The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  The Divine Martial Army strode forward to face this sea of Arab cavalry, no sign of fear on their faces. Clang! As the two armies clashed, the three thousand Divine Martial Army soldiers pulled out their sharp swords, the edges of their weapons reflecting the gorgeous light of their halos. With a single strike, three thousand Arab cavalry along with their horses were cleaved in two.

  Before these Arab corpses even had time to drop to the ground, the soldiers of the Divine Martial Army had already resolutely marched past, charging into the Arab ranks with an unstoppable momentum.

  Neeeigh!

  “Kill them!”

  “Their target is the Silver Behemoths! Don’t let them approach!”

  The sounds of fighting blocked out all other sound while sabers and swords clashed. It was already impossible to tell which man or horse belonged to which side, or even tell saber from sword. Mists of blood hung heavy in the air, the pungent odor saturating one’s senses.

  But no matter how many Arab cavalry charged in, they were incapable of stopping the Divine Martial Army. Clang! A wave of a sword and a flash of light left two Arab riders and their horses in two pieces, the tremendous strength flinging their remains into the air.

  Each soldier of the Divine Martial Army was the best of the best and further honed through ten-some years of war. In Longxi, they had stopped the charge of countless Tibetan cavalry. In countless outnumbered battles, they had managed to reverse the tides and save the Big Dipper Army from defeat.

  In terms of strength, speed, and agility, these soldiers of the Divine Martial Army had already transcended the realm of elites. Even the elite cavalry of Arabia appeared to be fragile and helpless before them. The attacks of these Divine Martial soldiers were fast and vicious, and all their moves were simple and straightforward. All of this was for the sake of preserving strength and killing many foes over a long period of time.

  Boomboomboom!

  Wherever the Divine Martial Army went, the Arab ranks collapsed while the feet of the Divine Martial Army never stopped. In just a few moments, they were on the verge of reaching the Silver Behemoths.

  “The Tang elites have moved out. We should also send in our men!”

  Beneath the four black banners, Governor Osman of Cairo observed the region of the battlefield where the fighting was most intense, a sharp light in his eyes.

  “This force is not one bit weaker than the Anxi Protectorate’s Iron Wall Army. Ordinary elites won’t be able to stop them. Have the Beheader Army get ready!”

  The Beheader Army, also known as the Wrath of the Nile, was one of Osman’s two strongest forces. It had played a major role in the destruction of the Sassanid Dynasty.

  The symbolic weapon of the Beheader Army was the massive black swords they wielded. Each of its soldiers was incredibly strong and had a cruel personality. They were fond of using their weapons to behead their opponents. They believed that this act was an offering to the god of the Nile, a giant crocodile.

  The Beheader Army would always leave behind many heads in every battle, with many of the strongest soldiers of the enemy army amongst them.

  It was through these many battles that the Beheader Army had made its name. As a result, their original name was forgotten, so Osman simply had the name of the army changed to the ‘Beheader Army’ so as to intimidate his foes.

  Qutaybah, seated upon his horse ‘Victor’, suddenly spoke. “Pass on my order! Mobilize the Blood Beast Army!” His expression remained calm and his eyes emotionless.

  The generals around Qutaybah had still not responded, but Abu Muslim, Aybak, and Osman were all already slightly taken aback.

  The Blood Beast Army was one of the strongest forces under Qutaybah’s command, an existence far stronger than the Crimson Moon Vanguard.

  In every battle, Qutaybah would always have the Crimson Moon Vanguard take the lead, but if it encountered any difficult opponent, he would send in the Blood Beast Army.

  This army had a ruthless personality and an extremely savage strength. They were as ferocious as wild beasts on the battlefield, not falling back until they had torn their opponents to shreds.

  In the northern war zone, this army of Qutaybah’s had crushed countless opponents, including powerful foes like the Army of Tarsus.

  “Yes, Milord!”

  With this ringing reply, a messenger swiftly left.

  Abu Muslim suddenly turned to Ziyad and ordered, “Ziyad, pass on my order. Have the Ironblood Army get ready!”

  “Yes, Milord!”

