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

In the dimly lit dungeon, only the flickering torches of the soldiers illuminated the path ahead. The long-neglected Moria lay quietly in the misty mountains like a frail old man...

"Crisis averted!" Omsk walked back, leaning on his sword.

“I didn’t sense the Flame Demon’s presence, but there are traces of its existence here!” Omsk casually tossed the object in his hand to Caslo.

"What is this?" Caslo caught the thing Omsk threw at him and took a closer look.

"High-temperature crystals! Only a few magical beasts can meet the conditions for forming crystals! The Flame Demon is one of them!" Omsk patted the dust off his hands.

"The places it passed through were cooled and solidified by molten rock, and there was a road paved with crystal in that square just now!" Omske shrugged.

“This is a good thing! It must be a very good alchemical ingredient, right?” Roland said, taking the so-called crystal and examining it closely.

The fist-sized crystal was dark red and translucent. When a light shone through it, it seemed as if magma was flowing within it, making it quite beautiful! With some processing, it would have been a luxury item that the wealthy would have been willing to spend a fortune to buy on Earth in the past.

"Hmm, not bad material! Strictly speaking, it's a high-grade material that comes with magical beasts. It can be processed into fire resistance potions or fire-type buff items, etc. However, the dwarves don't have any alchemists now." Balin shook his head regretfully.

"I remember you have alchemists, King Roland?" Balin asked, looking at Roland.

"Yes, there is one!" Roland hesitated for a second, but finally admitted it, since it couldn't be hidden any longer.

“That’s great! Now we can put these things to good use! You can take whatever you want when you leave, and we’ll mine the rest and exchange it for some potions with you,” Balin said sincerely. Even if the dwarves mined these things, they could only sell them to alchemists. It was better to exchange them with the Kingdom of Lagrang in the north than to deal with unfamiliar southern humans.

"No problem, whatever potions you need, we can trade with anything we have!" Roland immediately agreed. He had long been worried about the trade of the Kingdom of Lagrang. Currently, trade in the North consisted mainly of a few small city-states near Lonely Mountain. Roland had always hoped to expand trade routes throughout Middle-earth, because if you wanted to make money quickly, you had to do business. The development of the Kingdom of Lagrang still depended on trade. After all, the kingdom could craft magical equipment and high-level alchemical items, which were Roland's current advantages. Moreover, once Saruman turned to the dark side, there would be one less formidable rival competing for business. (As everyone knows, Saruman was not only a wizard but also an alchemist; the world-renowned Orcs were created by the alchemical genius, Lord Saruman.)
"Let's go to that square first!" After waiting for a while and finding no movement, Roland and his group immediately set off again.

……

"Good heavens! This fire demon climbed up from below!" Caslo followed the traces of the stone crystals to the edge of a cliff. Because of the angle, he was on the stone steps and no one had seen him before.

"It seems the road isn't going to be a problem for it!" Balin said somewhat gloomily, after all, the ability to climb rocks proved that this Balrog had a terrifying range of activity! Anywhere could become its potential habitat.

"Be careful!" Roland glanced at the group who were studying the crystal passages. In the system space that Roland couldn't see, the petrified dragon egg was quietly absorbing the wisps of fire energy floating on the crystal vein.

“It looks like there are quite a few of these crystals!” Roland said, looking at the crystal markings extending toward the hall.

“This Balrog isn’t asleep! It should have already awakened. Look, the crystal path here has several branches! That means it’s traveled back and forth here several times!” Omsk carefully observed this and explained to Roland.

“Where is that? Bahrain?” Roland crouched down and asked slowly.

“Below? Below is the residential area derived from the Fourth Hall!” Balin said after a moment of thought. “I hope you’re not mistaken! We have to go around here! It’s too open here; if the Balrog attacks, our fate will be unimaginable!” Roland quickly stood up and ordered.

"Enter the hall! Eliminate all enemies!" Roland drew his Dragon Slayer Sword and pointed it forward.

"Whoosh~" Suddenly a whooshing sound came from the dome.

"Bang!" A stalagmite several meters long fell from the sky. The huge impact upon landing shattered it, and fist-sized rocks flew out like raindrops!

"Orcs! There are orcs above us! They're destroying the rock!" The Lordaeron ranger spotted the enemy with his amazing eyesight.

"Everyone, quickly move through the plaza and into the hall! Heavy units, raise your shields! Protect the Rangers!" Caslo drew his Dragon Lance and hurled a falling stalagmite.

"Go! Hurry!" Balin urged the dwarf beside him, never expecting that the stalagmites from the dome would become deadly weapons attacking them!

"Bang!" Roland, with the divine artifact Elial on his head, was hit squarely by a stalagmite over a meter long! His knees buckled and he almost knelt on the ground.

"Bahrain! Can you please clean up these dangerous items in the future?!" Roland quickly stood up straight, ran, and complained to Bahrain.

"Roar!" Suddenly, the Smurfs flew out, and streams of dazzling dragon power condensed in the air, outlining complex dragon language. The next second, a semi-circular barrier appeared on the square, enveloping the entire square.

"Are you all idiots? You don't know how to use such a powerful dragon rider? When did the wind dragon become so shameful?" The blue elf looked at these people begging with golden bowls in their hands, puzzled. They could have just let the wind dragon come out and set up a dragon barrier so it could slowly enter the hall. Why did they have to use their bodies to withstand it?
"..." Roland turned his head to look at Caslo, his gaze revealing his desire to kill someone.

“I forgot…” Caslo touched his helmet somewhat awkwardly. After all, most caves were small and the dragons’ pressure was too great. Caslo had never thought of summoning his dragon mount before encountering the Balrog.

"Well done!" Roland patted his shoulder irritably and entered the fourth hall with a dark face.

"What noble creatures! What great power!" Balin exclaimed sincerely as he looked at the petite Smurfs. The dragon race was truly a terrifying and powerful race.

“Let’s go, Bahrain! Let’s go see what’s going on inside!” Roland stopped and said to Bahrain.

Ignoring the destruction caused by the orcs and goblins overhead, the atmosphere in the group immediately relaxed. After all, the Dragon Barrier was not something these small fry could destroy.

"Did you notice anything?" Roland asked with a smile.

“We’re not far from the Balrog!” Balin replied with a wry smile.

“There are no traces of orcs or goblins here! They must have been intimidated by the Balrog’s power and left this area! After all, the Balrog’s aura is too strong here!” Roland casually picked up a crystal, weighed it in his hand, and laughed.