Organized chaos.

That was the only way Yan knew to describe it. Ever since Brigadier Hongji ordered the withdrawal and set fire to Sinuji, she’d been drifting along in a surreal bubble of organized chaos. There were Demons and Defiled cavalry nipping at their heels and the bulk of the Enemy horde further behind, but for Yan and her retinue stuck in the middle of the Imperial forces, all of the death and turmoil seemed so distant and intangible. Behind them, she could hear the good Brigadier giving orders and calling for more Peak Experts to replace those who were dead or injured, while Yan made sure her hundred-man retinue marched ever eastwards at what felt like a snail’s pace. The Imperial army moved at a light jog, when every instinct screamed at her to run at full speed or to stand her ground and fight, but orders were orders, and Yan carried hers out to the letter.

Between mitigating nerves and bolstering spirits, Yan slowly pieced Hongji’s plan together as they marched along, and for all intents and purposes, it was a decent one. The majority of the Imperial forces were on foot, which meant the closest fortress was two days away. If they kept their current pace, they could cut their travel time down to eighteen hours. A difficult ask, but manageable for most. Those who couldn’t keep up could rest in the wagons for a spell, but there were Lieutenants and bully sergeants a plenty to ensure soldiers were completely and utterly spent before allowing them onto the wagons, all while the army marched away beneath the predatory gaze of the Demons and Defiled stalking them.

Yan had hunted often enough to spot the signs. It wasn’t that the Defiled couldn’t catch up, but they chose not to. They recognized that the Imperial forces were conserving their strength and saw no reason to waste theirs by running down a strong foe. The Defiled were the wolves, and the Imperial Army the stag, and a tired pack was no match for the lord of the forest, not while he was still fresh.

It was both logical and illogical at the same time, in Yan’s eyes. If the Imperial forces marched faster, then the Defiled would have to match them, and both groups would tire equally, or so she thought, but apparently, this was not the case. Not because the Defiled had more stamina, but because of the mentality behind their positions. The only difference between predator and prey in this instance was a psychological one, but Hongji was using this to his full advantage. If the prey did not present itself as prey, namely panicked and fearful, then the predator would feel uneasy and hold back. It felt like the flimsiest of barriers keeping the Defiled from descending upon the retreating Imperial forces, but by some miracle of the Mother, it was enough.

Tonight’s events really put Grandpa Du’s lessons on tactics and formations into perspective, and Yan cursed her past self for not paying more attention. During her time in Central, she devoted most of her efforts towards making progress along the Martial Path and only spent an hour or two every week on tactics, logistics, and other such nonsense, but now she finally understood where it all fit in, especially once she noticed how things deviated from the norm. For example, Hongji had arranged the wagons in such a way so that those carrying food, uniforms, tents, and other extraneous items were on the extreme flanks of the formation, where they could be easily abandoned to slow down any pursuing Defiled. Wagons carrying water and soldiers were closer to the centre rather than to the rear of the marching troops. This raised clouds of dust and dirt which made it uncomfortable for the Imperial troops to march through, but it also left these most vulnerable of targets well-protected. An army could march a day or two without food, but they wouldn’t last four hours without water, a simple fact which Yan would undoubtedly have overlooked.

There were other changes to the standard marching formation which Yan noticed, like how the entire army wasn’t marching in a straight line stretching from east to west, but rather a tight, semi-circular row stretching from north to south. That was one reason for the confusion during the withdrawal, something Yan had initially attributed to panic and disorder, but was actually Hongji rearranging his forces into this odd formation. The soldiers weren’t just haphazardly thrown about and told to march, but painstakingly placed into this optimal formation. Neat blocks of soldiers moved in near lockstep, arranged so that heavy infantry led the way and set the pace while light infantry followed behind, and light cavalry rode on either flank to guard against attack. Yan wasn’t sure where the heavy cavalry had gone off to, but this all made sense. This arrangement kept the soldiers in tight formation, since there was no way for the heavy infantry to lag behind, and if they had to turn and fight, the light infantry and cavalry would be less tired than their heavily armoured counterparts.

