Orcish Unrest

The next morning, Reno led the entire Holy Radiance Knight Order across the Swift River in batches. With Ladyl's help, they constructed an outpost that, while not aesthetically pleasing, was undeniably sturdy. The entire structure was built by Ladyl directly using Earth Magic. It was surrounded by a square stone wall, one hundred meters long, three meters thick, and six meters high. Inside the walls, they erected wooden sheds to serve as stables. In the center stood a fifteen-meter-tall watchtower, ten meters long and wide, for vigilance and habitation. A beacon tower was also built on top to signal Flowing City across the river. The price for this outpost's successful establishment was that old Ladyl drank his entire stock of mana potions, and even then, he fell into a weakened state due to excessive mana consumption.

"Caslo, you stay here. I'll take some men to scout along the riverbank," Reno said, waving to Caslo.

"Mhm, if you encounter any trouble, don't engage head-on. At worst, we can retreat to Flowing City and defend it," Caslo cautioned. He worried that Roland might be carelessly lured into a trap by the Orcs, especially since the Knight Order, with their Battle Qi depleted, was no more effective than infantry.

"Defend the city..." Reno's mouth twitched. He thought of Flowing City's pathetic walls and felt even less confident.

"Go and come back quickly!" Caslo patted the flank of his warhorse. The fine Shire Warhorse shot forward like an arrow released from a bow.

"Rumble~" Amidst the thundering hooves, Reno's Holy Radiance Knight Order gradually moved further away.

"I hope everything goes smoothly," Caslo sighed. He then mounted his dragon saddle, and the four-legged Wyvern took to the sky with a flap of its wings, flying towards the depths of Mirkwood.

"Hmm~ How was your scouting?" Azog's small eyes fixed ferociously on an Orc in front of him.

"M-master, we haven't found anything... that army appeared as if out of thin air," the Orc leader stammered.

"Roar!" Azog let out a roar, and the iron claw embedded in his left arm plunged into the Orc's neck. With a powerful heave, he lifted the Orc high into the air before casually tossing him into the wolf pack. Instantly, over a dozen Wargs leaped up and tore the Orc apart mid-air.

"Useless, not fit to live!" Azog snarled, and the countless Orcs beneath him lowered their heads in fear.

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

"My lord, we've reached the Old Forest Road!" a knight reported to Reno, who had stopped. Returning here again, Reno felt a profound sense of emotion. The valiant Swift River Infantry had marched north with the King to participate in the Battle of Lonely Mountain. Now... they had returned, but many of those soldiers had remained at Lonely Mountain.

"Ten men per squad, spread out and scout!" Reno said casually, surveying the surroundings.

"Human knights..." The keen-eared Orcs had discovered them long before the knights of the Holy Radiance Knight Order. They quietly lay in ambush in the shadows of the forest, ready to pounce at any moment...

"Why does it feel so creepy?" a knight asked, warily raising his lance and scanning the surroundings.

"Be careful!"

"I feel like... Ah!" A knight cried out in pain. An Orc that had dropped from above successfully plunged its short blade into the knight's body. Due to the angle, the dagger pierced the plate armor and lodged in the knight's shoulder socket.

"Roar!" The enraged knights drew their swords and began to fight back furiously.

"Orcs!" the startled shouts carried far.

"Capture them! Let's go!" an Orc sub-leader waved to the surrounding Orcs.

"Honor, Mercy... Humility!" The knights cast various buffs on themselves, excluding Sacrifice.

"For the glory of Lagrange! Charge!" Ten knights, trapped in the encirclement, broke through the Orcs' weak cordon with lightning speed and galloped away.

"Lek! Hold on! Don't fall asleep!" The galloping knights surrounded the injured knight, forming a protective circle as they quickly broke out of the forest. The accompanying knights kept shouting to keep the injured knight from losing consciousness.

"Lord Reno! Orcs!" Spotting Reno and his group by the river from a distance, this troop of knights quickly converged with them, carrying their comrade.

"Alert!" Reno immediately turned his gaze to the injured knight.

"Divine Inspiration! Divine Healing!" Soft golden light fell upon the knight. He regained consciousness and, gritting his teeth, pulled out the dagger embedded in his flesh.

"Ugh~" The pain contorted his face. He desperately gripped his weapon to alleviate the agony.

"Alright, young man! You were very brave." As the knight passed Reno, he suddenly heard the words spoken beside his ear. Excessive blood loss made him drowsy, but under the effect of Divine Healing, his wound rapidly grew and scabbed over...

"Clang!" Reno casually hung his lance on his saddle, then drew his favorite knight's sword. Compared to the cumbersome lance, the 1.5-meter-long knight's sword felt incredibly agile.

"Slash!" Reno uttered a soft cry, and his entire Battle Qi surged towards the knight's sword. The Holy Battle Qi, with its balanced attributes, formed a sword aura about three meters long around the blade.

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

The Orcs grazed by the sword aura continued to lunge forward with their upper bodies, but their lower halves were severed and left behind. Their limbs separated, they lay on the ground, groaning. Reno coldly watched them writhe in their own entrails and blood. He carefully examined their totems and discovered that these Orcs originated from the same place as the first batch of Orcs at the foot of Lonely Mountain – Dol Guldur!

"This is trouble! The Orcs have already reached our doorstep..." Reno's eyes were filled with anxiety. If Legolas hadn't brought news of the Orc activity in the north, causing Roland to think of the Orc army in the south, they probably wouldn't have discovered them until the Orcs were at their gates.

"We can't fight on two fronts..." a knight murmured, looking at the scene before him.

"But it seems we'll have to fight on two fronts again!" Reno sighed softly, his gaze drifting into the distance.

"So... Azog in the south can't hold back any longer?" Roland asked in surprise, looking at Reno's report in the warm tent.

"We're in big trouble..." the weakened old Ladyl said while playing with a Griffon Egg he brought.

"Yes, this trouble is more than just big. If they attack, we'll be the first to bear the brunt. River Valley City and Erebor can offer us little help. They also need to guard against the northern Orcs crossing Lonely Mountain to attack them. The only ones who could intervene are the Elves... Forget it, what can you expect from the Elves?" Roland analyzed.

"Good heavens! So, none of these allies are useful!" Caslo rolled his eyes.

"Instead of expecting reinforcements from Thranduil, it's better to consider the army of Dain Ironfoot," Ladyl raised an eyebrow.

"Your Highness! There's activity on the other side of the river!" a Bannaria Archer suddenly burst in.