"Their footprints left the battlefield...... Ran into the Fagon Forest......"

On the battlefield near the edge of the Fagon Forest, where the Rohan cavalry burned the corpses of the orcs and orcs, Aragorn, Golden Bolt and Legolas were following the trail of footprints on the ground, chasing them to find the hobbit, and then they found that the two little hobbits had taken advantage of the chaos to run into the Fagon forest?

"Fagon Forest ......"

"Are they crazy? How dare you run into such a place?! ”

Carrying his long-handled battle axe, after knowing that Pippin and Merry were likely to run into this ghost place called Fagon Forest, Jin Li couldn't help but exclaim when he looked at the strangely shaped and ancient twisted giant trees not far in front of him.

In the past, Jin Li had heard many rumors about this place, and it was said that many daredevils or reckless men who were not afraid of death entered this forest, and then they never came out......

You know, the history of this Fagong Forest is very long, and there are many ancient legends that are not known to ordinary people.

In fact, as early as the First and Second Ages, this Fagon Forest was once spread throughout the Illyad and Karanahon regions, and it can be said that it was the largest forest in the whole of Middle-earth, and there was no one!

It's a pity that in addition to the existing Fagon Forest, the rest of the places have been wantonly cut down and destroyed by the Númenorians who landed in Middle-earth to establish a state in the previous two eras!

Then, when the Demon Lord Sauron fought with the Númenorans and the Elves, a considerable part of it was destroyed again......

So, now, the only thing left is this Fagong Forest in the northwest corner of the Luohan Territory, south of the Misty Mountains! This is the territory of the oldest herders and the last habitat of the treemen......

It is precisely because of this that the treemen, who think they have been persecuted, do not welcome any intelligent creatures into their territory! Elves, humans, dwarves, orcs or hobbits? Anyway, as long as they enter the Fagon Forest and are found by them, none of them will be able to get out alive!

In the eyes of those who love trees and nature, any creature that can use metal tools and cut down trees is their enemy! Of course, if they cut down the forests in other places, they will definitely not be able to control it, but if they die to cut down the Fagon forests, then the end will not be very good.

"Aragorn, what the hell are we going to do?"

Legolas looked at Aragorn and asked, he didn't know what to do now.

Even as the elven prince of the Dark Jungle, Legras, who has been dealing with the forest all day long, would not be willing to casually break into this Fagon forest! The elves of the immortal race know better than anyone else the old-fashioned and dead-eyed of those treants, and they have the same attitude towards almost all intelligent races, even the Sylvan elves are not too special to them!

Of course, they are said to have a good relationship with the Lotlolin elves of the Golden Forest? But this is just rumor, and Legolas is not too clear.

But judging from Queen Galadriel's ability, coupled with the fact that the Golden Forest and the Fagon Forest are not far apart, the other party should be able to have a good relationship with the Treants, this rumor should be true, no matter what, the lady of the Golden Forest is also a perfect and ancient elf.

"Let's go in! Be sure to find those two hobbits! ”

After thinking about it, Aragorn made up his mind anyway.

They would never leave those two hobbits behind! Anyway, it's been chasing for so long now, so I shouldn't give up at this time!

Moreover, if you calculate the time, Pippin and Melly, the two hobbits, should have entered the forest last night, and now, it is only one night, if they are lucky, maybe they can really find each other again?

"Let's go! We better be careful! ”

With that, Aragorn tightened his equipment and took the lead in the dark and ancient Fagon forest.

————

In the northwest of Middle-earth, southeast of the mountains of Lake Ivantine in Annuminas, and south of the Great Plains of Fornost, Queen Orfina of the United Kingdom of Alicia was wearing gold armor and riding her tall white unicorn mount, perched beneath a huge white vulture banner with a red background and gold trim, her eyes staring sharply at the auxiliary militia who were cleaning up the battlefield.

Here, here in this great plain with flat terrain, yesterday evening, she personally led the newly formed First Legion of the United Kingdom of Alicia, a total of a thousand newly formed musketeers and more than 500 auxiliary militiamen, here to meet and defeat in one fell swoop the combined forces of more than 3,000 cavalry of the Illyad Free Council of Annuminas and Fornost!

