Bear School Astartes

At that moment, the crisp clatter of hooves striking the stone bridge echoed across the chaotic battlefield.

It was a white horse, with two elves riding atop.

”Mistlandir!”

The elf holding the reins shouted from the horse’s back.

”Legolas! Legolas Greenleaf!”

Gandalf’s eyes lit up, drawing closer to them.

The two elves, a man and a woman, moved with agility, their bodies evidently adjusted to be incredibly light.

And the white horse appeared quite nimble under such circumstances.

The battle-trained horse from the Woodland Kingdom was unfazed by the noisy and bloody battlefield, skillfully stepping over fallen corpses, clashing enemies, and flying arrows, eventually arriving at the bridge before River Valley City.

Behind Legolas, Tauriel’s two short blades were stained with blood, showing they had fought their way there.

The situation was urgent, and Legolas, without any additional pleasantries, went straight to the point from the horse’s back.

”There is another Beastman army, Mistlandir! It will arrive soon! Setting out from Gondarba!”

Legolas leaned down from the horse’s back, shouting to the old wizard, while Tauriel had already elegantly leaped off, bow drawn, starting to clear the surrounding Beastmen.

”It’s Azog’s son, Borg! We chased him to Gondarba. At first, he only sent a small army, but later Azog sent an order officer, and now he’s almost mobilized the entire army from Gondarba!”

”So there are still fresh reinforcements for the Beastmen?”

Lann interjected from the side, and Legolas nodded solemnly.

”Then there’s no time to wait! Let’s go to Crow Ridge now!”

The Demon Hunter narrowed his eyes slightly, speaking decisively.

”To Crow Ridge?”

Legolas had just entered the battlefield not long ago and had only just heard of this assassination plan, and he looked somewhat surprised at the distant hills where the towers emitted a hazy glow due to the sunlight and morning mist.

”Borg’s army will charge straight from Gondarba! The direction they’ll first reach is Crow Ridge!”

”Is there any time to hesitate now?” Lann walked past his white horse, staring in the same direction.

The Elf Prince nodded silently.

Indeed, there’s no time left.

The Demon Hunter sheathed his powerful yet conspicuous greatsword, starting to charge towards the direction of the tower group on the hills!

The Elf Prince gave a simple nod to Gandalf and then turned his horse around.

”Tauriel! Let’s go together, to assist him!”

The female elf smoothly used her short blade to slash open a Beastman’s throat, and while elegantly flipping away, she extracted all the arrows from his quiver, stuffing them into her own, and then jumped onto the white horse.

”Let’s go!”

Tauriel patted Legolas on the shoulder, and the white horse galloped into action on the battlefield once more.

”Good luck.” Gandalf whispered a blessing as he watched the elves and the Demon Hunter departing in the distance.

He then shielded the Hobbits behind him: ”Bilbo, go into the city too! Hide and protect yourself!”

The Hobbit nodded nervously, swallowing hard, and jogged towards the rear.

In such a chaotic battlefield, a weak Hobbit can only survive by hiding.

Thus, Bilbo resorted to his ’little trick’... slipping his fingers into a smooth ring in his pocket.

Suddenly, a living person vanished without a trace.

The Hobbit entered the Ethereal realm, seeing the projections of the Beastmen and Dwarves, as well as the glowing outlines of the elves.

Gandalf stood on the mid-section of the city gate bridge, with a small group of Beastmen invading the city behind him, and elves engaged in battle. Ahead loomed a large army of Beastmen gradually approaching amid the chaos.

The old wizard’s hair and beard seemed to grow longer, with no visible change outside — his messy beard, filthy grey robes, and raggedly trimmed dirt-stained nails...

Yet, he suddenly exuded immense authority.

With the aid of the magical ring entering the Ethereal realm, avoiding the battling elves and Beastmen, and fleeing into the city, Bilbo could sense a bright light catching his attention behind him, though not very strong.

The Hobbit dared not look back, only kept his head down and ran forward.

Soon, Gandalf’s incredibly authoritative voice resounded.

”Your! shall not! pass!”

The light in the Ethereal realm vanished following the words, but in the material world, a violent collapse followed closely.

That was the stone bridge at River Valley City’s gate, as the real large Beastman army was about to advance there — the bridge that had endured countless ages and remained intact during the day Smaug descended.

Yet, from just a few centimeters from Gandalf’s toes, at the spot where he raised his magic staff and forcefully plunged it down again, it shattered dramatically!

And those charging towards Crow Ridge started climbing upward.

Smaug’s Wasteland was tainted yellow by the dragon’s evil aura, but upon reaching the hill area, the ground was mostly black and grey due to the loose rocks and mountain terrain.

The rocks piled up ruggedly, combined with the past construction by River Valley City, a group of towers was erected amidst the hills.

However, after years of neglect and the sudden dragon attack, most of the towers here collapsed and crumbled.

The already perilous terrain was further blocked and shattered by large chunks of building debris, making climbing even more challenging.