bookbashuk Chapter 113 Standoff
Chapter 113 Standoff
Chapter 113 Standoff
Faced with Thranduil's praise.
Dui gave a modest smile.
"Your Majesty Thranduil, you flatter me. This is not my achievement alone."
"Oh, by the way, where is Prince Legolas? I haven't seen him."
When Dui asked about his proudest son, Thranduil's smile deepened.
"He has discovered some traces of Oak and is tracking him down."
Upon hearing the mention of Orks, Gandalf's expression immediately sharpened, and his brow furrowed slightly: "Does Your Majesty know where these Orks appear?"
Thranduil said casually, "They appeared in the northern Misty Forest, seemingly coming from the northern Misty Mountains. Legolas was worried and followed them. He should be back in a few days."
Thranduil was indifferent to the outside world, except for matters concerning the Woodland Kingdom.
He came here to retrieve the white gemstone necklace that he had commissioned for his deceased wife.
As for the war between the dwarves and orcs, he did not offer assistance when the dragons attacked Lonely Mountain, and he has no intention of intervening this time either.
However, his son Legolas disagreed with him.
Legolas had a more compassionate heart. He believed that although the Lonely Mountain Dwarves had grudges against them, they were interdependent and now that a great enemy (the Ork) was at hand, they needed to put aside their past grievances and unite against the enemy, instead of passively hiding in the Dark Forest.
Therefore, they actively chose to follow Oak's team, attempting to find Oak's headquarters.
Thranduil did not stay long in Vale.
After allowing the elven army to regroup, they were to continue their march to Lonely Mountain.
Seeing this, Gandalf tried to persuade him again.
"Your Majesty Thranduil, the Ork army could invade at any moment. Your conflict with Thorin will only give the Orks an opportunity to exploit the situation."
Thranduil raised his hand to stop Gandalf from continuing his persuasion, stating unequivocally, "This is not my decision. As soon as Thorin Oakenshield hands over my deceased wife's belongings, I will immediately turn my army around and not linger for a moment longer."
A mocking look appeared on his face.
"But do you really think Thorin Oakenshield would agree? His family has a mad disease flowing in their blood; I've personally witnessed his grandfather's madness, and Thorin himself is probably no less so."
The white gemstone necklace that Thranduil wanted, though not as valuable as the Arkenbrooch, was still priceless.
Thorin's grandfather, Thor, was affected by the dragon disease. After the white gem necklace was made, he became greedy and refused to return it to Thranduil.
This caused a feud between the Lonely Mountain dwarves and the Woodland Elves.
This also meant that when Lonely Mountain was attacked by the dragon Smaug, the Woodland Kingdom chose to stand by and watch.
Gandalf sighed helplessly as he thought of Thorin's current state of madness due to the dragon disease.
Without a doubt, given Thorin's current mental state, he probably wouldn't even be willing to share a single gold coin, let alone the white gem necklace.
What troubled Gandalf even more was that Thranduil was demanding the white gem necklace from Thorin.
Even Bard, along with Thranduil, demanded compensation from Thorin for the losses suffered in Lake-town, and as a descendant of Lord Gillian of Dale, he was entitled to reclaim his share of the treasure.
After all, when the dragon Smaug destroyed Dale, he also took all of Dale's treasures to the Lonely Mountain.
Therefore, the treasure on Lonely Mountain belongs not only to the dwarves, but also to some of the humans of Vale.
However, Bard did not want to see elves, humans, and dwarves go to war.
So he asked Thranduil to let him go and negotiate with Thorin first.
Thranduil had little hope for this, but he did not refuse Bard's request either.
Anyway, he won't be in a hurry.
However, they still ordered the elven army to prepare for battle, and when Bard's negotiations failed, they would march directly on Lonely Mountain.
Reclaim the jeweled necklace.
Bard was going to negotiate, and Gandalf, worried about him, decided to go with him to see if he could persuade Thorin and thus prevent a war.
Dui knew the outcome and did not follow.
He took out the Crystal of Knowledge and first checked the location of the dragon Smaug.
I haven't paid any attention to this guy these past few days, I wonder where he's been wandering off to?
On the desolate wasteland north of Lonely Mountain,
Smaug bit a bison to death, then breathed out scorching flames to roast it until it was almost cooked.
Then we began to enjoy the food.
The dragon had a big appetite; a bison was only enough for one meal.
But they are also incredibly resistant to hunger; once they fall into a deep sleep, they can go for decades without eating or drinking.
These days, Smaug has considered taking the opportunity to escape.
But as soon as he thinks about it, the golden-red lines left by the unbreakable oath on his neck come to life, becoming tight and hot, as if his tendons and marrow are being pulled out, causing the entire dragon unbearable pain.
Under such constant torment, Shi Yuge completely resigned himself to his fate and dared not have the slightest thought of escaping or betraying.
So Smaug could only obediently hunt in the wilderness and wait for Dui's summons.
After Smaug finished eating the roasted bison, he suddenly looked up at the sky warily.
He keenly sensed that someone was watching him.
"Owner?"
Smaug felt that the unknown gaze was somewhat familiar, and tentatively asked.
The next second, the oath line on his neck tightened slightly and became somewhat hot.
