When the ogres sent out their army, the teams clearing out the outer monster tribes received the news immediately through the Sky-Splitting Eagle and quickly regrouped to discuss a strategy.
"Be mentally prepared. This opponent might be different from what we're used to," Su Xingyu warned grimly.
Through the eagle's sharp eyes, he had already observed key differences. Putting aside their numbers, the formation and discipline of this monster army were far from ordinary. The troops marched in lockstep, their rhythm flawless—more precise than most human armies.
In this world, aside from a few special races, human organization had always been the gold standard. But now, a legion of chaotic monsters was demonstrating that same level of cohesion. That alone made them elite.
"What do you mean?" Lin Ye's expression turned serious.
Until now, Su Xingyu had only told them that the Gnoll Tribe was mobilizing. He hadn't mentioned anything about the quality of their forces.
If even Su Xingyu found it worth mentioning, something was seriously off.
"There are two hundred thousand troops," Su Xingyu said simply. "Roughly thirty thousand of them are ogre warriors. The rest of the army is moving in perfect formation. It's no worse than a formal human military."
"What!" Mo Kongwu's face twisted in shock.
Lin Ye, who had firsthand experience in battle, frowned deeply. "Are you sure you saw that correctly?"
He knew Su Xingyu wouldn't make such a mistake, but the news was so unexpected that he had to confirm.
Fang Xingchen and Zhang Kexin stood to the side, puzzled by everyone's reaction. In their eyes, an army of two hundred thousand monsters didn't seem like anything new. Hadn't each of the three major tribes fielded armies that size?
"What do you think?" Su Xingyu replied calmly, meeting Lin Ye's eyes.
Lin Ye inhaled sharply and ran a hand through his hair. "This is bad."
"I'd rather fight four hundred thousand undisciplined monsters," Mo Kongwu muttered darkly.
To him, a chaotic mass of enemies was far less terrifying than a smaller but disciplined, well-coordinated army.
Lin Ye looked at the others. "So, do we fight... or pull back?"
A retreat wouldn't be a total loss. They had already gained significant rewards from subjugating the outer tribes. It would take time to digest those gains anyway.
But if they could conquer this entire plane fragment, the rewards—especially system rewards—would be far more substantial.
That thought steeled their resolve.
"Fight."
"We've come this far. Turning back now would be disgraceful."
Su Xingyu and Mo Kongwu nodded in agreement.
"Then we'll adjust our troop configurations," Lin Ye said. "Let's each take responsibility for a different unit type—archers, mages, tanks."
Up to this point, their coordination had been loose, with overlapping efforts and gaps in coverage.
For example, Fang Xingchen and Zhang Kexin had brought infantry soldiers, but those troops rarely saw action. With Su Xingyu and Lin Ye's warriors holding the flanks, enemies never broke through to the center.
If enemies did break through, their elite elf warriors and lizardmen would handle it. So the melee troops brought by Fang Xingchen and Zhang Kexin became dead weight.
It would be more efficient for them to deploy elven archers, priests, and fire lizard spellcasters. They could do far more damage from the rear lines.
Of course, it was risky to send only fragile ranged units without their own protection. They'd be placing their soldiers' lives in the hands of near-strangers. Before this battle, most of them hadn't even met face to face.
But now, they had to trust each other.
"Fine," Fang Xingchen said after a pause.
"Let's do it," Zhang Kexin added, nodding as well.
The other three made minor adjustments to optimize their troops.
With everyone reconfigured, the united army began marching into the plains to confront the incoming enemy force.
One day later, the two armies finally clashed.
The battlefield shook with the tension of nearly 400,000 troops. The collision of these two forces promised devastation.
The coalition of gods struck first.
Dozens of massive exploding fireballs, each nearly ten meters wide, shot toward the ogre army like blazing meteors.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions ripped through the goblin front line. Corpses flew, blood splattered, and screams filled the air.
The few who survived writhed on the ground in agony.
It felt like déjà vu for the goblins. They remembered too well the first time the ogres had used this tactic against them—hellfire raining from the sky.
"Kill them all!"
An ogre bellowed, and the monster army surged forward like a rising tide. Their eyes were wild, their bloodlust ignited. They looked as if they had been injected with pure madness.
The front lines were on the verge of colliding.
"Loose!" came the order from the other side.
Twenty thousand elven archers fired three consecutive volleys. The sky turned black as a rain of arrows descended on the enemy ranks.
Even with iron armor, the monsters couldn't withstand it. Arrows pierced through their defenses. Goblins and jackals dropped like wheat under a scythe.
"Damn it!"
The Gnoll General snarled in frustration. A whole company had been decimated before they even touched the enemy.
He roared out his next order. "Warlocks, fire! Target the enemy's right wing!"
Ten thousand warlocks raised their staffs in unison. A glowing storm of blue fireballs appeared above their army, covering the sky like a second sun.
"What the hell is that!?" someone shouted, eyes wide with disbelief.
The fireballs launched skyward, then began arcing down toward the coalition's right flank.
Simultaneously, a fast-moving group of jackal warriors dashed toward the same area. The plan was clear: blast a hole with the fireballs, then send in shock troops to finish the job.
Why not target the center? The enemy general wasn't blind.
On one side stood heavily armored minotaurs, towering and seemingly invincible. On the other, humans in sturdy gear but clearly less resilient.
Smashing through the weaker side was far more efficient.
The fireballs were slower than arrows but still too fast to ignore. As they neared, Ye Dashan's face darkened.
They're targeting us! he realized bitterly.
"Break it!"
He roared, and a ten-meter-long black energy blade exploded from his sword, slicing the air.
The soldiers behind him echoed the cry, unleashing waves of black energy. Countless blades rose like a mountain of shadow, darkening the sky itself.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Dozens of fireballs burst in mid-air, exploding one after another. A chain of shockwaves rippled outward, blasting heat across the battlefield.
They had neutralized nearly all of the fireballs.
But this was only the beginning.
The real battle had just begun.