Dragon's Soul: An End's Beginning

by Tony Tran

  When Zhuge Dan had flicked his wrist he had sent an invisible blade of wind swirling at Zhang’s men.

  “Don't think too highly of yourself, you’re only water mage.” Zhuge Dan snickered at Ling. Of all the types of mages, water mages could be considered the most versatile but also the weakest mages. This was because of the lack of availability of water.

  Of the four main elements wind was considered the deadliest due to the fact that wind did not possess a tangible form and that wind magic could be used practically anywhere.

  While earth was considered equally as versatile as water but also extremely abundant like wind, it could be easily found anywhere. This made wind and earth the strongest branches of magic.

  Then there was fire that could be considered the most mysterious and also the fact that fire magic could branch into lightning magic

  That left the water essence most reliant on its environment, it depends where the mage was currently in. But of course, all of this only accounted for the fact that most battles took place on land. If an earth, wind and fire mage met a water mage in a lake or out at sea, the water Mage would reign supreme.

  “Ha, you wind mages sure are full of yourselves. As long as I have water I can easily crush you!” Ling snickered as more waves of blood flowed towards her and formed countless blades which shot at Zhuge Dan.

  “We will see…” Zhuge Dan murmured as he waved his hand and he glared down at Ling. Moments later, all of the blades of blood erupted and trickled down like rain on the ground.

  “Continue retreating!” Zhuge Dan roared at his soldiers who were set in a daze at the magnificent battle between the two mages.

  “You heard the general! Retreat!” One of Zhuge Dan’s subordinates yelled.

  “None of you will make it out of here alive!” Zhang roared as he charged at the reaching soldiers with his halberd in hand. Behind him, thousands of soldiers clad in black armor followed suit.

  “None shall pass!!” Zhuge Dan roared as a strong gust of wind screeched through the air and smashed into Zhang and his soldiers.

  The impact against the wind alone sent hundreds of Zhang’s men flying back and caused them to collide with their comrades behind them.

  A loud clang sounded as Zhang stabbed his halberd in the ground to keep himself from being pushed back by the wind. But as he felt the strong gust of wind brushed against his cheeks, black vines erupted from the ground and shielded him along with the soldiers behind him.

  With burning rage on his eyes, Zhang began condensing essence in the tips of his fingers and soon, crackling of lightning filled the ears of everyone present.

  “Die!!” Zhang roared as he pointed his fingers at Zhuge Dan who was in a deadlock with Ling in the air above the battlefield.

  A dragon made of condensed lightning snaked through the sky as it inched closer and closer to Zhuge Dan.

  “Damn! … Lightning magic.” Zhuge Dan cursed once he caught sight, from the corner of his eye, of the Lightning Dragon approaching him. Cold sweat dripped from his forehead as the lightning continued coming closer at high speed.

  The instant the lightning was about to engulf him, Zhuge Dan reached out with his hand. As if it was being absorbed, the lightning disappeared into Zhuge Dan’s fingertips and moments later it shot out from the fingertips of his other hand.

  Now the lightning was redirected to Ling who was standing defenseless above the column of blood.

  “Ahahaha!” Zhuge Dan laughed manically as smoke rose from his charred fingers and a mouth full of blood was coughed up. While the lightning shot through the sky towards Ling.

  “What's so funny?” Ling said with mocking eyes as a blood rose to the air and created a bloody shield in front of her. The instant the lightning touched the bloody shield, steam filled the sky. Once the steam cleared, dozens of crescent shaped blades of blood shot forth; while Ling could be seen in the same position without sustaining a single injury.

  As the blade of blood headed for Zhuge Dan, another lightning dragon screeched through the sky.

  Seeing the barrage of attacks headed to him, Zhuge Dan couldn't help but feel a hint of fear in his heart. The first time Zhang sent out his Lightning Dragon, he underestimated the power behind it. Which resulted in him, coughing up a mouthful of blood. So now he knew that if the Lightning Dragon reached him once more then it would be the end of him.

  “You guys are on your own…” Zhuge Dan murmured as he busted upward higher in the air and flew away, abandoning his soldiers below.

  Once the soldiers of the Heavenly Sword Army saw their general abandoned them, many fell to their knees in disbelief.

  “We surrender…” A few of the now abandoned soldiers yelled after losing the will to fight.

  “Execute them all!” Zhang roared while he stabbed his halberd into one of the abandoned soldiers.

  Not long after pleas and screams filled the night as countless lives were extinguished. Soon, New Leaf City was filled by a sea of blood and gore.

  Although some may call Zhang a butcher for killing soldiers who had already surrendered; but as he saw it, they had mercilessly killed his messenger without giving him even a chance of survival. So in return, he did not feel that he should give them a chance of survival.

  “Blockade the outer gates and post sentries on the walls. We are going to stay in this city tonight.” Zhang said to his soldiers.

  Soon makeshift blockades were made at the outer city gates while hundreds of men were posted atop the city walls.

