Pursuit

"A boss monster at low health—how could I resist going for the kill?"

Li Wei saw it clearly: that arrow had reduced the Orc squad captain to just seven health points.

It was in execution range!

Without the slightest hesitation, Li Wei quickly climbed out of the tunnel. Before the nearby Orcs could rush over, he drew his sword and struck, sending the Orc captain crashing to the ground and emptying its health bar.

With their leader dead, the surrounding Orcs instantly fell into disarray without a core to rally around. Even the Wargs seemed at a loss. Li Wei did not let the opportunity slip by, charging forward and cutting down several Wargs and Orcs in quick succession.

As the smell of blood grew stronger, an Orc finally came to its senses and pointed at Li Wei, shouting, "Kill him! He's alone!"

Shing—

A flash of sword light swept past. The Warg beneath that Orc had all four limbs severed and collapsed on the spot. Then another upward slash killed the Orc instantly.

The temporary commander who had stepped forward was killed in an instant, and the Orc squad fell into chaos once more. Some Orcs kept charging Li Wei, hoping to kill the human first, but Li Wei needed only two strikes to kill each of them. He did not even need a third.

Without unified command, the battlefield was a complete mess. Orcs and Wargs crowded together in a dark mass, surrounding Li Wei at the center and shouting for his death, yet they never managed to form an effective formation. They merely rushed in one or two at a time, like Calabash Brothers saving Grandpa, going over to die.

Those inside were fighting, while those outside only knew how to crowd together and yell. They even blocked the retreat route of the Orcs inside.

Some Orcs tried to shout orders and organize the formation, but Li Wei would quickly notice them. Even if he had to take a few extra hits, he would make sure to take them down first.

At that moment, Li Wei truly understood the difference between having a commander and having none.

When the squad captain had still been alive, Li Wei had only dared to launch sneak attacks and run the moment he succeeded. He did not dare swing a second extra time; one second too late, and he would have been surrounded.

But now, as long as Li Wei did not want to fight, he could break out at any time.

The difference was simply enormous. No wonder that after Azog died in the Battle of Five Armies, the entire Orc army had swiftly collapsed.

Soldiers with no formation, unable to coordinate and only knowing how to fight on their own, were headless flies in any army. They were nothing to fear.

More and more blood stained his body, yet the treasured sword in his hand remained bright, as conspicuous as an undying star. That glimmer became the last light seen by many Wargs and Orcs.

When more than half of the cavalry squad had been killed or wounded, Li Wei had already planned to break out and run. The enemy's numbers were right there; even if they all charged at him in a disorganized swarm, they could still wear him down to death.

At that point, he had only half his health left, and his satiety was running low as well.

Yet what Li Wei had not expected was that the Orcs began to fear him first.

Seeing that half their companions had died, while the human remained as lively as ever without showing the slightest fatigue, and that even the wounds on his body were healing...

It was simply too terrifying for the Orcs. This thing could not be killed!

Sometimes, the most frightening thing about something was not that it was difficult, but that no matter what price one paid or how hard one tried, not even the slightest progress could be seen.

Although Li Wei's condition had already become somewhat dangerous, he still appeared completely uninjured on the surface, as if every attack against him was useless.

The blades had clearly stabbed into him, yet he acted as if nothing had happened. He could even pull them out and slash down the Orc who had stabbed him.

Once or twice was nothing to fear, but after three or four times, many Orcs were scared out of their wits.

Li Wei put on a fierce act, raising his longsword and shouting to scare back the Orcs and Wargs while frantically gnawing on dried beef.

Only after he had eaten his satiety full and recovered his health did he truly charge in and resume cutting.

"I'm waiting for my health to recover. What are you waiting for?"

The scent of blood gradually spread.

The Orcs who should die died, and those who should flee fled. No matter what, this squad no longer existed.

There had been more than twenty cavalrymen. Counting both Wargs and Orcs, over forty corpses now covered the ground beneath his feet, making the place resemble a slaughterhouse.

The radiance on the longsword gradually faded, signaling the end of the battle.

At the same time, a series of system achievement notifications suddenly appeared:

Rivendell region faction reputation reached 100

Dúnedain faction reputation reached 100

Obtained faction achievement: Friend of Rivendell

Obtained faction achievement: Friend of the Dúnedain

"Huh?"

Li Wei opened the descriptions.

