Windcutter dashed across the ground, cutting into the earth and hurling chunks of soil high into the air. Scars began to cleave themselves across the fort's stone. Noticing the remarkable improvement in her technique, Galatea leaped upwards, narrowly avoiding Zhou Tai and Liu Bei's projectiles of light, and lightly landed several yards away, where she was safe from the blinding flurry.
"You didn't tell me about your nifty new powers."
"I have grown stronger," explained Flora. "Strong enough to use this higher sword form that was made possible by Durandal." Galatea raised an eyebrow, and as another Windcutter hurtled her way, she leaped up into the sky and positioned Euangelion neatly against Flora's blade trajectory. In one clean stroke, she slammed the ground and sliced into Flora's shoulder, severing the sinews in her right arm and physically disabling her technique. Flora groaned in pain as Galatea smirked and moved on to Zhou Tai. He gripped Duskstrike tightly, and it glowed with an infernal aura. His teeth began to grow, and his eyes grew into those of a Yoma's. He nodded at Cynthia, and they charged, unreservedly releasing their full strength –
"You defeated me at Jieting by numbers, and I see that both you and Cynthia also obtained rather impressive new weapons," said Galatea quietly. "But I shall not be bested again." A charge of ice suddenly shot from her blade and pummeled the ground, shooting up the legs of a lunging Cynthia. Cynthia's eyes widened, and she quickly invoked Excalibur's name. But Galatea pre-empted her move and sent a bolt of offensive lightning her way. Zhou Tai dived to block it, but was casually hurled aside with a powerful flare that shot from Euangelion simultaneously. He rolled across the grass painfully, and Cynthia cried out as the current flowed through her immobilized body. The jagged lightning did not stop, traveling from her paralyzed form and sending Flora's already weakened body into convulsions. Liu Bei spun and attacked; allowing the others to recover as Yue Ying carefully aligned her bladed bow with Galatea's head. Liu Bei's blades screeched angrily against the tigress's longsword.
But Cynthia was not done yet. She roared and leaped out of her glacial cast, breaking the ice with Excalibur. She shook away the cold and charged. "Not a chance," snapped the Queen, as her Yoki misdirected her thrust and realigned it towards Flora's leg. Flora barely leaped away from her guiltless comrade's attack, a warm trickle of blood inching down her thigh. Zhou Tai roared, a powerful surge of Yoki shooting up into the atmosphere as he moved to support Liu Bei. A winding, zigzagging bolt of pure light vomited from Duskstrike's tip and enveloped Galatea. But as quickly as Liu Bei had distracted her, she pulled her weapon back and slashed away at the cocoon of illumination, dispelling it with the flames that poured from her metal. She gazed at Zhou Tai grimly as he slashed at her. She parried and somersaulted away as Yue Ying's novae incinerated the grass and soil below her. She raised her sword and blocked Cynthia's downward attack, her coat billowing in the midnight breeze. "Impressive swords you and Flora have," she observed. "But mine outclasses them in every possible facet."
Cynthia was perspiring from the force of her senior's attacks. "But Excalibur can – " she protested.
"Doubt it." With a smooth feint, Galatea flung Cynthia away and bashed back an angry Zhou Tai with her gauntlet. His muscles enlarged, and he prepared to overwhelm her with brute force. But her eyes flashed yellow with a rare determination. "Enough games," she declared. "This is growing tiresome.
"I will end this. Once and for all."
With a speed none had ever witnessed before, she charged, dodging Yue Ying's hail of shells as if they were globs of silk thrown by toddlers. She raised Euangelion and carved a painful wound across an exhausted and broken Flora, whose Windcutter gave way with little resistance. There was only one target she wished to strike true, and he awaited her at the very end of the four warriors that protected him.
"What can you do with mere compassion? Liu Bei, you do not have what it would take to change the world," she declared, pushing Euangelion against him, who struggled to parry the lightning, fire and ice that continued to batter him, smashing against his blades like the waves of the sea.
He counterattacked desperately, pushing against the elements as they screamed past him. "Galatea! People can grow without the forced change that Cao Cao proposes. It is that growth that will change the land!"
"Such naïveté is what leads to chaos! I'm afraid Mengde's is the only way," denied Galatea, kicking him away and slashing a large wound on his torso and abdomen. He staggered back. She dashed forward again, repositioning her sword. Her formidable opponent certainly was fearless, and by all means she respected him for that. But he was, in the end, a human being. And she… she was a half-demon – a silver-eyed Queen.
And Heaven itself could not change that reality.
