From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 286 Reinforcements
"Ho!"

Thorin chopped down a fleeing orc with his sword, and together with his companions around him, he raised a war cry to boost morale.

As early as when the earth began to shake, the dwarves in the Lonely Mountain had already been alert. Except for Balin, who rode a goat to meet Dain in advance, everyone else was preparing their weapons and armor, including Thorin, who had been immersed in the sorrow of the destruction of the Arkenstone.

However, the huge dragon corpse in front of the main gate of Lonely Mountain still hindered their way out. The dwarves with short legs were naturally not good at climbing, and it took them a lot of effort to climb over Smaug's corpse, especially Pombo, who boasted of his strong physique.

So when they rushed out of the gate of Lonely Mountain and came to the front battlefield, the orcs had already begun to disintegrate under Ivy's nine-ring spell Meteor Explosion.

Even a ragtag army of land rogues can fight a favorable battle, let alone these dwarves who have experienced adventures together?

So they chased the orcs who were fleeing towards the mountain ridge like a tiger into a flock of sheep.

But when Thorin was about to take a breath and continue fighting, he found that the elves began to retreat.

"The elves retreated? Why did the elves retreat?" Qili asked puzzledly, "Now is clearly a good time to attack the orc camp in one fell swoop!"

Just as the dwarves were at a loss, a large number of elves who had received instructions from Thranduil had quickly returned to the foot of the mountain and began a short rest in the camp near the Valley City.

"Wizard!" Thorin shouted at Ivy, who was riding down the hillside. "Why are we retreating? Have the elves betrayed us?"

"There is another larger orc army on the other side of the mountain. Those who fell on the hillside are just their vanguard." Ivy explained to them, "Let's go back to the elf camp outside Dale City. Before Dain's Ironfoot Army arrives, we have no way to defend Lonely Mountain. If Dale City falls, everything will be too late."

"What!" Thorin's face was filled with shock. "We can't give up the gold in the Lonely Mountain!"

"A wise king can take them back from the orcs again, not to mention with the help of elves and humans, not to mention me." Ivy's expression remained unchanged. If Thorin could endure the pain of losing the treasure many times, perhaps his dragon disease would be cured without medicine due to multiple blows.

Thorin's face, shrouded in the shadow of the crown, twisted for a moment, and he gasped and said, "You are right, wizard... Since we can take back the Lonely Mountain from the flames of the evil dragon Smaug once, it won't be more difficult to take it back from the orcs a second time. Let's go! To the elves' camp!"

The dwarves who received the order moved together, and the twenty-four short legs almost left an afterimage.

Ivy took a last look at the hillside where a large number of orc corpses were left, and headed towards the camp.

The orcs behind the hillside did not leave the coalition forces much time to prepare. There were too many of them, so many that they could launch round after round of attacks at all costs until every member of the coalition forces was exhausted.

Fortunately, the Running River surrounding the Valley City had not yet frozen, and Ivy's previous move to widen the river greatly shortened the width of the orcs' siege. Therefore, even if there were more orcs, it would be impossible for them to use all their strength at once under the walls of the Valley City.

But if time continues to move towards winter, and the entire Running River enters a dry season because its source on Lonely Mountain is frozen, then Valley City will be in danger.

When the number of orcs exceeded ten times that of the coalition forces, time was no longer on the side of River Valley City. However, the coalition forces still had the possibility of dragging down the orcs, but this depended on whether the logistical organization of the orc army was perfect. Such a large number of orcs would put a huge test on the logistical capabilities. If their organization level declined due to insufficient food, then the coalition forces that had stored food in advance would have a new advantage.

Ivy doesn't like overly passive strategies, but there is no extra time for him to think on the battlefield.

A large number of orc troops crossed the hillside and marched towards the river city.

They split into two groups on the ridge. The group with the siege beasts rushed towards the wall of Dale City, and the other group headed straight for the elf camp in front of the Dale City bridge.

This is the advantage of having more people. The orcs have enough troops to fight on two fronts. Even if the width of the Running River is not wide enough for the orcs to wade into the water, it is a very smart decision to set up a siege camp to consume the durability of the city walls.

The catapults could not only attack the city walls and the buildings inside the city walls across the river, but also lure the coalition forces who were unwilling to bear the losses to attack the siege camp. This was a dilemma. If the siege camp was not removed, the coalition base camp would continue to be hit, but if the camp was removed, the risk of dividing the troops would have to be borne.

"This is a difficult question for us to choose..." Gandalf, who was standing next to Ivy, muttered to himself, and then he, Thranduil, and Thorin looked at Ivy together, "Ivy, can you..."