All this was basic, fundamental knowledge, but Yan found it fascinating to see it all first hand. Up until now, she’d been left to her own devices for the most part, commanding her hundred-man retinue atop the battlements or out beyond the front lines. This sort of warfare was an entirely different beast from what she was accustomed to, but she discovered that Grandpa Du’s lessons were slowly preparing her to one day command her own army of fifty-thousand or more. A prospect which was both thrilling and frightening, if Yan was being honest, because she was still struggling to feel comfortable in her role as Third Grade Warrant Officer. In fact, she even quietly gave thanks to the Mother Above for keeping her distracted during the Legate’s banquet this past spring, where most of Yan’s peers had been promoted to Major or Senior Captain equivalents. Commanding a hundred soldiers was burdensome enough, and Yan was not ready to command a thousand or more.

Hell, she was barely qualified to command a hundred. Sutah, her burly, dark-skinned, Southern-born second, managed most of the day to day tasks of Yan’s retinue, while Rain paid all the bills. The only thing she did was sign them up for ill-fated stints of duty like their most recent outing to thrice-cursed Sinuji.

As the night wore on, Yan continued learning from this hands-on lesson in command, and she was highly impressed by what she saw. The withdrawal had been planned down to the last detail, with tricks and traps aplenty to buy time for the Imperial forces and bleed their Defiled pursuers. Each time Hongji revealed his latest surprise, Yan half-expected the order to turn and fight, but alas, it never came, not even when the catapults revealed themselves to rain stony death upon the Enemy. If ever there were a time to break the Defiled spirits, that would have been it, but instead, Hongji kept them moving ever eastwards with no regards for what lay behind them.

Then she spotted movement ahead, and Yan was filled with awe and admiration for her commander, who somehow conjured up Imperial reinforcements out of thin air to come to their aid.

A sentiment which lasted for all of a second before the command came to form battle lines, as she was not looking at Imperial reinforcements, but seventy-thousand Defiled moving in to intercept. Once again, organized chaos took over as the Imperial army formed up to meet the Enemy, and Yan quickly lost herself to the flow. If not for big brother Kyung coaching her through Sending, she would have had no idea what to do, but she somehow managed to get her retinue together and move them into place, all while marching ever closer towards this new threat.

Somewhere along the way, Du Kang Bing appeared at her side, and Yan was only mildly surprised by his presence. The front lines were more dangerous than ever, so she expected Grandpa Du to provide her with more hidden protectors, and the lusty, but trustworthy young Colonel was one of the few people Grandpa could turn to. What did surprise Yan was how ragged Kang Bing looked, his armour shredded and expression bleak as he took a moment to catch his breath. “Congratulations,” he Sent, clapping Yan on the shoulder and flashing a fetching smile which did nothing to reassure her. “We’re in deep shit now. See our formation?”

Glancing around the torchlight fields, Yan immediately picked up on her dilemma, because most of the torches were behind her. “We’re the tip of the spear,” she Sent, knowing better than to let her soldiers hear the fear and surprise in her voice.

“One spear, at least.” Kang Bing pointed to the left, and Yan found a second unit moving up alongside her, albeit almost a hundred metres away.

The pieces fell into place and Hongji’s plan revealed itself to her through the banners unfurling around her. “Boar’s head formation,” she said, recognizing the formation from one of Grandpa’s detailed diagrams, with her retinue and Mister Rustram’s group forming the two tusks. Behind them, the Central and Southern infantry were forming up in ‘wings’, ready to follow up behind the initial charge and jump in wherever help was needed.

“Good eye,” Kang Bing Sent, nodding in approval. “We move in behind the heavy cavalry with Mister Rustram, but they’ll be spent by the time we get there. Once we push in, Major XinYue takes his cavalry and withdraws, while the Sentinels keep the garos off our asses. This means we can’t count on the cavalry to carry us to victory, so what do we do?”

Though not one of Grandpa’s direct Disciples, Kang Bing was an excellent student and decent teacher, to the point where it almost felt like it was Grandpa standing here to lecture her. Instead of answering right away, she continued looking around for more clues to Hongji’s plan. The answer came to her as soon as she recognized the soldiers trickling in from all sides, a motley, dangerous bunch who looked out of place in Imperial regalia. Wang Bao’s cutthroats formed up around her, former Butchers and Corsairs one and all, while their meticulously groomed ruffian of a leader glowered them into submission, surveying his soldiers with his wicked battle-axe in hand and a devilish smile stretched across his lips, as if hoping to turn the weapon against them. Other Northern soldiers also filtered to the front, some joining her camp and others joining the one moving parallel to her position, led by none other than Rain’s competent second, Mister Rustram.

