The troops began setting up camp thoroughly distraught. They'd effectively lost the first battle of the war. Even if one would count it as a victory from Aotoshi's retreat, the casualties on the side of Akuni were far greater. The troops brought any injured soldiers who still had any life in them to a med tent. Zenpan had managed to call in enough cots for any injured in the battle. Yukan and Kadaina are helping Ite recover there before the next battle. Zenpan entered the medical tent, prompting a spontaneous reaction from Yukan.

"You!" he yelled at the sight of the general. "This is all your damn fault!"

"Last time I checked, you were the one who left Ite unattended," the general coldly retorted.

"You were the one who took us all in blind!" Yukan fired back. "We lost so many people under YOUR leadership."

"How were we supposed to know that they would ambush us from the side?!" Zenpan defended.

"Cut it out, both of you!" Kadaina yelled out, cutting the argument short. "Arguing is doing no good when Kunshu is probably already planning his next assault. We got lucky that he retreated this time. We would have been wiped out for God's sake!"

"There was no counter-strategy!" Yukan complained. "There was no plan except to go in like morons!"

"We were the pawns fighting against knights!" Kadaina remarked. "It couldn't have gone any worse."

"Well, we're out here now," Zenpan remarked. "We don't have time to bring a strategist out. Where the hell are we going to find one in the middle of a war?!"

"Kadaina plays chess for fun," Yukan pointed out. "He can get in your head if he feels like it. I don't like to admit it, but he's smart. He knows what moves people are going to make before they make them. He is well equipped to formulate plans and stay cohesive."

Zenpan contemplated the idea for a moment. Sure, he was nowhere near being an optimal strategist, but to suggest a fourteen-year-old for the position seemed like a wound to his pride. Despite that, he found that he had no option but to swallow it. After all, what better options did he have?

"I guess you're our best bet at this point," Zenpan sighed. "We need any strategy we can manage to minimize the damage to our troops."

"I will do my best," Kadaina confirmed, taking up the mantle as Akuni's strategist.

❒︎❒︎❒︎❒︎❒︎❒︎❒︎

Kunshu is sitting at his throne tapping his finger against the arm of his throne, still disturbed deeply by the encounter. He gazed into the fireplace looking for comfort in its flame. Something about Zenpan's action reminded him of something he'd tried to bury. Shirei entered the room not too long after.

"May I ask why we have retreated, my liege?" the leading commander asked Kunshu. "According to your strategy, we could have wiped them off of the planet."

"Shirei," Kunshu said, preparing to lay down his burden. "Something happened on the battlefield that stopped me in my tracks. I lost focus as soon as he touched my arm. That general, the Akuni commander...he reminds me of an ominous man of my past."

"May I ask what happened?" the commander began to ask.

"A long time ago," the king started to recall, "after I spilled the blood of Sofu, an assassin attempted to take my life. I had never been so close to death and none have replicated it yet, Shirei. That was the first time I was forced to access Deity Mode. It was the only way I could escape from... from him."

"The assassin?" Shirei asked.

"Yes, the assassin," Kunshu said before beginning to describe the assassin. "His right eye. It was dark. Cold. Heartless. I thought I was staring into an abyss when he looked at me. His left eye was completely mechanical to exemplify his sheer soullessness."

"I'm sorry, my liege," Shirei responded to this, still unaware of the significance. "I'm not following you. What does this have to do with why we abandoned the raid?"

"That man," Kunshu began to tell him, "he held the same gaze. It made me choke on my breath. I felt cold as soon as his hands touched me. He reminded me of the assassin. All I could do was get away from him."

Shirei nodded, understanding what Kunshu was getting at. He then left the king to be and prepared for the next attack. The Alpha Blade wielder threw sand into the fireplace, suffocating the flame, embracing the darkness of the night.