Her pace quickened to the point that Liu Bei could barely glimpse her with the naked eye. She skidded along on a sheet of ice that solidified from her sword, allowing her to slide under his guard. His eyes widened as her face appeared, without warning, just below his groin. For a moment, he faltered, riposting and thrusting down his swords towards her head. In a pre-emptive attack, she stabbed upwards, pointing Euangelion directly at his heart. She clenched her jaw, bracing for impact. "Prepare yourself."
It had taken several split seconds for Flora and Cynthia to realize what Galatea had done. But Zhou Tai noticed before anyone else, and he bellowed out a warning.
She will kill him.
Time slowed. Flora lurched towards Liu Bei, but her successive injuries had almost crippled her to the point of immobility. Cynthia raised Excalibur and sprinted forward frantically, only to be hurled back by yet another gout of flame that erupted from Galatea's near-omnipotent weapon. Unable to reload her bladed bow in time, Yue Ying stretched out a terrified hand.
But it was too late.
The attack had been executed so precisely, so faithfully, that it was almost beautiful, a work of art, a martial masterpiece. Euangelion had plunged through his chest, neatly in between his ribcage. Galatea twisted her sword and stared coldly at his heaving shoulders, at his sagging head. She spoke quietly and deliberately, almost cruelly ensuring that he could understand her.
"Behold, King of Hanzhong. It shall be my master who guides the land to where it must go. With your defeat, I, Queen of Wei, hereby declare this war over, in the name of my King… Cao Cao Mengde."
Blood flowed from his mouth, and tears from his eyes. In those brown irises, Galatea glimpsed the despair of an entire people. That despair screamed one question:
Does charity count for nothing?
His final words were not hateful, however. He struggled to speak, but he still managed to force out his final will. It was one that so many had tried to fulfill over the course of China's history… but failed. His lips trembled in farewell.
"I have lost. Then I beg you. All I ask is that someone bring an end to this chaos, and give peace to the people…"
Strength – the sword that had served him for so many years – departed from his right hand. His left hand released Virtue, and it followed Strength, clanging loudly as their owner convulsed and slumped into Galatea's arms. The beloved of Cao Cao gently propped up Liu Bei's stilling corpse, respectfully holding it up by steadying his arms. Like Cao Cao, Liu Bei was a breadth shorter than her, and for a moment, it seemed as if she was carrying a sleeping brother, or some other familial relation.
It was extraordinary… how light his body was.
She gently let him slump to the ground, and like some terrible life-size mannequin, he sprawled across the grass, his eyes closed in serene, eternal respite.
Zhou Tai bowed his head, his fighting spirit suddenly spent, his reasons for coming to this forsaken hell meaningless and empty. Cynthia put a hand to her mouth, not daring to believe her eyes. Flora dropped her sword for the second time that horrendous night, and Durandal thudded onto the grass like a heartbroken child.
Her knees caved in. "No…" she whimpered, her soft voice desolate. "No. How could this be?"
First Zhuge Liang. Then Zhao Yun. Now…
Now…
Yue Ying's scream was one of utter fury, panic, and despair, all rolled into one desperate wail. It resounded across Wu Zhang, and for a moment, the entire world bore witness to her grief.
Liu Bei, the King of Shu, was dead, defeated by Galatea, the Queen of Wei.
*
"I'm sorry, Flora. But this… this is the only way I know that can unite the people." The gaze of utter grief and sorrow on the Marquess's face almost made Galatea regret her act of regicide.
Almost.
"Are you happy now… Mengde?" she whispered, closing her eyes. Her grip on Euangelion tightened. "I have finally become a monster… just for you."
To what lengths will I go… to prove my devotion to your ambition?
She instinctively held up her sword, grunting in surprise as two fireballs smashed against her, enveloping her in smouldering cinders. When the smoke cleared slightly, she peered out from behind the flat of her blade, glimpsing Yue Ying's teary eyes. "I will give you no quarter," cried the Chinese woman. "What you have done is unforgivable. You must be stopped!"
"Listen, poor sport. This battle belongs to me," replied Galatea, her usual sarcasm surfacing ever so briefly. "I trust that you of all people would understand the fine line between perseverance and an irrational desperation for victory."
Yue Ying's arm trembled, barely able to support her own gauntlet any longer. "I… I promised," she whispered. "That I… would defeat Wei and avenge my people." She lowered her arms. "I was prepared for the possibility of my defeat. I would have no regrets if I fell in battle, and it would have been an honour to die by your hand. But… to break us by slaying Lord Liu Bei, the man who we chose to follow…" She slumped. This was too cruel. Her husband was the only man competent enough to lead Shu into the new age their people had so hoped for, and he was gone. She gritted her teeth. The reality was that Liu Bei's son was too inexperienced, too young to lead. Who could they turn to now? Was there any lingering future for Shu Han at all?
