“The Xiongnu’s horses are frozen in place! Kill them all! Slaughter every last one of them!”

The generals roared across the battlefield, their voices heralding a shift in the war’s momentum. Simultaneously, the Imperial Army’s Eight Arrays Formation began to mutate.

Form Two, the Azure Dragon.

Initially, the deployment had been the Snake—a defensive coil resembling a serpent poised to strike its prey, prioritizing observation and defense while concealing its fangs. The Flying Carts that weaved between the front and middle lines were a result of this fluidity, mimicking the shifting scales of a reptile. But now, the formation transformed. It morphed into the Dragon, a posture of pure, unbridled aggression.

Could this dragon truly reach the heavens?

“I shall grant you the wind to fly.”

His Highness Eun inhaled sharply. Casting the Command upon such a vast army was an immense feat that drained the very essence of his life; his complexion paled rapidly, blood draining from his face until he resembled a porcelain doll. Despite this, his spine remained rigid. His presence was unmistakably that of Imperial royalty, unshakable even as his body screamed in protest.

“Charge!”

A single, concise command.

But within that word lay a power that ignited the soldiers’ rage. Fueled by the Command, they threw themselves at the Suksin tribe with reckless abandon.

However, the Suksin were not easily defeated. Even stripped of their mobility, the warriors trained in the Horse Spirit Art possessed an extraordinary, unnatural strength. Order collapsed in an instant as battle lines blurred and formations disintegrated. Arrows fell like torrential rain, striking indiscriminately at the Dragon’s procession, while men tangled together, thrusting spears and blades into flesh in a chaotic mangle of limbs.

The Dragon Scales—crafted from human bodies—bled as they pushed forward, step by agonizing step.

Master must have seen this as the best option.

Jin Cheon-hee, the physician, felt a surge of anger and protest at the carnage unfolding before him. However, he suppressed his emotions, burying the scream deep within his gut. The tobacco pipe in his hand transformed into an incense stick, silently offering comfort to the souls departing the battlefield with each puff of smoke.

Wangya Ju charged at the vanguard while His Highness Eun amplified the army’s morale, his voice cutting through the cacophony of steel and screams.

“Children of the Empire, rise! Your families await you!”

Ironically, in the face of death, it was not loyalty to the Empire that drove a man, but the thought of his mother and father waiting at home. His Highness Eun’s Command injected fresh vigor into the Imperial Army once more, a desperate adrenaline meant to push them beyond their limits.

In that moment, His Highness Eun coughed up blood.

“Your Highness!”

“You are not a physician right now,” His Highness Eun replied, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. His eyes burned with feverish intensity. “Remember, in this moment, you are but a soldier.”

Trapped within the confines of his duty, His Highness Eun continued to command his troops. The power of the formation did not discriminate between friend and foe, but it was certainly dealing a devastating blow to the horse-dependent Suksin tribe.

Is the Dragon ascending? Can the Dragon truly ascend amidst this tempest of blood?

Then, the rhythm of the battle was shattered.

Rummmble…

From the far reaches of the enemy lines, black dots began to rush forward, spreading across the plains like ink spilled by an unsteady hand. Initially, no one comprehended what they were witnessing, the distance obscuring the horror approaching them.

Then, a soldier who had survived a previous skirmish screamed, his voice cracking with terror.

“Cattle… It’s a herd of cattle!”

“Are those all cows?”

“Damn it! The Xiongnu have released the oxen!”

“We’re all going to die!”

“Block them! Block them!”

The eyes of the oxen were wrong. They charged as if unaffected by the formation, or perhaps madness had simply overwhelmed the formation’s influence. However, the method of their approach held little significance compared to the reality of the avalanche of muscle and horn bearing down on them.

The reaction was divided between those who had experienced the horror of the Suksin ox herd before and those witnessing it for the first time. The squad leaders, veterans of the trauma, screamed at the frozen rookies.

“You foolish bastards! Move! Those horns will bury you alive if you don’t move!”

