Alone and Infinite

"Kara"

The second one, the third one.

Smaug's jeweled armor on his abdomen was a thin plating made of melted gold, which was then inlaid with jewels to form an extremely protective outer shell.

The solution, of unknown origin, dissolved the gold at an incredibly rapid pace. Without a fixative, the gemstones naturally fell off.

Aqua regia? Li Xia quickly dismissed this guess; aqua regia wouldn't move that fast.

But in the current situation, this thing has clearly disrupted the balance, and Smaug's weakest point has been exposed!

"Holy crap, look at the leaderboard!"

At the top of the leaderboard, one person instantly surpassed everyone else to take the number one spot.

Contribution Ranking in the Five Armies Battle

1. Test tubes (contribution: 30%)

2. Aaron Gur (Contribution 16%)

3. Claude (contribution 7.4%)

4. Madwoman (Contribution 5.1%)

5. Chimpanzees (contribution 4.5%)

6. Kagura (Contribution: 3.5%)

98. Xia (Contribution: 0.5%)

Li Xia closed the leaderboard without much emotional reaction. He had only participated once before, so his contribution was naturally very low.

What we need to wait for now is an opportunity, not to rush and use all the means we have.

I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking this way; everyone here is a newbie who's only just finished the game once, and they don't have many ranged items.

It is very likely that only one or two items will be prepared for special circumstances.

If you use it up too early, you'll be left helpless when a good opportunity comes along later.

As for what constitutes a good opportunity, it's now!

"Hahahahahahahahahaha!"

The test tube laughed wildly and ran away. If the reagent had any drawback, it was that it had to be thrown at close range.

He calculated that Smaug would be stunned for five seconds, and with the speed ring's skill, five seconds would be enough for him to dodge.

A 30% contribution was enough for him to maintain his first place until the end of the Five Armies War; as a solvent master, his usefulness on the battlefield was obviously greater.

He's determined to get first place!

"Woo——————"

A violent howling wind sounded behind my head.

The test tube turned around, its smile freezing on its face. Its suddenly constricted pupils reflected a tail with barbs and a bone hammer that was getting closer and closer.

"Oh!"

Like a watermelon struck by a heavy hammer, the test tube shattered under the terrifying force, its flesh and blood mixed with white bone fragments spraying across the ground.

Smaug's snake-like eyes revealed a mocking cruelty, but when he looked down at his jeweled armor being ripped off, his previous pleasure turned into resentment.

This wretched crawler actually dissolved its own gem armor.

But it doesn't matter. These weak crawlers use feeble weapons that can only penetrate a little bit of the epidermis and cannot penetrate the thick membrane at all.

I'll need to get a new suit of armor when I get back. Maybe I should capture some dwarves and have them forge a mithril suit of armor for me?

Before that, the disgusting Longlake Town reptiles must be eradicated.

Even if they all hid in the water, it didn't matter; soon all the forests along the lake shore turned into a sea of ​​fire, and all the fields and pastures became scorched earth.

Smaug flapped its wings and soared into the sky once more, accompanied by the crackling sound of falling gems, as this terrifying dragon vented its rage with unprecedented flames.

The horrific scene of in vitro fertilization stunned everyone, bringing them back to their senses, which had been clouded by the reward.

A smile crept onto Aaron Gur's lips as he hid in the water. He had never claimed that he could hold Smaug down for five seconds every time.

Now that the number one player is dead and Smaug's jeweled armor has fallen off, all that's left is to end the game as quickly as possible.

With that thought in mind, Aaron began to swim; it was time for Bard to hurry up and fire that damned black arrow.

The apostles became active again, frantically launching all their ranged weapons, trying to take advantage of the weakened defenses of Smaug to gain as much contribution as possible.

Just as Li Xia had thought, the group didn't have many long-range attack methods in reserve.

The props that were flying everywhere quickly thinned out, and the constantly fluctuating leaderboard gradually became more stable.

The top few are almost all of the people that Claude specifically mentioned before.

Apart from Li Xia.

Li Xia is waiting for an opportunity.

He just kept drawing his bow and shooting out all the purple arrows he had exchanged, earning some contribution points.

Out of the corner of his eye, however, he was watching Bard.

After Smaug's several charges, the already small number of archers in Laketown were reduced to only Li Xia and Bard, who relied on their monocles to predict Smaug's flight path.

The tall, stern-looking man gritted his teeth and kept pulling on the purple-robed bow in his hand.

Bard was visibly excited when he discovered that Smaug's gem armor had fallen off.

His quiver was running low on arrows, and soon he would run out, except for the long black arrow that he always carried on his back.

Bard stood out conspicuously as the apostles gradually ran out of their ranged abilities.

So much so that Smaug noticed the man who had been shooting arrows the whole time.

His cruel dragon eyes narrowed; the man seemed somewhat familiar, and his scent was also familiar.

Smaug remembered that a hundred years ago, when he had wiped out the Vale Kingdom, there was also a dark-haired man who insisted on leading archers to shoot at him.

Those were not pleasant memories; one of the black arrows even pierced his own jeweled armor.

Is this a descendant of that human? It must be. Humans, these weak and pitiful reptiles, always have such short lives.

A cruel pleasure suddenly welled up in the dragon's heart; it couldn't wait to kill this human, just as it had killed his ancestor.

The giant dragon flapped its enormous wings and soared into the sky, then swooped down.