  Ziyad waved his hand and quickly dispatched a messenger.

  Boomboomboom! With a deafening rumble, an army of soldiers whose suits of armor were covered in complicated patterns and designs gathered behind the four war banners. These soldiers had somber expressions, and their energies were fused into a single whole. They gave off the feeling of veteran soldiers that would be unstoppable on the battlefield.

  By the mere act of standing, the soldiers seemed to generate a metallic drone in the surrounding air.

  Light and shadow twisted around the Ironblood Army, condensing into Arabian scimitars whose blades were covered with fine patterns.

  Although these were merely created through light, the sight of these illusory scimitars would make one feel as if they were real and that each one was capable of cleaving through a mountain.

  The Ironblood Army!

  This was one of the strongest forces under Abu Muslim’s command. It was essentially equal in power to the Anxi Protectorate’s Iron Wall Army.

  They were a tenacious and incredibly skilled fighting force, an extremely effective killing machine. Many of the Iron Wall Army had been wounded or killed by the soldiers of the Ironblood Army.

  If not for the high walls of Talas and the fact that the Ironblood Army was not skilled at scaling walls and opening up enemy formations, meaning that a good deal of the force had been left on the ground, the battle might have turned out very differently.

  The Ironblood Army was skilled in field battles, not in besieging a city!

  Whoosh!

  A gale swept through the battlefield from the Arab side, sweeping toward Talas. No one noticed the mood hanging in the air undergoing a subtle shift.

  ……

  Neigh!

  As the three thousand soldiers of the Divine Martial Army were endeavoring to break the Arab line, slaughtering a path to the Silver Behemoths…

  Turmoil suddenly broke out on the Tang’s left flank, with countless horses neighing and whinnying. Before anyone could react, a powerful force of soldiers charged out of the Arab ranks.

  These soldiers were different from the other Arab cavalry. Their entire bodies were covered in thick armor and all of them wore helmets that completely encased their heads, leaving only a thin ‘T’-shaped opening.

  Most unique of all was their heavy swords, which were more than four feet long and covered in terrifying spikes.

  “Kill!”

  A heavily armored soldier gripped his sword with both hands as he jumped off his horse, his eyes bulging with rage as the sword swung through the air. The enormous power of this blow cut diagonally across a Tang soldier, from his left shoulder to his right hip, cleaving open both him and his armor. Before the corpse even had time to drop, the sword swept up and sent the head flying into the air.

  More and more of these armored soldiers dismounted, their hands swinging their massive swords and cutting off head after head.

  “Careful!”

  Cries of alarm resounded through the army. The soldiers on the left flank put up a fierce resistance, but these heavily armored soldiers were unstoppable and swiftly routed the Tang.

  This local defeat rapidly expanded into general chaos. Countless soldiers were felled by these large and muscular soldiers.

  Mountains of corpses began to pile up.

  Chapter 1074 - Divine Prison Army!

  Chapter 1074: Divine Prison Army!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Mic
hyrr

  “Milord, it’s one of the Arabs’ top-class armies!”

  Kong Zi-an turned to Wang Chong with a deeply worried face. Others had yet to notice, but Kong Zi-an had noticed at a glance that the army that had appeared on the left flank was not made of ordinary elites. This was a powerful existence on par with the Iron Wall Army. No ordinary soldiers could possibly stop it.

  “Zhao Fengchen!” Wang Chong immediately said without turning his head, his eyes coldly flashing.

  “Yes, Milord!”

  Zhao Fengchen turned his head and glared at the heavily armored soldiers on the left flank. With a wave of his hand, he charged forward.

  “Xuanwu Army, hear my orders! Follow me!”

  In the blink of an eye, the eight thousand soldiers of the Xuanwu Army had departed from behind Wang Chong.

  Mere moments later, a bestial roar came from the rear of the Arab army.

  The Arab cavalry behind the thousand-some Silver Behemoths that were frenziedly charging at the three thousand soldiers of the Divine Martial Army suddenly acted like they had encountered some mighty flood, and began to run off to the sides.

