After Gaileo had finished his subjugation of Carriha, and finished settling in as the Lord of Shuangfeng, he was given orders to settle a border dispute in the homeland of his elder brother's wife. That would be Drateria, a place filled with fierce women warriors known as the Land of the Amazonians.
The Amazonian's neighbors, Idonye were demanding that Drateria send some of their women to be wives for their noblemen. This in turn caused the Amazonian women to threaten to invade. Gaileo was sent to mediate the situation and did so by removing the leader of Idonye and replacing him with a man the was loyal to him.
His adventure into the jungle kingdom granted him not just the rewards granted by the emperor. He also added a new member to his crew. Though it was not intentional.
In Drateria, the Amazonian women may only marry if a man can beat her in a competition of her choosing. The women of Drateria knew that Gaileo was strong, therefore, they had all sought to challenge him to various competitions. Though Gaileo had known this, so he had tried to avoid their requests.
One of them finally managed to corner and convince him to take her on in an archery competition. Still, Gaileo knew he could not compete with her or he would be forced to marry her afterwards. He solved this by making Genbu take place in the contest instead of himself.
To make a long story short, Genbu is now engaged to an Amazonian woman named Kleopatra. She joined the army as an officer and her expertise in archery helped bolster what was the weakest aspect of the Gaileo Army.
Gaileo and his troops did not have time to rest, as they would be sent far to the west where an enemy kingdom was launching an invasion into Imperial territory.
The Imperial forces had actually already repelled the invasion and were now preparing for a counter attack on the enemy's territory.
"Why are we even bothering to show up here? I heard that they already have one of the Great Generals there. What do they need us for?" Benji asked as they rode.
"What's it matter?? We got our orders. All we got to do is go there and show what we can do." Gaileo replied.
"You know, I actually have some information as to why so many elite armies are being sent there at the same time." Shion said. "Apparently the enemy king has ordered a mercenary force from the north."
"So?" Gaileo asked dismissively.
"So apparently the enemy that's coming is from the Tang tribe." This caused a stir among the officers present. "The man leading them, is rumored to be Guan Shi."
The shock of that man's name caused the entire entourage to stop in their tracks. "Whoa? What's the big deal about this Guan Shi guy?" Benji asked.
"The guys from the south might not know, but everyone in the North knows Guan Shi. They say that he's the strongest man in the North." Genbu explained.
"I thought Gaileo was the strongest man in the North?" Elara asked.
"People in the North definitely respect Gaileo, but the undisputed strongest in the North is still Guan Shi, and that won't change until he loses."
"Do you really intend to fight Guan Shi yourself?" Shion asked.
"Who else would?"
"Well from what I hear they're sending two Great Generals to this battlefield." Ma Ten said.
"Two Great Generals? Then why do they need us? Isn't that kind of overkill?" Benji added.
"Not exactly." Genbu said. "If Guan Shi is there then that's a more than appropriate response."
"Is he really that tough?" Benji asked. Gaileo paid attention with keen interest.
"Well I've never seen him in person, but there is a pretty interesting rumor about him." Genbu said.
"A rumor?"
"I heard that he defeated Great General Justice one on one some years ago."
"What? That can't be true!" Gaileo exclaimed.
"Can you really rely on a rumor about the guy?" Benji asked.
"It's true I don't know the validity of that rumor, however, he did defeat and kill one of the Seven Great Generals several years ago."
"Really? Come to think of it I do remember hearing about that before. So this guy is the real deal?" Gaileo asked.
"It definitely seems like it."
As the Gaileo Army made its way to the frontlines they saw that the battle had already begun. As such, they picked up their speed to join the battle as soon as possible.
"Hurry! We need to get in there! The battle has already started!" Gaileo said, barking out his orders to his men.
His men rushed onto the battlefield and the enemy was almost in sight when they were blocked off by a wall of purple smoke.
"Everyone hold! What is this stuff?" One of Gaileo's new captains shouted.
However, several thousand cavalry still pushed forward into the smoke without a second thought. That cavalry was lead by Gaileo himself.
"Hey! What're they doing? That's clearly poisonous smoke! We have to steer clear of that stuff!"
"Not exactly." Shion said as he rode to the side of the man. "That smoke is one of the abilities of one of the Great Generals present."
"Oh? I see, so it doesn't affect his allies." The man said as he prepared to ride forward again.
"Wait." Shion put out his hand to stop him. "That's not what I said. That poison will kill anyone who touches it."
"Then, why would General Gaileo charge right into it?"
"That's because he and the more veteran members of this army have all received training to resist poison. And the reason for that is, because the Great General who uses poison is Gai's greatest rival."