The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  Boomboomboom! No one could even see how the Divine Prison Army attacked, only that rows upon rows of elite Arab cavalry were being cut down like weeds.

  Their corpses were pockmarked with thousands of small holes, but the soldiers of the Divine Prison Army didn’t even glance at them as they swept past and rapidly marched toward the Divine Martial Army and Blood Beast Army.

  Bangbangbang! As soon as they passed, those Arab cavalry that seemed to be fixed in place instantly collapsed into piles of meat on the ground.

  In this brief clash, more than seven thousand Arab cavalry had been rendered into pulp.

  The four thousand soldiers of the Divine Prison Army continued to silently advance. Amidst this pitched battle, their speed only increased.

  No matter what kind of soldier they faced or how many Arab cavalry charged at them, they would all be cut down as if they were made of paper.

  “What are these soldiers?”

  Even the distant Osman, Ziyad, and Aybak grimaced at this sight. Although no one would dare say that the hundreds of thousands of Arab soldiers were on the same level as the Blood Beast Army or Beheader Army, they were still not everyday elites.

  In ordinary battles, not even powerful foes would be able to so easily slay them. Not even the Blood Beast Army or the Beheader Army were capable of such a feat. But this small force of Tang soldiers displayed a fighting power that would make anyone pale.

  These soldiers were working through the dauntless and veteran Arab elites like they were cutting melons.

  “We’ve underestimated them. I must correct my previous judgment. This eastern empire is stronger than any enemy we have faced before!” Aybak said.

  All was quiet beneath the four black war banners. At this moment, no one dared to treat this eastern country as some small and insignificant kingdom. This army at Talas was an existence that deserved their full attention. Not even the formidable Arabia could be careless.

  “But this only makes things more interesting! Compared to dealing with the remnants of the Sassanid Dynasty or those other weak civilizations, taking down a country like this gives a far greater sense of accomplishment! I’m finding myself a little impatient!”

  Aybak licked his lips and a savage smile appeared on his face. His eyes turned to the motionless and orderly ranks of the Wushang Cavalry arrayed behind Wang Chong.

  “Still not sending them out? These groups of soldiers are already this strong. I really wonder, just how strong are these Wushang Cavalry Abu Muslim spoke of?”

  On the battlefield, the Divine Martial Army and the Blood Beast Army had reached the most intense point of their battle. Clang!A dark red scimitar weighing nearly eighty jin slammed down with a shriek, seemingly capable of even shattering steel. Bang!There was a shower of sparks as a sword came up to meet the scimitar!

  The Divine Martial Army soldier holding this sword sank into the ground, but the armor of the opposing Blood Beast Army soldier cracked and groaned. One had a cold and emotionless face while the other had the appearance of a vicious beast. The Divine Martial Army had minor advantages in strength and technique, but there was no avoiding the disadvantage in numbers.

  More and more Blood Beast Army soldiers were gathering around the Divine Martial Army. Each soldier of the Divine Martial Army was gradually forced to contend with two enemy soldiers, and more were continuing to pour in. Although they remained calm and unyielding, it was clear that they were slowly losing control of this battle.

  Qutaybah had sent his entire Blood Beast Army while Geshu Han had only sent a part of his Divine Martial Army.

  Buzz!

  A soldier of the Divine Martial Army was wielding his Big Dipper sword to and fro, but he was slowly being surrounded. Suddenly, just when two dark red scimitars were about to attack him from two directions. there was a flash of bloody light. A long sword thrust into the chink in the armor of a Blood Beast Army soldier and pierced him through.

  Plush! A second sword soon arrived and pierced a Blood Beast Army soldier through his neck. The action was simple, swift, and efficient. Swoosh! With a sweep of this sword, the head of the Blood Beast Army soldier went flying high into the air while the headless corpse fountained blood and trembled before dropping to the ground.

  The Divine Prison Army soldier drew back his sword, stepped over the corpse and emotionlessly approached the next Blood Beast Army soldier. Behind were a second, a third, a fourth… Four thousand callous and determined soldiers of the Divine Prison Army strode toward the Blood Beast Army.

