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

Chapter 15 The Shadow Giant Spider
Roland and his party planned to cross the Old Forest Road and head north along the swift current to Lonely Mountain. The advantage of this was that they would avoid passing through the Woodland Kingdom and clashing with the Woodland Elves living there. Besides, even if a fight broke out, Roland's side would be easy prey. The elves' expertise in jungle guerrilla warfare would easily crush Roland's army, which lacked ranged attacks. Furthermore, nearly half of Roland's troops were cavalry, and traversing dense forests was far too difficult for cavalry, since not every cavalryman was like the Moon Deer Knights of the Elves.

And so, Roland and his entourage set off on the old forest road in a grand procession. The Swift Infantry, wielding large shields, walked on the outermost edge of the column, while the Lagrange Knights and Battanian archers walked in the middle. Renault and Roland led the way, and Caslo remained the ever-present rearguard.

"Sigh, why are there so many spider webs on this road!" A swift infantryman sighed as he straightened his chevaux-de-frise, which was entangled in spider webs.

"Who knows! This spider web is so big, could it have been done by a spider-like magical beast?" said the Swift Infantryman behind him.

"Maybe... Be careful! What are you afraid of! We have a hundred knights here!"

"Speaking of which, I have a feeling something's off about the surroundings," a Swift Infantryman said warily.

"Hmm?" Roland heard the noise behind him and couldn't help but look around.

"Renault, what do you think?" Roland asked.

"Do we even need to look? There's obviously something wrong, sir..." Renault said speechlessly.

"Then why are you still so relaxed?" Roland's eyes widened. He knew that the Dark Forest had been overrun by a group of giant spiders. Did Renault mean that he and the others were going to feed them with a single slide tackle?

"Sigh, it's just a low-level magical beast, the Shadow Giant Spider... Is it really that big of a deal?" Renault rolled his eyes.

Here's a brief explanation: Like other classes, Warcraft is divided into six levels: Beginner, Low-level, Mid-level, High-level, Super, and Cataclysmic. Terrifying creatures like dragons and giant eagles belong to the Super level, while epic creatures like dragons and Leviathans belong to the Cataclysmic level.

"Um... even low-level magical beasts are troublesome, okay? Do you think everyone is a knight commander like you?" Roland retorted.

"Hawthorn and pear..." Roland felt relieved after hearing that the giant spiders were just low-level magical beasts and began to hum a song.

……

"Sir! There are more and more spider webs!" A swift infantryman who was clearing the way jogged over to report.

"Have we stumbled into a spider's nest?" Renault asked Roland, his face ashen.

"Sir, are you sure the way you're leading is okay?" Renault grinned and asked, still not entirely convinced.

"What the hell is that look you're giving me?" Roland seemed to be provoked.

“If there’s a problem, it’s Elrond’s fault. I’m not taking the blame!” Roland said irritably.

“Or perhaps it wasn’t King Elrond’s mistake, but rather that the spread of evil forces here has exceeded our expectations… The fact that they can even weave a web on Old Forest Road shows that the East and West haven’t been communicating for a long time… Old Forest Road has been abandoned…” Renault suddenly raised this idea with a grim expression.

"Heh, I'd rather Elrond were unreliable..." Roland chuckled dryly. "Battle formation deployed!" Roland took a deep breath.

"What's going on? Another fight?" Caslo caught up from behind, watching the sudden change in the formation of the group.

“This road is blocked by spiders… We have to clear it now!” Roland told Caslow helplessly.

"Can't we take a detour?" Caslo frowned.

"It's too late! We're running out of time!" Roland sighed; the Turin Day was fast approaching.

"What are you afraid of! You're a dragon knight, and there's no one else around. Go out and fight them!" Roland suddenly remembered that he still had a dragon hidden away.

"Slap!" Caslo slapped himself. He had been riding the Sharma for so long that he had forgotten that he was actually a dragon rider.

Caslo nimbly dismounted, pulled a dragon flute from his collar, and as the melodious flute music began, a gale suddenly swept through the sky, tearing space apart, and a blue dragon flew out.

"Roar!" A clear and stirring dragon roar resounded through the sky.

"Boom!" The four flying dragons crashed heavily to the ground, causing countless Xia warhorses to neigh and cry out in alarm.

"Kardo, long time no see," Caslo said happily, patting his dragon's head.

"Roar~" The dragon immediately responded to Caslo, its long tail sweeping happily in all directions, making Roland think for a moment that it was a mongrel rather than a dragon.

"Let's scout from the sky and fight our way out!" After several bloody battles, Roland was also filled with ferocity. After all, why use your brain when you can be simple and brutal?
So today, the giant spiders that nested and hunted on the old forest road were in trouble. Every now and then, wind blades would fall from the sky and give them a full-body "massage," tearing them to pieces.

Hundreds of people, carrying torches, burned the spiderwebs along the way, scaring the remaining spiders into scattering and fleeing. Good heavens! Although we Shadow Giant Spiders aren't human, you guys are truly dogs! Not only did you kill beasts for crystals, but you also burned people's houses! You've been like a demolition crew, leaving not a single spider alive, not a single web standing…

The spiders that survived looked up at the sky with their eight tiny eyes, tears welling up instantly... This was the first time we'd ever seen dragons bully spiders. Forget about hitting them, we couldn't even touch them... The humans below could touch them, but they'd need to be alive. Look at that mithril bow drawn to its fullest extent? And that 5-meter-long chevaux-de-frise held horizontally? Or those two paladins, their bodies radiating holy battle aura? Or that shield wall like a moving Great Wall... There was nowhere to attack! Even activating skills was useless. Shadow Stealth was a joke to the paladins, and not a funny one at that. Within a hundred meters, you were as bright as a light bulb in their perception. They didn't even need to charge; a mere swing of their weapon releasing a spear or sword beam filled with holy battle aura was enough to dismember a giant shadow spider...

They are truly an existence that cannot be trifled with, and can only be hidden away. As a result, the spiders in the Dark Forest have been suffering these past few days! Suffering to the bone, as any slight movement could trigger a deathly howl from the sky.

It has to be said that Roland and his companions were quite lucky. What they didn't know was that when they were crossing the Dark Forest, they almost brushed past the orc army of Dogurdu. They had barely left when the orcs passed right behind them...

"A dragon?" Azog looked at the sky in surprise. He'd only just realized there was a dragon lurking here, but unfortunately, he didn't see the saddle on its back or the rider on its shoulders. Seeing this, he'd definitely reconsider his attack plan; at the very least, he'd need to bring a few dragon-slaying crossbows (the most effective dragon-hunting weapon in Middle-earth, capable of inflicting fatal damage on dragons when used with special arrows).
"Forward!" He shook his head, no longer thinking about the dragons, but instead imagining what it would be like to taste the blood of the dwarf king.

(End of this chapter)