The frontier fortress at dusk was quiet.
No, it was closer to a dead silence rather than peace.
Cao Cao's territory reeked of mud, rusted iron, and the stench of rotting corpses.
It had already been over a fortnight since supplies were cut off. Soldiers boiled leather boots to appease their hunger, and those who didn't even have that leaned against the dirt-caked ramparts, dozing as if dead.
Only torn banners fluttered weakly, barely signaling that this place had not yet fallen.
But that precarious silence was shattered into pieces by calamities rushing in from both sides simultaneously.
"M-My Lord! On the north wall...!"
Before the soldier's scream-laced report from the watchtower could even finish, the temperature of the atmosphere dropped rapidly, and breath became visible.
Swoosh-
The old northern wall was silently dyed in blue light.
There was no roar of smashing gates, nor the noise of ladders being hooked.
Mocking the laws of physics, like the winter wind penetrating through cracks in a window, silver-white cavalry were passing straight 'through' the thick stone walls.
It was the ruler of the frozen land, Gongsun Zan's Ghost Legion.
[Do not stop.]
Gongsun Zan's spirit form standing at the lead commanded coldly.
His voice embedded itself directly into the soldiers' heads like ice, not their ears.
[We pass through the walls. Do not waste time on filth.]
"B-Block them! They're coming in!"
"Raise your spears! Intercept...!"
Cao Cao's soldiers, stricken with fear, hurriedly thrust their spears.
It was desperate resistance.
But their spear tips futilely passed through the ghosts' transparent armor, cutting through empty air.
A hollow sensation where no resistance was felt.
On the other hand, the blue soul blades wielded by the ghosts became tangible and accurately slashed the soldiers' necks.
Slash. Thud.
The head of the soldier who was wielding a spear just moments ago fell to the ground.
The ghost's blade, unstained by a single drop of blood, was already aiming for the next soldier's heart.
"Aaargh! T-The sword won't stick! What is that!"
"It's a ghost! They pierced through the wall and came in! Physical attacks don't work!"
Screams were not coming only from the north.
Rumble-! Crash!
The south wall was being ravaged in a way completely opposite to the north, and even more terribly.
The earth shook as if an earthquake occurred, and a red tsunami looking like giant meat dough rammed the wall.
The wall built of stone and earth crumbled helplessly, and lumps of flesh emitting a disgusting smell poured in through the gap.
It was Yuan Shao's Chimera Legion.
[Do not block the path.]
Yuan Shao's voice, amplified through thousands of mouths, rang out from beyond the wall.
It was closer to the madness of a butcher than the dignity of a monarch.
[My children must pass. Trample and crush everything that gets in the way.]
In an instant, the fortress turned into a hellscape of pandemonium.
In the north, blue ghosts slashed soldiers as if dancing, and in the south, red monsters trampled soldiers along with the debris of the walls as they advanced.
A soldier who fell from the wall was crushed by the wall of red flesh and absorbed without even being able to scream.
A soldier cut by a ghost's sword collapsed with eyes wide open, unaware that he was dead.
But in the middle of that chaos, there was a man standing blankly amidst the debris of the ruined command center.
The Wolf of the Frontier, Cao Cao.
Covered in dust, he was watching the scene of his fortress being ravaged as if he couldn't believe it.
Looking to the left, the Ghost Cavalry swept past him.
Looking to the right, flesh monsters advanced, ignoring him.
They were not fighting Cao Cao's army.
They didn't try to take the flag, nor did they aim for the commander Cao Cao's neck.
They were just running to kill each other ahead.
Only, Cao Cao's fortress and Cao Cao's soldiers were standing in that path.
To them, Cao Cao's army was like air, not even an obstacle.
"Ha... Haha..."
A hollow laugh burst from Cao Cao's mouth.
It was a sound closer to a groan than a laugh.
"My Lord! You must escape! This place is hell!"
Adjutant Xiahou Dun ran over covered in blood and roughly pulled Cao Cao's arm.
His two eyes were still intact, but inside those pupils, fear of the battlefield and desperation that he might lose his lord were filled to the brim.
"Hurry! The west passage hasn't been breached yet! Even now, if we gather the troops..."
But Cao Cao did not move.
With blank eyes, he pointed at Xiahou Dun, no, at the battlefield beyond him.
"Do you see, Won-yang?"
"Pardon? What do you mean...!"
"They aren't attacking us. They are just... passing through."
Cao Cao's voice was dry and cracked.
"We... are not even visible in their eyes."
Tactics, strategy, and harsh training of soldiers were of no use.