It took a lot of time for the two sides to line up in this battle, but when the battle really began, to the surprise of the Free Council: in just one round, the musketeers of the United Kingdom of Alicia defeated the coalition they thought was very powerful in an instant!

In the eyes of Queen Orfina, this battle is actually not too suspenseful!

She had already guessed that under the horrific volley of Minnie rifles, no mortal could resist that kind of metal bullet, not even the plate cavalry and infantry of the Free Council!

Although the other party was very heroic and tenacious at the beginning! However, the opponent could not even get close to the area of a hundred yards in front of the formation of their Alician United Kingdom legion, and was crushed by the platoon of guns and scattered......

After the previous night's battle, their First Legion of the United Kingdom had been encamped in an open area defended by musketeers, and it was not until early in the morning that the light had cleared up the devastated battlefield with its auxiliary militiamen.

"Her Majesty!"

"The results have been first counted, and we got an epic victory last night! This will go down in the annals of Middle-earth! ”

Just as Orfina looked at the battlefield strewn with the corpses of the enemy, her eyes twinkling and she didn't know what to think, a female officer on a horse, carrying a cavalry short-barreled rifle on her back, and dressed as a ranger, galloped towards her.

Then, with an excited face, the other party stopped not far in front of the Orfina unicorn and reported loudly.

Fifteen hundred against the enemy's powerful coalition of more than 3,000 men, while the actual number of people actually engaged in the battle is estimated to be less than six hundred? Then, not only were they able to easily defeat the enemy in one fell swoop, but they also paid almost no casualties, what is this not an epic victory?!

"In the battle yesterday evening, according to the calculation of the corpses left on the battlefield, we killed a total of 632 enemies and captured 417 people!"

The female officer excitedly reported as she raised the parchment in her own hand.

"So far, we have not had any fatalities! Merely...... Two musketeers were injured in the eye because they didn't follow the standard procedures for handling their rifles, and I'm afraid they were no longer fit to continue fighting......"

Speaking of this, the female officer was a little ashamed, the two who did not operate the rifle according to the rules happened to be her subordinates. Not only were they blinded by the live explosion of one eye, but the other musketeers also had an inexplicable fear of the muskets, and even became a little cowering when they reloaded.

In fact, she thinks that those of them won't use their brains to think about it?

Those two idiots, how dare they just tear open the cartridge and stuff it into the barrel when there are still sparks in the chamber? And you look at it with your eyes? Those explosive gunpowder, who else can they blow up if they don't blow them up?!

Thankfully, they weren't loaded, otherwise they might have two headshots from their own weapons by now!

"That is, at least a thousand to two thousand or so of their soldiers fled back to Annuminas and Fornost?"

Seeing her soldiers cleaning up the corpses of the enemy and burying them, Orfina asked thoughtfully. They had fought a rout battle yesterday evening, so it wasn't too surprising that she had expected so many enemies to escape.

"Yes, Her Majesty!"

"According to the reports of our 'lark' musketeers, most of the scattered enemies fled along the main road back to Fornost in the north, while in the northwest Annuminas did not flee to that side because of the rugged mountain roads."

"And some of them simply scattered into the surrounding villages, and we don't have enough troops to hunt them down for the time being!"

For these things, the female officer, who is the queen's bodyguard, knows relatively well.

Most of the musketeers who had just set out overnight and fallen behind the enemy's rout had returned, bringing back a lot of news about the enemy, and it was said, that they had taken a lot of prisoners along the way?

"Go! Find a few enemy officers among the captives, I need them to help me bring two letters to Annuminas and Fornost! ”

After saying that, Orfina took out two handwritten letters placed in a bamboo tube from the satchel of her mount and handed them directly to the female officer.

"Find a few reliable captives, give them a few horses, and let them tell the nobles of the council in the city: if they surrender their army and surrender Kaesong, when the time comes, I can promise them to keep their wealth and land!"

For the sake of unnecessary trouble, Orfina did not want to do too much of the murder here in the homeland of the former Arno Kingdom.

Now, the newly appointed commander of the Second Legion of Renas in the south has reached Tabad on the south bank of the Swan River and is in contact with the Denland barbarians! Therefore, she must not continue to waste time here, she needs to go south as soon as possible to attack the forces of Isengard, which is the priority of her master Anne.

"But, Your Majesty......"

