The peace lasted only for a couple of minutes.
Then the tree line to the north dissolved.
Something hit it, and the trees simply ceased to be obstacles. What replaced them was a wall of bodies, moving low and fast, thousands of them packed so tightly that the ground beneath their legs disappeared under the noise they made.
East flank, same thing. West flank, same thing.
My field officer said something. I wasn't listening.
I was already counting.
Three directions. Thousands of them. The outer ring was made up of the same stone-carapaced variants we had encountered on approach — fast, coordinated, their plated bodies catching the light as they charged.
Behind them, larger ones. Slower, heavier, built like siege weapons that had learned to walk.
My army held formation behind me.
I stepped forward.
Alone.
"Stay back," I said. "Watch your footing when they fall."
I leveled my spear and exhaled once.
"Moonlight Dragon Lightning Strike."