  At almost the same time, Wang Sili’s mind trembled as if he had sensed something. Raising his head and looking at the origin of the disturbance in the Arab ranks, Wang Sili clearly saw clouds of bloody mist rapidly charging in his direction. Even though he couldn’t see anything in this bloody mist, he could sense an unprecedentedly terrifying killing intent.

  “Everyone, hear my order! Assemble the soldiers and stand ready!”

  Clang!

  The crisp cry of a scimitar resounded through the sky. Before Wang Sili had any time to investigate, a figure leapt out of the distant Arab army like a ghost, drawing an arc over the battlefield as it descended with thunderous momentum at Wang Sili.

  Clang!

  A strand of sharp saber energy as thin as a hair flickered toward him. When Wang Sili had first noticed this man, he was still more than one hundred feet in the air, but now, the man and his saber were already right in front of him. This slender saber edge was as thin as a sheet of paper, but it rapidly expanded in Wang Sili’s eyes as it slashed down at him.

  Bang!

  Without any time to think, Wang Sili raised up his Starving Wolf Greatsword and barely managed to block this terrifying strike.

  The Arabian scimitar clashed with the Starving Wolf Greatsword, unleashing a powerful shockwave that swept through the area.

  Bang! The act of blocking this attack immediately sent Wang Sili flying more than one hundred feet backward.

  At the very last moment, Wang Sili stomped his foot down, slamming through the rock to firmly anchor his body in the ground.

  Wang Sili immediately raised his head to his distant opponent. Across from him was a bearded Arab general with hawkish eyes and a high nose, equipped in dark red armor and seething with red mist as he stood where Wang Sili had once stood.

  This person was clearly rather stunned to see that Wang Sili had managed to stop himself, but he quickly broke into a savage smile.

  “Are all of you clear on Lord Qutaybah’s orders? Retreat means death! Kill all of them!”

  Mansur savagely laughed as he waved his saber forward.

  Rumble! Countless Arab cavalry dressed in the same dark red armor rapidly galloped past him. The cruel and savage auras on their bodies made them seem like a pack of beasts lunging at the three thousand soldiers of the Divine Martial Army.

  “Hmph, so it was a top-class Arab army!”

  Wang Sili snorted in derision as he instantly understood what was going on. It was clear that the Arabs, seeing that the Divine Martial Army had moved out, had dispatched their own top-class soldiers. But the Divine Martial Army was the strongest and most elite force in the illustrious Big Dipper Army of Longxi. It had never feared any opponent.

  “Come! I’d like to see just how formidable the Arabs really are!”

  Wang Sili’s eyes glimmered with cold light as he raised his Starving Wolf Greatsword, his eyes exploding with determination.

  The Divine Martial Army would never retreat from this foreign battlefield, nor was there any force that could make this veteran and experienced army retreat, not even the Blood Beast Army.

  “Everyone, follow me! Charge!”

  Wang Sili waved his sword, not waiting for the opponent to attack as he led his three thousand men in a charge against the clearly numerically superior Blood Beast Army. Bang! With a stomp, Wang Sili shot into the air like a cannonball toward the commander of the Blood Beast Army, Mansur.

  A dazzling halo exploded from his feet, almost tangible as it rumbled and clattered. Seven stars could faintly be seen in this halo.

  Behind Wang Sili, light and shadow intersected, forming what was clearly a massive starving wolf as large as a mountain!

  “Kill!”

  The three thousand soldiers of the Divine Martial Army showed no hesitation, much less fear. Raising up their three thousand swords, the dense ranks of the Divine Martial Army marched forward with incredible speed at the enormous pack of beasts that was the Blood Beast Army.

  “Hmph, seeking death!”

  Mansur coldly chuckled, a hint of sinister cold flashing through his eyes. Clang! Raising his scimitar, Mansur shot toward Wang Sili like a ghost.

  The Blood Beast Army was the most valiant and pugnacious army under Qutaybah’s command. In the northern war zone, Mansur had never encountered anyone who was a match for him. Even these Tang would be incapable of stopping his Blood Beast Army.

  Boom!

