From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 287 Water Attack
When Dain Ironfoot led the dwarves of the Iron Hills into the battlefield, the outcome of the battle was no longer in doubt.

Ivy destroyed the orc siege camp.

Thranduil led the main force of the coalition forces to firmly hold back the orcs' frontal attack.

The dwarves who joined the battlefield at this time played the role of the tool they were always good at using - the hammer, and smashed the orc army from Dol Guldur on the anvil of the elven phalanx.

The goat riders and chariots turned into meat grinders, rampaging in front of the gate of Lonely Mountain, crushing countless frightened orcs, and the heavy armored infantry soldiers who had rushed from thousands of miles away were reduced to the role of cleaning up the battlefield.

Seeing that the second attack today had no hope of success, the Ringwraith leading the Orc army blew the horn of retreat again and led the Orcs back to the valley.

It was getting dark, and the night was the home ground of the orcs. Dain Ironfoot, who had been dealing with orcs all his life, knew this very well. Therefore, even if he had enough confidence in his Ironfoot Army, he would not think of attacking the orcs at night.

"So the guy who leads the orcs to station in the valley is Azog the Blasphemer?" Dain had already swaggered into the tent of the Elf King.

After the victory, the humans of Dale, who had not helped much in the battle, went out to help clean up the battlefield and assisted the dwarves who had come from afar to set up a camp in front of the Lonely Mountain. Dain, the leader of the Ironfoot Army, was invited by Thranduil to come to the camp to discuss the next countermeasures.

"I didn't see Azog among the orc army." Ivy answered Dain's first question.

"Who is this man? Thorin? No, should I call you King now? My good brother?" Dain had never seen Ivy, and could not match him with the dragon-slaying wizard described by Balin.

The word "king" made Thorin smile, and he hugged his cousin. "He is the fifteenth member of the Lonely Mountain Expedition, the dragon-slaying wizard. You must have seen Smaug at the gate of Lonely Mountain, right?"

"That's him? A human with no beard and no belly?" Dain's beard stood up. "How did you kill the dragon single-handedly? I'm sorry I spoke to you like that just now! You are a great benefactor of Durin's family! All dwarves know how terrible Smaug is!"

"Oh!" Dain seemed to be suddenly awakened. He hurriedly adjusted his armor and leaned over to perform the traditional dwarf etiquette. "Dain Ironfoot, I am happy to serve you!"

Ivy had heard from Gandalf what a typical dwarf Dain was, but now he didn't seem so difficult to get along with.

"Ivy Dum, at your service." Ivy performed the same courtesy.

"Haha!" Dain laughed twice, walked over and hugged Ivy, "We have wizards who can slay dragons! And we have dwarf brothers who followed the King Under the Mountain to retake Lonely Mountain! And my Ironfoot Army! Those orcs in the valley are not worth mentioning at all!"

"Ahem!" Balin, who was standing aside, cleared his throat vigorously.

Dain glanced at him, then added reluctantly: "It's not that I forgot about them... Of course, it also includes the help of Pointy Ears and humans. If my king wants to form an alliance with you, then I am willing to obey."

The pointed ears were of course referring to Thranduil who was sitting in the middle of the tent, and Legolas who was standing behind him. Besides Ivy, the only human staying here was Bard, the acting lord of Riverdale.

Thranduil was very well-mannered and had no intention of getting angry with the dwarf in front of him, not to mention that he and his troops had actually saved the elves this afternoon.

Bard, who had been a fisherman and ferryman for more than ten years, had seen many people who were ruder than Dain. This was nothing compared to him, so he did not feel insulted.

Although Dain is a typical dwarf, he is also a loyal dwarf. Although Thorin has no soldiers except his companions in the expedition, he is not only willing to lead the Ironfoot Army to rush thousands of miles to rescue, but he is even willing to put aside his personal prejudice and stand with the elves he dislikes because of the king's order (who knows, there may be some help from the orcs here).

"Great! This kind of scene is rare!" Gandalf was undoubtedly delighted. He rarely saw so many people from different races gathered together without fighting. After all, the five Istars were sent to Middle-earth by the Valar, and their mission was to unite all the races in Middle-earth to fight against darkness.

"Let's discuss our future strategy as soon as possible! Dain, there is a lot of information here that you must know." Gandalf spread out the long scroll map on the map table. This was a map drawn by the elves, and it was much more accurate than Thorin's hand-drawn map inherited from his grandfather Thorn.

Gandalf pointed at a city on the map. "This is Dale, located just south of the Lonely Mountain. The Running River bypasses Dale, surrounding it on three sides. Autumn and winter are the dry seasons for the Running River. Fortunately, our wizards led humans to clean up the river in advance and widened it a lot. Otherwise, the orcs would not only have set up a siege camp on the other side of the river today."

"But as the temperature drops, River Valley will become increasingly difficult to defend. If the river freezes completely, the orc army will surround us from all sides."