"My magic power is not infinite..." Ivy sighed.

The spell slots of [Supreme Warlock] are actually quite tight. Although he is a ninth-ring spellcaster, this profession itself only provides a total of nine-ring spell slots, and there is even only one eighth-ring spell slot.

If Ivy didn't possess ancient magic that provided an extra eighth-ring and two seventh-ring spell slots, and if spell points could not be converted into high-level spell slots, Ivy would have been unable to transform into a melee mage and rush into the enemy, hacking and hacking non-stop.

"I will be responsible for taking down the siege camp, but you must hold on in the front battlefield." Ivy took a deep breath and said, "At least until our reinforcements arrive. In addition to Dain's Ironfoot Army, Lord Elrond also went to the Misty Mountains to seek help from the Eagle King. As long as Lord Elrond is in good condition, the giant eagles can arrive at the battlefield as quickly as possible."

"I feel much more relieved to hear that reinforcements are coming." Bilbo's voice came from the side.

Everyone who heard this was stunned and looked at the Hobbit. No one noticed how this master thief appeared.

Gandalf was horrified. "Why are you here? Bilbo! Go back and hide! I wanted to ask King Thranduil for a horse to send you away, but the orcs came too fast... War is not the domain of hobbits, please go back to the city as soon as possible!"

"Why! I have weapons! I want to stay with my friends!" Bilbo was very dissatisfied. "I am the fourteenth person you chose. I will never back down from the battle!"

"Leave him here, Gandalf," said Thorin, a smile on his face, which had been gloomy because of abandoning the gold in the Lonely Mountain. "We need Master Baggins to watch our asses."

"Haha!" The dwarves standing in the first row as infantry laughed.

"We don't have time to joke around." The Elf King, who had the best eyesight, raised his long sword and commanded the elven archers behind him, "Shoot!"

Before riding towards the orcs' siege camp, Ivy slammed the staff in his hand on the ground and added many buffs to himself one by one.

The route Ivy chose to advance was the Rushing River.

Since the orcs set up the siege camp by the Running River, the cold river water was the best assault route for Ivy. The West Wind Horseshoe allowed Golden Horn to carry Ivy on the water, and there would be absolutely no enemies in this direction.

This not only prevents the Orc troops standing between the Elf Camp and the Siege Camp from delaying Ivy's actions, but also allows them to directly attack the enemy's core area.

Seeing the golden unicorn running on the water, the orcs who had divided their troops to surround the elf camp were in a panic for a while. They tried to shoot arrows at Ivy on the river, but found that these projectiles had no effect and could not even delay Ivy's movements. Then the war beasts in the siege camp began to prepare for close combat.

These siege beasts wear giant iron gloves on their arms, with many ferocious spikes sticking out. When the war beasts need to use the siege weapons behind them, they will insert the spikes on the iron gloves into the ground to fix their bodies like ground nails.

When there are enemies disturbing them around, these behemoths can also swing their long arms to fight. Although the siege weapons behind them will slow down their turning speed, at least they have gained the ability to drive away enemies within melee range.

Ivy has activated the last ancient ability of the Ravenclaw Diadem - the Wise Man's Counsel - through the expertise of [Ancient Master].

When approaching the Orc troops on the shore, he took the time to split a six-ring spell slot into two three-ring ones, and through [Wise Man's Advice], he gave the two three-ring spells [Spell Repeat] super magic effect.

The huge fireball grew in the wind and blew the orcs on the shore into pieces.

When the six seconds were up, two fireballs of the same size emerged from the void again and flew intact towards the center of the Orc formation. Those Orcs who were barely surviving because of their iron armor and heavy shields all fell under the second attack and turned into charred corpses on the ground.

The orcs were unwilling to accept such magical attacks, but they had no means to fight back, so they had to stay away from the banks of the Running River as much as possible.

This was exactly what Ivy had intended from the beginning.

Pouring the surging arcane energy into the Beast Bite Sword again, Ivy stepped into the siege camp filled with giant beasts.

Ivy's attack was very clever. He didn't rush straight into the center of the siege camp like a fool. Instead, he landed near the hillside. Although this place was closer to the orcs' base camp, it was not a conventional threat direction in their eyes. Who would put the infantry behind the siege weapons? And when the vanguard had already engaged the enemy?
There were no Orc troops blocking this direction, so Ivy was able to circle around the beasts.

