Chapter 58: Rising City Walls

"System, display the territory page!" Rynar lay in his private tent in Riverguard and opened his system menu.

"Damn Reynard and Caslow! Those idiots actually turned my lord's castle into a warehouse!" 

Rynar glared at the ceiling of his tent. The thought of those two fools moving him, their king, out of his own quarters to store supplies infuriated him.

"Use the Magic Rune Fortress Card!" Rynar silently pulled out a magical card from his system space.

"Please select the territory where the card will be used!" The system's interface displayed Riverguard lying alone on the top row.

"Riverguard..." Rynar's mouth twitched. He couldn't shake the feeling that the system was mocking him by calling him a king, though he didn't have any proof.

"Success! Please wait, the magic is about to take effect!" The system's cold voice echoed in his mind.

At that very moment, the soldiers and workers laboring in Riverguard suddenly noticed white light waves emanating from beneath their feet, rippling through the city walls. A powerful magical aura surged from within.

"Damn it! Forbidden magic! Get down!" Radir, who had been cheerfully creating rune-enchanted stone bricks, suddenly panicked. 

What was going on? How could this place attract a sage's forbidden curse?

"Evacuate the city! Run! Get as far as you can!" Radir cried out in desperation. 

In a flash of magic, he appeared in Rynar's tent, grabbed him, and without explanation, teleported them both away from Riverguard.

"R—adir—! Wha—t's happening?" Rynar's voice was distorted by the wind blowing into his mouth as Radir flew at high speed.

…

"Huh? Are the walls getting taller?" Marcus scratched his head in confusion.

The soldiers and citizens working in the city stood in awe as the city walls continued to grow, inching higher and higher, the intricate rune designs now far more exquisite than Radir's own rune-enchanted bricks.

"What… what's going on?"

"The walls are rising!"

"My god, they must be at least 10 meters tall now!"

"These walls feel a lot safer than the old ones!"

Everyone marveled at the miraculous transformation. With the walls now standing 10 meters tall, they could effectively defend against most attacks. 

Now, all they needed were enough troops to hold the city.

…

A few minutes later, Radir returned, his face dark as he dropped Rynar off and dashed away to his quarters, utterly embarrassed. 

A proud battle mage, fleeing in front of everyone, dragging his own king with him? That was sure to leave a permanent scar on Radir's pride.

"Your Majesty, could you at least warn me next time you use a magic scroll? I… sigh!" Radir muttered to himself inside his quarters, berating his own hasty reaction.

Rynar, on the other hand, had no intention of scolding Radir. After all, Radir had been looking out for him. 

If any city suddenly experienced the power of a forbidden-level spell, its guard mage would naturally spring into action to protect important figures. 

That said, if your city had a sage-level mage, forget everything I just said.

"Solid!" Rynar tested the wall by striking it several times with his Dragon Slayer sword, satisfied when he found only a few shallow white marks left behind. 

He smiled and ran his hand over the surface.

"Of course! A wall created by forbidden magic is bound to be incredibly strong. I never imagined the empire still had magic scrolls like this..." 

Radir sighed wistfully, his longing for the once-glorious Zaltarion Empire evident in his voice.

"Don't worry, I will restore the glory of Zaltarion!" Rynar clenched his fists as he gazed southward.

"What on earth happened here? Do you have an earth sage in your ranks?" A shadow loomed over the city as Elandor, the Star Dragon Knight, descended from the sky.

"I come on behalf of the king to check on you, Lord Rynar." Elandor gracefully dismounted from his dragon and greeted Rynar with the elegant bow of an elven noble.

"Please extend my thanks to Elenthor for their concern. Where is everyone else?" Rynar asked curiously. By now, Aranthor and Elenthor should have rushed over to see what was happening.

"Both kings have gone scouting in the Dark Forest. Just now, our cavalry was once again ambushed by orcs," Elandor replied, his expression grim.

"What a nuisance!" Rynar sighed deeply. Among the three kings, Aranthor had the weakest foundation. 

The Star Elves boasted a legacy of over 3,000 years, while Rynar was a walking cheat. 

Aranthor, however, had to make the most of the few cards he had, where one wrong move could spell the end for his kingdom. He didn't have a system to rely on.

"How badly did Aranthor suffer?" Rynar asked, concerned.

"Well, the knights are fine, but we lost a dozen ordinary cavalrymen." Elandor thought for a moment before answering.

"Ugh! Aranthor must be devastated! He only has 200 cavalrymen, and now he's lost a twentieth of them!" Rynar grumbled internally, though he had to admit that Azog's strategy was effective. 

In winter, large-scale attacks were impossible, so this slow-bleeding tactic was brilliant. 

When it came to war of attrition, Rynar and his allies might as well start over. This hit right at their weak spot.

"I wonder how the north is faring…" Rynar looked worriedly toward the Lonely Mountain.

"I'm more concerned about the Woodland Elves…" Elandor trailed off, the deep connection between the two struggling elven clans clear in his tone.

"No, no, I never worry about Thranduil. It's Erebor I'm worried about!" Rynar said gravely.

"The orcs wouldn't be foolish enough to fight in the forest against the rangers! Their numerical advantage works best on open plains and in cities!" Rynar spoke firmly.

"If the orcs attack Erebor and Thranduil's army can't make it in time, then no matter how well we defend the south, it won't matter!" Rynar glanced at Elandor, speaking flatly.

"But you know the relationship between the Woodland Elves and the Dwarves…" Elandor said, gesturing with his hands.

"Which is exactly what makes it so troublesome," Rynar sighed.

"Never mind, Your Majesty. We might not even be able to handle the southern front, let alone the north…" Reynard said casually as he climbed the walls to join Rynar.

"That's right. The reinforcements from Mordor have us completely overwhelmed," Elandor stared in the direction of Mordor with such intensity that, if looks could kill, Mordor would have been swallowed by the earth.

"We simply don't have enough troops!" Rynar muttered, watching the scattered soldiers within the city.

"There are still many of our people wandering… if only a roving army could come to our aid!" Caslow had already started dreaming with Reynard, even though the sun was still high in the sky.

Rynar cast a sidelong glance at Reynard. 

These soldiers, claiming to return as part of a wandering army, were actually given by his system! They had nothing to do with this Middle-earth nonsense!

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