Shadow

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh..." A rustling sound suddenly came from the bushes in the distance, and several Bannaria Bows raised their bows and arrows.

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

"Radagast!" Gandalf recognized the person and quickly waved for everyone to lower their weapons.

"Brown Wizard Radagast? He should be a high-level wizard like Gandalf, right?" Roland thought to himself. Since there were no Valar or Maiar in Middle-earth in this world, Roland really couldn't figure out the rank of this Brown Wizard, who was at the bottom in the original story.

"Everyone, don't be nervous, this is the Brown Wizard Radagast," Gandalf introduced to everyone.

"Radagast, why are you here?" Gandalf asked curiously.

"I'm looking for you, the Mirkwood is sick!" Radagast said mysteriously in a low voice.

"Hm?" Gandalf looked at him with confusion.

"Uh..." Just as Roland knew, the pathetic Radagast had forgotten what he was going to say again.

Suddenly, Roland's expression changed, and he immediately turned his head to look around at the scenery. As expected, Radagast opened his mouth and pulled a stick insect out of it...

"Ugh~" Some of the Knights who saw this scene directly vomited.

Even the thick-skinned Dwarves twitched at the corners of their eyes, and Bilbo's face changed instantly, turning pale and then purple.

Roland was glad he hadn't seen that disgusting scene, otherwise his eyes would have been ruined.

"Ha! It's a stick insect!" Radagast finally shouted joyfully.

"Ugh!" Several Knights who had just managed to suppress their churning stomach acid couldn't hold back any longer.

"The Mirkwood is sick, darkness covers the land, all things stop growing, the air is filled with rot, and the worst are those webs."

"Webs? What webs?" Gandalf asked in surprise.

"It's spiders! The very big kind, I'm sure they are descendants of Ungoliant. I followed them all the way and found they came from Dol Guldur!" Radagast said seriously.

"Dol Guldur? The old fortress?" Gandalf was surprised.

"That place has been abandoned for a long time!" Gandalf said.

"No! It's not! A Necromancer is lurking there..." Radagast began to recall, his voice filled with fear.

"Hey! Have some Old Toby tobacco, it can help you calm your nerves." Gandalf handed him a pipe.

Watching Radagast take a deep puff, Gandalf said, "Now can you be sure it's a Necromancer?"

"..." Radagast didn't speak but took out a cloth bundle from his pocket.

"This is by no means a weapon from the human world!" he asserted.

Gandalf opened the cloth bundle with a bitter face and his expression changed drastically. Just as he was about to speak...

"Awooo!"

"What is that? Are there wolves in this forest?" Bilbo asked curiously.

"Damn it! Full alert! It's Wargs!" Roland's face changed.

"Clang!" Reno drew his long sword.

"Roar!" A mighty figure leaped out of the shadows. This Warg was clearly stronger than the ones Roland had encountered before.

"Die!" Caslo raised his spear and was about to throw it. The Bannaria Archers, who had been on alert, were faster than him. An arrow instantly pierced the Warg's eye socket.

"Damn it! Warg scouts!" Gandalf's face changed drastically.

"We are being hunted! The Orc army is nearby!" Roland exclaimed in panic.

"Ah!" A Knight was pounced on by a Warg. Fortunately, his teammate was reliable and chopped off the Warg's head with a single sword stroke.

"Leave the forest!" Roland forced himself to calm down.

"Sir! How should we go!" Reno came to Roland's side at this moment.

"Gandalf! Take us to Rivendell!" Roland shouted.

"This way!" Gandalf quickly pointed the way.

"Why Rivendell? Do you think those damned Elves will help us?" Thorin asked angrily.

"My friend, if you want to be drowned by the flood of Orcs, then be my guest! Durin's bloodline will end today! I will not lead the Knights of Lagrange to be buried with you!" Roland said coldly.

"If you think 13 Dwarves can fight the Orc army! Then be my guest! Knights! Let's go!" Roland turned his horse and charged out.

Thorin should consider himself lucky. After all, in the original story, they lost all their ponies. Now, at least they still have transportation.

