Purification

"Your Highness Roland, greetings!" Seeing Roland ride over, Thorin offered him his respect.

"Hm. I'm here to collect the reward that belongs to us." Roland sat high upon his horse and spoke coldly. The sacrifices of the Swift River Infantry had left him in no friendly mood.

Looking at Roland, covered in blackened blood scabs, Thorin opened his mouth as if to say something. But when he saw the Knights and archers arriving behind him, he gave up.

"Of course. You deserve this reward. You may take whatever wealth you wish from Erebor." Thorin bowed to Roland. He was still that simple and kind-hearted dwarf prince.

"I'm sorry for the heavy casualties among your subordinates..." Seeing Roland's bloodshot eyes, Thorin decisively shut his mouth.

"Then please allow us to clean up the battlefield..." Thorin looked at the wreckage strewn before Erebor. Elves, dwarves, and Orcs lay dead and wounded everywhere. Squads of the Ironfoot Army had dispersed across the field, searching through the severed limbs and corpses for surviving dwarves and elves, while finishing off the half-dead Orcs along the way.

At that moment, Thranduil and Bard, having settled things in River Valley City, also led their forces toward Erebor.

"King Roland! Thank you for extending a helping hand in our hour of crisis. The Elves will remember your kindness." A soot-covered Thranduil gave a slight bow. Roland's troops joining the battle had greatly relieved the pressure on Thranduil and Bard, while Caslo had successfully helped River Valley City stabilize the situation.

"I'm very glad you came to support us!" Bard's eyes reddened with emotion. The Elf Archers' weak close-combat abilities had made Bard suffer greatly during the street fighting to defend River Valley City. But with the help of Lagrange's Wyvern Knights, they had successfully widened the distance from the Orcs, allowing the Elf Archers to display their proper strength.

"What? Are you planning to fight another Battle of Erebor?" Roland raised the Dragon-slaying Sword and pointed it at the sparse soldiers behind them.

"No. We only want to reclaim the wealth the King Under the Mountain promised us, enough to rebuild our homeland," Bard said calmly.

"We only hope to obtain the White Gemstone." Thranduil looked at Thorin Oakenshield.

"Thorin..." Roland called out.

"Um... of course. It is what you deserve." Thorin looked at the scattered remnants behind the two men, then at the dwarves searching the battlefield for survivors, and sighed.

"Everyone, come to Erebor. Tonight, we shall hold a celebration for the recovery of Erebor." Thorin invited them all.

"Hey! Master Baggins! Thank goodness you're still alive and well!" Roland spotted Bilbo, who was idling about. This kind-hearted Hobbit always brought joy to everyone.

"Mr. Roland? I'm so glad to see you again. I thought you had already, before Rivendell..." Bilbo rambled incoherently.

"Don't worry. Lagrange's Knights are incredibly tough! The Orcs can't bring us down!" Roland said firmly.

"What do you plan to do afterward?" Bilbo asked, looking up at him.

"Well! I plan to build a small town at the mouth of Long Lake. You'll be welcome to visit when the time comes." Roland smiled at Bilbo.

"Oh, right, take me inside for a look. I've never been to a dwarf city before." Roland glanced at Thorin, Bard, and the others who were negotiating, then turned to Bilbo. He had no intention of involving himself in the disputes between dwarves, elves, and humans.

The moment he entered Erebor, Roland felt the Dragon-slaying Sword tremble. The last time it had reacted like this was during the battle against Smaug. Still, Smaug had once nested here, so it was understandable that Dragon Aura remained.

"Something's wrong!" Compared to Roland's mild surprise, Caslo's reaction was far more intense. He stared solemnly at the grand dwarven hall, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword tightly.

"Something is indeed wrong. An evil curse lingers here. The dragon's greed has taken tangible form, and the shadow of death hangs over this place..." Ivy, the Temple Priest, wore a disgusted expression as she frowned and looked around. It was obvious she did not like this place.

"Hey, friends! What's wrong?" Dáin spotted Roland's group standing at the entrance and asked in confusion.

"Uh, my subordinates might not like the atmosphere here..." Roland spread his hands in explanation.

"My lord, leave this place!" Caslo suddenly grabbed Roland and tried to drag him outside.

"What the hell? What happened?" Roland was full of tiny question marks. Did you have a lot of friends or something?

"Enough! Caslo!" Reno stopped Caslo's rude behavior.

