The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth.

Chapter 138 The Final Encounter

"Do you regret it?" Lavian leaned against a rock, looking at the knights in front of him. Logically speaking, they were the ones who should least be wasted on covering the rear.

"Hahaha, killing so many barbarians has been worth it!"

"What's there to regret? We'll show them the glory of our Duchy of Nyx! Let them experience the greatness of the Lagrange Knights!"

"Cut off a few more of them later and see if they can withstand my lances during my charge!"

The knights laughed heartily. Although they seemed relaxed, their words still carried a hint of sorrow. However, for the sake of the last bloodline of the duchy, they were willing to stay and build a moving Great Wall with their flesh and blood to stop these enemies who dared to cross the line.

"Gather the soldiers together, I have a few more words to say!" Ravian grinned wryly.

"Okay sir."

……

"Clap clap!" Lavian clapped his hands, and the previously noisy ranks quickly quieted down, which showed that the army of the Principality of Nyx was quite obedient.

"Brothers! The enemy is catching up! We can't outrun their two wheels on two legs! We are powerless, after all, manpower is ultimately limited! But the Grand Duke cannot be harmed, so I ordered the Royal Guard to take him away, but the Grand Duke needs time to escape safely! Then we will give him time! I! Ravian will lead the remaining knights of the Cross Bauhinia Knights to stay here with you, to fight for the chance for our most beloved Grand Duke to leave safely, are you willing!" Ravian roared hoarsely.

"Fight for the Grand Duke! Fight for the Duchy! Fight for Lagrange! Kill! Kill! Kill!" The remnants of the army roared in a chilling manner. They had already disregarded their own lives. In their eyes, there was only the enemy and the safety of the Grand Duke. At this moment, they were tragic and angry. If Roland were here, he would definitely use one word to describe this army—a desperate army!
This remnant army, who had fought to the death for their monarch, no longer knew what fear was. They had already witnessed hell on earth in the earlier battles, and now they were more like warriors returning from hell, with an aura of living in the face of death emanating from them from within.

"Thank you, my brothers! My soldiers! Regardless of whether we survive this battle, regardless of our success or failure, regardless of whether we can withstand the enemy, you have all fulfilled your duties and obligations. You are all heroes of Lagrang!" After saying this, Ravian knelt down on one knee with a thud and pounded his chest in salute to the soldiers in front of him.

“For our glory!” Ravian whispered.

……

"Waaah~" Nyx, who had been sobbing softly all the way, had red and swollen eyes. Her tears had dried up, and she had cried all her tears...

"Your Highness, please have some water!" The only mage beside him used his fire magic to heat the water directly through the silver bottle, and respectfully handed the luxurious bottle of warm water to Nyx. (It was indeed quite extravagant to have a mage use magic to boil water, especially when they were on the run; every drop of magic was precious.)
"Thank you!" Nyx gently extended her hand, not refusing her subordinate's kindness, after all, she had been crying for a long time and desperately needed to replenish her fluids.

As the warm water slid into his abdomen, Nyx let out a comfortable sigh, as if the fatigue from his hurried journey had been somewhat relieved.

"Speed ​​up! We can't stop!" The priest in the middle of the group gritted his teeth and released a speed aura, stabilizing the group's speed once again. After all, only Nyx and four spellcasters were on horseback in the group. The Royal Guards on foot were a heavy armor class, and they could only catch up with the trotting warhorses with the help of a series of auras and status skills.

……

"Form ranks! We have no plan or strategy, our only goal is to hold them off! Hold them off for as long as we can!" Ravian sighed as he looked at the Dongyi chariots that had regrouped in front of him.

"The situation is a little better than we thought, at least they don't have reinforcements yet. The bad news is we don't have reinforcements either..." Hollin looked at the tank force that had just been routed by their counterattack and chuckled self-deprecatingly.

