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This will be the most luxurious gamble.

Chapter 105: Twin Cities and the Golden Flame of Tyranny

"Twin Cities" is a city with great historical significance. Thanks to its strategic location, it became the heart of the Golden Great Plains. Originally, it was the elves who built this beautiful city. After the rise of the orc tribes, they fought many battles to seize it. However, the orcs, who had different tastes, did not appreciate the elves' refined architecture. They burned down the elves' city and, next to its ruins, built a fortress-like stronghold, using it as the central hub of the great plains. Four hundred years ago, humans defeated the last large orc army here. They inherited the city built by the orcs and further constructed a new city on the ruins of the elves' site. Now, the two cities have become interconnected in some parts, forming a unique twin city. One city serves as a military fortress, while the other has become a commercial hub. After centuries of expansion, the two cities are now half conjoined, forming a one-of-a-kind dual city.

Shamanada's elite orc army of 300,000, with the Lion Tribe at its core, including the elite forces of the Bear Tribe, Yak Tribe, and Wolf Tribe, and supported by the air forces of the Eagle Tribe, has become the most powerful legion the orcs have fielded in centuries. Moreover, the strongest Shaman priests of the War God Temple are supporting them, along with a large number of magical beasts and super magical beasts. Even if humans outnumber them ten to one, they would not be able to resist such a force.

However, although the human response was a step slower, the troops originally stationed here were human elite forces. Later, more agile and well-equipped units also arrived to reinforce the defenses. Thus, before the orc attack, approximately 700,000 troops had assembled to defend the Twin Cities and their surrounding fortresses, successfully establishing a defensive line against the orc army.

Since the pig tribe warriors have devolved into savage half-orcs, no one but me, who possesses the divine artifact "Dominion Scepter," can train them into useful soldiers. Therefore, the Yak Tribe, being the most numerous, had to take on the role of frontline assault forces. Fortunately, their combat effectiveness far exceeds that of the pig tribe, and they have excelled in this role.

Although the human defenses in the Twin Cities were extremely tight, they were gradually forced to retreat under the orcs' fierce attacks. After 100,000 orc warriors gave their lives over seven days, most of the outer fortresses surrounding the Twin Cities were cleared out. However, after retreating to the inner defenses of the Twin Cities, there were still over 500,000 human troops, mostly elite soldiers. Additionally, human reinforcements continued to arrive from various locations, although those who dared to approach the Twin Cities were picked off by the Wolf Tribe's elite "Sky Wolf Guards" and our "Snow Wolf Knights." Nevertheless, subsequent human forces stopped at a distance from us, continuously gathering and preparing to join the battle, forcing us to divert troops for defense.

The effect of combined arms operations is entirely different from what I had seen in my previous life. Despite having the fortress of the Twin Cities, humans did not dare to defend passively against the overwhelming orc air forces. Passive defense would only make them easy targets for orc air raids. Even though humans had more than 500 official mages and ten times that number in magic apprentices and magic cultivators, they could only temporarily force the orc air forces to retreat from low altitudes but could not solve the problem entirely. Therefore, humans had to construct layered defensive lines, retreating into fortified positions equipped with anti-air defenses when subjected to heavy attacks and then launching counterattacks with elite troops to retake lost positions. Both sides poured blood into this tug-of-war, with every piece of land becoming a deadly domain covered in corpses.

Due to the intense battle and the diminishing attempts by humans to break through into the Twin Cities, the wolf knights responsible for intercepting human reinforcements were gradually called back to the Twin Cities battlefield.

When I returned to the frontlines of the Twin Cities with our forces, I truly saw the power of human elite troops.

That day, I led a small squad of Snow Wolf Knights to reinforce a position that had been under attack for a long time. It was a stone fortress built on high ground, defended by about a thousand human soldiers. As I arrived, I saw both sides' soldiers engaged in combat around the city gate.

Seven or eight minotaur warriors carried heavy totem poles, their heavy steps shaking the ground as they charged toward the gate, followed by dozens of heavy hammer-wielding sheep tribe warriors. In recent years, with the help of "Golden Bell Shield," these vassal races had produced many warriors who had mastered combat energy. Although they could not take on the critical roles of the five major combat tribes, they were still capable of following in charges. At the gate stood a dozen royal swordsmen in golden-trimmed armor, showing no fear in the face of the orc army's charge. At the moment of contact, the fourth-level golden rank "Nameless Sword Technique" was unleashed, creating a dense net of sharp sword energy that cut down the frontline yak warriors, spraying blood, and even decapitating a few sheep tribe warriors who had charged too close.

"Boom—Boom—Boom—" Three powerful blue-violet fireballs flew from the city wall, slamming into the orc positions. The low-level but highly practical magic caused massive casualties among the sheep tribe warriors. Following that, a mid-level wind spell, "Whirlwind," created a tornado of vacuum blades on the battlefield. Orc warriors who had survived the fireball explosions could not dodge the deadly blades. In an instant, the white wind pillars turned crimson, and the royal swordsmen took the opportunity to finish off the remaining yak warriors.

Watching from afar, I understood that this kind of coordinated multi-layered attack of magic and combat energy was a tactic humans had developed to deal with orcs' resilient nature. After several rounds of combined attacks, less than 20% of the orc warriors in front could survive. However, although the humans suffered no casualties, it was not without cost. The frontline golden-rank swordsmen had limited energy, and while the number and types of mages behind them were unknown, they were certainly not abundant. This joint attack could only be launched two or three more times at most before it reached its limit, after which it would be a pure contest of military strength and endurance. The orc commanders clearly understood this as well, which was why the warriors sent earlier were at most black iron rank, merely expendable troops. Even so, I was surprised that the humans could eliminate orc warriors from the five major tribes without taking any casualties. I quickly led my men to locate the commander of this orc unit.