The unrestrained attack of the clone army dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the Samnite and Lucanian army.
A dozen clone soldiers mixed into the middle of a group of Samnite soldiers, taking advantage of an opening in the defenses.
The clone soldiers used their combat skills to face the Samnite army, managing to kill eight soldiers easily and causing the rest of the soldiers to flee in terror.
The battle in the complex mountainous terrain made the use of battle formations difficult.
The armies of both sides scattered and fought chaotically.
The clone soldiers, being experienced warriors, had a great advantage over their enemies and could almost always easily defeat the enemy army.
The battle was a scene of chaos and disorder, with corpses scattered across the ground along with severed limbs.
On the other hand, General Pontius was resting on a rock while observing the corpses of his guards scattered on the ground.
Two clone soldiers slipped through the rear and reached the location of General Pontius, managing to confront the soldiers protecting him.
As a result, six Samnite soldiers were killed by the two black-armored soldiers before they died.
Pontius also participated in the clash against the two black-armored soldiers and was surprised by the combat skill and the enemy's will to keep fighting despite severe wounds all over their bodies.
The guards protecting Pontius were skilled and experienced warriors with excellent military equipment and absolute loyalty.
Nearly 30 experienced Samnite warriors faced two black-armored soldiers, and the result was the death of six soldiers.
It was unimaginable for Pontius that his army could face an army with such great individual combat skill and strong will to fight and manage to win.
As a military leader and chief of a large Samnite tribe, General Pontius knew perfectly well the qualities of the soldiers of his tribes and of the Lucanian tribe.
Pontius's unrealistic ideas of continuing to attack Rome quickly vanished, and the priority shifted to fleeing the battlefield and hiding the entire tribe in the mountains.
The exhausted General Pontius ordered his messengers to transmit the order for a full retreat; continuing to face such a terrifying enemy on the battlefield was a useless effort.
The messengers ran across the chaotic battlefield shouting General Pontius's orders in a loud voice, causing the demoralized Samnite and Lucanian soldiers to abandon the battlefield.
There was no time to organize an orderly retreat; the battlefield was completely chaotic, and signs of retreat had already emerged, with small and scattered groups of Samnite and Lucanian soldiers taking advantage of the chaos to escape.
Sooner or later, the frightened Samnite and Lucanian soldiers abandoned the battle en masse and fled in scattered groups in all directions.
The early retreat and the complex mountainous terrain could save more lives of Samnite and Lucanian soldiers, preventing the pursuit of the fearsome black-armored army from succeeding.
Regardless of the era, a person or group wandering through unknown mountainous terrain would be affected by nature, and the chances of getting lost would be very high.
The Samnite and Lucanian army was familiar with the mountainous terrain, but they also knew the dangers of getting lost in nature.
Pontius, upon observing the situation, quickly withdrew from the chaotic battlefield with a handful of Samnite soldiers from his tribe who were nearby.
In a moment of crisis, survival became Pontius's main objective.
The clone soldiers were like unstoppable beasts with the sole purpose of killing the enemy.
The Samnite and Lucanian soldiers, regardless of whether they fled or surrendered, were killed by the clone soldiers, and their corpses stained the mountainous terrain red.
The enemy's retreat did not disturb the clone army, and the unstoppable attack unfolded with greater ferocity.
In one corner of the battlefield, General Papio Mutilo, along with a dozen soldiers, was facing a group of black-armored soldiers.
Papio Mutilo had separated from Pontius at the beginning of the battle with the intention of stabilizing the order of the formation.
Mutilo's efforts bore no fruit, and as a result, he found himself surrounded by the enemy with no chance of escape.
When facing a normal Roman army, General Mutilo and his experienced warriors could break through and escape easily by taking advantage of the complex mountainous terrain.
On the contrary, the chances of escaping were very slim when facing the black-armored army, which possessed excellent combat skills.
Mutilo was wounded and had a sword cut on his right shoulder that he received while taking an opportunity to attack a black-armored soldier.
The desperate Samnite soldiers who were with Mutilo gathered their courage and ran shouting like madmen against the enemy army.
Surrender was not an option, and the few Samnites and Lucanians who intended to surrender were easily killed.
The only option the cornered Samnite soldiers had was to fight frantically and try to open a breach in order to escape.
Mutilo was also among the desperate soldiers, and holding his short sword with the only arm he could move, he was among the first to lead the attack.
The clone soldiers also faced the group of cornered Samnite soldiers without showing fear in their expressions.
The greatest fear that the Samnite and Lucanian army felt toward the black-armored soldiers was their indifferent expression when killing their comrades or when dying.
The clone soldiers, with expressionless faces and completely silent, were very different from any army, causing fear among the Samnite and Lucanian army.
Some Samnite and Lucanian soldiers believed that the black-armored soldiers were possessed by ghosts and did not fear death because they were living corpses.
Many rumors spread about the origins of the clone army among the Samnite and Lucanian troops, and the emblem of the three severed heads impaled on spears also fueled superstition about the clone army.
In Rome, rumors about the clone army were also circulating.
The almost suicidal actions of the clone army in the battle to conquer Rome did not go unnoticed by the population of the city.
Many Roman soldiers who managed to escape witnessed the suicidal attacks of the clone army, and paranormal theories spread rapidly among the Roman population.
Sulla also knew the various rumors about the clone army and the abnormality of the black-armored soldiers.
One of the reasons for denying the clone army access to the city of Rome was the fear that the black-armored soldiers caused among the population.
Even Sulla's soldiers feared the expressionless clone army, causing charlatans within the city of Rome to see an increase in the sale of protective amulets against evil spirits.
On the other hand, on the mountainous battlefield, the Samnite and Lucanian army fled in all directions while being pursued by the clone soldiers.
General Mutilo ultimately could not escape and was killed.
A clone soldier, upon seeing the elaborate general's armor on Mutilo's corpse, cut off his head and impaled it on a spear.
Septimus had no intention of taking prisoners; the complex mountainous terrain was very exhausting, and transporting prisoners was extremely tiring.
On the other hand, Septimus used prisoners to torture and skin them with the purpose of creating a banner of human skin or crafting the human-skin cloak he desired, but the exhausting journey through the rugged mountain paths discouraged Septimus from moving with prisoners.