Chapter 87 War (75k)
Chapter 87 War (7.5k)
Long Lake Town.
The people are gone.
The mayor climbed up from the pile of debris, sneezed, and shivered violently.
It's so cold.
"Everyone has left, mayor, let's go soon."
A familiar voice came from the side.
Alfred, who was sitting on the steps on the side, gave advice to the mayor in a calm tone, contrary to his arrogant attitude towards the townspeople.
He looked mature.
Only in front of the mayor could the deputy feel a little superior, whether in terms of IQ or status.
This faint sense of superiority and the feeling of being behind the scenes were intoxicating.
If it was in front of Bud, he could only rely on tricks and power to shout at people.
The difference was the mentality of the two people.
The same thing was that one of them had a swollen eye, and the other one also had a swollen eye.
"Go? Where to go?"
"Of course to the Lonely Mountain, there is enough space there, and there are weapons to protect people's safety."
"Only a ghost would go to a place full of orcs!"
The mayor stood up and cursed, went back to the house, and soon came out dragging a lot of valuable treasures.
"My lord, where are you going?"
"Anywhere is better than here."
Swish.
The treasure was piled on the boat, and the mayor paddled to the northwest.
But there was a wasteland over there...
Alfred looked at the mayor's back, opened his mouth, and finally said nothing.
In the end, he also took part of the treasure and went to the direction of the Lonely Mountain.
The ruins of the Dale City.
The elf army from the woodland surrounded the city wall. Thranduil rode on an elk and looked at the brand new high wall in front of him with some confusion.
"Is the city lord here?"
A head popped out from the high wall.
"Of course I am."
"Levi?"
Thranduil's brows opened up, a little surprised.
Boom--
The city gate rose.
"Don't stand outside, come in and talk!"
"I saw you a long time ago, I've been waiting for a long time."
"By the way, there are some iron golems I created here, they are friendly, don't be afraid."
Thranduil nodded, waved his hand behind him without any worries, signaling the soldiers to enter the city.
The uniform footsteps sounded, and when there were iron golems passing by, they bypassed them and moved forward in a diversion. There was no stagnation throughout the whole process, which was extremely smooth, and Levi could not help but say that it was pleasing to the eyes.
Soon, this army was all over the streets and alleys, standing there in an orderly manner.
"Distribute supplies."
A group of elves took action and distributed the food and vegetables brought from the forest to the people of Changhu Town.
While the townspeople cheered, Thranduil had already placed his mount and met with Levi and Bard on the city wall.
Bard looked at the scene under the wall and said to Thranduil at the first time:
"Thank you for your generosity, I really don't know how to thank you."
In fact, thanks to the pumpkin field planted by Levi and the food brought by everyone from home, the food is completely sufficient, but it is a bit monotonous.
Now Thranduil has brought a lot of different supplies, and there is even a lot of wine in it, which just makes up for the needs in other aspects, and the happiness of the townspeople has increased visibly.
Now it is gradually entering winter, the weather is cold, and we need something to warm our bodies.
"No need to express your gratitude."
Thranduil didn't take this matter to heart. He said:
"I didn't come here specifically for you. I came to take back what belongs to me."
The old tsundere.
Levi looked at the king with a smile.
This group of elves always likes to talk about something else to show that what they do is just a matter of convenience, so that the other party doesn't have to think too much.
Bard nodded heavily. He didn't know what tsundere was. He only knew that these supplies were real help.
"Come to think of it, I've never heard of the wall of Riverdale being rebuilt. Did something happen here that I don't know about?"
"It doesn't look like something that can be built in a few days, and..."
Thranduil drew out his sword and knocked on the wall under his feet.
"It doesn't even look like it was built bit by bit, but it looks like someone used powerful magic to pull the stones directly out of the ground to form a natural stone wall."
Thranduil stopped talking.
There are beings who can do this, and there are many, but it stands to reason that such a powerful force is forbidden to appear in Middle-earth.
"Of course it's me."
Levi put down two blocks on the spot and demonstrated them to Thranduil.
"Look, it's that simple."