Trying to make the war beasts with heavy loads on their backs turn quickly was undoubtedly a huge test for their ankles. Not to mention that Ivy also sprinkled a layer of grease on the soles of their feet. These clumsy guys had already lost the moment they tried to turn around. The difficult terrain brought by the oil spell knocked down all the war beasts in the range, and also made the orcs who were responsible for using siege equipment on their backs fall down one after another. At this time, Ivy ignited the fire, and all these unlucky guys turned into barbecue on the iron plate.

The Orc warlord in charge of guarding the siege camp angrily ordered his men to scoop water from the Running River with their helmets to put out the fire. At the same time, he personally led other Orcs to bypass the fire and attack Ivy.

But the grease layer formed by the oil spell was lighter than water, and the water they poured on the fire had the opposite effect. Not only did it fail to extinguish the flames, but it also expanded the range of the flames. The siege beasts that tried to avoid the spreading fire accidentally collided with each other, which triggered a larger chain reaction - many siege beasts that were not within the range of the oil spell also fell to the ground because of the shoveling of their companions. Although they were not as unlucky as their companions who were struggling to roll in the flames, these guys would not have the opportunity to launch another attack in a short time.

Since the enemy missed the opportunity due to mistakes, it was Ivy's turn to launch a new round of attack. His original idea was to use the high mobility of the Golden Horn to circle around the war beasts in the siege camp, and then use long-range spells to kill them.

Although such a strategy can perfectly protect themselves, it will inevitably take a lot of time. However, the coalition forces are the ones who are most short of time on the battlefield. If the elves who are responsible for resisting the orcs are unable to resist first, Ivy may have to provide support, so it is best to win the battle quickly.

The chaos in the siege camp gave Ivy the possibility of a quick victory.

He was about to cast another eighth-ring spell, the Cloud Burning Spell from the Incantation Department.

The effect of this spell is to create a swirling cloud of smoke permeated with hot flames, which not only provides 10d8 continuous damage, but also provides heavy obscuration within the range. Moreover, under the guidance of the caster himself, this hot burning cloud can move every round.

Ivy was under the effect of [Fire Elemental Invocation] and was completely immune to fire damage, so she could make full use of all the effects provided by this spell. Heavy shielding could make most ranged attacks miss, and when facing enemies in melee range, these war beasts could not figure out the enemy's position, and rash attacks could easily hit their own people.

Although these disadvantages also apply to Ivy herself, don't forget that this is an orc siege camp. Except for Ivy herself, everyone else is an enemy, so Ivy doesn't have to worry about friendly fire.

As long as he used the effect of [Delay Spell] to double the duration of the Burning Cloud Spell, Ivy was confident that he could kill all the surviving war beasts in the siege camp within two minutes.

Ivy jumped off the Golden Horn and commanded it to go to the Running River to avoid the encirclement of the orcs, while she turned around to face all the enemies in the siege camp.

The orcs were all stunned when they saw Ivy abandon his horse. They had never seen an opponent voluntarily give up his speed advantage.

But just as these orcs were surrounding him with a grin, a ball of hot smoke appeared out of thin air under Ivy's command and surrounded the orcs. With the blessing of [Wild Element Surge], the range of the Burning Cloud Spell was already more than twice the standard range.

Most of the siege camp was enveloped by the hot smoke, and screams were heard everywhere. However, screaming was actually the worst option, because in a fire, only a few people were burned to death, and more people died from edema and suffocation caused by the hot smoke burning their respiratory tract.

This burning cloud will punish those orcs who have no sense of security on behalf of Ivy.

Ivy strode forward and charged, but before he had taken two steps, the shouting from the burning cloud turned into a violent cough.

With a slight smile on his face, Ivy began his short career as a smoke-filled devil.

Ivy chopped off the thigh of a war beast with his sword and dodged another war beast that was waving its arms wildly in the smoke.

The Beast Bite Sword flashed with a cold light, and two more war beasts that were running around like headless flies fell to the ground wailing. Ivy didn't need to finish off every enemy personally. As long as they did not leave the effective range of the Burning Cloud Technique, these war beasts would sooner or later die tragically due to the high fever caused by internal and external troubles.

Two minutes passed in a flash, and when the smoke from the Burning Cloud began to dissipate, the entire Orc siege camp had turned into a living hell. Apart from the war beasts with missing limbs, there were other Orcs who died of suffocation and burns.

Although there were orcs who wanted to rush in and fight Ivy, after realizing the terrifying power of Burning Cloud, these orcs hesitated outside the range of Burning Cloud and did not dare to cross the line.

