Bear School Astartes

Chapter 1131: Chapter 1111: War Breaks Out!

"We don’t know how those beastmen are marching."

Thranduil said softly on his stag.

"My scouts have run within a radius of twenty miles, yet they’ve seen nothing."

"So there’s not a single beastman within twenty miles? The beastmen army is non-existent?"

Dane shouted angrily with his loud voice, causing Gandalf to constantly cover his forehead.

"Dane... Dane!"

The first call from the Grey-robed Wizard was normal in volume, but the second was a direct shout. This finally directed the attention of the Ironfoot Army’s leader onto him.

"We discussed this last night! The beastmen must have already moved, I saw it with my own eyes, I said it myself, this concerns my credibility!"

Gandalf pushed the brim of his pointed hat up with his staff, directly staring at Dane.

"And the Wizard’s credibility."

The dwarf pursed his lips but no longer questioned the fundamental issue of ’whether the beastmen army exists’.

"Then the situation is slightly clearer."

Lann gently tugged the Qilin’s mane, eyes slightly squinting as he scanned the surroundings of the plains in front of the Lonely Mountain.

The grey, yellowish hilly terrain was empty, only stubborn wild grasses swaying with the wind.

The clouds above cast shadows but quickly drifted away.

Silent, lifeless, not even a living creature.

"The beastmen have a marching method we haven’t noticed. It doesn’t matter what the method is, as long as we have that concept."

On a tactical level, one doesn’t need to know every detail about the enemy, just to understand the key nodes of one line of thought.

Lann went straight to the point, directly peeling away the entangled issue, delving into the core.

"Logically, they should have arrived today in any case. But we still haven’t discovered anything... hmm."

Lann, surveying around the Lonely Mountain, faced the others again, touching his chin as he spoke.

"I have a bit of an idea."

The elves, dwarves, and humans glanced at each other, then hesitantly nodded.

-----------------

"What’s going on?!"

River Valley City, the militia on the city walls whispered in surprise.

At the same time, several people gathered together, pointing at the distant plains.

Among the people and horses on both sides in front of the Lonely Mountain Kingdom’s gates, three people from each side were gathered in discussion.

This consultation had started in the morning and had lasted for two hours.

Almost everyone felt that despite being difficult, the discussion somehow continued.

The dwarves on the hilly slopes, along with the humans and elves in River Valley City, watched the quiet, barren plains and the six gathered in the middle.

But after two hours, they suddenly realized the six in conversation seemed to have increasing disagreements, and their emotions were becoming more and more heated.

Thranduil’s stag lowered its head threateningly, directly facing Ironfoot Dane.

Dane’s wild boar similarly defiantly raised its snout, baring two tusks.

Bard, also on horseback, was endlessly arguing with Gandalf. The Grey-robed Wizard’s staff waved passionately, as if ready to smash something in the next moment.

The attitude of the chiefs in negotiations determined the attitude of the armies.

As Thranduil and Ironfoot Dane reached their limits of patience, both sitting on their stag and wild boar respectively waved their hands.

The elite noncommissioned officers in the armies of dwarves and elves immediately received the signal.

"Tuu~~~"

The dwarves’ horn sounded heavy and majestic, the elves’ horn was long and lingering.

The sound of thousands of armor clashes became a symphony, as these warriors began to string their bows, pack their arrows, gear up, and spontaneously form into ranks.

The sound of armor clashing mixed with orderly footsteps, as elves assembled from the dilapidated streets and proceeded to exit River Valley City’s gates, appearing as a full military deployment.

Humans helplessly and fearfully watched the elves’ formation leaving the city.

"Is there going to be a war? Is this... really going to happen?"

People whispered among themselves.

Originally, the elves had lived with humans here for a few days, and although exchanges were limited, they were somewhat familiar.

But as the military formation was displayed, the familiarity accumulated over the past days instantly melted away like mist under the sun.

Sternness, majesty, violence... facing an organized military formation versus facing individuals is a completely different feeling.

Individual personalities and traits, when integrated into the machine of violence, dissolve into invisibility, leaving only ’destruction’ as the ultimate purpose.

The dwarves on the mountain opposite felt the same.

Heavy iron clumps rolled out with goat-pulled chariots, standing on the hilltop.

With just one command, these heavy chariots would speed up with downhill gravity and charge into the enemy formation like chisels.

The atmosphere among the six in the middle of the barren plains became increasingly sharp.

Elves and dwarves refused to budge an inch, Thranduil even had his sword drawn in hand.

Meanwhile, Lann and Balin each raced towards River Valley City and the hilly directions, appearing ready to take over command authority.

