“THIS VANTAGE POINT IS GREAT FOR HIDING,” Kadaina explained to Zenpan, pointing to a spot on his map. “The natural formation of the hill leaves a huge blind spot for them while our view is wide open.”
“We’re hiding?” the lead general of the 154th scoffed. “Like a bunch of children?”
“Not necessarily,” the younger co-general explained as he took out a plethora of chess pieces and laid them out on the map. “This is more of an ambush. In effect, they’re expecting an upfront attack, but opting for their six o’clock instead of their twelve o’clock leaves them unprepared. Once we have them in front of us, not only will we have the element of surprise, but we also have the higher ground, which gives our archers a clear advantage.”
As Kadaina spoke, he moved the chess pieces into their appropriate positions, using bishops to represent archers and pawns to represent foot soldiers.
“They’ll be confused once the assault begins. Using this to our advantage, we’ll cause as much devastation as we can at the start. A total wipeout is unlikely, if not impossible, but we can at least force a retreat for the time being. They will not retreat immediately, but instead try to retaliate.
“It’s here that we find another advantage of our location. Aotoshi will need to take longer to scale the hill, during which we can continue to knock down their numbers. For Akuni, however, we can easily rush down the hill toward them if need be. But there’s one aspect that I’m not certain of.”
“What would that be?” Zenpan asked.
“Kunshu,” Kadaina answered. “If Kunshu is present at the next battle, it may throw a hefty wrench in our plans. He has accessed Suornha, correct?”
“Yes, he has.”
“Then he should have no problem activating it and scaling the hill like it’s nothing,” the mage remarked. “Worse yet, if Yukan were to chase after him, this strategy’s stability becomes rather shaky. Do we have any reason to believe that he will abstain from this battle?”
“I feel I have scared him off,” Zero claimed. “After all, he could have pulverized us during the last battle, but once I revealed myself to him, he decided to instead stop with setting up camp.”
“Then the plan is set,” Kadaina remarked as he rolled up the map, swiping the chess pieces off and back into a tin bucket, the pieces making a sharp clang when they hit the bottom. “Let us inform the troops.”
❒︎❒︎❒︎❒︎❒︎❒︎❒︎
Kadaina and Zenpan led the troops onto the battlefield on the outskirts of a small Aotoshi town called Bianjing. Ite and Yukan were close to the front lines. Upon reaching their vantage point, Kadaina raised his left hand, stopping the troops. He then signaled to scatter into the nearby shrubbery to their east and west by balling all but his ring and pinky finger into a fist. Yukan, Ite, and Kadaina all went to their west. Once they were sure they were hidden, they gave each other a reassuring nod.
Half an hour later, Aotoshi’s troops marched through the outskirts of Bianjing, passing the Akuni army, still well-hidden behind the flora that sandwiched Aotoshi’s path. The soldiers hiding in the greenery tensed up for a brief moment as Aotoshi passed, but eased up when they realized that they had not been spotted.
“Now!” Kadaina shouted once there was five hundred yards of distance between them and the Aotoshi troops, who now stood at the bottom of the hill. The archers sent a volley of arrows from their hiding spots. Terror filled the eyes of the Aotoshi army as they saw the volley approach. The full force of Akuni’s army then revealed itself, with some teaming up to lift large boulders and throw them down the top of the hill. At least fifty troops were leveled by the boulders, crushed beneath their great size.
“They’re behind us?!” Shirei shouted in disbelief.
By this point, a few of Aotoshi’s troops had scaled the hill, managing to take out some of Akuni’s troops, but were soon felled by the close combatants. Yukan had been keeping his position at the top of the hill, sometimes dipping down slightly to pick off the odd Aotoshi troop, as if he were an eagle swooping down to snatch a trout that had leapt too high out of its stream.
Ite did not move from the top, partly due to her having the advantage of ranged attacking and partly out of a lingering fear of being put out of commission once more. Ite was almost certain of her safety on the top of this hill, however. She had been training herself much longer than anybody in the Aotoshi military had, beginning in her youth, while many of the Aotoshi troops had only taken up archery once they were enlisted.
Kadaina, on the other hand, had to act as the ringmaster of the Akuni army in the general calamity of the battle. He alerted troops to openings in Aotoshi’s formation and helped bandage up the wounded troops.
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Eventually, Zero locked eyes with Shirei Akui. The two commanders approached one another as their respective men continued to battle.
“You’re nothing but a bunch of cowards hiding in bushes!” Shirei yelled to Zenpan.
“Didn’t you fake a horn of honor?” Akuni’s general retorted. “That wasn’t very honorable of you either.”
“This is modern war, Imoru,” Aotoshi’s lead commander bellowed. “Honor is dead. Saving somebody from death is no longer bravery! It’s foolishness! It doesn’t matter how you destroy your opponent, as long as you get it done.”
“Then how come you didn’t finish us off at Oka Hill?” Zenpan smugly beckoned. “Your emperor backed off as soon as he recognized me. Maybe you were the cowards all along.”
