Chapter 34: Rising Tides

"Your Majesty…" A group of shooters returned, their faces covered in dirt and despair.

Their noisy voices successfully caught Rynar's attention. Curious, he poked his head out of the blacksmith shop and was instantly stunned by the sight of the Battanian archers. 

Once clad in fine chainmail, now some of them had tattered armor, while others sported scrapes on their arms. A few looked utterly drenched, like drowned rats.

"What happened?" Rynar squinted, worried they had encountered an orc attack.

"My lord, an enormous octopus monster has appeared in the River Running! It looks like it's at least a high-level beast!" 

One of the archers collected his thoughts and explained the situation to Rynar.

It turned out that the archers had set out in boats to fish. Even in winter, the River Running was still teeming with resources. 

They had already caught several large baskets of fish. Just as they were preparing to haul in the nets once more, several massive tentacles suddenly emerged from the water, swiftly tearing apart their nets. 

Next, a large mouth filled with sharp teeth appeared, devouring the fish trapped in the nets. 

As the archers reacted, they frantically shot arrows at the octopus-like creature, but instead, they only provoked its fury. 

The enormous tentacles flailed wildly, smashing five nearby Galleons and sending everyone into chaos. 

Fortunately, the Battanian archers possessed remarkable agility and managed to evade the thrashing tentacles, although they couldn't avoid falling into the water. 

Thanks to the remaining five Galleons that came to the rescue, they suffered no fatalities, but many were injured.

Faced with a beast that ordinary arrows could not kill, the Battanian archers could only retreat while shooting. 

Ultimately, they hastily beached their boats inland, successfully halting the creature's assault.

"What the hell? Even beasts like this dare to cause trouble?" Rynar was furious. 

The winter-stricken Riverguard relied on the river's bounty to survive. 

Rynar was already living on stale bread with roasted fish or fish soup. Without these aquatic resources, how would they survive?

"Order of Dawn Knights, stay behind! Reynard, you're responsible for protecting Riverguard. 

Zaltarion City Guards and Battanian archers, follow me! Priests Aivy and Radir, I'll need your assistance." 

Rynar assigned tasks, lamenting that Caslow was absent—his dragon would have been a powerful asset.

"Let's go! It's time to meet it!" Rynar gritted his teeth.

…

Watching the River Running calm down, Rynar turned to Radir. "Radir, I'm counting on you!"

"It's my duty, Your Majesty," Radir replied, bowing. In the next moment, a tremendous mental force emanated from the staff in his hand. 

Judging by the amplification effect the staff had on Radir, it must not be an ordinary item. The mental energy, under Radir's control, radiated outward, exploring both sides of the river…

"I found it!" Radir's eyes suddenly opened wide.

"Mind Burst!" Radir unleashed a high-level mental magic. 

For an earth-type battle mage to utilize high-cost mental spells was no problem at all; after all, a spellcaster's magic was constructed from mental and magical energy. 

The higher the level of the caster, the more powerful their mental strength would be compared to their magical power.

"Boom!" A muffled sound echoed from below the water, and a giant white water sphere burst to the surface. A beast with dozens of tentacles was washed up by the current.

"Holy crap? A Watcher in the Water?" Rynar stared at the familiar sight of the barbed tentacles and the hideous appearance. 

Wasn't this the same type as the Watcher in the Lake at the entrance of Moria? 

Rynar was taken aback but soon understood; That lake was a secluded body of water connected to the outside by only one river. 

If such an ancient creature could enter that cramped space, why wouldn't it be able to navigate the wide River Running?

"Fire!" Rynar commanded his soldiers to attack. 

Compared to the Order of Dawn Knights' horrendous archery, the hand crossbows of the Zaltarion City Guards were far more accurate. 

While they couldn't hit every target, they could certainly achieve a high probability of hits. As for the Battanian archers, their skills were exceptional!

"Just as I thought!" Rynar gazed solemnly at the enraged Watcher in the Water, thrashing about in pain. 

Its thick skin, while not as tough as dragon hide, still rendered Rynar's remaining ordinary arrows ineffective at inflicting fatal damage.

"Light Orb!" Aivy conjured a glowing orb and hurled it at the creature. 

To her surprise, the Watcher in the Water reacted violently, the light scorching its skin and leaving it writhing in agony. 

"It's a creature of the dark faction! It fears light, fire, and holy attacks!" Radir quickly assessed the situation. 

Fighting in the water made it difficult for the earth-type Radir to perform; aside from using his mental powers for attack, he could only cast a few long-range spells like Rockfall. 

He was furious, feeling outdone by the water beast; he had the power of a battle mage, but it was entirely unutilized in this situation, making him feel less effective than a third-tier priest!

"Holy Blade Judgement!" Rynar raised his Dragon Slayer sword and plunged it into the ground. 

A massive golden hexagram appeared around the sword, while an identical hexagram formed above the Watcher in the Water's head. 

The next second, a sword of divine power constructed from the hexagram shot down toward the Watcher.

"Eek~" The piercing sound tortured everyone's eardrums as a one-meter-deep gash was left on the Watcher's head, dark blood gushing from the wound.

"Thank you, Radir!" Rynar couldn't help but give Radir a thumbs-up. 

Although Radir had lost his powerful earth magic output, he still used his immense mental force to restrict the Watcher's movements, preventing it from retreating into the water and forcing it to endure a strike from Rynar's Holy Blade Judgement. 

Despite Rynar's earlier powerful display, it had significant flaws. 

First, he couldn't use it while moving like Reynard could, and it had a considerable casting time, which was a critical liability on the battlefield. 

This showed that Rynar relied too heavily on his subordinates, never developing his own abilities properly. 

Despite being a knight commander now, he struggled even against a seasoned knight. 

No wonder Caslow had stopped Rynar from charging to the Ravenhill to confront Azog; in this world, Azog's weakest strength was likely that of a fifth-tier profession, possibly even sixth-tier conqueror, hero, or warrior.

Even Thorin, that berserker, would likely only manage a few simple attacks without the support of the Seven Dwarven Rings. As for the movies' portrayals of revenge… don't dream about it.

"Holy Blade Judgement!" Once the skill was off cooldown, Rynar unleashed the paladin's ultimate move again.

…

"Should be dead this time…" After unleashing the 47th Holy Blade Judgement, Rynar leaned on his waist and sighed.

"…" Aivy looked at the nearly pierced Watcher in the Water and then back at Rynar, who was completely drained of energy… a few black lines appeared above her head.

"Your Majesty, that's enough! Enough! This guy has already been pierced through by you…" 

Seeing the tragic sight of the Watcher, Radir quickly stopped Rynar, who was still trying to force out more skills. 

Earlier, Radir had managed to control the struggling Watcher, but now it floated lifelessly in the water, allowing Rynar to unleash his attack freely…

"Alright, let's get back to fishing… Just pull that thing up and mine its magic crystal to the side." 

Rynar looked at the Watcher's corpse, recalling its dark blood, which made him abandon the thought of taking it back to eat.

"Such a shame about my Galleons…" Rynar lamented the loss of the five boats, realizing that their daily fish catch would be significantly reduced…

"It looks like we'll have to send the archers out with the city guards for fishing in the future. I never considered the threat of water monsters… 

This isn't Tolkien's Middle-earth!" Rynar reflected, nearly forgetting that this world was filled with numerous beasts.

"I need to go back and tinker with my blacksmith shop…" Rynar was now solely focused on the blacksmith shop, knowing that his subordinates' gear needed urgent repairs.

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