[3rd POV]
"Ready!!"
The shout of the commander rang throughout the chaotic battlefield. The soldiers got thier guns ready, some had grave injuries and serious wounds that wouldn't stop bleeding but nevertheless, they moved with determination and followed the orders of thier commander.
"Aim!!"
They lifted up the heavy guns - rifles some called them - and aimed towards the enemy which was lesser but stronger than them.
"FIRE!!"
They lit the fuse of the gun and with a roar of gunpowder, metal bullets shot out and pierced their enemy with deadly precision.
This was the new military under the Unified China, the gunbeasts. They wield rifles created by the genius Emperor Shen. While Tai Lung held unmatched power and strength, their lord Shen had a genius intellect. The perfect combination - the personification of Yin and Yan - that was what people called these two allied individuals who took over China in a year.
But even with thier new military, the unfined China was losing badly, the reason being the multitude of warriors of Jade, interpreting the image of past Masters, who could not bleed or die.
They could deal with the rebel army with ease but these jade warriors posed huge problems. No matter how much they shot at them, no matter how many cuts they inflicted, the Jade warriors remained unharmed.
Immortal Jade warriors, that's what they were called on the battlefield.
But that was not the only reason why the unified China, two hundred thousand strong, were being pushed to thier end. It also had something to do with the unknown phenomenal general who was guiding the enemy behind the scenes.
it was like nothing they had ever seen before. The Empire's army experienced battle tactics lost in time. Some of them were too ruthless and efficient which hints that such strategies were devised in a time when the Codes of War did not exist.
These tactics include catapulting glass shards, poisoning thier rations, attacks in the middle of the night, burning the forest and the soldiers along with it, etc.
All of these tactics were new to the soldiers who had been forced to play by the Codes of War in every conflict over the hundreds of years. It was only recently that the Codes of War had been abolished by the new Emperor Shen.
Somehow, the enemy was outsmarting them most of the time. Be it ambushing them at the correct time and place, sabotaging thier camps, scouting and all related things. Shen was having a run of his money, he may boast a high level of intelligence but he lacked the creativity and mindset of a war general. His intelligence was more focused on administration and technology engineering.
The Unified China was in need of its Supreme General. However, such things were not possible because Tai Lung was busy protecting China from outsiders.
The gunbeasts fired at the enemy and held thier ground. They had mountains behind them from which the enemy could not attack so thier main focus was on the front.
The rebel army, infused with higher morale and momentum pushed the Empire to its limits. They may be a weaker force but they had unknown reasons to be as confident as they were, almost like they had god backing them.
The battle raged on.
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In a different place, Kai opened his eyes and they lit up with bright green light as he did so. A perfect grin crossed his face, clearly pleased and satisfied.
He had been deploying his jade summons all around the battlefield. He shared thier vision and as such, he was controlling the army and the whole battle by himself. It was a playground to him.
Coupled with his skill as a general, the enemy never stood a chance.
But now it was time to make a move himself. The number of the enemy had been reduced to the point they no longer became a bother.
He had also just found out the exact location of their leader, Shen. It was time to end everything with one fell scoop. He would bring China to its knees once more.
And when Tai Lung returned, he would greet him with destruction.
He shouldn't have left his Empire defenceless.
Kai stood up from the broken ship he was hiding in and he looked to the sky. Then he reached out his hand towards the sky while his body shone bright green.
Then the jade warriors who were spread all throughout the North and busy with the war turned into pendants and they all flew towards him. They flew at a speed close to light and in a few seconds, they all returned to Kai.
He felt his muscles tighten and he visibly grew bigger from his 8-foot frame. Green chi flowed through his veins and he let out a satisfied sigh.
He felt limitless power once more.
It was the stack of all the greatest warriors in the history of the world combined.
The personification of might.
He was the history of power itself.
"Marvellous." He commented while tying the jades onto his body. He had absorbed the chi of thousands upon thousands of warriors and they were all inside him.
But he liked wearing the greatest warriors on his body like a trophy. Especially the ones he wore around his neck: Oogway and Samudragupta.
He ripped off the Jade of Oogway from his necklace and then he turned it into a spirit warrior. In a few second, there he stood, his best friend and the person who betrayed him.
"Open it." Kai said and there was a short pause. Then Oogway used his staff to draw lines on the ground.
Then the lines started forming the sign of yin and yang as a bright light covered the surroundings. The next moment, Kai found himself in a very familiar place.
It was the spirit realm.
Kai closed his eyes and connected to the Jade Warrior he still had in the mortal realm. The Jade Warrior was overlooking the ongoing battle where the Empire's gunbeasts were fighting against his army.
There were humongous mountains along the back which made it impossible to go around and attack from the back. It was the perfect strategic position for a military with canons and guns.
Kai smiled and used an obscene amount of chi and using the Jade warrior as an anchor, he escaped from the spirit realm once more.
