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

Chapter 778 Dragon's Whisper and Orchid!

"Ha! He's quite generous!" Darian Nightblade appeared behind Roland at some point.

“Three hundred Royal Crossbowmen have been delivered! It seems the Swifthand is indeed as loyal as the legends say!” Darion Nightblade confirmed.

Army bearing the name of royalty is no ordinary force! These Tier 3 archers abandoned their laborious bows and raised dragon crossbows made of dragon horns. Clad in sun and moon alloy plate armor, they became even more indestructible. As archers capable of being thrown into the front lines of meat grinders, they stood out among a group of ranged professionals.

"Nonsense! If you were to squander your fortune and gather your forces to restore the kingdom after my death, you would still be loyal!" Roland could only laugh and scold, exasperated.

"Hehe!" Darian Nightblade shrank his neck and chuckled憨厚ly.

"Alright, I'm going to take a break!" Roland slowly walked up to the castle rooftop, ready to continue his treasure hunt.

“Then I won’t bother you any longer!” Darian Nightblade nodded, turned around, and disappeared from Roland’s sight, leaving Roland to his own devices.

……

"One more time! Give me a better reward this time!" Roland looked like he was praying to the gods, his sincerity enough to move even the Dragon God!

"Whoosh!" This time, instead of a dazzling golden light, a soft white light appeared.

"What the heck! What kind of cheap special effects are these?" Roland said with a disdainful expression.

"A whiteboard? This thing is a scam? Let me see what's going on?" Roland complained.

"Let me see what this thing looks like... uh, this one's got quite a lot of substance, cough cough!" Roland's eyelids twitched wildly. Who said a blank card can't be sold?

This time, the figure on the card was a melancholy middle-aged man with white hair, but that wasn't what shocked Roland. What really made Roland's mouth dry was the holy halo that appeared behind this guy and the jade-white dragon he rode!

"Could it really be Dragon Language of the End of Dharma?" Roland murmured. The last Dragon Speaker of the End of Dharma Era, the last glimmer of the Empire, the sixth-tier Holy Light Dragon Knight Commander—Maple Forest Orchid! If the destruction of the Junlin family marked the complete demise of the Empire, then the death of Maple Forest Orchid was the extinguishing of the last ray of light in the Empire.

“It really is him…” Roland looked at the background information below with deep emotion. It was indeed the Dragon Speaker of the End of Dharma! The last commander of the Royal Dragon Riders, and also the last dragon knight of the empire.

"Welcome home, Dragon's Whisper!" Roland smiled gently as he watched the cards dissipate. Looking back at Lagrange now, Roland could finally see how utterly incompetent the last emperor, Larry, was! Although his father, Emperor Karl the Great, left him a mess, he had so many cards in his hand! And he still managed to mess it all up... First, he destroyed the Hand of the North, then he destroyed the royal family (in some ways, he did have guts; not everyone can defend the borders of a royal family), leaving a huge mess for the Stream Hand to clean up. Before the Electors could even assemble a new emperor, the country collapsed. The Stream Hand's attempt to restore itself failed, and it too perished, leaving the King's Landing families in the North to fight alone...

It's truly deserved! Such fine horses and foes! The Empire has a whole bunch of horses and foes that they can't even use properly! The last Dragoon Commander died under the combined attack of a group of orc chimeras and two-headed wyverns. Throwing the Dragoon Commander out to trade kills—who else could lose? They could have used a bunch of ragtag troops to wear them down. Remember, which was the last organized force of the Empire to be wiped out? That was the Royal Air Cavalry! Instead of using all the Royal Air Knights to trade kills, they sent the Dragoon Commander out to fight alone? What kind of brain-dead decision is that? Did they learn that from Chiang Kai-shek?
"Greetings, Your Majesty!" Before Roland could finish expressing his righteous indignation, a gentle male voice, as warm as a spring breeze, rang out.

Roland looked in the direction of the sound and saw a middle-aged man in white dragon armor standing not far away, exuding a melancholy aura. A small white dragon perched on his shoulder, and he emanated a faint, indescribable pressure. "Sacred Light Dragon Knight Commander Maple Forest Orchid," he said with a smile, bowing slightly. His melancholy dissipated somewhat, and his long white hair fluttered gently in the breeze.

"Hello, my knight!" Roland greeted with a smile and a hand on his chest.

"How did you get here?" Roland exclaimed in amazement at Maple Forest Orchid's efficiency! She arrived almost as soon as she was summoned; her efficiency far surpassed that of others.

"The Light Holy Dragon's Time Leap is truly powerful!" Maple Forest Orchid smiled and bowed slightly.

"!" Roland's pupils contracted, staring in shock at the lazy little dragon on Maple Forest Orchid's shoulder. Dragons with sacred names are all high-ranking dragons! For example, the Golden Sacred Dragon of the Dragon Clan's royal family! The Silver Sacred Dragon, the enforcer of the Dragon Clan! Roland couldn't help but glance at this seemingly harmless little dragon. This thing's ecological niche was terrifyingly high, its status only lower than that of Golden Dragons and Silver Dragons.

"Wait a minute? Time travel? Dragon language forbidden spell!" Roland stared at Maple Forest Orchid in horror, completely unaware of what was happening.

"You don't belong to this era!" Roland suddenly realized that this thing was probably not a product of the system's rearrangement, but rather a direct pull of the last Dragon Speaker from the past into this world!

"Back when I was besieged and on the verge of death during the battle in the North, it was Long Xi who forcibly opened the River of Time and took me away. I wandered through endless years until I received your summons again!" Fenglin Youlan said with some emotion. If it weren't for her dragon forcibly opening the River of Time, she would have died long ago. If it weren't for Roland's summons, she would probably still be wandering in the endless River of Time. This is why Fenglin Youlan always had a trace of melancholy between her brows.

"The price must be very high, right?" Roland narrowed his eyes. Even the Silver Dragon wouldn't dare to try a god-level forbidden spell that reverses time so easily, but this Holy Dragon of Light did it. Although he didn't change any timeline, he still changed the fate of Maple Forest Orchid, so he was destined to bear the backlash of time.

"Yes, as you can see, this is all he can do now..." Fenglin Youlan shrugged helplessly. His Holy Light Dragon, Long Xi, had lost the ability to transform into a true dragon and could only maintain his life in this miniature form.

"We should be grateful that he possesses some time-related attributes. At least the Holy Dragon of Light has some connection to time, otherwise he would be dead by now." Roland frowned, filled with emotion.

“If it were another dragon race, they would most likely be unable to open the River of Time.” Maple Forest Orchid shook its head bitterly.

"It's alright, there's always a way. Besides, a holy hero like you doesn't need the dragon's protection anymore! Just let him recover for now!" Roland patted his shoulder to comfort him. Fortunately, Maple Forest Orchid's strength was also at the peak of Middle-earth. Even the Ringwraiths couldn't hurt a sixth-tier paladin. As long as he wasn't ganged up on, he was basically in no danger.

“Mm.” Maple Forest Orchid nodded.

"Who?" Darian Nightblade flashed out, looking at Maple Forest Orchid with a wary expression. He had been teleporting over without stopping after sensing the unfamiliar aura appearing next to Roland.

“The Holy Light Dragon Rider, General Maple Forest Orchid, who has returned from endless ages! This is my creed, Assassin Darian Nightblade! You two should have something in common.” Roland waved to Darian Nightblade, introducing the two.

"Hello..." Darian Nightblade was a little confused, but still greeted Maple Forest Orchid with a blank expression.