"So that's it, this is the magical 'construction magic' in the rumors."
Thranduil reluctantly accepted this.
"It seems that our allies are unexpectedly powerful."
"I heard that Gandalf is here too."
"Him."
Levi pointed in the direction of the Lonely Mountain.
"He's talking to Thorin, and it'll probably take a while for him to come back."
"Then I'll wait for him to come back."
After a few words, Thranduil went down to command the setting up of the tents and arrange various matters.
Bard also followed to organize the people of Long Lake Town.
Whoosh——
Levi jumped down from the city wall, and rose up again in an instant, flying towards the Lonely Mountain.
"Bilbo, take this."
In Erebor's treasury, Thorin took out a piece of mithril chain mail and put it on for Bilbo himself.
"No sword can penetrate this mithril armor. It is not even worse than Levi's armor."
"Maybe you'll be able to use it."
"But I'm not a warrior, just a hobbit."
Bilbo was a little uneasy.
"This is a gift, a symbol of our friendship."
Even though he was cursed by the dragon, mired in greed, and shouted every day, 'I will not drop a coin,' Thorin still gave away this piece of chain mail that could buy an entire Shire.
"Thorin."
At this time, an old man appeared at an inappropriate time and began to greet Thorin from afar.
"Did you call for reinforcements?"
Old Gandalf walked over with vigorous steps, patted Bilbo on the shoulder, and looked at Thorin again.
"Of course, Gandalf."
"On the first day I got the Arkenstone, I contacted Dain."
"Don't worry, he has arrived with the Iron Hills army now, and he will probably arrive today."
"When the time comes, the army will be before us, and no one will be able to take away the treasures of Erebor."
"No one can take a coin from here."
Gandalf frowned.
"You have changed, Thorin."
"Yeah?"
Thorin raised his head and said calmly:
"You are right, I have indeed changed. I am no longer the little dwarf lord I used to be. Now I am the king under the mountain sitting on the treasure of the entire mountain."
"you…"
Gandalf's expression became more and more serious.
Broken, exactly like his grandfather.
The well-informed Gandalf recognized the symptoms at a glance.
This is the dragon's disease, and the royal bloodline of Durin's family will suffer this curse whenever they step into the Lonely Mountain.
The degree of charm is almost comparable to that of the Lord of the Rings.
"Thorin, you are ill, very ill. Put down the Silmarillion. It is not too late."
"Are you asking me to let go of the Arkenstone, which I have gone through so much hardship to find, and ask me to give up on becoming the King Under the Mountain?"
"I can take it for granted, Gandalf, but only this once."
After saying that, Thorin turned and walked away, not caring what happened to Gandalf behind him.
"Without the Silmaril, wouldn't you be the King under the Mountain?"
"Whether I am a king or not is not something that a mere wizard can decide. You are not qualified to tell me this, Gandalf."
"I…"
Gandalf was so angry that his eyes dazzled and he hurried after him.
"What are you going to do?"
"Wait for Levi."
"Instead of talking nonsense with a wizard who persuaded me to give up the results of the expedition, it would be better to go and see the person who contributed the most to the expedition."
"Waiting for him? What are you two going to do?"
"Li Wei said that there are not enough mineral deposits in Gushan. I think he must have lost his way and did not find the right room. We have agreed to meet at this time and I will personally lead him."
Not enough mine?
Thinking of the army of iron golems in the river valley city outside, Gandalf couldn't help stroking his beard, and his anger inexplicably disappeared.
That may not be enough.
However, he did not remind him. He should let Thorin have a headache on his own. After a while, the old man didn't want to talk to the patient.
After a few more words with Bilbo, some encouragement and praise, Gandalf left.
This is how the trio of old, weak and sick disbanded.
In front of the ore warehouse next to the smelting plant, Thorin raised his hand and motioned to Qili who was accompanying him to open the gate and walked confidently inside.
"Levi can't imagine our reserves at all. Maybe in his view, filling up a blacksmith's shop with enough mines is already a lot, but our minerals are like mountains -"
The words stopped abruptly.
