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"What's going on?" I asked calmly.

"Just now, the intelligence report brought news that the Radiant Temple faction seems to be preparing to end the war on our side before the decisive battle, so they have committed two hundred Dragon Golems to this front, and the eighty thousand elite troops from the initial arrival of the Yellow Dragon and Tiele forces have also been mobilized against us. This time, it really looks bad," Siegfried said, flying above our heads. By the time he finished speaking, he had circled around seven or eight times.

"Get down here first," I said without looking up. My left hand suddenly extended and yanked Siegfried down from mid-air, throwing him onto the opposite chair. "Tell me the details. What are these Dragon Golems? What is their combat capability? When will they arrive?"

"The details aren't very clear. Our spies embedded in Saint Spirit Mountain are of low rank. They only mentioned the name Dragon Golem. It seems to be a dragon-shaped artificial war puppet. According to visual estimates, each Dragon Golem is about six meters tall and fifteen meters long, covered in blue-green scales, weighing between twenty to thirty tons. Their running speed is no less than that of a horse. Their combat effectiveness is difficult to estimate, but preliminary guesses suggest they are above wild grade-nine magical beasts," Siegfried said, calming down and catching his breath before relaying the specifics of the intelligence.

"Dragon-shaped... puppets... Heh, it seems I've found a breakthrough," I said, momentarily surprised before breaking into a happy laugh.

"In that case, it seems the humans are planning to end the war on this front before the decisive battle as well. That way, we won't have to worry about them holding back and stalling for time. However, if that's the case, the four Crystal Dragons must not be deployed into battle too early. To lure the Blood Duke into treating the Dragon Golems as a decisive weapon, we'll have to sacrifice part of our forces as bait. Before that, I need to know, are you certain the humans won't suspect that you tampered with those documents?" Katherine immediately understood my intentions and began formulating the battle plan.

"Of course. The concept of an artificial soul was an idea that even the Twelve Sages couldn't complete. Lijia's emergence was entirely accidental, so the humans could never have anticipated the existence of someone who survived alongside the Twelve Sages. To cover her tracks, I ordered her to use brute force to disable the magic mechanisms in Saint Spirit Mountain, deliberately leading the humans to believe it was the effect of a powerful magical artifact. In the documents handed over to the Radiant Temple, I omitted some seemingly important blueprints and formulas. This both reduces the effectiveness of the puppets they manufacture and, should they discover my identity, makes them think my tricks end there. They won't suspect that some fundamental yet crucial information was seamlessly altered," I explained.

"Hey, big brother, what are you saying? Do we actually have a plan to handle the humans?" Siegfried asked, completely confused.

"Handle them? No, no. I'm not planning to handle them. I'm planning to use them against the humans' main force." Seeing Siegfried's bewildered expression, I had to explain, "The humans' so-called Dragon Golems are likely a replica of Crystal Dragons, and the technology for Crystal Dragons was provided by me. I tampered with the technical documents. The war puppets manufactured according to that information will malfunction at critical moments. If, during a crucial moment in a battle between two armies, one side's main force suddenly becomes immobilized, and three Crystal Dragons appear on the other side, can you imagine the consequences?"

"Ooooh, I get it! Big brother, you're really cunning, despicable, and amazing!"

Looking at Siegfried laughing maniacally in front of me, I couldn't help but reflect that, aside from his talent in martial arts and magic, he was otherwise a complete idiot.

I got up, grabbed Siegfried, and tossed him out the door. Then, I turned back to Katherine. "The Dragon Golems might be our chance for victory, but I don't think the humans have revealed all their tricks. Although the War God Temple has mobilized intelligence networks built over centuries to support our campaign against the human world, it's impossible to have complete control over the humans' movements. The humans probably have some hidden assets, which is why they're confident about winning this front quickly."

Katherine nodded slightly. "Our faction's rise has only been a few years, and despite many unexpected miracles, our controlled territory is still lacking. Our spies can only obtain relatively common information. If the humans are truly intent on hiding certain military operations, it's difficult for us to get accurate intelligence. However, as you taught me in military strategy, 'knowing all information about both enemy and self ensures never being defeated.' But in reality, no one has ever been able to fully grasp all the information on the battlefield. This doesn't affect the generals' pursuit of victory. Our orc history's greatest general, Loren, once said, 'There are no generals who don't make mistakes. Making fewer mistakes and correcting them quickly leads to victory.' So don't worry, we will definitely win."

I said nothing, just smiled and wrapped my arm around Katherine's shoulder, silently reaffirming my trust in her.

The war unfolded silently. Within just fifteen days, what began as small skirmishes involving hundreds of soldiers escalated into massive clashes involving thousands. Both my forces and the human commander, the Blood Duke, continuously engaged in various forms of probing to gauge and evaluate each other's strength while adjusting our strategic deployments. After all, in the past four hundred years, only the Viking Empire had maintained long-term confrontations with the Orc Alliance. The army configuration of the Radiant Temple faction differed from the unique troop combinations of Fontainebleau. Which side had the advantage still required careful consideration from both commanders. Both sides aimed for a quick victory to reinforce other battlefronts, neither willing to suffer heavy losses. With time being of the essence, we couldn't afford to wait for intricate schemes to unfold.