  There was a heaven-shaking explosion as Mansur and Wang Sili crashed into each other like meteors, producing fierce gales and a sandstorm that rapidly expanded through the battlefield.

  Bangbangbang! Scimitars and swords collided in the air, creating a deafening metallic cacophony.

  Boom!

  In an explosion of Sword Qi, a soldier of the Divine Martial Army clashed weapons with a muscular soldier of the Blood Beast Army. Both possessed incredible and ferocious strength.

  A massive shockwave was created by their clash, but both soldiers were unperturbed and both showed no signs of backing down.

  Strength, speed, agility, and experience forged through hundreds of battles… the abilities displayed by these two men far surpassed those of any other elite soldiers. Even in terms of weapons, the two found it hard to find any advantage.

  The armor and scimitars of the Blood Beast Army had been produced using Qutaybah’s influence, forged by the best weaponsmiths from the finest materials the empire could provide. As for the Divine Martial Army, Geshu Han had similarly used his status as Big Dipper Great General to request resources from the Sage Emperor.

  The armor and weapons of the Divine Martial Army were made by the finest smiths of the imperial household. Their weapons were tough and dense. Even a thousand cruel and intense battles would not be able to harm them.

  Boomboomboom! In the blink of an eye, the three thousand soldiers of the Divine Martial Army were engaged in pitched battle with the Blood Beast Army.

  Each move and technique of the Divine Martial Army soldiers was exquisite and clean. These were moves meant to swiftly dispatch their opponents, but were also difficult to defend against.

  Although the Blood Beast Army soldiers were a little lacking in this aspect, they were also skilled in the art of killing. More importantly, they had the numbers on their side.

  “Divine Prison Army, move out!”

  Atop his White-hoofed Shadow, Wang Chong had been keeping a close eye on the battle between the Divine Martial Army and the Blood Beast Army. The two armies had very similar levels of strength, but the soldiers of the Blood Beast Army were more numerous. The Divine Martial Army alone would not be able to pierce their defenses. If he wanted to defeat the Blood Beast Army, he would have to dispatch an even stronger force.

  “Yes!”

  With a mighty rumble, the four thousand soldiers of the Divine Prison Army pulled out their swords
and marched out from behind Wang Chong.

  As they moved out, a dreadful flood of murderous energy surged out of their bodies.

  Buzz!

  At almost the same moment, the air droned as a vast and magnificent Sword Qi appeared in the sky. It spanned across the heavens, creating a momentary vacuum and seeming to cleave apart the sky. Let alone the Arab army, even the Tang soldiers around the Divine Prison Army felt an intense shock.

  The sharp and fierce energy exuded by the Divine Prison Army was like tens of thousands of extremely sharp little swords. It made one want to get as far away as possible.

  The Divine Prison Army was the most unique of all the reinforcements. These soldiers did not talk or smile, and the energy rising from their bodies was even sharper than that of the Divine Martial Army. They were like an unsheathed sword that was ready at a moment’s notice to commence the slaughter.

  Most puzzling of all was that no one knew where this Divine Prison Army had come from. There was no record of this force in the military records of the Great Tang.

  Boom! As the Divine Prison Army moved out, all the soldiers behind the first defense line rushed to the sides to open a path for it.

  “A good chance! Kill them all!”

  The opposing Arab cavalry rejoiced at this sight. Even though they had been charging at the defense line for so long, they had failed to open any sort of gap. But now, the Tang had made a gap themselves, an extremely rare chance that they had to exploit.

  Neeeigh! Warhorses cried out and metal clattered as thousands of Arab cavalry gleefully charged into the gap.

  The four thousand Divine Prison Army soldiers seemed unperturbed as the flood of Arab cavalry rushed in, but they suddenly began to march faster. They raised their swords and charged forward with an unstoppable momentum.

  Chapter 1075 - A Battle Between Top-Class Armies (I)

  Chapter 1075: A Battle Between Top-Class Armies (I)

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Boom!

  There was a massive explosion and complete mayhem as the four thousand soldiers of the Divine Prison Army stabbed into the Arab ranks like an enormous sword.