Chapter 36 – The Goblin King: The Kingdom Is Doomed!
Having devoured quite a number of gemstones along the way, the seven Stone Giants quickly entered a dormant state after pressing themselves against the Lonely Mountain. Once asleep, they became nothing more than ordinary-looking rock formations.
Smaug remained within the Lonely Mountain for three days. During that time, he left the mountain several times to try communicating with the Stone Giants, hoping to see whether they wanted more gemstones.
There was no response—every time.
On the morning of the fourth day, Smaug stopped waiting.
He gathered a pile of gemstones—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet—divided them into seven portions, and placed them directly against the chests of the seven Stone Giants.
If they wanted to eat, they could help themselves.
With that done, Smaug departed. As usual, once he had flown a short distance beyond the Lonely Mountain's territory, he transformed into a great eagle and headed straight for the Misty Mountains.
This time, he had two objectives.
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The primary objective, naturally, was the One Ring.
That goal, however, was troublesome and required caution.
The reasons were complicated.
His true dragon form couldn't fit into that tunnel. If he entered while transformed into another creature… outright robbery wasn't realistic. Gollum wasn't stupid—on the contrary, he was cunning, and far too familiar with the terrain.
Smaug could only wait for an opportunity—wait until Gollum made the same mistake as in the original tale, accidentally dropping the One Ring. Then he would snatch it and flee immediately.
But that brought up another problem.
Smaug found Gollum fascinating.
If possible, he wanted to bring Gollum back to the Lonely Mountain as well.
If he chose to steal the One Ring directly, bringing Gollum along would likely become impossible.
He needed a better plan.
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The secondary objective was the goblins.
Yes—he wanted to bring them to the Lonely Mountain too.
Admittedly, goblins were small, ugly, and individually weak.
But their numbers were terrifying—and their reproductive rate was probably absurdly fast.
Those two traits alone made them valuable.
Even setting aside all other uses, just as expendable front-line forces, they were worth the effort.
Smaug imagined it—
Whether the Dwarves attacked the Lonely Mountain, or Sauron's Orc armies came crashing in… tens of thousands of goblins bursting from underground like a black tide, surging toward the enemy.
Heh.
Could ants really not devour an elephant?
Flying onward, Smaug pictured the scene and grinned.
"Thrilling."
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The Misty Mountains.
Within the Goblin Kingdom, life went on as usual.
Countless goblins were busy—digging tunnels, mining ore, constructing dwellings. The place was bustling.
Outside the main entrance of the kingdom, Smaug—still in the form of a great eagle—landed, swaggered into the cave, and, following the route remembered from the original tale, located the hidden mechanism.
With a powerful kick—
The rotating door flipped open.
Smaug was forced into a brief drop, then quickly adjusted his posture, folding and spreading his wings as he descended.
The passage was long and twisted.
He flew for over a minute before finally emerging.
At once—
Bathed in countless flickering flames, the Goblin Kingdom unfolded almost entirely before his eyes.
Smaug landed and did not move right away, calmly surveying the scene.
It had to be said—
From a certain perspective, the kingdom was truly magnificent, even awe-inspiring.
He even felt it looked far better than Erebor, the Dwarven kingdom beneath the Lonely Mountain.
After taking it all in, Smaug beat his wings and flew straight toward the Goblin King below—
The Goblin King was enormous, grotesquely obese, and unbelievably ugly—impossible to miss.
Whoosh—whoosh—
He had flown less than two seconds when—
Suddenly, a shrill whistle rang out from somewhere unknown.
Then another.
And another.
In an instant, the whistles multiplied, overlapping with piercing shouts.
"An eagle has broken in!"
"Attack!"
Arrows—thin and crude—shot toward Smaug in volleys. At the same time, goblins poured out from every direction, swarming wildly.
In his eagle form, Smaug's body was nowhere near as durable as his dragon body. With no other choice, he dove sharply and landed atop a jagged, spike-like rock formation.
Those rickety wooden bridges would never support his true form.
The moment he touched down, Smaug transformed back into his dragon body and bellowed,
"Goblin King—is this how you treat a guest?"
Naturally, his tone was imperious.
After all, he was Smaug the Terrible.
The instant his voice echoed through the cavern, the goblins charging from all sides instinctively froze—
And then chaos followed.
Those running too fast and stopping too suddenly crashed into one another. Wave after wave of goblins toppled over, and quite a few unlucky ones were shoved straight off the paths, tumbling into the tunnels below.
Watching this, Smaug thought calmly,
Gollum's got dinner tonight.
The arrows stopped.
The next second—
The Goblin King, who had been lounging on his throne moments earlier, thinking this was nothing more than an intruding eagle, finally saw the dragon clearly.
Thud.
He sprang to his feet.
Terror flooded his face.
There was no helping it.
The Goblin King had been certain that Smaug—at his size—could never enter this place.
But now…
Smaug was here.
And if Smaug wished it, this entire kingdom—every tunnel, every bridge, every goblin—could be reduced to a sea of fire and ash.
In short—
Mother fxxk.
The kingdom is about to be wiped out!!!
How could the Goblin King not be terrified?
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After several agonizing seconds, the Goblin King blinked, barely managing to collect himself.
Then a crucial realization struck him.
Smaug had entered the Goblin Kingdom—
But he hadn't immediately attacked, the way he once destroyed Erebor.
What did that mean?
It meant… there was a chance.
A chance to talk.
Hope surged.
The grotesquely fat and hideous Goblin King gathered his courage and roared,
"All of you—STOP IT! Don't disturb our honored guest!"
Only after barking the order did he turn back to Smaug, his tone instantly drenched in flattery.
"Most noble Smaug, please forgive us. My subordinates failed to recognize that the eagle was… you."
"I see," Smaug chuckled. "Ignorance is no crime."
As soon as the words fell, Smaug transformed once more—shrinking back into eagle form—and flew toward the Goblin King.
Even though the Goblin King had just learned Smaug could shapeshift, witnessing it again still made his insides churn with shock.
In the blink of an eye, Eagle-Smaug landed about ten meters in front of him.
The Goblin King was considered large among goblins—but only by goblin standards.
Standing upright, Eagle-Smaug was just as tall as the bloated ruler.
Facing him, the Goblin King forcefully suppressed his panic and spoke again,
"May I ask… what brings the esteemed Smaug to such a humble place?"
"As long as it's within our power, we will comply."
This groveling, obsequious Goblin King was nothing like the tyrant who once mocked Thorin Oakenshield and his company.
They might as well have been two different kings.
Which just goes to show—
Overwhelming strength really is wonderful.
Isn't it?