Chapter 92: Raiding Orc Town (Seeking Monthly Votes at Month's End)

In fact, as the primary servants of Morgoth, Orcish do not hate fire in the same way they fear sunlight.

However, the Orcish fighting Allen today felt something different; the scent of meat with a peculiar odor in the air and the shrill cries of their kin stimulated their nerves at every moment.

Those relatively clever Orcish, based on the strange actions of the Humans earlier and the trend of the spreading flames, understood the origin of all this.

In particular, a portion of them who had been doused in Fire Oil, in order to avoid their already ignited kin, had begun to push aside their own kind in a frenzy, running toward the cave entrance.

They had only one goal in mind: to get far away from the flames chasing them from behind and escape the fate of being burned to death.

This frantic behavior of fleeing for their lives was like a plague, instantly infecting many other Orcish.

Likewise gripped by fear, they moved their feet one after another, rushing forward following the fleeing Orcish; especially when they discovered that the Human soldiers had voluntarily cleared the cave entrance, the Orcish ran even faster.

That passageway, which still revealed a hint of darkness amidst the firelight, seemed to have become the only path for the Orcish to escape; desperate to save their lives, they did not even have time to consider why the Humans would clear the way.

The vast majority of the Orcish no longer cared about those Human soldiers; the shrill screams of their kin behind them were like the soul-reaping Nazgul, driving them to run outside the cave.

The nearly five-meter-wide passageway was enough for these unignited Orcish to run out of the main entrance, which felt like purgatory, in a very short time.

Inside the cave, apart from the Humans and horses, there remained only dozens of corpses still burning and hundreds of torches roaring in agony.

Raising his weapon to casually cut down a few Orcish, Allen stood stunned in place for a moment as he watched the rapidly fleeing Orcish, thinking to himself: "I have to say, these Orcish aren't good for much else, but their ability to flee for their lives is truly top-tier, far stronger than other races."

But thoughts aside, this situation also meant that Allen's temporary plan had succeeded, and now he needed to make arrangements for the next step immediately.

Allen pointed at the Orcish who were still scurrying and rolling about and said to the soldiers: "Knights, follow me. The rest of you, guard against those fellows who are still burning; do not let them get near the horses."

After speaking, Allen led the Swadian Knight, running quickly to catch up with the Orcish who had just rushed out, and began making preparations in the passageway; he needed to guard against the Orcish turning back to charge again.

Gandalf, who had been on the front line hacking and killing Orcish, did not follow Allen's pace; he observed his surroundings to confirm if there was still any danger here.

After concluding the answer was negative, this Grey Wizard gripped the weapon in his hand and walked toward the red-glowing passageway; he was going to track those Orcish who had fled first.

All along, Gandalf had been helping the Humans of Middle-earth resist the rise of dark forces, and his patience was quite good; having arrived in Middle-earth for nearly two thousand years, the opportunity to end Sauron had never appeared.

Not only that, but the power of Humans and Elves had instead grown weaker year by year.

The destroyed kingdom of Arnor, Gondor which had lost its king, Rivendell preparing to sail west, Lothlorien and the Woodland Realm barely able to protect themselves, and the Lonely Mountain which had just regained its vitality.

These forces representing the light made Gandalf feel that the road home was full of thorns; although he had never given up hope, this light of hope was truly a bit meager.

However, the situation had now undergone some changes; the long-extinct Rhovanion Human kingdom had risen again under the leadership of Allen.

Moreover, the noble character displayed by this Human leader had made this light of hope grow much stronger.

Gandalf felt that as long as Allen could maintain this momentum of rise, Rhovanion could soon become a Human power comparable to Rohan, or even Gondor.

When that time came, the power of the light would eventually be able to overwhelm the darkness, and after the Dark Lord was defeated, Gandalf would be able to go home.

Carrying this expectation, Gandalf casually cut down a few fellows blocking his way and charged into the red-glowing passageway without looking back.

Bilbo Baggins, meanwhile, had emerged from who knows where; during the previous battle, he had used large chunks of rubble to strike several ugly enemies quite hard, but once it entered close-quarters combat, he used the Hobbit's talent to hide behind the Big Folk.