Thorin quickly took a few steps forward, holding his hands on the fence, looking at the extremely empty warehouse, his breath stagnant.
"I might be lost too."
Shaking his head, Thorin took a few big breaths and felt a little difficult to breathe.
"Kili, close the gate and follow me to the wall to get some air."
"OK."
Qili quickly followed the instructions. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he always felt that his uncle's voice was a little trembling.
Is there something terrible inside?
After a while.
In mid-air, Levi saw two figures on the wall of Erebor from a long distance, so he immediately landed accurately and stood in front of them.
"Hello."
"Not very good."
Thorin's face looked a little gloomy.
"Unfortunately, Levi, I think our mineral deposits may have been eaten by the dragon. I can no longer agree to any of your requests."
This was the most euphemistic way Thorin could come up with. In fact, if it wasn't Levi in front of him, he might have been tempted to chase people away.
Calm, calm, one-fifteenth, one-fifteenth...
Thorin thought silently in his mind.
Just thinking about the treasures in the lonely mountain, those treasures.
my darling.
Why give it to an outsider?
He suddenly figured it out.
"Oh well."
Li Wei did feel a little regretful, but the problem was not big. He had done everything he needed to do at the moment. He came here just to see if he could expand the iron puppet army.
"I just saw Gandalf walking back, did you say anything?"
"The wizard said some things that he shouldn't have said and left voluntarily. It means he still has some consciousness."
"oh?"
Levi was somewhat interested. Just as he was about to continue asking, the gates of the Valley City rose one after another, and rows of well-equipped golden armored soldiers emerged from them.
"Is that... elves?!"
"Close the gates, be alert!"
Thorin shouted at the first time and rang the warning bell of Erebor.
As soon as the bell rang, the dwarves immediately rushed to the gate with weapons, all fully armed.
"It's the army of elves. What are they going to do?"
Dwalin was the first to see the situation outside. As soon as this was said, all the dwarves immediately became serious.
"What else can they do? Of course, those despicable guys are going to take our treasures after seeing the dragon dead."
"I knew these elves had bad intentions!"
The dwarves made a noise.
Crash.
After a while, the army of elves had stopped in front of the city wall.
Thranduil left the team and stepped forward, looking up at the group of people on the city wall.
"Thorin, son of Thrain, I heard that you have recaptured Erebor."
"Then your news is really late."
Thorin said with a stinky face: "What are you doing here? Are you here to celebrate for me? Then I will accept it."
"Besides, if there is nothing else to talk about, I suggest you-"
"Get back to your forest immediately!"
The shouting spread throughout the valley, and the dwarves on the side also began to raise their fists to cheer.
Thranduil waved his hand, and the army behind him drew their bows in unison and aimed at the top of the city wall.
The dwarves were immediately frightened and squatted behind the city wall, not daring to show their heads again.
Thranduil made another gesture, and the archers behind him put away their arrows in unison and stood up again.
The whole process was neat and tidy, without any flaws.
He glanced at Levi on the wall, and Levi nodded at him.
Thranduil then said to Thorin with relief:
"I am not hostile here. As long as you return the treasures that belong to my people, I will withdraw my troops immediately."
"Don't even think about taking a coin from me!"
Thorin shouted.
"Thorin, we can't win."
Ballin hurriedly tugged at his clothes from behind and came up to persuade him.
This is one of the few dwarves who supports returning the elves' rightful things.
At this time, Gandalf also squeezed out of the elves' army and shouted at the city wall:
"These treasures will harm you, Thorin!"
"That's what they originally belonged to, isn't it."
Levi also added a sentence.
Thorin's face twitched and his teeth were about to break.
Just when he was about to say something again, another person came from behind.
Bard.
He shouted, "Thorin, King under the Mountain, do you remember the promise you made to me?"
"Why do you mention this now?"
"I would like to ask you to fulfill this promise now - return the treasure of the elves."
"Don't even think about it!!"
Everyone was silent after this reply.
Even Balin stopped talking.
"Is this the last thing you want to say?"
Thranduil clenched the sword in his hand.
"I'll ask you one last time, do you want peace or war?"