"Sir, what’s going on?"

The tall steed had just rushed into the city gates when Lann was approached by humans with questioning voices.

The humans nervously watched the elves marching neatly, as they exited the city.

"Weren’t we given weapons to defend against the Beastmen? Now the Dwarves have changed their minds?"

Rumors quickly spread among the humans, who in their panic preferred to speculate, turning these speculations into rumors, and then hearing them as ’facts’ by other equally panicked individuals.

"It must be the Dwarves changing their minds, didn’t you see Bard arguing with the other side? Hurry, let’s grab some weapons too!"

The crowd was noisy, but Lann’s expression remained calm.

The Demon Hunters ran past them, simply instructing them not to leave the city, but rather to set up defenses and remain vigilant on the city walls.

This prompted not only the elves to begin their work but also the humans to busily get to work.

Yet Bain, who carried a Longsword, did not act like the rest of the Long Lake Town citizens, who blindly followed the orders to defend the city walls without thinking.

Instead, he struggled to push his way forward through the crowd, squeezing towards Lann.

He shouted as he pushed forward.

"Wait! Wait! What’s happening now? The Dwarves and Elves want to go to war, but what about the Beastmen? Aren’t they the biggest threat?"

"We need to stop them!"

"Bain?" Lann raised an eyebrow, his strong arm reaching down into the crowd to pick up Bard’s eldest son and place him beside him.

"Good timing, I also have a task for you. Take your sword and gather your sisters, and all the elderly, women, and children in the town into the underground warehouse in the city, understand?"

"Don’t just stand there in a daze, young man. The war is starting, and we need to ensure their safety and maintain order in the city."

Bain still looked confused.

He looked at the Demon Hunter, who just earlier had been trying his best to mediate and calm the tensions between the Elves and Dwarves.

All to ensure calm discussions instead of immediately resorting to violence.

But now, he seemed completely unconcerned about the two armies ready to clash.

"But, but..."

Bain still had a bewildered expression.

"There’s no ’but’ about it."

Lann first pulled Bain’s sword to his chest, then pressed it into his arms, using the movement to bring him back to his senses.

"Time is of the essence, hurry up and go! Protect them, understand?"

The elves’ formations were orderly, with everyone light as a swallow and perfectly coordinated.

They quickly crossed several hundred meters across the wilderness, forming a line behind Thranduil.

The elves’ tightly-knit and neat battle formation provided Thranduil with unparalleled support, but at the same time, it increased the tension in the situation.

There was nothing more left to say.

Dane raised his head-sized hammer and pointed it towards Thranduil, then rode his boar down towards his soldiers at the hillside below.

Once the commanders from both sides were in position, the war began immediately!

The elves drew arrows from their quivers as precisely as if they were carved from the same mold, then notched them onto their bowstrings.

Atop the hill, the Dwarves were shouting, and iron war chariots alongside heavily armored goats made a ’rumbling’ sound as they charged down with the slope’s momentum!

The Goat Cavalry, accelerating and charging from the heights, resembled a black iron torrent rushing towards the golden elf formation below!

"They’re going to war!"

On Crow Ridge, among the mountainous hills, Azog’s mouth twisted into a sharp, bloody smile.

Usually unarmored, he exposed his pale skin and the scars crisscrossing his body and face.

But now, he donned thick armor.

An ominous dual-pronged blade was stuck in his left elbow, replacing his left hand, suddenly raised high.

"Raise the flags!"

He shouted the command excitedly.

The Beastmen behind him immediately squatted down, raising two strange flags originally lying on the ground.

"Perfect timing! Perfect timing!"

Azog’s left arm waved excitedly, even pacing back and forth on the edge of Crow Ridge’s cliff.

"War! Slaughter! Let them see what a massacre truly is! My army! Kill them! Let the filthy bloodline of the Durin Race end here!"

His mangled hand finally pointed forward.

"Kill them all!"

A deep, evil horn echoed through the hills and mountains as those two raised flags’ mechanisms began folding and unfolding the brightly colored banners in rhythmic movements.

The land began to tremble, and on the border of the wilderness hills, fine gravel started dancing on the ground as if performing.

Rocks rolled down the mountainside, kicking up dust and smoke, enough to create a haze that covered half the hillside.

Only now did the dramatic and noticeable disturbances reach the eyes of the Dwarves and Elves in the center of the wilderness.

This was just the prelude.

A ’boom!’ erupted!

At the meeting slope between the hills and plains, earth and stone burst forth, accompanied by deep layers of black sand.