The Boar Hunt
The clash rang out like thunder—BOOOOM! That was the sound of Lu Bu’s Fangtian Huaji being deflected. Up close, it was like hearing cannons fire in rapid succession. Every single parry sent a bone-rattling shock through my entire body.
“You’re much more entertaining than before, I’ll give you that. But you’re still far from enough!”
Lu Bu’s face was twisted with mocking laughter as he pressed me without pause.
“Tch!”
I twisted my head by a hair’s breadth to dodge the straight thrust of the halberd, but the blade immediately curved and came slicing toward my neck. The moment I reflexively ducked, I spotted an opening and thrust my spear forward. Lu Bu simply swatted it aside with ease.
“What’s wrong? You dared to provoke this Lu Fengxian, so shouldn’t you be putting in a little more effort?”
Lu Bu truly gave me no breathing room. Every strike was razor-sharp. I had already nearly lost an arm or a leg several times.
CLAAAAANG—!
I blocked another overhead strike aimed at my shoulder and immediately retreated to create distance. Just like when I fought Zhang Liao, I planned to use the reach advantage to keep him in check with thrusts. But Lu Bu seemed to have anticipated it; he charged forward even faster.
His mount was the legendary Red Hare.
CRAAAAACK—!
“Guh!”
Lu Bu’s Fangtian Huaji punched straight through the shoulder guard of my armor. A searing pain shot through me, as if my arm had been torn off.
“Ah~ What a shame. If it had gone just a little deeper, I would’ve taken your whole shoulder off.”
Zhang Liao had been an incredibly powerful opponent, but Lu Bu was on another level entirely. For a brief moment, I wondered if challenging this monster had been nothing but reckless arrogance.
But then, all the training I had endured flashed through my mind. The brutal sparring sessions with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei that felt no different from real combat. Especially the ones with Guan Yu—those had been with real blades, where either of us could have died at any moment. They were training on the edge of death.
The moment those memories resurfaced, my body moved on instinct.
CLAAAAAANG!
“Oh?”
I deflected the finishing blow Lu Bu was about to deliver and instead closed the distance, hurling my spear at him from point-blank range.
“Are you joking?”
Lu Bu knocked my thrown spear away with raw power and prepared to counter. But in that instant, I drew my sword, leaped from my horse, and aimed straight for his throat.
“Hng?!”
CRACK—!
A sickening sound rang out, and the sensation vanished from my hand. Even though it had been a surprise attack, I had failed to take his head.
“This bastard—my helmet!”
I had been aiming for his throat, but Lu Bu had twisted his head at the last second, so my blade only sent his helmet flying. The moment my feet touched the ground, my horse came galloping back urgently. The steed Cao Cao had given me was truly clever; it naturally lowered its body so I could mount quickly. I grabbed the reins, vaulted onto its back, pulled my spear from the earth, and faced Lu Bu once more.
“Tsk. To show such an unsightly sight twice to a mere whelp like you.”
In Puyang I had taken his topknot, and now in Pengcheng I had knocked off his helmet. Lu Bu used the tip of his Fangtian Huaji to pick up his fallen helmet from the ground, placed it back on his head as if nothing had happened, and snarled.
“Know that there will be no third time against Lu Fengxian of Bing Province!”
When Lu Bu charged again, I blocked countless strikes, but one finally slipped through and struck my side.
“Ugh!”
The pain felt like my ribs had shattered. But in that moment, I caught sight of his leg right in front of me.
“Haaaaah!”
My spear stabbed into Lu Bu’s leg and tore off a piece of his armor plating.
“Bastard!”
Lu Bu, who had been toying with me so leisurely, finally took a real hit. He brought his halberd down in fury, but I deflected it and retreated once more.
“So the peerless Lu Bu has finally drawn blood.”
“Insane brat. This is nothing more than a scratch from tripping and falling.”
“Now I understand.”
“…?”
“Even the peerless Lu Bu has a bad habit when he fights. If I had noticed it sooner, things would have been much easier.”
