"Slurp!" Rynar couldn't help but swallow hard; this was a windfall for him. One hundred Battanian archers combined with a hundred heavy cavalry meant that Rynar was about to soar.
As long as the Rapid Infantry didn't suffer catastrophic losses, he wouldn't have to worry much about his own.
"Eliar?" Rynar curiously began to inspect the legendary artifact shield he had retrieved from the system space.
The shield was one meter long and half a meter wide, a very standard kite-shaped cross shield.
It was made entirely of holy dragonblood steel, and the golden surface was engraved with sacred magical patterns. Rynar instantly recognized the attributes of this shield.
"Could this really be a holy knight's equipment?" Rynar pondered.
He noticed that most artifact equipment for knights was either tailored for holy knights or black knights; there were very few that ordinary knights could fully activate.
"Fortunately, I am a holy knight; I can still use this shield. Otherwise, it would have gone to Reno." Rynar thought with satisfaction.
As his mental energy entered the shield, Rynar skillfully established a contract, and at the same time, the information about Eliar flooded into his mind.
To his astonishment, this shield was actually crafted by Durin! Overjoyed, he examined the shield's capabilities.
This shield came with three skills, each one a top-tier technique!
First Skill: Immortal Eliar! Can be released once a day.
Units under the shield bearer's command will become ethereal for five seconds, during which they take no damage, cannot be controlled, and cannot attack!
Second Skill: Spirit of Fearlessness!
Can be released once a day. Friendly units within a 500-meter radius of the shield bearer will gain the protection of the Spirit of Fearlessness, preventing them from suffering negative status effects for ten minutes!
Third Skill: A Thousand Soldiers in One! Activates the soul of Eliar, summoning battle energy projections to fight. Each projection has one-thousandth of the main body's combat power.
The number of summoned projections depends on the injected battle energy, with a maximum of one thousand! (Exclusive to the holy knight profession!)
"Awesome!" Rynar could only exclaim. The first skill directly gave his army the confidence to withstand a burst-type forbidden spell.
The second skill effectively prevented the enemy from applying negative status effects to his side, meaning Rynar's army would not lose morale during this period! Furthermore, they could ignore negative states!
The third skill was a monster of a technique; if Rynar himself were strong enough, he could be an entire army.
However, this skill could be used endlessly, but the consumption of battle energy was a significant issue; after all, this technique consumed a lot of energy.
Considering Rynar's current total of battle energy, maintaining a hundred projections would require several bottles of blue potion.
"Your Majesty…" Lance approached with a grim expression.
"What's wrong…" Rynar immediately had a bad feeling.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I've failed your commission… The Rapid Infantryn has suffered severe losses…" Lance said shamefully.
"Give me the details!" Rynar instantly put away his smile. He had an inkling of the situation and just hoped they wouldn't end up with more losses than gains.
"Five hundred sixty-three sacrificed… Seven hundred ninety-six lightly and seriously wounded.
The good news is that these soldiers can return to the battlefield under the treatment of Priest Aivy….." Lance sighed, the pain in his eyes unmistakable.
"How could this happen…" Rynar's heart sank.
Although he knew the Rapid Infantry would sustain some casualties when facing the half-beast army, he had never anticipated such heavy losses. This was not just an insufficient return; it was a significant injury!
"Sigh…" Rynar let out a long sigh. Well, at least River Running was saved; this had met his expected outcome.
Though the losses among the infantry made him feel agonized, he understood that such sacrifices were necessary on the road to growth.
"Take care of the wounded; ensure they don't die from lack of timely treatment. Also, organize personnel to recover the bodies of our soldiers."
After instructing, Rynar rushed towards the Rapid Infantry's encampment. As a holy knight, he could also act as a priest.
"Reno! Come help the wounded!" Even as Rynar rode away, his voice lingered in the air.
---
"Wha-what? All the sentinels at our outpost have gone missing?" Thranduil listened to the report from the elven assassin sent by the prince.
After losing contact with the outpost for a long time, even the slow-reacting elves realized something was wrong. Sure enough, the scouts sent to investigate discovered abnormalities.
"Damn it! This is bad! Assemble the army! We're heading to the Lonely Mountain!
No, first send the Moondeer cavalry to scout for information, and our main force will follow!" Thranduil's expression changed as he thought of something.
---
"Thank you for your assistance; you have brought us the dawn of victory at the last moment!" Elenthor expressed her deepest respect to Rynar with the highest level of courtesy.
"Thank you for coming to our aid when we needed it the most. I'm very sorry for the sacrifices of your soldiers…" The Aranthor approached, struggling with fatigue.
"I only honored the covenant; it's what I should do. But Elandor—if it weren't for him and the forbidden spell cast by his dragon, even if we had come, we wouldn't have been able to do anything." Rynar waved his hand.
Those familiar with the situation knew that if they had faced the fully prepared half-beast army, Rynar would have had to consider how to survive the encounter.
"By the dragon god!" A knight nearby exclaimed in admiration. It wasn't until the war ended and everyone had some free time that they realized how much devastation the falling star had caused!
A massive crater, nearly 5 kilometers in diameter and over a hundred meters deep, appeared next to Loshanier City.
The edge of the meteorite crater was less than a hundred meters from the city, and the city wall nearest to the crater had melted away by more than half.
The water from the city's moat was seeping into the crater through the cracks in the ground, and thus, in the future, the landmark of Loshanier City, Dragon Star Lake, would be born out of this confusion!
---
"Thranduil! You owe me an explanation!" Elenthor tightly gripped the hilt of her sword, glaring at the elven king before her.
The two elven kings stood facing each other, their powerful royal auras clashing. Rynar watched in amazement, realizing that such a presence could truly be lethal to the enemy.
"Forest King, I need an explanation too!" Rynar stepped forward.
The allied elves had signed a treaty; even though the Aquivia Kingdom hadn't signed, the Zaltarion Kingdom had! Now Thranduil was allowing the half-beast army to sweep in without any resistance.
This was not merely breaking a treaty; it was outright betrayal.
"I'm sorry… This was an accident." Thranduil, proud as he was, ultimately took a step back, knowing he was at fault.
After all, the half-beast army's direct entry through his territory was a significant oversight.
Had it not been for the coalition's hidden cards, Loshanier City and River Running would have been overrun.
However, the coalition had also suffered heavy losses; Elandor and his dragon had been unable to participate in the subsequent battles, and the Rapid Infantry, consisting of 1,500 Rapid Infantry, could only muster six hundred to form two battle formations.
Nonetheless, Rynar had summoned a hundred heavy cavalry and two hundred Battanian archers, alongside the original Holy Radiance Knights, giving him a cavalry force of up to 400!
"Because of your accident, we suffered heavy losses! Erebor is still under siege!" Rynar retorted angrily.
"This battle, our forces will take the lead in the fight!" Thranduil expressed his regret.
"Let's hope this next battle goes smoothly!" Elenthor said, feeling a headache.
Although Bolg and the remaining half-beasts were not a significant threat, if they were allowed to escape, it would pose future dangers.
Thus, it was best to eradicate them now and not give the half-beasts a chance to regroup.
"Indeed, it's time to deal with the northern half-beasts."
Rynar nodded in agreement. He was soon going to enter a long period of farming, and he didn't want the half-beasts keeping an eye on him day in and day out.
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