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

Chapter 24 A Tragic Song of the Rapids
"Thorin!" Roland nodded in greeting as he saw Thorin rush out.

“Your Excellency, on behalf of the King of the Mountain and the Turin people, I thank you!” Thorin said faithfully.

"No need to be polite, we did have a contract after all," Roland said casually. Thorin didn't know that if it weren't for the unexpected incident with Renault, Roland would have already planned to run away with his men.

"Azog!" Thorin Oakenshield stared toward Ravenhill, gritting his teeth.

“Give up, we don’t have the strength to break through now.” Roland looked at the exhausted dwarves around him.

The kind-hearted Ivy was raising her staff high, and white light, representing healing, poured down from the top of the staff. Instantly, the dwarves within a hundred meters felt lighter, and their wounds healed rapidly.

Roland immediately looked at Ivy with newfound respect. Good heavens, an area-of-effect healing spell! He'd struck gold! Even among third-tier temple priests, those with wide-area healing spells were extremely rare. It seemed he would have to protect her well in the future and teach her a few more apprentices so that he could form a medical team entirely equipped with area-of-effect healing magic.

"Roland! Can you lead the Knights to break through the orcs and get me and my men to Raven Hill?" Thorin asked Roland anxiously.

“Impossible! The orc reinforcements from Gambada have arrived! I can’t send you there to your deaths!” Roland said, turning his head to look at Raven Ridge in the distance.

"Pfft!" Roland's eyes suddenly widened. What did he see? The Swift Infantry had actually abandoned their journey to the walled city of River Valley and turned to run towards Raven Ridge, where the orcs were swarming.

"Charge out! Rescue our brothers!" Roland's eyes immediately reddened upon seeing this.

"My lord! Your Majesty! My king!" Renault rushed over and grabbed Roland's reins.

"Renault! Do you intend to disobey my orders again!" Roland narrowed his eyes and said coldly, tightening his grip on the Dragon Slayer Sword.

"My lord! Do not question the professionalism of the Lagrange soldiers! They have simply made the right choice!" Renault said painfully. Having witnessed countless partings and deaths, he knew what the Swift Infantry were about to do. They were to block the Orc reinforcements, even if they only numbered 300.

"Only by quickly eliminating these scumbags in front of us can we have any hope of victory! Only then can we save them!" Renault said earnestly, pulling Roland along.

"I must save my people first!" Roland disregarded everything and charged out of the ranks.

“But! Even if we rush out, we can’t bring them back! They are infantry…” Renault said blankly.

"Holy Knights! Objective: Leave no one alive among these damned orcs!" Roland's face was contorted with rage. He knew Renault was right; only by quickly eliminating these troublesome orcs could they possibly rescue the Swift Infantry.

"Kill!" A gap appeared in the dwarven shield formation, and Roland led his knights to charge out first. The dwarves behind him, led by Thorin, also launched a counterattack.

“They fight for the King.” Gandalf, who was casually casting fireballs, smiled approvingly.

……

"Tiger!" The first rank of rapid infantrymen bent their right hands, which were holding rifles, backward and then suddenly thrust them out.

"Thud~" The sound of the spear tip piercing flesh was continuous.

"Aww~" Many orcs howled in pain as they gripped the shafts of their chevaux-de-frise.

"Pfft!" The Swift Infantryman spun around and pulled his spear back, instantly draining the orc of his strength, causing him to collapse limply to the ground.

"Captain! There are too many orcs! If we don't find a way, we'll be surrounded!" a Swift Infantryman said anxiously, looking at the orc reinforcements surging over the mountains like a tide.

"Brothers! Are you afraid to die?!"

"We're not afraid!" everyone said in unison.

"Then in the name of the Swift Current! Charge! For our homeland! For the Swift Current River! For our king!" The Swift Current infantrymen raised their chevaux-de-frise and, forming the Swift Current Army Formation, began to run forward. The sudden counter-charge caught the orcs off guard, instantly halting their army.

"Oh! Beard, have they gone mad?" A dwarf, who had just finished off his opponent, was shocked by the charge of the Swift Footmen.

"My God! How did they do that?" Bard, who was leading the townspeople in a desperate resistance in the Valley City, was also shocked by the small square formation in the distance.

