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

In the city of Swiftflow, the priests were incredibly busy, frantically traversing the city, their spells never ceasing. Meanwhile, Yunfeng, Caslo, Ajax, and Nyx were searching for the source of the infection. Yunfeng, a sixth-tier spellcaster, possessed formidable mental power, while Ajax and Caslo's dragon mounts also boasted powerful mental strength. As for Nyx, she was carrying a blue elf; although the elf dragon's melee abilities were questionable, the title of dragon mage wasn't given lightly, and her mental power far surpassed that of the two young dragons.

……

"Something's not right! We must have missed something," Renault said regretfully, clenching his fist.

"What's wrong?" Omsk asked quickly.

“Perhaps we’ve missed the real clue! Don’t forget how widespread this plague is!” A glint flashed in Renault’s eyes.

"What's wrong? Did you find something?" Omske asked quickly.

"What level of plague do you think it would have to be to cover all the kingdoms in the North?" Renault asked instead of answering Omske.

"It has to be at least a forbidden spell!" Omske said succinctly.

"The power of the forbidden spell? Is that all?" Renault asked, shrugging.

"So?" Omske looked at Renault, puzzled, not understanding what he was trying to say.

“First of all, we can be sure that a spell effect covering such a large area must be a forbidden spell, right?” Reno waved his hand to signal Omske to listen.

“That’s right!” Omsk nodded. To achieve such an effect, it would have to be at least a forbidden spell.

"But what about the power of a forbidden spell? A forbidden spell is called a forbidden spell for a reason, such as permanent destruction or large-scale damage... But obviously!" Renault shook his head. Although the plague had thrown the entire North into chaos, apart from the Vale Kingdom, which had already been ravaged by war and suffered heavy casualties, the other kingdoms had barely managed to resist, and no one had even died. This was clearly not the power a forbidden spell should have.

"Huh! This doesn't make sense!" Omske also realized the anomaly. Damn it, this is the range of a forbidden spell, but the power of a normal flu! Why would someone underestimate a forbidden spell with such weak power?
“Then I don’t understand, what does this have to do with us not being able to find the source…” Omsk still didn’t understand.

"..." Renault glanced at Omske. Forget it, he'd been a brute with swords and spears his whole life. He might be a good general, but not a great commander...

“Since it’s not a forbidden spell, have you ever wondered why its range is so wide? How did it spread? And not only can we not find the source, but even other kingdoms haven’t found the source,” Renault pointed out.

"Can't you really see such an obvious contradiction?" Renault said, somewhat speechless. After all, the range of a non-forbidden spell couldn't be that large, and the power of a forbidden spell couldn't be that small. There must be some mistake. Besides, with the locations of all the kingdoms where the plague has occurred, even a fool could understand it after glancing at the map.

“The medium…the medium, there’s a medium spreading the plague…wait! The map!” Omsk casually beckoned to the soldiers to find the map.

"Something's not right, something's not right!" Omske's eyes grew brighter and brighter as he stared intently at the map. Finally, he looked up sharply and his gaze met Renault's. "It's here!" Omske and Renault pointed to the same spot.

……

"Greetings, guests from afar. I am Bion, the lord of this land. Your Kingdom of Lagrange should be quite familiar with this place. Welcome back to the territory of the Beon family." The burly Bion smiled warmly.

"Greetings, Your Excellency Bion. I am Apophis Breo, Grand Duke of King's Landing in the Kingdom of Lagrange. It is a pleasure to meet you." Apophis Breo smiled, with the Lagrange dragon banner and the looming lion banner fluttering in the wind behind him.

"Oh? Your Highness, please forgive my rudeness." Bion was clearly taken aback, then quickly bowed. After all, this was the rule of this world. Even if they were not allied with the same kingdom, lower-ranking nobles would still bow to higher-ranking nobles to show respect. Obviously, even Lord Beon, who ruled a region on his own, had to bow to a true Grand Duke to show respect. They were not respecting the Grand Duke of the Kingdom of Lagrange, but rather the rules among nobles in this world.

"You're too kind, my lord." Apophis Breo returned the greeting with a smile. One shouldn't hit a smiling face, and besides, the strength of himself as a grand duke... well, never mind.

……

"What do you need for this trip?" Bion asked Apophis Breo over drinks. Although he could guess the general idea, since the king of Lagrange, caravans, and dwarves all passed through his territory, the Beorn territory, which served as a bridge between East and West, could only offer a few kinds of assistance.

“We need to cross the river to the other side. We'll also replenish our supplies!” Apophis Breo said with a smile, glancing at Olaf gesturing as if he were eating.

“It’s simple. There aren’t many of you, so it won’t cost much,” Bion said to Apophis Breo after silently doing some calculations.

“The cost isn’t important; we’re in a hurry. We’ll rest for one night and set off tomorrow morning,” Apophis Breobión stated.

“No problem, but you need to be careful after you cross the river. Last time, your king made quite a commotion, and all those bastards were alerted. Now the entire Misty Mountains are not safe. Wandering orcs are everywhere, and giant trolls are also rampant. In addition, there are the orc soldiers that the dwarves scattered back then…” Bion explained with a wry smile.

"..." Apophis Breo listened to Bion's words with a mixture of laughter and tears, and couldn't help but want to cry. Roland had just finished his killing and left, and the dwarves were the kind of people who killed without burying the dead... Now that the orcs had escaped, there would probably be a lot of trouble along the way. It was truly a case of the king's misdeeds being compounded by his subordinates.

After thanking Bion, Apophis Breo ordered Olaf and the officers to purchase supplies and arrange for the soldiers to rest, while he himself busied himself calculating the route. After all, once across the Anduin River... there would be no more allies or help, unless Apophis Breo transformed into Wolf Slayer and cleared the way to Rivendell... but if he had that kind of strength, he wouldn't need allies.

……

"What? You mean you've found the source of this plague?" Roland stood up unconsciously, staring at the two people in front of him in shock. He never expected that the first person to find the clue was not the Dragon Knight General or even Yun Feng! But two knights who were considered reckless!
“To be precise, it was Lord Renault who found it.” Omske stepped aside and pushed Renault to the forefront.