"We're in a position to win, we've got muskets, we've got even more powerful cannons! Isn't it too generous to give them this kind of treatment? We could have used our artillery to knock out their gates and occupy the two main towns in the north......"

"There's no way they're going to resist our onslaught! Perhaps, by the time we reach the city, they will be scattered themselves? ”

Hearing that Her Majesty Queen Orfina wanted to give those people the right to wealth and land, the female officer was a little anxious.

Isn't it because they gave their lives to join the United Kingdom of Alicia for land and money?

And the victorious war is the guarantee that they will get these things! She believed that as long as they conquered each other's cities and accumulated enough military merits, they could get fiefdoms, titles, and a lot of money, etc.!

Then, in the future, they will be able to live the kind of aristocratic and old-fashioned luxury that they only dared to think about before?

"Alright, no need to say more!"

"Kelly, you should know that our focus is not on the North, but on the South! Do you understand?! ”

Looking at her female guard, Orfina shook her head a little amusedly.

She herself had to think about how to rule this place well, instead of turning it into a wolf and destroying the dissidents, which would only push their United Kingdom of Alicia against everyone! Therefore, when necessary, it is feasible to use some soft policies.

As long as the council was willing to surrender power and the army, and ensure that there was no chaos in the north, what could she do if they let them continue to enjoy the life of those rotten nobles?

"Isingah's power is growing, and now that even the Denlanders have joined them, I'm sure the Rohan won't be able to hold out for long......"

"Once Isinger destroys Rohan and defeats the kingdom of Gondor with Mordor, we will be in a very passive position in the future! Our kingdom is not enough behind us, and there are some things that cannot be solved even with money! ”

"Okay, just follow what I just ordered, you go and carry it out!"

After thinking about it, Orfina waved her hand and asked the female officer to take her handwritten letter, and then went to carry out her orders.

She hoped that the turmoil in the north would be completely quelled within five days, and that after making sure that there would be no major problems in the rear, she would gather the opposing army, and then prepare to go south to Rohan!

In fact, in Orfina's own plan, not only Annuminus and Fornost, but also Charles and Agander, Salenfud and other places, she also planned to deal with them in this way.

As long as the local lords were willing to surrender their armies and accept the command of the United Kingdom of Alicia, she could promise to keep their wealth, land, and even titles and governance for a certain period of time!

“……”

After glancing at the bloody and chaotic battlefield again, Orfina frowned, and directly patted the unicorn under her crotch, telling it to turn around and return to the barracks in the rear.

She was not surprised by the outcome of this battle, after all, a group of cold-armed cavalry and infantry against a group of musketeers, even a group of musketeers who had not been trained for a long time, this kind of result was very normal, and the weapons of the two sides were several generations apart!

In fact, she had been ready for war since the emissary of the so-called Illyad Free Council had sneered at her in Bray's castle a few days ago!

Those arrogant nobles may still be immersed in the former glory of the so-called Arnor Kingdom, do they really think that the current world is still the same as before?

Even if there is no United Kingdom of Alicia without them, once the war in the south is won or lost, no matter who the winner is, the end of these small lords waiting for the north is already doomed!

Thinking about the messenger at that time, he even dared to ask for himself to hand over the Bray collar and pay compensation, and Orfina almost didn't laugh out loud at that time!

"If we don't hurry, it is estimated that the war situation in the south will be one-sided......

Now in Orfina's opinion, Isenger and Mordor in the south have an absolute advantage, plus the barbarian Haradlin and the Rune tribe in the south have joined the Mordor Alliance, when the time comes, they will definitely attack Gondor, so she is not optimistic about the situation in the south, and Gondor's defeat is only a matter of time!

Therefore, now she wants a captive to go to the Free Council of the other side with her own letter of surrender, and does not want to stay in the north for too long, and when the north is settled a little, she will take the legion directly to the south, and after returning to Bray to replenish the troops and supplies, she will go directly to Isengard, to Rohan!

————

"Wow! What a big squirrel! ”

At this moment, in the Fagon Forest, little Anne was eating the pile of nuts she didn't know where she had gotten them, with two hobbits, Melly and Pippin, with a stone.

Then, after a while, a chubby squirrel the size of a kitten jumped down from the tree, and kept 'squeaking' at the three people who were eating dried fruits, and jumped around, as if they were in a hurry.