The right tool for the right job, as Grandpa Du often said, and it seems Hongji agreed. “We need a fast victory and only have infantry to do it,” Yan Sent. “Mister Rustram and I are here to push through the Defiled Centre, while the groups behind us shore up the flanks. We cut in deep, bisect the Enemy horde and come out behind them, then turn around and collapse. With luck, we rout the intercepting force before our pursuers catch up, and then keep running to fight another day.”

“Got it in one. Thirty-five thousand Imperial infantry set against seventy thousand or so Defiled, and Brigadier Hongji has placed the outcome of this battle upon your shoulders.” Flashing the charming smile which secured him so many wives and concubines, Kang Bing Sent, “And if we fail, then ninety percent of Hongji’s forces will be dead before dawn, and they can count themselves fortunate.” His smile melting away, he asked, “You up for the challenge?”

“Fuck yea,” Yan blurted out, forgetting to Send in all her excitement. As dire as their situation might be, she was elated to have her skills recognized by a man like Hongji and given this daunting task, because up until now, she’d accomplished almost nothing of note. She hadn’t killed any formidable champions, fought a Demon, held out against overwhelming odds, or anything else worth talking about. Holding a section of wall hardly made for an impressive or dramatic tale, and truth be told, most of the credit lay with Kyung. Now, she had a chance to prove her worth using the skills Grandpa taught her, and she would make sure the Empire learned of her name in a capacity other than ‘Imperial Consort’.

Not that Yan disliked the title. Quite the opposite, in fact, as she loved hearing others address her as such and seeing the envy hidden within their eyes, but she wanted to stand on her own merits and silence those naysayers grumbling about how she only had status thanks to the men in her life...

“Good,” Kang Bing said out loud, patting her once more before taking up his blood-stained halberd. “Then you have command of the front. By your orders, Warrant Officer Yan.”

Her first instinct was to protest and tell Kang Bing she wasn’t ready, that she thought he meant if she was up for leading the vanguard rather than the entire force. She wanted to scream that he was a Colonel and command should rightfully be his, or one of the many other higher ranked officers in the crowd, but then she saw how all the soldiers in earshot had immediately turned to her for guidance. Hardly inspiring for their new commander to refuse responsibility only minutes before battle, and judging by the glint in Kang Bing’s eye, she knew he’d done this intentionally. Well... it shouldn’t be so bad, since Hongji had everything set up, and she still had Kyung and Kang Bing to keep her from fucking up too much, so she cleared her throat and said, “Forward march, half speed.”

All across the battlefield, tens of thousands of soldiers slowed to heed her orders, and it filled Yan with more excitement than she ever thought possible. Oh how she had laughed at Grandpa’s war-games room, with his little miniatures of soldiers and horsemen sat neatly upon tables sculpted with grassy hills, riverbeds, and other such terrain. It seemed so silly then, to move those little miniatures and pretend like they were whole armies of warriors, but now she understood the allure. These were not the best circumstances to fight it, but they weren’t the worst either, so she would just have to make do with what she had, which when she thought about it, wasn’t exactly much. Some Sentinel training which she technically never finished and the beginnings of a Central-born noble’s military education, as well as the lessons she’d picked up as an orphan brawler.

And Mother willing, it would have to be enough.

Despite the battle unfolding before her and all her instincts screaming to charge into the fray, Yan forced herself to match Kyung’s pace, which would undoubtedly be exactly half march speed. What that value might be, she couldn’t say, but she knew her soldiers would appreciate having these quiet minutes to catch their breath without letting their bodies grow cold. The long march was just a warm up, which was good because win or lose, this battle would be over quickly, so best to throw everything they had into one initial, overwhelming charge.

At about one kilometre away from the battle lines, Yan ordered, “Signal Major XinYue to withdraw.” Almost immediately, she saw the heavy cavalry turn towards her as Kyung or Kang Bing relayed her orders, and again, she felt the heady rush of power and excitement, doubly so because she’d already deviated from the plan Kang Bing had so subtly laid out for her. “Marching speed.” The steady cadence of boots rose to drown out the scattered plodding of hooves riding by, and offered a salute to the tired, bloodied horsemen riding back towards the wagons. It was awe-inspiring to see these Northern Warriors returning after charging more than ten times their number, and to her surprise, they’d emerged relatively unscathed. As far as she could tell, at least two-thirds of Chu XinYue’s forces had survived, and while it was all but impossible to tell with the Defiled chasing in hot pursuit, they must have done significant damage to the Enemy forces to enrage them so.

