Water Monitor Appears

"Your Highness..." A group of archers came running back, covered in dust and grime.

Their noisy clamor caught Roland's attention. He curiously poked his head out of the blacksmith shop for a look, only to be instantly stunned by the Bannaria Archers before him. Some of the archers' fine chainmail had been torn to shreds, some had scraped arms, and others were soaked from head to toe like drowned rats.

"What happened?" Roland narrowed his eyes. Don't tell me they ran into an Orc attack?

"My lord, an enormous octopus-like beast appeared in the Swift River. It looked like it was at least an Advanced Beast!" One archer gathered his thoughts and explained everything to Roland.

The archers had taken their boats out to fish. Even in winter, the Swift River remained rich in resources, and they had already caught more than a dozen large baskets of fish. Just as they worked together to haul in their nets again, several thick tentacles suddenly emerged from the water. In a few swift motions, they tore apart the fishing nets. Then a huge mouth full of sharp teeth appeared and swallowed the fish caught within. The archers quickly reacted and fired arrows at the octopus-like creature, but that only stirred its ferocity. Its massive tentacles lashed wildly, smashing the five Galen boats surrounding it into chaos. Fortunately, the Bannaria Archers were extremely nimble. They dodged the sweeping tentacles, though they could not avoid falling into the water. With the rescue efforts of the remaining five Galen boats, no one died, but many were injured. Facing an octopus beast that ordinary arrows simply could not kill, the Bannaria Archers could only fire as they retreated. In the end, they beached their boats and ran inland as fast as they could, finally stopping the beast's attack.

"What the hell? Anything thinks it can come here and cause trouble now?" Roland was furious. Flowing City was already short on food and clothing this winter, and they were depending on the Swift River's aquatic produce to survive. Even Roland himself could only eat black bread with grilled fish or black bread with fish soup. How were they supposed to live without those fish?

"The Holy Radiance Knight Order will all stay behind. Reno, you're responsible for protecting Flowing City. Lagrange City Guards and Bannaria Archers, come with me. Priest Ivy and Sir Ladyl, I'll be counting on you." Roland assigned their tasks. It was a pity Caslo was absent; otherwise, his wyvern would have been a formidable weapon.

"Let's go! We'll meet this thing ourselves." Roland gritted his teeth.

Looking at the Swift River, which had gradually calmed down, Roland turned to Ladyl. "Sir Ladyl, I'll trouble you."

"It is my duty, Your Highness." Ladyl bowed. The next moment, immense Mental Power poured out through the staff in his hand. Judging from how greatly the staff amplified Ladyl's power, it was clearly no ordinary item. Under Ladyl's control, his Mental Power continuously spread outward from him, searching both directions along the river...

"Found it!" Ladyl suddenly opened his eyes.

"Mind Blast!" Ladyl cast a high-level mental spell. It was not surprising for an Earth Magic War Mage to know advanced mental spells. After all, spells were constructed through a caster's Mental Power and mana, and the higher a caster's level, the less likely their Mental Power would be weaker than their mana.

Boom! A muffled sound came from beneath the water. As it rang out, a huge white bubble rose to the surface and burst apart. A beast with dozens of tentacles was blasted up by the current.

"What the—? A Water Monitor?" Roland stared at those familiar barbed tentacles and its hideous appearance. Wasn't this the same kind of Water Monitor that had appeared in Mirror Lake before Moria's western gate? Roland was shocked, but quickly understood. Mirror Lake was originally a closed lake connected to the outside by only one river. If an ancient creature like the Water Monitor could enter that cramped body of water, why could it not enter the broad Swift River?

"Fire!" Roland commanded his soldiers to attack. Compared to the Holy Radiance Knight Order Knights' dreadful archery, the Lagrange City Guards' hand crossbows were far more accurate. They could not hit exactly wherever they aimed, but their hit rate was certainly high. As for the Bannaria Archers, there was no need to say more—their skill was first-rate.