But the fresh recruits were sluggish, their bodies heavy with fear. They had heard rumors of the Suksin strategy involving oxen, but hearing of a tidal wave and witnessing a tsunami of beasts descending upon them were two vastly different experiences. Reason was paralyzed before the stampede.

Leading the charge was the Khan’s personal water buffalo, adorned in golden armor.

“Raise shields! Move, damn it, move!”

In an instant, the oxen filled their vision. The Khan’s massive black water buffalo, as large as a house, crashed into the main unit with the force of a falling mountain.

Crash!

Sharp horns tore through rib cages as effortlessly as a fork slicing through tofu steak. The beasts rampaged, ramming into Suksin and Imperial troops indiscriminately, transforming the battlefield into a slaughterhouse.

“Aaaagh! Fuck! Fuck!”

“You insane bovine bastards!”

Soldiers from both sides were trampled in unison. Horses screamed as they were knocked aside, their legs snapping like dry twigs. Imperial spears pierced the hides of the buffalo, causing them to vomit blood and collapse, but the horror had only just begun. As the shock of impact reached its peak, the Heaven-Shaking Thunder strapped to the buffaloes’ backs detonated.

Ka-boom!

“The buffaloes are self-destructing! Shit! You vicious bastards!”

Cattle were a precious resource, a truth shared by both the Suksin and the Empire. However, for the Imperial soldiers, most of whom were conscripted farmers, their feelings for oxen differed from their admiration for horses. The origins of the ox’s friendship with the farmer are lost to history, but since the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, iron plows drawn by oxen have been the backbone of agriculture. Even in this world, farmers relied on oxen far more than horses. A single ox could feed a whole family, and the birth of a calf was a joyous occasion for the household.

To these men, witnessing cattle driven into enemy lines to self-destruct was a tactic that evoked an unspeakable revulsion, a sacrilege against the very soil they tilled. Worse, as the explosives detonated, iron shrapnel packed inside the charges scattered, embedding itself in armor and flesh. Men and buffalo were reduced to scraps of meat together in a grotesque display.

The Dragon Scales of the Eight Arrays Formation were torn away, revealing a gap like a chunk of flesh ripped from a beast’s flank. Through that gap, ten thousand elite cavalrymen charged like wolves pouncing on exposed prey.

This is bad.

From Jin Cheon-hee’s vantage point, the charging cavalry seemed completely unaffected by the formation. He couldn’t fathom the trick they had used, but the horses were under perfect control. If those troops penetrated the gap created by the buffalo herd, the Imperial Army’s central main force would be split in two, and the formation would collapse.

If the formation collapsed? If they were still in the Snake formation, recovery might have been possible. Like a snake coiling to protect its body, they could have tightened their ranks and defended fluidly. But they had already committed to the attack. This was the Dragon. The army would fall into chaos unlike anything they had ever seen before.

Even with Master sending tactics to Yuk Heon and Yuk Heon commanding the troops, recovering from this would be nearly impossible. Human vision is limited, and soldiers in the midst of battle can barely see what’s happening a single step in front of them due to the pressure of bodies, both friendly and hostile.

Did information leak?

Unless the enemy was aware of the Bewildering Soul-Returning Formation in advance, such a countermeasure would be impossible to prepare.

And finally, the enemy cavalry slammed into Wangya Ju, who stood at the vanguard, with the full force of their momentum.

Thooom!

The destructive power was terrifying. They were burning innate energy and, on top of that, had employed the Blood Immortal Cult’s sorcery to concentrate the life force of ten thousand men onto a single target. The sheer momentum of the collision seemed to melt the troops around Wangya Ju instantly.

“To think my sister is surrounded… We must save her immediately.”

The God of War, Pung Ju-ha. If she died on this battlefield, or even if she survived with critical injuries, the morale of the Imperial Army would plummet, leading to total defeat.

“Your Highness. General Yuk Heon is already moving the troops. Please, calm yourself,” the Eastern Depot official, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke.

At that moment, His Highness Eun turned his head to look at Jin Cheon-hee.

So this is why he brought me.