Hongji had known exactly what he was doing when he ordered XinYue’s cavalry to charge ahead with little to no support. The intercepting horde was formidable at first glance, but in order to get ahead of Hongji’s forces, the Defiled would have had to keep up a punishing pace for hours without stopping. If not for XinYue’s charge, they would have had precious minutes to rest while the Imperial army moved in to meet them, and this battle would have been that much harder. Now, XinYue had bloodied their noses and gotten the Defiled worked up into a frenzy, which meant they weren’t thinking straight and simply charging ahead instead of reforming their battle lines, which suited Yan just fine.

“Warrant Officer Yan,” XinYue Sent, looking formidable as he rode up on his exhausted warhorse. For good reason too, as even the largest horse looked tiny when sat beneath this behemoth of a man, and this poor beast had carried him for hours before engaging in strenuous battle. “A number of chariots broke down and Ulfsaar refused to leave them behind. The Ravenous Wolf is supporting them, but they will not last long.” Damn it. A rather gentle man for a former bandit, Ulfsaar likely wouldn’t leave because the cattle couldn’t get free, and Huu was probably mad with battle rage. To his credit, XinYue Sent, “Permission to advance alongside and rescue our comrades?”

“Denied.” Yan didn’t even need to think about it, and since Hongji had given her command of the battlefield, she temporarily outranked the burly Major. “Water and rest your horses, then await further orders.” Seeing his scowl, she added, “You’ve secured glory enough with your valiant charge. Leave some for the rest of us.”

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The Major cracked a smile as he rode off to see to his people, and once the last rider moved past, Yan ordered her people to link up with Mister Rustram’s. One spear-tip was better than two, given the circumstances, and while Hongji might disagree, she had command here. All the while, she kept a close eye on the Defiled advance, because timing was key here. One kilometre wasn’t too far to run, but these Defiled were being fuelled by bloodlust and little else. Let them waste what little strength they had, because the closer they came, the less her soldiers had to run. The Defiled crossed five-hundred metres in the blink of an eye, but then their lines stretched as the forerunners kept coming and others slowed or stopped to kill or desecrate fallen Imperial riders, and still Yan waited. At two-hundred and fifty metres, she almost gave the order, but then she waited a few seconds more until the Defiled lines were only a hundred metres away.

Then she lifted her battle-fan, infused her breath with Chi, and howled, “Charge!”

With the wind at her back, Yan surged into the lead as she ran headlong at the Defiled, and as guttural howls sounded out behind her, she almost thought she’d somehow gotten turned around. Far from it though, for it was not the Defiled screaming in challenge, but Wang Bao’s cutthroats unleashing all their pent up rage and bloodlust. The howls were picked up by other Imperials and Yan saw firsthand how the clamour shook the Defiled. The tired front-runners slowed their steps and faltered in place, wondering if they should turn tail and flee, but it was already too late. She claimed the first kill, punching her bladed shield into the throat of an exhausted foe, but Wang Bao’s axe collected the next three, impaling his first foe on the pointed head before cleaving through two others. Though not particularly large, tall, or imposing, there was something about the man’s unbridled ferocity which struck fear in friend and foe alike. A born killer with a rough-hewn Spiritual Battle Axe, Wang Bao set to the Defiled with unmatched brutality, lopping off heads and disembowelling bellies without a care in the world, while his first kill sat impaled upon his axe-head.

And when this was all done, Wang Bao would shoulder his battle-axe, run his fingers through his bloody beard, and go back to being the stuffy, uptight model soldier he usually appeared to be. That was the most terrifying part, in Yan’s eyes, how normal and boring he seemed outside of battle, just like Mister Rustram...

