Azog the Defiler: Times Have Changed

Gandalf caught a glimpse of the gold ring, his expression instantly turning serious, but he quickly recovered and smiled nonchalantly, "That's not important, he's here."

"They won't run away halfway this time, will they?" Aaron asked meaningfully.

"Won't."

"I want to know, why did you come here?" Thorin looked at Bilbo with a puzzled expression.

He didn't stop Bilbo from leaving when he was in the cave because he felt Bilbo wasn't suitable for the expedition, and leaving sooner would be better for both sides.

I believe Bilbo thought the same thing, but his decision to stay is something he doesn't quite understand.

"I know you've always had doubts about me. I miss Bag End, and I miss my books, my chair, and my garden—that's where I belong."

Therefore I came, because you have no home.

What has been taken from you, I am willing to help you get it back.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Aaron clapped enthusiastically, then gave Bilbo a big hug. "That was touching. I knew you wouldn't let me down."

Thorin fell silent, and the other dwarves were also filled with mixed emotions, some even feeling touched.

Sensing the positive shift in the team's atmosphere, Gandalf smiled with satisfaction.

Suddenly, the howling of wolves came from afar, and everyone's heart skipped a beat.

"It must be Warg scout." Aaron rubbed his head wearily. "I almost forgot, the Orc King spread the news that we had been captured."

Although the news was outdated, it wasn't too late for Azog.

"It's one problem after another," Gandalf muttered, then shouted for everyone to run away.

The pack of wolves charged down from the mountain; the forest was their battlefield, and they caught up in no time.

The group hastily engaged in battle and quickly fled to the edge of the cliff.

Aaron looked at the several huge pine trees on the edge of the cliff and climbed up without saying a word.

The others also demonstrated their agility, quickly climbing to the treetops, even the fattest Bombur was no exception.

"Wolves can't climb trees, but half-orcs certainly can." Aaron looked at Gandalf with a serious expression. "You have to think of a way. We can't just sit here and wait to die."

"Ha!" Gandalf's eyes twitched slightly. "Warlock aren't omnipotent. Right now, we can only improvise and hope Lady Luck is on our side."

Aaron:...

"Didn't you unleash a powerful spell when you stormed the orc city? Why don't you do it again?"

"Do you think I would still be climbing the tree if I were in that situation?" Gandalf retorted. "I need time to prepare, and I can't handle so many enemies."

Aaron was speechless. This Grey Wizard was extremely reliable when he was reliable, but completely unreliable when he was unreliable.

Is he really going to be exposed this time? But even if he is exposed, he is no match for an army!

Moreover, he has already shown his face to several righteous bigwigs. If he were to fall into the villains' sights, things would get really bad, and he might be specifically targeted.

Thinking of this, Aaron couldn't help but shudder.

The situation left him no choice but to act decisively; he couldn't just stand by and watch these dwarves perish in the wolf's jaws!

Dozens of Warg surrounded several pine trees, but did not rush to attack.

Gandalf saw a butterfly on a tree branch, and his eyes lit up. He used his Wand to hook it over.

He whispered to the butterfly, then released it.

"What are you doing?" Aaron asked, puzzled.

"It's nothing," Gandalf shook his head.

"I don't believe it!" Aaron thought to himself. At this moment, Gandalf would definitely not do anything meaningless.

"The orcs who came were just lackeys, otherwise we would have been in real danger this time."

"Damn it! Just what I feared has happened."

A White Warg appeared in the distance, with a pale orc on its back.

Although it was their first time meeting, Aaron was absolutely certain that the person who had come was the Azog the Defiler Orc.

Not only because his skin color and physique were completely different from other orcs, but also because his left arm was covered with barbed black iron claws.

"Azog".

Thorin stared in disbelief at the pale orc, a surge of national and personal hatred welling up inside him.

Azog took a deep breath, lowered his body, and gently stroked the White Warg. "Can you smell it? The scent of fear."

I remember the stench of fear emanating from your father, Thorin, Thrain.

Upon hearing this, Thorin felt as if struck by lightning, his heart filled with gloom.

Although he felt that his father, Moria, Elphias Doge in the war, he still had a sliver of hope that his father might still be alive!

But now, Azog shattered that last bit of hope in his heart; he was the only one left in their lineage.

"That dwarf is mine," Azog said, pointing at Thorin. "Kill everyone else."

Upon receiving their orders, the Warg frantically leaped onto the pine trees.

