Bear School Astartes

Lann gripped with one hand, swinging it to the side as if it were an ordinary hand-and-a-half sword.

The fierce wind was drawn out by the massive blade, followed by a loud ’clang’!

”Ah!!”

The orcs that originally blocked Gandalf, Bilbo, and Lann were instantly smashed into pieces by the coarse and violent greatsword, and were sent flying.

At this moment, Bilbo understood what had previously amazed Gandalf.

He had traveled with the dwarves in the perilous wilderness for a year, yet he had never seen anyone hit like this, not even by an ogre!

”Found you!”

Lann rested the greatsword on his shoulder after slaying several orcs and walked towards the two.

Despite the gory scene during ’s display, the black and red blood of the orcs did not mess up or stain Lann’s hair.

This was the result of Lann’s almost instinctive aversion to having his hair messed up.

Chaos was everywhere, the orcs had already been scattered and were mixed in chaotic battle with the dwarves and elves.

The sounds of slashing and roaring were unending.

The orcs’ Black Speech, the dwarves’ coarse Dwarvish, the elves’ Elvish... these completely different languages were all trying to increase their volume on the battlefield, hoping to convey messages and vent emotions.

So even though Lann was very close to Gandalf, the two still had to shout to make themselves heard.

”Gandalf, we can’t go on like this!”

Lann shouted loudly, leaning close to the old wizard’s ear.

”Azog has already chosen the command post and established the command chain; the orcs we’re killing now are completely irrelevant to the overall situation!”

The orcs had been preparing for a long time; they must have had the concept of ’reconnecting the north through the Lonely Mountain and reviving the Kingdom of Angmar’ as soon as the dragon took over the Lonely Mountain.

Regardless of whether the plan was proposed by a strategic thinker among the orcs, or if it was Sorun’s deployment, they had arranged for this plan for a long time.

And the orcs’ goal was clear and determined: to occupy this place, nothing else matters.

In contrast, the humans of Long Lake Town were temporarily driven over by the dragon.

The elves’ main intent was to retrieve their national treasure.

The dwarves indeed aimed to defend the Lonely Mountain, but they had conflicts with the elves in the same camp.

Whether in terms of preparation before the war or internal issues, the orcs were in an advantageous position.

Simply put, if the people on the battlefield were playing an action game, then Azog on Crow Ridge was playing a real-time strategy game.

Between the two, the action game may look cooler, but in terms of killing efficiency... there’s no comparison.

”You want to go for a decapitation strike?”

Gandalf’s white beard twitched as he immediately understood Lann’s intention.

The decapitation tactic, a practical and straightforward strategy.

Timeless and even more, constantly innovating through use.

Even a tightly organized legion would be thrown into chaos for a time once it lost its commander, until a new commander could take over.

And orcs, cruel and vicious, could gather an army under high pressure and brutality, but the level of organization was not optimistic.

Against such a large-scale but loosely organized army, the decapitation tactic was an efficient and direct choice, always has been.

Even in Lann’s , it was the same in the interstellar era wars of the Human Empire.

However, Gandalf wasn’t optimistic about it.

”It’s too risky!”

The old wizard shouted up to Lann.

As they communicated, they moved across the battlefield towards River Valley City.

While Gandalf’s abilities might be limited on the confused and broad front lines, his powerful swordsmanship and staff skills might be effective within the confines of River Valley City.

”Remember how I warned you? You’re very strong, Lann. But Sorun is aware of you now and wants to deal with you!”

”We don’t know what’s around Azog at Crow Ridge!”

”So we don’t go?” Lann retorted.

At the same time, he swung off his shoulder with a vertical slash forward!

A ’boom’ of exploding flames, a pale red fighting spirit light flame erupted from his body.

The three-meter-tall ogre blocking their path had its ugly head and an arm smashed and torn off instantly.

The ogre, falling backward in uncontrollable spasms, crushed two orcs, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Gandalf stepped over the ogre’s club with a calm expression, while Bilbo cautiously leaped over with a touch of fear.

”The battle is in disarray; we can’t just do nothing!”

Faced with Lann’s questioning, Gandalf merely pursed his lips, then delivered a swift and precise thrust with his hand-and-a-half sword, piercing the shouting mouth of an Orc.

In the distance, four gigantic Earth-Swallowing Worms, with their muscular, striped bodies, simply crashed down, causing miniature earthquakes!

