Proof That We Were Here

Yes, how could life and death be such inconvenient things?

There was still one thing Fujimaru Kyoya had not done. He could not die just yet.

[You died, yet you continued watching as your friend launched northern expeditions again and again, only to fail each time.]

[You watched the Sima Clan gradually grow stronger and gain considerable influence in Wei. They colluded with powerful families from every side, and the time for them to usurp the throne steadily ripened.]

[You watched Zhuge Liang fall gravely ill. He had taken too much upon himself. That carefree youth was gone; now he rose early and slept late to handle official affairs, while disease wrapped itself around him.]

[You saw his final northern expedition...]

During that final northern expedition, Zhuge Liang also understood that, given his condition, it would be his last.

Even if he succeeded, his body would not hold out. Jiang Wei was talented, but he lacked Zhuge Liang's prestige. It was a situation where even victory amounted to defeat, yet Zhuge Liang still had to go.

"Three thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven."

Zhuge Liang silently repeated that number. No one knew what it meant, because everyone who did was already dead.

[You understood that number. You knew exactly what figure Zhuge Liang could not forget.]

Had you already saved so many people?

[You recalled how Zhuge Liang would discuss the results of his projections with you every so often. In the end, they were merely the desperate survival of a few people, continuing on until someone peacefully lived out their natural lifespan.]

You had laughed like a fool back then.

Fujimaru Kyoya watched the aged Zhuge Liang. Even at this moment, Zhuge Liang had not forgotten it.

The number represented the people saved beyond what Zhuge Liang had calculated the first time—the few lives he and Fujimaru Kyoya had saved by working together to change the situation.

Two people in exchange for three thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven lives. Fujimaru Kyoya and Zhuge Liang had made an incredible profit, but it was not enough...

Zhuge Liang stared at Sima Yi. If he could kill Sima Yi, the Sima Clan's dynasty could be established earlier and destroyed earlier.

The number of people saved by that could reach into the tens of thousands.

Zhuge Liang's funeral gift for Sima Yi was a Great Fire in Shangfang Valley. Since "fire" always carried special meaning in this era, why not send him to his grave with fire?

[You watched the Great Fire in Shangfang Valley. You understood that this was not where Sima Yi would die.]

Yes.

Fujimaru Kyoya remembered. The final outcome of the Great Fire in Shangfang Valley had been rain falling from the heavens, extinguishing the blaze and allowing Sima Yi to escape alive.

"Rumble—"

Thunder exploded in the sky. The temperature shifts brought by the flames changed the weather, and rain began to fall upon normally rainless Shangfang Valley.

Sima Yi looked at Zhuge Liang atop the mountain. He naturally knew that no one could surpass Zhuge Liang when it came to celestial phenomena, so he would use this method instead.

"Having lost this chance, you no longer have any hope of turning things around."

Sima Yi felt the downpour. To him, this rain was heavenly nectar—but what would it do to Zhuge Liang as it fell upon him?

No one knew what the black-faced strategist was thinking. Everyone only knew that this rain had finally pushed Zhuge Liang's illness beyond suppression.

News that Zhuge Liang had little time left spread through both armies. At the same time, even more terrifying news arrived: Zhuge Liang intended to use the Seven Star Lantern to prolong his life, borrowing years from Heaven so he could continue the northern expedition.

"Ridiculous. How could such a thing exist? Besides, look at the state of Shu. Where would they even find the manpower to keep waging war?"

Sima Yi sneered, but an inexplicable unease swept over him.

What if... what if it was real?

Even if Zhuge Liang could borrow only a single day of life, Sima Yi did not want to keep facing such a troublesome opponent. He wanted the man before him dead as soon as possible.

That was right. He had already won completely, so why not beat a drowning dog?

As long as he used the same old trick and prepared a spell to swap his true body with a Substitute, he could escape even if danger arose. Besides, he had already thoroughly figured out Zhuge Liang's military formations.

There could not possibly be any living creature capable of threatening him.

Legend had it that the Seven Star Lantern required its main lamp to remain lit on the final day. Once that was done, the caster could extend his lifespan by twelve years.

Sima Yi ordered Xiahou Ba to launch a surprise attack on the Wuzhang Plains encampment while he slipped into the ranks himself. Even if Zhuge Liang truly had a scheme, he believed he could still leave safely.

Sima Yi would not be at ease until he saw Zhuge Liang breathe his last.

At night, Shu's camp looked so mystical that it resembled less a military camp than a ritual site for charlatans.

Even so, Sima Yi did not lower his guard.

Wei Yan and Jiang Wei were strong, but before an overwhelming advantage in numbers, they were still useless.

After all, not everyone was Guan Yu or Zhang Fei. In an era where even Zhao Yun was dead, in a Shu where even Liao Hua could serve as vanguard, who else was there for him to fear?

The night raid began, and under the assault of countless soldiers, a breach was quickly torn open.

Zhuge Liang's Seven Star Lantern required seven days. During those seven days, Shu's soldiers did not dare relax for even an instant, leaving them physically and mentally exhausted. Faced with this sudden attack, they could not exert their full strength at all.

"Take me to Zhuge Liang's tent."

With Xiahou Ba guarding him, Sima Yi could retreat in time even if someone attacked him. Now, he would stand before Zhuge Liang as the absolute victor.

"Whew—"

The flap of Zhuge Liang's tent was thrown open. A fierce wind rushed inside and extinguished the oil lamp before Zhuge Liang.

It went out.

Sima Yi beamed. With the Seven Star Lantern extinguished, Zhuge Liang's method of prolonging his life had been broken.

"Brother Zhuge, today will be the last time we meet."

"Yes, the last time we meet."

Zhuge Liang repeated the words. His expression held neither joy nor sorrow. Had he fallen into complete despair?

Just as Sima Yi thought that, the back of his head... exploded.

W-What happened?

"I'm going to ambush you."

Along with that familiar voice came a pain that was becoming increasingly familiar. Sima Yi was about to call for Xiahou Ba when Xiahou Ba's head fell before his eyes.

A familiar person appeared before him.

"Impossible."

Sima Yi could not believe it.

Why... why was a dead man suddenly attacking him?

Proof That We Were Here

Had Fujimaru Kyoya died?

From an ordinary person's perspective, he truly had. Yet the promise he had made years ago had not disappeared. He had promised Liu Bei that he would look after A Dou.

Of course, he could not literally look after him. Fujimaru Kyoya was not a nanny, and with Zhuge Liang around, why would A Dou need his care? The only thing Fujimaru Kyoya knew how to do was kill enemies—such as the man before him, Sima Yi.

"Impossible. You were already... The Seven Star Lantern?"

Sima Yi looked at the extinguished Seven Star Lantern. Then Zhuge Liang ignited a small flame and lit it once more, and Sima Yi finally understood where the problem lay.

"The timing was wrong."

Sima Yi tried to rise, only for Fujimaru Kyoya to smash him back to the ground with a stick from behind. His once-unfailing Substitute technique had also lost its effect.

"We've fought for so many years. Though I've been gravely ill these past days, I'm not yet so far gone that I cannot read the heavens."

"The Great Fire in Shangfang Valley? You did it deliberately?"

Sima Yi finally understood. In the celestial calculations concerning Shangfang Valley, Zhuge Liang had deliberately lost to him. It had been a deliberate defeat to make him lower his guard.

"Of course it was deliberate. My illness, the miscalculation at Shangfang Valley, the life-prolonging Seven Star Lantern—every last one was a trap to lure you here."

Zhuge Liang admitted it openly. In this scheme, the only possible accident had been Sima Yi choosing not to come, but in truth, that possibility had never existed.

"You fear me. You fear that I may continue living. You do not understand the Seven Star Lantern's principles, so you needed to witness it yourself. You needed to see me die with your own eyes before you could rest easy."

That was Zhuge Liang's confidence. It was a scheme effective only against Sima Yi. Only this lifelong opponent, who understood what Zhuge Liang was capable of, would fall for it.

