Roland and his party planned to cross the Old Forest Road and follow the Rapid River north to Lonely Mountain. The advantage of this was that they didn't have to pass through the Woodland Kingdom and come into conflict with the Woodland Elves living there. Besides, even if a fight broke out, Roland's side would be the target of abuse. The elves were good at jungle guerrilla warfare and could easily crush Roland's army, which lacked long-range attacks. Moreover, nearly half of Roland's troops were cavalry, and crossing the dense forest was too painful for them. After all, not all cavalry were Moon Deer Knights of the elves.
So, Roland and his group drove onto the Old Forest Road in a mighty procession. The Swift Infantrymen holding large shields walked at the outermost edge of the team, while the Lagran Knights and Badaniyan Archers walked in the middle of the team. Renault and Roland led the team, and Caslo was still the last one to leave.
"Oh, why are there so many spider webs on the road!" A swift infantryman helplessly sorted out the chevaux de frise that was entangled in spider webs.
"Who knows! This spider web is so big, could it be done by a spider-like monster?" said the Swift Infantryman behind him.
"Who knows... Be careful! There's nothing to be afraid of! We have a hundred knights here!"
"Why do I feel like something's wrong with the surrounding environment?" a Swiftstream Infantryman asked vigilantly.
"Hmm?" Roland couldn't help but look around when he heard the noise behind him.
"Renault, what do you think?" Roland asked.
"Do I need to look at it? There is obviously something wrong! Sir..." Renault said speechlessly.
"Then why are you so leisurely?" Roland widened his eyes. He knew that the Dark Forest was occupied by a group of giant spiders. Did Renault mean that he and others were going to feed them with just a sliding tackle?
"Ah, it's just a low-level Warcraft Shadow Spider... Is it that serious?" Renault rolled his eyes.
Just to explain, Warcraft is divided into six levels, just like other classes: Primary, Low, Intermediate, Advanced, Super, and Scourge. Powerful creatures like the Flying Dragon and the Giant Eagle are Super, while epic creatures like the Leviathan are Scourge.
"Um... even low-level monsters are troublesome, okay? Do you think everyone is a knight commander like you?" Roland complained.
"Hawthorn and pear..." Roland felt relieved after hearing that the giant spiders were just low-level monsters and began to hum a song.
…
"Sir! There are more and more spider webs!" A torrent infantryman who was leading the way came trotting over to report.
"Are we heading straight into a spider's nest?" Renault looked at Roland with a grim face.
"Sir, are you sure the route you are leading is okay?" Renault grinned and confirmed with concern.
"What the hell is that look?" Roland seemed irritated.
"If there's any problem, it's Elrond's fault. I won't take the blame!" Roland said unhappily.
"Maybe it's not King Ailon's mistake, but the spread of evil forces here has exceeded our imagination... They can actually form a web on the Old Forest Road, which means that the East and the West have not communicated for a long time... The Old Forest Road has been abandoned..." Renault suddenly put forward this idea with a grim expression.
"Haha, I'd rather Elrond is unreliable now..." Roland laughed dryly.
"Deploy the battle formation!" Roland took a deep breath.
"What's going on? Are we going to fight again?" Caslo rushed up from behind after seeing the team change instantly.
"This road is occupied by spiders... We have to open it up now!" Roland told Caslo helplessly.
"Can't we take a detour?" Caslo frowned.
"It's too late! We are running out of time!" Roland sighed. Turin Day is approaching.
"What are you afraid of? You are a dragon knight, and there are no outsiders around now, so pull the dragons out and fight them!" Roland suddenly remembered that he still had a dragon hidden in his hand.
"Pa!" Kaslo slapped himself. He had been riding Sharma for so long that he had forgotten that he was a dragon rider.
Caslo jumped off his horse swiftly and took out a dragon flute from his collar. A melodious flute sounded, and a strong wind suddenly blew in the sky. The space was torn apart, and a green flying dragon flew out.
"Ang!" The clear and passionate dragon roar resounded through the sky.
"Boom!" The four flying dragons crashed heavily to the ground, causing countless Charles warhorses to neigh and scream.
"Kaldo, long time no see." Kaslo patted his flying dragon's head happily.
"Roar~" The flying dragon immediately responded to Caslo, and the slender dragon tail behind it swept around happily, making Roland think for a moment that this thing was a local dog instead of a dragon.
"Let's go to the sky to scout and fight our way out!" After several bloody battles, Roland was also full of hostility. After all, why use the brain when you can be simple and rough?
So, the giant spiders that built nests and hunted on the old forest road were in trouble today. From time to time, wind blades fell from the sky and gave them a full-body "massage", cutting them into pieces.
Hundreds more people, armed with torches, burned spider webs along the way, scaring the remaining spiders into fleeing. "Oh my god! Although we, the Shadow Spiders, aren't human, you're real dogs! Not only do you kill beasts to get crystals, you even burn down people's houses. It's like a demolition team marching through here, leaving no spider alive, no web untouched..."
The spiders that managed to survive looked up at the sky with their eight tiny eyes, tears streaming down their faces... This was the first time we'd seen dragons used to bully spiders. Forget hitting them, we couldn't even touch them... Those humans down there could touch them, but they'd have to wait. Look at that mithril fir bow stretched into a full moon? And then there's that five-meter-long chevaux de frise held horizontally? Or look at those two paladins brimming with holy battle aura? Or that shield wall that felt like a moving Great Wall... There was no fucking place to attack! Even activating skills was useless. Shadow Stealth was a joke in the eyes of a paladin, and that wasn't the kind that was funny. Within a hundred meters, you were as bright as a lightbulb in their perception. They didn't even need to charge; just a single swing of their weapon, unleashing a blast of holy battle aura, was enough to dismember a giant shadow spider...
They were truly untouchable, forcing them to hide. Consequently, the spiders of the Dark Forest had been suffering these past few days! Their suffering reached their very core, with any slight movement potentially triggering a deathly howl from the sky.
It must be said that Roland and his companions were quite lucky. What they didn't know was that when they were crossing the Dark Forest, they almost brushed past the orc army of Dol Guldur. As soon as they left, the orcs passed behind them...
"A flying dragon?" Azog stared at the sky in surprise. It had taken him so long to realize there was a flying dragon lurking here. Unfortunately, he didn't see the dragon with a saddle or a rider on its back. Seeing this, he'd definitely reconsider his attack plan. At the very least, he'd have to bring a few dragon crossbows (the most effective dragon-hunting weapon in Middle-earth, capable of inflicting fatal damage to dragons when combined with special arrows).
"Forward!" He shook his head and stopped thinking about the flying dragon. Instead, he imagined tasting the blood of the dwarf king.