Shirei quickly drew his broadsword, gnashing his teeth. Zenpan was lucky enough to see Shirei charge toward him, taking out his own claymore. Akuni’s general barely cleared leather just in time to block the strike.
Immediately afterward, Zero drew a revolver and fired three shots toward Shirei. The first bullet landed in his left shoulder, the second connecting with his right thigh, and the third bullet grazed his lower-right abdomen. Shirei slid back with a grunt before adjusting his grip on his broadsword and charging in once more, his tankish build keeping him steady. Shirei slashed at Zenpan, hitting his arm. He was not able to break through the maila’s skin, however. Aotoshi’s commander tossed his broadsword in the air for a moment before grabbing the blade and delivering a mordhau to Zenpan’s ribs, one of which cracked against the pressure. Shirei went in for another strike, trying once more to break General Imoru’s skin, but Zenpan managed to snag the blade between his claymore and revolver. For a brief while, the two stayed in a stalemate, with Zenpan trying to keep Shirei’s blade in place and Shirei trying to pry the broadsword free. After a few seconds, an outside force broke the stalemate in the form of a rock smacking against Shirei’s face.
Aotoshi’s premiere general stumbled backward and lost his footing, letting go of his sword as he collapsed. At the top of the hill, Shirei could see Kadaina levitating five rocks about equal in size to a baseball around him.
“Your men are outnumbered, Akui,” Kadaina smugly hollered. “You’d best retreat and keep what few troops you have.”
Shirei, still winding down from his duel with Zenpan, gazed upon the carnage surrounding him. His fleet, having entered the battle numbering seven hundred fifty men, had now been whittled down to about one hundred thirty four.
“Fuck!” Shirei grunted. He stood up straight after picking his broadsword up from the ground, using one hand to cover his right eye, which had begun to swell from being hit with the rock, and the other to lift the sword into the air.
“Troops!” Shirei called out. “Fall back!”
With that, Aotoshi’s troops hastily reassembled and hurried out of the warzone back to the nearest fort.
Akuni’s troops had also begun to gather together once again. Their six hundred troops had taken quite a few blows as well, but they still had three hundred twenty six men. This did not stop them from having a sense of accomplishment, as they had gotten themselves their first resounding victory on the battlefield.
Kadaina dropped the rocks from his side, lowering Brildingjr and standing completely still for a moment. His gambit had paid off and he had proven himself to his army. Zenpan went behind Kadaina and patted him on the back, almost knocking the mage off balance for a moment. Yukan and Ite came to his side as well.
“Good work today,” Zenpan called out to his troops. “Let’s set up camp.”
❒︎❒︎❒︎❒︎❒︎❒︎❒︎
Kunshu sat in his throne room at the chessboard, the string quartet playing in its usual mechanical way. Kunshu said nothing throughout the performance, simply letting the music take over all sound in the room. Shirei entered the throne room and, upon seeing Kunshu, hid his bruised eye from his emperor.
“Looks like someone had fun with the toy army,” Kunshu greeted him, seeing the black eye.
“Things would have turned out a lot better for us if you’d joined in on the fun,” Shirei scoffed. On one hand, he was upset that he had let his leader and closest friend down. On the other hand, he was annoyed that he had given no assistance to his army whatsoever, despite how resounding of a victory they had during their battle at Oka Hill.
“Victory is not guaranteed until Yukan is isolated,” the emperor answered, moving the white side knight into a position where it had been effectively hung for the taking by black’s king. “Once he’s dealt with, I will be unstoppable and Crenon will be mine for the taking.”
Kunshu moved the king to capture the knight.
“It’s impossible to get him away from the rest of the army,” Shirei protested. “Everywhere he goes, he’s being guarded by that damned general of theirs and his two travel buddies. He’s one of the most protected members of the Akuni military.”
“Au contraire, Shirei,” the emperor contested. “I almost lured him out during our first battle. He was ready to face me on his own, but that girlfriend of his getting injured made him withdraw. All the better, though. I had him lined up, mere moments away from the slaughter, but he still did not draw his sword back out. If it weren’t for Zero, I would already have accomplished my goal.”
“That may be true,” the commander continued, “but I don’t have that same power. I can’t get him on his own like you can. So how do we do it without you?”
“Need I remind you, Shirei, that Yukan is not yet a man? As such, he tends to act impulsively and rashly, unlike you and I, who are more calculating and careful. They think they’re ten feet tall and bulletproof at that age and fall for the simplest of traps. He will bend to my will whether he realizes it or not.”
After a brief pause, Shirei continued.
“I don’t quite understand,” he remarked. “What do you mean by that?”
“You don’t need to know,” Kunshu clarified. “I’m already ten steps ahead of them all.”
“Alright then…” the commander shrugged. “I’ll take your word for it. Farewell, my liege.”
Shirei then took his leave. Kunshu cackled in delight, knowing that his goals were soon to be fulfilled.