Now was not the time for distraction though, since she had a battle to lead. “Forward!” she called, slashing the throat of a Defiled tribesman about to stab one of Wang Bao’s ruffians. “Forward, heroes of the Empire, into the teeth of the Enemy!” The thrill of battle sang in her veins, but she reined in her excitement before it took full control, throwing out Wind Blades with every pass of her Battle-Fan and advancing deeper into the Enemy lines. Kyung and Kang Bing were at her sides, but she couldn’t let them exhaust themselves pushing forward on their own, so she raised her voice and shouted, “Put your backs into it, you sorry, spineless rejects! Are you motherless bastards? Or are you Children of the Empire?! FORWARD!”

That did the trick, as her soldiers redoubled their efforts and drove themselves deep into the Defiled horde. The Imperial charge faltered as they struck the mass of stragglers following behind the forerunners, but the chaos and confusion served her well. The Imperial advance had arrived faster than they anticipated, and they mistook the howls still emanating from Wang Bao’s cutthroats as a sign that their Defiled brethren were winning. Far from it as Yan’s unstoppable advance crushed them underfoot, her Wind Blades clearing the way down the centre while Kyung and Kang Bing aided the soldiers on her flanks. While it didn’t seem like much, this set off a series of events in which each soldier down the line was free to aid their comrade beside them, then go on to help the next soldier over, turning their one-to-one charge into a series of increasingly uneven exchanges.

All thanks to her Wind Blades clearing the way forward.

Well, it wasn’t all thanks to her, as Wang Bao, Rustram, and a few others were also serving the same purpose, if to a lesser extent. Pran and Saluk were tireless pushing forward with massive sweeps of their hammers, while the quiet Lang Yi and Lang Er set to the Defiled with unmatched enthusiasm. Then there was Mister Rustram, dancing about the battlefield and waving his flimsy rapier about, killing any who stood in his path. Other Northern talents made their skills known, including Xue Biqian and Jin Zhilan from the Society, as well as the young Magistrate of Ping Yao whose name Yan never bothered to learn. Most impressive of all was the armoured giant Ral, who Yan almost didn’t notice because he was more than a dozen metres ahead of her position. There he stood, a man alone, smashing aside everything in front of him with his monstrous staff while twirling and spinning about like a massive man of a windmill. Impressive as this might be, even his full set of Runic Plate Armour wouldn’t keep the half-dog safe for long, not surrounded like he was, but even as Yan adjusted her heading to support Ral, someone else rendered her efforts worthless.

The Spiritual Rope almost seemed laughable as it shot up into the air, hitting nothing as it stretched out to its maximum length, but then it descended upon the Defiled with the crack of thunder and left nothing but death in its wake. At least a dozen Defiled were killed and an entire section of the battlefield was cleared out in one single attack, but Jorani was not yet done. Similarly clad in full-Runic Plate, the Hangman stood alone on the battlefield as he flicked his Spiritual Rope high once more and brought it down like a massive cane, leaving only corpses on either side of Ral until Imperial soldiers surged forward to fill the void.

“Hangman Jorani!” someone called, and the chant was picked up by others, including Yan herself, because damned her if that wasn’t some impressive work, and from the looks of things, Ral was pushing on ahead for a repeat performance. “Hangman Jorani!”

Throwing herself back into the fray, Yan redoubled her efforts to cut through the Defiled. Not because she didn’t want to be outdone by the likes of Ral and Jorani, but also because Huu and Ulfsaar were still in the thick of things. Though a good number of Defiled had chased after XinYue and their cavalry as they withdrew from the battle, Yan imagined a whole lot more stayed behind to finish off Huu and Ulfsaar, so she fought down her growing panic and forged ahead as quickly as she dared. The Northerners formed the spear point, but without support from the tailing Central and Southern soldiers, the Defiled could easily encircle the Northerners and drag them all down in a battle of bloody attrition. Seconds went by in uneasy apprehension, with Yan’s spirits faltering even as she slaughtered her way through the horde, for she should have come across a friendly face by now. Step by bloody step, she drove her soldiers forward, but the Enemy shook off their surprise all too quickly and slowed her progress greatly. These were no predators, but opportunistic scavengers, and they sensed her desperation as clear as day. The Defiled only needed to endure this assault for half an hour or less before their comrades caught up, and then, they would feast upon fresh Imperial corpses.