"King Thranduil and his elves are stationed between Dale and Lonely Mountain, connected to Dale by a long bridge. This is to help defend the Lonely Mountain. As you know, the gate of the Lonely Mountain was completely destroyed by Smaug. Although his body was stuck there, it did not completely block the entire gate. If the orcs' war beasts were driven there, the Lonely Mountain would have no ability to defend at all."

"Now I and my Ironfoot Army are here! The Lonely Mountain is taken over by the dwarves!" Dain exhaled through his nose.

"Yes, yes, that's exactly what I'm saying." Gandalf's finger continued to move on the map, and he drew a circle in front of the Lonely Mountain to indicate Dain's camp. "Then in this direction, the southern branch of the Lonely Mountain close to the east. We have learned that the orc army led by the Nazgul is stationed in the valley of the mountain. The east side of this mountain range is the west side of the Running River that bypasses Dale City, which is the only passage from the Lonely Mountain to the outside world. The purpose of the orcs stationed here is self-evident, in order to cut off the connection between the Lonely Mountain and the outside world. So if Dale City also falls into the hands of the orcs, then we will be completely trapped in the valley! Therefore, Dale City must not be lost!"

"When the orcs cross the mountain ridge to attack the valley city, the attack route cannot bypass the elf camp in front of them, so we plan to build this camp into a solid camp that can be abandoned at any time. All defense facilities and pits are arranged in the direction facing the orcs. If the orcs come aggressively, the coalition forces can use these fortifications to consume the orcs' strength. Accumulate advantages for the possible siege battle on all sides later."

"And if the orcs are determined to attack the city, then the coalition forces can retreat into the city and leave this camp with all its defenses to the orcs. When they launch their next attack on Dale City, they will have to cross the bridge between the camp and Dale City. At this time, the coalition forces can use the narrow passage of the bridge to kill the orcs again. When they are beaten to a pulp in front of Dale City, we can open the city gate and retake the camp!"

"Then we will cooperate in the battle and double-team the orcs from the outside?" Dain nodded, and then raised his own doubts, "This is a good plan, but I have only one question. What if the orcs do not continue to attack Dale City after taking over the camp, but destroy the bridge? The dwarves stationed in front of the Lonely Mountain will have to face all the orcs alone! The Lonely Mountain is not a fortress now! If we are annihilated, Dale City will be completely isolated and helpless!"

"I can use magic to rebuild the bridge." Ivy added, "We are at an absolute disadvantage in numbers, so we need to use multiple small-scale battles to reduce the number of enemies."

"You already have a complete plan, but let my king say a few words!" Dain nudged Thorin, who remained silent, with his elbow.

Thorin looked at everyone in the tent one by one, and finally slammed his fist on the map table: "There are dwarves, humans, elves and wizards here... We are all kind people living in the great wilderness of Rhovanion, so we should unite when facing evil! We are united! We will surely succeed in crushing the dark ambitions of the orcs!"

"Well said, Your Majesty!" Dain cheered immediately, and the others in the tent also clapped and stomped their feet to boost their confidence. Even the usually reserved elves clapped their hands.

"Now that the meeting is over, let's go back to the camp! The dragon blocking the gate of Lonely Mountain is a problem, we should move him away!" Dain asked, "How are you going to deal with it, Thorin?"

"That's the wizard's spoils. He plans to use Smaug's body to make some weapons and equipment." Thorin and Ivy looked at each other. It seemed that he had completely gotten rid of the influence of dragon disease, but who knew that he decided to be a wise king under the influence of the Arkenstone?
----

According to the plan of the two wizards, the monotonous and bloody siege began.

The orcs seemed to be endless, as if they grew out of the ground. They were shot to death by the elves' bows and arrows, crushed to death by the boulders pushed down by humans on the bridge, and crushed to death by the goat riders and chariots of the dwarves, but they still did not give up the attack. In two days, the orcs had organized three attacks, and the bridge outside the valley city was broken twice, but Ivy used magic to repair them both times. The black blood of the orcs had soaked the river. If there was no clear water flowing down from the mountain, the coalition forces stationed in the valley city would definitely get sick because of the disgusting blood.

If the orcs' siege equipment had not been exhausted in the previous attack, the coalition forces would probably have suffered even greater casualties.

In such a tragic battle to defend the city, the people of Riverdale sincerely regarded this city as their home. Ivy unknowingly completed the last ancient ritual of the Hufflepuff gold cup.

The Gold Cup unlocks two new ancient abilities, both of which play an unimaginable role in combat.

On the evening of the third day, the shouts and cries of killing were deafening outside the city. This was the fourth time that the orc army had entered the elves' camp. The battle started at noon and lasted until nightfall, when the elves abandoned their camp and entered the city.

However, after seeing the elves enter the Valley City, the orcs did not immediately launch an attack on the Valley City. Instead, they began to rest on the spot. This was a scene that the coalition forces had never seen before.

Now the shouting and killing sounds outside the city were heard again. It must be that the dwarves and the orcs were fighting again.