"Look! Melly, it seems to be trying to scare me about something? ”

Pippin looked at it for a while, and felt that this squirrel seemed to be very human, maybe there was something to say to the three of them?

"Huh? I guess it should want to join us? ”

Melly and Pippin didn't think the same thing, and he thought that the squirrel should have seen them eat and wanted to join in. Maybe it's because there are very few living people in the Fagon forest, so it's not afraid of people?

"What a cute squirrel...... I wonder if it will be delicious if it is cooked? ”

Little Anne's eyes flickered, and after looking at the small pile of nuts on the ground that had almost been eaten by her, and then at the cute, fat and fat squirrel, such a sentence suddenly popped up.

Then, when the squirrel sensed the little girl's malice, he was so frightened that his hair exploded, and then, as fast as he could, run to the head of the shepherd's whiskers, who were whispering to Gandalf, and hid.

She actually knew why this squirrel was in a hurry, so she really wanted to eat the other party as soon as possible and destroy the corpse!

"It's just saying...... You little girl...... Stealing the nuts it hid ......"

After calming the little squirrel hiding behind the canopy of his head, Treebeard glanced at the wicked little witch over there.

"You talk nonsense! I didn't steal anything from it! ”

"How does it prove that these nuts are theirs? It doesn't have its name written on it, so why shouldn't I be allowed to eat it? ”

Anyway, she'd eaten it all by now, so Anne wouldn't admit that she had just found it in a dry tree hollow!

Besides, there were no squirrels in the hollow just now, so how did she know if the dried fruits and nuts had fallen from the branches on their own? Therefore, Anne thought, it must be the squirrel who wanted to frame herself!

It's a pity that it wasn't found in the hollow of the tree just now, otherwise, Anne would have been eating roast squirrel by now! Nuts or something, no oil or water at all, dry and unpalatable!

“……”

Well, now, everyone knows what is going on......

"Huh? Three more men have entered the forest! ”

Just as he wanted to say something, or lure the chubby squirrel down to catch Anne who had been roasted, he suddenly turned his head and looked in one direction.

"Gandalf! Those three good friends of your family are coming for you! ”

After sensing the other party's breath and knowing who it was, Anne yelled angrily at the old man Gandalf in the distance, who seemed to have finished talking to the old treeman.

"My family's ...... Good friends? What does that mean? ”

Gandalf was a little incomprehensible to the little girl's words, Kee? Friend? What does this mean exactly?

"Oh...... That's what earthlings say, which means very good friends with you! That's right, that's it! ”

After staring at the treeman's head for a while, and realizing that the fat squirrel would not come down easily, Anne had to cancel her plan to eat the fire and roast the squirrel.

"A very good friend? All right...... Who could that be?! ”

Gandalf was a little baffled, he always felt that the little girl didn't seem to be telling the truth, but he didn't know what was wrong.

"It's the old uncle who plays with the long sword, the son of the old man Ge's family and the little white face who likes to play with bows and arrows!"

Actually, in Little Annie's opinion, those three people are all elderly uncles!

Whether it's the human, the dwarf, or the little white-faced elf, the youngest of them is dozens of years old! What is it if it's not an uncle?

"Uh...... I guess I know who it is......"

After a moment's pause, Gandalf realized who the three Anne were talking about. Then he turned to the two hobbits over there, Pippin and Melly, who were doing nothing, and said:

"Pippin, and Melly...... Stay in the Fagong Forest for the first time. ”

"The Treebeard has promised me that it is willing to protect you for a while! Don't worry, trust me, you'll be safe here! ”

What Gandalf was going to do next might be a bit dangerous, so he wasn't going to take the two hobbits in the way for a while.

……

Aragorn, Golden Bolt, and Legolas are now deep into the Forest of Fagon, and they are following in the footsteps of the Hobbits and Orcs as they continue to advance into the depths of the forest.

"Whew! These are orc blood ......"

The dwarf Golden Bolt found a few drops of black-brown goo on some leaves, and then, when he dipped it in his hand and put it in his mouth to taste it, he quickly spit it out again.

Obviously, this is the blood of the orcs! Because, the fishy and smelly nausea that rushed straight to his head from the taste buds was something he was familiar with, that is, a half-orc, and he would never admit it!