Before that overwhelming transcendental power, they couldn't even become variables on the battlefield.
To the two warlords, Cao Cao's army was nothing more than a 'road' to step on, or a 'pebble on the roadside' that was annoying if kicked.
Shame.
And a bone-deep sense of helplessness.
That emotion soon turned into dark crimson murderous intent boiling from deep within his gut.
Cao Cao's eyes glistened with extreme loathing beyond fear.
His fingernails dug into his palms, drawing blood.
"How dare... treat me..."
Cao Cao gritted his teeth as if vomiting blood.
"Treat me, Cao Mengde... like a pebble on the roadside...?"
It was then.
A giant shadow was cast over Cao Cao's head.
A mass overwhelming enough to block the sun.
A giant monster that broke through the south wall and entered.
One of the replicas of Yan Liang and Wen Chou created by Yuan Shao, a chimera with a body the size of a house blocked Cao Cao's path.
The hideous form, a mix of muscle and machinery, was looking down at Cao Cao.
The monster didn't even recognize Cao Cao as an enemy.
As if trying to remove a stumbling block rolling under its feet, it raised an indifferent yet overwhelming fist.
Cao Cao looked up.
At the shadow of death falling as if to cover the sky.
"...Damn it."
The pressure felt like the sky was collapsing.
A fist the size of a house tore through the air and fell onto Cao Cao's head.
Absolute mass that could neither be dodged nor blocked.
Just as Cao Cao instinctively squeezed his eyes shut.
"My Lord-!!"
With a blood-boiling scream, a black shadow popped out from the side.
It was the battered adjutant, Xiahou Dun.
He threw his body like a cannonball and shoved the dazed Cao Cao aside.
But in exchange, it was Xiahou Dun himself who entered the monster's attack range.
Crash-!
The earth shook.
But it was not a simple sound of impact.
Crunch, crack.
A chilling rupture sound of something hard being crushed and something tough being torn off.
"...!"
When Cao Cao, who rolled on the dirt floor, raised his head, an unbelievable sight unfolded before his eyes.
Wen Chou's replica, the jaw of that giant chimera was covering Xiahou Dun's upper body.
Instead of slamming its fist down, the thing had tried to bite Xiahou Dun with its mouth like a bothersome bug.
"Kugh, Aaaaaack-!"
A desperate scream tore through the fortress.
The steel helmet crumpled like a sheet of paper.
The chimera's sharp teeth dug into the left side of Xiahou Dun's face, cruelly gouging out flesh along with his eye.
"Won-yang!!"
Cao Cao screamed in a tearing voice.
As the monster shook its head, Xiahou Dun's body was thrown into the air like a piece of luggage.
Half of his face, which slammed onto the ground, was crushed red beyond recognition.
Dark red blood spurted from the hollowed-out left eye socket.
"Huff, huff... My, Lord..."
Xiahou Dun propped himself up on the ground with trembling hands.
With his remaining eye, in his blurring vision, he was looking only for his lord.
Dragging his blood-soaked body, he tried to block Cao Cao's front.
"Run... Run away... please..."
It was a single word like a will.
The head of the loyal adjutant fell powerlessly to the ground.
For a moment, only a suffocating silence hung over the fortress.
Soldiers, ghosts, and monsters all seemed to stop briefly.
But what broke that tragic silence was an arrogant sneer ringing from the sky.
[Kuhahahaha!]
Yuan Shao's voice, amplified by magic, vibrated the atmosphere of the battlefield.
[Behold. This is the difference in lineage.]
It felt as if Yuan Shao's gaze could be felt from beyond the red fog in the southern sky.
To him, Xiahou Dun's sacrifice was not nobility, but merely the meaningless struggle of the weak.
[You lowly bone. Know your place.]
There wasn't even contempt in Yuan Shao's voice.
Just indifference as if looking at a bug.
[Your skinny bones are not even worthy of a snack for my cute pet.]
Thump, thump.
Giant vibrations began again.
Wen Chou's chimera, having taken down Xiahou Dun, stepped over the fallen Xiahou Dun and walked toward Cao Cao as if its business was finished.
Cao Cao sat collapsed, unable to move.
His adjutant was half-dead before his eyes, and he was thoroughly violated.
Overwhelming difference in power.
Undeniable reality.
The monster's giant shadow completely covered Cao Cao's entire body.
The thing opened its terrible maw once again, trying to swallow Cao Cao.
The moment death was right in front of his nose.
Snap.
The sound of the string of reason snapping rang in Cao Cao's head.