  Unlike the soldiers of the Divine Martial Army, the soldiers of the Divine Prison Army all had pale and bloodless faces, but their killing intent was far greater than the Divine Martial Army’s. Plush! Another sword thrust forward. Although the Blood Beast Army soldier could see this sword, he could not block it. He could only watch as the sword plunged through his body and brought him down.

  The Divine Prison Army continued its advance. These soldiers didn’t have any complicated techniques, but their swords moved with incredible speed. Even though the Blood Beast Army soldiers did all they could to block, they were just a tad too slow, but this minor difference in speed yielded completely different results.

  For soldiers that had reached the level of the Divine Martial Army, Blood Beast Army, and Divine Prison Army, the slightest boost would result in a qualitative transformation. Boomboomboom! The moment the Divine Prison Army entered the battle, the course of it was swiftly reversed. The Blood Beast Army simply didn’t have the strength to stop the Divine Prison Army and were swiftly routed. The combined seven thousand soldiers of the Divine Martial Army and Divine Prison Army immediately put the Arabs at an extreme disadvantage.

  Abu Muslim’s eyes flashed as he suddenly ordered, “Ziyad, pass on my order! Send out the Ironblood Army!”

  Ziyad appeared slightly stunned.

  “But, Milord, the Blood Beast Army just entered the battle and hasn’t been fully routed. If we move out now, won’t we…”

  Ziyad shot a glance at Qutaybah.

  The Blood Beast Army was one of Qutaybah’s forces, and one of his most elite. To send out the Ironblood Army without Qutaybah’s agreement would be to challenge and offend him.

  The battle had only just begun. Although Abu Muslim, Aybak, and Osman had not said anything about it, deep inside, they were doing their utmost to not conflict with the Arab War God.

  “Qutaybah has already agreed!” Abu Muslim lightly said.

  “Ah?”

  Ziyad was startled. He had been standing by Abu Muslim’s side the entire time, only a few dozen feet from Qutaybah, but he did not recall there being any conversation between the two.

  “In truth, the moment Osman’s Beheader Army entered the field, Qutaybah had already agreed. From that moment, he relinquished his authority, so there’s no need for you to worry about these things,” Abu Muslim lightly said.

  Ziyad glanced at Abu Muslim and then back at Qutaybah. He was at first still stunned, but then he began to understand.

  The governors of the empire shared a sort of tacit understanding. Without any words and only a few glances, or perhaps even sometimes just a feeling, they would be able to understand what each other was thinking. In the assault on Khorasan, Abu Muslim, Osman, and Aybak had shared this sort of tacit understanding, and it appeared that the same thing had happened here.

  But it was very difficult for Ziyad to understand this sort of tacit understanding.

  “Ironblood Army, attack!”

  Ziyad waved his hand and swiftly gave the order.

  Brrroooom! The Ironblood Army marched forward, rapidly approaching the front lines.

  ……

  The situation on the battlefield was constantly changing. As the Divine Prison Army was reversing the tides together with the Divine Martial Army, on the left flank of the Tang army, the battle between Osman’s Beheader Army and the Xuanwu Army had reached a white-hot level.

  Boomboomboom!

  The clanging and clashing
of metal filled the air as the more than eight thousand soldiers of the Xuanwu Army battled with the nearly nine thousand soldiers of the Beheader Army. Thumpthumpthump! The strangely shaped swords flew through the air, leaving scars in their wake as they slashed at heads and limbs of the Xuanwu Army. The Beheader Army’s attacks were clean and simple, but also extremely threatening. But whereas in past battles, they would have already cut off the heads of many of their foes, they had encountered an extremely tenacious foe this time.

  Chapter 1076 - A Battle Between Top-Class Armies (II)

  Chapter 1076: A Battle Between Top-Class Armies (II)

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Boomboomboom! The heavy swords of the Beheader Army were constantly blocked by the Xuanwu Army. Even though each attack seemed capable of sundering mountains, they were useless against the Xuanwu Army. The eight thousand soldiers of the Xuanwu Army seemed to be firmly rooted in the ground and fused with the earth. There was even a moment where the Beheader Army felt like they were attacking a mountain of steel, not a body of flesh and blood.

  It would be fine if the Xuanwu Army were just skilled in defense, but these soldiers also had vicious and weighty attacks that could tear apart the heavens. Even the soldiers of the Beheader Army were extremely threatened by them.

