I reforged the glory of the magic ring in Middle-earth

Chapter 105 The Dragon Curse
"Look, what a tiny bug! I can crush it with just one finger. But I'm in a good mood now. I feel a little sorry for a weak human like you, and I'm willing to talk to a human like you from outside of Lake-town... Worship me! Explain your humble status to the great Smaug! Cheer for my fame and legend outside!"

Smaug shows his arrogance to Tanis, but only when Tanis is actually standing before Smaug, not speaking through Alfred's body.

In Tanes's eyes, Alfred's actions were as funny as they could be.

He suppressed his laughter and said, "If you submit to me, I will build a circus just for you in my territory, and you will be the most outstanding and ridiculous animal in the circus."

Smaug was not angry. Instead, he laughed and said sarcastically, "You are very suitable to be a jester. I have been feeling a little bored sleeping in the Lonely Mountain. I just need a clown like you. So tell me, what is your name? That way I can give you a position that matches your name."

Tanes narrowed his eyes and sneered, "So you can enslave other people's souls by knowing their names? Ever since you opened your mouth, your voice has been trying to get into my mind and influence me. The mayor of Long Lake Town and this unfortunate person you're using to talk to me are all controlled by you in this way."

"So what?" Smaug had no intention of hiding it and admitted it directly.

However, Tanes could feel that the reason why the other party admitted it so readily was not because he was generous, but because he simply did not take him seriously.

In other words, Smaug didn't think that Tanis knowing this would have any impact on him.

How arrogant.

Tanes thought silently in his heart, but he just liked such arrogant enemies.

This way he could take full advantage of this and kill Smaug.

Smaug smiled slyly. "You must be thinking, I'm too arrogant to take you humans seriously. So you can exploit my arrogance and lure me into this ridiculous trap you bugs have set, and then destroy me."

Tanis curled his lips, and now he had to add the word "cunning" to his evaluation of Smaug.

Seeing that Tanis remained silent, Smaug controlled Alfred to crawl on the ground and continued, "Although I don't know what you, a human insect, are planning, the destruction of Lake-town is a foregone conclusion. I hope you can live to see that day. I will torture you, burning your limbs with dragon fire, piercing your lungs with my claws, and finally, crushing your bones with my teeth."

Then Alfred's face showed an exaggerated expression of realization, and his eyes showed a wanton smile: "Ah, if you can't live to see that time, I will go to your hometown myself and bring fire and death there."

Tanes chuckled, fingertips rubbing the armor buckle at his waist. "I long for you to fly over the Misty Mountains. My people will line up to greet you—playing a triumphal song with the sound of dragon scales peeling, which you love so much."

The puppet controlled by Smaug suddenly bent its limbs backward and began to crawl, its joints making a teeth-grinding creaking sound. "Vile ant! Wait until I burn your flesh and blood, and then I will chew up the bones of everyone you know!"

Then Alfred's facial muscles bulged strangely, and the corners of his mouth tore up to his ears. "Every inch of your homeland will be soaked in wailing, just like the dwarf crown I melted a hundred years ago!"

"How about we play a game?"

Tanes' voice turned cold, and he took a step forward, pulling Alfred's body up, and put the dagger against the puppet's neck, the blade stopping precisely on the beating blood vessel.

He leaned close to the puppet's twisted face. "Before you can count all the gold in the Lonely Mountain crypt, my boot will crush the latch of your treasure house."

Alfred struggled under Smaug's control, but Smaug found that the human in front of him was terrifyingly strong. Unless the enslaved human puppet broke his limbs, he would not be able to escape from the other's control.

Of course, Smaug didn't care whether the puppet could survive or feel pain after its limbs were broken. But when it was about to do so, it heard Tanes' cold voice: "Take your sight and go back to your lonely mountain."

Smaug then discovered that his connection with the human puppet had been severed.

A trace of confusion flashed in its golden dragon eyes, and it raised its head from the huge mountain of gold coins. Countless gold coins, gems and jewels rolled down through the gaps in its scales or got stuck on them.

