Chapter 283: Fight for the King, Capture the King First
Buzz~
As the horn sounded, a golden bell smashed through the gates of Erebor's city walls, and Thorin, with twelve Dwarves, fought their way out of the battlefield.
After reclaiming the Lonely Mountain, Thorin was the King of the Dwarves, and their morale instantly surged.
Fighting alongside the King, even sacrifice was glorious, and the soldiers made way for them.
"For the King! For the King!" Dáin shouted, following close behind Thorin, and his Ironfoot Army also charged forward, fearless of death.
The high-spirited Dwarves, in a wedge formation, plunged directly into the Orc army.
Although the Orcs outnumbered them, every Dwarf displayed a fearless spirit, bravely fighting the enemy.
Bilbo of Riverrun, watching the battle outside the city, called Gandalf over with some surprise, "It's the Dwarves! They're fighting back!"
"They fight for the King," Gandalf was also deeply relieved; Thorin had finally climbed out of his obsession with gold.
With the King personally on the battlefield, the soldiers were naturally full of fighting spirit.
Swoosh!
The thought form apparated in front of the two.
"This advantage is only temporary; the number of Orcs is too great."
"Where have you been?" Bilbo asked.
"I helped Bain send the old, weak, women, and children of Lake-town to the church, and while I was there, I set up a layer of illusion.
That took me quite some time."
"Illusion?" Gandalf was startled for a moment.
"The me on that Ice Dragon was also an illusion, wasn't it?"
"Otherwise?" The thought form spread his hands, ignoring the dark lines on Gandalf's face.
"I just had him say a few words, and the morale was stirred up."
Hearing this, Gandalf almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.
But he couldn't fault Aaron; at least Aaron had a firm grasp on right and wrong.
"Oh, right, I almost forgot if you hadn't mentioned it," the thought form looked at Gandalf with a hint of embarrassment.
"The illusion before said the time for a counterattack would come soon, and now it's time."
Gandalf's eyes twitched slightly.
He knew what Aaron meant and wanted to stop him, but the words turned into a silent sigh.
"Do as you wish!
My old face is still worth a few coins."
"Generous," the thought form gave a thumbs-up, then decisively contacted his main body.
After playing a BGM exclusive to the Dwarves, Aaron was about to leave the city to help when he received a message from the thought form.
He looked up at the Ice Dragon tearing a giant beast in half, silently apologized to Gandalf in his heart, and then decisively transformed into an illusion of Gandalf, standing on the Ice Dragon's back.
Roar!
The heavily wounded Ice Dragon roared skyward, flying from a slightly more remote part of the battlefield to above Erebor.
The illusory Gandalf loudly declared that the horn of counterattack had sounded, calling on everyone to take up arms, kill the evil Orcs, and defend their homeland.
After shouting, the illusion disappeared again, but the Ice Dragon did not leave with it.
Instead, it spread its broken wings, revealing its length of over ten meters, and charged rapidly towards an Orcformation below.
Boom!
A violent impact, mixed with the screams of countless Orcs, echoed across the battlefield.
Hundreds of Orcs were crushed into minced meat, and the Ice Dragon, completely overwhelmed, shattered into large and small pieces of ice.
At the same time, the Lake-town residents, who had just repelled a wave of Orcs, also heard Gandalf's voice, felt greatly encouraged, and all looked at their leader, Bard.
To fight or not to fight, it's up to your word, of course, we are inclined to fight.
Bard also knew that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and he immediately made up his mind.
"Those who are willing to fight to the end, follow me!"
The people of Lake-town immediately followed, this time taking the initiative to attack and engage the Orc army in fierce street fighting.
The old, weak, women, and children in the church also picked up weapons and farm tools, ready to live and die with their families; even Tilda, who was less than ten years old, stood up.
Only Alfred, cowering, dared not go to the battlefield, for which he even disguised himself as an old woman.
However, his disguise was unconvincing and was easily discovered by others.
They ignored the coward, giving him a disdainful look, and calmly walked out of the illusion's coverage.
Gandalf, who was fighting the Orcs, also noticed the townspeople rising up in counterattack, even showing signs of driving the Orcs out of Riverrun, and unexpectedly murmured, "Perhaps we really can win."
"Of course," the thought form quipped.
"You've staked your reputation, old man; we can't lose."
Gandalf:...Look, is that even human speech?
On the battlefield outside the city, with the King's participation, the Dwarves could barely contend with an Orc army several times their size, and the thirteen Dwarves of the expeditionary party fully demonstrated their combat prowess.
Working together, a few of them could even take down a siege beast in a short time.
Bombur, with his size advantage, continuously knocked down several Orcs like a human cannonball, but after a crushing blow, he needed companions to help him get back up.
At this moment, another giant beast controlled by the Orcs swung a meteor hammer, frantically harvesting Dwarf warriors.
Seeing this, Aaron decisively threw a Diffindo spell, killing the Orc on its back.
