A hundred orcs and wargs?
Although the orcs and wargs were generally not strong, their sheer numbers could be annoying.
Arthur felt that orcs were like cockroaches; killing them was no different from stepping on cockroaches, but a few days later, the same cockroaches would be found in the same place.
That's how it was with orcs: kill one batch, and then another batch would appear from who knows where.
Thinking of this, Arthur offered an apologetic expression to Fili, Kili, and Dwalin: "I think if Fili is correct, our many carriages entering the ruins not long ago must have been discovered by the hidden orcs. I apologize for putting you all in danger."
Then he said in a firm tone, "But please rest assured, not a single dwarf friend will be harmed before all of us from the Erdtree fall in battle."
However, to Arthur's surprise, Fili, Kili, and Dwalin, the three dwarves, exchanged glances and burst out laughing.
Dwalin, still laughing heartily, said, "What are you saying, sir Arthur? We dwarves are not cowards who hide behind our friends and watch them fight. Since Thorin sent us as your escorts, we will fulfill this duty until we return."
Fili and Kili both nodded vigorously after Dwalin finished speaking.
Fili crossed his arms, saying fearlessly, "The blood of my relatives has stained the hands of these orc scum. I will personally teach those cowardly orcs a lesson with my axe and avenge my family."
Kili also added, "And my bow!"
After the dwarf brothers finished speaking, Dwalin continued, "However, I need to inform our kin who came with the carriages about the impending orc attack. Although they are not specialized warriors, they are certainly not soft when it comes to killing orcs."
Arthur nodded: "Yes, that's good. Nepheli Loux, take Fili and the other two to the carriages first. Oh, by the way, why haven't I seen Rogier? What is he doing?"
Nepheli Loux said, "It's his turn to stand guard at the outpost today. You'll see him inside."
After saying a few more words to Fili and the other two, Arthur bid them farewell and entered the outpost.
As he approached, he heard Rogier's cheerful voice coming from a watchtower: "I saw those carriages. You've worked hard traveling so far these past few days, Arthur."
"Although I'd love to tell you what happened on the road and how hospitable the dwarves are, I'm afraid I don't have the time now. The orcs could attack at any moment. I'll explain the details to you later. Rogier, have the soldiers in the outpost raise their vigilance starting now. Two groups should rotate standing guard on the watchtowers." Arthur raised his head and said to Rogier in a rapid voice.
Rogier's originally relaxed expression also turned serious, and he said to Arthur, "I will constantly monitor movements in the distance."
"I'll leave it to you. Oh, by the way, I also found an apprentice for you. You'll meet him shortly."
Arthur nodded, then continued to walk quickly towards the Erdtree, leaving Rogier wide-eyed.
Wait, what does he mean he found an apprentice for me?
Rogier tried to open his mouth several times to ask what was going on, but he saw Arthur's hurried steps towards the Erdtree, which didn't seem feigned, so he finally suppressed his questions.
After all, he said he'd see him soon.
As for Arthur, the reason he was eager to get to the Erdtree was because Nepheli Loux had just told him that while he was away, two more batches of night-attacking orcs had been eliminated, and the Erdtree had absorbed their souls.
Therefore, Arthur believed that the Erdtree should be able to perform summons again.
"Ten days apart, you've really grown a lot." Arthur came to the Erdtree, which glowed with a soft golden light, and gently stroked its trunk, which was two sizes larger than when he left, saying.
The Erdtree seemed very happy to hear Arthur's words, like a child praised and complimented by his father.
Arthur felt the emotions emanating from the tree trunk, and a faint smile couldn't help but appear on his lips, even the irritation caused by the potential orc attack lessened a bit.
On the surface of the tree trunk he touched, the Golden multi-ring shape of the elden ring gradually emerged.
The moment Arthur touched the elden ring, his mind actively immersed itself, and the familiar scenes of The Lands Between reappeared in his mind.
As expected, compared to when he left, the reserve of Grace had increased significantly.
It seemed that not only did it absorb the souls of those two attacking orc batches, but the Erdtree's own growth could also accumulate Grace for summoning units from The Lands Between.
Arthur calmed down. Fili had reminded him earlier that this night attack was very likely a major offensive by the orcs in Minhiriath, and the enemy's numbers would definitely exceed a hundred.
This number would not make Arthur feel difficult for now. Morgwyn's Sacred Spear had already proven that the weapon he used to clear mobs on his way through The Lands Between was still usable, and the storm stirred up by Nepheli Loux was also good at clearing mobs.
The current problem was that although their combat power was very strong, even overwhelmingly so against orcs and wargs, their numbers were too few.
Even including Fili and the other dwarves, there were fewer than thirty people in total.
