Hogwarts wizards who signed in to Middle-earth.

Chapter 113 Confrontation
Facing Thranduil's praise.

Dui gave a modest smile.

"Your Majesty Thranduil is too kind. This is not solely my achievement."

"Oh, by the way, where is His Highness Legolas? Why don't I see him?"

Thranduil's smile widened when he heard Dui asking about his proudest son.

"He has found some Orc tracks and is following them."

Speaking of orcs, Gandalf's expression suddenly became serious, and his brows slightly frowned: "Your Majesty, do you know where these orcs appeared?"

Thranduil said nonchalantly, "They appeared north of Mirkwood, and seemed to be coming from the Misty Mountains in the north. Legolas followed them out of concern. He should be back in a few days."

Thranduil cared little for the outside world except what was happening in the Woodland Kingdom.

This time he came here to retrieve the white gemstone necklace that he had ordered for his deceased wife.

As for the war between the dwarves and the orcs, he did not provide assistance when the dragon attacked Lonely Mountain, and he did not intend to take action this time either.

However, his son Legolas disagreed with him.

Legolas has a more compassionate heart. He believes that although the dwarves of Lonely Mountain have grudges against them, they are still in the same boat. Now that they are facing a powerful enemy (the Orcs), they need to put aside their past grudges and unite to fight the enemy instead of passively retreating into the Mirkwood.

So he took the initiative to track down Oak's team and tried to find Oak's base camp.

Thranduil did not stay long in Dale.

After allowing the elven army to reorganize itself briefly, they will continue their march towards Lonely Mountain.

Seeing this, Gandalf tried to persuade him again.

"Your Majesty Thranduil, the Orc army may invade at any time. Your conflict with Thorin will only give the Orcs an opportunity to take advantage..."

Thranduil raised his hand to stop Gandalf from continuing to persuade him, and said without question: "This is not my decision. As long as Thorin Oakenshield hands over the things of my deceased wife, I will immediately turn my army around and not stay a moment longer."

A hint of sarcasm appeared on his face.

"But do you think Thorin Oakenshield would agree? Madness runs in his family's blood. I've seen his grandfather go mad with my own eyes. I'm afraid Thorin is no less crazy now, right?"

Although the white gem necklace that Thranduil wanted was not as valuable as the Arkenstone, it was also priceless.

Thorin's grandfather Thor was affected by dragon disease. After the white gem necklace was made, he developed a greedy and possessive heart and refused to return it to Thranduil.

This caused enmity between the dwarves of Lonely Mountain and the elves of the Woodland Kingdom.

This also led to the Woodland Kingdom choosing to stand idly by when the Lonely Mountain was invaded by the dragon Smaug.

Gandalf sighed helplessly when he thought of Thorin who had gone mad due to dragon disease.

There is no doubt that given Thorin's current mental state, he would not be willing to share even a gold coin, let alone the white gem necklace.

What made Gandalf even more worried was that not only Thranduil wanted to ask Thorin for the white gem necklace.

Even Bard followed Thranduil and asked Thorin for compensation for the losses suffered by Long Lake Town, and as a descendant of Girion, Lord of River Valley, he had the right to take back his share of the treasure.

After all, when the dragon Smaug destroyed Dale, he also collected all of Dale's treasures in Lonely Mountain.

So the treasure on the Lonely Mountain contains not only the dwarves', but also part of the humans of Dale.

But Bard also didn't want to see a war between elves, humans, and dwarves.

So he asked Thranduil to let him negotiate with Thorin first.

Thranduil had no hope for this, but he did not refuse Bard's request.

He doesn't mind the time anyway.

However, the elven army was still ready to march directly to Lonely Mountain and take back the gem necklace when Bard's negotiations failed.

Bard was going to negotiate, and Gandalf, worried, chose to go with him to see if he could persuade Thorin and avoid a war.

Dui knew the result and did not follow.

He took out the Stone of True Knowledge and first checked the location of the dragon Smaug.

I haven't taken care of this guy these days, and I don't know where he has gone?

In the barren wasteland north of Lonely Mountain,

Smaug killed a bison with one bite, then breathed out hot flames to roast it, and when it was almost cooked, he began to enjoy the food.

The dragon has a big appetite, and a bison is just the amount of a meal.

But they are also very resistant to hunger. Once they fall into a deep sleep, they can go without food or water for decades.

These days, Smaug has thought about taking the opportunity to escape.

But as soon as he thought about it, the golden-red lines on his neck left by the Unbreakable Vow would come alive, becoming tight and hot, as if cramps were being pulled out, and the whole dragon would be in excruciating pain.

Under such constant torture, Smaug completely accepted his fate and no longer dared to have any thoughts of escaping or betraying.

So Smaug could only hunt in the wilderness and wait for Dui's call.

When Smaug finished eating the roasted bison, he suddenly looked up at the sky vigilantly.

He was acutely aware that someone was watching him.

"Owner?"

Smaug felt that the unknown gaze was somewhat familiar and asked tentatively.

The next second, the oath string around his neck tightened slightly and became a little hot.

