Alone and Infinite

"Woo-woo (rising key) - woo-woo (falling key)"

The horn of Lonely Mountain echoed throughout the valley, and Ironfoot Dayn raised his iron hammer.

"Dwarves! Attack!"

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

P.S.: Today's reading is very important, please make sure you finish it! Don't try to read on Tuesdays!!!

Chapter 62 Bloody Battle

The horn of Lonely Mountain sounded both somber and stirring. The dwarves heard the horn of their ancestral land again after hundreds of years, and they could not suppress their excitement and exhilaration.

The spears struck the ground rhythmically, echoing the horns, and the dwarves sang loudly.

"Beyond the cold, misty mountains, in those deep underground caves that have existed for a thousand years:"

We must set off before dawn to find that enchanting, faint golden color;

The dwarves of old chanted powerful spells, accompanied by the clanging sound of their hammers striking the ground;

In the deepest places, dark creatures slumber, and the depths of the hollows beneath the rocks are unknown.

Beyond the cold, misty mountains, the dwarves will surely return to their dream home!

The dwarven legion's morale is boosted by the "Battle Song of Lonely Mountain," resulting in increased movement speed, a slight increase in strength, and a slight increase in stamina.

The dwarves sang loudly as they marched forward, each step accompanied by a loud thud as they slammed the ends of their spears into the ground.

The clanging sounds from the impact with the armor mingled with the music of the song being sung.

"Ding-dong—dong—ding-dong ding-dong—dong"

The clattering sound of the armor plates colliding grew more and more frequent, and the dwarves' steps almost became synchronized, slowly changing from pacing to trotting.

He slammed the heavy shield into the ground, its serrated edge gripping firmly. He braced his shoulder against the shield, tilting it slightly backward.

The dwarf's shield formed a very stable triangle on the ground, with his companions behind him holding spears against the sides of the shield, their cold faces hidden beneath their masks.

Thus, the shields, meticulously connected, formed a pure black dam.

The waves of the Oc finally crashed against the black dam, instantly splashing up a sky full of bright red 'tides'.

The orks let out shrill howls, struggling desperately as they were impaled on the spears. The dwarf holding the spears gritted his teeth, his iron boots carving two furrows in the ground as he forcefully braced the spears in his hands.

The crimson 'tide' spread across their bodies and the ground, staining everything red.

The sound of flesh being pierced was so sickening it made many apostles turn pale just by looking at it; when had they ever seen such a brutal battlefield of cold weapons?

"put!"

The elven archers behind them continued to rain down arrows without stopping, and the Orks were not to be outdone; although their simple bows and arrows could not compare with those of the elves.

But with the addition of the trolls' catapults, the battle became a back-and-forth affair, with head-sized stones tumbling and whistling through the air as they crashed down, occasionally accompanied by short, mournful howls from the elves as they fell to the ground.

"bang bang bang"

After a burst of gunfire, blood suddenly splattered from the ogres' bodies. The apostles of the elves and dwarves had made their move, but those ogres, who were nearly four meters tall, could not be killed by just one or two bullets.

Small-caliber rifle bullets only made them howl in pain, and even sniper rifles aimed at the head rarely succeeded. The trolls' brains were pitifully small, only slightly larger than walnuts.

The Apostles' guns are mostly white or green firearms, and they don't have any special abilities; they only rely on the power of the bullets themselves.

The war seemed to reach a fever pitch in an instant, and the dwarves wielding heavy shields were quickly exhausted by wave after wave of relentless charges.

The horns of Lonely Mountain grew ever more impassioned, and Ironfoot Dayin, riding a ram, brandished his hammer and roared:

"The central army is to attack!"

Thump, thump, thump! The spearmen forcefully pulled back their spears, and the dwarves holding half-shields stepped forward, lowering their spears, and began to sing the dwarven song once more.

When the song reached its last line, the dwarves stood up and shouted:

"Dwarves—for the horn of Lonely Mountain, for the homeland lost for a hundred years, charge!"

The dwarves in the front row, who had been holding the heavy shields, suddenly retreated, their shields slamming heavily onto the ground. The Orks were still reeling from the joy of breaking through the defenses.