They charged forward one after another, desperately opening their mouths to tear and bite.

Although they cannot climb trees, the stags still cause a lot of trouble for people with their amazing jumping ability, as their fangs frequently come into close contact with their bodies.

Worse still, the pine tree was gradually uprooted from the ground and tilted to one side under the attack of the Dire Warg.

The expedition members quickly grabbed branches from another tree the moment the big tree fell, narrowly managing to jump up.

They dared not relax, because once they landed on the ground, there was only one outcome: to be torn to pieces by the wolf pack.

After performing several difficult maneuvers, all members of the expedition team moved to the pine tree on the edge of the cliff.

"This tree was already under immense pressure, and now it's even more overburdened," Aaron sighed.

"Enough with the nonsense." Gandalf looked at Aaron anxiously. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Don't overestimate me, I'm just a thirteen-year-old kid." Aaron subconsciously touched the blanket behind him, then took out his bow and arrows and shot down the wolves below.

The killing of several Warg did not improve their situation; instead, it fueled the pack's ferocity.

The Warg attacked with even greater ferocity, tearing the branches to shreds. The Giant Tree was quickly halved, and the expedition's resting places dwindled.

"I only have two arrows left. If I use them all, I'll have to throw swords and Hammer."

"No, we have other weapons." Gandalf picked a pine cone the size of a brick, lit it with his staff, and threw it into the wolf pack.

Wild animals are terrified of fire, and the ferocious Warg all avoided the fireball.

The dwarves immediately set fire to the pine cones they had picked and threw them at the Warg.

The flames quickly ignited the surrounding trees and grass, forcing dozens of Warg Warg flee in panic.

The dwarves cheered, but Aaron and Gandalf remained worried, because they hadn't done much damage to the wolves and they would attack again once the fire was extinguished.

Aaron took a deep breath. "Bilbo, give me a hand."

"What are you up to?"

"You throw chestnuts really well, so throw a lit pine cone at Azog."

We must aim carefully; this might be our chance to survive.

Bilbo glanced at Gandalf, and the Grey Wizard remained silent for a moment before giving him a pine cone that had been set ablaze.

Bilbo threw the fireball at the pale orc with all his might, and Aaron fired his penultimate arrow at the same time.

Silver arrows shattered pine cones, sending countless Mars flying above the orcs' heads, instantly igniting the trees around them.

The dozens of Warg, frightened by the flames, were once again terrified and ran wildly around the encirclement of flames. In the blink of an eye, a third of them had run away, and the remaining two-thirds were only able to escape because they were forcibly controlled by more than twenty orcs.

The White Warg also retreated a few steps, and the angry howl of Azog on its back was seized by Aaron as he fired his last arrow.

A sharp, piercing sound cut through the air, and under the cover of raging flames, it rapidly approached the Azog the Defiler, aiming straight for his throat.

However, his opponent was a veteran of countless battles. The moment the arrow approached, his brain went into overdrive, and Azog instinctively ducked and raised his left arm to wield his iron claw.

A brilliant burst of fire erupted, and the silver arrow missed by half an inch, leaving a bloody gash on Azog's face.

"Ah!" Azog roared angrily, feeling a long-lost sense of having brushed shoulders with death.

"Shoot! Gaius, shoot! Shoot! Shoot!" Thorin was thrilled; nothing excited him more than watching his enemy's impotent rage.

Aaron was not happy, because his quiver was empty and the last arrow had not worked as expected.

Azog picked up the silver arrow from the ground, his expression ferocious, and stared at Aaron with cold eyes, "An elf?"

No, you're not an elf, nor Half-blood, are you human?

Aaron nodded absentmindedly. "Aaron Gaius, an unremarkable human archer."

"Is that so?" Azog sneered, pointing his weapon at Aaron. "Leave the Oakenshield and this human Gaius to me. I'll cut off their heads and hands as trophies."

Gollum!

Aaron swallowed hard. "Good idea, but unfortunately, you won't have that opportunity."

Suddenly, the pine tree beneath their feet swayed and fell towards the cliff.

Half of the pine tree's roots were exposed above the ground, teetering precariously at a forty-degree angle on the edge of a cliff.

Ori's hand slipped, and as he fell, he grabbed Dori's foot, barely managing to save his life.

"Mr. Gandalf," Dori called out, he too was starting to feel the strain.

Just as he was about to release the branch, Gandalf stretched out his staff, just in time catching the two dwarves in mid-air.

