Dwarven Courage, Elven Pride

"Since the king has spoken, I will certainly grant him this favor," Dain said readily, and then ordered the Ironfoot Army to march toward the City Gate.

Aaron breathed a heavy sigh of relief and Apparition to the city wall.

Although the process was a bit exciting, the result was still good; at least a fight didn't break out.

Thorin immediately ordered the dwarves around him to open the City Gate in preparation for welcoming the Ironfoot Army to the city.

But then a loud noise came from the distant hillside, the deafening sound attracting everyone's attention.

"They look like earth serpents." Gandalf's expression changed drastically. "They must be working with the orcs."

The next moment, several huge and ferocious sand worms suddenly emerged from the burrow, their mouthparts filled with countless sharp teeth and fangs that crushed the hard Monolith to pieces.

However, they did not launch an attack. After briefly appearing, they retreated, leaving several huge caves in the mountain.

"Gandalf, please don't tell me that all our next enemies are this size." Aaron couldn't help but swallow hard. If Gandalf dared to say "yes," he would run away without hesitation.

"There are definitely some huge enemies, but not too many. The main enemy force is still orcs," Gandalf murmured, looking at the huge burrows. "And they're already here."

"You mean the orcs will come out of those caves?" Aaron looked at the caves in disbelief, and was also shocked by Azog's tactics, which had actually dug tunnels right up to the edge of Lonely Mountain.

He was somewhat relieved that the elves, humans, and dwarves hadn't started fighting; otherwise, the orcs would have seized the opportunity and severely damaged all three sides.

At the same time, he also had some doubts about Azog's intelligence. Given the current situation, a little trickery could make the elves and dwarves kill each other. Could it be that the orcs' bloodlust wouldn't allow them to sit back and reap the benefits?

"Forward! My army!"

Meanwhile, on Ravenhill in the distance, Azog the Defiler loudly summoned his army, vowing to annihilate humanity, dwarves, and elves in one fell swoop.

A massive banner was unfurled, and the resounding sound of horns echoed as countless orc legions surged forth from the tunnels dug by the earth serpents.

"The devil is attacking us! Fight! Fight! Children of Durin!"

Dain immediately turned his attention to the Ironfoot Army and led them to meet the enemy. Although he disliked elves, he knew better than anyone that orcs were the real enemy.

The Ironfoot Army was far outnumbered by the Orcs, but they were fearless and quickly erected Shield Wall, with spears protruding from the gaps in the Shield Wall, ready for battle.

"I want to join the battle. Who will come with me?" Fili asked.

"Alright! Let's go!" Dwalin shouted, and the other dwarves echoed his agreement.

"No one is allowed to go," Thorin suddenly said.

"What? Are we just going to stand by and do nothing?" Gloin asked in astonishment.

"I told you not to go," Thorin emphasized.

The dwarves were stunned by these words; they simply couldn't believe that Thorin would issue such a decree.

"You want the gold, is that it?" Aaron looked at him meaningfully. "Even if you see your own people dying in battle, you don't want to go and help?"

Thorin paused for a moment, then walked down the city wall without answering.

"How could he have become like this?" Balin felt a sense of his faith crumbling. He had always firmly believed that Thorin would become a qualified king and revive the Dwarves, but Thorin's current performance was heartbreaking.

"He is better than his grandfather; gold cannot deceive him."

"It's not that I don't believe him, but why now?" Balin said bitterly. "Our compatriots are fighting a bloody battle, but we have to stand by and do nothing."

"There's never been a better time than now." Aaron patted him on the shoulder. "If it were peacetime, he would have been consumed by gold and lived in a daze for a long time."

But now the Dwarves are facing a huge crisis, and if he had even a shred of conscience, he couldn't possibly turn a blind eye.

"But that will take time." Balin looked down at the heavily Ironfoot Army below with a troubled expression. "What we... lack most is time."

"Then let's shorten the time," Aaron said meaningfully. "Use this time to organize some profound lines, go over and give him a good scolding, and try to wake him up."

"Will this work?" Fili asked. "Thorin is incredibly stubborn."

"There's a saying in Gaius's ancestral teachings: 'Language is the most lethal weapon in the world.'" Aaron said meaningfully. "As long as you have a silver tongue, coupled with convincing acting skills, and if necessary, add a few tears that can fully express your emotions, you can even make the gods shut up."

"We'll talk about that later, since it's not practical," Bilbo interrupted Aaron somewhat anxiously. "The elves don't seem to be planning to fight."

Everyone looked closely and saw that the allied forces of elves and humans remained in a wait-and-see posture in front of the River Valley City, holding their positions still.

"Thranduil!" Gandalf roared, somewhat angrily, "You cannot do this!"

"I'll go!" Aaron shrugged. "I'm just destined to be a workaholic!"

