An altered history

Mc PoV

I rushed towards the battlefield as Qin and Zhao soldiers slaughtered each other. Even after so long, I still didn't get used to this. In war, these peasant and common folk never get a choice, and they die as if their deaths don't mean anything, to be replaced by more people to follow. Like their existence never even mattered. This was something I could not accept.

The reason I let OuKi die is so thousands more don't die. I know I have to kill hundreds of thousands more , but if I could kill one less, I would choose that way. I can't spare everyone, but I would choose the lesser evil rather than killing all.

By letting my existence be known, all kingdoms will be alert and Riboku would probably ask them to send more soldiers and generals during coalition war.

It's always easier to fight field battles rather than siege. If I destroy the coalition army completely, the rest of the kingdoms can't stand for long.

I sighed as I saw Shin rescuing OuKi away and Tou cutting a path open for them. That means I can do what I came here to do. I gave the signal and my army just swept through the Zhao soldiers. I saw Riboku running away with Bananji and ShunSeju covering their retreat.

I pulled out my bow and shot three arrows for each of them. Sadly, only ShunSenju fell among those 3. Bananji dodged at the last second and the arrow hit his shoulder , his left arm will be useless for months. Riboku was pushed away by that Kinmou guy and he died in his stead.

In war, everyone fights for what they believe in , or they simply follow the flow. In my army, every single soldier is treated well along with their family, and they are given the option of retirement after serving 20 years or when they reach age 50.

That's why they can fight with all their heart like Riboku's vassals. As I saw my army triumphing over Riboku's elite soldiers I smiled and focused on finishing up this battle.

I kept on fighting as I'm not going to let OuKi's death go to waste, Riboku will lose his core army here , no more pulling armies magically out of his ass. I offered a silent prayer for the unfortunate souls as I sent them on their way.

I then rode towards Houken who was also trying to get away. Looks like so called war god remembers our last fight. I laughed and spoke, " Why are you running away Houken? I thought you came here to show your might? "

Houken replied without looking back, " I don't wish for my path to end now when I still have a long way to go. Fighting Thou now would spell my end."

I was a bit surprised and thought," is this also character development?"

My loyal soldier and hypeman yelled out at that moment," Enemy generals would run rather than fight the boss man, they are nothing but chicken shit who aren't worthy to be in boss man's presence! "

My soldiers roared in laughter and the other Qin soldiers also laughed hearing this while I thought," Should I get a hype team ? I mean Kanmei has his dodon don thingy , Lu Bu has sort of a hype team. Seems like pretty common to have one for famous generals ."

I'll leave Houken to Shin , he'll get some development as well. Now for the next part of my plan, I'll have to make sure Ryofui doesn't act out prematurely. I have to consider every move made by everyone before moving through with my plan.

After making sure Riboku lost his army , I went towards the place where OuKi was . I was greeted by Tou who told me OuKi had already passed away. This is another reminder that this world although romanticized in history and anime in previous world, isn't the same here.

If it was, I could have met him one last time while he gave some wise words. I could have probably used the medics I brought with me to even save his life. But this is the reality we live in. I knew once go through with my plan, even if I secretly send some medics , he probably won't survive.

Well, no use thinking over what's done. I asked Tou properly preserve and escort his body to his home. He left without saying anything. He probably understood that I let OuKi die. He is smarter than he lets on after all.

Wei Capital, Daliang

A thin man was sitting on a dark room surrounded by reports from his spy network. He was holding a parchment which had some bad news for him. He sighed and stood up to walk across the room in front of the fireplace and threw the letter in the fire.

He spoke wistfully," The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was making the world think he didn't exist. Yet he clawed through hell to return and burn the world asunder while we never realized it was too late."

He had a calm expression on his face as he put a new chess piece on his strategy board while removing another.

He looked at the board intently and his gaze stopped at a certain location as he spoke," This is where they probably strike next, and if the other strategists are good as I am, they would know that this would be the beginning of the end for this war torn era."

Riboku PoV

I was utterly defeated. I guess now I know the meaning of"never poke a sleeping dragon". My army which crushed the Xiongnu and restored peace to Northern Zhao was lost. ShunSeju and Kinmou are both dead. Bananji is incapacitated.

I bitterly acknowledged that unless Zhao sends all her armies with all 3 great Heavens and candidates , Zhao can't defeat the KouRyu army, let alone Qin. Whatever troops escaped the encirclement, they were ambushed again by Zhuge Liang and now I had about 300 soldiers remaining out of the 100,000 I brought.

Kaine rode beside me as she tried to cheer me up," You can rebuild your army Riboku sama and come back stronger."

I sighed and replied ," Not this time Kaine. I need at least 5 or more years to rebuild the army and Qin won't sit back and watch. Unless Qin were to be attacked by all 6 kingdoms....Wait! That's it! "

I laughed and said," Thank you Kaine . I gave up too easily without thinking. But I believe I have found a strategy. But first we need to get a few years of peace to build up our strength."

Kaine smiled and nodded as we returned towards Kantan. This will be a difficult thing to convince our King, but Dong Zhuo could prove to be an ally. We need to act fast before Qin strikes again.

Chu , Changsha City

Western Chu was always out of Chu Kings authority. But that changed when Xiang Yu decided to go on a campaign. He had beaten all the Nanman tribes and became "King of the Valley".

These tribes had a unique way of life which he didn't destroy. Rather he chose to make separate armies with their unique troops. With Tigers and Elephants along with ambush troops similar to Karin of Qin, He had an invincible army.

But this wasn't the limit of his ambitions. Xiang Yu wanted to be king. As Chu King was getting older and without an heir, several factions wanted to grasp that power.

The prime candidate was Sun Ce , the nephew of the king. But Xiang Yu wouldn't give up so easily. He saw the vastness of Chu and came up with a solution.

Pang Tong or the "Rising Phoenix" as he liked to go by was interested by his idea and he convinced Sun Ce to meet with Xiang Yu. What they discussed was unknown to all but it was seen that they both were on good terms. Only time will tell what their plans are.

Qin Capital, Kanyou

Everyone was gobsmacked after hearing about the battle results would be an understatement. They had mixed feelings about the win. On one hand they lost OuKi, on the other hand their esteemed general came back from the grave and snatched away the victory.

Ei Sei , who was struggling with Ryofui faction chose to hope that KouRyu won't join with Ryofui as they had prior relations. He was depressed after hearing OuKi passed away. He only remembers KouRyu when they met so many years ago, before his father apparently had a falling out with him.

To this day, he didn't know why KouRyu chose to self exile himself to North. Suddenly he remembered something his father once said when he was on his deathbed.

He told Ei Sei when they were alone ," Anyone who sits on the throne can be called a king but only someone who proves his worth can be acknowledged as 'The King'. Remember my son, You must be both strong to defend your kingdom, wise to show mercy and wrathful to your enemies. Only then you can be acknowledged by the Heavenly Dragon."

He clenched his fists and thought to himself," It is perhaps time for me to have an audience with him again." He looked at Ryofui who wasn't paying much attention to court as he looked outside towards the clouds thinking something. Ei sei didn't know what was going on his mind but he guessed that they both were thinking the same thing.