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

Chapter 2 Slaying the Dragon
"I hope the Dragon Slayer Sword can really slay dragons!" Roland sighed.

As a sub-dragon, the earth dragon is infinitely close to a dragon species, second only to the flying dragon in lineage. It inherits the dragon race's formidable melee combat ability and scorching dragon breath, capable of easily destroying a small army.

Roland couldn't just sit and wait to die. He quickly led his warhorse out of the cave, saddled it, and as for putting on his armor... he could only pray that he would survive first.

Fortunately, the trained Shire warhorses were not intimidated by the dragon's might, eliminating the possibility of the warhorses suddenly breaking down during the battle. Perhaps it was this that made Roland feel that he could fight the earth dragon head-on.

"Giddy up!" Roland spurred his horse and thrust the sword forward.

"Roar!" The earth dragon opened its mouth and pounced on Roland.

"Damn it!" Roland pulled on the reins and yanked the horse's head, narrowly avoiding the gaping maw that had just brushed past him.

"You beast! Take this!" Roland, in his foolishness, immediately swung his sword back.

"Roar!" Accompanied by a dragon's roar, a spray of scalding dragon blood was drawn out from the tip of the sword.

"Wow! It can actually pierce dragon scales!" Roland exclaimed in surprise.

"Ouch!" With a backhand slash, he tore another gash in the dragon's leg.

The earth dragon roared and twisted its body in pain, its thick steel tail sweeping left and right. Sharma, however, nimbly dodged the sweeping steel tail.

"Boom!" The huge dragon head turned around, and a thick pillar of fire swept past Roland.

"Holy crap! We almost died!" Roland exclaimed, still shaken. Even through his adamantite plate armor, Roland could feel the deadly heat.

"Ha!" Roland gripped the sword with both hands and blocked it. A great force came from the hilt of the sword, almost causing Roland to lose his grip on the sword.

"Good heavens! What a sword!" Roland exclaimed in shock. It turned out that Roland had instinctively blocked the steel tail that the earth dragon had swept across with his sword, and the dragon's tail had been cut in two with a single stroke.

"Roar!" Enraged by the ant riding on horseback, the earth dragon unleashed a furious attack, its dragon breath engulfing everything. The scorching dragon flames ignited the surrounding withered trees, instantly illuminating the area. Roland finally saw the colossal creature clearly; it was at least ten meters long, with a gaping maw the size of a door, filled with dagger-length dragon teeth. Its thick limbs were powerful and robust, and its body was covered in hard dragon scales...

"It's really big!" Roland exclaimed in amazement at the wonders of the Creator.

"Bang!" In a moment of distraction, Roland was struck by the severed tail, which pulled him off his horse. The moment he landed, Roland rolled to avoid the dragon's mouth, and rolled several more times to dodge the dragon's claws that were about to step on him. After a series of maneuvers, Roland was surprised to find that he had actually crawled under the belly of the earth dragon.

Overjoyed, Roland thrust his sword upwards and then moved his body downwards along the ground, spraying out dragon blood that soaked him completely.

"Damn it! This is bad!" Roland's expression suddenly changed. He suddenly remembered the weight of the earth dragon, which weighed several tons. If it were to crush him... Roland broke out in a cold sweat.

After emerging from the dragon's belly in a few moments, Roland finally confirmed his victory. He was lucky; he had successfully made a nearly three-meter-long gash under the dragon's belly. In other words, the dragon was doomed! Away from the dying earth dragon, Roland found his warhorse not far away. The warhorse stood quietly waiting for Roland and did not take advantage of the chaos to escape, which pleased Roland.

"Dragon Hunter: Completed. You have successfully proven your courage and strength. Reward: 1 Wyvern Knight. Can be summoned at any time." The Ring did not fall silent.

"A dragon rider!" Roland's pupils contracted. This thing must be the second most powerful flying unit, right? The first is undoubtedly the dragon rider. He just didn't know what kind of dragon it was. Dragons, as the lowest rank of pure-blooded dragons, come in many varieties. For example, Smaug from The Hobbit was a giant fire dragon, even more exaggerated in size than a true dragon. Real dragons aren't actually that huge, but if the two were to fight, Smaug would definitely be crushed…

"Summon!" Roland's feelings at this moment were like opening a blind box.

"Lord! Caslo greets you!" A young, blond knight appeared before Roland, and even Roland, who had lived through the information explosion era, couldn't help but exclaim how handsome he was.

"How old are you?" Roland asked, looking at the unfamiliar face.

“My lord, I am 18 years old this year!” Caslo said respectfully.

Good heavens! They're all older than me! Roland was only 16 before he transmigrated; everyone here is practically an older brother!
"By the way, your level, and most importantly, where's your dragon?" Roland asked curiously.

“My lord, I now possess the strength of a great knight. As for my dragon, it resides within the dragon flute!” Caslo said respectfully.

Wow! An 18-year-old Grand Knight will definitely reach the position of Knight Commander in the future, and has the potential to reach another level—Hero! Just as the ultimate mage is the Sage, the ultimate knight is the Hero!

“Summon your dragon! Let me see it,” Roland commanded.

"Yes, sir." Caslo took out a dragon flute from his collar and played it. Soon, a blue dragon about fifteen meters long burst out of the sky.

"Hmm, a wind-type four-legged wyvern! Not bad, at least it's not a bottom-tier bipedal wyvern," Roland said with satisfaction.

Four-legged wyverns, as the name suggests, are wyverns with four legs. They resemble giant dragons and are considered to be of good bloodline. They possess basic dragon language magic and melee combat abilities, although their breath control and melee combat abilities are slightly weaker than those of giant dragons. The way to distinguish them from giant dragons is by their crests. They do not have the complex horn decorations of giant dragons, but only simple bone crests. People who are unfamiliar with them often mistake four-legged wyverns for young giant dragons... although to ordinary people, there is not much difference in their destructive power.

"Alright, put it away." Roland said calmly.

While possessing a dragon rider is a source of pride, caution is still necessary in the modified Middle-earth. Revealing the existence of a dragon rider prematurely before establishing a stable territory and power can have dire consequences, the worst being the predation of other factions hunting down your dragon rider and seizing their dragon flutes. Dragons are not uncommon, but why are dragon riders and dragon knights so rare? Humans can steal many dragon eggs, yet they struggle to raise many dragon riders. The reason lies in the dragon flute! The dragon flute is the most crucial tool for binding dragons. A dragon rider bound without a dragon flute is not a true dragon rider. The dragon flute grants the rider the space to carry their dragon, allowing them to summon their mount across space to their side—these are the magical effects of the dragon flute. As for how to make the dragon flute, that method has long been lost.

“You go ahead on foot…” Roland sighed. He realized he was jealous. Caslo was the true knight, armed with adamantite dragon armor, an adamantite dragon shield, a mithril longsword, an adamantite dragon spear, a dragonbone longbow, and a warhammer made of star silver iron—he was fully equipped. Meanwhile, he only had a sword and a shield besides his plate armor…

……

After disposing of the earth dragon's corpse and storing the useful materials in the Ring's infinite space, Roland led his horse back to the cave and lay down to sleep again. After all, under the dragon's might, no magical beast or wild animal dared to provoke him.

(End of this chapter)