Kingdom (キングダム)

Dammit--my carefully trained men, one after another...

"Earl Shi the Spear"...

You live up to your legendary name, and while I respect your spear skills,

this time, I will defeat you.

Ou Hon, captain of the Gyoku Hou Force,

has arrived!

It's lovely...

I thought it suited you.

Thank you so much.

Count Earl Shi, sir!

An urgent message from the Dairyou manor!

From the manor?

L-Lady Kika's wedding ceremony has taken place in Dairyou!

First off, there's something I must verify with you

about your elder brother Earl Shi.

Very well.

In deference to him being a fellow Fire Dragon, I forgive all that's gone before.

Therefore, pledge to me what comes after.

Swear that you shall love me, Tai Ro Ji, for all eternity,

with all your body and all your heart, leaving no room for another.

I cannot.

The one and only man

I have ever and will ever love

is Shi Ei.

Days of Training

His wounds from yesterday...

My eyes have mostly adjusted to his speed...

...but this power ...!

Dammit... how is his spear so fast ?

Our spears are of a different nature.

Unlike mine, which demands accuracy in striking a single point,

his spear

requires the power to slay enemies with a single blow.

"Earl Shi the Spear," the best in the Middle Kingdom...

They say he'd been on bloody battlefields from a fairly young age.

Is this the strength gained from striking at swarming foes?

Earl Shi never said this was a duel!

Tch... Let's get in there!

Yeah!

D-Don't get too close!

Our numbers are low enough as it is!

L-Lord Hon!

Lord Hon...

Commander Kan Jou! If this keeps up--

Tch. I told him so.

So we just repeat yesterday's failure.

True,

defeating their general, Earl Shi, is the only way for us

to break through in just half a day.

But your spear can't accomplish that, young lord.

I'm certain you learned that lesson yesterday--physically.

With no other options, our best plan right now

is to ask General Tou to abort the simultaneous triple strike,

take a moment to regroup,

and request reinforcements from Ou Sen in the north.

Wha--

Kan Jou! How dare you?!

It's for the young lord's sake as well.

Right now, the army's injuries are still light.

But if we keep pushing and the triple strike ends in failure,

a Gi counterstrike would decimate the Chin army.

And as the war criminal who instigated this failure,

your name will be dragged through the mud.

Defying that danger to turn the tide of a seemingly impossible war

will but elevate my name.

Besides,

don't just assume that I'm no match for Earl Shi.

Why are you in such a hurry to die?

This is dereliction of duty, Lieutenant Ban You.

It's your job to keep the young lord in check.

As if I could stop him.

Lord Hon's vision is now far beyond the acumen of one such as myself,

as it was with his Choyou strategy.

All I can do is trust Lord Hon and support him from behind.

And you call yourself his right-hand man?

Lord Hon!

Bastard!

He's at his limit! Have the young lord withdraw, Ban You!

At this rate, he really will be--

All...

All troops, withd--

Not yet!

All troops! Hold position and fight !

You fools! You'd have them all die?!

They wanna go down in a blaze of glory!

Don't be ridiculous.

My journey has only just begun.

No matter what,

I will slay the great Gi general "Earl Shi the Spear"

with my own two hands

and take Choyou!

And then,

after that...

After that?

I don't have the time to retreat.

It's not enough to win trifling battles.

If I don't keep claiming major victories,

I'll never be a great general, leaving my mark on the Middle Kingdom!

It's no dream, no flight of fancy.

No, this...

As Ou Hon, the legitimate heir to the Ou family...]

...this is my duty !

Lord Hon...

So that's how it is.

Finish him!

This... this is absurd! He's hit Earl Shi twice ?!

What?

Has... has he sized it up, then,

that spear of Earl Shi's?

L-Lieutenant... did he just...

It--it can't be...

It can't be, and yet...

Lord Hon caught Earl Shi--

caught him in a pattern!

Unlike Earl Shi, who likely taught himself the spear in battle,

Lord Hon trained in orthodox spear techniques from the ground up,

building on what he learned.

These techniques include countless patterns

to be applied against any and all foes.

Patterns formulated for effective defense, countering, offense.

If he can fight within a fitting pattern,

Lord Hon may well...

Earl Shi.

Letting me get a good long look at your spear will be your downfall.

Yeah, right, you half-dead brat!

This "pattern" nonsense never works in practice!

How will wielding your spear outside battle get you anywhere at all?

It's all just a fluke!

That's right...

Putting a theoretical pattern into practice in battle

truly does require days upon days of extraordinary training.

Yet Lord Hon is achieving just that--

here, against Earl Shi!

He's bringing it all to fruition!

All those days of training, known to me alone...

Wrong.

Start with a right-side middle guard.

If he's taking up the spear, Ban You, find him a proper teacher.

Yes, sir!

He probably did it on a whim.

That's how rare it was for Ou Sen to speak to Lord Hon.

That's right...

That was the day.

That's when Lord Hon's spear training began.

All his accumulated, unceasing efforts--

and now...

Lord Hon!

H-He's muscling his way out of Lord Hon's pattern!

Lord Hon!

No--the young lord's energy will give out first.

No!

Earl Shi.

You have a weakness.

A weakness?

Earl Shi? Impossible!

You...

You are a human who rejects life!

Wha--?!

Lord Hon! What on earth...

That's what felt off: This man lacks the instinct to live.

A person instinctively, reflexively protects their vital spots.

But you, Earl Shi... for whatever reason, you don't.

It doesn't matter why.

Still,

faced with my single-point strikes,

it's a fatal weakness.

If I can only catch him in a pattern and meet him there...

Dodge on through!

A mere corpse like you

will not stand in my way!

Did they hit you again?

Another expedition?

Yes. I leave tomorrow.

Come home safe and sound, brother.

Come home safe and sound...

...brother.

At long last...

I'm going home.

Lord Hon!

"Gyoku"

Lord Hon!

Lord Hon of the Gyoku Hou Force has slain Earl Shi, Fire Dragon of Gi!

He did it!

Earl Shi!

--Count Earl Shi! --Earl Shi!

--Earl Shi! --Count Earl Shi!

E-Earl Shi...

It can't be... Who on earth...

Who is that man?!

You really did it, young lord-- you got him.

Listen up! Captain Ou Hon has slain the enemy captain, Earl Shi!

Spread the news far and wide!

Well done... well done, Lord Hon...

But there's little time before noon.

No patching-up needed.

That's not necessary.

Onward--to Go Hou Mei's main camp!

Shin!

It's hardly sophisticated.

Hi Shin Force, Right Flank