Chapter 228: The Slaughter Between Orcish

"Now, we have successfully occupied the First Hall without alerting the enemy, which is equivalent to a successful start. But this is only the first step of the operation; the journey ahead must absolutely not rely on a frontal assault, because we are only here to retrieve a portion of the wealth occupied by the Orcish, not to truly retake Moria, which is still shrouded in darkness."

Having said this, Allen paused his words and looked with a smile at Dain, Oin, and Ori, who were sitting beside him; the following plan very much required the help of the three of them, and it had to be carried out quietly.

These three Dwarfs from the Lonely Mountain were actually feeling somewhat displeased at this moment, because Allen had not arranged for them to participate in the battle that had just occurred.

This made the three feel that Allen looked down on them, and furthermore, they believed that as descendants of Durin, they should have been the first to enter Moria, rather than waiting anxiously at the entrance.

Allen understood this sentiment, but the Dwarfs' style of combat was too valiant and direct; he was very worried that after the three Dwarfs entered the First Hall, they would be unable to control their excited emotions and, amidst shouting and yelling, launch an attack directly on the Orcish occupying the Guard Room, thereby disrupting all of his plans.

Moreover, secretly occupying the First Hall was the most important link in this adventure; if it failed, it would certainly attract the attention of other Orcish, and then the two factions of Orcish currently fighting might just temporarily cooperate and turn their spears toward his group of enemies who had suddenly broken in.

Even Orcish, who often fought among themselves, understood the principle of uniting against an outside enemy.

If that happened, Allen would only be able to retreat from Moria and wait for another opportunity, or lead the group to arduously climb over the Redhorn Gate to look for the Durin's Door on the other side of the Misty Mountains—and there was no guarantee they would be able to find it, not to mention having to face the terrifying Watcher in the Water; Allen was not confident that he could defeat that guy covered in tentacles by himself.

If such a situation occurred, it would not only cause previous efforts to fall short of success, but also waste a massive amount of time.

Therefore, when faced with the Dwarfs' request to join the battle, Allen, relying on his status as Captain, firmly refused; it was normal for the Dwarfs to be displeased.

"Hmph, occupying the First Hall is not the most critical link; what is important is to control both sides of the bridge. It is what determines whether we can successfully return to the First Hall, yet the Orcish never care about that place, instead placing their forces here in the Guard Room—truly foolish."

Oin grumpily put forward his suggestion, but as he spoke, an excited look appeared on his face, because he was about to go deep into the homeland of the Dwarfs, the kingdom of Durin's Folk at its most glorious: Khazad-dum.

"As long as we cross the bridge and pass through a flight of stairs, we will enter the Second Hall of the First Valley. That is the hub of Khazad-dum; whether going to the Third Hall above or heading toward the Second Valley in the depths, one must pass through there. And as far as I know, there is an Armory in the Third Valley; there must be a large amount of weapons and equipment there—of course, provided it hasn't been ransacked by the Orcish."

Ori slowly spoke of his knowledge of Moria.

"If we gain nothing in the Third Valley, then we will have to advance to the upper levels. I think there might be more Orcish waiting for us there, because that terrifying Durin's Bane prefers to lurk in the depths, and I think even the Orcish are unwilling to enter that place where fear permeates."

As the two Dwarfs kept talking about the terrain of Moria, Allen also gained a relatively shallow understanding of this lost kingdom.

From the Second Hall, going all the way up, there were at least seven levels, and after reaching the seventh level, one was already close to the highest point of Moria. Most of the area there was bright because the Dwarfs had opened many ventilation shafts on the mountain body, and sunlight could dispel most of the darkness.

Each level had about two to four halls, which in past years served as dwellings for the Dwarfs or locations for storing precious items. To a certain extent, the higher the level one lived on, the higher that Dwarf's status was. If one wanted to find some precious good things, the upper levels should be the focus of exploration.

And if one went all the way down from the Second Hall, that was where the Dwarfs mined for mineral deposits; that place was called a valley. As for how many valleys there were below, even Oin and Ori could not say clearly, because no one knew exactly how deep the Dwarfs of the past had dug there.

And the extremely precious Mithril was produced in the mineral veins there.

As the biggest goal of Allen's trip, these special metals must be stored in the treasure vaults there, and many armors made of Mithril, logically speaking, would also be stored in the Armory there after being crafted.

Up to this point, the information regarding this mountain kingdom seemed to be quite clear.

But when Allen led a ranger squad of twelve, along with Oin, to step on the smooth ground and enter the incomparably silent Second Hall, the information discussed earlier seemed less real.

Because the Dwarfs had built every hall too magnificently and toweringly, and the passages connecting the various levels and halls were intricate and complex, not to mention that the surrounding environment was shrouded in endless darkness.

Even Allen's eyes, which had once been blessed, could only vaguely see the pitch-black, shiny walls around the hall here.

But the rooms opened in the walls were areas of impenetrable darkness.

At this time, Allen, who was leading the operation, had not thought about searching those rooms carefully; just thinking about it, the Orcish who rushed into Moria would not let go of any wealth in this place, even if they were unwilling to live here.

Therefore, Allen led his people without wasting a shred of time on these rooms, but instead tried his best to explore all the upward passages of the Second Hall.

Any road that emitted a foul stench was listed by Allen as a forbidden zone that could not be entered, because that was surely where the Orcish were relatively active.

These filthy creatures were very good at making the air in the places where they lived foul.

Even if Allen's eyes did not truly see them, relying solely on his not-so-sensitive sense of smell, he would inevitably be able to lead the squad to avoid most of the dangers.

And Oin, during the exploration, stared with a pair of bright, sparkling eyes, constantly scanning the surrounding environment, and the pace of his feet never showed any hesitation.

It was as if he had truly lived in Khazad-dum before.