Thorin did not answer for a long time.
A thrush flew to his shoulder and stayed by his ear for a moment.
"I think I know the answer."
"The reinforcements have passed through the valley city."
Thorin looked up and looked into the distance.
"They are coming."
Just as Thranduil was about to launch a direct attack, suddenly, a horn sounded.
On a small hill not far from the city of Dale, a line of fully armed dwarven elite soldiers stopped, with chariots lined up in front and heavy crossbows called Dwarven Axe for archers waiting behind them.
It was dwarves, the elite dwarven army of Iron Hills had arrived.
The humans in the city of Dale did not know the grievances among them. Under Bard's initial slogan of "going to Erebor" for refuge, everyone thought that the dwarves were their own people.
After confirming that this dwarven army was indeed "reinforcements", the soldiers assigned to guard the city immediately opened the gate.
On this side, Thorin saw the Iron Hills Lord Dain waving at him in front of the formation, and he was overjoyed and was about to shout on the spot:
"I choose to fight--"
Plop!
A flying kick came over and directly knocked Thorin to the ground, blocking his mouth.
"It's time to fight, lie down."
It was Levi, he finally found a chance to do it.
The situation suddenly changed, and the dwarves were shocked. Some of them opened their mouths to question, but when Levi drew his sword, they collectively took a step back in fear, and several of them almost fell to the ground.
When the most powerful backing, the friendly legend who could solve almost any problem as long as he opened his mouth, suddenly stood on the opposite side of them, no one could immediately muster up the courage to draw his sword and step forward.
This kick directly silenced the whole scene.
"Thorin! Hey!"
Dain on the hillside behind was still shouting Thorin's name, and for some reason he didn't respond.
"Are you there!?"
No one paid attention to Dain who was still shouting over there, and everyone's attention was on another person at the moment.
Thranduil under the city wall opened his eyes wide, and didn't expect that there would be such a thing at the critical moment.
Gandalf nodded, and almost couldn't control himself and shouted "Good!"
Bard was about to say something but stopped.
A few seconds later, the dwarves who had recovered a little bit pushed forward and approached Levi little by little.
"Lee, Lee, what are you doing..."
"Calm down, calm down! Listen to me and take back the sword, okay? If Thorin has offended you in any way, I will apologize to you on his behalf!"
"Well, we can all apologize together, and you can get any compensation you want!"
Bilbo was not afraid, but just startled. Soon the hobbit recovered. He walked past the dwarves and said to Levi:
"Levi, you won't hurt him, right?"
Levi put away his sword and shook his head.
"Of course not, look how scared you are."
"Well..."
Thorin also recovered at this time.
He covered his head, supported the wall and slowly stood up, staring at Levi angrily, and was about to say something.
Boom!
The land in the center of the distant mountain suddenly began to collapse, making a rumbling sound, and huge worms drilled out of it, crushing the rocks.
Wide tunnels appeared one after another, with countless orcs and giant beasts coming out of them, making the dwarves sweat.
"Attack the center army, line up!!"
"Fight to the death!"
At this moment, he could no longer care about Thorin who was slow to respond. Dain immediately organized the dwarf army to erect a shield wall and pointed his spears outward.
Standing in front of the elves.
And the elves turned around and faced the orc army.
This is the consensus of the free people of Middle-earth.
No matter what conflicts there are, no matter how big the hatred is, when a big enemy appears, they must unite to face the outside, or at least not cause trouble.
Buzz——
On the top of the mountain farther away, Azogra activated the mechanism and sent flags to command the surging orc army.
"Damn it."
Although our army has arrived successfully, the situation looks very good, and the advantage is mine.
But this most outstanding Orc general in modern times was still full of anger at this moment, and he couldn't figure out one thing:
"Where does all the magma come from underground!"
Several worms were burned, and they had to change the exit to a farther place.
There were few worms of this size, and they couldn't be deployed for many years after being burned.
But these were just small episodes, and they didn't have much impact on the overall situation.
The army gradually covered the entire battlefield like a dark cloud.