Jin Cheon-hee realized it then. The last successor of the Zhuge Clan, Zhuge Rin, and his sole disciple, Jin Cheon-hee, were summoned by the Imperial Highness. Instead of seeking his expertise as a physician, the Highness requested his military strategy.

Jin Cheon-hee, inhaling the smoke from his pipe, opened his blue eyes. The haze cleared to reveal a cold, calculating gaze.

“You must move, Your Highness,” he declared.

“Is that so?” the Highness inquired.

“Indeed, it is certain that our strategy has been compromised. The fact that they engaged in a direct confrontation indicates that they perceived an opportunity for victory. Even if they lack the chance of winning the war, inflicting a mortal wound on Her Highness Ju would constitute their triumph. Her Highness has been treated, but her body is not what it once was.”

Battle scars do not heal in a matter of days, regardless of how much rest she has taken. Wangya Ju had pushed herself beyond her limits.

Jin Cheon-hee let out a sharp whistle.

Shreeeek!

Instantly, Noe-jin swooped down from the sky. Jin Cheon-hee handed the falcon something and sent it soaring again. The bird, obeying its master’s command, shot away like an arrow. Simultaneously, Jin Cheon-hee nocked an arrow to his bowstring and used the Thousand Li Voice Transmission to send a message.

Throb.

Wow, that really hurts.

It wasn’t just a headache; it felt like an axe was splitting his brain. Yuk Heon, who was commanding the army while managing this mental strain amidst the chaos of battle, must have been completely out of his mind.

Is this ability what defines a Great General?

Jin Cheon-hee took a final deep drag of smoke, holding it in his lungs. The scent of potent medicinal herbs calmed his mind. With cold eyes, he spoke.

“Let us go, Your Highness.”

“You have finally steeled yourself.”

Steeled myself? Could this be called resolve?

It was merely a desperate struggle to protect his people, nothing grand. There were precious individuals here and land behind him that he yearned to safeguard. No matter how much one detested and loathed war, one could not halt a rushing, muddy torrent with a single finger; one could only desperately struggle to avoid being submerged by it. Even if it was merely the resistance of an ant thrashing above a drain, it was essential.

Jin Cheon-hee had no luxury to worry about a sound sleep tomorrow. He knew that if he succumbed to his powerlessness and allowed the world behind him to transform into a sea of fire, he would never sleep again.

“Yes.”

The physician yearned to live and protect those dear to him. If he could not end this war, then a man could only do what a man could do.

“Hmm. Good.”

His Highness Eun began to move.

***

“Hahahaha! What do you think, Pung Ju-ha? Do you finally feel like becoming my wife?”

Khahurai Khan revealed himself amidst the clamor of battle, his laughter echoing over the chaos. After exchanging a few blows that defied human limits, Pung Ju-ha was forced to admit the truth: this bastard had regained almost all his stamina. This was not the realm of medicine; it was the realm of sorcery. Not just the unorthodox arts shunned by the Murim, but the dark sorcery of one who sought eternal life by sacrificing the lives of others.

“You bastard… How did you prepare such a countermeasure?” Pung Ju-ha exclaimed.

But Pung Ju-ha would never walk that path. Despite the treatment she had received, her healed bones screamed with every impact, and her limbs creaked in agony. Life was pain.

Clang!

But that is precisely why Righteousness held value. Parrying Pung Ju-ha’s spear, Khahurai Khan responded with a sneer.

“Those Blood Immortal Cult bastards are quite competent. They informed me beforehand that one of your Empire’s vassals could use such a formation. So I prepared in advance. I destroyed the ears of buffaloes and stopped up the ears of my own Kheshig Guard.”

A counter to a counter.

The Zhuge Clan’s ultimate technique, the Bewildering Soul-Returning Formation, was designed to catch the enemy from behind. Khahurai Khan had obtained information about it in advance and used it to strike down the God of War, the backbone of the Imperial Army, in a single stroke, breaking their morale.

No matter how strong the soldiers, the moment their morale broke, they were nothing but a disorderly mob.