“We’re almost there, stay silent.”

At the Front Gate of the Lonely Mountain, Thorin moved at the front, leading the company of dwarves as they quietly approached.

“I remember the way. Follow me.”

“Why is there a hole here?”

Halfway through their approach, he suddenly frowned at an unexpected sight.

“This was never here in my memory.”

“Uh, I think I might have seen something like this before… somewhere else. Don’t you think the style of this hole looks a bit familiar?”

One of the dwarves spoke up thoughtfully.

“Could it be Garrett’s work?”

“We’re going in!”

Without hesitation, Thorin drew his blade and was the first to advance into the throne hall.

BOOM!

Muffled sounds of clashing steel and thunderous impacts echoed from somewhere deep within, occasionally accompanied by the roar of an enraged dragon and the whoosh of dragonfire.

“By my beard…”

Someone was beginning to piece together what was transpiring within.

The company moved closer, following the sounds of battle, until they reached an oddly out-of-place stone barrier.

“This was never here in my memory either.”

Thorin slowly shook his head. “I remember this being a corridor that led to the lower treasury, there was never a wall here, especially not one of this color.”

“Same material as Garrett’s stronghold walls,” Bofur reminded him.

“Look at this puddle here, exactly two meters long and two meters wide. I can almost say for certain who did this.”

A dwarf knelt by the spring and touched the water with his fingertips.

The water was crystal clear, of a quality comparable only to the fountains crafted by elven artisans.

“There’s another opening over there!”

Having discovered a second opening, the dwarves abandoned their other investigations and gathered around the new tunnel entrance.

One of them peeked inside, it was pitch black beyond, with no light source visible. Faintly, it seemed there were scattered stones at the far end.

“Should we go in?”

Thorin nodded grimly. Just as he was about to take the lead once more, a flash of crimson light blazed from the depths of the tunnel. Every instinct screamed danger. He immediately rolled to the side and shouted, “Take cover!”

WHOOSH.

Dragonfire erupted from the tunnel mouth, then vanished as quickly as it had come. One dwarf who was a step too slow had several of his beard braids singed to ash.

“You cannot kill me!”

The roar of the dragon echoed forth, followed by the grinding sounds of stone and claw.

“Let’s investigate!”

Thorin couldn’t hold back anymore and rushed in.

That was unmistakably Smaug’s voice!

“Quickly, stay close!”

The dwarves followed in his wake.

THWANG.

A flaming arrow streaked toward Smaug’s eye with tremendous force, but failed even to pierce the outer lid, let alone harm the fire-drake.

Clearly, flame enchantments had no effect whatsoever on a creature of living fire.

After all, he was a fire dragon.

And just as the dragon himself had boasted, his scales were harder than tenfold shields. In terms of natural armor, he had exceeded mortal understanding. No ordinary arrows or bolts could hope to penetrate that hide.

The only weakness was the small gap in the chest where a scale was missing. However, Garrett had already worn down half his bow’s durability and still hadn’t managed to knock the arrowhead lodged there, let alone cause any significant damage.

“You truly startled me there, Steve. For a moment I nearly mistook you for one of the mighty warriors of the Elder Days.”

“You may know a few parlor tricks, but compared to those champions in my memory, you are but a pale shadow.”

“Ah, perhaps your blade has some merit, but unfortunately, you are the one wielding it. Your strength is not even half that of the greatest warrior I once slew.”

Smaug continued his mocking commentary as they fought, his voice never stopping, clearly not giving up on trying to influence Garrett with dragon-speech.

“You sure talk a lot. If I were you, I’d shut that stinking mouth before I shove my sword down it and make sure you never open it again.”

Another flaming arrow shot forth, Smaug caught it between his jaws and swallowed it whole.

“This little morsel actually has some flavor. Have you any more?”

CLANG!

Frustrated, Garrett struck Smaug’s massive foreclaw with his blade, forcing the dragon to stumble backward, the dragon clearly felt that one.

“Insolent wretch!”

Man and dragon clashed again. From the darkened corridor came the constant ring of steel on scale and the crash of massive impacts.

Ever since Smaug had realized that Garrett seemed utterly immune to fire, he rarely breathed dragonfire anymore. Occasionally, he’d let out a burst out of habit, but more often he resorted to ramming and biting. With fangs that gleamed like steel blades and talons like spears, his attacks were vicious.

When those massive jaws clamped down on Garrett’s armor, they could actually cause him to lose health!

Biting attacks, claw strikes, tail sweeps, these attacks did affect his health bar, though only marginally. Compared to Sauron’s overwhelming power, the force behind Smaug’s blows was much lighter. He didn’t even need potions, just some basic food to maintain his hunger bar, and with natural regeneration plus a bit of dodging and maneuvering, he could handle it.

Meanwhile, Smaug’s health was slowly, steadily declining at a rate so subtle it was almost imperceptible.

Garrett’s health would dip occasionally but always recovered, whereas Smaug hadn’t regenerated any significant amount in quite some time.

If the battle continued at this pace, he might actually be able to outlast and defeat that dragon.

He simply needed to prevent its escape, if that could be accomplished, the dragon’s fate would be sealed. But that would be no simple task.

“I must acknowledge… you possess some skill after all.”

As the fight progressed, Smaug began to alter his tactics. He stopped his reckless pursuit of Garrett and instead began circling the battlefield, switching to a more cautious, hit-and-run approach. After all, he was a living creature with a mind of his own, not a game NPC that followed predictable logic. He didn’t mindlessly chase players or get stuck behind a ledge.

When he sensed danger, he retreated. When he couldn’t gain advantage, he dodged or repositioned. If he felt he couldn’t finish Garrett quickly, he tried different strategies, he wasn’t stuck in a single attack loop.

That constant barrage of whispered draconic enchantments was proof enough, even if the spells didn’t work, the psychological warfare could still disrupt an opponent’s concentration.

“Am I dreaming?”

At that moment, the company of dwarves suddenly appeared at the tunnel entrance, with Bilbo protected in their midst.

“Is Garrett… actually fighting that hundred-meter-long dragon?”

“They look evenly matched.”

Witnessing the scene before them, the dwarves were once again stunned by Garrett’s combat power. This warrior seemed to grow stronger in proportion to his opponents, his true capabilities remained impossible to gauge.

Even Bilbo stood there slack-jawed, unable to find words. This spectacle was far beyond anything in his experience or imagination.

Well, save for one member of their company.

“Never mind all that. What I want to know is why he awakened that accursed dragon in the first place! He’s completely ruined our plan!”

Thorin sounded both furious and confused. Wasn’t the strategy to steal the Arkenstone, rally the dwarf armies, and then launch their assault? Why had everything gone sideways?

“Ah, what delightful aroma reaches my nostrils? The scent of dwarves!”

“What?”

Garrett spun around and spotted the entire company standing at the tunnel entrance, and instantly felt his blood run cold.

“Get back! Now!”

Even as he shouted his warning, a torrent of dragonfire surged toward the group. Though caught off guard, the dwarves reacted quickly, grabbing Bilbo and scattering in all directions, rolling, diving, and generally scrambling in a most undignified manner, but successfully avoiding the deadly flames.

“Move!”

Garrett quickly placed a water block against the wall, causing it to flow down into a curtain of water to obscure Smaug’s vision. Then he rapidly ushered the dwarves back, retreating with them toward the throne hall.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep