After several days of advancing, the outline of the Second Defensive Line had appeared at the far end of the horizon.
The ash-black walls lay across the dark-red wasteland like a scar.
Lynn stopped advancing and sent out the Shadow Flyers to scout the surrounding area.
His mission was to clear out the Holy-Light Creatures within the defensive line. There was no need to risk approaching the Second Defensive Line.
It would be more trouble than it was worth.
The insect swarm scattered, flying silently close to the ground, slipping into cracks between rubble, circling around black rocks, and passing through the shadows.
This area was already close to the front line, where Holy Light Faction patrols were far denser than in the rear. He needed to know what lay ahead.
The swarm's vision overlapped in his mind, like countless screens playing at once.
Most of the images were empty: rubble, sand, black rocks, and the occasional lone Holy-Light Creature, which the swarm simply avoided.
There was no need to dispatch the Undead army for scattered Holy-Light Creatures. The flying Undead could sweep them away directly.
One of the flyers emerged from a pile of rubble, and its view suddenly opened up.
Ahead lay a dried-up river valley. There was no water in its bed, only gray-white sand.
Across the valley, a force was on the march.
Lynn enlarged the image.
At the front were paladins mounted on towering Holy-Light Warhorses, their full armor gleaming gold beneath the dark-red sky.
Their armor was not made of ordinary metal. Fine patterns covered its surface—Holy-Light Runes capable of automatically activating shields in battle.
They held long spears, their tips golden as frozen light.
The warhorses' hooves struck the ground, leaving glowing hoofprints with every step. The marks lingered in the sand for