  After the battle, a veil of silence and fear shrouded New Leaf City. The citizens feared for their lives due to the countless screamed that filled the city earlier. Families were huddled up in their homes, too afraid to even peek outside.

  But before the night had ended, Zhang’s soldiers paid a visit to every single home within the city. Under the orders from their lord, soldiers clad in black armor took a head count of how many residents were still present inside the city. Of course, this visit was also to tell the citizens that no harm would befall them.

  This coupled along with the fact that there was no looting, rape or killing happened, which helped to put the citizens of New Leaf City at ease.

  Once security was established throughout the city, Zhang and the three beauties retired to the city lord’s mansion. When they entered the city lord’s mansion, the three beauties like usual would add to their wardrobe while Zhang added the city’s treasure to the growing stash in his interspatial ring.

  The exhausting battle made Zhang and the three beauties fell into a deep sleep. Even when the sun had already rose high in the sky, they were still nowhere in sight. If anyone saw them, that person would be green with envy at the sight of Zhang sound asleep with three world class beauties by his side.

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  After a day of rest, Zhang’s army began mobilizing and preparing to continue their march. The siege weapons were dismantled and used to completely seal three of New Leaf City’s four outer city gates. While a new gate was constructed for the city gate that was not sealed.

  Then two thousand soldiers were then left to defend the city after Zhang’s main force headed for the rendezvous point.

  “With the New Leaf City under our control, our rear should be secure once Lu Xun and Gan Ning arrive.” Zhang said as he and the three beauties galloped atop their Inferno Wind Walkers.

  “Now we can focus on assaulting Green Clover City. But that wind Mage may pose a problem for us.” Yuying added.

  “Next time I'll show him who's boss!” Ling yelled as fiery flames could be seen in her eyes while raising her fist up in rage.

  “Ahaha.” Zhang couldn't help but break out in laughter at Ling’s silly looking angry pose.

  “Hey! What's so funny!” Ling yelled at Zhang.

  Following Ling’s question, Yuying and Ai soon also fell into laughter.

  Anyone sane person watching these four would shake their heads in disbelief, because how could there possibly be p
eople who could joke around and be so cheerful while marching to war.

  “My lord, thousands of white flags with the blue symbol of Aurora can be seen over the hill!” A soldier who rode up toward Zhang reported.

  “Good. Everyone make haste! We are almost at the rendezvous point!” Zhang yelled as his Inferno Wind Walker began to quicken its pace.

  “Cha! Cha!” Yuying yelled as she made her Inferno Wind Walker catch up to Zhang’s. Following a short distance behind them were Ling and Ai.

  Zhang’s mounted soldiers also speedup as they headed toward the encampment over the hill.

  As they made their way over the hill, Zhang withdrew a green flare from his interspatial ring and shot it into the sky to announce them arrive.

  Chapter 74: Quid Pro Quo

  Currently, hundreds of thousands of soldiers were camped a few miles away from Green Clover City. Hundreds of campfires illuminated the entire camp, sharing their brilliance in the dark night. Had it not been for the many hills that surrounded their campsite, they could be easily seen by anyone that happened to be standing atop the walls of Green Clover City.

  At the center of the camp, there was a large tent with dozens of hulking guards stationed outside. Just from looking at these men, one could tell that they were veterans of a hundred battles.

  Inside the tent, dozens of figures could be seen hunching over a large, round table. On top of the table: was a candle and a large map of Green Clover City, that had its surrounding terrain laid out; over the map were dozens of miniature iron statues, which looked like a chess piece.

  “If we place troops here and here, we will be able to significantly delay any reinforcements from the Heavenly Sword Province that will aid the enemy.” An elderly man with an unkempt beard conveyed as he moved few of the miniature iron statues on a certain location in the map.

  “But that would leave us an opening if the enemy chose to charge out from the city here. It will sandwich our troops positioned there.” Commented a middle-aged man with a neatly trimmed mustache as he rearranged the iron statues in a different manner. “But if we position our troops like this it will be better.” he added.

  “Fool!! That would make things even worse! Our troops wouldn’t be able to stop the enemy reinforcements nor defend against the attacks sent from within the city!!” The elderly man yelled as he slammed his fists onto the table causing a few iron statues to fall over.

  “Both of you shut up!” Jian Wei could be seen creased his brow as he yelled angrily.

  “Apologies my lord!” Both men said.

  “Zhang what are your thoughts? How should we deploy the soldiers for the upcoming battle?” Jian Wei asked while looking at Zhang, who was across the table with the three beauties beside him.

  “I believe we should have some of our troops set here, in the checkpoint along these roads and then deploy the rest of our forces to attack the city.” Zhang said while pointing at dozens of roads that lead to Green Clover City.

  “Young lord, I know that you are very intelligent but perhaps you should leave the strategizing to those of who are more experienced. If we are to place troops along these roads, we will not have enough troops to invade the city.” The elderly man with the unkempt beard conjectured, looking at Zhang with eyes of someone who look down on others.