“The enemy still has at least two thousand men. We can't let our guard down. After all, the Crusaders are almost wiped out, and our front lines have significant weaknesses. Once they're breached…” Ravian calmly observed the situation. He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone knew that a melee force charging into their ranks would face a massacre. After all, archers aren't rangers; their hand-to-hand combat abilities are relatively weak. (The Battanian archers are another story; they're one of the few exceptions among archers!)
"We need to fight tenaciously, even if our formation is broken, we must hold them off!" Lavian commanded.

"Hold on to the death!" At Ravian's command, the two thousand-strong force immediately huddled together in a tight formation...

In the distance, chariots surged forward, charging madly towards the desperately defending Crusaders...

……

three days later.

"Your Highness, it has been three days, and apart from some wandering orcs, we have not encountered any pursuers... They have succeeded."

Similarly, they never saw the remnants of the rearguard return...

“I know… they are the backbone of the Duchy, they are the most valiant Lagrange heroes…” Nyx burst into tears as she thought of the Duchy soldiers who resolutely turned to face the enemy.

"Raise the flags! We're almost at Lonely Mountain. They say there are still people living in Laketown at the foot of Lonely Mountain. We can go see for ourselves; hopefully, they are Lagrange's people..." Nyx, fighting back tears, ordered his soldiers to raise the flags. Soon, a magnificent Lagrange dragon flag and a cross-shaped bauhinia flag were hoisted up by the Royal Guards. The two brand-new flags fluttering in the wind seemed to mock the defeated, remnant army beneath them. "Thud! Thud! Thud!" A series of arrows suddenly embedded themselves a meter below their feet.

"Form ranks! Protect His Highness!" The reaction of the Lagrange Royal Guards was lightning fast. Alloy tower shields, 1.5 meters long and 1 meter wide, were erected by the guards. Grand Duke Nyx was immediately helped off his horse by the guards, and the spellcasters were also pulled down by the guards. In less than a second, a standard three-layered circular formation appeared on the land.

This is the Royal Guard of Lagrange, an army with maxed-out defense. Their defensive awareness and capabilities are enough to make them the most defensively capable army in Middle-earth!

"Surveillance Array!" The three priests released the skill together, and faint streams of magic seeped into the ground and spread into the distance. This was the priests' most commonly used surveillance skill, which could effectively detect the situation within a radius of one kilometer. Within a range of 100 meters, it could even illuminate invisible units of the same level. The effective range of this surveillance array cast by the three priests was... a radius of five kilometers!

"Centaur..." The priests' faces immediately fell. It was truly a case of misfortunes never coming singly. When bad luck strikes, even drinking cold water can cause problems. Given the tense relationship between centaurs and humans, not to mention that they seemed to have invaded their territory... This fierce battle seemed inevitable.

"Your Highness, if we fall into a disadvantageous position later, please use the teleportation scroll immediately and take as many people as you can with you..." The captain of the royal guard said to Nyx with a solemn expression.

"Guys, we may be facing a tough battle. The centaurs are far more intimidating than those barbarians. Hopefully, our mithril plate armor can stop their arrows and spears!" The captain of the guard took a deep breath. After all, dealing with centaurs was like facing an entire knightly order. Although this Royal Guard was composed of members of the third tier of the Royal Guard, their chances of winning against centaurs were pitifully small. They knew that while their guard skills were powerful, their 24-hour cooldown would make them want to give up.

"Don't be discouraged! We still have the strongest javelin throwers in Middle-earth!" the captain of the guard encouraged.

Yes, although this heavily armored guard lacks ranged attack capabilities, they still possess the most terrifying javelins on this land. The one-meter-long Star Silver Steel Armor-Piercing Javelins, with the support of their passive skill: Throwing Specialization, combined with their active skill: Wind Chaser, can deliver deadly firepower within 100 meters. In a one-on-one situation, even heavily armored knights cannot withstand this fatal blow, let alone centaurs, whose bodies are much more fragile than knights.

"Clatter clatter clatter~" The crisp sound of horses' hooves rang out, and the entire team tensed up. In their eyes, the centaurs were about to launch a charge.