Galatea's eyes softened as she walked closer, prompting Yue Ying to tearfully aim her weapon at her again. Flora also dashed forward, clutching Durandal and glaring at the Queen, who spoke mildly and calmly. "As cynical and duplicitous as this sounds, this is a rather foolish and inconvenient time to be despising the Imperial Chancellor and I. We must concentrate the little strength we retain on defeating Isley's army, together. For this was what Mengde intended all along. One titan must fall, so that the remnants may unite… through the flames that burn away the old order, the higher purpose rises from the ashes." She smiled in a bittersweet manner. "There are still many things about his approach that I disagree with. But the more I look upon the endless civil warring in this realm, the more I cannot help thinking that a radical solution is the best solution."
"So why, senior?" whispered Cynthia, drawing closer. "Does Cao Cao's dream really mean that much to you that you're no longer afraid to kill? Then why is it that you did not try to kill us at Jieting? Or, as Flora told me, at Hanzhong?" She blinked in realization. "So was this… all in accordance with Cao Cao's plan to unite China through us? The first stage that you spoke of?"
Galatea nodded sombrely. "Hate me if you wish. But the death of your King means that Shu and Wei no longer have any reason to fight. And that is victory enough. Without Shu, the world is one step closer to full reunification." She paused to allow the words to sink in. "Even if you could appoint an heir, you would have no chance of standing against our armies now."
But as she opened her mouth to continue, the plains across the river began to rumble. She glanced out towards the lowlands, and her eyes narrowed. What was happening – Shu reinforcements? No, from the forlorn expressions on Yue Ying and Flora's faces, most of the Shu armies had fallen fighting a battle that they had definitively lost. Furthermore, this aura was clearly of Yoma origin… of a very powerful Yoma origin. As the sky began to shake and disperse, it became clear that this was no mere ground force.
The clouds were suddenly torn apart, ripped to ribbons by massive, angry claws. A baleful roar shook the heavens, joined by three more until the chorus of infernal insanity became deafening. But it was not four – but seven – demonic auras of tremendous power that spread throughout the sprawling grasslands of Wu Zhang. The fort began to shake to its very foundations, and Cynthia gasped grabbing onto Zhou Tai's hand as the sources of the terrible voices became discernible.
Riding on the airborne current were four immense, seven-eyed horrors – forty feet tall and their fetid wingspan even larger, they obscured the moon and stars, flapping manically towards the hilltop across from the river. Chunks of rotting flesh fell from their husks and plopped into the river as they soared over it, instantly dyeing the waters a vile, black and red hue. Their yellow eyes glowed in ravenous hunger. "What are those?" gasped Yue Ying. "And… are they…?" She pointed up at three figures that stood on the shoulder of the foremost abomination. Standing in the middle was a tall blond figure, his shoulder on that of a diminutive brunette. They seemed harmless at first glance, but their Yoki levels were particularly high – higher, in fact, than even Zhou Tai's. "The figures that plagued my husband's dreams and visions!"
"Awakened Beings." Galatea smiled to herself. "They've come. Just as His Majesty predicted." She paused, staring up at the descending demons. "It really can be none other than Isley and his lackeys. After all, they are the ones that we have declared open war against. It's about time they showed their mugs to answer our challenge."
The flying, gargantuan Awakened Beings lowered themselves onto the grass, crouching hungrily and dripping saliva from their jagged mouths. Poison dripped from their slit joints. Zhou Tai's eyes narrowed as he looked into the silver irises of a black-haired, short young man who wore a spartan attire of olive and grey. "It's him," he muttered, holding Cynthia closer and raising his broadsword. "The monster I defeated at He Fei."
He had regenerated, to the point of life? How? He had been cleaved in half!
Cynthia visibly trembled at the sight of the Silver-Eyed Lion King, although Excalibur shone comfortingly and she steadied herself, confident in Zhou Tai's touch and her own strength. For his part, Rigardo simply glared down at the Chinese warrior and his wife. "You really are here. I never expected you to have united with the servants of the other Kingdoms. But it matters not. I have come for your head regardless."
But it was the small girl by the blond man's side that concerned Flora and Yue Ying the greatest. Her features, her countenance – she was unmistakably the woman of Zhuge Liang's visions. Her master leaped down from the shoulder of their humanoid mount and smiled. "Hello," he said, with the air of a courtly gentleman requesting a lady's hand in dance. "My name is Isley. And I have come to seize the lands of China – all of them."
"Isley… the lurking beast at the Mogao Caves," snarled Yue Ying in confirmation, "and the Dweller of the North Clare cautioned us against."
