The distance between the central command and the enemy was less than three kilometers.
Once an order was given, there would be no time to change it before the two armies collided.
By then, the situation would be beyond the control of simple commands.
Why was ancient warfare so difficult?
It was not due to a disparity in military strength.
Rather, it was a matter of communication.
War was a battle of logistics and a battle of communication.
Whoever had the sturdier logistics could endure longer.
Whoever had better communication could be more flexible.
Those with good communication were like a nimble athlete who had pressed an acceleration button, moving with incredible speed.
In contrast, those with poor communication were like a clumsy giant moving at half-speed, as sluggish as a maggot.
The difference was obvious when comparing the two.
Before the giant could even throw a single punch, the athlete would have landed three and already moved to a different spot.
Even if there was a massive weight difference, the athlete would inevitably win.
This was the advantage of communication.
Unfortunately, communication in this era was inherently unstable.
With the existence of mana elements, interference was a common occurrence.
Even if Luo Li wanted to create something like a radio, it seemed that electrical elements were equally susceptible to mana interference.
In this world, disrupting the transmission of mana signals was not nearly as difficult as it was in her original world.
To interfere with the mana in a specific area, one only needed to cast a spell that threw the elements into chaos.
That was exactly what Luo Li was facing now.
The demons had clearly come fully prepared.
Even though Luo Li possessed a mana stone capable of contacting the Pope, she could not establish a connection.
The current situation was still under control.
Her desire to contact the Pope was merely a precaution for a worst-case scenario.
She looked up at the army in the distance.
Tens of thousands of demon elites had gathered at this moment.
Looking at the demon army from Luo Li's position, it felt like a massive black tide crashing onto the shore.
As it surged, it seemed as if it intended to swallow everyone whole.
On her side, she only had twelve thousand knights left. Although they had been restored by her skills, they would be little more than sacrifices in a head-on collision.
The reason this strategy had been executed so smoothly at the start was that the dragon race's numbers completely overwhelmed the feathered serpent tribe.
With forty to fifty dragons facing only five feathered serpents, they even had the capacity to spare a portion of their force to blockade the airspace.
They could even provide long-range support to the ground troops.
This situation had allowed over sixteen thousand knights to weave through the demon army's central command.
Whenever they encountered a difficult point, the dragons would preemptively blast it with Dragon Breath before the knights even had to charge.
This had opened a path of survival directly for the knights.
Even so... they had still lost over four thousand men.
It would be even worse now.
Fighting was out of the question; any further combat would surely expose their weakness.
"Dominica, notify the entire army to continue the retreat."
"Yes!"
Dominica responded and quickly turned to give the order. The messenger did not dare to delay and immediately went to inform Robert and Kariel.
These two knights of the Kingdom of the Moon were the only ones remaining in the central command.
It was precisely because these two Guardian Knights were present that this battle had gone so smoothly.
Fortunately, neither of them had died, or things would have been even more troublesome.
The central command retreated slowly, and the Saint's Carriage turned directly toward the coast.
The army split into two groups: one retreated while the other stood by on standby.
This was to prevent the demon army from suddenly charging. Even during a retreat, there had to be enough troops to guard the rear.
This prevented a large-scale rout from occurring.
Standing on the Saint's Carriage, Luo Li turned back to look at the demon army behind them.
Their marching speed was incredibly slow.
It did not look like they intended to fight at all. Instead, they were pressing forward step by step, trying to force the human army into a corner.
"Dominica, how much further is it?"
"Replying to Your Highness, it is less than fifty kilometers to the coastline."
"I see... Go notify the Dragon King. Have all dragons take to the sky. They must ensure the demon army has no chance to scout the coastline."
"By your command!"
Between the evacuation of the Snow Country and the subsequent battle, it was already early morning.
Fortunately, a storm in the distance had covered the sky in pitch-black darkness.
Even though it was day, it was as dark as the middle of the night.
Violent winds swept across the land.
It was clear that rain was imminent.
The low atmospheric pressure and humid air were suffocating.
Dark clouds rolled in the distance, surging like waves of the sea.
In this weather, as long as the demons did not specifically turn to investigate, they should be unable to see the hidden troops in the distance.
After all, the elevation of this island was at least dozens to a hundred meters above sea level.
This height restricted their ability to see what was happening on the coast.
Only in this way could they safely pass through this most dangerous period.
If not for this storm, Luo Li would not have dared to take such a risk.
Once the sun rose and visibility cleared, the ground troops would be completely exposed to anyone in the air.
With only ten thousand knights left in the central command, the Demon Emperor would realize something was wrong no matter how foolish he was.
It seemed... Heaven's will was on her side.
While Luo Li was lost in these thoughts, a voice suddenly came from outside the carriage.
"Your Highness Luo Li."
Hearing that raspy voice, Luo Li instantly recognized who it was.
"Is that Mr. Black Dehn? Please, come in."
"I will not come in. I am here to inform you that the knights on the coast have all boarded the ice floes and are currently preparing to depart."
"Was it smooth?"
"Not particularly. There was a small problem, but it has been resolved."
A problem?
Luo Li felt a jolt of anxiety the moment she heard those words.
However, the next sentence put her at ease.
She pressed a hand to her chest to calm her racing heart before asking another question.
"What happened?"
Outside the carriage, the black dragon Black Dehn hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"You possess great prestige."
"?"
Luo Li's mind was filled with questions as she pulled back the curtain and poked half her head out to look at Black Dehn standing by the window.
"Mr. Black Dehn, what does that mean? I am completely bewildered."
Looking at the Saintess before him, Black Dehn knew she would be confused.