Li Xia's monocle immediately emitted a 'beep beep beep' notification sound, and Scott, who had already established a model, was able to predict based on the target's movements.

Looking at the trajectory on the simulated route map, Li Xia's pupils shrank, and he ran directly to the side.

Bard seemed to sense something as well, and decisively drew back his bow and charged to the other side.

Scorching dragonfire descended from the sky, and Smaug hovered in mid-air, flapping his wings and continuously spewing dragonfire from his mouth.

The flames spread outwards in concentric circles like waves, igniting and burning through the thick wooden planks.

Large amounts of water vapor rose from the lake, shrouding half of the town in mist.

In the thick steam, the town fell into an eerie stillness.

"Captain Bard!"

Arenguer, soaking wet, approached Bard with a smile. He glanced at Li Xia, who was vaguely visible in the mist, and then looked away as if she were an insignificant person.

Summer? A character Claude specifically mentioned? Someone on par with me?

It's probably better to let him watch like this. It's truly a pity that no one witnessed the first step of the rise of the hall.

"Do you wish to slay this dragon, end this nightmare once and for all, and return to the Valley Kingdom to restore the glory of your ancestors?"

He bowed slightly, behaving as if he were not at a disaster site where people were screaming and wailing, but at an upper-class gathering, introducing himself.

Bard lowered his trembling right hand and remained silent for a moment:

"I don't have time to listen to your lies; I only want to save Changhu Town!"

"Of course, as long as you kill this dragon, everything is possible," Aaron Gur said confidently. "In fact, you are fully capable of it, like Black Arrow."

He pointed to the black arrow behind Bard, and stretched out his hand, revealing a baseball-sized, emerald-green seed in his palm: "And I will create an opportunity for you, an opportunity for you to shoot the black arrow into the heart."

Bard remained silent for a while, unconsciously stroking the black arrow with his hand.

"I think I have my own judgment about opportunities."

Aaron Gur understood; he knew that Bard meant he wouldn't act until he saw an opportunity, and he wouldn't use this family heirloom without a chance.

He raised his wrist and saw that there was a projectile similar to a crossbow on his arm, but without any arrows.

Instead, there was a beetle the size of a baby's palm, whose abdomen looked like it had a light bulb inside, and it still blinked even in the dark.

Aaron Gur pulled the trigger, and the beetle hissed as it flew out, rapidly expanding into a blinding ball of light.

Smaug let out a mournful howl, his anger reaching its peak. He couldn't understand what had happened to Middle-earth during his hundred years of slumber.

Why are so many strange and unusual things appearing?

But the light seemed to have some kind of magic; even something as powerful as it would feel pain, discomfort, and dizziness when it was flashed by it.

Fortunately, this sensation was getting shorter and shorter. Smaug was confident that if it happened again, even if more orbs of light exploded in front of him, he could ignore these annoying little bugs.

Bard's eyes suddenly flashed with a sharp light. He pulled the black arrow from his back and kissed it lightly.

Aaron Gur was also waiting for this moment!

A pang of heartache flashed in his eyes as he gritted his teeth and crushed the seed in his hand.

This is the third most expensive exchange item in the Elf faction. As a green-grade, one-time consumable, it has an extremely powerful effect, including binding enemies.

Even against a monster like Smaug, Aaron Gur was confident he could lock him down for a few seconds.

Or rather, a large portion of the faction-exchangeable items are specifically designed to deal with Smaug, but few people are able to see through this and thus invest heavily in exchanging for them.

However, as long as the War of Smaug can be ended, a large amount of contribution points will be gained.

It's worth it!

The moment the seed was crushed, a vibrant green light emanated from it, transforming into a streak of light that flew toward Smaug at incredible speed.

Become!

Aaron Gur's eyes lit up with ecstasy.

But at that moment, Smaug suddenly opened his tightly closed eyes, revealing a human-like, mocking smile.

Bard had already nimbly run backward. The tall guard captain was extremely fast, and in a short time he had run about ten meters.

The next second, Smaug's thick tail lashed out like a whip with a terrifying whooshing sound.

"impossible!"

Aaron's eyes bulged out, and he tried to run back as well, but it was too late.

Seeing that the tail had already swung over, a look of helplessness and heartache appeared in his eyes.

He pulled out another scroll, a green life-saving item given to him by the order when he joined the Hermitage.

This kind of life-saving item is a perk for team members, but there's only one per tier. I didn't expect to use it in the very first world.

[Effect: Randomly swap positions with other players within a safe range (Apostles gain an additional boost in probability)]

A ruthless glint appeared on Aaron's face. The apostle named Xia was still within the scroll's exchange range.

When both an apostle and a story character are present, there is a 99.9% chance that the apostle will be swapped. This is the balancing mechanism of the temple to prevent anyone from using these green scrolls to hunt down story characters.

But at this moment, it perfectly suited Aaron's needs!

Summer? You're just unlucky!

crumb!

A very strange feeling suddenly welled up in Li Xia's heart.

The talent ability "A stroke of luck amidst misfortune" on the panel flashed with dazzling golden light at this moment!

Bard, who had already run far away, drew his bow again, nocked a black arrow, and stared intently at Smaug with his sharp eyes, trying to calm his breathing.

But the next second, horror appeared in his eyes, and a dazzling light suddenly rose around his body.

Aaron felt dizzy and gasped for breath. He leaned against the rubble beside him and looked expectantly into the distance.