The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth.

Chapter 10 Shadow
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..." Suddenly a sound came from the bushes in the distance, and several archers raised their bows and arrows.

"Ah! Fire! Death! Murderer!" A figure riding a sled pulled by a dozen rabbits rushed out.

"Redagast!" Gandalf recognized the newcomer and quickly waved for everyone to lay down their weapons.

"The brown-robed wizard Redagast? He must be a high-ranking wizard like Gandalf, right?" Roland thought to himself. Since Middle-earth in this world didn't have the Valar or the Maiar, Roland really couldn't figure out the level of this brown-robed wizard who was at the bottom of the list in the original work.

"Don't be nervous, everyone. This is the brown-robed wizard Redagast," Gandalf introduced to everyone.

"Redagast, what are you doing here?" Gandalf asked curiously.

“I’m looking for you. Green Forest is sick!” Redagast said mysteriously in a low voice.

"Hmm?" Gandalf looked at him in confusion.

"Uh..." Just as Roland knew, the pitiful Redagast forgot what he was going to say again.

Suddenly, Roland's expression changed, and he immediately turned his head to look around at the scenery. Sure enough, Redagast opened his mouth and pulled a stick insect out...

"Ugh~" One of the knights who witnessed this scene immediately vomited.

Even the usually oblivious dwarf's eyes twitched, but Bilbo's expression changed drastically, turning pale and purplish.

Roland was thankful he hadn't seen that appetizing scene, otherwise his eyes would have been in serious trouble.

"Ha! It's a stick insect!" Redagast finally exclaimed joyfully.

"Ugh!" The knights, who had just managed to control their churning stomach acid, could no longer hold back.

"The green forest is sick; darkness has enveloped the earth, all things have stopped growing, and the air is filled with a stench of decay. Worst of all are those nets."

"The net? What net?" Gandalf asked in surprise.

“They’re spiders! The really big kind. I’m pretty sure they’re descendants of the Angolians. I tracked them down and found they came from Togol!” Redagast said seriously.

“Togoldo? The Old Fortress?” Gandalf exclaimed in surprise.

“That place has long been abandoned!” Gandalf said.

“No! No! A necromancer was lurking there…” Redagast began to recall, his voice filled with fear.

“Hey! Have a puff of Old Toby tobacco, it’ll calm you down.” Gandalf offered the pipe.

Looking at Redagast Gandalf, who had taken a deep breath, he asked, "Now can you be sure that's a necromancer?"

"..." Ridalust didn't speak, but instead took out a cloth bag from his pocket.

“This is definitely not a weapon from the human realm!” he asserted.

Gandalf opened the bag with a bitter expression, and his face immediately changed. He was about to speak...

"Ouch!"

"What's that? Are there wolves in this forest?" Bill asked curiously.

"Damn it! All troops on alert! It's a Dire Wolf!" Roland's expression changed.

"Clang!" Renault drew his longsword.

"Roar!" A powerful figure leaped out of the shadows; this dire wolf was clearly stronger than any Roland had encountered before.

"Die!" Caslo raised his spear, ready to throw it, but the Battanian archers, who were already on guard, were faster. In an instant, an arrow pierced the dire wolf's eye socket.

"Damn it! A dire wolf scout!" Gandalf's expression changed drastically.

"We're being hunted! The orc army is nearby!" Roland exclaimed in panic.

"Ah!" A knight was pounced on by a dire wolf, but luckily his teammate was reliable and chopped off the wolf's head with a single sword stroke.

"Get out of the woods!" Roland forced himself to calm down.

"My lord! Which way should we go?" Renault came to Roland's side at this moment.

“Gandalf! Take us to Rivendell!” Roland shouted.

"This way!" Gandalf quickly pointed the way.

"Why go to Rivendell? Do you think those damned elves will help us?" Thorin roared.

“My friend, if you wish to be overwhelmed by the orcish tide, then so be it! The bloodline of Turin will end today! I will not take the knights of Lagrange with me to your deaths!” Roland said coldly.

"If you think 13 dwarves can fight off an orc army, then do as you please! Knights! Let's go!" Roland turned his horse and charged off.

Thorin should feel lucky, considering they lost all their ponies in the original story; at least they still have a means of transportation. Sure enough, adhering to the principle of not fighting a losing battle, Thorin eventually led his men to catch up.

"Gandalf! You take them and go! We'll stay behind to cover the retreat! Otherwise, none of us will be able to leave!" Roland roared.