In fact, had he not seen it with his own eyes, he would not have believed it either.
In less than ten days, this Saintess had managed to gain such high prestige among the knights of other human nations.
He recalled the scene from a few minutes ago.
When the knights of the Snow Country and the Kingdom of Flame who had retreated to the coast heard the full plan, more than half of them refused to board the ice floes.
The reason was that they did not want to leave Luo Li behind on the demon island while they evacuated first.
From Black Dehn's experience, these people were not acting out of fear of their duties.
They truly did not want this Saintess to perish on the demon island.
Black Dehn did not understand.
Was it not said that the human race was not harmonious?
That the relationship between nations was no better than that of distant relatives?
When there was money, everyone showed up. When there was none, who cared who you were?
Yet, the scene he had witnessed shocked him.
Such immense prestige had been gathered in just a few days.
It was hard to imagine that if this war continued for a few more months, these knights might directly defect and swear fealty to this Saintess of the Moon.
It was not just possible; it was almost certain.
At this thought, Black Dehn could not help but feel a chill in his heart.
As a member of the dragon race and a purebred of the black dragon tribe, he understood the strength of humans very well.
He also understood the strength of his own kind.
Humans possessed advantages that dragons did not: numbers, technology, and wisdom.
These were things the dragon race needed to develop.
But clearly, the powerful bodies and innate pride of the dragons made them disdainful of such research.
As a result, for a thousand years, the dragon race had made almost no progress in anything other than restoring their population.
Wisdom... dragons had it, but they never used it in the right places.
They either fought over shiny gold objects or grew jealous over a mate.
Fortunately, no matter how intense their internal strife, dragons treated their kin as equals.
Even the children of enemies were raised as their own.
Even if they returned for revenge later, the dragon race would not fear it.
Because of this, while dragons seemed to fight a lot internally, they were actually a solid monolith.
The pride of the dragon race was deeply rooted in their species.
Though there might be conflict between individuals, they were incredibly firm when facing outsiders.
For example, if two dragons shared a deep hatred, but one of them fell ill and was bullied by another race, the other would fight to the death to defend their sick rival.
This was the collective sense of honor within the dragon race—that innate arrogance.
'I can strike my own kind because we are equals, but no other race may lay a finger on them!'
Humans were the exact opposite. They waged wars even among their own kind.
They did not hesitate to kill each other, even between parents and children.
This caused the dragon race to look down on humans.
But Black Dehn knew one thing.
This internal friction brought incredible wisdom to the human race.
Their species was the most intensely self-conflicting race on the continent. Every other race paled in comparison.
Yet, it was precisely this fierce infighting that forced humans to sharpen every tool at their disposal.
He had visited the Kingdom of the Moon once, and there was nothing special about it.
This had initially led him to have a low opinion of humans.
He had even wondered how such a cowardly race managed to survive on this continent.
But after visiting the Kingdom of the Sea once, that thought was instantly shattered.
The bustling streets and complex technology had left him speechless with shock.
This had taught him about the bottomless potential of the human race.
Fortunately, the internal friction of humans, while driving their development, also limited their potential.
However... the Saintess before him filled him with dread!
Was a Saintess who could gain such prestige in a few short days truly a good thing for the other races of the continent?
Black Dehn did not know, nor did he want to know.
Such a thing was too terrifying.
He knew all too well how powerful human internal friction was.
If the human race truly unified and pulled in the same direction, that immense potential would explode instantly.
At that point... would there be any room left for the other races on the continent?
It was certain that if humans truly united, other races would find it nearly impossible to remain on the continent.
Facing Luo Li, this conclusion constantly echoed in Black Dehn's mind.
For a split second, he even felt an urge to kill this human Saintess.
If she died, it would be impossible for the human race to unify, at least in the short term.
However, that thought perished as quickly as it had arisen.
Because he... had used his name as a dragon and his own pride to recognize this Saintess.
Unless she truly reached the point of unifying the continent and exterminating other races, Black Dehn would never become her enemy.
This was the pride in his bones!
This was the oath of a dragon, which could never be regretted.
Thinking of this, Black Dehn smiled.
"It was nothing much. It is just that your knights were not very cooperative."
When he said 'your', Black Dehn deliberately emphasized the word to see Luo Li's reaction.
If her reaction was a smile, then there would be trouble.
It would mean she had intentionally gathered their hearts and was pleased with her success.
However, Luo Li's reaction did not disappoint him.
"Is that so?"
Luo Li's brow furrowed, her face clouding with deep worry.
"What did they say? Why were they uncooperative?"
"Well... it was nothing serious. They simply did not want you to die here. Those few... Guardian Knights?"
Black Dehn was not entirely sure about the human titles.
He did not care about the strength of individual humans; no matter how strong an individual was, they were a mere insect before a dragon.
They were nothing to fear.
What he feared was the unity of the human race as a whole.
"Yes, was it them?"
Luo Li recalled the situation. It likely was those Guardian Knights.
"What did they say?"
Black Dehn shook his head.
"Nothing much. They just did not want you to guard the rear, so they were a bit difficult."
"And then? You did not use force, did you?"
Luo Li asked anxiously.
The power of the dragon race was known to everyone on the continent, and because of that, their methods were often violent.
Luo Li was worried.
She absolutely did not want to see a conflict between the dragons and the humans now, nor in the future.
"It was fine. I explained the details of your plan to them and told them... it was nothing."
Black Dehn hesitated for a moment at the end.
"Then... that is good. At least things went smoothly. Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Black Dehn."
"Do not mention it."
Black Dehn directly transformed into a cloud of black mist.
With a dragon's roar, the massive black dragon flapped its wings and departed.
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