Chapter 267 The Most Valuable Dragon in History - Golden Smaug
"Well done, Gaius." Thorin patted Aaron's arm, then looked at the others.
"Bombur, make the fire fiercer."
Bombur immediately jumped to the empty space in front of the furnace and pulled the chain.
The blower started, blowing air into the furnace, and the flames turned a light blue.
"Bilbo, over there, listen to my command and pull that switch."
Bilbo, following Thorin's direction, climbed to the switch of the water wheel, poised and ready.
"Balin, can you still mix Incendio?"
"Yes, it will only take a moment." Balin immediately took two Dwarves into the storeroom at the back, where he had all the materials he needed.
At this moment, Smaug crawled out of the mine and discovered the group in the smelting chamber; the huge iron door was quickly torn open by his sharp claws.
"We're running out of time," Dwalin murmured.
"I'll buy some time," Aaron volunteered, "but not much."
Thorin nodded. "Everyone else, prepare to provide support."
Aaron took a deep breath, walked to the huge iron gate, and gave Smaug a big smile.
"Wizard," Smaug sneered, looking at him. "Not Grey, not Brown, not White, nor Blue. What exactly are you?"
"Aaron Gaius," Aaron simply bowed. "Just an unremarkable Archmage, no, my power isn't complete right now, so I might not even count as a Archmage."
"Unique, Dragon Speaker Gaius.
You possess greater potential than those five Wizards; surpassing them is only a matter of time."
"I think so too."
"No, you don't understand what I mean." Smaug's tone was seductive. "You can become the strongest Wizard; there's no need to help these despicable Dwarves.
The combined might of a Dragon and a Dragon Speaker, no one can resist. You can become a great King, a true overlord.
Humans, Elves, and Dwarves alike will revere you, and even that Necromancer will have to show you some respect."
As his words fell, everyone, including Balin who was mixing Incendio, looked at Aaron in astonishment.
No one could have imagined he possessed such potential, and even less that he would make the Dragon express such rare goodwill. But what concerned everyone more was whether Aaron could resist such temptation.
Although Aaron's performance throughout this journey had been incredibly mature, leaving no room for criticism, it was undeniable that he was only in his teens. What if a child threw a tantrum?
"Pfft! Hahaha~"
Aaron couldn't help but cover his stomach and laugh. "Interesting, too interesting.
If you had offered me some other grand vision, I might have agreed, but when I left home, my elders specifically warned me never to harbor thoughts of domination, or I would be disowned by my family.
Are you trying to make me homeless? Or do you want me to be forsaken by all?"
Smaug:... Everyone:... "Then there's nothing to discuss." Smaug shook his head. "What a pity, you've made a wrong decision."
Bang!
Smaug slammed the iron door with even greater force.
"Protego." Aaron cast a Shield Charm on himself, then began to draw a magic circle.
A brownish-yellow starburst appeared in mid-air, adhering to the iron gate.
The circular magic circle slowly rotated, mobilizing earth elements to reinforce the iron gate, coating it with a thick layer of rock.
Smaug sneered, turned his head, and spewed out fierce flames.
"Roar!"
The magic circle only lasted for a second before shattering.
Aaron immediately drew an intermediate defensive magiccircle in front of him, and with the added defense of the Shield Charm, he barely managed to block the aftershocks of the Dragon's flame.
Even so, he was blown back more than ten meters by the flames before stopping.
"As expected, intermediate magic circles are unreliable." Aaron dusted himself off and stood up, looking a bit disheveled.
"You are too weak now; you can't even block one of my sneezes." Smaug mocked, violently tearing open the iron gate and entering the smelting chamber.
Aaron slowly retreated, but Smaug pressed closer, his abdomen turning crimson.
"It's over, young Dragon Speaker."
"Here!" Thorin suddenly roared.
Smaug instinctively looked at him. "Oakenshield, I'll deal with you first."
"Pull."
Hearing this word, Bilbo immediately jumped up and pulled the switch.
Large streams of water shot out from the mouths of several stone statues on the wall, hitting Smaug directly and extinguishing the flames in his chest cavity.
White steam emanated from Smaug's body, making him very uncomfortable, and he twisted his body restlessly.
Recovering, Smaug looked coldly at Thorin and slowly moved towards him.
Bombur pulled the blower chain with all his might; blue flames blazed, and the gold ore in the furnace was completely melted.
Balin and the others also ran out of the storeroom; they distributed the prepared Incendio to the other Dwarves.
Incendio struck Smaug, emitting a strong light like a flashbang, but it couldn't attract his attention at all.
Aaron looked up at the rows of mine carts hanging above and decisively cast several spells. The ore-laden mine carts, along with their cables, barely managed to impede Smaug's steps.