And at a critical moment, he used the Ring to save several Horse Archers who had been pounced on by Orcish; only, for some reason, after Bilbo Baggins put on the Ring at this time, he felt a very indescribable sensation spreading throughout his body, as if the surrounding air were slightly squeezing his body.

This unusual feeling was something Bilbo Baggins had never experienced even after staying invisible for days and nights in the Woodland Realm; however, he did not pay too much attention to it. After saving a few Big Folk, he stopped being invisible; the duration of this feeling was extremely short.

At this moment, he was checking the Big Folk lying on the ground one by one; if they still had breath, he would try to find a way to bandage them. The kind-hearted Bilbo Baggins thought that since the battle was already over, it was good to be able to save anyone.

Outside the cave, it was even livelier at this time; after receiving Allen's order and arranging for the wounded, Holimion went directly to find the panting Bandak.

After the two quickly consulted, they arranged for eight hundred soldiers to hide in the forest around the cave, preparing a surprise for the enemy.

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The Orcish, concerned only with fleeing for their lives, scattered and fled into the forest after rushing out of the cave; panicking and charging blindly, they plunged headlong into the trap Bandak had set for them.

The Spearman hiding behind the trees watched the Orcish who entered their attack range and quickly thrust the Elven Spear in their hands; years of constant training made their attacks extremely precise.

The caught-off-guard Orcish were simply unable to dodge such attacks and lay on the ground amidst the wails before their deaths.

Due to the accumulated hatred over the years, the Spearman did not care at all about the wails of the Orcish; instead, amidst these wails, they accelerated their attack speed, continuously reaping the lives of these Orcish.

For the Orcish who were not yet dead, they also took timely remedial measures, thrusting a Spear into the enemy's throat to end their sinful lives.

For a time, the sky above the forest was filled with the screams of Orcish before death; these screams were continuous and finally alarmed the other Orcish.

Most of the Orcish finally reacted and knew that running out of the cave did not mean they could survive.

They stopped at the cave entrance, hesitating and not knowing what to do next.

"Infantry, form ranks and move forward! Archers, fire!"

"

Bandak watched those Orcish lingering outside the cave and knew they had seen through the trap.

However, he would not let them go just like that; since the enemy would not come to die, then let the Archers send them to their deaths.

Upon receiving the order, the Archers shot volleys of arrows from the forest toward the cave entrance, once again reaping the lives of the Orcish.

Facing the series of strikes from the Humans, a portion of the Orcish had already fallen into a state of collapse.

In this desperate moment, they still chose to resist in the end, raising their short weapons and roaring loudly as they charged toward the Spearman who had formed ranks and emerged from the forest.

Their charge was, of course, futile and they soon died under the dense Spear attacks.

As for the portion of Orcish who were still clever and had relatively firm wills, under such strikes, they actually began to climb up along the cave walls, hoping to climb into the forest at the heights and find a way to survive.

Only, they were quickly spotted by the Twilight Knight with precise archery and then nailed to the mountain wall one by one.

The Orcish still in the passageway knew there was no way out outside, and at this time, the sound of wailing inside the cave was getting lower and lower, so they quietly turned back, wanting to return to the cave.

They no longer had the heart to fight; now they only hoped to enter the depths of the Misty Mountains from the gate of Orc Town and hide in the pitch-black tunnels.

However, as soon as these Orcish turned their heads, they saw dozens of Human warriors blocking the passageway.

Allen gently threw the torch in his hand onto the firewood pile soaked in Fire Oil, then watched the Orcish, who were now at a dead end, coldly from behind the firelight, without a shred of pity in his eyes.

Regardless of how these Orcish were bred, or whether they were inherently evil, none of that mattered; Allen would not give them a way out, and it was impossible to even keep them as slave laborers.

These Orcish were not Smeagol, who had been corrupted by the One Ring; if Gollum, who had broken free from the control of the One Ring, still had a sliver of possibility of returning to normal, then these Orcish bred by Morgoth were born to obey the orders of the Dark Lord.

