From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 284 Raid
"Gandalf!" Bilbo's voice was heard when Ivy and Gandalf walked out of the throne room together.

The hobbit stepped out of the darkness, kicking his large hairy feet, and greeted the two wizards with a big smile on his face.

"I heard it all! Thorin will definitely get rid of his dragon disease." Bilbo looked up at Ivy, "I knew it was the right thing to leave it to you."

"Something seems to have happened that I don't understand?" Gandalf's eyes flickered between Ivy and Bilbo. "May I have the honor of listening?"

"Oh," Ivy replied nonchalantly, "it's no big deal. Bilbo gave me the Arkenstone."

Gandalf quickly looked back and found that there was really no one around them, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

"So the Arkenstone has never been destroyed? You don't have any magic to go back to the past?" Gandalf patted his chest. "I really don't know how you came up with this idea... I think Thorin will definitely take action. Maybe I should learn from you how to give advice to kings and lords."

"It's very simple. You only need to remember three points: persuade them with reason, appeal to their emotions, and lure them with benefits." Ivy did not answer Gandalf's first question, but continued to walk outside.

[Dazzling Warlock] will obtain the first ninth-ring spell slot when it is upgraded to level 17, and can learn a ninth-ring spell. Therefore, Ivy at level 19 has learned a total of three ninth-ring spells. In addition to the required wish spell, one of them is a super transformation magic that can take effect on time, time stop.

"Well, it's really brief and profound..." Gandalf thought about it, "Where did you learn this knowledge from?"

"I'm a wizard, Gandalf." Ivy invited Bilbo. "The food of humans and elves is pretty good. At least it's more pleasant than eating dry food. Do you want to come to Dale for dinner?"

The hobbit touched his belly and said with shining eyes, "Why not? Can I bring some for Thorin and the others?"

"I think Bud would be happy to give you a wagon to carry your goods."

----

Ivy's persuasion was successful, or rather, Thorin's desire for the Arkenstone exceeded his desire for gold and other jewels.

The old dwarf Balin and his brothers sent a cart of gold, including the starlight white gem necklace that Thranduil had requested.

Because Smaug was still blocking the gate of Lonely Mountain, the dwarves had to transport the gold out bit by bit.

"You really can do magic, right?" Thranduil stared at the necklace in his hand. "This is the necklace I ordered for my deceased wife, but I didn't expect the dwarves to take the gold but not deliver the goods. I have never seen a dwarf who has fallen into dragon disease choose to cede his treasure. You are really eye-opening, wizard."

"I hope my magic will continue to work." Ivy skipped the topic and asked about the war information. "Have your scouts returned? Have they found any traces of the orcs?"

Thranduil put the Starlight White Gem Necklace close to his body, shook his head and replied: "I sent out three different groups of scouts to explore at different distances. Now the group closest to the target location has returned. They found nothing. There is no sign of orcs marching."

"That means we still have some time to prepare." Ivy nodded. He had no doubt that the orcs' target was Lonely Mountain, but they had not appeared yet, which meant that their marching speed was not as fast as he imagined.

"Our plan is to defend and counterattack, taking advantage of the enemy's weakness that they cannot attack Lonely Mountain and Riverdale at the same time, creating gaps in their defense, and then defeating them. So we must not be the first to reveal a flaw in the war." Ivy drew a circle on the map, "We need more supplies, this may turn into a war of endurance..."

“This is not going to be a battle of endurance.”

Someone opened the tent door and walked in.

This is the tent of the King of the Woods. The guards at the door are not for show, so only the king's relatives can break in during a war meeting.

Legolas.

"King. Wizard." Legolas greeted the men in the tent who were attending the war meeting. "Mithrandir. And--"

"Balin. War advisor to the King under the Mountain." The bearded dwarf introduced himself. Ivy had not heard of this title when he returned the jewel necklace just now. It must have been made up on the spot.

"So we are allied with the dwarves now?" Legolas looked at his father.

Thranduil nodded reservedly.

"This is exactly what we need now." Legolas's expression was not surprised at all. "I found another army of orcs. They set out from the fortress on Mount Gundabad and mobilized almost all the orcs, ogres and war weapons in the fortress. There were even evil bats following them all the way."

"Mount Gundabad?" Thranduil stood up from his chair. "That is the stronghold of the northern orcs. We fought a great battle with them a century ago."

"It is a long way from the Lonely Mountain. How did you make the round trip in such a short time, Legolas?" Gandalf stood up from his chair and shook hands with Legolas.

"This is all thanks to the wizard's mount. She is very loyal and doesn't like me riding on her back. But she also knows the priorities of things. She took me through the dense forest and went to the orc fortress of Gundabad Mountain. Can you believe that a horse can climb a mountain? And she can actually step on the water flow. I returned from Gundabad Mountain by going down the dense forest river. The water flow made us go much faster, otherwise we would still be outside the Mirkwood now." When talking about the golden horn, Legolas talked endlessly, as if it was natural. All elves like unicorns, and of course unicorns like elves too. "Well done, son." Thranduil smiled, "Now that we know about the war preparations of the orcs, we are more confident of winning this war."

"I need a horse," Balin said suddenly, "or a goat or something."

"For what?" Thranduil looked down at him. Apart from Ivy's spells, he was the only one who could provide a mount.

"I will follow the direction of the Iron Hill dwarves' march and tell them about the enemy we will face next." Balin explained, "Dain has a stubborn temper, very stubborn, and he doesn't like elves. If he refuses to obey Thorin's orders... Although I don't think that will happen, we must at least be prepared. Besides, Dain's Ironfoot Army will be marching quickly, they will need camps, tents and supplies."