As he shook off the ropes, Thorin immediately pulled an iron chain, and several furnaces simultaneously opened a gap. Golden molten gold flowed out along the channels, quickly converging and moving in one direction.
"Lead him to the Hall of Kings!" Thorin shouted, then pushed a mine cart and jumped into the scalding golden liquid, paddling like a boat into a low tunnel.
The other Dwarves also dispersed, heading towards the Hall of Kings.
Aaron was about to leave when he heard Bilbo's cry.
Smaug's action of shaking off the ropes happened to smash the spot where he stood, causing him to fall directly to the ground without even needing to descend the steps.
As soon as Bilbo looked up, his gaze met Smaug next to the furnace.
Before he could react, Aaron ran to his side, pulled him up, and jumped down a slope, dodging the sharp claws.
"Run, don't stop," Aaron said.
Bilbo followed closely behind him. As the two just reached the Hall of Kings, a roar came from behind; Smaug had directly broken through the wall.
Left with no choice, Aaron pulled the Hobbit behind him and hid behind a pillar.
"Do you think you can fool me?
You are from Lake-town. This is a conspiracy hatched by vile Dwarves and miserable Lake-towners.
Those crying cowards with longbows and Black Arrows, perhaps I should pay them a visit." Smaug said, preparing to leave, intending to destroy Lake-town first.
Hearing this, Aaron frowned.
Although he didn't know why Smaug guessed so accurately, this didn't conflict with his original plan. However, before that, he had to weaken his combat power as much as possible, or at least injure him.
"It's not their fault!" Bilbo jumped out directly. "Wait, you can't go to Lake-town!"
Slap!
Aaron slapped his forehead in exasperation and followed him out, lest he be burned to ashes by Smaug's Dragonbreath.
"You care about them, don't you!" Smaug turned around meaningfully. "Then watch them die!"
"Wait." Aaron sighed. "If you go to Lake-town, you will die."
Bilbo rolled his eyes. This was certainly useless; Smaugwouldn't believe it.
Sure enough, the next moment Smaug burst into laughter. "You think saying that will scare me? I will make the humans there feel what disaster is again."
"Here!" Thorin shouted from atop a giant statue. "You ignorant fool, I'm taking back what you stole."
"You won't take anything back, Dwarf." Smaug slowly approached. "I defeated your elder warriors, planted fear in the hearts of men; I am the King Under the Mountain."
"This is not your kingdom, this is Dwarf land, this is Dwarf gold.
We will have our revenge." Thorin shouted, pulling the chain beside him. "Come out!"
The other Dwarves behind the stone statue simultaneously pulled the chains in their hands. The locks on the statue fell off one by one, and the rock surface quickly shattered.
A huge golden statue appeared before Smaug's eyes. It was an image of Thorin's grandfather, Thror, cast from freshly molten gold.
Smaug looked at this golden statue, which stood shoulder to shoulder with him. The dazzling golden light made his eyes hazy, and he involuntarily drew closer, wishing he could press himself against it.
Bang ~ bang ~ bang ~
Just as he was admiring it, the eyes of the golden statue suddenly burst open, spewing out scalding golden liquid.
Smaug was stunned for a moment, and before he could react to what was happening, other parts of the Thror gold statue also burst.
An entire golden statue melted completely in a matter of seconds. The scalding golden liquid splashed onto Smaug, submerging him in the blink of an eye.
Smaug let out a cry of Pain!, struggling for a while, then sank into the scalding golden liquid that filled the entire hall.
Thorin's face broke into an excited smile. What if Smaug's scales were impervious to weapons? The golden pool below was at least a thousand degrees; he didn't believe it wouldn't scald him to death.
"Did it work?" Bilbo asked in a low voice.
"No," Aaron said with a solemn expression. "There's still a heartbeat in the pool; Smaug is alive."
The next moment, Smaug roared and burst out. His body was as if plated with a layer of gold, without the slightest omission.
"This is absolutely the most valuable Dragon in history, bar none." Aaron looked at the golden Smaug in shock, never imagining a Dragon could be so brilliant.
"Revenge, revenge, I will show you what revenge is." Smaugdragged his golden body out of the main entrance, leaving a trail of golden liquid.
Thorin watched Smaug leave in disbelief, a sense of powerlessness instantly spreading through his entire body.
Smashing through the city gate, the Dragon soared into the sky, circling a few times in mid-air, shaking off the golden liquid from his body, and flying towards Lake-town.
"What have we done?" Bilbo murmured, filled with endless regret. Perhaps they shouldn't have disturbed the Dragon's long slumber.
"The prophecy is about to come true." Aaron patted Bilbo's shoulder. "Lake-town will be devastated."
"It's our fault," Bilbo said, his eyes vacant.
"This day would have come without us," Aaron said in a deep voice. "Bard gave those townspeople a choice, but without exception, they chose gold. Now it's time to pay for their greed."