  “Everyone, hear my order! Follow me and kill these barbarians!”

  Zhao Fengchen’s voice resounded over the world. He stood tall, his long hair blowing about in the wind and his hands clenching his Wootz Steel greatsword, ‘Earth’s Scar’. He slashed it down, and like a lightning bolt flitting across the skies, a pitch-black Sword Qi more than one hundred feet long howled through the air and descended into the dense ranks of the Beheader Army.

  “Ah!”

  There was a massive explosion and a chorus of screams. Zhao Fengchen’s sword immediately tore a massive gap through the tight ranks of the Beheader Army. Wherever the edge of the sword passed, the soldiers of the Beheader Army were knocked flying into the air.

  As for those soldiers of the Beheader Army who faced down the tip of the sword, they didn’t even have time to scream before Zhao Fengchen’s dreadful Sword Qi obliterated their bodies.

  “Kill!”

  Countless Xuanwu Army soldiers charged into the gap.

  The Xuanwu Divine Art!

  This was the technique that Wang Chong had given Zhao Fengchen back then.

  The Xuanwu was an ancient divine beast with the neck of a snake, the body of a turtle, and the head of a dragon. Besides formidable defensive capabilities, it also had astonishing offensive power. The eight thousand soldiers of the Imperial Army had cultivated the Xuanwu Divine Art and had obtained the traits of the Xuanwu. They could attack while defending and defend while attacking.

  Boom!

  Just as the Xuanwu Army under Zhao Fengchen was on the verge of breaking through the Beheader Army’s defense, another terrific explosion came from more than four hundred feet away.

  There was a frenzied storm of sand and stone, and then ten-some Xuanwu Army soldiers screamed as they were blasted into the air by a terrifying wave of energy. Before they had even hit the ground, their blood was already misting the air.

  Zhao Fengchen grimaced at this sight and immediately turned his head to where the explosion had come from. What he saw was an Arab Brigadier General, his entire body pitch-black as if made of steel. Both hands gripped his sword as he plunged into the ranks of the Xuanwu Army.

  Bang! A Xuanwu Army soldier waved his sword and charged at this Arab general, but a single palm from this general crumpled the Xuanwu Army soldier’s thick armor. A majestic surge of energy traveled through the armor into the soldier’s body and made all the blood in his body explode out in a bloody mist.

  Without even a groan, the Xuanwu Army soldier dropped to the ground.

  “Damn it!”

  Zhao Fengchen paled, then suddenly altered course and began to charge at the Beheader Army commander. Clang! A blazing halo that was as heavy as steel erupted from beneath Zhao Fengchen’s feet. The edge of this halo was even sharper than a sword. Swoosh! Several Beheader Army soldiers jumped through the air to lunge at Zhao Fengchen, but before they could even get close, they were struck by the halo. Kaclack! These soldiers had all the bones in their body shattered by Zhao Fengchen’s halo, and their corpses fell to pieces as they were sent flying outward.

  “Barbarians! I’d like to see just how capable all of you are!”

  Zhao Fengchen had an icy expression and his killing intent soared to the heavens. In his view, a manly man needed to imitate Fu Jiezi1 and serve on the border to kill barbarians. Leading this expedition of eight thousand Xuanwu Army soldiers to the distant Talas could be said to fulfill Zhao Fengchen’s greatest dream.

  Across the eight desolations and the four seas, wherever the light of the sun and moon touched, no barbarian could scorn the Central Plains, and no one was permitted to so brashly kill the soldiers of the Great Tang!

  You are doomed!

  Zhao Fengchen stared at the Arab Beheader Army commander, his eyes narrowing. Carrying his Earth’s Scar, he strode forward.

  “Hmph! Infidel!”

  At almost the same time, the distant Karim licked his lips as he spotted Zhao Fengchen, a bloodthirsty light flitting through his eyes.

  Karim had participated in the final battle with the Sassanid Dynasty. As the commander of the Beheader Army, Karim couldn’t even remember how many enemy commanders he had killed. One infidel general after another had displayed their courage and confidence before him, but in the end, he had beheaded all of them and stomped on their corpses.

  “In a little while, I will personally take your head. Let’s see how much ability you really have.”