When Smaug stood up and exposed his abdomen, a wound filled with dazzling gold coins and jewels came into view.

How dare that human tease me!?
Flames brewed in Smaug's mouth, and the gold coins inlaid near his mouth melted into golden liquid dripping.

It spread its two huge dragon wings and prepared to fly out of Lonely Mountain to Changhu Town.

No, he was deliberately provoking me, angering me, and trying to lure me to Changhu Town.

Smaug thought to himself again, then lay down on the mountain of gold again, pressing down the countless piles of gold coins and jewels, and closed his eyes again.

It has decided that when Sauron's Orc army captures Lake Town, it will kill all the prisoners in Lake Town without leaving a single one alive.

On the other side, Tanes looked at Alfred who was knocked unconscious by him, and the anger on his face slowly dissipated.

Just when Smaug threatened to go to the territory of the Golden Tree for revenge, Tanis felt an uncontrollable rage rising in his heart.

If it weren't for the last bit of reason telling him that the man in front of him was just a puppet controlled by Smaug, the black knife in his hand would have stabbed into the human's neck.

However, despite this, Tanes still felt an inexplicable irritation in his heart, and he took several deep breaths before he could barely calm down.

"Tsk, what should we do with them now?" Tanes felt troubled as he looked at the mayor and Alfred who had fainted on the ground.

In the end, Tanis decided to leave these two troubles to Gandalf, the lazy old wizard who was slacking off in the inn.

So he tied up the mayor and his flattering secretary again, and hid them under the large bed in the mayor's bedroom, ensuring that when they woke up they would not make any sound, could not move, and would not be discovered.

When Tanes returned to the hotel room, Thorin immediately stood up from his seat. He had been worried and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Bilbo had returned to the guest room, as had Balin, Fili, Kili and the others brought back by Millicent.

Gandalf saw Thorin's expression and said jokingly, "I told you to trust Tanis. The only thing that could get him into trouble around here is the dragon in the Lonely Mountain." Then Gandalf heard Tanis say, "I did meet Smaug."

The old wizard opened his mouth and widened his eyes, almost losing his grip on his pipe, and asked nervously, "What did you say?"

Tanes waved his hand and said, "Don't be nervous. Its real body is still inside the Lonely Mountain. I just had a few words with the human puppet whose soul it enslaved."

Gandalf immediately reacted: "I have heard that dragons like Smaug can cast a spell on people and make them subject to their will. I never thought it was true."

Tanis glared at Gandalf unhappily and said, "Since you knew Smaug might have this ability, why didn't you tell us?"

Gandalf pursed his cigarette awkwardly and replied, "I'm not sure if it's true or not, and telling you might affect you."

Thorin's focus was elsewhere: "Does this mean that the reason the mayor of Lake Town suddenly behaved abnormally, as Bard said, is because he was controlled by Smaug?"

Tanes snapped his fingers and nodded to indicate that Thorin was right, then he told him everything he had heard in the mayor's house.

Gandalf scowled. "So the mayor of Lake Town and his secretary are still alive, but you can't find a way to break the dragon's curse, so you let me handle it?"

Tanis nodded, but Thorin said, "Now is not the time to worry about the mayor. I think even if the mayor dies, the people of Lake Town will only celebrate and won't shed a tear for that vampire. What we need to deal with now are the orcs who have entered Lake Town."

He analyzed carefully, "Azog's son, Bolg, is dead. We must rescue Bard's daughters before these orcs react, and we must also destroy them. According to Tanes, the orcs led by Bolg are elite. If they notice Bolg's death, they will no longer be able to maintain their disguises, and the residents of Lake Town will undoubtedly suffer greatly."

Gandalf took a puff of his cigarette and said with satisfaction, "You actually care about the safety of the people of Lake Town. This is not like you."