Unless Yan saved Ulfsaar and Huu, broke through the Defiled lines, manoeuvred her soldiers to surround the Enemy, and then slaughtered them until the crazed, bloodthirsty berserkers decided they’d had enough death for one day. It seemed like such a neat and simple plan when Grandpa moved his miniatures around on his sculpted tables, but it was far more difficult to carry out in real life.

Throwing Wind Blades out as fast as she could swing her sword, Yan sorely wished she could do the same with her shield. Unfortunately, despite Divine Blacksmith Husolt’s claim of it being some of his best work, Yan never did figure out why, and she lacked skin thick enough to ask him. Even Mila couldn’t figure it out, besides noting that it was exceedingly well balanced, to the point where Yan barely felt its weight while holding it tight. Still, it made for a decent close combat weapon as the Defiled wised up to her ways, seeking to close in on her during the pause between successive Wind Blades, only to be greeted by the Honed spikes of her shield.

Between Jorani’s impressive, sweeping strikes and Ral’s unstoppable advance, Yan’s division speedily progressed through the Enemy lines. It didn’t take long before she felt surrounded on all sides, but a quick glance back showed her the truth of that matter, that her back was clear thanks to the ever widening line of Central and Southern soldiers guarding the flanks, spread out like wings on a bird to hold back the burgeoning press of Defiled.

“There,” Kyung Sent, pointing ahead and to Yan’s left, and she immediately spotted what he meant. A break in the fighting, but not because of her, and she angled her people towards it. Realizing time was of the essence, she gave up on conserving her strength and went all out, no longer standing back to throw Wind Blades into the fray and instead closing in to fight the Defiled face to face. Killing from ten-paces away was impressive and all, but Yan was so much better at killing from point blank range, her sword and shield carving a bloody path through the Defiled so quickly, she soon found herself standing side by side with Ral.

“You’re real strong,” Ral said, smiling his goofy smile while panting with exertion. “You want my armour? I think it’d be better if you wore it.”

“Thanks big guy,” she said, matching his smile without trying as Jorani’s Spiritual Rope thundered down beside them. “But I’m afraid it wouldn’t fit me. You keep it, and watch my back, got it?” Seeing his confusion, Yan corrected herself and said, “Follow and kill any Defiled I miss.”

“Got it.” Fumbling with his staff as he threw an awkward salute, Yan waited for Jorani’s second strike to finish before following along in its wake. A half-dozen paces of empty space was all she got before the Defiled were upon her once more, undaunted by the formidable show of force and unwilling to back down from a challenge. Many believed the Defiled were fearless, but Yan knew this to be false; they scared like any other wild beast, it just took more than the prospect of death to do it. They lived for bloodshed and didn’t mind dying in service to it, which meant she had to show them the futility of standing in her way.

Grandpa Du did so by using his Wind Chakrams, giant rings of razor-sharp wind which cut clean through flesh and bone without dissipating. Yan couldn’t do the same, because she lacked his Talent to keep Chi constructs from crumbling away upon contact with a living being. It had something to do with internal Domains and how every living being had one, even the lowliest peasant or weakest chicken, and those Domains were utterly inviolable. There was a lot of theological debate about it, with people claiming that Domains were an extension of the Spiritual form made manifest in the physical world, or that internal Domains were a property of the soul, but regardless of the reasons, Yan couldn’t do what Grandpa Du could.

But she could do something similar.

With Ral and Jorani there to support her, Yan was free to hold back a bit and fight with horn and shield alone, leaving her Battle-Fan free to sow the seeds of victory. Twirling it between her fingers, she drew in a vortex of air which she used to feed and cultivate her killing blade. Round and round her Battle-Fan spun, consuming all the Chi she could spare it, until finally, she felt control slipping away and she had no choice left but to release it. A tricky thing, pointing her spinning fan towards the Defiled without angling it the wrong way, but as soon as she was reasonably certain she probably wouldn’t kill any of her allies, she unleashed the whirlwind gathered about her Battle-Fan.

Well, not exactly a whirlwind, but more like five or six dozen Wind Blades, each one large enough to sever clean through an arm or neck.

The results were more spectacular than she expected as heads and limbs flew about the battlefield spewing fountains of crimson blood. The idea was that the leading Wind Blades would clear the path for the subsequent ones, but somehow, the turbulence from each impact was causing the subsequent Wind Blades to veer out of the way, scattering across the battlefield at more or less neck height. While it didn’t quite clear a line through the Enemy like she’d envisioned, it left the area before her only sparsely defended as maybe one of every three Defiled remained untouched by her attack. The others were dead or grievously wounded, and for a short, breath-taking second, both Imperial and Defiled alike stopped to gape at Yan’s ultimate attack.