This was an oath made at the beginning: no matter where the dragon Smaug is, as long as Dui needs him, he must come unconditionally.

After confirming that it was Dui who was calling him, Smaug did not stop and rushed towards Lonely Mountain at the fastest speed.

The only pity is that his wings are not healed yet, so he can't fly over directly.

"Hmph, quick reaction indeed." Dui snorted, looking at the image of Smaug's rapid movement displayed on the crystal sphere. Don't think he didn't know how many times this guy had harbored ulterior motives these past few days.

He even wanted to escape to a place north of the Gray Mountains and hide there, waiting to see him die before coming out.

But Smaug didn't know that every time he had a change of heart, he would also feel it.

For this reason, whenever Smaug was tortured by the oath for turning his back on others, he deliberately increased the punishment to make it even more painful.

Seeing that Smaug came back obediently, Dui stopped looking at him.

Instead, he re-examined the situation of the new king of Oak - Borg.

Now that the conflict between the elves and dwarves is about to begin, there is no reason why the orcs would not remain silent.

Sure enough, the image of Mount Gundabad soon appeared on the crystal of true knowledge.

Mount Gundabad lies in the northern Misty Mountains. It is a great fortress, home to many Orcs, and is the domain of the Bolg.

At this moment in the picture, with Borg's order, countless ogres, orcs, and wargs rushed out of the fortress, and giant bats covered the sky, allowing the dark creatures that were afraid of light to move during the day.

The densely packed Orc army numbered tens of thousands and advanced rapidly towards the Lonely Mountain.

"Huh? I didn't expect him to track us all the way here!"

Dui looked at the figures of Legolas and Tauriel appearing on the screen in surprise.

They were hiding behind a huge rock in the Gundabad hill fortress, secretly observing the movements of the Orc army.

Suddenly Legolas seemed to sense something and immediately looked vigilantly at the sky behind him.

"What's wrong, Legolas?" Tauriel beside him asked in confusion.

Legolas shook his head hesitantly: "I don't know, I just feel like someone is watching me?"

"Tsk, so sharp!" Dui was a little surprised, then he withdrew his gaze and continued to check other situations.

This time his sights were set on the east of Lonely Mountain.

As far as he knew, there was also a group of dwarves living in the Iron Hills east of the Lonely Mountain. Their lord was Dain II Ironfoot, who was a cousin of Thorin Oakenshield.

Now there are only Thorin and thirteen other dwarves on the Lonely Mountain. Even if they block the city gates, they can't resist the attack of the elven army.

So if Thorin is not stupid, he will definitely ask Dain II for help.

Sure enough, in the wilderness east of Lonely Mountain, an army of tens of thousands of dwarves was approaching this side.

All parties involved in the Battle of Five Armies had arrived. Dui stopped checking and put away the crystal ball.

And found Beorn and Bilbo: "Let's go to the gate of Lonely Mountain. The Orc army is coming. We can't let them fight first."

When Beorn heard that the Orc army was coming, his eyes lit up.

"Finally these guys are here!"

Although Bilbo was a little nervous, he was not afraid. Instead, he gripped his elven short sword tightly.

Dewi handed Beorn the broom.

"You come behind with Bilbo, and I will go and stop them first."

As he spoke, he cast Animagus, transformed into an eagle owl, and flew towards the gate of Lonely Mountain.

Beorn had ridden a broomstick a few days before, so he wasn't worried about any accidents.

At this time, the atmosphere in front of the gate of Gushan was tense.

As expected, Thorin refused Thranduil's request for the white gem necklace and Bard's request to share the treasure.

Even though Gandalf tried his best to persuade both sides, no one accepted his good intentions.

"Thorin, lay down your weapons! Open the door, the treasure will kill you!" said Gandalf.

"You can't win this battle. Don't kill these companions who follow you."

Thorin's eyes flickered a little, but he remained unmoved.

"Well, Gandalf, put away your useless words. You can't wake up a person who is pretending to be asleep."

Thranduil came to the front in military uniform riding a giant deer and spoke in a mocking tone.

Then he turned his cold gaze towards Thorin on the Wall Mountain.

"Now it's time to answer us, Thorin Oakenshield. Do you want peace or war?"

Looking at the tens of thousands of elves, Thorin felt insecure and paced back and forth on the city wall anxiously, looking towards the Far East, as if he was waiting for something.

Finally, a raven appeared on the wall.

Thorin was instantly delighted and full of confidence. He answered Thranduil below without hesitation: "I choose war!"

Thranduil was stunned by Thorin's sudden confidence, and immediately looked towards the mountains in the east as if he had some feeling.

Suddenly, a dense army of dwarves appeared on the eastern hilltop.

"Be alert!" Thranduil gave the order.

The elven army quickly turned its attention to the more threatening dwarven army.

The dwarf army, heavily armed, arrived on foot a thousand meters away from the elven army.

Dain II Ironfoot, Lord of the Iron Hills, came to the front riding a war boar and holding an iron hammer.

"Good morning, everyone. How are you? I have a small suggestion. If you don't mind, I'd like to take up a little of your time."

"Would you all consider... getting as far away as possible?!"

(End of this chapter)