The sixth night passed like a fever dream.
The fires had long run out of fuel. The wounded lay in silence. The city's heartbeat was faint—held together by sheer will and the memory of a king who bled beside them.
Ren stood at the eastern wall, eyes hollow. Only a few hundred of the Gu Ren Tai remained. Kai stood beside him, his sword chipped to the core.
"Still standing, commander," Kai muttered.
Ren nodded. "Barely."
Elsewhere, the Hi Shin Tai, led by Shin, remained stationed near the central gate. The days had stolen their strength, but not their resolve.
But then came the seventh day.
Riboku unleashed everything.
Drums. Screams. Siege towers. Fire.
The final assault began.
The west wall, commanded by Shoubunkun, finally gave way under the Zhao battering rams. The defenders tried to hold, but there was nothing left in them. The breach widened.
Zhao soldiers flooded in.
"We're finished…"
"They're inside…"
Hope shattered.
But then—
A sound.
Low at first. Then louder.
"AAAAAOOOOOOOOHHHHH!!"
From the western cliffs, above the smoke—
A primal cry tore through the air.
The Zhao soldiers stopped.
Everyone turned toward the sound.
From the high ridge above Sai, thousands of warriors descended like thunder. At their head:
Queen Yotanwa of the Mountain People.
Beasts and men charged together, crashing into the Zhao flank like a hurricane.Blades flashed. Spears shattered bone.
Reinforcements had come.
Sai would not fall.
Ren exhaled slowly as the drums faded. "We're not dying today."
The defenders rallied. The tide turned.
But in the midst of the chaos—he appeared.
Houken.
He moved like a phantom of war, cutting through soldiers in a straight path—heading toward Shin.
The martial god towered over the battlefield. Shin met him head-on.
Steel rang.
Shin was thrown back. Again. And again.
But he rose each time.
Bloodied. Breathless. Burning with fury.
And then—
With a roar, Shin's sword arced through the air and sliced across Houken's face.
The martial god stumbled back, stunned.
Blood streamed from the wound.
For the first time… Houken bled.
The field stood still.
Then Riboku gave the order.
"Retreat."
The Zhao pulled back in waves, vanishing into the haze.
The siege of Sai was over.
Seven days of hell.
And yet—Qin still stood.
The king had not fallen. The city had not burned.
And among the ruins, still gripping their swords, stood the battered remnants of the Hi Shin Tai… and the Gu Ren Tai.
They had survived the impossible.