bookbashuk Chapter 162 The Underwater Monitor
Chapter 162 The Underwater Monitor
Chapter 162 The Underwater Monitor
Dui knew the outcome just by looking at the lack of joy on Gandalf's face.
"But it didn't work?"
Gandalf nodded and sighed solemnly.
"The Black Barbarians and the Rohan have a long history of grievances and conflicts over land. Now, thanks to that person's constant instigation, the Black Barbarians are even more hateful and prejudiced against the Rohan. They have formed an alliance with that person in an attempt to reclaim their land."
"I tried to persuade the Black Barbarian chieftain to put aside his hatred and went to Rohan to persuade the king to give up a piece of land as Black Barbarian territory, but the Black Barbarians had been bewitched by that person and were no longer satisfied with just returning to their homeland, but wanted to seize the entire Rohan."
"Moreover, I was considered a spy for Rohan by the Black Barbarians and was almost imprisoned. I was only able to escape from the Black Barbarians thanks to the flying broomstick you gave me!"
Dui looked worried.
"Won't the Black Barbarians inform that person of your whereabouts? If this arouses their suspicion, it could lead to unforeseen circumstances!"
Gandalf, however, shook his head with a relaxed smile.
"Don't worry, I also went to the Black Wildlands a long time ago, trying to persuade the Black Wildlands people and the Rohan people to make peace and fight against the dark forces together."
So even if that person knew I went to the Black Wildlands, they would only think I was the same as before, and might even mock me for doing something pointless.
Dui was immediately relieved.
Meanwhile, Bahrain, who was standing to the side, was curious about "that person" that the two were talking about, but he wisely refrained from asking.
After finishing his conversation with Gandalf, Dui turned to Bahrain and began to inquire about the expedition.
"Bahrain, how many dwarves have you organized this time? What's your plan?"
Bahrain, clad in armor, patted the iron box in his hand with great confidence.
"I brought a thousand elite dwarven warriors with me this time. They are all well-equipped and fully armed, and they are all packed into the box you enchanted earlier."
Gandalf added, "We also plan to attack Moria from the main gate on the west side of the Misty Mountains, forming a pincer movement with the Lorien elves at the back gate on the east side. Without alerting the Balrog, we'll first clear out the Orks inside, and then focus our attack on the Balrog."
Although there were only a thousand dwarf warriors, when the chest was opened and people looked inside, they found that all of these dwarves were wearing hard armor that had been carefully crafted by artisans, and they were armed to the teeth.
Each person wielded weapons such as hammers and swords, like a war machine, and they were not afraid even when facing ten times their number of Orks.
Among them were two people Dui knew: Oin and Ori, both of whom were members of the Lonely Mountain Expedition.
This time, they also chose to join Bahrain on another expedition to Moria.
Now that everyone is here, Dui won't delay any longer.
It immediately awakened Smaug, the dragon from the cellar treasure vault.
Smaug was initially reluctant to wake up, but when he heard that Moria held a treasure no less valuable than the Lonely Mountain, he immediately became excited and alert.
Even hearing that Moria had a Balrog made him feel it was worth the risk. If he couldn't win, he could just run away, but at least he could steal some gold.
Then Dui went to the secret room and awakened the basilisk monster, Helpo.
Even Dui was very surprised when he saw Herpo's size.
At this time, Halbo was 50 feet long and had shed several layers of skin in just one year, reaching the size of an adult basilisk.
This was thanks to Halbo's constant supply of giant spider food. In particular, after eating the Spider Queen Cenarion, Halbo underwent a qualitative change, with his dark magic surging, his deadly eyes becoming even more dangerous, and his venom becoming even more potent.
Dui put the basilisk into a spatial box and took it out.
Gandalf looked at the box in Duy's hand and said in surprise, "Looks like you're well-prepared?"
Dui shrugged. This time he was facing the Flame Demon, so of course he had to be fully prepared and bring out all his strength.
Then Duy, Gandalf, and Balin, who was carrying a chest containing a thousand dwarf warriors, mounted the dragon Smaug and flew straight southeast.
Meanwhile, the giant eagle Thorondo also followed along. Being young, he wasn't considered a main force; his main responsibility was to patrol in the air, keep an eye on the movements outside Moria, and promptly relay messages to the elves guarding the back gate on the other side of the Misty Mountains.
The dragon carried everyone, flying over Nangang and across the Cangquan River, until it arrived above Errigian.
Erigian, located next to Moria (Kazadoom), was once an elven kingdom.
After the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age, a group of surviving Noldor elves, having been destroyed by Beleriand, migrated eastward to the foot of the Misty Mountains and established Eregian.
Because of its proximity to Moria (Kazadoom), the elven artisans of Erigian had close trade relations with the dwarves of Moria. The dwarves mined mithril, while the elves crafted various exquisite works of art, and the relationship between the two sides had always been good.
It was here that Sauron, disguised as Anata, the Lord of Gifts, taught the Elven craftsmen the art of forging the Rings of Power, and ultimately created the Three Rings of the Elves, the Seven Rings of the Dwarves, and the Nine Rings of the Men, a total of nineteen rings.
Sauron then waged war against the Elves and conquered Eregion. Celebrimbor, the forger of the Three Rings of the Elves, was killed, and Sauron seized the Seven Rings of the Dwarves and the Nine Rings of the Men. Eregion was utterly destroyed.