Ivy no longer maintained her concentration on casting the Cloudburning spell, but the smoke that had been lingering here for two minutes would not suddenly disappear. When Ivy came in front of the Orc commander with wisps of smoke entwined all over her body.

None of these monsters who enjoyed war and lived for war dared to step forward and fight Ivy.

Ivy slammed the staff in his left hand into the ground, and made an insulting gesture with his free hand - he stretched out his thumb and scratched the front of his neck, indicating that he was going to slit the throat of the orc warlord in front of him.

The Orc Lord Commander, who understood the clear signal, was furious and wanted to drive his men forward, but they all regarded this as a challenge and no one dared to step forward.

So the Orc commander who had lost the siege camp had no choice but to swing his hammer, roar to give himself courage, and charge towards Ivy.

However, Ivy just stood there leisurely, not even making an attacking stance with the beast-biting sword in his hand.

The Orc Lord Commander, who thought he had the upper hand, launched a powerful sweeping blow, but Ivy only let the beast sword and the hammer lightly bump against each other, then turned his wrist, allowing the sword to bypass the hammer head and cut off both of the Orc Lord Commander's hands holding the hammer along the handle.

Before the armless Orc Lord Commander could even cry out in pain, Ivy dodged his path and turned in time before the blade of the Beastbeast Sword touched the Orc Lord Commander's chest armor. She turned around and cut off his right calf. Then Ivy went around behind the Orc Lord Commander and cut off his left calf in the same way.

The Orc commander who had lost his limbs ducked and was about to fall to the ground, but Ivy, who had circled to the left, had already grasped the iron helmet on his head with his left hand, preventing him from falling.

Facing the troops behind the Orc Marshal, Ivy lightly hit the Marshal's neck with her beast-biting sword and chopped off the head of the man who was used to giving orders.

The orcs who witnessed this scene retreated together, completely losing the will to fight Ivy.

Ivy took a step back, reached out to pick up his staff that was stuck in the ground, jumped onto the back of Golden Horn who had rushed back from the river, and launched another charge.

Faced with Ivy's charge, these orcs were completely frightened and just dropped everything they had and ran away, not daring to even think of turning back to fight.

----

"The wizard's action was successful!" Thranduil's eyesight allowed him to realize the fall of the siege camp after he chopped down a circle of orcs around him. He immediately raised his long sword and shouted to encourage the morale of the elves around him, "We have nothing to worry about! Kill!"

The first to respond to the Woodland King were his former prisoners, the twelve dwarves fighting on the front line.

They waved their weapons and cheered loudly for the fifteenth member of the expedition.

"Our wizards are brave warriors who slay dragons! They are masters of using fire! You Orc bastards have no chance of winning!" The musician Bofur waved the axe in his hand and shouted to undermine the morale of the Orcs. "I will write this battle into a poem! I will compose it into a song! Let your ugly defeat and the wizards' glorious victory be sung forever in the kingdom under the mountain!"

"Teach me first when the time comes!" Pangbo knocked an orc away with his belly and spoke to his good brother.

"Of course we will be the first to learn it! It is up to us to spread today's song of victory to all the dwarves in Middle-earth!" Bofur's other cousin, Bifur, spoke up.

"No, Bifur." Qili stopped beside them with his sword and looked at the hillside in the distance, "There are other dwarves fighting with us..."

"What?" Beaver asked in confusion.

"Balin!" Kili waved his arms in the distance, "Smash these ugly orc bastards!"

The white-bearded dwarf on the ridgeline was easy to spot. He rode a goat and charged from the steepest point. Behind him was a dwarf knight riding a wild boar. He had long, flamboyant brown-red hair, and his beard, which had already begun to turn white, was shaped into the shape of two fangs with a golden hoop.

When the boar rider launched his charge, he swung his heavy red warhammer vigorously and let out a unique dwarf war cry: "Goat Rider! Let these orc scums bleed like a river!"

A large number of short and strong riders soon appeared on the ridgeline. Each of them was wearing heavy armor and they were like moving hills, rushing down the hillside with fanatical war cries.

The goal of the dwarf knights was to besiege the flanks and rears of the orcs in the elven camp. Although there were many people here, they were all in an undefended state, and they were mainly ranged troops armed with bows and arrows.

The orcs who were fighting with the elves wanted to withdraw to deal with the enemy behind them, but how could the elves, who had been suppressed for the entire battle, let go of this great opportunity? Thranduil waved his long sword and led his warriors to launch the second counterattack of the day.

"I can start composing the victory song now, right?" Bofur asked his companions for their opinions.

(End of this chapter)