That evening.
A substantial orc cavalry squad set out from the Misty Mountains, bypassing Rivendell, passing through the Trollshaws, and racing toward a wilderness.
Wherever they passed, birds took flight in alarm and wild rabbits fled.
At this time, Levi was still in Rivendell. Due to the forest's concealment, the elven scouts keeping watch at the borders only noticed that the Misty Mountains had dispatched another squad.
But once that squad entered the Trollshaws, their specific movements became a mystery.
No one knew what they intended to do or where they were headed.
Countless orc squads entered and exited the Misty Mountains each year... this was just one of them, and it didn't attract much attention from the elves.
Moreover, they weren't heading toward Rivendell; if anything, they seemed to be taking a detour.
However, although they hadn't caught the elves' attention, when they brazenly entered the wilderness, they immediately drew the notice of certain figures.
In the wilderness, Rangers watched the distant shadows with puzzlement.
Perhaps something noteworthy was about to happen again.
Under relentless travel day and night, the orcs reached an area with forests, plains, and lakes within just a few days.
On this day, the orc squad leader jumped onto a large rock and looked into the distance.
He saw a castle standing at the edge of his vision, surrounded by a circle of stone walls that prevented him from seeing what lay inside.
"We've arrived."
"Enter the forest, construct siege ladders, and launch the attack tonight."
The squad leader issued his orders.
The animals within the walls called out meaninglessly, completely unaware of the approaching danger.
Only the two original horses bought from Bree in the stables seemed to sense something, constantly neighing and panting, restlessly running about. However, these actions were destined to be useless.
There was no one here at all.
Only a group of quiet iron heads, staring with wide eyes and expressionless faces at these two restless little creatures.
Scratching their heads.
That same morning, Levi departed from Rivendell. Looking at the newly unlocked mod, his spirits were high as he rushed home non-stop, eager to return and put his skills to work.
That night.
Thud!
The siege ladder collided with the city wall, settling firmly in place.
Orcs shouted excitedly as they eagerly climbed up the wall.
When the first orc reached the top of the wall and discovered that all the watchtowers in every direction were empty, he immediately let out a strange laugh and headed straight for the gate, pulling a lever.
Creak.
An iron gate rotated ninety degrees, opening an exit.
Immediately, the orcs poured in one after another, squeezing inside.
Although this gate wasn't large, it was tall enough to allow wargs and orcs to pass through together. While entering one by one was somewhat slow, eventually all the orcs could get inside.
The pigs, chickens, cattle, and horses in the pasture looked wisely at these invaders, making meaningless grunts and calls.
The first orcs and wargs to enter, upon seeing the large number of fresh livestock nearby, immediately couldn't contain themselves. They raised their cleavers, ready to charge over for slaughter, thinking of the fresh meat soon to be in their mouths, nearly drooling.
However, the moment they showed aggressive intent, their fate was sealed.
Rumble rumble...
The earth trembled as if some massive creature was approaching.
The cleaver was still raised in mid-air when suddenly a feeling of weightlessness came over them.
The orc vanguard only felt pain in his waist before his vision suddenly flew skyward. Turning his head, he discovered that the warg beneath him had somehow also taken flight.
Splat.
This unfortunate orc rider, along with his warg, flew outside the walls and crashed hard to the ground. His eyes rolled back, and he fell still.
'If you feel like no one cares about you, you can go fight an iron golem... then you'll hurt all over.' —Levi.
The suddenly appearing iron giant immediately caught the attention of the main force. Watching their companion fly through the air, the surrounding orcs were all frightened and momentarily cowered.
"Fight back! There's only one of them!"
The orc squad leader was the first to react. Seeing the enemy appear, he immediately roared angrily.
A large group of orc riders immediately showed fierce expressions, swarming forward with cleavers and fangs, attacking all at once. The iron golem was ultimately outnumbered and was soon entangled.
Although the iron golem could send an orc and its warg flying every time it raised its arm, it could only fight them one at a time.
Under the successive group attacks, cracks soon appeared on the iron golem's body. Discovering that this thing wasn't invincible, the orc squad leader immediately relaxed, estimating that the losses were still within acceptable range and wouldn't be too great.
Once they eliminated this strange guardian, they could occupy this place.
However, the next moment, an even louder rumbling than before came from all directions... from the corners of the walls, the left and right sides of the castle, and other previously unnoticed corners. Large figures came pouring in from all sides, swinging their long, hard iron arms and directly sending a large group of orcs flying.
Blood fell from midair, splattering everywhere.
In just the blink of an eye, this squad of barely a hundred was scattered. A full twenty iron golems rampaged through them, and the entire force collapsed at first contact.
One was troublesome enough... now you're telling me there's a whole bunch of these things?
The orcs were dumbfounded.
Their morale continuously wavered and declined.
A one-sided slaughter was beginning to unfold. Two riders were immediately terrified, crowding at the gate entrance, and actually started fighting among themselves over who could get out first, cursing and attacking each other.
At this moment, the small iron gate at the entrance was clearly no longer a shortcut for the orcs' siege but had become an obstacle to their escape.
Soon, one orc was kicked down and lay sprawled across the entrance, while another quickly rode his warg away without looking back.
He completely disregarded how his actions directly caused the only escape route to be blocked.
The orc squad leader inside the walls looked around at this chaotic battlefield and finally showed panic. He roared, trying to rally his subordinates to organize a counterattack, but it was all futile. This group of orcs had already been shattered by the sudden iron golem army and was in complete chaos, impossible to command.
Magic... this must be some kind of powerful magical construct. With his meager forces, there was no way to defeat it!
The orc captain immediately made this judgment, knowing that the best course of action now was to quickly escape and relay the message. So he pushed aside the orcs beside him and turned to run toward the only exit.
"Damn it, get out of the way!"
At this moment, several orcs were already crowded at the only exit, unable to get out no matter what.
Seeing that the soldiers behind him were almost all killed and it would soon be his turn, the squad leader was frantic and could wait no longer. He immediately controlled his warg to charge through and push aside all his subordinates crowded in front.
"Ah!"
Screams rang out right beside his ears. When the squad leader struggled to reach the entrance, he finally discovered why his subordinates were stuck here.
"You useless fools, move him!"
Crash...
Another group of orcs was sent flying through the air. Unable to care about anything else, the squad leader simply abandoned his warg, leaped down, and actually squeezed through the gap at the entrance.
Under the resentful gaze of his dying warg, this orc squad leader became one of only two survivors.
He would bring news of this place back to the Orc King.
Along with the news, he would also bring back fear of this place.
...
At this time, Levi was still on horseback, rushing home.
Unaware of what had happened, that night he suddenly saw a bunch of notifications appear above his head.
[Dúnedain Reputation +50]
[Rivendell Faction Reputation +50]
[Bree Regional Reputation +30]
"Your fame continues to spread among the free factions."
"Huh?"
A series of sudden reputation increase notifications completely confused him.
What happened?
[Chapter Complete]
***
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