Then he jumped onto the giant beast's back, controlling it to inflict devastating blows on the surrounding Orcs.
Dáin met his cousin during the battle, helped him deal with a few Orc soldiers, and said, "I say, brother, what took you so long?"
Thorin offered no explanation, simply resolving all doubts with a big hug.
"There are too many ugly creatures here, Thorin, I hope you have a winning strategy."
Thorin looked towards Ravenhill in the distance, and a plan immediately formed in his mind.
"Alright, let's go for the 'catch the leader first' approach."
"Azog," Dáin suddenly understood.
"No, Thorin, you are the King.
If anything happens to you, we will instantly lose morale."
"No one is more suitable than me, Dáin," Thorin smiled freely, then mounted a goat.
"But are you planning to go alone?
You'll be intercepted by Orcs before you even reach Ravenhill."
As soon as his voice fell, Fili, Kili, and Dwalin arrived in a large war chariot built by the Dwarves, pulled by several sturdy goats, ensuring plenty of power.
"I haven't driven one of these in a while," Balin was excited but also a little nervous, as "a while" for him meant at least several decades.
"Gaius!" Thorin shouted on the battlefield.
Aaron heard the sound, controlled the giant beast to walk over.
"Looking for me?"
"I intend to kill Azog; I need your help."
Aaron pondered for a moment.
"This is indeed the fastest way to win this war, but it's very dangerous; we'll have to fight our way from the foot of the mountain to the peak, so..."
"So what?"
"The price," Aaron said bluntly.
"I need compensation: white gems.
This is what I promised Thranduil."
"No problem, the Elves have made too many sacrifices for this battle; they deserve it."
"Then the contract is made," Aaron chuckled, jumping onto the Dwarf war chariot.
"Charge! To Ravenhill!"
"Everyone, hold on tight!"
"You crazy fellows," Dáin shook his head.
"I like it."
On the war chariot, Kili sharpened his knife with the high-speed rotating wheel hub, rushing into the enemy ranks, while Dwalin continuously shot crossbow bolts to clear obstacles for Thorin.
This war chariot became a reaper; wherever it went, Orclimbs and severed arms splattered everywhere.
Azog also noticed them and immediately ordered a wave of Trolls to intercept them.
The giant beasts, armed with clubs, charged menacingly towards the war chariot.
"Leave it to me! Dragon's... Roar!" Aaron took a deep breath and exhaled a fierce Dragonfire.
The flames completely engulfed the six charging Trolls, leaving behind six well-done charred bodies, and the war chariot rolled over them without any hindrance.
"That's amazing!" Kili shouted excitedly.
"You can even breathe fire!"
"Keep it down, keep it down; I don't want too many people to know about this ability," Aaron waved his hand awkwardly, indicating it was just basic operation.
At this moment, another armored giant beast suddenly attacked them.
Balin immediately changed direction, narrowly dodging the blade and axe in its hand, but the war chariot was forced onto the frozen river.
In a hurry, Dwalin reloaded the war chariot and loaded a box of crossbow bolts, but the ferocious giant beast still pursued relentlessly.
It roared and jumped into the river, chasing madly, and the ice behind the war chariot continuously cracked.
"Damn it!" Aaron decisively drew his wand.
"Diffindo!"
A pale white light struck the giant beast, and its body instantly disintegrated, leaving a few fragments of armor on the broken ice.
"This is too exaggerated!" Fili laughed loudly.
"I still think breathing fire is more impressive," Kili said.
"My magic is limited; you should be content with achieving this much."
"Guys, look ahead, we need to figure out how to deal with them," Balin reminded.
The others looked ahead and saw a giant beast carrying a wooden bridge, sending over a dozen Orcs across the river.
The ice ahead had already been damaged by the giant beast, and a large section of the path had turned into cold river water.
"I'll do it," Aaron volunteered, first killing the giant beast with a Diffindo spell, then using Transfiguration to clear the path for the war chariot, while the Orcs on the wooden bridge were shot one by one by Dwalin's crossbow bolts.
Just as they escaped danger, they were suddenly attacked by Wargs.
Before they could react, two of the running goats were dragged away, becoming lunch for the Wargs.
At the same time, two Warg riders attacked them from the front and back of the war chariot.
Dwalin shot one dead, and the Orcs behind were slain by Kili, but during this time, another goat was snatched away by a Warg.
The number of goats was halved, and their speed naturally decreased by half, but a pack of Wargs was still closing in from behind.
"You go first; I'll stay behind to cover," Balin said.
"You'll be faster on the goats."
"Can you hold them off alone?" Aaron asked with some concern.
"There aren't just Wargs here, but Warg riders too."
"Leave the crossbow bolts for me; after all, I'm a warrior," Balin shrugged.
"Though I'm a bit old, they can't kill me.
Besides, Thorin needs help, and if we don't abandon the war chariot, we won't be able to reach Ravenhill in time."
"Understood," Aaron nodded, casting a Shield Charm on Dwalin.
"In a crisis, it might save you once."