No time to explain. Halbarad called out and ran directly toward a certain direction.
Levi hurried to follow.
After covering some distance, Halbarad in front suddenly braked hard and crouched behind a raised mound of earth.
Levi also rolled over there and hid.
His linen robes blended with the environment, like sand and stone.
"Look over there."
Following the direction Halbarad pointed, he saw a mass of dark dots crowded in one place, looking quite lively.
"Orcs."
Halbarad's expression was grave, one hand moving to the barrow-blade at his waist as he estimated.
"About a hundred or so, plus quite a few wargs."
Unlike Halbarad's vigilant reaction, Levi's mindset was quite relaxed, with only slight curiosity in his eyes.
"No wonder we couldn't see a single orc. They all ran south."
"What are they doing?"
Levi squinted toward that direction.
At this moment, that group of orcs was gathered around a withered tree, with wargs pacing back and forth with lowered heads.
"That's one of our strongholds."
Halbarad stared unblinkingly at that place, his gaze following the wargs' pacing movements.
"Stronghold? I don't seem to see any traces of a stronghold."
"That's exactly right."
"If it could be seen casually, it couldn't be called a hidden stronghold."
"Very strange. How did they end up blocking the stronghold entrance?"
"Maybe the wargs caught a scent."
Levi said casually.
"Yes, very likely."
Halbarad continued along Levi's line of thought: "We have some methods to interfere with warg tracking, but these methods can fail sometimes."
"Blood. They're extremely sensitive to the smell of blood. Any trace of scent dispersed in the air will be detected."
"As long as blood has been spilled, they'll definitely track it down."
"Those wargs pacing at the stronghold entrance are probably because the bloody scent disappears there, which means there might be wounded in our stronghold..."
Saying this, Halbarad's grip on his ancient sword tightened.
"Levi, help me out. I'll go lure those orcs and wargs away. Once they're gone, you go to that tree and hoot like a tawny owl four times, in a pattern of three short and one long interval..."
"Stop, stop, stop. I can't be bothered learning to hoot like some owl."
Levi interrupted the eager Halbarad, saying: "Just some orcs and wargs, not even any trolls. My suggestion is, go straight at them."
"That's over a hundred of them, plus wargs makes it even more!"
Halbarad emphasized to Levi: "Remember? The attack on Roadside Fort last time was about this many orcs."
"This scale is completely sufficient to raid villages, even attack some smaller towns. I advise you to listen to me. Don't worry, I have plenty of experience. Leave attracting the orcs to me."
"I think I have more experience than you."
"You've been away too long, Halbarad. Do you think the current Roadside Fort is still the old Roadside Fort?"
"Or that I'm still the old me?"
Levi stood up and walked toward the orcs. This swaggering manner quickly attracted the attention of the distant orcs.
"Too reckless!"
Halbarad grimaced, thought for a moment, then also stood up and followed closely behind Levi.
The orcs turned their attention over and immediately burst into laughter.
"Haha, two stinking maggots rolled out on their own!"
"Kill them. Fresh meat for tonight!"
An orc riding a warg issued commands. The nearby orcs immediately shrieked with glee. Those with wargs mounted them, while those without charged forward in a chaotic mob, afraid the two men might escape.
Swoosh.
Seeing the enemy's fierce charge, Halbarad quickly shot an arrow, bringing down a warg.
But before he could shoot a second arrow, suddenly those orcs and wargs stopped. They stretched their necks forward, seemingly hesitating.
"What's going on?"
Halbarad was somewhat confused, his bow-drawing motion frozen.
Levi stood in front and turned back to say: "I don't know where you heard news about me, but what they said definitely wasn't complete."
He pointed at those orcs.
"Look, they obviously know better than you who I am and what I've done."
Swoosh.
The long sword was drawn, gleaming with azure radiance as if it would illuminate these dim hills.
"Ah!"
The orc at the front closed his eyes and cried out in terror: "It's 'Nemesis'! That 'Nemesis' that slit the throats of over a thousand orcs and two commanders!"
Whoosh. The orcs immediately lost their courage to charge forward. They finally understood where that instinctive fear welling up came from.
That was their bane.
And the word "bane" meant that standing before them was an existence specifically designed to counter them. Confronting him would only bring misfortune and disaster.
Levi charged forward fiercely, wielding his long sword. The orcs immediately scattered in all directions, each running in different directions, with wargs tucking their tails and fleeing madly.
After cutting down several slower-running orcs, Levi turned back and said:
"You go help your companions first. I'll go clean them up. I'll be back soon."
Halbarad sheepishly put away his bow, took a breath, and opened his mouth several times, not knowing what to say.
In the end, he could only agree:
"Alright, fine, I'll listen to you."
This guy was getting more and more outrageous.
Seeing Halbarad nod, Levi turned and chased after the area with the most orcs.
Established orc groups couldn't be left alone.
Levi's appearance only temporarily made these orcs lose their fighting courage. Once Levi left, they would still become a disaster for the Free Peoples.
Watching Levi's retreating figure and the increasingly frantic orc groups, Halbarad felt quite conflicted.
What kind of situation is this?
"Better go check the stronghold."
Under the withered tree, tawny owl calls sounded.
Moments later.
Thud, thud!
Two muffled impact sounds came from underground.
Pop!
A patch of turf trembled. Halbarad hurried over and lifted the wooden board covered with sand and weeds.
This was an entrance leading underground.
As soon as the passage opened, a hand immediately reached up.
"Ha..."
Someone climbed out from inside, breathing heavily.
"Halbarad, so good to see you again."
That person asked: "What's the situation now?"
"Very safe. The orcs have been driven off by reinforcements and will probably be cleaned up soon."
"That's wonderful."
He looked at Halbarad and said: "Honestly, I never thought it would be you outside. Since you began your eastward journey, we haven't seen each other for two years. I'm so glad you could return in one piece."
"I'm also very happy to see you all again."
Phew.
The Ranger breathed a sigh of relief and said:
"You don't know. The situation here has become increasingly dangerous lately. Due to fear of certain things, orcs no longer dare stay on the north side and have all come south. The ford leading to the Shire is becoming harder and harder to defend."
Hearing these words, Halbarad's expression became somewhat subtle.
"Let's not discuss this for now. I'll tell you in detail about the changes during this time later. For now, give me a hand. There are still wounded below."
"Alright."
While climbing down, this Ranger suddenly said: "By the way, I haven't asked. Which unit are our reinforcements from?"
"Which unit?"
"If I must use that term, then I can only say it's the unit from Roadside Fort."
"What?"
The Ranger was somewhat confused.
Halbarad replied: "As someone who's been guarding here all along, you should know better than I. It's the master of that place."
"A guy who can make orcs feel fear."
While Halbarad was providing aid to his companions.
In a dark cave not far from the Ranger stronghold.
Thud, thud, thud, thud...
Inside the walls, sounds of pickaxes striking stone rang out.
An orc cowering in the corner tremblingly raised the cleaver in his hand, pointing toward where the sound was coming from.
Thud!
The sound grew closer until cracks began appearing on the wall, constantly expanding outward.
Pop.
From the newly dug opening, a face peered in. Those eyes that seemed able to penetrate darkness immediately locked onto the orc cowering in the corner.
"Found a little orc here!"
On this day, wails filled with terror echoed through the cave.