Today, Eregian has become a desolate and deserted area, with only some old roads and ruins remaining. The scenery of the former elven kingdom is almost completely gone.
It is worth mentioning that Erigian was originally founded by Celeborn and Galadriel.
However, after Sauron arrived in Erigian disguised as Anata, under his influence, Celebrimbor led the members of the Jewelers' Guild to rebel against Celeborn and Galadriel, seizing control of Erigian.
Galadriel thus left Erigian and traveled to Lorien via Moria (Kazadoom).
Celeborn, on the other hand, harbored distrust and aversion towards the dwarves due to the fall of Doriath and other reasons. He was unwilling to enter Kazardom and thus remained in Eregian until Eregian fell before leaving.
Having flown over Erigian, the gates of Moria were now within reach.
A road that runs from Eregian to Moria still exists today.
Guided by Gandalf, the dragon led the group along the main road to the Gates of Durin at the foot of the Misty Mountains.
In front of the gate of Dulin, there is also a huge barrier lake.
After everyone disembarked from the dragon, Balin immediately slammed the crate shut and shouted inside, "Alright, guys, come out! Moria's here!"
Then one by one, dwarven warriors emerged from the box.
When the dwarves came out, Dui frowned and looked warily at the lake in front of him.
Gandalf noticed his expression and asked, "What's wrong, Duir? Did you find something?"
Dui pointed to the lake in front of him and said in a serious voice, "I feel there's something dangerous lurking in it!"
It was only when he saw this lake that he remembered that during the Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo and the others had encountered a monster called the "Watcher of the Water" here.
Furthermore, after Frodo and the others hid inside the Gate of Turin, he used his tentacles to close the gate and deliberately collapsed the outside, blocking their escape route and forcing them to continue forward.
Gandalf's attention was mainly focused on the gates of Durin, and he didn't pay much attention to the lake at first.
Upon hearing Dui's words, he immediately became serious and alert, his eyes fixed on the lake surface, trying to see through the murky water.
Then, as if discovering something, he immediately retreated and shouted loudly to the dwarves, "Don't go near the lake! It's dangerous!"
The dwarves had just crawled out of the box, complaining all at once about how stuffy it was inside and how someone had farted.
Suddenly hearing Gandalf's loud reminder, he was momentarily stunned and looked at the lake in front of him with a puzzled expression.
Knowing Gandalf's abilities, and seeing how vigilant he and Duir were, Balin immediately shouted, "Watch the lake! Prepare for battle!"
The dwarf warriors immediately dropped their playful and relaxed expressions, quickly gathered together, and erected an iron wall with their shields facing the lake.
The next second, a huge tentacle emerged from the lake and slammed heavily into the shield.
The dwarves couldn't withstand such a huge impact and were instantly sent flying, shields and all.
At the same time, another tentacle shot out of the water, wrapped around the dwarf Oin's leg, and tried to drag him into the water.
His comrade Ori quickly raised his axe and cut off the tentacle, saving him.
But the next second, more than twenty huge tentacles emerged from the lake and attacked the dwarves, directly entangling several dwarf warriors and trying to drag them into the lake.
"Torn apart!"
Dui quickly cast a spell, severing several tentacles that were entangled around the dwarf.
Gandalf reacted quickly, drawing his sword and slashing at the tentacles, thus saving the remaining dwarf warriors.
The monster in the lake seemed to be enraged.
As the lake water surged, a gigantic octopus, as large as a small island, emerged from the lake.
It brandished dozens of thick, long, and curled pale green tentacles, hurling them at Dui and Gandalf.
"It's the Watcher in the water!" Gandalf quickly dodged the oncoming giant tentacle, which smashed a deep trench in the ground.
Dui waved his wand, slicing through the tentacles that were about to smash into himself.
The tentacle was severed horizontally, and a severed tentacle several meters long crashed down beside him, writhing wildly like a python.
But this did not deter the giant octopus's attack; immediately afterward, more than a dozen tentacles swarmed towards him in a frenzied assault.
Dui's expression changed, and he immediately waved his wand.
"Protect everything!"
The next second, more than a dozen thick tentacles slammed into the invisible barrier, creating huge ripples.
Gandalf was also constantly dodging the attacks of several tentacles, swinging his sword to slash at them.
Seeing that the two had attracted the giant octopus's attention, the dwarf warriors didn't just stand by and watch.
Some dwarves shot arrows at the octopus, trying to distract it from the giant octopus's attention, while more dwarves brandished axes, hammers, and swords, rushing towards the tentacles and forcefully hacking and smashing them.
Then he was launched away by the giant octopus and crashed to the ground, feeling dizzy.
"Thunderous explosion!"
A dazzling red light shot out.
The dozen or so octopus tentacles in front of Dui were all blasted into pieces by the massive explosion, sending countless bits of flesh flying everywhere.
The octopus let out a painful, deafening hiss and retracted all its remaining tentacles.
Just when the dwarves thought they were about to win, the giant octopus suddenly emitted a faint green glow, and then its severed tentacles grew back at a speed visible to the naked eye!
Everyone present gasped.
Dui stared wide-eyed, somewhat incredulous.
Nobody told him that the "underwater watcher" had such abilities?
(End of this chapter)