Once reputation exceeded 10 points, it meant that the corresponding faction had acknowledged him, and its attitude toward him would become relatively friendly.

Once reputation reached 100 points, it meant that, to that faction, he was an unquestioned friend.

Well then, he had not even reached Rivendell yet, and he had already become a Friend of Rivendell.

He checked the reputation change records again.

Trolls, Orcs, and Wargs were all enemies of the Free Peoples. Their deaths had all been converted into his reputation.

It was not just the Dúnedain and Rivendell. Once his deeds spread, his reputation with the other Free Peoples factions would also slowly increase, though certainly not by this much.

After taking another bite of dried meat, Li Wei saw that it was still early and decided to continue visiting a few Trolls.

Yet this time, he searched until daylight. He crossed mountains and ridges, checked several caves, and ran around all night, but failed to find another Troll.

Finding Trolls was also work that required both luck and strength.

Seeing that his backpack already held quite a bit of gold, silver, and treasure—and that he had even gained a precious sword—Li Wei decided to temporarily end his journey through Troll Forest and continue toward Rivendell.

It was just a pity that he had ultimately failed to find the three trolls hiding a vast trove of treasure. All he could say was that fate had let them escape disaster.

Returning to Last Bridge, he broke open the ground and found the horse inside safe and sound.

"...It must've been hard on you, being shut in there for so many days."

Li Wei gently patted the horse's head. The horse showed little reaction, merely lowering its head to take a bite of grass, its eyes full of wisdom.

"Onward!"

Swinging onto the horse in one step, Li Wei continued racing east.

He ran like that until the following night.

While riding, Li Wei took out his map and checked his position. At his current speed, he estimated that he should reach the vicinity of Rivendell before daybreak.

According to what Falrodan had said, there seemed to be a small path leading directly into Rivendell...

Whoosh—

In the blink of an eye, a piercing whistle tore toward him.

"Neigh—"

The horse beneath him suddenly reared up and came to an abrupt halt, nearly throwing Li Wei off.

Looking again, he saw that an arrow had somehow lodged in the horse's belly. Even with its horse armor protecting it, it had still lost seven health points.

Turning his head, Li Wei suddenly discovered that a vast swath of shadows had ambushed him at some point. Countless scarlet eyes crowded together, staring straight at him and making his scalp tingle.

It was an Orc cavalry unit.

By rough estimate... there were over a hundred of them.

"Holy shit!"

Li Wei cursed and immediately turned his horse around to flee.

"What?"

Something was wrong here.

The Half-Orc Bow archer who had fired that arrow was dumbfounded. He clearly remembered hitting it, so why was that horse still running as if nothing had happened—and so fast at that?

"Chase!" an Orc ordered.

At once, a group of Warg riders surged forward, charging ahead in orderly pursuit.

"Chief, it's him. He wiped out our squad in Troll Forest..." Back where they stood, an Orc rider timidly stepped forward to report. The Warg beneath him also looked listless, as though it had recently been badly frightened.

"I know. He's also the head the king wants."

"I'll kill him!"

Roar!

The chief's Warg let out a roar and followed the main force in pursuit.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it—"

On this side, Li Wei rode hard, his heart pounding wildly. Those damned Orcs—so many of them coming after just one person. Did they have no shame? Was this really necessary?!

After cursing under his breath a few times, Li Wei had no choice but to run. There were over a hundred Warg riders, and they weren't rabble either. Judging by their equipment, they were elites even among the generally rag-clad Orcs of the Misty Mountains. At the very least, every one of them wore armor.

No matter what, this was not a force he could fight head-on.

Li Wei raced forward at full speed, not daring to stop for even a second.

He kept running for nearly half the night.

Li Wei looked back.

"Fuck, they're still chasing! Don't these Wargs get tired?!"

There were actually many ways to deal with these pursuers. At worst, he could just keep running until they collapsed from exhaustion.

Even worse came to worst, he could dismount and dig three blocks, fill one, then escape through a tunnel. With the iron shovel's digging speed, he could dig down three blocks before the pursuers got close.

Or else—

Just as Li Wei was hesitating over whether to take some extra action, he suddenly felt a faint tremor in the ground ahead. Raising his head sharply, he saw a neat line of silver-gray suddenly emerge at the far end of the plain, glinting with a muted white sheen beneath the starlight.

Those were...

Cavalry?