"Hold on a bit, I'll save them."

"How are you going to save us?" Bilbo asked anxiously. "This is a cliff, we don't know when we'll fall."

"Uh... my ancestors..."

"At this point, don't bring up whether your ancestors were paralyzed or not; find another reason."

"I've studied rock climbing," Aaron said with some pride. "While I can't guarantee I can climb down the cliff, if Gandalf throws them off the cliff face, I might be able to find a foothold."

"I can't do it," Gandalf said through gritted teeth. "I don't have that much strength. Hanging them up is my limit."

Aaron:...

Why didn't you say so earlier?

Aaron rolled his eyes, climbed to the branch closest to Dori, hooked his feet on the thick branch, and hung upside down in mid-air.

"Ori, give me your hand, hurry up."

Gandalf can't support the Dori weight of the two of you. Dori will fall off sooner or later if you keep dragging him like this.

Hearing this, Ori no longer hesitated and shakily stretched out a hand.

With Aaron sharing the burden, Gandalf and Dori were instantly relieved of half the pressure. Although they were still suffering, they were able to hold on for a little longer.

At that moment, a figure caught Aaron's attention, and also everyone else's attention.

Thorin, with the Orcrist in his right hand and a wooden shield in his left, swiftly charged through the fire toward the pale orc.

"Stop, Thorin, don't be impulsive!" Aaron shouted anxiously. With his enemy right in front of him, Thorin would not stop.

"Stupid, utterly stupid!" Aaron cursed angrily. "I've never seen so many brainless idiots in my life."

"Didn't Thorin defeat Azog before?" Bilbo asked, puzzled.

"You said it yourself, that was in the past."

Azog's strength is no less than Thorin's, and may even be stronger.

He was determined to seek revenge, and he had a white wolf mount, dozens of elite subordinates, and a pack of Warg.

What did Thorin have? A sword, a piece of broken wood, and a head blinded by anger and hatred.

The strength of the two sides is severely unequal; unless a miracle occurs, such stubbornness will only lead to certain death.

Bilbo paused for a moment, then nervously turned to look at him.

Just as Thorin was about to charge at Azog, Azog, riding his White Warg, pounced down from above, knocking him to the ground.

Before he could even stand still, Azog turned back and swung his Hammer at his chin.

The White Warg opened its blood-red maw and bit Thorin.

Even though he was wearing light armor, his sharp teeth still pierced through his waist and abdomen.

Hearing the agonizing screams, Azog spread his arms wide and laughed triumphantly, enjoying the thrill of revenge.

Thorin swung his Orcrist and struck the White Warg's head hard.

In pain, the White Warg tossed Thorin aside, thus losing his fighting ability.

Everyone was too distressed to look at Thorin's miserable state, and Balin even burst into tears.

"Bring me his head," Azog said calmly.

A half-orc beside him immediately jumped off the back of the Warg, grabbed a large sword, and walked towards Thorin.

"Fuck you!" Aaron couldn't help but swear.

Azog noticed him and sneered, "Don't be in such a hurry, it'll be your turn soon."

"Damn it, so arrogant." Aaron gritted his teeth. The contract wasn't finished yet, and he couldn't just stand by and watch Thorin be beheaded.

"Ori, close your eyes, I'm leaving you behind."

"What?"

"Don't ask so many questions, just do as I say."

And you too, Dori. Next, we need the Grey Wizard.

"You're not kidding, are you?!"

"Of course not, we can only save Thorin if we free our hands."

Believe me, you won't have any problems.

Gandalf looked at Aaron thoughtfully, suspecting that Aaron had guessed that he had called for reinforcements.

His reinforcements haven't arrived yet. Is it appropriate to leave the two dwarves behind?

"You must save Thorin, I beg you, Mr. Gaius," Dori said, then exchanged a glance with Ori, and with a look of grim determination, released his hands.

Aaron Teng's first instinct was to reach for his own back and toss the dark blue blanket aside.

"That should solve the problem."

Aaron used his feet to push off and flipped himself onto the tree trunk, a black Wand appearing in his hand.

Just as he was about to cast a spell to save the person, he unexpectedly saw Bilbo about to behead Thorin when the orc crashed into him and killed him instead.

The remaining dwarves also rushed forward and fought alongside the orcs.

Aaron blinked blankly at the scene before him.

Dori and Ori threw them out too early, and the Magic Carpet was thrown out too early as well.