"Leave here! All Battanian archers, listen to my command! Follow them and protect them!" Roland said, turning his horse around.

"Brothers of the Holy Light Knights, let's go to the plains!" Roland called out to the knights as they charged toward the plains beside him.

As expected, the orc army was drawn to the scene and did not notice the departure of that small group of people.

……

"No!" Thorin cried out in anguish as he sat on his horse.

"Let's go back and save them!" Thorin was still unaffected by the curse of Lonely Mountain; he remained the dwarf who was incredibly loyal to his friends.

“Come back! They paid a huge price to let us leave! We can’t let them down!” Gandalf stopped his foolish act.

“We should look for elves!” a Battanian archer exclaimed.

“We’re very close to Rivendell now; there should be elven cavalry and rangers patrolling the area!” another Battanian archer analyzed.

“Yes, we should seek King Elrond’s help!” Gandalf’s gaze pierced the distance.

……

"Form ranks! Line up!" Roland stopped his warhorse, letting it rest for a moment.

“I’m handing this over to you to command!” Roland said to Renault.

"Yes, sir!" Renault accepted the task with a worried expression.

"Don't worry, Caslo will support us at any time!" Roland patted his shoulder with a relaxed expression.

Once out of sight of the crowd, Roland's strongest forces could unleash their full power. The dragon knights were practically unstoppable against the orc wolf riders who were hunting down the dwarves.

"You don't know? Caslo is a dragon knight, the kind who owns a dragon." Roland asked Renault, who looked completely bewildered.

"Uh... no one really told me..." After saying that, Renault gave Caslo a deep look. You really can't judge a book by its cover. This handsome young man has a dragon in his pocket! No wonder Lord Roland is not flustered at all, and even sent the others away.

"Ouch!"

"Roar!"

A chaotic group of wolf riders appeared in Roland and the others' field of vision, numbering about two or three hundred.

"Holy crap! That's it?" Roland almost spat out his drink.

"Ah, hehehehe." Renault, who had been looking tense, chuckled dryly.

“This…” Caslo covered his face.

The orcs who fled in disarray were actually only a small number of people. Roland, Reno, and Caslo covered their faces... How utterly embarrassing! To tell others that their entire knightly order had scared three hundred orc wolf riders out of the forest and onto the plains, and that they were even preparing to bring out a wyvern to fight... Roland glanced around a few times. No outsiders, good! Otherwise, he might have to consider silencing them.

"Men! Build it!" Roland, in a fit of childish madness, shouted the slogan as he brandished his spear and spurred his horse.

"Knights! Charge!" Renault, his face flushed, ordered the knights to activate their charge skill. The warhorses charged out in orderly steps. From the sky, it looked as if, under Renault's command, 100 trainee knights were performing a high-difficulty wall charge.

"Move forward like a wall!" Renault shouted!
"Boom!" The next moment, the steel wall slammed heavily onto the orc.

……

"Congratulations, host, on successfully activating the main quest: Expedition to Lonely Mountain! Sign-in function unlocked: You can sign in once a day to receive various random rewards!" A screen of light popped up in front of Roland as soon as the battle ended.

"Damn it! I thought this damn ring was dead! Turns out I've only just gotten to the main quest..." Roland grew increasingly indignant. He thought this system was just a way to farm achievements and get rewards, and he thought he had figured out how to use it. Who knew someone would tell him he hadn't even opened the actual page yet...

"Sign in!" Roland signed in for the first time with a dark face.

"Check-in successful. Congratulations to the host for obtaining 90 Battanian archers."

"What? System, can I take this as you stockpiling troops for my upcoming Lord of the Rings War?" Roland thought to himself, "This system is really a cutie."

Because this battle of the five armies eliminated interference from other players (Roland laughed like a pig), the orc alliance only had 30,000 men, the dwarves had 500, the elves had 3000, and there were also a few hundred humans. It can be said that Roland was simply the straw that broke the camel's back, and he was no longer just a straw, but a sugarcane.

With the daily rewards of Sharl warhorses, Roland could easily arm these 90 Battanian archers and use them as heavy cavalry. In this way, 200 fully armed mobile troops, plus an aura paladin and a dragon rider, could easily crush the orcs with the cooperation of the allied forces.

A shameless author is here to ask for recommendation votes (ω). Readers with votes, please don't be stingy, feel free to whip me with your votes.

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(End of this chapter)