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

Chapter 60 Marcus: The Impregnable Fortress

"Ding dong! Congratulations, host, for winning an epic battle! Your name has spread throughout the North, and everyone knows you! Reward: 1 fourth-tier commander Marcus! Daily number of refugees attracted to Swiftstream City x2, and ordinary Lagrange residents +500." The system's voice arrived belatedly.

“Marcus? Is the system the same Marcus I know?” Roland was startled when he heard the name Marcus. Could this be the same Marcus who was the city's defense officer in Lagrange?

"Please explore on your own, host!" the system immediately shut Roland down.

“...a third-rate system.” Roland.

Although it's unknown whether the newcomer is the Lagrange City Defense Officer from the game, a fourth-tier commander is still a good deal. If there had been a fourth-tier commander in this battle, it wouldn't have ended so badly. Ultimately, Roland forced the elves, who are skilled in guerrilla warfare, to command positional warfare because there was really no one else available.

The remaining two rewards are also quite substantial: the daily number of refugees is doubled, and there's a refugee wave of 500 people. These can effectively increase the population of Swiftstream City. Roland was planning to go all out and build up a Swiftstream infantry force when he returned this time. Damn it! The light infantry was reduced to only 200, with 300 killed and wounded. His already meager forces are now even more stretched thin!
"Oh! Right, didn't I forget to sign in today?" Roland looked at the busy soldiers not far away and suddenly remembered something he had forgotten.

"System check-in!" Roland exclaimed excitedly, rubbing his hands together.

"Check-in successful! Congratulations, host, you have obtained the magic card - Magic Rune Fortification (Intermediate)!"

"What? What is this?" Roland looked at the purple-gold card floating in his hand with a puzzled expression. On the back of the card was a magical six-pointed star array that shimmered with mysterious light, and on the front was a city that shimmered with a white halo.

When Roland opened the system and carefully examined the magic card, he was immediately stunned. The function of this thing was to directly generate a medium-level magic-patterned city wall (10 meters high and 5 meters wide) after specifying any territory or town.

"Damn! What's Radil working himself to the bone for all this time?" Roland silently calculated, estimating that only about one-fifth of the walls of the entire Swiftstream City had been laid, and now a single card could solve the problem...

"Let's go! Let's go back to Swiftstream City!" Roland shook his head and stopped complaining about the system. At least now the city defense problem of Swiftstream City was solved.

"Halt!" shouted the Lagrange city guards, who had suddenly become alert.

Roland turned his head and saw a man in an iron can carrying a tower shield as tall as himself and a heavy cone-shaped spear, running towards the group step by step.

"A fourth-tier commander?" Renault, being a paladin, possessed incredibly powerful senses and immediately recognized the warrior's rank.

"Let him come over, he's one of us!" Roland recognized the Lagrange City Defender in the game at a glance! His ancestral infantry plate armor was so distinctive, with sharp spikes gleaming on the heavy adamantite shoulder armor, dragon-shaped runes flashing on the plate armor, and a giant dragon lying prone on the barrel helmet, roaring to the sky.

"I want to see Your Highness!" Marcus said in a muffled voice as soon as he arrived.

"I am Roland, the current King of Lagrange!" Roland stood up and dusted off his armor.

"Boom!" Marcus knelt down on one knee, the heavy armor hitting the ground with a dull thud.

“Greetings, Your Highness!” Marcus bowed.

"Rise. From now on, you will command the infantry of Swiftstream City. I hope you will not disappoint my expectations of you," Roland said solemnly, gazing at him intently.

"Rest assured! I will definitely train an infantry corps that is as immovable as a mountain and invincible in attack!" Marcus pounded his chest and assured him.

“Our population can’t support a large-scale conscription. For now, you’ll have to lead these light infantrymen in training.” Roland pointed to the disheveled conscripts. “Alright!” The good-natured Marcus grinned.

Roland had no doubt about Marcus's abilities; after all, how could someone who served as the city's defense officer not be skilled? However, in Roland's memory, Marcus should have sacrificed himself in the final battle to defend Lagrange City. At that time, he was already a sixth-tier overlord, and unfortunately perished when faced with the siege of high-level powerhouses from the dark faction...

However, the tragedy of the Lagrange Empire will absolutely not be repeated this time! Roland firmly believed in his heart.

As if to mock Roland, the system suddenly said to him: "Please don't daydream, host. The Lagrange Empire is not something that can be established easily. The weather is getting colder, so I suggest you cover it with more soil."

"Ouch! You son of a bitch!" Roland cursed the system's ancestors for eight generations. In other system novels, the host is always incredibly powerful, but in his case, the system is like a piece of trash, giving people but not soldiers, giving soldiers but not food, and trying every possible way to kill him.

"Please do not insult this system. This system and the host are one! Insulting me is the same as insulting yourself."

"..." Roland was speechless for a moment, then decided not to bother arguing with this half-crippled system.

"Let's go! Let's go home!" Roland saw the urn being held in the arms of a group of light infantrymen, and his nose suddenly stung with tears.

……

"Alas! King Roland has been gone for several days now, I wonder how they are doing..." White Wing stood on the city of Los Saint-Neill, gazing eastward.

“I don’t know, but our situation is definitely not good!” Iovia pointed to the dark forest in front of her. In the past few days, orc wolf riders have begun to appear at the edge of the forest.

"I hope King Roland and the others are safe and sound, otherwise we will definitely be attacked from both sides." Bai Yi looked worriedly at the soldiers patrolling the city wall. His soldiers were still too few. The main defense was being handled by the Star Elves. He had begun training ordinary adult men. If they really got into a tough battle, these civilians would be their last reinforcements.

"Report! Your Majesty! King Roland and the others have returned!" The soldier who had been left on the other side of the river to relay the message to Swiftstream City was now riding swiftly towards them, shouting as he spurred his horse on.

"Open the city gates! Let him in." Bai Yi waved his hand.

The city gate was quietly pushed open by several soldiers, leaving a gap just wide enough for one person to pass through. The messenger quickly slipped through the gate and went inside. The next second, the city gate slammed shut.

"Quick! Tell me! How are they?" Bai Yi looked anxiously at the soldiers in front of him.

"This is a letter from King Roland to you!" The soldier pulled a still-warm letter from his chest and presented it to White Wing with both hands. Iovia stood to the side, looking on with curiosity, tilting her head to try and see the contents of the letter.

"Your Majesty King Akvia and King Singrei, thank you for your concern for me and for taking care of Swiftstream City during this time. This great battle..." A letter recounted the battle of Roland and others, and also revealed the heavy losses in the Battle of Lagrange Plains. After all, losing a third of their forces in one battle would be painful for anyone. If it were an elf, it could have directly persuaded an entire elf army to retreat.

"King Roland and his men won, but suffered heavy losses... Our strength has been weakened even further." White Wing sighed.

"Don't forget, the main character hasn't shown up yet..." Iovia said, somewhat annoyed.

(End of this chapter)