Dragon wings blotted out the sky, while their kin fought across the earth.
Caesar had indeed failed to notice the ambushers hidden within the jungle at first. From such an extreme height, looking down at the ground, creatures the size of humans probably appeared little larger than mice to him.
Moreover, while flying at high speed, most scenery flashed past in an instant. Caesar was rather insensitive to stationary objects, not to mention that, to avoid detection, the other side had deliberately covered themselves in capes of grass and leaves suited for concealment.
Under the influence of so many factors, even though Caesar's vision was more precise than that of ordinary dragons, it was difficult for him to discover them.
What truly alerted the black dragon was the combat capability assessment device in his right pupil. As he passed over this area and scanned below, the thing kept jumping nonstop, refreshing at least dozens of sets of values on the virtual panel.
Scan analysis result: Carbon-based life-form.
Comprehensive combat capability assessment: 40–50.
The scanned values fluctuated somewhat, but all the targets were roughly within this range, without exception.
Other than Roy's soldiers, Caesar could not think of any race in the Wilds that matched those values. Besides, after circling several times and searching carefully to no avail, he could almost conclude that the ones lying in ambush here were human troops.
However, although the black dragon sensed something amiss, he did not immediately fly into a rage and attack. Instead, he pretended not to know, flying toward the distant sky as though no one else existed, circling about as he waited for the orcs to reach the battlefield.
Once the orcs were in position, Caesar informed the Stone Crow Tribe of the potential danger ahead and told them to wait