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.
Streamline arrows fired from both sides at once, cutting off their advance faster than they could counter them. And since they were positioned directly in front of the pits, there was no way they could get rid of the archers who were safely behind the line.
They were trapped.
Hazara's expression was calculating. "We were made to think of avoiding the pits and failed to predict our opponent's moves."
Soo-jin's nose flared in anger and disbelief. "Does this mean that they intentionally let the information of their pits slip out?"
The other didn't say anything at first, but the general could feel the temperature drop drastically until it froze the air around them.
"Master Soo-jin." Li Hazara ground out lowly. "It seems to me that you should stop underestimating him soon."
On the other side, a different kind of approach was being taken.
"Your Majesty Soo-won."
The king didn't turn his head as one of his soldiers addressed him, keeping his eyes fixed on the battle raging ahead. But he didn't stop him, so the foot soldier took that as permission to ask his question.
"Why did you leak the information about our pits to them?"
"If they went in without knowing about it, fell into our pits and got bombarded by our arrows," Soo-won started, never once wavering. "Their combined forces would have been annihilated in no time."
Upon receiving no response from the soldier, the king prompted, "Who are we fighting against right now?"
"Uh... The Fire Tribe and the Sen Province's armies?" He answered uncertainly.
Soo-won's eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched the faintest bit. "The Fire Tribe are citizens of Kouka."
Blood would be shed for a new era, but it was his job to keep the sacrifices of this battle to a minimum. From this point on, they would need to do their best effort. Soo-jin was not going to be defeated easily.
Horses pranced aimlessly as they were stopped far from reaching the Sky Tribe's stronghold.
Li Hazara grimaced. "We won't finish off the young king at this rate."
The forces invaded the center of the Imperial army, cutting down the enemy with vigor. With the unstoppable force, they receded under the pressure bit by bit.
Kan Soo-jin had a crazed look in his eye.
I knew it!! I knew it!! He chanted over and over again in his head. The heavens have chosen me as their king!!
He might have underestimated Soo-won's capabilities at first but it didn't matter. He would be the one to cut off his head. The throne was rightfully his.
However, he had missed something. A crucial element interfering with his success.
The footsteps and thundering of hooves that marked the end of the battle was coming fast. But it was approaching behind him.
A crude laugh sent a shiver down his spine.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Guen-tae rested his sword across his shoulders and smirked down at him. "Sky Tribe."
The Earth Tribe's flag waved tall and proud as his numerous soldiers fanned around him in an aggressive display of power.
Hazara's expression held only terror. "Impossible... Reinforcements?!"
The Fire Tribe's general sweated nervously until the weight of the stare of the Earth Tribe general.
"Well, it's been a while since we've had a battle." Guen-tae noted leisurely to his army, eyes gleaming with a starved hunger. "Storm the enemy to your heart's content!!"
Battle cries, whoops and hollers all echoed loudly as his army surged forth. They practically wiped out the infantry with their sheer size and strength.
And Soo-jin couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Why did he bring reinforcements?! Guen-tae only mobilizes his army for a king...
That he truly acknowledges.
Which meant that Soo-won had already established trust with him.
The realization set dread in the pit of his stomach as he watched his forces crumble under the magnitude of the invigorated Earth Tribe army. And the fact that he never considered this a possibility was a mistake.
His greatest miscalculation.
General Joo-doh was breathing hard as he reined in his horse, urging it around.
"Send three squads over to His Majesty!!" He commanded, not seeing the soldier until it was too late.
"Gah!!"
The foot soldier fell as he was struck down, revealing the Earth Tribe general's trademark smirk.
"To think I'd see your twin sword style on the battlefield again." Guen-tae grinned smugly.
"Hmph..." Joo-doh snorted, glowering at him. "Your portentousness is showing."
Snickering, all traces of Guen-tae's humor faded and his blood ran cold as he sensed it. But before he could take care of the lone soldier that was sneaking up on him, Joo-doh slammed his fist into his face.
Now, they were even.
He guided his horse so that he was now beside the general who just saved his life. "It was more flashy back then, though."
"Your tribe is loud, as always." Joo-doh commented with a roll of his eyes.
Guen-tae's tone dropped in a blink of an eye back to childish teasing. "Eh?! And what's this?! That's one funny looking tiger-horse you have!!"
"Shut up!!" Joo-doh shouted, forehead creased in annoyance. "I didn't even want to make my cherished horse wear this stinky hide!!"
Sitting back, becoming more serious, Guen-tae gestured to his disguised horse, "Was that part of His Majesty's plan too?"
He confirmed it with a nod of his head. "And the pits don't actually exist either. Making them think that they're there is enough."
At Guen-tae's subtle shock, Joo-doh lifted his gaze to see the Sen Province army retreating back to their ranks.
"This battle was already decided since they chose to take this route."
"Hm..." Guen-tae mused offhandedly, throwing a side glance at Soo-won who was smiling calmly at the scene before him. "What a frightening person..."
The Sen Province soldiers, on the other hand, were not having a good time.
Hazara growled as his army was forced to retreat. Everything he had staked had been for nothing. They had come all this way only to end up losing. And his thickheaded ally couldn't get that through his head.
Soo-jin couldn't believe it. He wouldn't accept it.
I'm the rightful ruler of this kingdom!! I deserve to be king!! I am a descendant of the Red King!!!
They weren't finished yet. They couldn't be.
Enraged, he gave the order to kill Soo-won but his disheartened and weary soldiers didn't move a muscle to carry out the command.
Too focused on his goal, the general didn't notice.
The Sen Province's leader whirled his horse around in the opposite direction. Their resources had run out, they couldn't hold on any longer and his alliance with Soo-jin was breaking every minute they lingered.
"Lord Hazara!! We need supplies!!"
"Don't worry!!" He yelled over his shoulder, leading what was left of his army away from the battle. "We'll take some from the villages close by!!"
"Trample them!!! BURN THEM ALL DOWN!!!" He ordered, pointing ahead to the village in shambles up ahead.
As the ground shook beneath their feet, the villagers' growing alarm caused them to scatter, the children and all able persons fleeing inside instinctively. But some of the elders didn't make it in time.
One of them fell directly into the path of the enemy's horse. The poor man's terrified scream rang throughout the deteriorating village as the large animal loomed threateningly above him, ready to crush him without a second thought.
The soldier headed straight for him.
But before he could end his life, the sharp whistling of steel slicing clean through the air had Hazara freezing as fresh blood spurted on the ground, his soldier falling dead on the ground.
The glaive whipped around and came to a rest on a tall figure's shoulder as his horse pranced restlessly under him. Red hair completely concealed underneath a white hood, the girl sitting in front of him narrowed her eyes angrily at the burly man before her.
"Princess...?" Hak murmured quietly as he trailed off to let her take the lead.
Yona's lavender eyes burned with determination.
"Let's show them Kouka's strength."