Lin Zhaoyue’s fingers wrapped tightly around the hilt of her dagger, the Blazing Fang Dagger.
A low growl rumbled through the ground as Xiao Bai flexed his massive paws, the earth trembling beneath them.
The other three Saberfangs mirrored the motion, their claws scraping furrows into the soil, nostrils flaring as they slled the fear radiating from both armies.
Lin Zhaoyue’s eyes sparkled and a dangerous, almost manic light started dancing across her pupils.
She leaned forward, pressing her dagger to her shoulder, and whispered, "Let’s give them a proper lesson, shall we?"
With a sudden cry, she spurred Xiao Bai forward, and the others followed without hesitation.
The ground shuddered with every step and the air seed to vibrate as the four massive beasts bore down on the armies, each stride swallowing hundreds of feet.
Soldiers froze mid-step, their breath caught in their throats, eyes wide in disbelief.
Spears were raised, arrows notched, yet no one dared move forward, the monsters were impossibly large, impossibly fast, and the woman riding atop them radiated an aura that made hearts seize.
Lin Zhaoyue’s cloak snapped behind her like a banner of war.
She gripped her dagger tighter, feeling the fire pulse along its blade, rembering Fang Yuan’s face as if he were beside her.
Every slash, every strike, it would all be for YOU, husband.
The charge was quick and swift as the thunder of paws against the earth drowned out the confusion of the battlefield, the shouted commands, the frantic whinnies of horses.
Dust and debris shot into the air like smoke from a furnace.
Screams erupted from both the Qin and Azure Phoenix soldiers, and commanders barked orders in vain as formation after formation broke beneath sheer terror.
Hold the line!" shouted a Qin commander, his voice cracking under panic, but already soldiers were stumbling, tripping over each other in sheer terror.
The Azure Phoenix army fared no better.
Their commanders tried to reposition their ranks, but the sheer size and montum of the beasts made organized defense impossible.
A Saberfang swiped a massive paw, scattering shields like paper and sending n flying into each other with bone-jarring crashes.
Lin Zhaoyue leaned forward, dagger gleaming. Her grin widened as she slashed downward, her speed blinding even to the keenest eyes.
A group of soldiers dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the flash of steel.
The ground beneath them exploded in dust as Xiao Bai’s paw slamd into the earth, shaking them like leaves in a storm.
Chaos rippled through the whole battlefield. Soldiers scread, commands were shouted and drowned out, and commanders struggled to keep order.
Horses reared, wagons overturned, and banners fell like tattered flags in a hurricane but the real players had not descended into the battlefield yet.
In the camps, both the Azure Phoenix Kingdom and the Qin generals watched helplessly as their soldiers were torn apart.
They couldn’t even enter the battlefield as their kings had refrained them and also told them to wait for the command.
The battlefield had beco a maelstrom of blood, dust, and chaos, and even from afar, the generals could feel the magnitude of the slaughter.
On the Azure Phoenix side, Zhang Fei’s restraint snapped.
His eyes burned red with fury, heart hamring at the sight of another soldier being crushed beneath the massive paw of a Saberfang.
"Stop! Release ! You’re killing them—you’re murdering them!" he roared, struggling violently against the firm grips of General Sun and General Zhang Liao. "Let go! Let help them!"
His voice was ragged, raw with desperation, echoing across the camp like a cry of doom.
Soldiers on the battlefield froze mid-motion, so raising their weapons in confusion, others trembling under the sight of the monstrous beasts rampaging through their ranks.
Zhang Liao, calm as ever, placed a firm hand on Zhang Fei’s shoulder, his voice steady, unflinching amidst the chaos.
"Zhang Fei, are you trying to disobey the Crown? Sit still."
Zhang Fei thrashed harder, veins bulging, teeth gritted, but the veteran general’s hold was ironclad, unyielding.
Even General Sun gave a small, asured nod, signaling the impossibility of rebellion in the face of both duty and survival.
The blood-soaked battlefield stretched endlessly, Saberfangs moving like living walls of fury, and for the first ti, even seasoned generals felt the weight of fear pressing on them.
The carnage was complete, and all anyone could do was watch as Lin Zhaoyue and the beasts cut through their ranks with terrifying precision.
Just then, the Emperor of Azure Phoenix Kingdom, Shu Ji Shi rose, the weight of his robe filled the tent with authority.
His voice was controlled but hard as flint.
"My apologies for withholding the truth," he said, eting the generals’ eyes one by one.
"I’ll say this once, so listen well, the Fang family has risen teoric‑ally in recent years. Had they sworn loyalty and remained faithful, none of this would have occurred. They chose rebellion instead, so we will take them down."
General Cao forced a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. "Your Majesty... pardon my frankness, but what reason could justify sacrificing our n to aid a sworn enemy?"
Shu Ji Shi’s gaze cut to him like a cold blade but he did not answer his query.
Instead he issued an order, crisp and absolute, "Soon we will fell those Saberfang beasts. Afterward, we will march on the Fang clan together with the Qin Army. Do not make mistakes."
He watched the slaughter outside with the detached calm of a man who had long made peace with the cost of strategy.
"A few more minutes," he murmured, as if speaking to himself, "and the formation will be complete."
He let those words hang, then added, quieter, almost clinical, "A necessary sacrifice."
His eyes drifted over the dying soldiers, then settled on Zhang Fei who was burning with helpless fury.
Shu Ji Shi said nothing more. With a single, asured step back, he left the tent, leaving the generals to their grim, uneasy silence.
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