When the Nazgûl's momentum was blocked and soldiers recovered their senses, the orc offensive quickly fell into decline again. Seeing this continue, they would eventually be completely worn down.
But the Nazgûl seemed completely unhurried, as if they did not care at all about their side's losses.
Orcs and trolls kept falling, yet the Nazgûl issued no further commands, as if those soldiers were not their own.
On the walls, their forms dissipated and retreated.
"He is definitely not here."
After escaping Gandalf's perception, one Nazgûl voiced his opinion.
"If that person were here, he would have come out long ago to clear everything away."
"Agreed."
He was not the type to hide behind the scenes watching subordinates fight to the death.
"The probing ends here. How far have those things dug?"
"Beneath our feet."
"They fear the light and aura within the walls, unwilling to approach."
"Bringing them here was already difficult."
"Then attack directly."
As soon as he spoke, like triggering some mechanism, rumbling sounds came from underground.
The walls trembled continuously as the ground began collapsing.
Crash!
Somewhere close to the wall's exterior suddenly caved in. Some massive creature burst from underground, immediately opening its maw to crash into the nearby wall, swallowing the stone blocks that comprised it and instantly grinding them to fragments.
Large chunks of earth and stone scattered, covering nearby soldiers' faces.
The night sky was blocked by the enormous body, casting darkness over the territory.
"Worm!"
Balin recognized the creature.
"But why outside the wall? Would it not have been better if they had brought those orcs and dug in directly for a surprise attack from the start?"
No one answered his confusion. Everyone was startled by this suddenly appearing massive creature.
"What is that thing?"
A soldier instinctively slashed at the enormous beast before him. The almost endless writhing giant creature immediately let out pained cries, shrinking back instantly and returning the starlight and moonlight.
It also yielded the wall breach it had crushed with steel-like fangs in its maw.
"Attack!"
Terrifying roars covered the entire field, urging and whipping this army like barbed whips, making them surge toward that breach wave after wave.
Trolls charged ahead, meeting iron golems that came running at the sound.
Unfortunately, the territory had been established too briefly. In the rush, not many minerals had been brought, and Levi had only summoned about a hundred iron golems before leaving.
They were not sufficient to block over ten thousand troops and giant beasts, especially the beasts.
Trolls were similar in size to iron golems, evenly matched, but before those unknown giant beasts, iron golems had to crane their necks just to see their full forms.
"Hold the walls!"
Gandalf shouted as he ran down, charging forward with Glamdring in hand.
Tough hide that could chip ordinary blades was like paper before this sword. Gandalf slashed with all his might, each strike deeply cutting troll skin and causing massive damage. He wounded the giant beasts' feet, making them unsteady.
Behind him came soldiers who had mustered courage, forming an iron wall that strongly blocked everything outside.
They held, but another group became anxious.
The hastily assembled masons rushed forward but faltered, unable to work amid such fierce combat.
"Too many foes press upon us! The breach cannot be mended while they swarm so thick! We need another way!"
They spouted technical terms only they could understand.
"The worm fled."
"Our turn."
Outside, the three Nazgûl saw their chance and joined the attack. Pressure suddenly intensified, making even Gandalf feel somewhat urgent.
Crash clang!
Under the Nazgûl's targeted attacks, iron golems fell, leaving behind iron ingots and small red flowers. But when iron golems clanked forward with heavy steps, they could only ever catch shadows.
They were not affected by fear but were limited by their attack methods, speed, and the surrounding army's constraints.
After the Nazgûl tore open a breakthrough, all giant beasts gathered and followed closely, squeezing inside one after another.
Seeing iron golems about to be overwhelmed with soldiers next in line, Balin hammered orc heads roughly his own height while saying:
"Nazgûl, giant beasts, trolls, orcs! Their offensive is too fierce. Gandalf, what do we do now? Keep blocking here?"
They could definitely hold. Though enemies were fierce, Roadside Keep soldiers were equally elite and remarkably resilient.
At least until the Nazgûl finished killing iron golems and turned attention elsewhere, this breach definitely could not be overcome.
Hah!
Old Gandalf struck down a troll, panting: "You should ask the person most familiar with this territory. I was not appointed to command."
Ahhhh!
This answer was instantly drowned in screams nearly tearing eardrums.
"We have contingencies."
Falodan rushed over with an answer, then quickly turned to organize squad responses.
"Retreat, retreat! Leave the breach!"
Though not understanding the command's meaning, good soldiers unconditionally obeyed and executed orders.
So front fighters immediately withdrew, as if abandoning the position.
Seeing enemies seemingly give up resistance, orcs who had just squeezed in pointed at their backs, cursing and mocking.
But they did not yet know that sudden incomprehensible actions usually concealed other things.
The Nazgûl sensed something unusual but did not warn, letting orcs charge in while silently retreating to observe.
"Repair team ready, demolition squad one awaits orders!"
"Fire!"
Hiss!
Whoosh!
Boom!
Massive noise, white light, and firework particles appeared together, completely covering the breach area.
Instantly, orcs still squeezing inside were literally scattered to pieces.
Even trolls and giant beasts could not avoid it, swaying in dense explosive impacts before falling with torn flesh. They were then concentrated on by fire arrow archer battalions, and if still not dead, they faced specialized execution squads.
Under the demolition team's bombardment, the wall breach temporarily became a clear zone. Repair teams seized the opportunity to rush forward, quickly building a barrier with wooden boards.
As long as they could temporarily block outside attacks, even for just ten seconds or even a few, follow-up engineering teams could react, bring stronger materials, and further repair.
As walls and terrain were quickly restored, this wave of attacks also failed.
"Held?"
"Sort of."
Falodan climbed the walls again: "Actually, I wanted to say defense has always been the Roadside Keep soldiers' weakness, though the world usually does not think so."
After all, given Roadside Keep's conditions, especially that wall with countless obsidian layers at its center, probably ten worms could not bite through it.
As for underground breakthrough, forget it. Most of Levi's important facilities and inconvenient things were built underground. Never mind worms. Even if Sauron dared dig there, he would soon be running out holding his head.
The world considered Roadside Keep impregnable largely due to its inherently powerful defensive measures.
As for soldiers stationed there...
What they really wanted was definitely to go out and pound enemies' heads.
The new attack wave failed despite exhausting available means, yet orcs did not retreat, continuing seemingly meaningless attacks.
Like sending remaining trolls and beasts with siege weapons to ram walls. Wherever they hit, repair teams fixed it. Even paying huge costs to break through solid walls only revealed new walls behind.
If they planned to ram new walls, that would be tragic. Molten lava would immediately pour down from above for thorough sterilization.
Riverside Keep was temporarily held.
The Nazgûl made no new moves, only constantly changing positions while quietly observing the entire battlefield.
This absent-minded feeling that had surrounded them from beginning to end...
Was quite unsettling.