They were met by heavily armored dwarven infantrymen, heads down and spears raised, charging forward.

The clanging of weapons filled the air as the two sides gradually became entangled, their formations intertwined, making it difficult to distinguish friend from foe at times.

"Uuuuuu——"

From the distant mountain peaks came the mournful sound of Ok's horn, and the flag used to indicate the direction of the attack raised one corner.

Li Xia narrowed his eyes. That was where Azog, the leader of the Ork Legion, was located, and the direction of attack he had indicated was exactly where he was.

River Valley is the location connecting the outer perimeter of Lonely Mountain and a major transportation route, which could potentially trap the dwarves within Lonely Mountain.

A force was immediately spun off from the Orc Legion and headed toward the River Valley. For the Orcs, who numbered as many as 40,000, it was not difficult to spun off several thousand troops.

In any case, the plains of the valley can only provide an attack surface of about 10,000 people.

"Get ready! Oak is coming!"

Li Xia shouted loudly, and the apostles swallowed nervously. The fierce battle just now was indeed frightening, but fortunately, it was just tension, and no one thought of running away.

As the vanguard of the Orcs drew closer, the heavy footsteps and savage roars mingled together, like a prelude to death.

When they finally reached the previously marked boundary, without any command, the people on the city wall raised their bows. Even those who were not skilled in archery did not need to worry in this situation.

The densely packed Orks completely covered the area below, so there was no need to worry about missing the enemy.

Li Xia also picked up his purple bow, drew it to its full draw, and without much aiming, shot it directly. The arrow drew an arc in the air, strangely avoiding the Ork in front of him, and pierced the ground.

???

You dare to act without aiming and just relying on luck?

"Hehehehehe," the number 1 and number 2 henchmen next to him trembled, seemingly laughing.

Li Xia slowly turned his face, looking at them expressionlessly. His laughter immediately stopped, and the bowstrings in the hands of Number One and Number Two vibrated repeatedly, scattering a barrage of arrows. Immediately, a row of Orks fell down.

Although they didn't laugh, the sight of each Oak with an arrow in its forehead angered Li Xia even more than laughter.

"I--"

[The servant killed an Ork, gaining 1 contribution point and increasing contribution by 0.3%]

[The servant killed an Ork, gaining 1 contribution point and increasing contribution by 0.4%]

[The servant killed an Ork, gaining 1 contribution point and increasing contribution by 0.4%]

"Good job, Number 1 and Number 2!"

I almost forgot that you also get 50% of the contribution for killing summoned creatures.

After offering a reluctant compliment, Li Xia drew his bow and aimed again. In fact, if he aimed carefully and didn't rely on luck, he could still hit the target.

The joyful shouts of the apostles kept ringing in my ears; those were the contribution points gained after killing Orc.

"Damn, 3 contribution points per kill, that's 0.8% contribution rate! Kill 100 of them and you can get a decent green outfit, plus contribution rate bonuses. Isn't that amazing?"

"It's great! It's so great!"

The tension was gradually replaced by the sense of accomplishment from easily gaining contribution points, and the apostles gradually became excited, shouting and firing downwards.

Occasionally, a grenade would be thrown, and a loud bang would be followed by a barrage of notifications, but there weren't many grenades, maybe two or three at most.

The Orks quickly found a solution: they placed makeshift shields on their heads, which immediately reduced the effectiveness of the green arrows in the hands of the Apostles.

By the time the towering ogre charged over, the apostle's smile, which had been beaming for only a short while, vanished instantly.

This war has only truly begun at this moment.

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

I estimate we'll be able to go back in two or three more chapters.

Chapter 63 The City Falls!

From the formation of the alliance to the start of the final main quest, the Battle of the Five Armies, the entire process takes 48 hours.

What level of preparation can be achieved in 48 hours?

Besides the horse traps and the blocked alleys in the city, the apostles also devised defensive equipment tailored to the local conditions.

Li Xia's gaze suddenly sharpened, and he shouted loudly, "Release!"

The massive logs were carried by several apostles and forcefully thrown down the slope. The side of the valley facing the lonely mountain was a slope, and the logs rolled down the slope like a road roller, raising a cloud of dust.