"Clare?" Isley blinked, and then smiled knowingly. "Ah. She was one of the eight warriors that imprudently attempted to attack the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang, was she not?"
Cynthia, Flora, Zhou Tai, and Yue Ying froze, and Galatea raised an eyebrow. "I suppose I'm the only one who knows not of what happened."
"Oh, nothing of note." Isley's smile broadened. "But I doubt those eight fools will be returning to their comrades again."
Cynthia and Flora gasped. "Does he mean…"
"No!" roared Yue Ying, charging and unlocking the safety on Sapphire Crescent. She reached up and released three burning fireballs at Isley, but before they reached him, his forty-foot tall servant raised a thick finger and blocked her barrage, letting the burning orbs sink into its own vile flesh. And within seconds, the skin closed up, leaving no trace of any attack, let alone any successful one.
Flora glared at the newly arrived freaks of nature. "So you have… taken it upon yourselves to murder our friends who journeyed to Kumtag Desert?"
"We simply left their worthless bodies to their fates, to be covered by the endless sands of that region. We dealt with them, in fact, through these Strossi," said Rigardo, stepping down from his own. "They are the highest evolution of servile Awakened Beings – immortal, invincible, and almost embarrassingly mindless and obedient. I look forward to seeing them tear through your innards. Although…" His eyes reddened, and a swirl of crimson Yoki surrounded him. "I would much rather do the deed myself." Claws burst from his growing hands. His already sharp nose elongated further into a muzzle. He shrieked in bloodlust, his muscles ripping his clothes into shorn shreds. Cynthia stared up at the massive Strossi as they lumbered towards Wu Zhang fort, their shadows casting an ineffable darkness over it. Rigardo led the advance, whilst Isley and Priscilla simply watched in the backdrop.
Only Galatea had heartening words to offer. "It seems that Lu Bu isn't with them… or at least, has not the strength of break out of the Mogao Caves yet." She positioned herself beside the Shu-Wu allies, her boots tapping lightly on the soil. "Then I'm not being too optimistic in suggesting a slim chance of survival for us.
"I really must apologize, for putting you four in such a situation. It is more difficult than I expected, asking you to fight beside me after… what I did. But this is as it was intended… unity, no matter what the cost. As the King of Wei aptly said to me: the bitterest medicine is the most effective." She smiled grimly. "Listen to me. The world does not need an Emperor. It does not need Kings, nor does it need Queens or Dukes or Lords. It only requires people of talent, united in harmony. That is the dream that I wish to share with you."
Flora glared at Galatea. "Then these are the enemies we are supposed to unite against, Queen?" She closed her eyes briefly, and her voice grew strong and resolute. "I will not forgive you for what you have done. But regardless of our quarrels, I would sooner submit to Cao Cao himself than surrender to Isley's minions."
"Marquess Flora is right," cried Cynthia, raising Excalibur while Zhou Tai followed her lead. "It is bizarre. It is strange that after so long we are forced to fight as allies. But even though so much hurt and loss has fallen upon us…" She gave a sad smile. "Despite your killing Liu Bei, senior, I cannot help but feel somewhat at ease, now that we have no reason to hurt one another and every reason to support each other."
Galatea dipped her head self-effacingly. "And that… is what I've been trying to show you all along."
Zhou Tai's eyes narrowed as he began to stride towards a towering Rigardo. Their hoary eyes met venomously. "It matters not to me. For I only have one foe to concentrate on – the fiend that dared to touch my beloved."
After several moments, Yue Ying nodded. "Father. Forgive me." She raised her head, eyes shining with emotion. "But for now, I must join hands with Wei." She glanced at Galatea. "I will do my best not to bear any grudges. I am a weak woman, and I know my shortcomings. But do not think lowly of me simply because you defeated my King. I will fight my own fight – whether or not it conforms to Cao Cao's scheming."
"They truly do intend to stand against us," noted Rigardo, as Cynthia pointed Excalibur at him.
Isley's smile broadened. "And this is why human beings are so fascinating."
Whatever their past conflicts, the five champions of the Continent and China felt strangely galvanized, encouraged, bolstered. Something between them had changed. The realization of what was quite possibly to be their last great battle was a stark thought – one that possessed urgency beyond anything else.
It was a realization that had finally transcended the conflict of the Three Kingdoms.
So this… this is the first stage of your vision towards reunification. It has succeeded, Mengde. The union of the silver-eyed warriors really has come to fruition.
You are a sly one.
The Wei Queen grinned as Euangelion began to glow fiery red, oceanic blue, and lightning gold. "Good show, Yue Ying. Come, Flora. Cynthia. Zhou Tai. Let us see if we can live long enough to realize our little dreams."