This meant that their side could only passively defend and could not take the initiative to attack.
Moreover, among these people, only he, Fili, Kili, and Dwalin could fight on horseback.
But…
Arthur thought about the small horses the dwarves rode, then compared the size difference between wargs and the small horses, and silently crossed them off the list of those who could fight on horseback.
Moreover, their small horses were not specially trained warhorses and could not move flexibly in this land full of architectural ruins and forests. What's more, Arthur felt that these poor horses would lose control in terror when they heard the wargs' roars and smelled their scent.
Fili and Kili had told Arthur that dwarves only rode these small horses, suitable for their height, when traveling long distances.
If it was for war, the dwarves raised a kind of fierce and robust mountain goat, which was their true war mount.
The orcs certainly wouldn't be able to break in, but it would be very difficult for Arthur and his group to pursue and kill all of them.
Again, the orcs were like cockroaches that could never be completely eradicated, popping up occasionally to disgust them.
Arthur, thinking of this, already understood why Fili always looked annoyed when talking about orcs.
Arthur had already decided that once he gathered more people, he would make the orcs disappear completely from all of Minhiriath.
But for the next orc attack, Arthur could only try his best to annihilate the main orc force first.
If Nepheli Loux's Stormhawk flock were here, it would be great, as they would be able to quickly pursue the fleeing orcs.
Arthur thought with some regret, the images of The Lands Between in his mind rotated with his thoughts, finally stopping on the dimmed name of the Stormhawk.
He seemed to hear the Stormhawk's cries, and the cold glint of the hook-swords on its talons.
Unfortunately, summoning a Stormhawk required summoning it along with Stormveil Castle.
But Arthur did not give up, another creature appeared in his mind—the Flying Dragon Agheel.
It turned out that the summoning condition for the Flying Dragon Agheel was to summon the entire Agheel Lake and the village south of the lake together to unlock it.
With the current Grace reserves of the Erdtree, the village south of Agheel Lake could be summoned, but summoning the shallow Agheel Lake along with it was not enough.
This made Arthur feel a little itchy, as it was clear that there were no restrictions on bringing things from The Lands Between to Middle-earth, as long as there was enough Grace to summon them.
But the massive amount of Grace consumed to summon these things made Arthur frown.
However, Arthur quickly relaxed his brow, because he knew that rebuilding The Lands Between was a slow and arduous task, and being impatient would only lead him further down the path of seeking quick success. Perhaps one day in the future, he would fall into an abyss of no return, taking his homeland with him.
So he shifted his attention from Agheel's name and began to scan the summonable buildings or characters.
When Arthur discovered that a certain person very important to him and her associated Waypoint could be summoned, his peripheral vision accidentally swept over a large building whose name lit up, indicating it could be summoned.
This made Arthur quickly look over, and the image of this fortress appeared in his mind.
It was a military fortress in The Lands Between, backed by the sea and easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Behind it was the vast, blue ocean. Waves, like roaring beasts, crashed against the hard rocks again and again, stirring up white foam.
Above the fortress, flocks of seagulls circled, emitting sharp and piercing cries. Their figures cast flickering shadows between the blue sky and white clouds.
On the outer perimeter of the fortress, soldiers of the Kingrick Royal Army, clad in uniform iron armor and wielding long spears, greatswords, and tower shields, engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat with the small yet exceptionally agile demi-human tribes. The demi-humans, dressed in tattered cloth, stubbornly resisted, enduring the crossbow bolts fired from the ballistae on the towers.
And in the most open area within the fortress, the massive corpse of a demi-human queen lay sprawled.
Her body was three meters long, but now she could only lie silently on the cold, hard ground. The blood flowing from this demi-human queen's body seemed like the veins of the earth, seeping deep into the soil, causing the surrounding roses to bloom in an unusual shade of red.
Under the shadow of the platform above the fortress, the stone-built platform appeared particularly cold and dark.
A knight, wearing the Kingrick Royal Army armor, stood there, slowly returning his knight's greatsword, stained with considerable blood, to its scabbard.
The wind on the platform was not strong, but it was enough to make the knight's red cloak gently flutter like a blood flower.
Haight Fort, that was the name of this military fortress.
If he summoned it, not only would he gain the Kingrick Royal Army's military strength from a fortress as a supplement, but he also wouldn't have to worry about orc harassment all day long.
After all, they couldn't breach the fortress walls, unless they planned to bring siege equipment.
If the orcs really brought siege equipment, Arthur would probably laugh out loud. Because this would greatly slow down the orcs' movement, giving him an opportunity to annihilate these annoying orcs.
Also, a friend of his, who was also a subordinate of the Storm King Nepheli Loux, could also be summoned after Haight Fort was summoned.
