Swift River Elegy

"Thorin!" Roland nodded in greeting when he saw Thorin rush out.

"My lord, in the name of the King Under the Mountain, I represent the Durin clan in thanking you!" Thorin said sincerely.

"No need for thanks. We did have a contract, after all." Roland pretended to be unconcerned. Thorin had no idea that if not for the unexpected incident on Reno's side, Roland had already planned to take his men and run.

"Azog!" Thorin Oakenshield stared toward Ravenhill, gritting his teeth.

"Give it up. We don't have the ability to charge over there yet." Roland looked at the exhausted dwarves around him.

Kind-hearted Ivy raised her staff high. White light representing healing poured from its tip, and in an instant, the dwarves within a hundred meters felt their bodies grow lighter as their wounds rapidly healed.

Roland immediately gained a higher opinion of Ivy. A wide-area healing spell—what a treasure. Even among third-tier Temple Priests, those who possessed large-scale healing magic were extremely rare. She had to be protected well in the future. If she trained a few more apprentices, they could form a medical unit entirely capable of area healing magic.

"Roland! Can you lead the Knight Order through the Orcs and send me and my men to Ravenhill?" Thorin asked anxiously.

"Impossible! Gundabad's Orc reinforcements have arrived! I can't send you there to die!" Roland said as he turned to look toward distant Ravenhill.

"Pfft!" Roland's eyes suddenly widened. What had he seen? The Swift River Infantry had actually abandoned their route toward the shelter of River Valley City's walls and turned toward Ravenhill, where the Orcs were pouring in.

"Charge out! Rescue our brothers!" Roland's eyes instantly reddened.

"My lord! Your Majesty! My king!" Reno hurried over and seized Roland's reins.

"Reno! Are you planning to defy my orders again?" Roland narrowed his eyes and said coldly, tightening his grip on the Dragon-slaying Sword.

"My lord! Do not question the professional qualities of Lagrange soldiers! They merely made the most correct choice!" Reno said painfully. Having witnessed countless separations and deaths, he knew what the Swift River Infantry were about to do. They were going to block the Orc reinforcements, even though there were only three hundred of them.

"Only by quickly wiping out these bastards in front of us will we have any hope of victory! Only then can we save them!" Reno pulled Roland back and pleaded earnestly.

"I want to save my people first!" Roland ignored him and prepared to charge out of formation.

"But! Even if we charge out, we won't be able to bring them back! They're infantry..." Reno said blankly.

"Holy Radiance Knight Order! Target: not one of these damned Orcs in front of us is to be left alive!" Roland's face twisted savagely. He knew Reno was right. Only by quickly eliminating these obstructive Orcs would they have any chance of rescuing the Swift River Infantry.

"Kill!" The dwarven shield wall opened a gap. Roland led the Knight Order out in a charge, while the dwarves behind him, led by Thorin, launched their counterattack as well.

"They fight for their King." Gandalf, who was lazily tossing fireballs, revealed an approving smile.

"Ha!" The first row of Swift River Infantry drew back their right arms holding their spears, then thrust forward fiercely.

"Pssh!" The sounds of spearheads piercing flesh rang out without end.

"Aaargh!" Many Orcs clutched the shafts of the Anti-cavalry Pikes and howled in agony.

"Pfft!" The Swift River Infantry twisted their spears and pulled them back. The impaled Orcs instantly lost their strength and collapsed limply to the ground.

"Captain! There are too many Orcs! If we don't do something, we'll be surrounded!" A Swift River Infantryman anxiously watched the Orc reinforcements flood over the mountains like a tide.

"Brothers! Are you afraid of death?"

"No!" everyone answered in unison.

"Then in the name of Swift River, charge! For our homeland! For the Swift River! For the king!"

The Swift River Infantry raised their Anti-cavalry Pikes and formed the Swift River Phalanx, then actually began running forward in great strides. The sudden countercharge caught the Orcs completely off guard, instantly halting their vast army.

"Oh! By the beards, have they gone mad?" A dwarf had just finished off his opponent when he was shocked by the Swift River Infantry's charge.

"Gods! How did they do that?" Bard, who was leading River Valley City's residents in a desperate defense, was likewise stunned by the tiny formation in the distance.

"..." Roland stared blankly at the charging Swift River soldiers in the distance. His warhorse, no longer guided by its rider, slowly came to a stop and wandered aimlessly across the battlefield.

