It was not easy for the monster coalition to retreat at this point. In fact, it was nearly impossible.
On a battlefield of hundreds of thousands, soldiers were interwoven like threads in a tapestry. If one part tried to pull away, it would tug on everything around it. Shouting a retreat wasn't enough to pull your troops back. This wasn't a game where you could drag a box around your units with a mouse and click retreat.
The gods' coalition had long anticipated this moment. They tightened their hold, locking the monster coalition in place. Cavalry units surged to the rear, surrounding and tearing apart the enemy's formation.
"Your commander has fled! Surrender!" came the thunderous roar from the coalition's front lines.
The front-line monster soldiers turned back—and what they saw shattered their resolve.
Fighting had already taken everything from them. Now, with the ogre general abandoning them, their morale crumbled. What reason was left to continue?
These warriors were no pushovers. They were elite troops. But their collapse wasn't due to weakness; it was the overwhelming power of their enemy and the betrayal from their leaders that undid them.
At their core, they were vassals of the kobolds. If this had been a regular battle, they could have held their ground. But their confidence lived and died with the kobolds.
As long as the ogres remained strong, they had clung to a shred of hope that reinforcements might turn the tide. Now that hope was gone. The will to fight evaporated.
One by one, they surrendered under the crushing momentum of the gods' forces. Only the ogre general and a few of his elite bodyguards escaped.
Without a moment's hesitation, the remaining troops laid down their arms and raised their hands in surrender, accepting the coalition's call.
Two cavalry units were dispatched to pursue the fleeing ogres. Meanwhile, the coalition of gods began processing the large number of prisoners.
Most of the captives came from three major tribes: gnolls, goblins, and murlocs. Alongside them were over ten thousand kobold warriors, including three thousand dragon blood kobolds.
The Dragon Blood Legion, surrounded after the gnoll general's retreat, had no chance to escape. Though powerful, they couldn't withstand the concentrated assault of so many elite legions.
After all, nearly every army here was forged from elite warriors.
"What about casualties?" Mo Kongwu asked grimly.
"We lost nearly eight thousand," Lin Ye answered, his expression tight. "These monsters were tougher than we expected."
"Eight thousand?" Fang Xingchen's eyes widened in disbelief.
Considering that his own forces, as well as Zhang Kexin's, were now composed solely of shooters and priests, the casualties clearly came from just three people.
Eight thousand elite warriors. At a rough average, each commander had lost over two thousand troops.
These weren't raw recruits. These were trained, seasoned warriors, battle-hardened and extraordinarily ranked. Losing so many wasn't just painful—it was devastating.
"But... that doesn't make sense," Zhang Kexin frowned. "From what I saw, we were dominating the whole time. How did we end up with such heavy losses?"
"...That..." Lin Ye hesitated and slowly turned toward Su Xingyu.
Everyone else followed his gaze.
Su Xingyu shrugged. "I let the newly joined jackals go up front to get real combat experience. They needed to get used to the intensity. Losses were bound to happen."
Though the jackal warriors had received the favor of darkness, they were still new recruits. Compared to the monster coalition, their foundation was lacking. Heavy losses were expected.
"Alright, enough about losses. Let's talk about what we gained," Lin Ye said, changing the subject. "We've taken in nearly one hundred and thirty thousand prisoners. All elite. If anyone wants to recruit them, follow the old rules."
"I'll take the gnolls," Su Xingyu said at once. "You can divide the rest."
Lin Ye looked at him with surprise. "Just the gnolls? You sure?"
Given the performance on the battlefield, the kobolds had clearly proven more effective. Su Xingyu's choice seemed odd.
Sensing the curiosity, Su Xingyu explained, "My tribe's not a big melting pot. If their value is low, you can compensate me with more resources later."
"Fair enough."
The four commanders nodded. Lin Ye asked the others, "What about the rest of you?"
After a brief discussion, the prisoners were distributed.
Due to restrictions among tribal bloodlines, Zhang Kexin didn't take any prisoners. The elves were naturally incompatible with these races. They simply couldn't coexist.
Lin Ye declined as well, for similar reasons.
Fang Xingchen took a large number of kobolds and murlocs. His clan, the lizardmen, shared some similarities with these species, making integration easier.
Mo Kongwu took the remaining ogres. As the orc god, he could accept all orc species—even goblins.
He just didn't want the goblins. They were too weak to be useful.
After the division was complete, the two cavalry units returned. They'd made some progress, but had failed to fully eliminate the fleeing kobolds.
No one was surprised.
Though defeated, the kobold warriors—especially the dragon blood kobolds—remained terrifyingly strong. Two cavalry units alone weren't enough to wipe them out. The pursuit had simply been a way to thin their numbers.
After a short rest, the coalition of gods set off again. This time, their goal was to strike directly at the ogre tribe's base and eliminate them once and for all.
But before they even reached the ogre stronghold, a vast force appeared in the distance. Tens of thousands of ogres, over two hundred and fifty thousand strong, marched forward in formation.
The coalition forces stared in stunned silence.
Wasn't the strength of this plane fragment a bit too ridiculous?
This was the true advantage of the monster tribes. They might not form vast empires, but their entire population could be mobilized for war. Every citizen was a soldier.
Quantity, in this case, was its own kind of power.
While the commanders of the gods grumbled inwardly, both sides wasted no time. They launched a wave of long-range attacks to begin the second clash.
Fireballs lit up the sky. Arrows rained down like hail.
Then the real battle began. The two armies collided with a thunderous roar.
This ogre-dominant force proved to be even more formidable than expected.
The kobold warlocks unleashed volleys of fireballs, priests cast strength-enhancing blessings, and dragon blood kobolds triggered their terrifying blood bursts.
Even though the gods' coalition had gone all-out from the start, they struggled to gain the upper hand.
From noon until nightfall, the battle raged on. Blades clashed, spells ignited the skies, and the earth trembled beneath the fury of war.
Only when night truly fell did the gods' coalition claim a narrow victory.
They stood among the smoldering wreckage of the battlefield, breathing heavily, weapons slick with blood. The gnoll army had withdrawn, leaving behind a field of corpses and the bitter sting of exhaustion.
But the war was far from over.