Thorin frowned and glanced at Gandalf. "If we liberate the Lonely Mountain, the people of Lake Town will be the only humans near the Lonely Mountain who can trade with us. For this reason, I certainly don't want the residents of Lake Town to suffer too much loss. Otherwise, it will be a loss for us dwarves as well."

Gandalf took a few more puffs of his cigarette. "Whatever the reason, it is better than watching these poor people suffer. I have a way to rescue Bard's daughter and get rid of those orcs at the same time."

Tanes looked over curiously: "What method?"

Gandalf narrowed his eyes. "Since you've already captured the mayor and his secretary alive, I'm not sure I can lift the dragon's curse, but I can still use witchcraft to deceive Smaug and make the mayor obey my orders. Then, in the mayor's name, we can gather the Orcs who have entered the city, leaving no one to guard Bard's daughter. Thorin, arrange for a few nimble and clever dwarves to rescue Bard's daughter while this is happening."

Thorin nodded and looked at the dwarves in the guest room: "Fili, Kili, Balin, and Ori, the four of you go and rescue the little girl."

Fili and Qili ensured that there would be no problem with the use of force in case of any accidents.

The kindest Balin and the most knowledgeable Ori were responsible for quickly convincing the two girls and making them believe that they were commissioned by Bud to save them.

Without waiting for Gandalf to speak, Tanis took the initiative to say, "Then Bernard, Millicent, and I will be responsible for eliminating the Orcs that have entered Lake-town. Egon, thank you for supporting us remotely from the highest bell tower in the mayor's house."

Thorin agreed. "If it's left to you three, no Orc will escape. But not all Orcs will obey the mayor. Gloin, take the remaining dwarves to Lake-town and deal with the disobedient Orcs."

Gloin patted his chest, and his long fiery red beard swayed a few times.

Bilbo was about to ask what his mission was, but before he could open his mouth, Thorin looked at the hobbit and said, "Bilbo, you will come with me to lead Balin and the others."

Bilbo then nodded.

After deciding on the next course of action, all those who were assigned tasks took action with great vigor and determination.

However, in order to avoid causing unnecessary attention due to too many people acting together, Tanes and his companions left the hotel in batches.

First, Tanis and Gandalf came to the mayor's house together. Thanks to Gandalf's witchcraft, the nearby Orcs did not notice Tanis and the others.

When Tanis dragged the mayor of Lake Town and Alfred out from under the bed, the two were still unconscious. Gandalf successfully used witchcraft to wake the mayor up and make him obey his own words.

Everything went very smoothly afterwards, perhaps because the Orcs knew that the mayor's soul had long been enslaved by Smaug and had become a puppet of the evil dragon. Therefore, when the mayor ordered them to go to the empty guard barracks in Lake Town, these Orcs had no doubts about the order.

Only one Orc, who seemed to be Bolger's lieutenant, asked Bolger where he had gone and why he had suddenly gathered them.

Because Gandalf knew what Bolger was planning to do through Tanis, he directly told his lieutenant about Bolger's plan to attack the dwarves, and told his adjutant very respectfully that Lord Bolger had gone there in advance to investigate the situation.

After hearing this, the adjutant did not doubt it and immediately led the tightly wrapped orcs to the place mentioned by the mayor.

The most troublesome stage is over, and all that remains is the boring time of slaughtering orcs.

Under the unreserved strength of Tanes, Bernal and Millicent, nearly a hundred orcs that ambushed Long Lake Town died.

Bard's two daughters were also successfully rescued by Balin and his men. The only trouble was finding the two little girls among the many houses where Oak lived.

"Your teacher is coming soon, Tanes. She'll be outside of Lake Town soon."

Gandalf came to Tanis's side and suddenly said.

Tanis looked over and saw a furry grey moth resting neatly in Gandalf's hand.

"Bernard, I leave the final task of dealing with these Orc corpses to you." He gave a few instructions and turned to Gandalf and said, "Let's go. I am also curious about what method Master Cerrian has to help me bring the Golden Tree's army here in a short time."

(End of this chapter)