"..." Roland stared blankly at the swift soldiers charging in the distance. His warhorse, no longer being urged on by its master, slowly came to a stop and wandered aimlessly across the battlefield.

The figure before my eyes slowly overlapped with the scene from my memory...

The Lord of the Rings world, the Fifth Age 2375.

The Dark Alliance has besieged Lagrange City. The once bustling capital is now heavily guarded. The Empire's only six remaining dragon knights are gathered on the city walls, their gazes fixed on the dark clouds that blanket the distant horizon, a sense of oppression palpable... But those aren't dark clouds; they are war bats!

At the barbican of the city gate, 30 Royal Guard Paladins of Lagrange commanded 1 members of the Lagrange Imperial Knights, standing silently like statues, as if frozen in time and space.

Emperor Gary Karl stood silently on the crenellations of the city wall, gazing into the distance. The nine walls of Lagrange were filled with Lagrange-style city guards. Sages entered the towering mage towers, and priests stepped out of the temples, weaving among the soldiers...

"Let's start the war! The fate of Lagrange rests on this battle!" Emperor Karl said dejectedly. Under his rule, the empire had lost vast swathes of southern territory, and now even the capital was under siege.

"Boom!" The massive dragon gate opened, and led by the Royal Guard Paladins of Lagrange, the knights of the Imperial Knights rushed out first. A stirring dragon roar resounded in the sky, and the last dragon knights of Lagrange rode their dragons into the sky.

The twilight of the empire...

"Speed ​​up!" Renault, then Governor of the North, flew above the crowd on his Holy Light Pegasus, with millions of player NPCs forming an allied force behind him.

"My God!" It was the first time Roland had ever seen such a magnificent scene. The noble blood of dragon knights sprayed across the sky, the indomitable pride of paladins fell to the earth, and the once rare sage-level mage had his head easily twisted off by an ordinary orc. The priests of the temple moved across the battlefield, and allies of the human race, including elves, dwarves, and treants, rushed in from all directions...

Just then, Roland witnessed a scene he would never forget: the Swift Infantry from Swiftstream City and along the Swiftstream River, arrayed in square formations of 30 men per row and 10 men per column, charged one after another into the Dark Alliance's ranks, singing war songs. With their perfectly synchronized steps, thousands of Swift Infantrymen pounded the demon and orc lines like the waters of the Swiftstream River. Through their relentless assault, Renault's forces successfully breached their defenses and, at the last moment, stormed into the crumbling city of Lagrange, securing its defenses.

Of the 50 Swift Infantry who followed Reno into Lagrange City in that battle, less than a thousand remained… They all fell on the way of the charge, and the area outside Lagrange City was littered with the remains of Swift Infantry clad in blue and green steel armor. With their mortal bodies, they had stood against the army of professionals…

Tears filled my eyes. Tears flowed silently.

The familiar figure from the past has now merged with them... Roland looked at the green figure swimming upstream against the black tide, and seemed to vaguely see a swarm of rapids surrounding them...

“Those are the spirits of the River of Rushing Waters…” Roland murmured.

Amidst the battle cries of the swift infantry, these lone warriors did not seem alone; their ancestors still stood with them, marching in neat square formations, their steps perfectly synchronized… The towering silhouette of Lagrange City was faintly visible ahead of them…

"For Lagrang!" Just as in memory, the Lagrang Empire's Swift Infantry remain reliable.

The sound of chevaux-de-frise breaking rang out, the sound of shields shattering echoed… Sharp swords pierced their bodies, heavy warhammers smashed their helmets. They might fall, but they would never stop advancing. Every now and then, a swift infantryman would fall, and those behind would immediately fill the gap. After the chevaux-de-frise broke, they would pull out their maces and swing them with all their might…

Roland trembled all over but was helpless. He could only watch his soldiers sacrifice themselves on the battlefield, just as he had watched the Swift Infantry perish beneath the walls of Lagrange...

"No!" Roland cried out in grief and indignation as the last swift infantryman was submerged.

They kept their oath, and the last swift infantry in the world... perished.

Tears well up in my eyes. There is no such thing as a peaceful life; it's just that someone is bearing the burden for you. Although the Swift Infantry have taken their final bow, Roland's journey has only just begun.

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(End of this chapter)