But this time, he emerged in the mortal realm where his Jade warrior was. A bright light lit up the sky in Jade, the sound of his presence falling on the mortal realm shook space.
It took much chi and effort but he had done it. It was teleportation basically.
Kai smiled and absorbed Oogway and the Jade Warrior into his being once more. Now at his full power, Kai cracked his neck and then stretched his bulbous muscles.
*BOOOOOOM!!!*
The ground exploded as a body void of flesh and made only with pure unadulterated shoot out with the speed of a missile. The rebel army was aware of the disasters that would follow so they quickly retreated the moment they saw the green light.
The Empire's army stood in thier place, confused as to why thier enemy was retreating until he crashed right in the middle of thier formation like a meteorite.
The ground shudders and then when the dust settles, they see a forgotten warrior glad in green light. His smile was unnerving and bloodlust unlike they had ever felt before crashed on thier shoulder.
It was different from Tai Lung's conquerors haki. The feeling of bloodlust did not press down on them nor did it try to knock them out.
It was not even a warning.
It was a statement.
Death.
Kai swung the chains he was holding. It started off with one meter radius but then it became longer and longer as the green blades at the end of the chain bisected the soldiers, mowing them down like grass.
A violent tornado was created as the soldiers screamed and tried to run away. The brave ones shoot cannons, and guns and throw spears but no avail. They had trouble with the Jade warriors, how could they fight against the Jade Slayer?
His power swept them away.
His blade took thier life.
And his overwhelming might buried them.
Silence looked upon the corpses of antelopes, crocodiles, wolves, gorillas and every other animal which were fit to fight.
It was an annihilation.
Kai blew steam from his mouth, his body shivering with excitement. He spun his chains with the ease of blinking and then he walked towards the small camp which was on the very end of the formation.
That was where his target resided.
Kai made his way to the camp slow and steady. Every remaining soldier charged at him and tried to fight him off but to no avail. Like he had done 500 years ago to thier ancestors, Kai massacred the poor soldiers.
Kai entered the small tent where he felt the presence of Shen. His path was bathed with the last blood of the Empire's soldiers.
"You could've just asked to meet me." A voice rang out in the darkness of the tent. Shen sat on the makeshift throne of an elevated platform
The inside of the tent was complete darkness.
"So you are the one behind all of this." Shen asked.
Kai huffed in annoyance as he could not get a clear view of Shen. He tugged at his chains and with one violent spin, he destroyed the tent made of fabric.
After that, the inside of the tent and Shen himself were revealed to the afternoon sun. Kai smiled at the image of the white peacock, the famous Shen, ally of Tai Lung. He had heard quite a bit of this bird, he might not admit it but after all the things he had accomplished and after the war, Kai had respect for the peacock.
"And now you ruined all of my dramatic and mysterious aura." Shen said sarcastically. His eyes were unusually red with dark circles in them. It was a clear indication of his lack of sleep these days.
"You are funny." Kai said with a confident smirk. "And young, I expect you to be older."
"And I, you. You look awfully alive for someone Oogway killed 500 years ago." Shen said.
"Banished." Kai corrected, "Oogway couldn't kill me so he banished me in the spirit realm."
"Well, if that is out of the way then let me get to killing you now." Kai said and spun his blades, "You fought well Shen, I acknowledge your intelligence in commanding an army and all of the weapons of destruction you have created."
"But you stood against me, so now you must die." Kai said and just before swinging at Shen, he paused.
"Wait!!" Shen yelled, "What if I do not stand against you?"
Kai stared deep into the peacocks eyes and he realized that the bird had something more to say. A proposal to save his life, Kai concluded.
"Speak."
"I can help you." Shen said.
"And what gives you the idea that I need your help?" Kai asked in amusement.
"You are afraid of him too, are you not? That's why you are doing all this." Shen said, carefully choosing his next words. Then he spoke with a firm voice.
"I can help you kill him."
"Ohhh, but I thought he was your ally?" Kai asked, his voice no longer amused.
"Not anymore if I live through tonight. Our alliance was purely for selfish benefits on both our part from the start. I don't care for him." Shen said, "And besides, if you kill me the Empire will never accept you. They will resist until the last of the soldiers, and there are still millions of them."
"So what do you propose?"
"An alliance. I want you to take the place of Tai Lung in our alliance." Shen said.
Kai became silent after that. He had no intention of allying with anyone, no one was worthy. He will rule the whole world alone.
But he can use this to his advantage.
He lost the respect he previously had for the peacock but he decided to spare him. After he used him to kill Tai Lung, Kai would dispose of him.
Tai Lung in himself was not too much of a problem, it was the army of China he had with him. Not only could they overwhelm him with sheer numbers he did not want to destroy China.
But if he used the peacock, that annoyance would be gone.
It will be just Tai Lung and him.
Kai relaxed his posture and Shen released a sigh of relief.
"You get to live another day, bird."
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[IMAGE]
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