Grandpa Du was the Sanguine Tempest, and now Yan was the Sanguine Whirlwind, a name she encouraged and was shortly being chanted by the soldiers under her command. It came from something Rain once said, about sowing the wind and reaping the whirlwind, and Yan had been enamoured with the saying ever since.

“Forward!” Yan commanded, and she even took a step in the right direction, but then her strength faded and Kyung was there to hold her up. Her soldiers didn’t disappoint though, as Ral led the way to their beleaguered allies, who as it turns out, weren’t so beleaguered after all. Arriving in the thick of things thanks to Kyung gently Cloud-Stepping them over, Yan found Ulfsaar’s wife, Neera, hard at work Healing cattle alongside other similarly talented companions. Leaving the formidable woman to her delicate work, Yan looked around for someone of authority to speak to, but Rain’s people had never been big on banners and regalia. It didn’t matter though, because she soon found all the answers she needed as Huu led his Sentinels around the side and herding a group of unfortunate Defiled into the path of Ulfsaar’s lumbering chariot. The whirling scythes attached to each wheel made short work of those poor bastards, and Yan saw the same tactic repeated more times by various groups around her position.

Clever. Grossly outnumbered by their foes, Ulfsaar’s cattle division would have been overrun in a matter of minutes if they tried to stand and fight, so they didn’t even try. Instead, they held their ground by driving endless circles around it. To keep the Defiled on their toes, Huu’s Sentinels wove between the deadly patrols of whirling death, allowing them to surge out and attack before retreating to the safety of the inner circle, so long as they timed things right. It wasn’t too difficult since cattle were not the fastest creatures in the world, but the Defiled were too timid to push into the circle, since the cattle cavalry were there waiting to receive them. Judging by the wheel marks on the ground, the circle had been shrinking for some time now as the chariots and quins churned the dirt and viscera into impassable mud, but now that Yan’s forces were here, Ulfsaar and Huu could rest easy.

Or so she thought, but once Kyung passed the orders along, both men replied in the negative. Two Warriors cut from the same cloth, though worded differently, their message was the same: point us where you wish to go, and we will deliver you there. Worried they might be pushing their own soldiers too hard, but unwilling to flat out refuse their offer of assistance like she had with XinYue, Yan inwardly shrugged and conveyed her new orders: move out of her way and follow her lead. This way, she could force them to rest and have them on hand if she needed their help to break through, but after a few minutes of bloody work, she discovered she’d been overly cautious. The Defiled horde thinned out and Kyung confirmed they’d broken through, but there was no time for celebration. Their work was only half done as she split her forces with Mister Rustram, sending Ulfsaar with him and keeping Huu with her as they circled around the Defiled flanks. There, they transformed from prey to predator and tore into the bisected Defiled horde with unrestrained ferocity, her troops infected by the sheer zeal and bloodlust of the quins fighting alongside them.

It warmed Yan’s heart to see Huu wholly in his element, his ferocious smile wide and spirit unshackled as he carved in and out of the Defiled lines. Though bleeding from a handful of not-so minor wounds, there was no fear in him anymore, not even disguised as anger or self-loathing. This was the wild, headstrong, dependable Huu she knew and grew up with, a kind, quiet man with a thunderous temper, the Ravenous Wolf of the Bekhai.

Unused to fighting whilst surrounded, the Defiled lines crumbled in short order, but the whole ordeal still took longer than Yan would have liked. Thrice she almost fell over from sheer exhaustion, her Chi and stamina all but spent, and after the third time, Kyung would no longer allow her to rejoin the fight. By then, the battle was all but over so Yan simply directed the clean up, allowing her division to rest up while the freshest divisions cleared a path for the wagons trailing behind them.

