The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 112: Kan Soo-jin vs The Imperial Army

He was confident.

Kan Soo-jin, general of the Fire Tribe, smirked as he overlooked the field below that would soon be running red with the blood of his enemies. It was brimming with soldiers of his own along with Li Hazara's. Before long, he would be claiming victory over Soo-won's dead body and the kingdom would be his. He would be king.

He could practically taste it now.

The Sen Province leader cast a wry look at the man beside him as he started to laugh in a deranged way.

"What's so funny?" Hazara asked, somewhat irritably.

He had no patience for games.

The grin that spread across the general's face mirrored that of a hungry lion stalking its prey. Information about the pits in front of the King's army had been leaked to the underground and his fighters had made him aware of it. So instead of falling for such an amateur tactic, he instructed his army to stay away from the sides and charge down the middle.

Crazed hunger and greed flashed in his eyes. "The throne will be mine."

They had no need to go on the sides where the pits were. Soo-won's plan was foolish. He was green, had no experience in battle. There was no way this child knew what he was doing.

Still, the fully assembled Sky Tribe army stated differently.

Since Soo-jin had been planning this for a while now, he had strategized methods to get fractions of the Imperial Army away from Kuuto so that Soo-won didn't have time to organize them fast enough, but he saw right through him.

Once he had gotten over his initial shock, he chalked it up to luck.

He doesn't know what he's doing.

The Fire Tribe's morale was high as they charged into battle. They didn't falter once.

Until they ran into them.

Their horses reared frightfully at the sight of the majestic, striped tigers storming down the battlefield.

The shock was palpable. They couldn't backtrack or move forward with the condensed masses spooking the horses. It threw the Fire Tribe army into disarray, scattering his forces and rendering his cavalry useless.

"What happened to the vanguard?!" Soo-jin screamed, enraged.

"The Sky Tribe is handling tigers!!"

His head whirled around, expression contorted in fury. "Did you say tigers?!"

Hundreds of feet away, General Joo-doh charged forward, twin swords extended on either side of him and the Fire Tribe soldier saw a flash of brown fur amongst the white.

The horses were wearing tiger hides. It was a trick.

Soo-jin gnashed his teeth angrily. The illusion had put fear into their minds, accomplishing the goal of throwing his soldiers into chaos.

Across the vast field that bordered Kuuto, Soo-won remained calm.

"That brat." Soo-jin hissed under his breath, lip curled back in spiteful hate.

It didn't matter. Their combined numbers were still more than the Sky Tribe's. Together, they could overpower them.

"Charge!!" He commanded, raising his sword into the air. "Scatter them about from the center!!"

The earth-shaking thud of heavy shields slamming down to cover the front of the Sky Tribe army had the cavalry stuttering. They heard it before they saw it and by then it was too late.