  “Qian Long! Did I give you permission to speak!?” Jian Wei reprimanded angrily.

  “Fo-forgive me my lord.” Qian Long pleaded while bowing and clasping his hands.

  “Yea, what makes you think that you could come up with a better plan than brother!?” Yuying, who was standing right next to Zhang, protested with disdain in her eyes. Ai, who was also beside Zhang, stared at Qian Long with nearly emotionless eyes as if she was looking at an insect.

  “Yuying, don’t be rude to strategist Qian. He, after all, has been through hundreds of battles.” Zhang said trying to prevent hostility between the group.

  “I believe what the young lord wishes to do is, place only a few dozen soldiers at each checkpoint; to make the enemy believe that every checkpoint is manned by thousands of men.” A young man who had been standing a bit away from the table commented.

  As he walked out from the shadows and was embraced by the candle light, Sima Yi made his way to the table. He arrived a few days earlier before Zhang, after leading one hundred thousand soldiers from the Red Mist Province to join the invasion.

  Naturally, having a battalion of soldiers marched out from a city would alert its nearby cities; so they were prepared for any unusual attacks. However, it’s so odd that they didn’t encounter any resistance from the nearby cities.

  “Exactly!” Zhang exclaimed, as someone had finally understood what me meant. “If we have a few soldiers stationed at these checkpoints to lit hundreds of campfires every night and use scarecrows in place of actual soldiers, then the enemy reinforcements would be too wary to attack. To make them even more wary, we could actually deploy thousand real soldiers on a few of the checkpoints so the enemy would not know which have the real soldiers from the ones that are guarded by the scarecrows.”

  “We will do what Zhang suggested.” Jian Wei said cheerfully.

  “But my lord we can't! What if the enemy figures out that the checkpoints don't have any soldiers!” Qian Long protested.

  Upon hearing Qian Long’s words, creases appeared on Jian Wei’s forehead but before he could reprimand Qian Long, an uproar was heard from the outside.

  Jian Wei and Zhang hurriedly ensconced the map together with the iron statues; while the others moved toward near the entrance and gripped their weapons, as the hulking guards outside were restraining a young looking man, donned in Aurora's standard white armor laced with blue thread with a whip and sword both tied on his waist.

  “Halt! You are not to pass. State your business!” shouted one of the guards whose spear was drawn, blocking the entrance.

  “Let me in! I must meet lord Jian Wei! I have urgent news from Aurora!!” cried the young man frantically, which could be heard inside the tent.

  “Let him in.” Jian Wei commanded once he heard that there was urgent news from Aurora.

  Moments later, the flaps of the tent parted as two of the hulking guards assisted the young man inside.

  “You can leave.” Jian Wei ordered as he walked forward in front of the young man.

  “Yes mi lord.” said the two guards as they kneeled and saluted before they went back outside.

  “Pray tell, what is your news?” Jian Wei said without giving the airs of a ruler.

  “My lord!” the young soldier said as he kneeled on one knee, trying to show his uttermost respect for the people standing before him.

  “You may rise and speak, what news did you bring from Aurora?” Jian Wei said.

  “My lord, the Heavenly Sword Province has begun amassing soldiers at the southern border of Aurora.” the young soldier uttered while bowing with his hands clasped.

  “What!?” raged Jian Wei as his palm slammed onto the table beside him.

  “How many have they amassed!?” He yelled in an angry tone.

  “We are not sure my lord but our scouts say their forces should number three hundred thousand at the least, judging by the amount of tents and campfires that were discovered.” The young soldier replied.

  “Hmph! Yan Li, make preparations. We must return to Aurora and repel the enemy. The remaining soldiers in Aurora will not be able to fight back such a large force. Zhang, I leave the duty of conquering the Green Clover Province to you. I'll provide you with one hundred thousand soldiers for you to command as you see fit.” Jian Wei said.

  Jian Wei had mobilized and brought three hundred thousand with him while leaving only one hundred thousand soldiers to defend Aurora.

  Originally, he planned to vastly overwhelm the enemies in the Green Clover Province because when accounting Zhang’s soldiers, who returned from the Black Wind Province, and the soldiers Sima Yi had brought from the Red Mist Province their forces totaled four hundred eighty
thousand men, which were more than enough to take over Green Clover City.

  “Of course, you can leave it to me.” Zhang said in a reassuring tone.

  “Yea just leave it to us!” Ai said while puffing her chest out.

  “Ahaha you're as silly as ever...” Jian Wei laugh.

  Hearing this, a grin appeared on Ai’s face as she stuck her tongue out playfully. However, it did not take long before a hand came chopping down on her head.

  “Bad! Don't do that to elders.” Yuying reprimanded Ai.

  “But sis! He started it.” Ai whined childishly.

  Watching this, a broad smile appeared on Jian Wei’s face. “Perhaps it is because I've become old and have grown too fearful of the world. If only I can be like you three and look fear in the face and laugh.” he thought.