It turned out that Arthur's caution was justified.
Besides the middle-aged Ranger Captain who betrayed Talion, four other members of his ranger team also defected to Mordor along with their captain.
Arthur also asked if they had any other accomplices outside and what their plans were, and the middle-aged captain and the four team members revealed everything under the influence of the Charm Branch.
They had no other accomplices, and their original plan for tonight was to sneak to the city wall and open the Black Gate while the rangers who had come off duty were resting and eating, allowing the orcs who had been waiting for a long time outside to rush in.
If it weren't for the fact that all captain-level rangers had received mandatory orders from Talion, the Black Gate's city walls would already be teeming with the stinking bodies of orcs.
Subsequently, Melina tied up the four rangers who had realized what they had said, their faces pale. They looked at their compatriots, whose expressions were gradually turning to anger, and cold sweat constantly beaded on their foreheads as they considered their impending fate.
The four of them were thrown by Melina next to the middle-aged captain. Arthur glanced at the grim-faced Talion and the other silent rangers, then broke the silence in the dining hall, saying, "Let your own people handle the traitors. Melina and I will step out for a moment."
Talion's seemingly frozen expression softened upon hearing Arthur's words, and he nodded apologetically to him, "You've seen a joke, Master wizard."
Arthur and Melina did not wait too long; the dining hall's main door quickly reopened. The five rangers who had betrayed their compatriots had been beaten beyond recognition, and like five maggots, they were dragged out from the other side, blood and torn robes staining the floor.
Talion, wiping his blood-stained hands, approached Arthur.
Behind him followed several Ranger Captains.
After solemnly saluting Arthur, they left, giving Arthur and Talion space to converse.
Talion let out a long breath and performed the same salute as the captains to Arthur, saying with a mix of lingering fear and gratitude, "Thank you so much for your help this time, Lord Arthur. If it weren't for your miraculous Glintstone Magic, I'm afraid the Black Gate... would have already become an orc nest again."
In that case, his wife and son would certainly not have survived.
Arthur thought of this and didn't know how to express his gratitude to Arthur.
But Arthur smiled faintly, waved his hand, and pressed Talion's shoulder to calm him down, saying, "Don't get excited, Talion. Although we've found the traitors tonight, the matter isn't over yet."
Talion was stunned, "What else is there?"
Melina, standing behind Arthur, softly reminded him, "Although the traitors' plan for tonight was foiled by us, the orcs called by the traitors and ambushed beneath the Black Gate may not have left yet."
Talion's body stiffened, "You two are right. I will immediately arrange for reinforcements to strengthen the defenses. Those brainless orc idiots might launch a direct assault on the Black Gate without waiting for the traitors' signal."
As he spoke, he was about to move to arrange personnel.
Arthur quickly grabbed his arm and said, "Wait, Talion, I want to know if you can infer from the traitors' words where the orcs might be ambushed outside the Black Gate?"
Talion looked at Arthur in confusion, not understanding the meaning of his question, but still answered truthfully, "If I'm not mistaken, the relatively weak points tonight are here, and here. If the orcs truly received intelligence from the traitors, they are very likely hiding in these two locations."
He pointed to two dark directions outside the Black Gate, and Arthur silently noted them.
Then Talion saw Arthur beckon Melina, preparing to leave, and couldn't help but be stunned, "Arthur, where are you going?"
Arthur turned his head, grinned at Talion, and replied curtly, "To kill orcs."
Then, a horse Whistle appeared on the city wall, summoning Torrent, and he pulled Melina onto the saddle, settling her in, and quickly disappeared, leaving Talion alone in disarray.
Kill orcs?
Why do I feel that this Master wizard cares more about orcs than my own rangers?
Talion watched Arthur ride away, disappearing into the firelight and the night, completely puzzled, until his wife came over and brought Talion back to his senses, and he immediately went to arrange for increased patrols tonight.
Following the route he had memorized during the day, Arthur and Melina rode Torrent to the foot of the Black Gate's towering walls, and relying on the directions Talion had just indicated from memory, they galloped straight ahead without stopping.
During this process, Arthur also did not forget to change the Magic Professor's Robe, which had little physical defense, back to the Blaidd, the Half-Wolf set, which was more suitable for close combat.
The reason Arthur was so eager was that he truly wanted to quickly replenish the two soul collectors he carried with him this time and return to the Erdtree to summon more people from The Lands Between.
Talion's speculation was not wrong; Arthur rode in one of the directions indicated, and before he had gone more than a hundred meters, he was attacked by a sparse rain of orc arrows.
Arthur took out a brass shield from his spatial backpack, parried the bone arrows shot at him, and accelerated towards the direction from which the arrows had come.
"A bunch of good-for-nothings! Who told you to shoot early!"
The angry roar of an orc captain came with several screams, and then Arthur's gaze only felt something flying towards him from the front. His other hand, which had been gripping the reins tightly, immediately loosened, and a broadhead spear instantly appeared, deflecting the dark shadow flying towards him.
Torrent also very humanly cooperated with Arthur's movements, controlling his charging speed when Arthur loosened his reins, so as not to let his master lose balance on horseback.
The dark shadow fell to the ground, and only then did Arthur notice that it was an orc. Its chest cavity had been torn open by the broadhead spear, its organs spilling out, and it was on its last breath.
It turned out that the orc captain had just thrown an orc who had shot an arrow prematurely at Arthur.
The whoosh of arrows came again, and after Arthur blocked them with his brass shield, he urgently called out to Melina behind him, "Melina!"
And Melina, at the instant Arthur called her name, her Mission Dagger glowed with golden light, and then several crescent-shaped golden sword energies were thrown by her towards the direction where the orcs were hiding.
Arthur also took this opportunity to switch his King's Army Straight Sword to a staff and cast the Glintstone Magic, 'Starlight'. The azure light dispelled the surrounding darkness, also forcing the orcs hidden within out.
"Hmm?"
Arthur's gaze was instantly drawn to a pale, bald human among the orcs, and he rode Torrent directly towards this human.