As Denel was boxed in, he felt like a cornered animal, waving his weapon wildly.
It didn’t take long for the ground to be soaked in blood and littered with hacked limbs. There were people going for him while endless corpses were falling. They had all become crazed, their minds degenerating to one single thought, to kill him.
As reason slipped their minds, cruelty and bloodlust set in to alleviate the wrath boiling deep within.
They had been under constant stress since becoming slaves, tinting their perception of the world with torment every single day.
Their death could come in a snap, whether from Yellow Turban Army’s irritation, or their lord’s decision. Such pressure never once let up, bottling up inside.
Denel hacked another service soldier, his hands felt like they weighed tons, and each effort he put in, lifting them felt like it would be the last.
But his obsession fueled his body and gave him strength each time as he recalled his life was almost spent.
Yellow Turban Army’s joy was shortlived with the quick demise of the service army and slave corp. When they got to charge, they looked at each other. Due to their endless loyalty for Zhong Yu, it overrode their fear as they rushed Denel.
At long last the last man fell dead, at Denel’s feet.
Twenty three, a whole twenty three people fell at his hands. But the cost was heavy, barely feeling any strength left in him.
A blue mark appeared on his ashen face and though he shuddered, his eyes were firm.
He pushed on with will alone, going at Zhong Yu on the platform. He was slow, but firm.
Zhong Yu had no emotion on his face as he just watched his man make his way over.
Denel arrived at long last at his target, his allied savages behind him, were thrilled.
Their chieftain was upon the enemy commander, needing but to lift his blade and the enemy would fall.
Denel thought the same, putting every drop he had left in lifting his hand overhead. He stopped, to gather his breath before making the last push.
Zhong Yu’s soldiers were crestfallen. The commander they feared and admired, who gave them food, clothes and shelter and even wives, was about to die. They just couldn’t believe it.
Yet they saw Zhong Yu beneath Denel’s blade taking out his own weapon.
In a flash of white, Denel’s staunch will left as did his head. It now held disbelief. ‘How could I lose? How did I die so easily?’
Zhong Yu had a sneer on his face. ‘Humph, you think I’d just fight you? I had the system tell me about your poor condition. Losing so much blood, having barely any strength left, and covered in wounds, you were on the brink of collapse. You think killing twenty men will have me shaking in my boots, waiting for your ax to fall? Not if I can help it!’
‘No matter how many you kill, you can’t scare me into accepting your final strike. I care about my life more than you know and nothing can change that, not even the death of my men.’
‘If not for the system’s reply, you would’ve got me. But it is thanks to it that I can throw away all my men while I run back home and gather that cannon fodder, to defend my domain.’
‘No me? Recruit. No domain? Build another. But if my life is gone then so is everything. With the system by my side and the great heaven’s blessing, nothing is impossible. How could I possibly waste my life over some nobodies?’ Zhong Yu was indifferent to another man’s life.
Recalling those sanctimonious bitches from those webnovels back home, paying with their lives to save a stranger, a friend or a subordinate,fighting endless enemies, all that came to him was laughter.
‘A rich man does not expose himself to danger, a saying used since ancient times. Nor laying low and letting his sovereign self be exposed to danger, choosing some peasants over the people that mattered. Abandoning his nation and all its officials was the true cruelty, inhumane even.
As a ruler, his only job was to think up new ways to use people. Oh, and keep himself safe. As long as he didn’t fool around and exaggerate, his soldiers would take all his danger and solve it.
The nation would thus be stable. A country would not do without leadership.
What Zhong Yu found the most funny back home was how some emperor liked to mingle with his people. That was rich. Only the stupid and ignorant masses would believe such an obvious lie.
You, an emperor, would just leave the dignity and power of the imperial palace? Ignoring your officials, your subjects? Wouldn’t the ministers and consorts be suspicious? ‘The emperor’s missing! Who did it? Is he safe?’
A couple a days wouldn’t hurt, but any longer and many ambitious people would crawl out of the woodwork. Princes, the imperial family and even some antagonists, plunging the nation into chaos. Who the hell would want that just so he could go mingle?
But didn’t history say Qin Shihuang inspected his empire? Or Emperor Yang of Sui going to Jangdu? Emperor Qianlong to Jiangnan? They all had escorts of hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Who’d be dumb enough to only take a couple? Didn’t you know there were plenty of others hungering for the throne?
With the death of Denel, the savages’ excitement hit rock bottom desperation. The contrast was so sharp it wore down their already exhausted minds.
With morale gone, some even gave in to despair, letting the enemy take their lives. While others threw their weapons and fled. They casted away their honor, their companions and their past glory, giving up everything but their lives.
Only Anderson gathered around thirty men and fought hard to advance. But that was because of his station, helping to keep his men around.
If something were to supersede that loyalty born out of respect and kindness, it would be the last straw and the savages would collapse, scattering in the wind.
Zhong Yu – After my death, come what may, even the end of days.