  Karim viciously laughed.

  Hwoooo! There was a rush of wind as bloody mist began to drift out from beneath Karim’s feet. Under Karim’s feet was a sea of blood and a mountain of corpses, all of them belonging to the Tang. Karim couldn’t even keep count of the number of people he had killed since the start of the assault on the Tang’s left flank.

  But no matter how many people he killed, Karim still desired to kill even more.

  Clang!

  Extracting his sword from the corpse of a Xuanwu Army soldier, Karim confidently strode toward the distant Zhao Fengchen. At almost the same time, Zhao Fengchen gripped his Earth’s Scar and strode toward Karim. Around him, one Beheader Army soldier after another was felled. No matter how many there were, any who approached Zhao Fengchen would be cut down like a weed.

  Zhao Fengchen left rivers of blood and piles of corpses in his wake. These powerful soldiers who had taken part in the wars with the Sassanid Dynasty and Kushan2 as well as many other countries were nothing but ants before a powerful existence like Zhao Fengchen.

  Bang! A roaring Beheader Army soldier leapt upon Zhao Fengchen like a tiger, but a moment later, an enormous surge of energy collided with his body. This energy passed through his armor and impacted against his organs and meridians. This veteran Beheader Army soldier who had killed countless other soldiers now died without even a groan.

  Before his corpse even had time to drop, a saber sent it flying dozens of feet. It drew an arc through the air before landing in front of Karim, creating a hole in the ground and causing blood to splash and sputter.

  “Bastard!”

  Karim’s eyes twitched as they flashed with anger. There was no question that this eastern infidel was challenging him.

  “If you want to die, I’ll fulfill your wish!”

  Karim’s eyes turned cold as he picked up speed, his feet thundering against the earth and his body blurring.

  “Die!”

  With a bestial roar, Karim soared into the sky and shot toward Zhao Fengchen like an eagle.

  “Barbarian, hand over your life!”

  Zhao Fengchen’s body exploded with Stellar Energy as he also accelerated. Rumble! The earth trembled as Zhao Fengchen soared into the sky
to meet Karim.

  Rumble!

  Sword and saber clashed with a thunderous explosion. The heavens themselves seemed about to tear apart as lightning crackled. The sound of their collision suppressed the clashing of all the other thousands of weapons on the battlefield. Stellar Energy exploded in a shockwave that sent the soldiers of the Beheader Army and the Xuanwu Army flying like ragdolls.

  “Lightning Fury!”

  With a roar, Zhao Fengchen changed up his movement technique, transforming into a thin lightning bolt that streaked through the air with unimaginable speed, attacking Karim from every direction. His attacks all had enough weight to cleave open mountains and sever rivers.

  On the other end, Karim’s large sword was also moving like a lightning bolt, stirring up a storm as it slashed out in every direction. The halos of the pair were also constantly intersecting and clashing. Bangbangbang! Intense metallic clattering rang out all over the battlefield.

  As the two commanders battled in the air, on the ground, the thousands of Xuanwu Army soldiers and Beheader Army soldiers were also in pitched battle. Clangclangclang! Sabers gleamed and swords flashed, mixing together in the melee.

  Clang! A Xuanwu Army soldier was caught off guard, and a Beheader Army soldier managed to stab his sword through a gap in his defense and into his ribs. At almost the same moment, the Xuanwu Army soldier counterattacked by stabbing into the chest of his foe through a chink in his armor. Both only showed a brief flicker in their eyes before continuing to attack each other, each acting like it had been someone else that had been wounded.

  Bang! These two soldiers engaged in an intense battle, their weapons clashing so many times that their edges were pockmarked with dents and gaps. But neither showed any sign of backing down.

  This was a battle of top-class armies, a contest of supreme wills. The Beheader Army would not retreat, and the Xuanwu Army, a part of the Great Tang’s supreme Imperial Army, also would not retreat.

  With bitter battles, there would be death, and as the Xuanwu Army and Beheader Army fought, both armies quickly began to suffer large losses. Squelchsquelchsquelch! The meaty sounds of weapons meeting with flesh were constant. Thump! Thump! A Beheader Army soldier crashed to the ground, his body a mangled mess. At almost the same moment, a Xuanwu Army soldier also crumpled down.