The Orcs who stood in front of the log only had time to let out a terrified scream before the log crushed them. The Orc army that was gathering below was thrown into disarray by this sudden attack, and many orcs were knocked down by the log, letting out screams of agony.

The towering ogre roared a few times and charged forward, bracing itself against the rolling log. Even though the ogre was over three meters tall, it still let out a high-pitched scream of pain.

But Li Xia seemed not to see it and continued to direct everyone to throw logs down.

And so one log after another rumbled down the steep slope, dozens of logs lying haphazardly in the Ok's assembled position.

The Orks were furiously ordering men to move the logs, while large numbers of Orks gathered around the logs, preparing to disperse and attack other parts of the city wall.

Li Xia turned his head to look at an apostle, a thin, bespectacled man who was also the Baron of Destruction in the chat channel.

"it's your turn!"

Baron Destruction nodded nervously. He stood by the city wall, muttering to himself, his face turning red. After chanting for almost a minute, he pointed straight at the place where the logs were gathered.

Suddenly, a magic circle above the log glowed, and a huge fireball emerged from the magic circle, crashing down with a whoosh.

This is a skill that Baron Destruction acquired during his solo trial, called Destruction Fireball.

Although its power is considerable, it is extremely difficult to unleash, requiring one to stand and chant for a full minute without moving.

Furthermore, the distance is limited, with the current limit being 150 meters, and the target must be constantly watched during the chanting process.

More importantly, the fireball was not falling fast, so anyone with all four limbs could run away during its descent.

This basically means that this thing is destined to only hit stationary objects.

As expected, the Orks screamed and ran away when the fireball landed, but Li Xia's target was not the Orks, but the log.

"Boom!"

A muffled rumble of thunder seemed to echo through the valley. Several logs suddenly exploded, and other logs were sent flying into the air by the enormous impact, emitting strange howls. Wherever they passed, it was like harvesting wheat.

Even more insidious was the fact that the logs were stuffed with stones, iron pieces, and other debris. Under the shockwave of the explosion, these debris turned into deadly shrapnel, sweeping away the surrounding Orks.

The enormous noise even caused the main battlefield in the valley to pause briefly. The several groups of people who were fighting fiercely stopped and looked around blankly.

Upon discovering that the explosion was caused by their allies, the morale of the elves and dwarves on the battlefield soared even higher.

A huge cheer erupted from the walls of the River Valley, and several apostles even shouted:

"Holy shit! Only 10% contribution!"

"11%!! Holy crap, 11%!!"

"I'm at 9%!"

Even Li Xia received a contribution bonus from the faction leader (10% of the contribution points earned by his subordinate apostles).

A few logs filled with gunpowder provided a large amount of contribution points. Gunpowder already existed in Middle-earth, and the Númenor, who had been wiped out before, had even invented engines.

However, gunpowder was mostly used for fireworks, and only Saruman the White once used it to blast open the city walls.

The three cheering figures were the creators of gunpowder and teammates of 'Test Tube,' who was the warrior who melted Smaug's gold and diamond armor and was smashed to pieces.

Because their previous work or hobbies were all related to chemistry, they formed a small team called "Breaking Bad".

Unfortunately, the test tube died, which Li Xia regretted. Otherwise, according to his teammates, the test tube's talent was 'solvent sublimation,' and it was an expert in formulation. Its personal space was filled with all kinds of chemical raw materials.

Even producing nitroglycerin isn't difficult; add a solvent and sublimation art, and it's an explosion!

The other apostles were so excited by the huge profits that their eyes turned red. Before entering the hall, each of these apostles had their own expertise. Since the skills and items for the first tier were not yet abundant, they naturally thought of using what they had learned.

"Quick, quick, push our baby up!"

Several apostles pushed out a ballista. The craftsmanship of the dwarves and elves in Middle-earth was exceptionally good. They paid most of the gold coins that they couldn't take with them and easily found native inhabitants willing to help make parts.

This type of crossbow, modeled after the Roman scorpion crossbow, is small in size, relatively simple in structure, and has good accuracy. More importantly, it can be operated by two people.