War drums thundered and battle formations crept forward. Sheets of magical light enveloped the Northern Allied Forces' warriors, granting them all manner of buffs and making them stronger than ever. The soldiers of many races began to believe they were invincible, capable of crushing anything in their path.
On the Undead Empire's side, there was no movement. The Northern Alliance's Orcs, the Human Legion supporting them from the rear, Green's Undead Troops, and the Marine Armor corps standing ready all watched the enemy in silence.
Sometimes silence was a kind of strength. It filled the battlefield with a deep, murderous chill.
General James stood on a Small Rise behind the front line, where he could take in the entire battlefield. Through his Soul Link to the Great Ape King, he also received an overhead view showing the positions of both armies.
"Heavy cavalry behind their left wing? Are they planning to strike when the fighting bogs down and break through my flank?" General James murmured. He could not see behind the enemy's left wing from where he stood, but the Great Ape King's shared information showed him part of a cavalry corps: at least ten thousand fully armed Centaurs concealed in a dense forest, each crouching low to hide their presence.
Apart from that ambush force, General James found no other problems. The Northern Allied Forces' lines were conventional, orderly, and tightly packed, with no obvious weakness.
That was normal on a battlefield. The weaker side was usually the one that resorted to surprise attacks or schemes to find a way to win. The Northern Allied Forces considered themselves the stronger side. In their eyes, both their total troop strength and their number of Calamity Rank powerhouses were more than enough to crush the Undead Empire's Northern Legion.
Under those