"The Seven Star Lantern's timing was fake. Before you blew out the lamp, the ritual had already been completed. The lamp you extinguished just now, like the one now, was merely one I lit by hand."

"The Seven Star Lantern... what exactly is it?"

Sima Yi swayed as he tried to stand, but Fujimaru Kyoya stepped on him and pinned him to the ground. Blood still dripped from the wooden stick in his hand. Even without Zhuge Liang's Barrier, Sima Yi could no longer activate his Substitute technique within this camp.

"A Barrier that permits entry but not exit, a soul that keeps its promise, and a spell that summons that soul and temporarily grants it a body. Everything was waiting for this moment."

Zhuge Liang rose to his feet, then said...

"A friend comes from afar... Zilong, what comes next?"

"Even those far away must be punished."

"Yes. Even those far away must be punished."

As Zhuge Liang finished speaking, his weak expression vanished. Then his muscles swelled, as if he had returned to the prime of his life.

This was a low-level spell Zhuge Liang had once mentioned. It merely strengthened the body. Against well-trained soldiers, it was essentially a spell that sent inexperienced scholars to their deaths. But now, to Sima Yi, it was nothing short of a disaster.

"Can you handle him alone?"

Fujimaru Kyoya handed over the wooden stick. In his view, he should be the one to do this. That would be safest.

"Help Jiang Wei suppress the attackers. As for me..."

Zhuge Liang tightened his grip on the wooden stick. There was not the slightest trace of mercy in his eyes as he looked at Sima Yi.

"I will settle my score with him personally."

"Then I'll leave him to you."

As someone already dead, Fujimaru Kyoya could tell that Zhuge Liang was at the end of his strength. The Seven Star Lantern could originally have prolonged Zhuge Liang's own life, but he had used it instead to grant Fujimaru Kyoya, a dead man, a brief return to the world.

A white figure returned to the battlefield. In this era, names like Lu Bu and Guan Yu had long faded away, and no one remembered a man named "Zhao Yun."

Yes, how could someone capable of defeating five thousand Tiger and Leopard Cavalry alone possibly exist?

Yet that night, he appeared once more.

Before the sun rose, red filled the military camp. Within this place that allowed entry but not exit, enemy and ally alike were cowed by that overwhelming presence.

"The last one."

When Fujimaru Kyoya killed the final man, he also sensed that Sima Yi had breathed his last.

He returned to Zhuge Liang's tent. Zhuge Liang's feather fan had disappeared somewhere, and he sat on the ground, panting heavily. Sima Yi, meanwhile, had stopped breathing entirely.

"I... really am... not good at fighting."

At this moment, Zhuge Liang had to admit that Sima Yi was at least stronger than him in a fight. If Fujimaru Kyoya had not struck Sima Yi twice first, Zhuge Liang would have been the one sprawled on the ground now.

"Thank you. You came to help me even after dying."

"Just keeping a promise."

Fujimaru Kyoya smiled. How long had it been since he had smiled so freely?

"One hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred people."

"Hm?"

"By killing him, the Sima Clan's dynasty will be established five years later and destroyed ten years earlier. That era of chaos will end sooner. Altogether, we saved... one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred people."

It seemed Zhuge Liang had exhausted every last ounce of strength just to say those words.

"You really are amazing. The Crouching Dragon lives up to his name."

Having been on the battlefield, Fujimaru Kyoya naturally understood how vast a number of one hundred and twenty thousand people was. Even if that many people did not resist and simply let him kill them one by one, his hands would go numb from the slaughter. Yet Zhuge Liang had saved so many people.

Without changing the broad course of history, he shortened the years of war and let more people live.

This was the compromise Zhuge Liang had devised. The world would not be driven to destruction, and more people would be given hope of life.

"No, this is your achievement."

When Zhuge Liang had been young, his mind had been filled with ideas such as "a legacy lasting through the ages." Only after opening his heart to Fujimaru Kyoya did he understand that he himself was not all that extraordinary.