The figures before his eyes slowly overlapped with that scene from his memories...

The world of the One Ring, Year 2375 of the Fifth Age.

The dark allied army had reached the gates of Lagrange City. The once bustling Imperial Capital was now heavily fortified. The Empire's remaining six Dragon Knights had gathered atop the walls, their eyes fixed on the black clouds spreading across the distant horizon in unbearable oppression... They were not clouds. They were War Bats!

At the barbican by the city gates, thirty Lagrang Royal Guard Paladins commanded ten thousand members of the Lagrange Empire's Knight Orders, standing silently in formation. They remained as motionless as statues, as though frozen within time itself.

Emperor Gali Karl stood silently atop the battlements, gazing into the distance. Lagrange City's nine layers of walls were packed with Lagrange-style city guards. Sages entered the towering Mage Towers, while Priests emerged from the temples and moved among the soldiers...

"Let the battle begin. Lagrange's survival depends on this battle!" Emperor Karl said desolately. Under his rule, the Empire had lost vast southern territories, and now even its capital was under siege.

"Boom!" The massive dragon gate opened. Led by the Lagrang Royal Guard Paladins, the Knights of the Empire's Knight Orders charged out first. Stirring dragon roars rang through the sky as Lagrange's last Dragon Knights rode their dragons into the air.

Twilight of the Empire...

"Pick up the pace!" Reno, then Governor of the North, rode a Holy Light Pegasus through the air above them. Behind him stretched an allied force of millions of player NPCs.

"Gods!" It was the first time Roland had seen such a grand spectacle. The noble blood of Dragon Knights splattered across the sky, the unyielding bones of Paladins fell upon the earth, and Sage-level mages, once rarely seen, had their heads casually torn off by ordinary Orcs. Temple Priests moved across the battlefield, while elves, dwarves, Ents, and a host of mankind's allies arrived from every direction...

At that moment, Roland saw a sight he would never forget. The Swift River Infantry from Flowing City and the banks of the Swift River formed square formations thirty men across and ten ranks deep, singing war songs as they charged one after another into the dark allied army's formations. Beneath their synchronized footsteps, countless Swift River Infantry struck the defenses of demons and Orcs like the raging waters of the Swift River. Through their relentless, costly assaults, Reno's forces successfully tore open the enemy lines and charged into the crumbling Lagrange City at the final moment, stabilizing its defenses.

Of the five hundred thousand Swift River Infantry who had followed Reno into battle, fewer than a thousand made it into Lagrange City... Every one of them had fallen on the road of that charge. Outside Lagrange City lay the corpses of Swift River Infantry clad in blue-green steel armor. With mortal bodies, they had stood against an army of Professional Soldiers...

Tears filled his eyes. Tears flowed silently.

Those familiar figures from the past now merged with the soldiers before him... Roland looked at that streak of green surging upstream through the black tide, and he could vaguely see Swift River Phalanxes surrounding them...

"Those are the heroic spirits of the Swift River..." Roland murmured.

Amid the battle cries of the Swift River Infantry, those advancing alone did not seem lonely at all. Their forebears still marched beside them, standing in orderly formations and advancing with perfectly synchronized steps... Before them, the towering phantom of Lagrange City could faintly be seen...

"For Lagrange!" Just as in his memories, the Swift River Infantry of the Lagrange Empire remained dependable.

The sounds of Anti-cavalry Pikes breaking rang out. The sounds of shields shattering rang out... Sharp war blades pierced their bodies, and heavy warhammers smashed their helmets. They might fall, but they would never stop advancing. Whenever a Swift River Infantryman fell, the man behind him immediately filled the gap. When their Anti-cavalry Pikes broke, they drew their maces and swung them with all their strength...

Roland trembled all over, yet there was nothing he could do. He could only watch his soldiers die on the battlefield, just as he had once watched the Swift River Infantry perish beneath the walls of Lagrange City...

"No!" When the last Swift River Infantryman was swallowed by the enemy, Roland let out a grief-stricken howl.

They had kept their oath. The last Swift River Infantry in the world... had vanished.

Tears filled his eyes. There was no such thing as peaceful years; it was only because someone carried the burden for you. Though the Swift River Infantry had taken their final bow, Roland's journey had only just begun.