"Just as I thought." Roland watched the Water Monitor rage in pain beneath the water, his expression solemn. Its thick hide was not as tough as dragon skin, but the ordinary arrows Roland had left, wielded by these low-level Professional Soldiers, still could not inflict fatal wounds.

"Light Orb!" Ivy condensed a ball of light and fired it at the creature. To her surprise, the Water Monitor reacted violently. The light scorched its skin, causing it unbearable agony.

"It's a creature of the dark faction! It fears light, fire, and holy attacks!" Ladyl saw through it at once. Fighting it in the water made the earth-attuned Ladyl extremely uncomfortable. Aside from attacking with Mental Power, he could only cast a few remote spells like Falling Rocks. It left the old man boiling with frustration. He possessed the strength of a War Mage, yet could not use it at all—his damage was not even as high as that of a third-tier priest! Old Ladyl felt humiliated by a water beast.

"Holy Sword Judgment!" Roland raised the Dragon-slaying Sword high and drove it viciously into the ground. A massive golden hexagram appeared around the Dragon-slaying Sword, while an identical hexagram formed above the Water Monitor. The next second, a Dragon-slaying Sword forged from Holy Power shot down from the hexagram, aimed directly at the Water Monitor below.

"Screee!" The piercing sound tormented everyone's eardrums. A wound over a meter long and half a palm deep appeared on the Water Monitor's head, black blood continuously flowing from it.

"Thank you, Sir Ladyl!" Roland could not help giving the old man a thumbs-up. Although Ladyl no longer had powerful Earth Magic firepower, he still used his immense Mental Power to restrict the Water Monitor's movements, preventing it from diving into the water. It could only obediently take a Holy Sword Judgment from Roland, a Great Knight. Roland's attack had looked incomparably impressive, but it actually had major flaws. First, he could not use it while moving like Reno could, and it had several seconds of casting windup. That was extremely deadly on a battlefield. It showed that Roland had relied too heavily on his soldiers and had never properly developed his own strength. He possessed the rank of Knight Captain, yet in actual combat he would struggle even against an experienced knight. No wonder Caslo had stopped Roland from charging up Ravenhill to duel Azog. In this world, even the weakest version of Azog should have been a fifth-tier professional soldier, perhaps even a sixth-tier Overlord, Hero, or Champion. Even Berserker Thorin, without the boost of the Seven Dwarf Rings, would probably have been finished with a few ordinary strikes. As for turning the tables like in the movie... Keep dreaming.

"Holy Sword Judgment!" Once the skill's cooldown ended, Roland used the holy knight's ultimate move again.

"This should have killed it for good, right..." After casting his forty-seventh Holy Sword Judgment, Roland held his waist and sighed.

"..." Ivy looked at Roland, who had exhausted all his Battle Qi, then at the Water Monitor, which had practically been pierced through by Holy Sword Judgment... Several dark lines appeared over her head.

"Your Highness, that's enough! Enough! You've already punched through this thing..." Ladyl hurriedly stopped Roland, who was still forcing himself to cast the skill. Earlier, Ladyl had still needed to restrain the struggling Water Monitor, but later it had floated on the water like a dead fish, allowing Roland to attack it at will...

"Fine. Get back to fishing... Haul that thing up, dig out its magic crystal, and toss the rest aside." Roland glanced at the Water Monitor's corpse, recalled its ink-black blood, and immediately abandoned any thought of taking it back for food.

"What a waste of my Galen boats..." Roland mourned the five destroyed boats. Their daily catch would be much smaller now...

"Looks like we'll have to send city guards with the archers whenever they fish from now on. I never considered the possibility of beasts in the river before... This isn't the Middle-earth from Tolkien's books!" Roland sighed. He had nearly forgotten that this world contained countless beasts.

"I'm going back to work on my blacksmith shop..." Roland still had his mind on the blacksmith shop. After all, his subordinates' equipment urgently needed repairs.

Second update. Friends, please vote with recommendation tickets.