"We're probably going to pick up the pace again...... Three orcs chased Pippin and Merry, and they entered the forest! We must save them before they are caught again! ”

After looking at the clear footprints and other marks on the ground, Aragorn said anxiously.

Thanks to the special environment of this forest, the traces left by hobbits and orcs are very visible, and the three of them can be sure that they will not be easily lost by them!

"Come on, those orcs are here!"

Suddenly, Legras, who was scouting in front, shouted at the two behind him, and then Jin Li and Aragorn quickly drew their weapons and rushed over.

“……”

"You didn't tell us they were dead!"

Jin Li, who had thought there was a fight, couldn't help but mumble to the other party in annoyance when he ran to Leglas and saw that it was indeed an orc whose head had been smashed open.

"But I didn't say they were alive, did I?"

After Legolas was complained, he could only reply with a smile and tears.

"This ...... What blunt object smashed my head? Its shattered skull was deep into its brain...... This shows that the attacker has a lot of strength, and it shouldn't be the two hobbits of Pippin and Melly, they don't have this kind of strength! ”

After crouching down and pulling the orc's head with a twig for a moment, Aragorn quickly came to his conclusion.

"We have to be careful, there should be other people here besides hobbits and orcs......"

Slowly standing up, Aragorn pressed his hand to the sword at his waist, ready for battle.

"Oh! Come and see! Here, there is also a charred ...... Orcs?! ”

At this time, the loud-voiced Jin Li suddenly found a thin figure lying crooked by the trunk of the tree, the other party's body curled up and twisted, and it was almost burned to a ball of charcoal.

However, from the outline of the other party's head, he could barely recognize that this was undoubtedly a half-orc!

“……”

Seeing this, Aragorn and Legras gasped after glancing at each other!

Because, they know, to be able to burn a half-orc alive like this, there is nothing but magic! Then, if you think about the half-orc who was smashed in the head before, it is not difficult to deduce: the other party should be a wizard?!

It's just that what they don't know is, who will this wizard be?

"Oh...... Guys, you'd better take a look at this again! ”

At this time, Jin Li, who had gone around to the other side of the tree to check, lost his voice and screamed again.

Because, he made a new discovery: in a large pit like a sunken footprint, there was a flat orc corpse that had been trampled and deformed? The other party's body was deeply sunk into the earth, and his head and torso were trampled apart, and the black blood directly stained a large area of moss......

What kind of existence is this, able to step on such a big pit?

Moreover, just the footprints are so big, so how big should its body be? What kind of existence is there in this ancient Fagon forest?

“……”

"These footprints are strange...... I've never seen a creature with footprints like this......"

After pondering for a while, Aragorn still shook his head, even if he himself was an old ranger who had been a few decades of experience, but he couldn't tell what race or creatures could leave such huge footprints.

"Whatever it is, I thought, we'd better pray right away that we don't touch it?"

Jin Li is the most disgusted to encounter those large-sized monsters! For example, the trolls they encountered in the mines of Moria, and they were almost wiped out! And now the monster that left this footprint seems to be much bigger than those terrifying trolls?

"This forest is ancient...... They are full of memories, and they are full of angry ......"

"The old trees are talking to each other......"

At this point, Legolas began to listen intently, and after a while, he quickly heard something important from the strange sounds of the trees swinging.

"These ancient trees, they're talking...... The white-robed wizard is here?! ”

With that, Legolas quickly gave the two companions a look and told them to start to be on guard.

“……”

When Jin Li and Aragorn heard this, they paused for a moment and quickly became vigilant in place, and then, at this time, they all sensed the footsteps of someone who seemed to be approaching behind them?!

A wizard who can set fire balls to burn orcs, coupled with what Legolas heard just now, so it seems that the conversation between those ancient trees before, the white-robed wizard they are talking about, must be referring to the white-robed wizard Saruman, right?

Therefore, while Jin Li was secretly clenching the small axe at his waist, Aragorn also slowly put his hand at his side, where there was one of his short swords that could be used as a throwing knife.

"Shut his mouth as soon as possible, and don't let him recite the mantra!"

Then Aragorn whispered to his two companions, who were also tense.

Now, he finally knew why there was a charred orc, it turned out that it was the white-robed wizard Saruman who appeared here in the Fagon Forest?

