Windhelm Town Crisis

"We just intercepted and killed two Orc scouts!" The Goblin Knight extended a hand in invitation. Clearly, they had dragged the Orc corpses back.

"Let me see!" Ismir froze for a moment, then pushed open the barely functional wooden door and walked outside.

"My lord, you're here. Come take a look at this corpse!" Ymir crouched on the ground, examining the reeking corpse before him.

After only two glances, Ismir spotted the horrifying penetrating wound in the Orc's body. A Goblin Knight charging at high speed had run it clean through with a lance. But that was not what concerned Ismir. His gaze settled on the Iron Armor covering the corpse. Judging by the pierced section, the armor was at least three or four millimeters thick. Ordinary Orcs could never afford equipment of that quality! Clearly, this Orc scouting party was an elite unit!

"Dol Guldur!" Ismir abruptly rose to his feet and stared toward the distant Mirkwood beyond Windhelm Town, his heart filled with complicated emotions. The Orcs had ultimately noticed his tiny territory. It seemed they had discovered him.

"Elite Orc infantry! They've noticed us!" A trace of gravity flashed through Ymir's eyes.

"It looks like an Orc force has pushed in. We can't fight them head-on! We need to call for reinforcements!" Ismir was not stubborn enough to take on an Orc regular army with his life. He had fewer than two hundred men under his command... That would be an absolute disaster.

"Light the Beacon Tower! Tell Lulong Fortress we've run into trouble!" Ymir nodded at the Nature Guardian beside him.

"Ring the alarm! Gather the militia!" Ismir ordered. Although Windhelm Town's regular forces consisted of only a small squad of Nature Guardians and a pennant of Goblin Knights, Ismir had still selected twenty sturdy adult