Shadow Giant Spider

Roland's group planned to cross Old Forest Road and head north along the Swift River to Erebor. This would spare them from passing through the Woodland Realm and clashing with the Woodland Elves living there. Besides, if they did fight, Roland's side would only be getting crushed. The elves' mastery of jungle guerrilla warfare could utterly overwhelm Roland's army, which lacked ranged attacks. Moreover, nearly half of Roland's forces were cavalry, and crossing dense forests was simply torture for horsemen. After all, not every cavalry force was like the elves' Moon Deer Knights.

Thus, Roland's group marched grandly onto Old Forest Road. Swift River Infantry carrying great shields walked along the outer edges of the formation, while the Lagrange Knights and Bannaria Archers remained in the middle. Reno and Roland led the way, while Caslo, as always, brought up the rear.

"Ugh, why are there so many spiderwebs on this road?" A Swift River Infantryman helplessly untangled his Anti-cavalry Pikes from the webs.

"Who knows? These webs are huge. Could they have been made by some kind of spider Beast?" the Swift River Infantryman behind him said.

"Maybe... Be careful! What are you afraid of? We've got a full hundred lord Knights here!"

"Still, why do I feel like something is off about the surroundings?" a Swift River Infantryman asked warily.

"Hm?" Hearing the commotion behind him, Roland could not help looking around.

"Reno, what do you think?" Roland asked.

"What is there to look at? There's obviously a problem, my lord..." Reno said speechlessly.

"Then why are you still so relaxed?" Roland's eyes widened. He knew Mirkwood was occupied by a swarm of giant spiders. Did Reno mean to let them slide right into the spiders' jaws and feed them?

"Come on, they're only Low-level Beast Shadow Giant Spiders... Is that really worth worrying about?" Reno rolled his eyes.

A brief explanation was needed here. Beasts, like other professions, were divided into six ranks: Beginner Beasts, Low-level Beasts, Intermediate Beasts, Advanced Beasts, Super Beasts, and Cataclysm-level Beasts. Terrifying creatures such as Wyvern Giant Eagles were Super Beasts, while legendary creatures such as dragons and Leviathan were Cataclysm-level Beasts.

"Uh... even Low-level Beasts are troublesome, all right? Do you think everyone is a Knight Captain like you?" Roland complained.

"Hawthorn, ah pear..." Once Roland heard that those giant spiders were merely Low-level Beasts, he relaxed and began humming a tune.

"My lord! There are more and more webs ahead!" A Swift River Infantryman scouting the path jogged over to report.

"Don't tell me we've plunged headfirst into a spider nest?" Reno looked at Roland with a livid face.

"My lord, are you sure the route you chose is correct?" Reno asked again, clearly uneasy.

"What the hell is with that look?" Roland seemed offended.

"If there's a problem, it's Elrond's fault. I'm not taking the blame!" Roland said irritably.

"Or perhaps it wasn't King Elrond's mistake. Perhaps the spread of evil in this area has exceeded our expectations... The fact that they can spin webs on Old Forest Road means the eastern and western sides have not communicated for a long time... Old Forest Road has been abandoned..." Reno suddenly proposed, his expression turning grim.

"Heh, I'd rather Elrond just be unreliable right now..." Roland gave a dry laugh.

"Form combat formation!" Roland took a deep breath.

"What's going on? Fighting again?" Seeing the formation change instantly, Caslo hurried over from the rear.

"This road has been occupied by spiders... We need to fight our way through it now!" Roland told Caslo helplessly.

"Can't we take a detour?" Caslo frowned.

"There's no time! We're running out of it!" Roland sighed. Durin's Day was drawing near.

"What are you scared of? You're a freaking Wyvern Knight! There's no one else around now, so bring out your wyvern and let it tear into them!" Roland suddenly remembered that he still had a wyvern hidden away.

Slap! Caslo slapped himself. He had ridden Shire Horses for so long that he had forgotten he was actually a Wyvern Knight.

Caslo nimbly dismounted and pulled out a Dragon Flute from his collar. A melodious tune rang out, and a fierce wind suddenly swept across the sky. Space tore apart as an azure wyvern flew out.

Roar! A clear, stirring Dragon's Roar echoed through the heavens.

Boom! The wyvern crashed heavily onto the ground, setting countless Shire Warhorses neighing in fright.

"Caldo, long time no see." Caslo happily patted his wyvern's head.

"Roar~" The wyvern immediately responded to Caslo, its long tail swishing joyfully from side to side. For a moment, Roland felt that it looked less like a dragon and more like a mutt.

"Go up and scout from the sky. We'll carve ourselves a path!" After several bloody battles, Roland was filled with brutality as well. Why bother thinking when they could simply handle things the straightforward way?

And so, the giant spiders nesting and hunting on Old Forest Road that day suffered terribly. Wind blades fell from the sky from time to time, giving them full-body "massages"—the kind that tore them to pieces.

Several hundred men also carried torches and burned away the webs as they advanced, terrifying the remaining spiders into scattering in all directions. This was outrageous! Though they Shadow Giant Spiders were not human, these people were truly vicious! Not only did they kill Beasts for crystals, they even burned down their homes. The humans swept through like a demolition crew, leaving behind not a single spider or web...

The spiders lucky enough to survive only had to look up with their eight tiny eyes before tears streamed down their faces... This was the first time they had seen someone use a wyvern to bully spiders. Forget fighting it—they could not even touch it... They could touch the humans below, but only if they had lives to spare. Look at those Mithril Fir Bows drawn to the full moon! Look at those five-meter Anti-cavalry Pikes held level! Or those two Holy knights radiating surging holy Battle Qi! Or that Shield Wall like a moving Great Wall... There was nowhere to bite! Even using skills was useless. Shadow Stealth was a complete joke in the eyes of Holy knights, and not even a funny one. Within a hundred meters, they shone as brightly as lightbulbs in a Holy knight's senses. The Holy knights did not even need to charge; a single sweep of a weapon, releasing a spear glow or sword qi filled with holy Battle Qi, was enough to dismember a Shadow Giant Spider...

They truly could not be provoked. All the spiders could do was hide, and in those days, the spiders of Mirkwood suffered bitterly—so bitterly it reached their bones. Any rustle in the wind could bring a deadly howl from the sky.

It had to be said that Roland's group was quite lucky. What they did not know was that while they crossed Mirkwood, they had almost brushed past the Orc army of Dol Guldur. They had barely left when the Orcs passed right behind them...

"A wyvern?" Azog looked up at the sky in surprise. After all this time, he had only now learned that a wyvern had been hiding here. Unfortunately for him, he did not see the Dragon Saddle strapped to its body or the knight riding on its back. Had he seen that sight, he would certainly have reconsidered his attack plans. At the very least, he would have brought several Dragon Slayer Crossbows—the most effective dragon-hunting weapon in Middle-earth, capable of inflicting fatal wounds upon dragons when used with special bolts.

"Advance!" He shook his head, no longer thinking about the wyvern, and instead imagined what it would be like to taste the Dwarf king's blood.