Bard panicked, said hello to the people around him, and immediately returned to the city.
"I have to organize the militia."
On the high wall of Erebor, the dwarves naturally saw the situation below. Kili took the lead and said first:
"I'm going to fight outside the city wall. Who wants to join me?"
"Come!"
"Okay!"
"We'll go too!"
The dwarves immediately became active and shouted.
"Stand by."
A discordant voice came out.
It was Thorin.
"What?"
The dwarves almost thought they had heard it wrong.
"Are we going to stand by and watch?"
"I said, stand by!"
Thorin turned around and walked slowly towards the hall.
Soon, the figure was covered in shadows and became blurred.
Just when Levi was about to follow and try to wake the king up, Bilbo suddenly stopped him and asked:
"Levi, do you have a rope?"
"No, but I can make some."
"Oh, that's great."
Bilbo nodded, habitually ignoring the part he didn't understand.
It's okay to have it anyway.
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't think I can just stand here and watch."
Taking the rope that Levi had made, Bilbo tied the end of it to a stone, threw the rest of it under the wall, and slid down.
"Bilbo."
Gandalf ran over to meet him.
"You want to join the battle too? Well, stay with me."
Seeing that the hobbit was not afraid at all, Thranduil on the side also turned his head and felt a little impressed.
"You are quite brave for a Hobbit."
"If I am right, you stole the key to the prison from under my nose."
"Very impressive."
Bilbo did not know whether the lord was praising him or complaining. These elves always spoke in such a strange way.
"Thank you."
After thinking for a long time, he replied.
Seeing Bilbo climb down smoothly, the dwarves on the wall could not hold back.
"No, I have to go down too!"
Kili was about to go down the rope, but a hand grabbed him.
Ballin.
"No, Kili."
"The king...didn't give the order."
Kili clenched his fists, stood there unwillingly, and did not move.
The dwarves' almost blind loyalty forced them to stand by and watch without receiving orders.
Hua La--
At the front line, the first batch of Orc vanguards had approached the dwarfs' shield formation and were about to engage in battle.
Bilbo whispered to Gandalf:
"What about the elves? Won't they fight?"
Gandalf didn't answer.
Thranduil turned around and looked at the battlefield.
"The elves will never yield to the dwarves."
Swish--
Rows of elves flashed their long swords, stepped on the shields of the dwarves and charged forward, unexpectedly giving the vanguard Orcs a heavy blow, stopping them in their tracks.
The light body makes it almost unbearable for the elves to step on the heads of the dwarves. Some elves can even jump onto the horizontal spears of the dwarves to fight without causing any deviation in the formation.
There is no trace of walking on the snow, and the body is as light as the wind. This is the unique characteristic of elves.
When the elves were almost done fighting and could no longer withstand it, Daine immediately shouted from behind:
"charge!"
Rows of dwarves immediately stepped forward to complete the relay with the elves.
"The bravery of the dwarves will never allow others to charge forward!"
"Boys, follow me!"
Dain was the first to rush out and swung the heavy hammer in his hand.
"Welcome to the mountains!"
He shouted politely at the Orcs, and with each swing of the hammer, one Orc had his head crushed.
Following closely behind, Thranduil also drew his sword and joined the battlefield.
Under the strong leadership of the two leaders, the first round of attacks by the Oaks seemed to be withstood.
But soon, this advantage disappeared under the suppression of huge numbers.
"Where's Levi?"
"Where is Levi?"
Behind the military formation, Gandalf was a little anxious. At this critical moment, where did the strongest combat power of our army go?
Where is the army?
"You sit in this grand hall with a crown on your head, but you are humbler than ever."
In front of the king's throne, Duvalin had tears in his eyes and almost used all his strength to say these words to Thorin.
"Get out, get out, don't wait for me to kill you with my own hands."
Thorin drew his sword and forced the faithfully admonished dwarf out.
But what he said kept lingering in his mind and could not be dissipated.
At the same time, more words said by his former companions began to appear in his mind.
"I hope you're not like your grandfather."
Bud.
"Those treasures will kill you."
Gandalf.