Filled with contentment from a job well done, Yan turned to see how her allies fared and found good news waiting for her. Mila and Alsantset had driven off the garo riders, and the rear guard was making steady progress behind them, but Hongji had yet to Send new orders and Yan was at an impasse. Alsantset and Major Sun Qiang were busy guarding the flanks, so neither one could be spared to take overall control of the army. Glancing at Kang Bing, she noted how he was favouring his left and staring distractedly at the ground, which told her he was in no shape to command either. While Yan had busied herself clearing out the chaff, Kang Bing and Kyung had borne the unpleasant task of killing every Champion and Chieftain she came across, which were plenty since they relished the challenge of fighting a Wind-Blessed Warrior. Even Kyung looked tired, though a stranger wouldn’t be able to tell, and while he had the knowledge needed to command, she was fairly certain he would freeze up in fright if she asked him to take over. He just wasn’t equipped for such a heavy responsibility, having never had to worry about anything besides the well-being of one or two people.

As much as she wanted Kyung’s skills to be recognized for what they were, it would be a long time before her adopted brother was ready to come out of his shell. Perhaps longer than Grandpa Du had left in this world, but such is life...

Not wanting to distract Hongji with a Sending while he was busy battling Demons, Yan organized the withdrawal with relative ease. Grandpa Du’s lessons had prepared her well for this, and if she missed anything, Kyung, Kang Bing, and Mister Rustram were quick to point it out. Rather than stand around and wait, she set the soldiers to marching once more and organized a water-skin collection and distribution chain while they moved, and soon, the trampled battlefield was far behind them and every soldier’s thirst was quenched. Unsure if there were any other traps or tricks ahead, Yan simply stayed the course and led her soldiers east, and would continue to do so until they either came across a friendly force or arrived at the second line, and that was that.

As the minutes ticked by in weary silence, the thrill of victory drained from Yan’s veins and left her tired and scared, especially since once Hongji finally made contact, it was only to request for more Demon Slayers. The requests came more frequently over the next hour, and Yan sent everyone she knew, including XinYue, Kyung, Kang Bing, Alsantset, Tenjin, and Tursinai, as Ghurda, Naaran, and the other Experts of the People had long since left to join the rearguard. She even sent Dastan out there, who’d killed a Demon before, albeit a newly spawned one, and Sahb and Ulfsaar who requested to go too. Soon, Yan was all but begging any remaining hidden Experts to go help Hongji, and even vowed that anyone found holding back would be held in the deepest contempt and she would do everything in her power to have them charged with treason. That did the trick as almost a dozen Experts set out for the rearguard, and for a time, the requests stopped. Never one to stand idle, Yan arranged all her remaining Aura Capable warriors to the rear, as a last line of defence if any Demons should break through Hongji’s valiant rear guards.

A pitiful last line it was, filled with all too familiar faces. Mila, Huu, Mister Rustram, Jorani, Ral, and Chey, they were the strongest of her remaining Experts, with lesser known talents like the Society’s Xue Biqian and Jin Zhilan here to bolster their numbers. There was not a single Domain-capable warrior left to them, marking Yan as their one and only Warrior who might possibly have strength enough to break through a Demon’s innate defences, since any use of External Chi was technically an expression of a weak Domain.

Hardly the most reassuring thought, but perhaps Hongji had enough Demon Slayers to hold...

Their luck held for another hour, until another Sending from Hongji arrived. “Four – now nine Demons have slipped past my defences,” Hongji Sent, sounding so tired his tone lacked any and all urgency. “Incoming Demon attack.” Yan’s blood chilled at the statement, but his next words terrified her to the core. “Can spare no Experts. If unable to hold, order a full retreat.”

To stand and fight or turn tail and run? The decision was left to Yan, but it was an easy decision to make. Either she would win here and secure her future, or she would die and be forever regaled as a failure who bungled her first command. “Infantry, double time,” she said, praying to the Mother for strength. “There are nine demons headed towards us, with possibly more to follow. I, Du Min Yan will hold them here for as long as I am able, but the rest of you may do as you please.”

With that, her path was set, and she immediately regretted this decision as Mila strode forth to stand at her side, flashing her feral smile and flourishing that fearsome weapon. Yan should’ve ordered her away so at least one of them might make it back to Rain’s side, but then the first Demon emerged from the darkness and it was already too late for regrets. On the bright side, Yan had already secured herself the title of ‘Sanguine Whirlwind’ tonight, so with a little luck, she might also claim the title of ‘Demon Slayer’ as well and make this truly a night to remember…

Yan's Battle Formation

How the battle went

Chapter Meme