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
My side was throbbing, and every movement of my left arm sent pain so intense I could barely breathe. But now that I knew that, I could keep fighting. If I could just buy a little more time…
Bwoooo— Bwooooo— Bwooo—
A retreat signal?!
I had made a promise with Cao Cao. No matter what the situation, if the horn signaling retreat sounded while I was fighting Lu Bu, I was to return to the main camp without looking back.
I wasn’t sure if that monster would chase me all the way, but for now…
“You bastard, Lu Bu!!!!”
“!?”
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
A monstrous roar that shook heaven and earth erupted from behind me as a massive double iron halberd came crashing down toward Lu Bu. The moment he deflected it, another cannon-like explosion rang out, and a giant’s back appeared before me, standing between us.
“Military Colonel!”
“Relieving you on the front line! Colonel, please return to the main camp at once!”
“You bastards—how dare you pull this nonsense against Lu Fengxian?”
“I should have captured you back in Puyang. This Dian Wei will be your opponent!”
CLAAAAANG—!
“So you’re trying to use rotating challengers against me?”
Regardless, the substitution had been made. Hearing the urgent retreat horn calling for me, I galloped toward the main camp. Even so, I turned my head to watch the fight.
The giant Dian Wei, who stood a full head taller than Lu Bu, was pushing forward with pure brute strength. It was a perfect display of what it meant for tigers and dragons to clash, for dragons to fight and tigers to wrestle.
That monstrous Lu Bu showed no signs of fatigue and refused to yield even against Dian Wei.
“Zayeol! Xiu! Hurry back here!”
Cao Cao himself had come out to call for me. The moment I reached the main camp, the heavy infantry formed a wall with their shields, creating an ironclad defense.
I dismounted, leaning on my spear as the delayed pain finally hit me in full force.
“Xiu!”
Cao Cao wasn’t even using my courtesy name—he called me directly by name as he rushed over to examine my body.
“There are no life-threatening injuries. It’s just that my side hurts like hell.”
“What are you all standing around for?! Call the military physician immediately and treat him!”
“Yes, Chancellor!”
When the physicians tried to support me, I shook them off.
“It’s fine. I can walk by myself.”
It wasn’t nearly as bad as last time when I had been on death’s door. I had even managed to land a solid blow on Lu Bu before returning. I walked into the tent on my own, lay down on the bed, and the physicians hurriedly removed my armor to begin treatment.
“Wait!”
“What is it, Military Colonel?”
“You’re going to wash your hands before treating me, right?”
“Pardon?”
“Wash them right now!”
The physicians looked bewildered but quickly washed their hands before returning to examine the wound. My side was already flushed bright red. By tomorrow, it would be covered in dark bruises.
“I will now check your ribs. Please tell me if it hurts.”
“Ughhh!!!”
The moment he pressed down with his fingers, my body jerked upright on reflex.
“I will apply padding here.”
They placed a soft bundle of silk against the most painful rib and wrapped it tightly with bandages to immobilize it. Breathing felt stuffy, but this was necessary until the bone healed.
“Zayeol!”
“Uncle. What happened to Lu Bu?”
“That monstrous bastard kept fighting Dian Wei until he finally realized his own troops were being slaughtered one by one. Only then did he hurriedly retreat to reorganize them. The moment he started attacking our forces, we pushed him back hard and he ordered a full army retreat.”
“As expected of Lu Bu. I’m sorry. I should have bought more time, but I got carried away and…”
“What are you saying? You exchanged more than thirty moves with Lu Bu. Do you even understand what that means?”
I had simply fought like a madman, but I had apparently lasted over thirty exchanges. When the battle that day finally ended, Cao Ren arrived covered head to toe in sweat and blood, and Dian Wei returned after tearing through the enemy lines in search of worthy opponents following his bout with Lu Bu.
“Zixiao, are you alright?”
“Hoo… I ran into someone named Zhang Liao midway. He was as fast as a leopard and as tenacious as a wolf pup.”
