The formation was magnificent, but the reality was gruesome.
The Shu-Wu Allied Forces, unified by the resolve of Liu Bei and Sun Ce, had realigned their ranks. However, the River of Purgatory blocking their path was no mere river. It was a massive, living furnace—a divine domain strictly forbidden to ordinary living beings.
"...Is the geothermal heat truly this intense? I never imagined the land of the Demon Realm could be so merciless."
Liu Bei's face turned deathly pale. The main force of Shu, which had been advancing toward the riverbank, ground to a halt hundreds of meters away.
The sandy banks were not shimmering with mere heat haze, but with vivid, blood-red flames fueled by sulfurous gases erupting directly from the subterranean magma layers and temperatures exceeding thousands of degrees Celsius. It was a literal 'Demilitarized Zone' and, for the Shu army, a 'Land of Death' where no foot could be placed. Even the air they inhaled felt hot enough to char their lungs; the soldiers covered their mouths with wet cloths, but even those shriveled and dried up in an instant.
"General! The horses refuse to enter! We cannot control them!"
The scream of a lieutenant commanding the cavalry erupted. The cavalry, the core strength and pride of Shu, fell into chaos. The ordinary warhorses, lacking any resistance to fire, felt an instinctive terror from the heat carried through the air even before their hooves touched the scorched ground. They began to bolt in a frenzy.
Whinny—!
The horse of a rider who had been forcing it toward the riverbank collapsed, frothing at the mouth. The horse's hooves were already charred and cracked, and the stench of burning flesh and acrid grease filled the battlefield. As the horses, overcome by pain, bucked their riders and broke formation, the defensive line intended to intercept the landing crumbled before it could even be established. Liu Bei, swallowing tears of blood, had no choice but to issue the order.
"All cavalry, retreat! Fall back five hundred paces from the riverbank and reorganize!"
It was a tactical disaster. To prevent the enemy's landing, they had to secure the point where the water met the land, but the curse of the terrain had shackled Shu's feet. Consequently, the most critical landing point was left vacant to welcome Cao Cao's undead legion.
At the very least, the soldiers of Wu were fighting desperately. The Wu warriors, with magma-like veins pulsing beneath their obsidian skin, strode across the scorching sands—from which the Shu soldiers had retreated screaming—as if it were their own backyard. To them, this hellish heat was not agony, but a blessing of energy that awakened their bodies. The Wu demons stood barefoot on the boiling earth, absorbing the essence of the flowing magma to swell their muscles to the point of bursting.
"Children of Wu! Do not fear the flames! Cast every single one of those bone-wretches into the magma!"
Sun Ce's lion-like roar echoed through the thunder of the River of Purgatory. His skin already shimmered with a red hue, and his sword dripped with the thick essence of lava. The Wu infantry clung to the riverbank, forming a solid phalanx. A brutal landing battle began between Wu's infantry and the vanguard of Cao Cao's army, which had already begun crossing the Bone Bridge. Yet, the burden on their shoulders was too heavy. Without the support of the Shu cavalry to bolster their flanks and break the enemy's ranks, the infantry alone was insufficient to withstand the incoming million-strong army.
Far off on the Bone Bridge, Sima Yi, standing beside Cao Cao, waved his fan and let out an eerie laugh.
"My Lord, look. Those pitiful beasts are recoiling, unaware that their very hooves are burning. The Wu wretches are holding on through sheer spite, but a defensive line without mobility is already no better than a tattered rag full of holes."
Cao Cao did not answer but stared at the battlefield with cold eyes. As if certain of victory, he lightly flicked his whip instead of holding his jade cup. Cao Cao's silence was heavier than any shout. As Sima Yi had reported, the wave of death from Wei began to pour relentlessly toward the landing zone vacated by the Shu forces.
From across the riverbank, a chilling glint erupted from Guan Yu's eyes as he witnessed the scene. Watching the land being trampled by the enemy's feet, the War God's Crescent Blade trembled violently.
"My Lord, I shall stop their landing!"
Guan Yu kicked the Red Hare's sides hard. Ordinarily, the Red Hare would have bolted across the earth like lightning, but its spirit wavered the moment it entered the 'Forbidden Thermal Zone.' With every step the Red Hare took, acrid smoke rose from the ground with a sizzling hiss. Even the greatest steed under heaven was but a pitiful beast howling in pain before geothermal heat that could melt flesh.
"Red Hare! Just a little more, endure just a little more!"
