The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth.

Chapter 18 The Splendor of That Arrow
"Caslo! Pass the word down to everyone to distract the dragon and create conditions for Bard."

"Oh, right! Tell the boys... they're very brave, take good care of yourselves." Roland stopped Caslo, who was about to leave, and gave him a worried reminder.

"Tell them to focus on attacking the lower left flank, where the scales are loose. Also, remember to tell them not to hold back, they must use the best Star Silver Steel Armor-Piercing Arrows!" Roland shouted, watching Caslo's retreating figure.

“To be honest… you don’t seem like a lord… you seem like an old lady with countless instructions to give.” Bard said, looking at Roland with a strange expression.

“As the last lord of Lagrange… I am responsible for my people!” Roland said firmly.

"But where exactly is Lagrange?" Bard couldn't help but ask curiously.

“In the far East…she has vanished…” Roland clearly did not want to continue this topic.

Seeing Roland's silence, Bard assumed it stirred up painful memories in him; he knew the pain of losing one's homeland. But Roland remained silent because he couldn't explain! Did you expect me to tell Bard: "Hey, buddy, the Lagrange Empire appeared in Middle-earth at the end of the Fourth Age, and its territory included all of Rune and most of Lovanian?"

"I hope your archery is accurate enough, otherwise... we'll have no choice but to cut him down!" Roland looked at Bard and drew his Dragon Slayer Sword.

"What is this?" Bard stared in amazement at the radiant Dragon Slayer Sword.

"An ancestral weapon... This sword has slain countless dragons, far surpassing anything a flying dragon like Smaug could do!" Roland looked at Bard with the same disdain one might show a country bumpkin.

“Let’s go! Let’s take the dwarven spear launcher off,” Roland suddenly said.

"Otherwise, how do you plan to use this thing? Throw it with your hand?" Roland pointed to the black arrow in Bard's hand.

……

"Hey!" Roland and Bard struggled to lower the dwarven spear launcher using ropes.

"Hide it well, don't let it get destroyed, or we'll have to run away." Roland patted the heavy crossbow with four bow arms.

……

"I am fire, I am—death!" The enraged Smaug flew toward Lake-town.

"The dragon is coming!" roared a Battanian archer on lookout.

"Fire!" several archers around shouted at the same time.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~" The Star Silver Steel Armor-Piercing Arrow whistled as it left the bowstring and hurtled toward the evil dragon.

"Clang! Clang! Sizzle!" Several armor-piercing arrows were deflected, with only one lucky one hitting the gap between Smaug's two scales.

"Roar! You damned ants! How dare you hurt me!" Smaug roared in fury. Even though the armor-piercing arrows, which were about a meter long, pierced through the dragon's hide, they couldn't penetrate to any vital organs. For the enormous dragon, it was like being pricked by a needle, but for Smaug, it was a great loss of face. After all, his proud defenses had been ruthlessly trampled by tiny human archers.

"Whoosh~" The scorching dragon breath swept over, and a pillar of fire tens of meters long descended upon them.

"Run!" Several archers jumped off the wooden building, some diving into the water and others disappearing into the alley.

"Fire!" Smaug skimmed over Lake-town, and a dozen or so marksmen along the way seized the opportunity to launch an attack.

"Roar!" Several more Star Silver Steel Armor-Piercing Arrows pierced through the hard dragon scales, but lost power and hung on the dragon's body less than three inches into the flesh.

"Damn it! Retreat! His skin is too thick! We can't shoot through it!" A Battanian archer waved to the archers on either side as he watched Smaug turn back to prepare for a dive.

"Boom!" No sooner had they left than a massive wave of dragon flames engulfed their location.

"My lord! This is too difficult to kill! Is this a dragon? This is even more shameless than a giant dragon!" Caslo returned looking disheveled. From the black spots on his armor, it was clear that the young man had just withstood a dragon's breath.

"Should I go up and take him down?" Caslo whispered.

"Do you think the two of you dragons are proportionally sized? Go up there and be targets?" Roland looked at him with the kind of pity one would give someone looking at a fool.

"Tell the brothers! Once the arrows have missed, we can retreat!" Roland ordered.

“Their presence will only cause more trouble; the armor-piercing arrows are too short…” Roland sighed helplessly as he looked at Smaug raging in the sky.

"Bard! Don't do anything reckless!" Seeing Bard pull out the heavy crossbow, Roland quickly pushed him back.

"Do you think now is the right time?" Roland grabbed him and yelled.

“We only have one shot! Bard!” Roland said emphatically.

“We must bring him down! Think of your ancestors! Only when he falls will we have a chance!” Roland sighed.

"Damn it!" Bard slammed his fist against the wall.

……

“Look what we’ve done!” Bill said angrily, looking at the burning town of Long Lake.

