A Hard-Won Victory

"..." Roland stared blankly at Ravenhill, lost in thought.

"Caslo!" Roland wailed.

Hearing his lord call for him, Caslo immediately broke free from a swarm of bats and flew swiftly toward Roland.

"Take me up to Ravenhill!" Roland said angrily.

Caslo, who had just landed, nearly fell off the wyvern's back when he heard that. Was his lord seriously paying to get himself killed? No matter what Roland said, Caslo refused to take him up there. What a joke. Forget a Third Tier Great Knight—even a Knight Captain like Reno would only be throwing his life away up there...

"Shriek! Shriek!" Clear eagle cries resounded through the sky.

"The giant eagles are here..." Bilbo said excitedly.

"Roar!" Druid Bibion descended from the sky, using nature magic to transform into a Giant Bear.

"Roar!" A fierce gale swept past as he swiped off the head of a towering troll with one paw. Its enormous body plowed through the battlefield, crushing a bloody path through the Orcs. His thick fur granted him unparalleled defense.

The giant eagles dove down, their massive, razor-sharp talons easily tearing apart the War Bats flying through the skies. The heavens were instantly cleared.

Radagast, the Brown Wizard, waved his staff and cast wide-area wood magic. Within a mile, thick thorny vines burst from the earth and tightly bound the Orcs around them. The prepared dwarves and Lagrange soldiers immediately drove their weapons into the trapped enemies.

"Clang!" As the blade swept across a neck, Thorin suddenly realized there were no Orcs left before him.

Bard of River Valley City and Thranduil had likewise slaughtered all the Orcs who had invaded River Valley City.

Elf Prince Legolas had been happily firing arrows from the watchtower when he suddenly found that not a single living Orc remained in sight. There were only wounded humans and elves crying out in pain. He paused, then leaped down from the tower...

"Thud!" Roland rolled across the ground after landing, intending to evade any possible attack. But when he looked up and saw Caslo's shifty gaze, the corner of his mouth twitched.

The vast Ravenhill was empty, aside from the crudely drawn banner Azog had used to command the Orcs lying collapsed on the ground. Through the smoke on the mountain, they could see the retreating Orcs.

"They've run, my lord!" Caslo shook his head helplessly.

Azog really was cunning... Caslo sighed inwardly.

"They held every advantage. Why would they retreat?" Roland asked in confusion.

"They don't want to face the Knight Order on the plains." Caslo rolled his eyes at Roland. If the Orcs hadn't run, did you really think I would have brought you up here? Since Caslo could fly high and see far, he had noticed long ago that the Orcs had begun considering retreat the moment the giant eagles and the druid arrived.

"To swallow up our Knight Order in terrain like this, they would have had to pay at least ten thousand lives. Don't forget, my lord, your hundred-man Knight Order is led by a Lagrang Royal Guard Paladin Captain! They aren't ordinary people with the title of knight. They are one hundred genuine second-tier Professional Soldiers." Caslo spread his hands.

"Besides, with us catching them off guard like this, even if the Orcs won, they would have been crippled. Don't forget, we control the skies now. Without the War Bats keeping me occupied, I could definitely teach the Orcs about the majesty of dragons." Caslo saw the situation clearly.

The Orcs had their own calculations. They had risked their lives for Sauron, the Undead Sage, in order to let Orcs rule Middle-earth—not to see their race suffer devastating losses. Azog's raid had originally been lightly equipped, and even Gundabad's reinforcements had been the most disposable rabble. Who could have expected so many unexpected variables? A Knight Order was one thing. Infantry capable of charging headlong against over twenty thousand enemies with only three hundred men was tolerable. Even the sudden appearance of two rare paladins could be endured by gritting their teeth. But that druid, impervious to blades and spears, was too much. Then there were the giant eagles, tearing War Bats apart like paper—it was outright bullying. Most absurd of all, there was even a Wyvern Knight! What, were they trying to make this unwinnable? Azog had been terrified when the wyvern took to the skies. Hadn't even the command banner been blown away? If he had been two steps slower, the wind blades would have turned him into Orc slices. From that moment on, he had started thinking about running. The arrival of the giant eagles finally made Azog give up completely. Run! They might survive if they ran. If they stayed, they would all be buried here.

While fleeing, Azog even suspected that the Battle of Erebor was a conspiracy aimed at the Orcs. If the elven, dwarven, and human armies had not been so few in number, Azog would have been certain someone was setting him up.

"Thump!" Roland dropped to his knees before the corpses of the Swift River Infantry. They had not advanced far. From first encountering the Orcs to being wiped out, they had pushed forward only about a mile. Yet across this battlefield of roughly five hundred meters lay the corpses of nearly two thousand Orcs and three hundred Swift River Infantry. Every fatal wound on the Swift River Infantry had been inflicted from the front. Even in their final moments, they had never stopped charging...

"Azog! Bolg! I will kill you both!" Roland said through gritted teeth.

The Knights and Bannaria Archers silently moved the bodies of the Swift River Infantry, laying them out separately. The atmosphere was unbearably oppressive. The brothers they had lived alongside day and night now lay here cold and still. Everyone present wore grim expressions, their teeth clenched in fury...

Roland led his men in digging through the frozen earth on Ravenhill and buried the Swift River Infantry there. They had fought in life to stop enemies crossing Ravenhill. In death, they would sleep here and guard the peace of these mountains...

"Congratulations, host! You have successfully won the Battle of Erebor! Participation: 87%! System updating! Quest panel loading..."

"Update complete! The system has unlocked the following functions: Shop, Quest Hall, Storage."

"Battle of Erebor rewards are being distributed..."

"Reward: City—Swift River Town! The host may manifest it at any time on suitable land."

Roland was stunned—but stunned with joy. After losing three hundred Swift River soldiers, his strength had suffered a severe blow. Yet this reward allowed him to make a huge profit in one stroke. The final reward was actually a town! For Roland, who had no fixed territory, it was like timely help in a snowstorm. Most importantly, this town had a prefix—Swift River Town!

That "Swift River" prefix was no empty label! Only towns located on both banks of the Swift River in the game could be called Swift River Towns. More importantly, all Swift River Towns could recruit the special unit—the Swift River Infantry! In ordinary imperial towns, players could only recruit standard units such as Imperial Guards. But the Swift River Infantry, though common enough, could only be recruited in cities along the Swift River.

Besides, this was a real world. The combat power of the Swift River Infantry had been tested in war. They absolutely counted as a main-force unit.

After giving the system-granted town some thought, Roland made plans for it. He intended to build it at the mouth of what had once been Long Lake—the location of Flowing City in the Ring System Game. Flowing City itself had originally begun as nothing more than a Swift River Town. Roland firmly believed that, through his own efforts, he could restore this town to the glory and grandeur of Flowing City, using it as the starting point to revive Lagrange's splendor! But first... it was time to discuss payment with Thorin.

Roland clapped his hands, mounted his horse, and galloped toward Thorin and the others, who were gathering the remains of dwarven warriors before Erebor.

Second update! Today's update was a little late, so please forgive me. Thank you again to all readers for your recommendation votes.