The gravel of the golden plain is heated by the sun. On the sand dune, on the side that is slightly shielded from the sun, and on a long area near the river bank, there is a tent made of pure white cloth

This military camp that stretches to the far end with no end in sight is the gathering place for the coalition forces of the Nehekhara countries.

The light infantry, which can move faster than cavalry and chariots, had camped here a few days ago. The former and those troops carrying baggage will also arrive in the afternoon.

Alkadiza drove the chariot alone and arrived near the camp, but the noise below became louder and louder, especially after the soldiers noticed the dark-skinned king on the chariot.

The march in the past few days has made the entire army, including soldiers and nobles, miserable. In addition to having to walk, they actually need to march for nearly ten hours every day these days.

You know, no matter what happened in the past, they would just break camp at sunrise in the early morning and set up camp at noon. They could rest for a while and eat some solid food, and then have a whole afternoon to hunt, take care of the horses, collect firewood, find water, and do some work.

Rice.

In the past few days, all these chores had to be completed in just two hours dragging their tired bodies. Many times they even had to go hungry and continue marching.

The voices of complaints became louder and louder, almost collectively scorning Alkadiza.

Of course they knew that the new Khemri king was eager, but they didn't care. If it were just the Khemri king, they wouldn't even gather their troops.

The real threat comes from the leader of Lahmia, the vampire Neferata who is now known to all the kings.

If they offend that woman, she will definitely take revenge financially, and the losses will be greater than the total annihilation of their army during the Northern Expedition.

But a few days have passed, and they have never seen the woman who is enough to scare them. A mere king of Khemri is not enough to make the armies of other countries obey.

Before Alkadiza had time to think of how to appease him, the noises came to an abrupt end with the arrival of another group of troops.

From the direction of the foundation of the newly built strange pyramid on this side of the river, there was a strange noise, which sounded more like the movement of animals.

When the armies of the kings saw the shadows around them clearly, they were surrounded by upright lizards with leathery scales and bluish bodies.

Around them, a large number of ferocious monsters that were taller than two people and longer than three chariots were shaking their heads uneasily.

A monster that was an upright lizard mount ran to the chariot of the Khemri King and raised its hideous head, which was full of spikes and teeth but had no eyes. Only then did they see that this thing had reins and a saddle.

Tools.

But that's not what's important. The upright lizard turned its head and hissed the message to the Khemri King, as if it was saying something.

This frightened the nobles of the coalition. Before coming here, there were rumors that Lamia had cooperated with monsters, and now it seems to be true.

Riding on the troglodyte, the Skink Priest looked down at the King of Khemri.

"The warm-blooded army is too slow, and its quality is too poor. They can rest for half a day every day, and they are still complaining. The sons of the ancient saints never rest, and we have never complained."

He hissed dissatisfiedly, his sensitive hearing allowing him to hear the complaints of these hot-blooded species.

If he hadn't taken care of the hot-blooded people on the chariot, he would have fed the complaining hot-blooded people to the cave dragon.

"Ours is not a creation like yours. It is too fragile. This is already the limit."

Alkadiza replied slightly impatiently. He looked in the direction of the pyramid and confirmed that there were no new things except skinks and war beasts. He looked increasingly restless.

The assembly of troops is almost complete, but Neferata and Slann are still missing.

What happened? Alkadiza's feet moved uneasily on the ground, and he asked the Skink Priest again the same question he had asked countless times in the past few days with a hint of anxiety.

"Is the ceremony not completed yet?"

But the Skink Priest always seems to have only one answer.

"You need to ask Lord Colermo."

Without giving Alkadiza time to continue repeating the useless conversation, a nobleman who wrapped himself tightly in a white turban and scarf yelled angrily.

"King Khemri! Have you betrayed the gods? What are these monsters!"

Turning his dark pupils, he saw that the noble Alkadiza did not recognize him, and could only barely identify him as Kuata from his clothes.

The Skink Priest moved his legs dissatisfied, and the Troglodyte quickly ran towards the nobleman under his guidance. Only at the last moment, the reins pulled up his head so that the two bodies did not collide.

"We are the firstborn sons of God, and you, the later hot-blooded ones."

Faced with the condescending lizard, he spit out human words. The man immediately drew out his sword, but the cave dragon heard the movement. With a flick of its head, the white-robed human and the surrounding soldiers were knocked to the ground.
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Looking down at these timid humans, the Skink Priest said.

"You hot-blooded people are not even qualified to be the feed of the tyrannosaurus. If you are used as tribute, it will make the tyrannosaurus weak."

The noble fell to the ground and the guards around him were so frightened by the cave dragon that was much taller than the horses that they dared not move.

The mucus between the sharp teeth of the cave dragon shimmered with golden sunlight, and the tentacles on the side of the blind eyes trembled, making a frightening crosstalk, which made many soldiers start to tremble.

More soldiers looked at the lizard man and Alkadiza blankly, not even knowing what they should do.