This was a vow made back then: wherever the dragon Smaug was, Dui would have to come to him unconditionally if he needed him.
Having confirmed that it was Dui who was summoning him, Smaug immediately stopped and rushed toward Lonely Mountain at top speed.
The only pity is that his wings are not yet healed, so he cannot fly there directly.
"Hmph, quick reaction." Dui snorted as he looked at the image of Smaug moving rapidly on the crystal sphere.
Don't think he doesn't know how many times this guy has had ulterior motives lately.
He even considered escaping to hide north of the Gray Mountains, intending to outlive him before emerging again.
But Smaug didn't know that every time he had a change of heart, his side would sense it.
Therefore, whenever Smaug was tormented by the oath for harboring disloyalty, he would deliberately increase the punishment, making it even more painful for him.
Seeing that Smaug had obediently returned, Duy stopped looking at him.
Instead, they re-examined the situation of the new King of Orcs—Borg.
Now that the conflict between the elves and dwarves is about to begin, there's no reason why the orcs wouldn't make a move.
Sure enough, the image of Mount Gondob appeared on the True Knowledge Crystal very quickly.
Mount Gondobad, located in the northern Misty Mountains, is a massive fortress inhabited by a large number of Orks.
It is the territory of Borg.
At this moment, with a command from Polgar, countless trolls, orcs, and wargs rushed out of the fortress, while giant bats blotted out the sun in the sky, allowing the light-fearing dark creatures to move around during the day.
The densely packed Orc army, numbering in the tens of thousands, advanced rapidly towards Lonely Mountain.
"Huh? I didn't expect him to have tracked me all the way here!"
Dui looked on in surprise as Legolas and Tauriel appeared on the screen.
They were hiding behind a boulder in the Gondabad fortress, secretly observing the movements of the Ork army.
Suddenly, Legolas seemed to sense something and immediately looked warily at the sky behind him.
"What's wrong, Legolas?" Tauriel asked, puzzled.
Legolas shook his head hesitantly: "I don't know, I just felt like someone was watching me?"
"Wow, that's quite perceptive!" Dui was somewhat surprised, then withdrew his gaze and continued to examine other situations.
This time, he placed his light east of Gushan.
As far as he knew, there was also a tribe of dwarves living in the Iron Hills east of Lonely Mountain, whose lord was Dain II Ironfoot, a cousin of Thorin Oakenshield.
Now, only Thorin and thirteen other dwarves remain on Lonely Mountain. Even if they block the city gates, they cannot withstand the attack of the elven army.
So unless Thorin is stupid, he will definitely ask Dain II for help.
Sure enough, on the desolate east of Lonely Mountain, an army of tens of thousands of dwarves was approaching.
All the parties involved in the Five Armies War had arrived, and Dui stopped checking and put away the crystal ball.
And they found Beorn and Bilbo: "Let's go, let's go to the gates of Lonely Mountain, the Ork army is coming."
We can't let them start fighting first.
Upon hearing that the Orc army was coming, Beon's eyes lit up.
"Finally, these guys are here!"
Bilbo was a little nervous, but not afraid. Instead, he gripped his elven dagger tightly.
Dui handed the flying broom to Beon.
"You bring Bilbo behind you, I'll go stop them first."
With that, he used Animagus to transform into an eagle and flew towards the gate of Lonely Mountain.
Beorn had ridden a flying broomstick a few days ago, so he wasn't worried about any accidents.
At this moment, the atmosphere in front of the gate of Gushan was tense.
Thorin unsurprisingly refused Thranduil's demand for the white gem necklace and Bard's request to share the treasure.
Even though Gandalf tried his best to persuade both sides, neither of them accepted his good intentions.
"Thorin, lay down your weapons! Open the gates, and the treasure will kill you!" Gandalf said.
"You can't win this battle. Don't let your comrades who follow you die."
Thorin's eyes flickered slightly, but he remained unmoved.
"Alright, Gandalf, shut up your useless talk. You can't wake someone who's pretending to be asleep."
Thranduil, dressed in full armor, rode a giant stag to the front and spoke in a mocking tone.
Then his cold gaze fell upon Solin on the city wall mountain.
"Now it's time to answer us, Thorin Oakenshield: do you want peace or war?"
Looking at the tens of thousands of elven troops, Thorin felt uneasy and paced back and forth on the city wall, his gaze fixed on the far east, as if waiting for something.
Finally, a raven appeared on the wall.
Thorin was immediately overjoyed, his confidence instantly boosted, and without hesitation, he answered Thranduil below, "I choose war!"
Thranduil was taken aback by Thorin's sudden confidence, and immediately looked towards the eastern mountain as if sensing something. He saw a dense army of dwarves appear on the eastern mountain.
"Be on alert!" Thranduil commanded.
The elven army quickly turned its attention to the more threatening dwarven army.
The heavily armed dwarf army marched on foot to within a kilometer of the elven army.
Lord Dayne II Ironfoot of the Ironhills rode a war boar, wielding an iron hammer, and arrived at the forefront.
"Good morning, everyone! I have a small suggestion, if you don't mind, I'll take up a little of your time."
"Could you all please consider—getting as far away as possible?!"