Turning back, Qao slowly walked away. From the sky fell a raindrop, and he opened his palm. One after the other, drops fell on his skin. The fog thickened, and the stone adjacent to his feet began to shake.
Qao's eyes widened, and he felt the approaching Qi. Swiftly, he turned and ordered the soldiers!!
"Summon the army!! They are here!!"
**********
Through the wet plains, an army headed towards the capital gate. The feet of the horses rubbed off that rain-struck ground, and crushing the draped grass, made their way.
In the front rode Wan Heian. Radiating Qi from his whole body, Wan was more than prepared for the siege.
"Captain!! As per the Great General's orders, we have to make way through this gate, right?", asked a fellow soldier.
"We have to break through that gate, but that would be far from easy", said Wan Heian.
"Captain!! There!!!"
Wan Heian quickly turned, and from the thick fog covering the gate emerged a silhouette.
Hundreds of others, of men on horses, followed that.
"Everyone!! Engage!!", ordered Wan Heian.
Cutting through the fog came Qao, alongside the cavalry.
His eyes stared right at Wan Heian's; the Qi around him roared with revenge.
Each of his steps shattered the ground.
"Ohirume!! Ao!!"
Wan Heian unsheathed his twin swords and stood on the horseback, staring right at Qao.
Slowly swaying his hands, cutting through the rising dust. He ran, like a thunderbolt, grabbing his sword.
On the other side, Wan Heian mustered all his strength in his legs for a plunge.
However...
Before, Wan Heian's brain could keep up with that beast's motion, he just appeared below his horse.
Rotating his whole body, Qao slashed off Wan's horse's legs, painting the ground red.
From below, blood sprayed, before he even realised Wan was on the ground.
At a moment's notice, he was on his knees, before he could even move further.
A shadow flashed over his whole body.
The sword moved, and its silver flash followed. Qao's sword moved through Wan's flesh.
Slashing off every blood vessel, bringing about a river of blood from his shoulders.
"Kuh..."
"He slashed me??!!"
Wan's disbelief echoed in his brain.
The sound of something moving through the air reverberated in Wan's ears.
It was too late...
Like a hammer, Qao's leg collided with Wan's head, and the impact sent him right into his army.
"Rain the blood", shouted Qao.
Both armies collided, the men slashing at each other and fists striking flesh.
"NEIGHHH!!!", the horse was almost dead, and it lay on the ground, having its last breath.
"Judging by your strength, you are not Ri Li; I guess you are one of his dogs", remarked Qao.
"I am all covered in red...like this, I will die."
"Death...Death Death Death!!"
"What will a Great General even do in this situa..."
Wan Heian was again on his feet, shivering like in the cold; he couldn't even wield his sword.
"Huh?...where is AO?"
SFX: THRSSSHHH
"Heh...?"
The moment his eyes blinked, a sword penetrated through his gut. Before him stood Qao, he held that sword and stabbed it right into Wan's gut.
"Huhhh!!!"
"Ao...?"
"He stabbed me with Ao?..."
Wan Heian looked straight into Qao's eyes. Judging by those movements, Wan Heian quickly predicted his next moves.
"He will kick right onto Ao, obliterating my gut by pushing it further"
But...the blood loss has already fatigued his muscles.
"I cannot move"
SFX: FRSSHHHKKKK!!
Ao's end exited through Wan Heian's back. The drops of blood dropped, one after the other.
With one hand, Wan Held tightly onto Ao and onto Ohirume with the other.
"State your name, child?", ordered Qao.
Wan's frustration and bloodlust were evident through those crimson-stained eyes, and as the tears of blood flowed from his eyes, he replied.
"Wan Heian, the man who will be the greatest general!!"
"Hm...I ought to erase the existence of beings with a stern mouth but a frail body", said Qao.
"Stern mouth and frail body?"
"Hah...I can still run...leaving everyone behind"
"I will live, and everyone will die. As long as I live, I can be a great general, right?"
"It doesn't matter they live or not...."
SFX: PUNCH!!
Wan Heian punched himself on his face, again and again. Bleeding from his nose, his face was downcast.
At that moment, his words flashed through Wan Heian's head. The word he said at that moment...
"Far in the future, there will always be a golden sunrise where you shine...so move in the darkness under that moonlight"
"So you came...Guang?", whispered Wan.
"Have you lost your mind?", muttered Qao.
"Keh..Ha Ha Ha!!! Sorry, I have lost it!!", laughed Wan Heian.
"Now move!"
The voice echoed throughout his mind; his eyes radiated a strange white radiance.
Qao's sword flashed right before Heian's throat, inched away from tearing away the flesh.
The wind brushed through Wan's skin, and like thunder, he dodged that precision strike.
Like a flash, Wan caught Qao's sword with his bare hands, and blood dripped from his palms.
Gently hold Ohirume on his mouth, and he pulled out Ao from his gut.
"Sakuramistuki!"
Like a thousand petals of cherry blossom, a ton of slashes landed on Qao's chest.
With that monstrous reflex of his, Qao quickly dodged and moved away from Wan's range.
Nevertheless...
Wan smiled as he appeared right below Qao, angling his sword to slash his chest.
Wan's sword moved like a meteorite, followed by that glowing white flash.
Perceiving the motion of Wan's sword, Qao dodged. Still, the sword scraped a part of Qao's chest.
With a backflip, Qao landed away from Wan and ran to the capital gate.
Trusting his speed, Qao ran towards the gate to slash Wan away from the army.
"My army will lose, and they all will attack me...before that happens, I have to take him away from here!!"
For Qao, this was the only option.
"Huh?"
Qao, who had immense sensory ability, could detect the slight change in Qi. At that moment, the abrupt Qi that chased him frightened him, and a word slipped out of his mouth.
"Leopard?"
Before Qao kept his feet on the other side of the gate, the shine of Ohriume and Ao reflected in his eyes.
Moving ahead of him, like a white thunder going even further. Those shining white eyes reflected on Qao's.
"A man with a white Qi?"
"The man with a white Qi...the moon god..."
"Raikiri!!", muttered Wan Heian.
SFX: SLASHH!!!
A slash that of crescent moons, following the movement of crescent moon, Ao and Ohirume tears right through Qao's flesh.
Absolutely shrivelling away his chest, in the form of two shining crescent moons.
At that moment, Ri Li and the rest of the unit bear witness to a new sword movement in Wan's arsenal.
"Ryo!! Isn't that your moon style!", someone muttered.
"Hehe...that is certainly a deadlier one than mine", remarked Great General Ri Li.