The black spatial vortex swept Aaron in, and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of the elf formation.

"Thranduil, you can't do this," Aaron said in Gandalf's voice. "I know you have River Valley City as your backing and a chance to retreat, but you won't retreat all the way."

Gandalf said yesterday that everything is clear: I don't know what the Old Kingdom of Angmar in the North is, but I do know that after the orcs revive that kingdom, humans, elves, and dwarves will face annihilation.

"The brave dwarves won't allow themselves to be the second to charge forward," Thranduil said, somewhat displeased. "But the pride of the elves won't allow them to hide behind the dwarves."

Aaron paused for a moment, then bowed respectfully to Thranduil.

Then, knowing better, he stepped aside and made way for the elf.

Seeing this Bard, who was standing nearby, also wanted to bring people over to help.

"You have to stay here," Aaron stopped him.

"But..."

"No buts. There are just too many orcs. If you join in, you won't even make a ripple."

"Although I hate to say it, we need a way out in case both the dwarves and the elves lose," Aaron said gravely. "This isn't pessimism, it's a fact, and there are probably still many old people and children in the city."

Bard nodded blankly, then looked at Aaron, "Can you help us?"

"I can only say I'll do my best." Aaron didn't make any definitive statements. He was just a High-level Archmage at the moment, more than capable of protecting himself on such a battlefield, but he couldn't possibly influence the course of a war.

After saying this, Aaron's Apparition on the walls of Erebor.

"What did you say to Thranduil?" Gandalf asked.

"It's nothing." Aaron looked at the elven army charging towards the dwarven formation and couldn't help but sigh, "Thranduil is much wiser than I thought."

Although his personality was a bit cold and his domineering manner made some people dislike him, there was no doubt that he was a qualified king.

"He is certainly a qualified king," Gandalf said matter-of-factly. "Thranduil has protected his people for centuries."

"Amazing." Aaron raised his black Wand and waved his arm repeatedly at the distant sky.

"What are you doing?" Gandalf asked Yu.

"You know perfectly well what I'm asking." Aaron curled his lip in disdain. "I'm Warlock, of course I fight with magic."

Gandalf:...

That's awkward.

He was also Warlock, and his magic was no less powerful than that of Aaron, but his combat strength was a real weakness.

On the battlefield, just as the orc legion was about to clash head-on with the Ironfoot Army, the elven troops suddenly leaped out from above the dwarves and joined the orcs in battle.

The Ironfoot Army was not to be outdone, and resolutely charged into the enemy ranks with their spears.

Two races that originally disliked each other have now become friends and are fighting side by side against the orc army, with the three forces clashing together.

"Send out war behemoths."

Azog calmly gave the order, and several-meter-tall war behemoths slowly emerged from the enormous cave. With their massive bodies, they rampaged across the battlefield, inflicting heavy casualties on both elves and dwarves.

Upon seeing this, Thranduil immediately ordered the Elf Tribe archers to launch an attack.

A barrage of golden arrows rained down like a downpour, instantly annihilating several war beasts along with dozens of orcs.

At the same time, the dwarves also sent chariots into the battlefield. The wheels were extremely powerful and destroyed a large number of orcs.

The chariot was quickly targeted by the giant beasts, who used their bodies as human shields to block the goats pulling the chariot, and then overturned the chariot from the side.

Without their chariots, the chariot cavalry were instantly at a severe disadvantage and were quickly overwhelmed by the enemy forces.

"They cannot fight on two fronts." Azog saw from Ravenhill that River Valley Town was a place that neither the dwarves nor the elves could attend to, and immediately gave the order, "Begin the offensive now and attack River Valley City."

Upon hearing the bugle call, a well-rested orc army, seeing the flag signal, immediately changed direction and marched in a mighty procession towards the Ying army in the River Valley Town.

Once River Valley Town falls, the dwarves, elves, and humans will have no way out and will face certain death against the massive orc army.

"Damn it!" Aaron said angrily. "I knew Azog would arrange it this way."

"Bard and his men won't last long," Gandalf said worriedly. "Humanity doesn't have many warriors at all."

"They have no choice but to fight to the death. Before that, I'll help them weaken the orc army."

As soon as he finished speaking, a giant Magic Array appeared in the sky, and dark purple light shone down on the earth.

Sizzle~ Sizzle~

Purple arcs of electricity flickered in mid-air, and the orc legion advancing towards River Valley Town sensed a great danger and stopped in their tracks.

Rumble!

The next moment, violent purple lightning struck down from the Magic Array.

Purple lightning flowers bloomed among the orc army, painting the surrounding sky purple, yet this dazzling color contained a destructive power.

A deafening roar of screams echoed as one-tenth of the orc army attacking River Valley City fell to the ground under the onslaught of thunder.

They were charred black from being hacked, and the black smoke emanating from their corpses was nauseating.