"It's a reasonable request. The tents you need will be set up tonight, and the supply carts will be left in front of the gate of Lonely Mountain." Thranduil agreed to Balin's request, and then concluded, "Just as the wizard planned in advance, we will use the plain from Dale City to Lonely Mountain as the main battlefield. If the enemy does not plan to attack our base camp outside the city, they will definitely launch a siege. At that time, the party that is not attacked only needs to go to support, and victory will be easy to obtain."

Everyone had a smile on their face, even Legolas who witnessed the huge number of orcs in Mount Gundabad.

----

However, accidents always come before tomorrow.

When Balin, riding a goat, crossed the ridgeline.

There were many muffled noises coming from outside the city. It was the ground shaking. Ivy had no idea what else could cause such a large-scale vibration other than the effects of spells.

The rubble on the hillside kept rolling down due to the vibration, and the vibration became stronger and stronger until the ground exploded due to the vibration. As Ivy knew, this plain was full of hardened soil and rocks. Now these things that made up the ground flew into the air, and abnormally large worms drilled out of the ground.

"Earthworms!" Gandalf, who had already climbed onto the city wall, suddenly realized and shouted, "No wonder the scouts we sent out didn't find the Orc army from Dol Guldur. They are actually hiding underground and marching! We need to form a battle line quickly!"

These huge worms have shovel-shaped teeth as sharp as those of tunnel boring machines. Their tubular bodies survive only by swallowing soil. To be honest, they are like earthworms that have been magnified countless times.

The earth-eating worm stuck its head out and swept away all the rocks near the cave exit, then drilled back into the cave, leaving behind only a bottomless cave with a terrifying diameter.

The flat hillside was riddled with holes from the horrible worms, and then a large army of orcs poured out like a black turbid stream. These orcs were all wearing heavy armor, iron helmets, and holding standard weapons more than three meters long. They were the same army that Ivy had seen outside the ancient capital of Dol.

The elves wearing golden armor and gorgeous golden helmets also began to line up in the open space in front of the Valley City. The elves' good military training prevented them from getting thrown into chaos by the sudden appearance of the enemy. Although they were at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers, the Silvan elves still assembled at a rapid speed. They did not utter any curses or shouts, but silently formed a huge square formation.

The front row of the Elf Phalanx was composed of heavy infantry armed with giant shields and spears, while the back row was composed of ranged troops using longbows as tall as a man. During the process of arranging the array, these exaggerated weapons did not collide at all, which was completely synonymous with order and efficiency.

On the other hand, the Orcs' vanguard had not yet assembled. The reason was that there were simply too many of them. They were like several nests of ants rushing out of their nests. The large soldier ants in the middle were ogres or giants. They were either wearing heavy armor or had become mobile siege weapons, with ballistas and catapults behind them.

"We can't wait for them to gather!" Ivy had already arrived at the front of the position on Golden Horn, and beside him was Thranduil who was also riding an elk.

"There are too many of them! Once we retreat to the city, Lonely Mountain will be completely isolated and helpless!" Thranduil frowned, his long white hair draped over his silver armor, making him particularly conspicuous on the battlefield.

"That's why we have to move forward!" Ivy quickly spoke of her plan. "I will cast a spell to collapse their tunnels, and focus on killing the ogres carrying siege weapons! We must defeat them here, otherwise Dain's Iron Hills dwarves will have no place to stay! Dale City, which has become an isolated city, cannot be dragged on!"

Thranduil stared at the orcs' vanguard that was about to gather and nodded heavily: "We will follow you, wizard."

Having received the promise, Ivy took the lead and was the first to increase the speed of the golden unicorn. Even though it carried Legolas all the way from Mount Gundabad, the golden unicorn had not completely exhausted its strength.

The high-speed charging Golden Horn turned into a golden lightning and went straight to the center of the Orc army.

Ivy had already chosen the specialty of [Mounted Casting], so he was able to cast spells while riding on the back of the golden horn at full speed. The first spell he chose was the seventh-ring transmutation spell Firestorm that came with [Invocation of Fire Element].

Ten fire storms created by Ivy suddenly appeared in the dense army of Orcs. The strong wind rolled up the scorching flames, igniting all the dark monsters trapped in it. The armor on their bodies turned into ovens and also into terrible cages that caused the deaths of these unfortunate guys.

Although each flame storm was only ten feet in diameter, the sudden outbreak of fire still dealt a horrible blow to the morale of the assembled orc army.

Once these fire storms are formed, they are no longer under Ivy's control, but become a natural phenomenon. When there is no longer a flame below to provide continuous heat, these storms will gradually dissipate. But before that, they will choose a very strange path due to the change of airflow. If the elves and orcs had not yet engaged in a head-on battle, Ivy would never use this spell.

And Ivy had already applied the metamagic specialty [Spell Repeat] that he had just selected yesterday to this magic. Therefore, when six seconds passed, another ten fire storms emitting terrible heat appeared on the battlefield. These heat vortices constantly influenced each other, approached each other, and then passed by each other to continue to cause damage to the chaotic orc troops.

But these fire tornadoes could no longer cause instant casualties like when Ivy released them just now, but instead brought slow and continuous fire damage. However, this could cause a greater impact. Because the range of this spell was only 150 feet, Ivy had to turn close to the Orcs' vanguard and complete the spell. Moreover, the fire storms formed by this spell should have been close to each other, but under the effect of [Wild Element Surge], they were separated by a distance. Ivy did not ask to kill a large number of Orcs, but only hoped that this army would be in chaos because of the fire, thereby reducing their morale, undermining their military spirit, and splitting their formation.

Several orcs who disobeyed orders and charged at Ivy had their necks chopped off by his beast-bite sword. Ivy turned his head and looked back while riding his horse. The elves had already advanced to a distance where they could shoot arrows, and were now drawing their bowstrings and shooting at the orc troops.

(End of this chapter)