The skink flapped the red crown on its head and looked at them indifferently, but said nothing.

Even though Alkadiza called him softly, the Skink Priest was fighting against the humans like a hawk, until a voice asked loudly to break the deadlock.

"What happened?"

The two chariots rammed into the encirclement of skinks without giving way, and then drove into the formation.

The one rushing at the front was more gorgeous, covered with blue and gold patterns. Its owner was covered in pure black and wore the clothes of a Lahmian noble. It was he who asked the question just now.

Some nobles have identified it from the voice. This is the real master of the Lahmian nobles, Usoran.

Next to him, another man wearing the iconic patterned steel armor and covered by black cloth was the more famous Lahmian, General Ancart, the commander of Lahmia's army and also the leader of Lahmia.

Champion of Mia.

He has lived for hundreds of years. Lahmia has always claimed that he was blessed by the goddess Asaph along with the saint Neferata. However, according to the current public information of Lahmia, it is just that there is

Just a vampire.

This can also be seen from the covering that covers his whole body.

Everyone looked at the vampires warily. No one answered their questions, almost ignoring their previous predicament.

"It's complicated."

Alkadiza whispered to Wu Suoran, and then turned to those paralyzed on the ground.

"Please calm down. After the kings' envoys arrive, you will know the specific situation from the lords."

Surrounded by a group of light infantrymen who were not even equipped with swords, the white-robed nobleman struggled to get up, flicked his sleeves, and retreated.

The lizardmen also retreated to the wet areas along the river bank under the orders of the Skink Priest.

The Skink workers who had been waiting for a long time immediately applied thick mud to the giant beasts, especially the Triceratops. Others began to prepare forage with the help of the Skink Priests, as if they had not noticed what happened before.

In the camp, the previous calm was quickly restored. Arkadiza waited under the scorching sun for dozens of minutes, until the strong sunlight tanned his exposed skin, which was far stronger than that of a mortal, and no one came out.

Making trouble.

Rather, these people performed better.

Even under the unbearable heat, the discipline of all the soldiers was still maintained, and almost no one sneaked into the river to try to cool down.

Even until the evening, when the sun is about to leave the horizon, the alternation of sentry work, the distribution of food, and the maintenance of weapons and equipment are all carried out in an orderly manner.

In the increasingly cool desert, the sound of horse hooves aroused the vigilance of the sentry, and soon a horse team was led to Alkadiza by the silent Kuata soldiers.

It turned out to be his Grand Vizier, Inofa.

Before Alkadiza could speak, a papyrus form had been handed to Alkadiza's hand. He lowered his head and saw that it was a list of supplies provided by various countries.

After Alkadiza followed the Grand Vizier into the royal tent set up by Khemri soldiers and stood in front of the map illuminated by an oil lamp, he spoke.

"Your Majesty, various countries have provided more than 12,000 camels, and with the raised cattle and pack horses, we should be able to provide supplies for an army of 100,000 people."

As he spoke, the baton in his hand pointed to Numas, which is not far east of Khemri and is fully watered by the river. Even on the map, it is full of life.

"About half of the cattle and pack horses were provided by Numas. They used this to request a phalanx army of only two thousand men as a symbol, and followed me."

As the baton slid towards the southernmost state in the desert area on the map, the bronze city south of Khemri in the center of Nehekhara, Ka-Sabai, the Grand Vizier said again.

"Ka-Sabai, you have already seen their light infantry, there is nothing to say about this part."

"Their main force, especially their cavalry and heavy infantry, will arrive soon. The number of heavy infantry is about 5,000, and the number of cavalry is even less, only 2,000."

Hearing this amount, Alkadiza's dark-skinned brows jumped.

"How are they?"

The Grand Vizier shook his head.

"The martial spirit is well preserved, and the use of cavalry is very good, but I would say that the equipment of the Bronze City is very backward in this era."

As he finished speaking, the tip of the baton pointed to the west side of the Valley of the Kings, the only access point among the weird and huge mountains that split the land of Nehekhara into two parts, facing south and north.

"Quata wants to guard the Valley of the Kings. They only sent 5,000 expeditionary troops. Like Numas, most of them are phalanx soldiers. The other light infantry have already arrived here."

"Of these phalanx soldiers, only the three rows in front and the noble soldiers in the back row are professional soldiers. There are a mixed group of unknown people in the middle. They cannot withstand overly complicated battles, but fortunately they are capable of frontal combat."

After saying that, the Grand Vizier looked to the west side of the map, Zandiri, the largest trading city on the west coast of Nehekhara.

"As for the City of Waves, although most of them are phalanx soldiers, the number is fully fifty thousand."

"It is said that it is to deal with the recent batch of unemployed people and surplus slaves. The problem is that the quality is very poor, and there are not enough noble soldiers in the front row. If it weren't for the help of your mage, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to arrive now."

"My suggestion is to add some small nobles who are redundant from other armies."
To be continued...