"My apologies, my lord. The curse here has a great influence on those of high rank..." Caslo apologized for his earlier disrespect.

"A curse? What's going on?" Roland wore a baffled expression.

"You idiot... The king is a holy knight! Have you ever seen a holy knight afraid of curses?" Reno felt Caslo had embarrassed himself all the way back to Lagrange City.

"..." Caslo froze on the spot.

"Sigh, my lord, it's like this. The evil dragon that once stayed here placed a curse upon the wealth..." Ivy could no longer watch and began explaining.

"It makes people greedy!" Gandalf appeared at the entrance.

"Greetings, Wizard Gandalf!" Roland lowered his head respectfully. After all, he had to show the old man some respect.

"Then, Mr. Gandalf, do you have any way to deal with it?" Thorin, Bard, Thranduil, and the others walked in.

"This will require purification through magic. But you're lucky, Thorin! There are three people standing before you who can successfully purify the curse here." Gandalf took out his pipe and spoke with an air of calm confidence.

"Four, Mr. Grey Robe Wizard! Including you." Ivy suddenly said.

"Uh..." Gandalf's smile froze on his face.

Roland glanced curiously at Gandalf, then nearly laughed. Was he trying to slack off and got caught? Who had started the expedition to Erebor? Did he really not know whose mess this was? He wanted to slip away? As if.

"Could I trouble you all to help us remove the curse here? We are willing to offer compensation." Thorin looked at them.

"Holy shit!" Roland was stunned by the sight before him. What did a mountain of Gold Coins look like? What did having a mine at home mean? Roland felt that even the Erebor shown in the movies had been nowhere near the true wealth within this city. Before his eyes stood dozens of golden hills, each dozens of meters high, with magnificent gemstones scattered across them...

"Gulp!" Caslo quietly swallowed.

Unworthy "tears" flowed from the corner of Roland's mouth. It was too shocking. No wonder the Orcs wanted Erebor! Roland now wanted to ask whether it was still too late to gather his army and seize Erebor. Waiting online! Urgent!

"Let's begin..." Ivy came back to her senses and quietly wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth.

"Purification!" Four masses of gentle white light illuminated the entire dwarven treasury. Ivy's Light of Evolution covered the widest range, while Roland and Reno's Purification had the best results. The boost provided by holy attributes to dispelling skills was terrifying. As for Gandalf's Purification... it was better than nothing. After all, one could not expect a wizard who played with prophecy and curses to be particularly proficient in a divine art like Purification.

"Done!" Ivy wiped the sweat from her forehead and said sweetly.

"Thank you, my friends!" Thorin said excitedly to the group.

"My friends, take whatever wealth you wish from here! As long as you can carry it away, take as much as you want!" Thorin knew Roland possessed large-scale spatial storage equipment, so he spoke generously.

"Really?" Roland was incredibly surprised.

"Really! Our friendship is truer than real gold!" Thorin patted his chest.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony?" Roland asked tentatively.

"Take it! This is the reward you deserve!" Thorin was exceedingly generous.

Urged on by Thorin, Roland helplessly walked down and activated the Ring System in his hand. Vast quantities of Gold Coins were immediately converted into Wealth Points. 1, 2... 10000... As the Wealth Points continued to rise, the golden mountains constantly collapsed and vanished...

At that moment, Thorin, standing on the stairs, had widened his eyes. He could not believe what he was seeing. Was this some fucking money-disappearing spell?

Finally, when his Wealth Points reached one million, Roland decisively stopped converting Gold Coins. Nearly one-seventh of the entire treasury had been cleared away. Where the "golden mountains" had once stood, only gemstones scattered across the ground remained...

"Oh! By my beard! Has Erebor been robbed?" Dáin had come looking for Thorin, only to see the missing section of the treasury.

"No! It hasn't..." Thorin said blankly.

"Uh, Thorin, are you alright..." Roland looked at Thorin with concern, afraid he might fail to catch his breath and pass out.

"I'm fine! I will honor my promise. Anything you can take away is yours." Thorin forced a smile uglier than crying.

"The banquet is about to begin, and we still need you to preside over it! Your Highness Roland, would you like to join the celebration?" After speaking to Thorin, Dáin turned and asked Roland whether he wanted to celebrate with them.

"Of course! I would love to experience the dwarves' hospitality!" Roland accepted with a smile.

Only Thorin, looking as though he had lost his soul, was dragged away by Dáin.