They no longer had the possibility of becoming better; at least Allen did not know how to save these Orcish. Keeping them would only become a ticking time bomb that constantly endangered the safety of the people.

Allen felt that only a dead Orcish was a good Orcish.

Soon, the few remaining Orcish died in despair under the thrusts of the Elven Spear; up to this point, Allen's plan could be considered a success.

Allen was also pondering the results of this battle in his heart.

Of the over a thousand Orcish near the High Pass, at least eighty percent had died in this battle; the remaining two hundred must have run into the front of Orc Town when the fire first started.

Wait, Allen suddenly remembered, the Orcish didn't seem to have closed their gates when they were running away, did they? Wouldn't that mean they could charge in and take Orc Town directly?

Even if they couldn't completely destroy the caves, they could take away everything worth carrying, dismantle what couldn't be taken, set a fire, and destroy the things the Orcish had accumulated over countless years, reducing the possibility of them gathering here again.

Thinking of this, Allen immediately began to assemble his army.

Subsequently, under Allen's command, Holimion, Grim, Cress, and twelve Twilight Knights stepped into the cave once again and arrived at the main gate of Orc Town.

Allen held up the torch in his hand, signaled to Bilbo Baggins who had followed, and walked in first.

The "Sting" in Bilbo Baggins's hand did not show any reaction, which indicated that the surroundings were very safe and there were no living Orcish present.

Bandak, meanwhile, arranged for fifty soldiers to send the wounded and the fallen soldiers to Fatis at the valley entrance, while he himself would lead over seven hundred soldiers to follow behind Allen and enter Orc Town.

Allen and his party walked with torches in an upward passage; if nothing went wrong, this road should lead directly to the main hall of Orc Town.

This was already the third time Allen had stepped into the tunnels of the Misty Mountains; the torch in his hand reflected little stars on the surrounding mountain walls, though it was unclear if they were water droplets or mineral veins.

Grim, still maintaining his great bear form, walked at the very front of the team, relying on his keen sense of smell to barely track the fresh scent of Orcish in this place with its complex odors.

Allen, meanwhile, held his Noldor Enchanted Shield, ready at any moment to protect Bilbo Baggins, who was holding "Sting".

Once "Sting" glowed blue, Allen would prioritize protecting this Hobbit, as Bilbo Baggins's head had no protection at all.

In order to explore this dangerous Orcish lair, Allen had prepared "Sting" to serve as an alarm and the keen-scented Grim, which could be considered exhausting his trump cards.

However, this behavior of Allen's was destined to be like a beauty casting flirtatious glances at a blind man, because at this time, the entire Orc Town had already been abandoned by the Orcish.

Previously, Fimbul, who had just escaped with his life, had still been thinking about staying in Orc Town; after all, the living environment here was far better than other places, and it also had large amounts of supplies and slaves stockpiled.

Fimbul did not want to give up this wealth; he needed these things to maintain his rule, otherwise, he would be worthless immediately.

But soon Fimbul dismissed this thought, because he had discovered Gandalf entering the tunnel; that figure radiating white light caused him to make the decision to retreat in a very short time.

After all, nothing was as important as his own life.

Subsequently, Fimbul led a portion of the Orcish who were willing to follow him and ran toward Moria, where he would re-establish a settlement.

As for the small remaining portion of Orcish, they were extremely unwilling to leave, but with their low morale, they did not have enough confidence to deal with that Grey Wizard who looked so formidable.

With no other choice, after an extremely brief argument, they scattered and fled for their lives.

But even this extremely short time was enough for Gandalf to catch up to a few of the Orcish.

One could see this Grey Wizard muttering to himself, and then the Gramdring in his hand flew out like a bolt of lightning, piercing through two Orcish who had wanted to escape.

He then moved with quick steps that were completely inconsistent with his face, rushed toward the other two fleeing Orcish, knocked them to the ground with the long staff in his hand, and then with a wave of his hand, Gramdring flew back into his hand.

Finally, this longsword glowing with blue light slashed one of the Orcish to death as it swung, and stopped at the throat of the only surviving Orcish.

"Tell me, where have all your filthy kind gone?"

Allen and his party also discovered other situations at this time.