The Royal Guards, clad in mithril alloy plate armor, wielding adamantite alloy tower shields, and holding three-meter-long cone-shaped armor-piercing spears or star silver steel javelins, all stood at attention.

However, the centaur army of nearly fifty men stopped about five hundred meters away from them.

"Damn it! They're heavily armored centaurs? Where did they get their smelting technology?" Upon seeing the centaur army before them, the entire Royal Guard circle erupted in disbelief.

"Halt!" The leading centaur, carrying a massive bow, slowly stepped forward. This man was none other than Baldr, the centaur lord!
"Who are you? Why are you flying the Lagrange dragon banner?" Badr narrowed his eyes, his hand quietly nocking on the bowstring. Although he had no arrows at the moment, they could learn archers' skills and unleash multiple arrows! Badr himself did not recall any Lagrange army advancing eastward from here, so this small group of troops flying the Lagrange dragon banner was highly suspicious. Although he was a soldier, since he had sworn allegiance to King Roland, he needed to fulfill the duties of a vassal.

"Huh? This group actually recognizes the Lagrange Dragon Banner?" The Royal Guard captain was taken aback.

"What?" Nyx's eyes widened. They, summoned by the system, had been instilled with memories of the Lagrange Empire's demise, and now someone could actually recognize this flag... Could it be...?

"Who are you? How do you recognize this flag?" the captain of the guard asked in return.

With his excellent eyesight, Badr carefully observed the soldiers arrayed in front of him and then looked at the two large banners fluttering above them. He recognized the dragon banner but knew nothing about the other one.

"I am the lord of the Tupt Forest! A baron personally appointed by King Lagrange. Strangers, state your purpose. If I discover that you are attempting to impersonate the kingdom's army, then you will face war!" Baldr said solemnly, and the men behind him began to jog around Nyx and the others.

"The Lagrange Empire still exists? But it's a kingdom now?" Nyx didn't hear a word Baldr said; her mind was completely occupied with the fact that Lagrange was still standing in Middle-earth.
"We are the army of the Duchy of Nyx, personally appointed by Emperor Lagrange. Our troops were defeated in the war to reclaim our territory, and we have fled here hoping to receive the King's protection!" The captain of the guards reacted quickly and spoke immediately.

“The Principality of Nyx?” Badr was puzzled; he had never heard of that name before.

"We request that you introduce us to the current king, and our Grand Duke is also here!" Seeing that Badr remained silent, the captain of the guard could only sweat and reveal his last trump card, hoping that the lord in front of him would take them to see the current king because of the Grand Duke's name.

"Hmm?" Badr's pupils contracted. He knew the weight of the Grand Duke. This was already considered the ruler of a country. After all, who could say that a duchy wasn't a country?

"Someone! Quickly go to Swiftstream City and report this matter to His Highness!" Badr realized that he could no longer handle this matter. When the title of Grand Duke was invoked, even if it was fake, he had to be careful. What if it really was a Grand Duke? Badr, a mere baron, dared not gamble.

“I have already sent someone to inform His Majesty the King, but for safety’s sake, you need to stay here and cannot advance any further. The rest is up to the King to decide! However, I will provide you with tents and food, and guarantee your safety,” Badr said in a deep voice. He dared not allow the unfamiliar army to trespass into the kingdom’s territory before the King spoke. As for food and guaranteed safety, these were the privileges a nobleman should enjoy.

"Thank you very much then." The captain of the guard breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that this battle was unnecessary. If the current king of Lagrange were a normal person, he would definitely know the name of the Duchy of Nyx. After all, the title of the weakest duchy in the empire had been carried for so many years and was indeed quite famous...

"Your Highness, please have something to eat." Seeing that Badr and the others had left, everyone hurriedly invited Grand Duke Nyx, who had lost some weight from the hardships of the past few days.

Soon, several pots of stewed dried meat were placed on the fire pit. Everyone stared at the tempting aroma of the meat soup, and even the noble Grand Duke showed a look of longing.

(End of this chapter)