Guan Yu poured his fighting spirit into wrapping the horse's legs, but the firepower of the River of Purgatory evaporated even the War God's aura like steam. Finally, as the Red Hare began to limp and let out a scream-filled neigh, Guan Yu released the reins with a trembling hand. And ignominiously, in the center of the battlefield, he stepped down onto the scorching ground.
Thud.
As soon as the soles of his boots touched the earth, the high heat surged into his very bones. Guan Yu caressed the neck of the suffering Red Hare and pushed it back.
"Go, Red Hare. This is as far as you go. I cannot drive you any further into this land of death."
A War God who had lost his mobility. He, who had commanded the world from horseback all his life, was forced to stand on his own feet before the enemy. Guan Yu moved his feet—each step an ordeal due to the heat—and stared at the flags of Cao Cao seizing the riverbank. A wall of terrain he had never felt since being called the War God; a massive sense of helplessness weighed him down.
The landing of Cao Cao's forces was merciless. Not missing the brief window when Guan Yu dismounted to protect the Red Hare, the Wei infantry completely solidified their bridgehead. The skeletal soldiers seemed devoid of sensation as they stepped onto the high-heat sands with composure, and their phalanx grew larger. The landed enemies now spread out in a fan shape, beginning to tear into Wu's defensive line from the inside.
The Wu warriors raged like literal incarnations of flame. The tips of their spears, imbued with thousands of degrees of heat, melted the undead instantly, but they were no match for the endless numbers. The stench of melting corpses mixed with the sulfurous gases of the River of Purgatory, turning the battlefield into a scene from a hellish landscape.
The situation was desperate. Even as they watched the Wu soldiers at the front being slaughtered while holding on through magma resistance alone, the Shu forces in the rear could not move a single step forward. Let alone the cavalry, even the infantry were blocked by the geothermal barrier, stomping their feet in frustration. While the Wu warriors coughed up blood and screamed, the Shu warhorses, seized by instinctive terror before the scorched sands, only backed away.
"The men of Wu are dying! Why must we just watch from here?!"
Zhang Fei roared, swinging his Serpent Spear. He tried to dismount and run barefoot himself, but what blocked him was the lethal burn rising through his soles and the barrier of sulfurous gas choking his breath. The Shu soldiers suffered a severe psychological collapse as they watched their allies being torn to pieces before their eyes. The grim reality of having to abandon their comrades, blocked by the invisible wall of terrain, was ruthlessly gnawing at their noble sense of righteousness.
"My Lord, we will be annihilated at this rate! The landed enemies are expanding the front and driving us toward the inland cliffs!"
It was as the lieutenant reported. Having seized the strategic points on the riverbank, Cao Cao's forces began to tighten the noose, trapping the Allied Forces within a siege with just their landed troops. A bizarre situation unfolded where the enemies, who should have been fighting with their backs to the river, instead occupied the bank and pushed the Allied Forces toward the edge of the inland cliffs.
Behind Guan Yu, who stood using his Crescent Blade as a staff after dismounting, a cold sulfurous wind blew. In the sky, gargoyle units descended through the volcanic ash clouds and began to bombard the ground. Wu's defensive positions were devastated by exploding magma and gargoyle fireballs. The flaming blade-aura swung by Sun Ce blew away dozens of undead at once, but the void was instantly filled with fresh corpses.
All that remained for the Allied Forces, who had surrendered the riverbank, were the pathless cliffs and the massive momentum of death exhaled by Cao Cao's army. Liu Bei gripped his Twin Swords with a trembling hand. Beyond the crumbling defensive line, Cao Cao's flags fluttered as if declaring victory.
Guan Yu gnashed his teeth. Around him, the fishy demonic aura of the landed Wei undead vibrated. The sound of his boot soles charring from the heat was audible, but the War God did not retreat. A blue Azure Dragon aura surged from his body, but even that spirit dissipated helplessly the moment it touched the heat of the River of Purgatory. Such was the terror of topographic constraints.
Far off on the Bone Bridge, Sima Yi once again let out a sneer.
"Look, My Lord. See the one called the War God, dismounted and crawling on the earth. Soon, even their noble loyalty will melt away in that magma."
Cao Cao silently cracked his whip. The footsteps of a million-strong army echoed across the River of Purgatory like the drums of hell. No hope remained for the Allied Forces. At least, not until someone resolved this hellish geothermal heat. The Great Battle of the River of Purgatory, with the fate of the Demon Realm at stake, was thus hurtling toward the Allied Forces' gruesome annihilation.