Orc Movements

Early the next morning, Reno led every member of the Knight Order across the Swift River in batches. With Ladyl's help, they built an unsightly but exceptionally sturdy outpost. Ladyl had constructed the entire outpost directly with Earth Magic. A square stone wall, one hundred meters in perimeter, three meters thick, and six meters high, surrounded it. Inside, they built wooden sheds to serve as stables. At the center stood a watchtower ten meters long and wide and fifteen meters tall, used for both vigilance and lodging. A Beacon Tower was piled atop it to warn Flowing City across the river. The price of successfully erecting this outpost was that old Ladyl had drained his entire stock of mana potions, and the excessive consumption of magic still left him in a weakened state.

"Caslo, stay here. I'll take some men to scout along the riverbank." Reno waved at Caslo.

"Alright. Don't force a fight if something happens. At worst, we'll retreat to Flowing City and defend it from within the city walls." Caslo cautioned him. He feared Roland would carelessly be lured deep in by the Orcs. After all, a Knight Order that had exhausted its Battle Qi was less useful than infantry.

Defend the city... Reno's mouth twitched. When he thought of Flowing City's pitiful walls... it felt even less reliable.

"Go early and come back early!" Caslo slapped the warhorse's rump, and the superb Shire Warhorse shot off like an arrow loosed from a bow.

"Rumble—" Amid the thunder of galloping hooves, the Holy Radiance Knight Order led by Reno gradually vanished into the distance.

"I hope everything stays peaceful." Caslo sighed, then climbed onto the Dragon Saddle. With a beat of its wings, the wyvern rose into the air and flew deep into Mirkwood.

"Mm... How did your scouting go?" Azog's small eyes stared viciously at an Orc before him.

"M-Master, we haven't found anything... That army seemed to have appeared out of thin air." The Orc chieftain stammered out an explanation.

"Roar!" Azog roared. The iron claw embedded in his left arm plunged directly into the Orc's neck. He raised it high with a powerful lift, then casually tossed it into the wolf pack. Instantly, more than a dozen Wargs leaped up and tore it apart in midair.

"Trash doesn't deserve to live!" Azog snarled. Countless Orcs below him lowered their heads in fear.

"Find them! I want to know where they came from!" His furious roar echoed through the abandoned ancient fortress.

"My lord, we've reached Old Forest Road!" A knight spoke to the halted Reno. Returning here once more, Reno was overcome with emotion. Back then, those mighty Swift River Infantry had followed the king north to take part in the Battle of Erebor. Now... they had returned, but those men had remained forever at Erebor.

"Teams of ten. Spread out and scout!" Reno glanced around and gave the order casually.

"Human Knights..." The sharp-eared Orcs discovered the Knights of the Holy Radiance Knight Order before the Knights discovered them. They hid quietly in the shadows of the forest, ready to leap down at any moment...

"Why does it feel so creepy?" A knight warily raised his lance and surveyed the surroundings.

"Be careful!"

"I feel like this place... Aah!" A knight screamed. An Orc dropping from above successfully drove the short blade in its hand into the knight's body. Because of the angle, the dagger pierced through the plate armor and lodged in the knight's shoulder hollow.

"Roar!" The enraged Knights swung their swords and fought fiercely.

"Orcs!" The cries of alarm carried far beyond the forest road.

"Hold them back! We need to go!" A minor Orc leader waved at the surrounding Orcs.

"Glory, mercy... humility!" The Knights layered every status effect upon themselves except Sacrifice.

"For Lagrange's glory! Charge!" The ten surrounded Knights smashed through the Orcs' weak encirclement like thunder, then spurred their horses into a swift gallop.

"Rex! Hold on! Don't fall asleep!" The galloping knights clustered around their wounded companion at the center. They burst from the forest, while the accompanying knights kept talking to the wounded knight, trying to keep him from losing consciousness.

"Lord Reno! Orcs!" Once they spotted Reno's group by the river from afar, the team of Knights quickly rushed over to join them with their comrade.

"Stay alert!" Reno immediately turned his gaze toward the wounded knight.

"Divine Inspiration! Divine Healing!" Gentle golden light descended upon the knight. Once he regained consciousness, he gritted his teeth and pulled the dagger embedded in his flesh free.

"Mmgh—" The pain twisted his face into a grimace. He desperately clenched his weapon, using it to ease his agony.

"Alright, lad. You were brave." As he passed Reno's side, the knight suddenly heard those words by his ear. Excessive blood loss made him drowsy, but under the effects of Divine Healing, his wound rapidly grew closed and scabbed over...

"Clang!" Reno casually hung his lance beside the saddle, then drew his beloved Knight Sword with a backhanded motion. Compared to the cumbersome lance, the one-and-a-half-meter Knight Sword was incomparably more flexible.

"Cleave!" Reno shouted softly. Battle Qi throughout his body immediately surged into the Knight Sword. The mild-natured sacred Battle Qi formed a sword aura roughly three meters long around the longsword.

As the word fell, the golden sword aura swept rapidly through the surging Orcs before finally dissipating behind them.

The upper bodies of the Orcs struck by the sword aura still struggled to charge forward, but their lower bodies had already been severed and left behind. Their limbs separated as they sprawled on the ground, howling without end. Reno watched coldly as they rolled and wailed amid their own blood and entrails. He carefully examined their totems and discovered that these Orcs came from the same place as the first batch of Orcs beneath Erebor—Dol Guldur!

"This is troublesome! The Orcs have already crept right under our noses..." Reno's eyes were filled with anxiety. If Legolas had not brought news of the northern Orcs' unusual movements and prompted Roland to think of the southern Orc army, they likely would not have discovered them until the Orcs reached their doorstep.

"We can't fight on two fronts..." A knight stared at the scene before him and muttered.

"But it looks like we'll have to fight on two fronts again!" Reno sighed softly and gazed into the distance.

"So... Azog in the south could no longer hold himself back?" Inside the warm tent, Roland looked at the reporting Reno in surprise.

"We're in serious trouble..." Old Ladyl, still weakened, said as he played with the Griffon Egg he had brought along.

"Yes, and this is no ordinary trouble. Once they attack, we'll be the first to bear the brunt. River Valley City and Erebor can offer us very little help; they still need to guard against northern Orcs crossing Erebor to attack them. As for the only Elves who could intervene... forget it. What can you expect the Elves to do?" Roland analyzed the situation.

"Good grief! So all these allies are useless after all?" Caslo rolled his eyes.

"Rather than hope for Thranduil's reinforcements, we should consider Dain Ironfoot's army." Ladyl raised an eyebrow.

"Your Highness! Something's happening across the river!" A Bannaria Archer suddenly burst in.