“Poor people…” Bahrain murmured.

Behind them, a group of dwarves sat slumped or leaned against the walls, their faces contorted in pain. The flames of Lake-town in the distance illuminated their faces. However, thanks to Roland, Lake-town was far better off than it had been in history; at least no one had perished in the dragon's breath.

Thorin was the only one facing the Lonely Mountain, seemingly lost in thought. Bilbo looked at Thorin, frowned, and remained silent.

……

"My arrows are empty!" A Battanian archer, frantically drawing his bow, instinctively reached into his quiver on his back to pull out arrows, only to find it empty. "I only have two left!"

"Mine is gone too!"

"I have 5 more here, let's share them!"

Such scenes were playing out throughout Changhu Town. Archers who had exhausted their arrows moved towards the outskirts of the town, pulling out small wooden boats that had been hidden in advance from various corners, and rowing into the lake under the cover of night.

"It seems the archers have basically run out of arrows..." Caslo said helplessly, looking at the increasingly sparse arrows in the sky.

Smaug continued to rage in the sky, arrogantly breathing wildly in all directions, his scalding dragonfire boiling the water in many of the town's waterways.

"My lord! The archers should all retreat!" Caslo found Roland and Bard.

Roland looked closely and saw that there were only three Battanian archers left behind Caslo; the others must have either left or perished in the dragon's breath...

"Bard! String the bow! Let's go and get Smaug's attention!" Roland patted Bard on the shoulder and led the group out of the alley.

At this moment, Smaug was riddled with hundreds of arrows, and the membranes on his wings were riddled with holes... Although he looked miserable, he was actually only suffering superficial wounds.

"Shoot him!" Roland ordered.

"Clang clang~" A crisp sound rang out on Smaug's scales. Smaug was immediately enraged by this rebellious force. He turned his head and pounced on Roland and the others.

"Boom!" He landed heavily, his heavy body crushing a row of houses. He angrily strode towards Roland and his group.

"Hey~"

"..." Several Battanian archers surrounded Roland and Caslo, firing arrows continuously. Suddenly, the archers stopped at the same time. They touched their empty quivers, reluctantly picked up their longbows, and drew their longswords or armor-piercing hammers.

"Whoosh!" Roland drew his Dragon Slayer Sword and stood with the others.

"Oh? Insignificant humans? You've lost your bows and arrows, what are you going to do now?" Smaug's vertical pupils revealed a mocking expression.

“These people are your entourage? I’m going to burn them to a crisp right in front of you!” Smaug snarled.

Roland quietly waved to Bard, who was hiding in the shadows, and Bard quietly launched the dwarven spear launcher. Smaug, who was walking over, was completely unaware that there was a tiny human beneath him aiming a black arrow at him!

Suddenly Bard noticed the missing scale under Smaug's left wing and was overjoyed. He immediately aimed the black arrow at the area under Smaug's left wing.

"For the glory of the Lords of Vale! For humanity! Die, Smaug!" Bard suddenly roared.

"Let's go!" Roland quickly led the others into the alley, as flames engulfed the spot where Roland and the others had just been standing.

"Whoosh!" The black arrow, flashing with a cold light, flew towards Smaug.

"Aww!" Smaug, who had been breathing heavily, suddenly fell silent.

"Agh!" A sharp pain shot through his heart, causing Smaug to struggle violently. He struggled to fly into the sky, but before he could flap his wings a few times, he crashed heavily back down with a mournful howl...

……

"He landed?" Billber looked at Laketown in the distance.

"I saw him fall with my own eyes!" Bahrain exclaimed excitedly.

"Smaug is dead!" the crowd cheered from the watchtower.

……

"Well done!" Roland emerged from the rubble, smiling as he patted Bard on the shoulder.

"He's dead?" Bud asked incredulously.

"You did it! You have restored your family's glory!" Roland praised.

"It's a pity that Changhu Town is destroyed..." Bard sighed as he looked at the raging fire.

"But at least the villagers are all safe, aren't they? As long as people are alive, everything will be alright!" Roland smiled and stepped onto a small boat.

"Want to come together?" Roland asked.

“Of course, wait for me!” Bard jumped up as well.

"Oh! I almost forgot! I have to make use of Smaug!" After letting everyone leave, Roland ran towards Smaug's corpse. He knew that such a large dragon could produce a lot of rare materials.

"Congratulations, host, on completing the storyline: The Battle of Smaug! Reward: Temple Priest*1."

Note: Priest ranks are divided into: Apprentice Priest, Priest, Temple Guardian Priest, High Priest, and the highest titled professional – Saint.

Second update! The Battle of the Five Armies is about to begin. Readers, please get your recommendation votes ready.

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(End of this chapter)