And the rangers following behind the two of them walked with light steps, holding bows and arrows, vigilantly scanning the places the squad had just walked past, to avoid some blind Orcish suddenly popping out from some passage.

Of course, without Allen's order, they could not suddenly launch an attack.

And in the pitch-black and unchanging environment, time seemed to pass particularly slowly.

After the group explored in the darkness for several hours and walked about a few kilometers of road, they finally found an upward passage on the south wall of the Second Hall that was not so repulsive.

After Oin's confirmation, the barely legible text on both sides of the passage wrote that this road led to the fifth level, and the destination was the Sixteenth Hall; even Oin, who recognized the text, did not know what the Sixteenth Hall was for.

Thinking that there was no major problem with the passage in front of him, Allen drew his Longsword and made a very conspicuous mark on the left side of the passage.

There was no help for it; they had encountered too many similar passages along the way, and if the mark could not let them recognize it at a glance, then they would have to search bit by bit next time.

After making the mark, Allen did not hesitate in the slightest, waved his hand to the people behind him to signal them to follow, and then strode onto the intact steps, advancing toward the upper levels of Moria.

Actually, when occupying the First Hall, he had spent a bit too much time; it was already afternoon, and if they didn't set off as soon as possible, most of the Orcish would likely become active.

Light footsteps echoed in the wide, upward passage. Allen, who was walking at the very front of the squad, did not walk at a particularly fast speed, and every once in a while, he would press against the wall to listen to whether there were footsteps that did not belong to his squad.

And just when he was preparing to do this for the fifth time, a commotion suddenly came from the air. At first, this sound was somewhat noisy, as if countless people were walking with messy footsteps, but very quickly, what came from the air was no longer just simple footsteps.

It was more like countless rats screaming fiercely, with the sound of swords clashing mixed in between; there was no need to think to know that they were about to run into a brawl between Orcish.

The accident appeared half a day after everyone left the First Hall. Everyone heard this sound, and they all looked at Allen, who was thinking.

This kind of waiting, which would originally make people very anxious, only lasted for less than half a minute before Allen quickly moved his feet and ran upward in the passage, not caring at all about the noise made while running.

At this time, it was a good opportunity to move forward quickly!

And the battle of nearly two thousand Orcish in the Sixteenth Hall was becoming more and more intense. Miserable, painful, and exhilarating screams echoed in the hall; who would pay attention to a small black squad quietly moving out from the passage?

And a dark-faced Orcish chieftain was attracting most of the attention on the field. This was Black Face, the current leader of Moria. He was brandishing a thick Spear, fighting against seven or eight enemies in front of him wearing fine Chainmail. His stature was extremely tall, comparable to an average Human, and he was also wearing black armor that covered his whole body.

And at the other end of the hall, Fimbul did not personally join the battle. He was a Wolf Rider by origin, and without the cooperation of a Warg, his combat power was weak. If compared to that tall Orcish opposite, the other party would likely be able to finish him off in one move during a charge.

However, Fimbul possessed a brain that was a bit smarter than most Orcish. At this time, his elite troops held back the most powerful existence among the enemies, and a small unit had already begun to quietly flank from the rear, especially two Cave Troll who were crouching low and moving slowly; their actions always revealed a kind of eerie ridiculousness.

As long as one wasn't blind, one could definitely see such a thing. After the tall, dark-faced Orcish knocked away the two enemies beside him with his Shield, the Spear in his hand was like a venomous snake, directly piercing through an enemy rushing toward him.

This thrust was so heavy that the fine Chainmail on the opponent's body was like paper without any defense, completely punctured by the thick Spear.

The tall Orcish's such valiant performance directly caused the enemies beside him to show fearful expressions, becoming afraid to move forward, while he himself stared with a pair of cruel eyes like coal, searching for Fimbul's figure.

The incomparably cunning Fimbul had already hidden away at this time; he certainly could not let the enemy discover his tracks.

And after the Orcish chieftain searched to no avail, he immediately opened his scarlet mouth and let out a terrifying laugh. That sound was as if it had some kind of spell, causing the Orcish who were fighting fiercely to stop.

Immediately after, he issued an order in an extremely unpleasant voice, and then led his subordinates to retreat into the passage on the north side of the Sixteenth Hall.

Before his side had tamed the Cave Troll, Black Face did not want to have a full-scale fight with Fimbul, because even he was not confident in taking down those two huge idiots head-on.

And Fimbul, who had won the victory, did not leave immediately, but instead let his subordinates begin to collect the corpses on the ground, and those two Cave Troll had already begun to feast; for them, as long as it was meat, it could be used as food, and there were no too many particularities.

It is not like some fellows who are living quite well and are even unwilling to eat mutton.

Before long, Fimbul, having finished clearing the battlefield, also led his men away from this place and entered the passage on the south side.

Clearly, the Sixteenth Hall is currently a place being contested by two groups of Orcish, the very front line of the battle; one side worries about the presence of a Cave Troll, while the other fears the powerful force opposite them, so neither is willing to leave troops here.

All of this was seen clearly by Allen, who was hidden in a corner of the wall, and not until all the Orcish within sight had left did Allen quietly lift the Elven Cloak from his body.

Beside him, Oin could no longer restrain his excitement and said in a low, trembling voice, "Th-th-this is where Durin's Line resided."

Allen quickly covered Oin's mouth; the hearing of the Orcish is also quite keen, and if they were to detect this noise, all the effort of this period would be wasted.

Just because of Oin's words, the group stayed quietly in place for another ten-plus minutes, and only when they were truly certain that no other creatures existed in the hall did Allen begin to lead the people to explore the now-silent Sixteenth Hall.

Since it is the place where Durin's Line resided, there are likely still some good things, which is indeed worth the group spending some time searching carefully here.