"Kill!"
Outside Zhang Xin's main camp, the battlefield had devolved into a tightening noose.
Hu Zhen circled like a wolf, driving his cavalry along the flanks of Xu He's formation.
"Change formation!"
Xu He's voice was steady—too steady.
Three thousand infantry.
Surrounded.
Facing five thousand cavalry.
And yet—
They did not break.
The Qingzhou soldiers shifted smoothly into a circular formation. Shields overlapped. Spears angled outward.
A shell.
Hard.
Unyielding.
They advanced anyway.
Slowly.
Provoking.
Daring the enemy to come closer.
Hu Zhen's face twisted.
"A mere three thousand… dare act like this?"
"Surround them!"
Flags waved.
Orders spread.
Hua Xiong struck like a blade, splitting Xu He from the Dong infantry.
The encirclement tightened.
Complete.
Sealed.
"Fire arrows!"
The sky darkened under a rain of shafts.
Xu He didn't flinch.
"Return fire."
His men answered.
The difference in range showed.
Dong cavalry fell.
One after another.
Hu Zhen's anger deepened.
They should have been collapsing.
Begging.
Dying.
Instead—
They stood.
And fought back.
"Wear them down!"
The cavalry changed tactics.
Circle.
Harass.
Withdraw.
Repeat.
Spears struck shields again and again, chipping away at strength, at stamina, at will.
This was how cavalry killed infantry.
Slowly.
Relentlessly.
Inevitably.
Xu He knew it.
He understood every step of it.
And still—
He did not panic.
Time.
He only needed time.
More than half an hour had passed.
Thirty li.
He should be here.
Then—
The earth trembled.
Hu Zhen felt it first.
A vibration beneath the chaos.
He turned.
And his expression froze.
Cavalry.
Fresh.
Fast.
Silent—and deadly.
Dian Wei.
Left Leopard.
Two forces.
Two blades.
Driving straight into his exposed rear.
"Change horses!"
The Yellow Turban cavalry moved as one.
Seamless.
Practiced.
Terrifying.
Hu Zhen's heart dropped.
Elite.
This wasn't reinforcement.
This was execution.
"Meet them! Turn around—!"
Too late.
Dian Wei and Left Leopard struck from both sides—
And tore the Xiliang cavalry apart.
Like paper.
Three sections.
No cohesion.
No command.
Only fragments.
Dian Wei moved like a storm.
His halberd swept.
Men died instantly.
Those who touched him—
Did not survive.
"Down! Down! DOWN!"
Left Leopard roared, his long spear smashing riders from their saddles like broken dolls.
The Xiliang cavalry couldn't even turn.
They were facing Xu He.
Their backs—
Open.
Exposed.
Doomed.
Within moments—
They broke.
Dian Wei didn't stop.
He drove forward, cutting through everything in his path, until Xu He's formation came into view.
"General Dian!"
Xu He pointed.
"There!"
The banner.
The command.
The heart.
Hu Zhen.
"I see it!"
Dian Wei raised his halberd.
"Follow me!"
Hu Zhen saw him coming.
And something inside him… cracked.
A figure like iron.
Unstoppable.
Every soldier sent to block him died instantly.
"Those who block me—die!"
The roar shook him.
Evil spirit…
The thought surfaced unbidden.
He had heard the rumors.
Now—
He believed them.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
Hu Zhen turned.
Ran.
All discipline gone.
All pride gone.
"Call them back! Call them all back!"
Flags waved frantically.
Orders scattered into chaos.
Hua Xiong saw the signal.
And ignored it.
"What signal?"
He glanced at the flagman.
Then sneered.
"The battlefield is messy. Hard to see."
The meaning was clear.
Hu Zhen had humiliated them for too long.
Threatened them.
Despised them.
Now—
Let him die.
The rear general fled.
With a perfect excuse.
"To save the main camp."
No one would question it.
No one cared.
Hu Zhen was alone.
Hua Xiong scanned the battlefield—
Then his eyes locked onto something.
A banner.
Different.
Clear.
Unmistakable.
"Zhang Xin…"
His breath quickened.
"…there."
Five hundred guards.
No more.
Weak.
Exposed.
A prize.
"Follow me!"
Greed overtook caution.
A thousand cavalry surged forward.
Zhang Xin stood at the rear.
Watching.
Calculating.
The battle was already won.
Dian Wei had broken the center.
Xu He held.
The rest were collapsing.
Victory—
Was inevitable.
"Lord! Enemy cavalry!"
Zhang Xin turned.
Saw them.
Understood instantly.
"Retreat!"
A guard urged.
Zhang Xin shook his head.
"No."
His voice was calm.
"If I move, the banner moves."
"If the banner moves—Dian Wei hesitates."
"If he hesitates—Xu He dies."
"And if Xu He dies…"
His gaze hardened.
"We all lose."
Silence.
Then—
"Signal them."
"Kill without looking back."
The guards said nothing more.
They understood.
This was the point where a commander either held—
Or everything collapsed.
"We will die for you!"
Zhang Xin smiled faintly.
Then raised his spear.
"Then follow me."
"Kill."
Five hundred against a thousand.
They charged anyway.
Hua Xiong laughed.
"Good!"
"This is a man worth killing!"
The distance closed.
Arrows flew.
Men fell.
Then—
Impact.
Steel met steel.
Horse met horse.
Blood spilled.
Hua Xiong cut through men like a storm.
"Zhang Xin! Come die!"
His voice rose above the chaos.
His confidence peaked.
Victory felt close.
Close enough to touch.
Zhang Xin moved.
Straight toward him.
Thirty paces.
Twenty.
Ten.
Five.
Hua Xiong roared, raising his blade—
"DIE—!"
Zhang Xin moved first.
Two short halberds flew.
A distraction.
Hua Xiong dodged—
Instinct.
For a single moment—
His vision shifted.
That was enough.
A spear flashed.
Too fast to follow.
Too precise to stop.
Pfft.
Hua Xiong froze.
His weapon slipped from his hand.
Blood poured from his throat.
"…so fast…"
He fell.
Silence rippled outward.
Shock.
Disbelief.
The center—gone.
The leader—dead.
Zhang Xin looked down at the corpse.
Calm.
Unmoved.
"You?"
His voice was almost dismissive.
"You think you could kill me?"
His eyes were cold.
"I've crossed blades with Zhao Yun."
"And lived."
The Dong soldiers broke.
Completely.
Behind them—
Fire burned.
Ahead—
Death advanced.
Above them—
Their leaders were gone.
They ran.
Or died.
Or both.
"Victory…"
Someone whispered.
Then louder—
"Victory!"
The voices spread.
Swelling.
Overwhelming.
Zhang Xin stood at the center of it all.
Blood on his spear.
Fire in the distance.
Enemies collapsing on all sides.
Three factions.
One battlefield.
One outcome.
Crushed.