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by adminTherefore, without me having to look for excuses, on the third day of my stay in the capital of Os, an urgent dispatch from the Alliance's Unified Command Headquarters arrived in my hands, ordering me to take the "Crystal Dragon" and proceed to the main battlefield of the Golden Plains to assist in the combat.
Although I was eager to move the main force over, it was practically impossible. The occupied areas were still plagued by human unrest, and the remnants in the south could launch a counterattack at any moment. Thus, I could only select a few elite units to be deployed for the upcoming battles.
As the commander of the orc army, Katherine bore the responsibility of commanding various forces, suppressing resistance, and intimidating the enemy, making it difficult for her to leave. Moreover, she had no intention of returning to fight under Orc King Samanda, her former nemesis. Therefore, she remained stationed in the capital of Os. Along with her stayed the Lich King, who, on one hand, was wary of directly confronting the Radiant Temple’s main force, especially the Pope, and on the other hand, coveted the hundreds of thousands of fresh corpses and souls left from the previous battle, intending to use them to practice a special necromantic magic. He also chose to remain in the Yinsi River area. I entrusted this skeletal mage with the task of protecting Katherine and transforming the two hundred "Dragon Golems." Additionally, Hai Ruo, the mermaid sorceress, also stayed behind.
Lijia, the Crystal Dragon Knight, being the commander and bearer of the "Crystal Dragon," naturally accompanied me. Jin Luosha, that little girl, after being separated from me for so long, now clung to me all day, threatening to cry if I didn’t let her come along, so she was also part of the western expedition. To deal with any potential Sword Saint-level figures, I also brought the "Ice Valkyrie" Cha as the final combat force, just in case.
As for the army, I only took ten thousand Snow Wolf Knights with me. After all, I did not intend to exhaust my own forces in the upcoming war. Only a cavalry unit like the Snow Wolf Knights, which can advance and retreat swiftly, could ensure minimal casualties until the end of the war.
According to reliable intelligence, Orc King Samanda’s Viking offensive force has already joined the main orc army in the War God Corridor, gathering nearly eight hundred thousand orcs on the Golden Plains. Unlike our Fontainebleau’s mixed half-orc forces, at least ninety percent of the Alliance’s elite forces are concentrated here. Not only the five major combat races but also the powerful but sparsely populated tribal armies, such as the Mammoth Knights and the Purple Rhino Knights, have participated in this battle. The War God Temple’s main forces, the "Demon Armor Knights" and the "Grand Shaman Corps," have also been mobilized. Under the leadership of the Pope, they have already engaged in several battles with the Radiant Temple’s "Sacred Sword Knights" and "Radiant Prayer Corps." To support these troops, the Alliance has mobilized nearly a million subjugated race personnel for transportation and supply, but the situation remains extremely tight. It is said that if the battle cannot be resolved within one or two months, the Alliance might collapse internally first.
The human side also lacks the ability to wage a prolonged war. Apart from the full commitment of the Temples, among the four protectorate kingdoms, apart from the Holy Os Kingdom, which I crippled, the other three kingdoms, along with more than a dozen small duchies, have gathered over one and a half million elite troops. Adding the at least eighty thousand troops retreating from the Viking Empire and the reinforcements from the Mercenary Empire, the total number of troops has approached three million. Most of these troops, except for the native forces, lack supplies, placing the heavy and terrifying logistical burden entirely on the Temples. For this reason, the Radiant Pope was forced to issue a "Holy War Decree," mobilizing all the believers in the Holy Kingdom Alliance to fully support the war.
The "Holy War" is the ultimate war mobilization order recorded in the "Radiant Canon," issued only in the most dire moments of the Radiant Temple, calling all believers to devote their entire resources to the war for faith. In principle, once this order is issued, all the believers of the Light God on the Mainland should act, contributing all their wealth and resources, and awaiting the Pope’s command. However, in reality, the current power and influence of the Radiant Temple have gradually declined. Even within the protectorate kingdoms, due to years of intentional or unintentional suppression by the royal families, the number of believers directly controlled by the Temple is far from the claimed one hundred percent. Moreover, even among the believers, only a few are willing to donate all their property to serve the Temple. There are also many small sects of the Light God appearing in various places, dividing the local believers. Therefore, only about ten to twenty percent of the people ultimately responded to the "Holy War" call.
Of course, given the human population base, even just one or two percent of the population in one-seventh of the continent amounts to several million people. These truly devout believers, using the simplest tools, have taken on the entire logistics task of the human allied army, a great feat. However, this extraordinary measure that touches the roots is not without its cost. If humans lose in the decisive battle, these most loyal believers will also suffer, and the Temple will lose its foundation in the western part of the Mainland.
Several million troops, forming more than a dozen large armies, are staging the most brutal drama on the vast Golden Plains. For the past month, both sides have divided into several fronts, repeatedly fighting over a dozen large cities on the Golden Plains, resulting in rivers of blood. The orcs are fierce and diverse in their military units, especially the air corps of the eagle tribes, consisting mainly of thousands of giant golden thunder eagles, supported by tens of thousands of eagle warriors and various flying magical beasts. Each sortie blocks out the sky, creating a majestic spectacle; even human dragon knights would flee, let alone ordinary air units.
While humans, though lacking in innate advantages and not having accumulated strength over the past few centuries, ultimately outnumber the orcs. With the advantage of fighting on home ground, despite the tense situation, they maintain a disciplined and orderly defense without signs of defeat. What frustrates the Temple is that after losing the key artifact for ice-based forbidden spells, none of the five Great Mages who currently possess forbidden spells can come to assist. Humans’ enemies are not just the orcs. The three mages who control wind, fire, and lightning forbidden spells reside in the southernmost part of the Mainland, constantly suppressing the elf nation on the Elf Island, which has tens of thousands of regular mages. The earth-element forbidden spell master lives in the Mercenary Empire, monitoring the underground world. The water-element forbidden spell mage in the Yellow Dragon Empire is responsible for restraining the mermaid empire in the sea. No one can make a move without potentially opening new fronts. The "Mages' Guild," led by these five forbidden spell masters, can only spare a small number of people to support the Temple, with limited impact on the war.
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