"They have madness in their blood."
Elrond.
"It's just another crazy king."
Thranduil.
"Are we going to stand by and watch?"
Bahrain.
"I think it's time for you to wake up. It's still early and you haven't lost much."
Levi.
Levi...?
Thorin raised his head suddenly and found that a figure had appeared in the empty hall.
He immediately said angrily: "Don't think you--"
"This is for our friendship!"
Boom!
Before he finished speaking, Levi rushed over and punched Thorin directly in the face, knocking him to the ground hard.
"you…"
"Stop talking so much, give me a drink!"
Levi took out a large bucket of milk, held Thorin down and poured it into his mouth.
Gudonggudonggudong…
"Enough!"
Thorin's eyes flashed with clarity for a moment, he took a deep breath and suddenly figured out a lot of things.
Her strong will gradually gained the upper hand and she began to fight against the crazy illness.
It's just that at this moment, in addition to his will fighting against the dragon disease, his body also has to fight against another person.
"I don't think it's enough!"
Tons tons tons…
The milk continued to pour into the mouth.
"stop!"
"I haven't finished drinking yet, keep going!"
"I said stop!"
Thorin suddenly burst out with a huge force and pushed Levi and the bucket in his hand away.
"Stop! I've figured it out!"
He wiped the milk that flowed from his mouth and shouted in the loudest voice in his life, almost hoarsely:
"Listen to me!"
"I-not my grandfather!!"
clang!
The crown on top of his head was slammed to the ground.
The King Under the Mountain puts on his helmet.
After roaring from the bottom of his heart, Thorin gasped for air and his eyes became clearer.
He looked at Li Wei and said in a deep voice:
"Let's go out and fight!"
Buzz——
On the city wall of Erebor, the trumpet sound suddenly sounded, and the sound was far-reaching and endless, throughout the entire battlefield.
Boom!
Immediately after the trumpet, the warning bell was also rung, which was refreshing.
The bells sounded with joy that day, testifying to the return of the King under the Mountain.
Crunch.
The gate of Gushan opened at this moment, and thirteen figures full of fighting spirit rushed out from inside.
"Haha, Thorin, I finally met you!"
Dain greeted Thorin excitedly. As soon as he saw this brother, he suddenly felt that his whole body was filled with inexhaustible strength, and he could smash another hundred Orcs to death.
There were other dwarves who had the same feeling as him. The Oaks were stunned for a moment. Why did these dwarves suddenly act like crazy? It was so scary.
"kill!"
Thorin rushed to the front, holding a sword in one hand and an oak shield in the other, fully displaying the style of the dwarf royal family in the past.
The blood brothers Kili and Fili stood by his side as royal blood relatives, clearing the way for the king and fending off attacks.
The battle situation was balanced again, and there was even a tendency for the Orcs to be driven back into the cave.
On the front line, Gandalf drew Gramdrin and chopped down an Orc with one sword. Bilbo beside him also drew his dagger, thrust forward, and effortlessly killed an enemy.
While fighting, Gandalf couldn't stop looking back, looking for a certain figure.
finally.
From the open gate of Gushan, a warrior wearing black armor holding an elf sword was slowly exposed to the sun.
The Oaks around him instinctively stepped back, barely holding the weapons in their hands.
Gandalf couldn't help but raise his lips.
"I've finally waited for you."
[Battlefield situation]
Free camp: humans, dwarves, elves.
Evil camp: Orcs, wargs.
Free camp commanders:
Gandalf, Thranduil, Dain Ironfoot, Bard the Archer, Thorin Oakenshield, (omitted) Levi.
Orc commanders:
Azog, Bolger.
The ratio of the number of soldiers (approximately) - 1:5.
The battle officially started.
Thanks to Shushan Yali for the 1,000-point reward, Yinyue Canglang for the 500-point reward, Shuyou 20200921155747816 for the 100-point reward, Great Yan for the 100-point reward, Yangliu Yiyi Li Qingzhao for the 100-point reward, and friends who voted, thank you for your support!
——
Three-in-one + big chapter, will it be better if it is combined like this?