"We must go out of the city to help the dwarves!" said Gandalf, standing on the top of the city wall and staring at the fire in front of the gate of Lonely Mountain.

"My warriors have been fighting for a whole day, and the dwarves have only sent goat riders to harass the orcs. They can still hold out for a while." Thranduil shook his head and rejected Gandalf's proposal. Although the elves are immortal and have extraordinary endurance, this intensity of battle still makes every elf exhausted.

"It's night now! The orcs' strength will be strengthened! If we don't attack the orcs from behind now, all we will see at dawn is the taken Lonely Mountain!" Gandalf reminded again.

Thranduil simply shook his head. "What about the other wizard? Without his magic, we have no advantage at all."

Ivy's spellcasting resources can only be restored after a long rest. The orcs launched a surprise attack last night, and Ivy's long rest was interrupted. So Ivy did not participate in the battle today and continued to rest in her room.

Without the support of magic, the battle that started at noon today became extremely difficult. The elves could no longer easily repel the attacks of the orcs. The mixed group of ogres and orcs brought them a lot of trouble, but even so, they still stubbornly held on until the evening.

However, this time the Orc commander decided to fight on two fronts, and after pushing the elves and humans back to the city, he immediately launched a full-scale attack on the dwarves. This was exactly what Gandalf was worried about.

"We really need to attack outside the city." Ivy fell from the sky. This was the flying ability of [Summoning the Wind Element]. As the saying goes, hit high and low, hit the idiot. The 60-foot flying mobility is still very useful against these Orc infantry.

Thranduil breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Ivy: "Do you have any magic that can help us, wizard?"

"A new one." Ivy took out the Hufflepuff gold cup from his arms, flew over the Running River and poured it down.

As soon as the golden liquid entered the river, it emitted a faint golden light. The orc corpses that had not been salvaged in the river turned into a wisp of green smoke and disappeared in the golden light.

Soon, the rivers surrounding the Valley City were all lit up with golden light, and the golden liquid surface reflected the night sky, adding a touch of sacredness to the extremely dangerous battlefield.

This gold coin is a level 14 ancient ability called [Consecrated Water]. When the blessed water in the golden cup is not drunk for more than 12 hours, it will automatically transform into Consecrated Water.

If you pour all the consecrated water in the golden cup onto any liquid surface, all weapons soaked in it will become +1 holy weapons, and the effect lasts for one hour. At the same time, the diluted consecrated water has the ability to harm evil creatures, and splashing them will cause 2d4 brilliant damage to evil creatures.

Of course, the consecrated water can also be drunk, which is regarded as using one of the higher restoration spells, righteousness or higher heroism on the drinker. It can be drunk a total of three times.

Ivy is already familiar with the Greater Restoration spell, which is a practical spell for ending abnormal effects. The effect of Righteousness is similar to that of Giant Transformation, both of which can change a person's size, but Righteousness can provide more attribute bonuses, as well as natural armor and damage reduction against evil. And Greater Heroism can provide morale bonuses for attacks and immunity and a certain amount of temporary health points, and can also provide a buff effect of fear immunity.

Ivy has the Ravenclaw diadem, so the last one is not very useful to her.

"The water in the river can now hurt the orcs. Soaking your weapons in it will give you the power of justice. But it only lasts for an hour, so we have to make a quick decision!" After Ivy said this to the two people on the top of the city wall, he turned around and began to prepare the next spell.

Since the consecrated water from the golden cup has turned the moat into holy water that can harm evil, Ivy will of course make use of it.

Under the magic of the fourth-ring spell to control water, the rushing river with golden light roared violently.

The golden waves surged over the river bank, onto the bridge, and toward the orcs who were resting in the elf camp.

The holy water that can bless people in the good camp is undoubtedly a killing weapon comparable to sulfuric acid to these evil creatures.

After the first wave covered the elf camp, the orcs inside immediately let out earth-shaking screams.

Although the damage of the consecrated water was not much, only 2d4, it was enough for Ivy to bring all the water in the river to the shore.

Golden waves came one after another, and the orcs resting in the camp also experienced wave after wave of shining damage. Although the waves created by Ivy would flow to other places if they encountered obstacles, water is a fluid after all and will penetrate any gaps in the tents, so soon these orcs had no place to stay.

One by one, they practiced the Golden Rooster Stand on the golden water. The holy water was so hot that it burned their feet.

Thranduil and Gandalf, who knew that the golden river water would strengthen weapons, had already organized the coalition forces to put their weapons into the river water for enchantment. Every weapon put into the river water turned into a golden appearance. Thranduil, who had reorganized the troops, once again mounted his elk and led the coalition forces to launch the next counterattack.

The orcs in the elf camp had been scalded to pieces by the river water. Now they were confronted by the elves whose morale was high, which would certainly not end well for them.

The golden light emitted by the sacred weapons in the hands of the elves in the night sky also inspired the dwarves who were fighting under the Lonely Mountain.

An hour later, when the effect of the consecrated water wore off, the orcs' two-line attack was once again thwarted.

(End of this chapter)