Mythical Three Kingdoms

In the darkness, the Soldiers of the Fifth Lark Legion kept vanishing and reappearing; one moment they were in one spot, the next instant they were somewhere else, moving through the ranks at will, suddenly materializing behind the Parthian Soldiers and casually hacking down the Parthian Elite with their Short Swords.

Datis watched as several trusted aides at his side had already fallen, every single one of them run through the chest by a Short Sword. He had no way of determining just how many Roman Soldiers were around him. In the darkness, indistinct silhouettes made it seem as if enemies were everywhere, yet also as if there were no enemies at all.

Palmyro led his own core troops and failed three times in a row to kill Datis, so he no longer probed, instead pulling back directly into the darkness. In the next instant another image appeared more than ten paces away, as if he himself had teleported a dozen steps.

At the very instant that Roman image appeared beside them, the Parthian Soldiers immediately raised their Long Spears for a Direct Thrust. The moment the image was pierced by the Long Spear, it flickered and vanished, and right after that a Short Sword thrust out from the darkness and casually sliced across the Parthians.

This was the Fifth Lark Legion’s first Elite Talent—distorting light to form an image, creating a phantom with both aura and form. In the darkness, aside from wide-area arrow rain, there was practically no way to deal with this move under any other circumstances.

As for their second Elite Talent, it was called Suppression. Similar to Xu Huang’s method of exerting force outward on everything, the Fifth Lark Legion could, at the instant they closed in on the enemy, press that power directly onto the opponent’s body. That momentary loss of coordination and dulled reaction meant death.

It was just that these two Legion Talents were actually quite terrible in frontal engagements. In Large Army battles, whether you can see or not, wide-area attacks simply leave no path to survival.

But in chaotic mêlées, the Talents of the Fifth Lark Legion could exert an effect far greater than that of ordinary legions, because the images they projected would cause large-scale confusion in the enemy’s army—though they were only effective when the enemy had already become a Rebel Army.

As for a night-time sneak attack like this, with the Parthian Army already in utter chaos, it was essentially the most suitable killing field for the Fifth Lark Legion. Their Short Swords appeared and vanished at will, and the Parthians had absolutely no way to counter.

Thus, from the moment the Fifth Lark Legion entered the Parthian flank’s Military Camp, if there was no outside reinforcement, then unless the Parthian Chief General possessed a Talent like Yu Jin’s, able to forcibly Condense the main formation out of a Rebel Army, collapse was already an inevitable outcome.

"Move, follow me to rally the Soldiers!" The trusted aides under Datis’ command were also repeatedly attacked; however, with an Inner Qi Manifestation leading them and sufficient numbers, and with the Fifth Lark Legion’s main objective being slaughter, they did not currently set their sights on Datis’ trusted aides.

Yet before Datis could advance more than a hundred steps, before he had managed to gather the Soldiers, as he was passing through a relatively spacious Military Camp, several dozen Roman Soldiers in formation suddenly rushed out of the darkness, leaping high with weapons in hand, ready to stab the enemies before them to death.

Datis and the trusted aides at his side almost reflexively launched attacks on these men, and then, at the instant those Roman Soldiers were struck, they vanished. At the same time, the true Roman assault descended.

Dozens of weapons seemed to have picked their targets even before they struck, and in one wave they took down more than thirty men. Then, before the other Parthians could attack, the assailants suddenly disappeared. Datis’ trusted aides furiously loosed arrows again and again at that spot, but in the end they only managed to leave behind a single Roman Soldier. In the darkness, the gap in Combat Power between the two sides was simply too great.

The Fifth Lark Legion numbered only seven thousand, with four thousand of them operating on the Parthian flank, yet the chaos and damage they caused far surpassed that of normal legionary slaughter. The casualty ratio between the two sides could only be described as a massacre, not a battle.

Fortunately, the Parthians were extremely vigilant against Rome. When the flank fell into chaos, Ardashir, who was patrolling the Central Camp, immediately led his own legion to charge over. On the way, he had already heard what his men were shouting—the Fifth Lark Legion!

At the instant Ardashir, riding at the head, charged into the flank’s Military Camp, several hundred Soldiers of the Fifth Lark Legion, who had concealed their auras and were crouched at the camp gate, immediately launched an attack on the entering Parthian Army, some with Bow and Arrow, some with thrown spears.

Once Palmyro confirmed that the Parthians were still using an Inner Qi Manifestation as their Commander-in-chief, he immediately stationed a group at the camp gate in ambush. When a military general with Inner Qi Manifestation comes to the rescue, doesn’t he love nothing more than charging in first on horseback? Whoever it is, kill him first and talk later.

The instant Ardashir stepped into the flank’s camp gate, his hair practically stood on end. By pure reflex he swung his weapon, and amid a crisp clash of metal, Ardashir took three arrows and one spear, nearly getting killed on the spot.

"Slaughter this whole damn lot for me!" Ardashir roared, eyes bloodshot. On the battlefield, no one could predict what would happen in the next second.

At Ardashir’s command, his Elite core unit immediately unleashed a volley, arrows raining down to blanket the Front Camp. The Soldiers of the Fifth Legion were deeply versed in the principle that, if you miss with one strike, you flee a thousand miles; thus, after unleashing one wave of attacks, they pulled out at once.

Yet in Large Army battles, whether you can see the enemy or not, the first move is still a blanket arrow rain. Several Soldiers of the Fifth Legion were hit on the spot, and Ardashir, enraged, immediately ordered men to pursue in that direction. Today he was determined to chop that lot to pieces.

However, no matter what, the Fifth Legion and the Fourteenth Legion were both infamous Rogue Army legions. If you have a way to neutralize them and beat them back, that’s possible; but if you think you’re going to kill them, you’re dreaming.

In the end, just as expected, the Parthians who charged up to hack at them found only a bunch of desperately fleeing images, while the real Soldiers of the Fifth Legion, relying on twisted light, had already vanished without a trace.

"Everyone stay on guard; do not give the Fifth Lark Legion any chance! Order the other legions to assemble immediately!" Clutching his wounds, Ardashir gave his orders in fury. He had long known about the Fifth Lark Legion’s Talents, but their strength still far exceeded expectations.

He had originally thought that a legion which ranked among the lowest even within the Dual Talent Super Elite Legions in terms of offense and Defense could not possibly have such Combat Power. This time Ardashir finally understood: even if one’s offense and Defense are a bit weaker, as long as you can strike the vital point, you can still kill the enemy.

[We must find the main body of the Fifth Lark; otherwise, if this continues, even a single legion will be enough to slaughter our flank into retreat!] Ardashir thought with a touch of anger. The second Talent of the Parthian Elite could Incineration a designated Talent of the opponent, but if you couldn’t even locate the enemy’s main body, what the hell were you going to burn!