“Ah, Zhang Liao. I heard he and Lu Bu are both renowned warriors from Bing Province. It must have been tough.”
“Still, while Zayeol bought us time, I tore through five enemy formations, smashed their tents to pieces, and caused them quite a bit of chaos. I even had a proper fight with Zhang Liao in the middle of it.”
Cao Ren had performed his role brilliantly. While Lu Bu and his main force were distracted, he had targeted only the soldiers, overturning their formations one by one and sowing massive confusion. He had even clashed fiercely with Zhang Liao.
“Zayeol, are you really okay?”
“Just a slight bruise on my side.”
“Hah… To come away with only that against Lu Bu. Truly impressive! It seems your martial skills have already surpassed this uncle of yours.”
“You flatter me. On the contrary, I didn’t expect Lord Dian Wei to be that strong against Lu Bu.”
When I praised Dian Wei instead, he simply shrugged his massive shoulders.
“They call Lu Bu the greatest under heaven, but it’s a shame. If I had just a little more time, I could have settled things with him once and for all!”
“Hahaha, so our Akrae has been holding back quite a lot, has he?”
Cao Cao laughed heartily inside the formation for the first time in a long while. I then spoke about what I had discovered while fighting Lu Bu today.
“During my second fight with Lu Bu, I discovered one of his weaknesses.”
“Oh? Lu Bu’s weakness? What is it?”
“He has one?”
As Cao Cao, Cao Ren, and Dian Wei all looked on with curiosity, I shared the insight from my experience.
“You know how a cat doesn’t kill a mouse right away? It toys with it first before finishing it off. Lu Bu is exactly like that.”
“Hmm?”
“Lu Bu seems to enjoy deliberately targeting arms and legs first, cutting them off piece by piece while mocking his opponent, before finally going for the vital strike. It’s a rather twisted hobby.”
“Oh?”
Dian Wei, having fought him personally, shouted as if it suddenly made sense.
“Ah, now that you mention it, even while fighting me, that bastard kept mocking me. He wasn’t aiming for my neck but kept trying to cut the horse I was riding or my arms.”
“When I learned martial arts from Uncle Yunchang in the past, he taught me to strike with lethal intent in every single blow, aiming to kill the enemy in one strike. However, Lu Bu is the complete opposite. He saves the neck for last and seems to enjoy the fight itself, especially one-on-one combat.”
Both Guan Yu and Lu Bu were the top two fighters in this world. Having faced both, this was my assessment.
“That… is quite valuable information. Any general with the courage to face Lu Bu with the intent to win would find this extremely useful.”
Cao Cao nodded, and the post-battle review that day was filled with warmth and camaraderie.
The next day, I woke up groaning from the pain in my side, but Cao Ren and Dian Wei, who went out in my place, systematically crushed Lu Bu’s forces. Lu Bu rushed to wherever his lines were collapsing, but our forces continued to hit and run like a game of tag. The war of attrition grew increasingly brutal.
Furthermore, Xu Huang and Yu Jin, who had been stationed inside Pengcheng, took turns leading troops out of the city. Whenever Lu Bu approached, they would retreat back inside. From Lu Bu’s perspective, he was stuck playing tag with only Zhang Liao at his side while steadily losing soldiers. He must have been going insane.
Ten days passed like that. Once I confirmed my body was fit for battle, I put on thick armor, mounted my horse, and prepared to sortie once again.
“Alright. This time, we will truly annihilate Lu Bu’s army!”
“Military Colonel!”
“?”
Cheng Yu approached, looked at me, and shook his head with a smile.
“Lu Bu’s army is already preparing to retreat.”
“…I see.”
“We have now captured Pengcheng. If we reorganize here and continue the boar hunt against Lu Bu, this war will be over.”
We had destroyed a significant portion of his main force at Pengcheng and were now in a position to keep pushing him.
“Of course, one of the greatest achievements in this battle will be the fact that young master Zayeol held Lu Bu in place.”
Hearing that, I realized I needed to reorganize once more in preparation for the next battlefield.