As expected, adhering to the principle of not fighting a losing battle, Thorin eventually led his men to follow.

"Gandalf! You take them and go! We'll stay behind to cover the retreat! Otherwise, no one will be able to leave!" Roland roared.

"Leave here! All Bannaria Archers, listen to my orders! Follow them and leave, protect them safely!" Roland finished speaking and turned his horse around.

"Brothers of the Holy Radiance Knight Order, we're going to the plains!" Roland called out to the Knights and charged towards the plains to his side.

As expected, the Orc army was attracted. They didn't notice the departure of that small group at all.

"No!" Thorin sat on his horse, in pain.

"We're going back to save them!" Thorin, not yet affected by the Lonely Mountain's curse, 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 foolishness.

"We should find the elves!" a Badenia Archer spoke up.

"We're close to Rivendell now, there should be elven cavalry and rangers on patrol nearby!" another Badenia Archer analyzed.

"Yes~ We should seek King Elrond's help!" Gandalf's gaze pierced the distance.

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

"It's your turn to command!" Roland said to Reno.

"Yes, my lord!" Reno accepted the task with great worry.

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

Leaving the sight of everyone meant Roland's strongest fighting force could unleash its full power. Wyvern Knights were an unsolvable existence for the Orcs' wolf cavalry that was pursuing the dwarves.

"You don't know, do you? Caslo is a Wyvern Knight, the kind with a wyvern." Roland asked Reno, who looked dumbfounded.

"Uh... no one actually told me..." After speaking, Reno took a deep look at Caslo. He truly couldn't judge a book by its cover; this handsome young man had a dragon up his sleeve! No wonder Lord Roland wasn't flustered at all, he even sent everyone else away.

"Awooo!"

"Roar!"

A messy group of wolf riders appeared in Roland and the others' sight, about two to three hundred wolf riders.

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

"Ah, heh heh heh." Reno, who had been looking nervous, chuckled dryly.

"This..." Caslo covered his face.

The Orcs who had terrified everyone and fled in disarray were only this few. Roland, Reno, and Caslo all covered their faces... It was too damn embarrassing! To have people say that their entire knight order was scared by about three hundred Orc wolf riders, forcing them to emerge from the forest onto the plains, and even preparing to bring out a wyvern to fight... Roland glanced around. No outsiders, good! Otherwise, he might have to consider silencing them.

"Little ones! Attack them!" Roland's chuunibyou spirit instantly possessed him as he shouted a slogan and charged forward with his spear.

"Knight Order! Charge!" Reno, blushing, ordered the Knight Order to charge. The warhorses stepped out in neat formation. From the sky, under Reno's command, the 100 Novice Knights were performing a difficult wall charge.

"Charge like a wall!" Reno shouted!

"Boom!" The next moment, this wall of steel slammed heavily into the Orcs.

"Congratulations to the host for successfully unlocking the main quest: The Lonely Mountain Expedition! Unlocked Sign-in function: You can sign in once a day to receive various random rewards!" As soon as the battle ended, a light screen popped up before Roland.

"What the heck! I thought your damn ring was dead! So I'm only just now getting into the main story..." The more Roland thought about it, the more indignant he became. He had thought this system was just for completing achievements and getting rewards, and he thought he had figured out how to use it, only to be told now that he hadn't even opened the real interface...

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

"Sign-in successful. Congratulations to the host for obtaining 90 Badenia Archers."

"Whoa? System, can I interpret this as you stockpiling troops for my upcoming Ring Wars?" Roland found the system to be quite adorable.

Because this Battle of Five Armies excluded interference from other players (Roland let out a pig-like snort of laughter), the Orc allied forces numbered only thirty thousand, while the dwarves had 500, the elves 3,000, and a few hundred humans. Roland was practically the last straw on the camel's back; he wasn't a straw anymore, he could be called a sugarcane.

With the Shire Warhorses he obtained from daily accumulation, Roland could fully equip these 90 Badenia Archers and use them as heavy cavalry. In this way, 200 fully armed mobile forces, plus a Paladin with an aura and a Wyvern Knight, could easily crush the Orcs with the cooperation of the allied forces.

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