The barren land cracked open, and the shattered ground hurled up gigantic rocks, just like small stones being flung away.

Additionally, Dwarves, Orcs, and Elves were all swept away together.

”And what about handling these four giant worms?”

Lann’s eyes deepened, looking toward the direction of the Earth-Swallowing Worms.

These creatures, though ancient and strong, aren’t internally complex, nor do they harbor deeper powers.

They are simply physically strong.

So when Lann activated his [Spiritual Vision] and looked across the battlefield at them, it didn’t take much time for him to basically see through them.

In this world, strength isn’t a neutral term; it distinctly carries the differentiation of good and evil.

Lann had encountered Sauron’s wraiths several times. To combat these wraiths residing in [Netherworld], Lann could already extend his ’vision’ into [Netherworld].

And within [Netherworld], the forms of humans and Dwarves appear dull, as if added with an underworld filter.

But the general outlines aren’t different from the physical realm.

Orcs appear much darker, while Elves are simply humanoids emitting white light.

The colossal bodies of the Earth-Swallowing Worms are similar to the Dwarves and Humans, just covered with a dull filter.

This suggests they are not evil creatures, but merely wild beasts controlled by Orcs.

They haven’t been fortified or protected by evil powers; penetrate their physical bodies, and you can cause complete damage.

”There should be powerful war machines in the Lonely Mountain capable of injuring Earth-Swallowing Worms, a testament to the advanced technology from when the Lonely Mountain Dwarves were flourishing!”

To avoid being drowned out by the battlefield chaos, Gandalf shouted toward Lann.

”But Sorlin, that scoundrel, is still holed up inside and won’t come out!”

By the end of his speech, Gandalf was overtaken with fury and anger. The typically calm and determined Old Wizard cursed and shouted aloud.

Gandalf was a friend of Sorlin’s grandfather and father. He trusted Sorlin, thus incorporating his plan to form the Lonely Mountain expedition, aiming to revive the Dwarf Kingdom in the Lonely Mountain, strengthening Middle-earth’s northern defenses.

With Sorlin as the leader, he served as an advisor.

Yet, Sorlin’s performance was undoubtedly a betrayal of his trust, everyone’s trust.

Especially at such a critical moment!

”Gandalf, let’s not wallow in the difficulties and failures that have already occurred. We need to find solutions!”

The Hobbits following Gandalf now tugged at the hem of the Old Wizard’s robe, shouting insightful words.

Lann strongly agreed with this.

”Yes, we need solutions! Charging up Crow Ridge and killing Azog is a solution! Without his command, let the Elves shoot the Orcs tethered with chains on the worms’ backs; I reckon the worms will leave on their own.”

Elves already wanted to strike the Orcs on the worms’ backs. In fact, Thranduil’s arrows, whizzing through the air, had shot dead several of the worm drivers.

But under Azog’s command and arrangement, Orcs quickly took over control smoothly.

At this time, Gandalf could only nod silently.

The three of them had now fought their way to the stone bridge at the gate of River Valley City.

”You can’t just rely on your legs to charge up there.” Gandalf thrust forward with his magic staff, disrupting a large Orc’s vision, then with the other hand decapitated the Orc’s head with his sword.

”Where’s the Qilin? Let it take you up there!”

”I had it stationed at River Valley City.” Lann kicked an Orc that lunged from behind Bilbo, shouting to Gandalf.

”This isn’t far from Crow Ridge. I won’t be slower than a normal horse. Moreover, the Qilin is too conspicuous!”

Lann now lacked armor, wearing only temporary patchwork leather armor assembled by Long Lake Town women, just barely enough to wear.

This gray, unobtrusive leather armor was splattered with black-red, foul-smelling Orc blood everywhere but did not mess up his hair.

Now the morning mist on the hills hadn’t completely dissipated, and Crow Ridge under the refracted sunlight of the morning mist almost had a dream-like diffused halo.

His color scheme walking on the gray-ashen hills isn’t very conspicuous.

If lucky, in the chaos, after he kills the first wave of Orcs on Crow Ridge, they might not even notice him.

This is a very valuable time difference.

If the radiant Qilin were to go, it’d be discovered in the first minute.

Not to mention how capable Azog is, at least he’s good at running, right?

”If you say it like that...”

Gandalf sighed, but at this point, there was no better plan, so he nodded in agreement, preparing to take Lann’s place and maintain River Valley City’s defenses.