If you think about it, the only one who can appear here at this time is Saruman!

After all, Isengh is next to the Fagon Forest, and isn't it normal for the kind of evil wizard who is old and undead to have strange whereabouts, when he is idle and has nothing to do, to wander around the Fagon Forest?

It's just that Melly and Pippin, the two unlucky hobbits who had just escaped from the hands of the strong orcs, seemed to have been captured by the other party again? Then, the three of them also directly bumped into each other's hands?

"Remember, move fast......"

After saying that, Aragorn took a deep breath, and after realizing that his companion was also ready, he suddenly turned around and shook his hand vigorously, and with a "choking" sound, he didn't need to look at it, and let a short sword shoot directly at the direction of the enemy he perceived!

At the same time, the dwarf Jin Li also roared, and threw the short hand axe he carried directly towards the white-clothed figure with all his might!

At this time, Legolas was not far behind, and one of his sharpest long arrows also made a sharp sound of breaking through the air, and then shot straight towards the opponent's head......

At this time, when they turned around, they could probably see clearly, the figure of the other party under the reflection of light magic was probably the appearance of white clothes and white canes, that must be Saruman, so it was right to cut him!

Boom!

It's a pity that the hand axe thrown out by Jin Li with all his strength seems to have slashed some kind of shield-like existence, and it was shattered and bounced off the spot! And Aragorn's short sword was lightly picked aside by the other party? As for the long arrow that Legolas shot in the direction of the opponent's head, I don't know what magic hit it, and then it shattered directly into a cloud of powder in the air, and there was no longer the slightest threat......

And just as Aragorn was about to rush forward and slash directly with his sword, his weapon suddenly became red and hot, forcing him to abandon his beloved weapon.

It's over, it's over......

Aragorn sighed in his heart, the attacks that the three of them broke out in an instant, and all of them were cracked by the other party one by one, then, he probably knew that in the face of such a powerful existence, the three of them would definitely not have any more chances!

"Hah! It's a pity that this old Gandalf man is obviously injured, and you haven't been able to kill him? It's really useless! ”

Suddenly, the voice of a little girl came from above the heads of the trio.

"Bearded dwarf, your hand axe should be thrown directly at his lower body, because his shield is hemispherical, and it only protects his upper body!"

"And the elf's little white face, you should have shot three times just now, in that case, the old man Gandalf would definitely be hit by two arrows, because his protective arrow is too inferior, and he can only protect one arrow at a time!"

When the three of Aragorn blocked it with their hands because of the dazzling white light on each other's bodies, the little girl's voice, which felt familiar to them, continued to speak to herself.

"Uh...... Is it Lord Anne? ”

Hearing the familiar little girl's voice, Aragorn spoke out in surprise on the spot.

The little witch named Annie was familiar to him! After all, when they were in Rivinedell, that mischievous little guy didn't make a lot of trouble for himself?

"Alright, old man Gandalf, don't pretend, your light is dazzling!"

Anne didn't pay any attention to the three friends below, she didn't answer Aragorn's words, but just snorted disapprovingly at the humanoid bulb-like Gandalf.

"He's Gandalf? Not Saruman? How is this possible?! ”

When they looked up and saw a little girl sitting cross-legged on a tall tree branch, smashing nuts and eating, the three Aragonese looked in amazement at the white-robed figure they had just attacked.

How could it be Gandalf? Gandalf, didn't he fall into the abyss with the Firefiend while he was in the mines of Moriath to cover their retreat?!

"Ahem...... Well, I said Annie, can't you just keep your voice out? I just wanted to surprise them......"

Shaking his head, Gandalf had lost all hope for the little girl's temperament.

He felt that this little girl must be a little girl who was spoiled by her family, and her elfin and eccentric personality was completely different from other little girls in Middle-earth!

"And, Annie, do you really want something to happen to me? And give them three a trick?! ”

Gandalf, who was twice revealed, could only sigh and slowly disperse the light spell on his body, allowing the shocked Aragorn trio to see his appearance clearly.

Originally, he still wanted to slowly play with these three old friends, which should make their expressions a little richer?

"That's for sure, think about it: in case, if you accidentally pretend to be too much and are beaten to death by your own people, wouldn't it be super fun?!"