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

Chapter 1025 Ravian's Lingering Fear

"These creatures corrupted by darkness deserve no mercy! Slaughter them all! These fallen monsters!" Ranger Elnino chuckled, the rune blade in his hand gleaming with an eerie light. The rangers' war philosophy was in line with nature; they never exhausted their resources in demon hunting operations, but this time was an exception. When Ranger Elnino looked at these giant shadow spiders, he could clearly feel the dense aura of death and the malevolent darkness emanating from them!
"This is no ordinary magical beast! We must strike hard!" the Elnino Ranger Captain roared angrily. The dense death aura made the rangers feel physically uncomfortable, and they only wanted to eliminate these giant shadow spiders as soon as possible!
"Pfft!" The giant shadow spiders, screaming as they charged at the rangers, were sliced ​​to pieces like vegetables, their limbs and shattered shells flying everywhere. Under the rangers' longbows and blades, these menacing giant shadow spiders vanished as quickly as snow meeting sunlight...

……

"You're back? Brave knight?" Roland joked.

"How was it, my general? It was quite an experience to almost lead a knightly order to hell with your own hands, wasn't it?" Roland teased.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty..." Ravian looked ashamed. On flat ground, they were not afraid of those disgusting spiders, but in the dense forest, encountering these giant shadow spiders meant they could only let them kite them. After all, there's a saying: fight from above, fight from below...

“You don’t need to apologize to me. The one you should really apologize to is Nyx. What you hold now is the wealth of the Grand Duchy of Nyx, which is also the dowry I gave her! Do you understand that this knightly order belongs to my wife?” Roland smiled, his eyes full of amusement.

"I'm sorry, I was rash... I'll take my leave now, I've disturbed you all!" Ravian's face turned pale, and then he looked at Roland, only to find that Roland's gaze had already shifted away. He felt a wave of weakness wash over him, and stumbled out of the tent.

"Won't this hurt him too much?" Omske asked with concern.

"I'll break the code my ass!" Roland punched the fixed log, and with a "crack," the log, which had been perfectly intact, broke in half. Roland glared menacingly at the people below.

"He's injured? How come he's not dead! That's an entire knightly order! Do you understand?! An entire order! How many knightly orders does the kingdom have?! I cobbled together four! I gave him one, and how did he repay me? A knight getting separated from the infantry in the dense forest? Is he even human? Does he think he's leading the Champion Knights?" Roland's anger could no longer be contained; the fake smile he had just given Ravian was instantly consumed by rage!

"This can't be that bad..." Mogus said awkwardly, touching his nose.

"It can't be that bad! If he had crippled this knightly order, the first thing I would have done upon my return would have been to kill him! Do you know how hard it is for me to build up my fortune? It takes more than ten years for a knight to become a skilled knight! How many knights have he ruined! If he weren't my wife's personal guard, I would have sent him packing long ago!" Roland roared in fury.

"Calm down, nothing bad happened. The trick you had in mind just happened to save them!" Omske quickly smoothed things over.

"Heh..." Roland sneered. If he hadn't used the system to send the ranger to his aid, these things would have died eight hundred times over by the time the elven ranger arrived!
"Alright, stop making a fool of ourselves. My lord, which way do we go now?" Caslo pulled at Roland, signaling him to lower his voice. There were more than just Lagrange's soldiers outside; there were also many allied soldiers. "I'm about to explode with rage! I can't believe there's actually an idiot who would lead the knights through the woods, separated from the infantry!" Roland covered his face. This was the same principle as the previous generation's infantry-tank coordination. Although knights were the kings of land warfare, they still had weaknesses. Plus, without air knights to cover them, going alone was too risky! You could say Ravian was a mediocre knight who didn't understand, but the problem was he was a properly trained knight of the Empire. Had all that knowledge been forgotten by his instructors?
“Try to understand. After all, it’s his first time leading troops, and he’s eager to make a name for himself! You know his position in the kingdom is rather awkward…” Caslo shrugged. Ravian wasn’t Roland’s vassal, but Nyx had married him. Ravian was naturally considered part of Nyx’s dowry, and given that Nyx’s “dowry” was rather meager, while all the high-ranking officials in the kingdom were racking up battle achievements, Ravian was the only one holding onto those remnants of his army, doing nothing. The honor of being a knight made him ashamed, feeling that he was making his lord feel inferior. He didn’t want Nyx to be called a mere ornament…

The saying goes, "A subject dies for his lord's honor." For a long time, Nyx had been seen as dependent on Roland. While there was nothing inherently wrong with this, it was still disgraceful for a queen to be unable to enhance her husband's power. Although Roland disregarded these outdated aristocratic practices, Ravian, as Nyx's personal guard, couldn't bear to see Nyx humiliated. He wanted his lord's marriage to appear as a powerful alliance between nobles, not a handout from a powerful king to the Grand Duchy of Nyx. Therefore, achieving success was his sole goal and hope!

……

“You’re in too much of a hurry!” Caslo said to Ravian, gazing at the babbling waters of the magical stream.

“…” Ravian squatted by the river, his eyes red but he held back his tears. He clenched his fists and lowered his head in shame.

“It’s alright, that’s how war is. There’s always a learning process. Trials and errors are inevitable. King Roland can tolerate your mistakes, but he can’t tolerate your recklessness. What angers him is that you knew the outcome but still went your own way…” Caslo patted Ravian on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry to everyone..." Lavian thought of the knights who were still in shock when they retreated. The knights who were rarely matched on this land had almost lost their morale and spirit under his leadership. Their opponents were just a bunch of brainless spiders!

"Not at all! King Roland is no less reckless than you! The point is to correct it. Look, isn't he much more normal now? At least he looks like a human being!" Caslo retorted.

“…Huh?” Lavian was shocked by Caslo’s “outrageous” statement.

"What do you mean 'huh'? Have you forgotten how he almost ended up having to collect his corpse back then?" Caslo said casually.

“…” Lavian pursed his lips. Is it really okay to just say such a confidential secret out loud?

"Don't worry about it! Our Emperor is very special... truly unconventional! He doesn't care about this!" Caslo couldn't help but rub his temples when he thought of Roland's abstract and cramp-like jokes. It seemed that Lavian hadn't had much contact with Roland yet! He was still somewhat human, unlike himself who was almost assimilated!
“Don’t worry! King Roland of the Knights won’t take it back! He’s not a petty or heartless person! He still has that much magnanimity! But let me remind you, you now represent the Kingdom of Lagrange and the Grand Duchy of Nyx! Look at your cross-shaped bauhinia emblem! Roland can’t remind you, but you can’t forget it yourself!” Caslo patted his shoulder meaningfully.

"Phew~" Hearing Caslo's words, Lavian breathed a sigh of relief, the weight on his heart instantly lifted. What he feared most was Roland using this opportunity to reclaim the Knights! After all, he had provided a flawless excuse, one that no one could find fault with! The mistake and responsibility that almost caused the Knights to suffer heavy losses were beyond what Lavian could bear! Therefore, Lavian had been filled with lingering fear ever since he returned!