Kenneth Haight, a noble of the Erdtree faction stationed at Haight Fort.
A good-natured old man with short golden hair and beard, full of old-fashioned royal style, and true to his word.
The brass short blade Arthur had given to Bilbo was the reward Kenneth Haight had given him when he first recovered Haight Fort for him, back when Arthur was not yet familiar with Kenneth Haight in The Lands Between.
Originally, Arthur had felt that after all his hard work in killing the rebellious Knight Captain and reclaiming the fortress for him, he had only received a dagger that was neither very lethal nor valuable.
Later, Arthur learned through Melina that the dagger Kenneth Haight had given him was one of the symbolic items carried by members of the Erdtree royal family.
The other party was essentially showing all the nobles within the Erdtree's sphere of influence that Arthur was an honored guest with close ties to the royal family.
It was just a pity that the elden ring was shattered in The Lands Between, and Arthur never encountered a mentally sound Erdtree noble in the end.
And Arthur giving that dagger to Bilbo was with the same intention.
Although he had only spent a short day and night with that hobbit, the other party's optimism, sincerity, and hospitality really made him feel fond of Bilbo.
As for Kenneth Haight, Arthur believed he was one of the people who absolutely had to be summoned.
Although he didn't possess the martial prowess of Nepheli Loux, nor the magical abilities of Rogier, what neither Nepheli Loux nor Rogier could replace about Kenneth Haight was that he was a politician.
Someone who could truly win the hearts of the demi-humans in The Lands Between was not so much rare as Kenneth Haight was the only one of his kind.
This showed that he truly had some capability.
Moreover, Arthur was increasingly able to feel the difference between this land and The Lands Between after the shattering of the elden ring.
In The Lands Between after the shattering of the elden ring, because there weren't many normal people to communicate with, you just needed to draw your sword and cut them down.
But in Middle-earth, Arthur found that the approach from The Lands Between wouldn't work, so he needed more talents like Kenneth Haight to help him.
As Arthur's thoughts stirred, the Erdtree seemed to sense his intention, gently swaying its branches, as if engaging in a silent conversation with him.
Countless golden rays of light, like surging tides, spread from the tree trunk, enveloping the entire outpost in a golden hue. They intertwined in the air and on the ground, forming a massive golden net that gradually expanded outwards, accompanied by slight tremors.
The slight tremors on the ground did not disturb this sacred tranquility; instead, they were like the Erdtree whispering. Not only did they not cause panic among the surrounding Kingrick Royal Army soldiers, but they instead turned to face the Erdtree, silently praying.
Finally, a large military fortress with walls eight meters high, an internal diameter of one hundred meters, and equipped with ballistae, replaced the original location of the outpost.
And the previous outpost, under Arthur's control, was now located about one hundred meters away from the fortress.
In addition to this brand new Haight Fort, a similarly blessed and repaired relay station also appeared between the outpost and Haight Fort, and the person hidden within the relay station was also summoned by Arthur.
It could be said that this person, who was crucial to Arthur, was summoned with the most Grace after Haight Fort.
In the center of Haight Fort, about ten demi-human clusters and the Kingrick Royal Army, who had betrayed Kenneth Haight, stood distinctly on the left and right.
The Knight Captain who had fallen to the path of blood, at the forefront, his crimson eyes under his helmet scanned the surroundings, his expression fluctuating between uncertainty and gloom, as he too did not know what had happened.
But very quickly, the Knight Captain felt a familiar scent of blood, and he suddenly looked up to see a tarnished with black choppy hair; the power of the Blood Lord continuously proclaimed his sovereignty over him from within the other's body.
"Clang."
Even though the Knight Captain was armored, he knelt on one knee in the direction of Arthur, offering his knight's greatsword with both hands.
He lowered his head, indicating submission.
As the Knight Captain knelt, the soldiers standing behind him also knelt on one knee, except for one strong, muscular soldier whose vision and hearing were obscured by a large pumpkin-shaped helmet.
And then Kenneth Haight's theatrical voice sounded in Arthur's ear: "W-where is this? Great Elden Lord, why is that blood-crazed Knight Captain here as well?"
"Yes, my dear apprentice. Why has the Erdtree become so petite? Why is the sun's light so bright? You truly have summoned me to a magical place."
Before Arthur could answer Kenneth Haight, a lazy, mature female voice also entered his ears.
Arthur turned around, opened his arms, and smiled, welcoming his two newly arrived friends: an elegantly standing, golden-haired middle-aged man dressed in noble attire, and a young, beautiful, black-haired woman draped in a blue sorcerer's robe.
"This is Middle-earth. I urgently need your help, intelligent sir Kenneth Haight, and, Teacher Sellen!"