Chapter 52: The Doom of Smaug

The weather in early winter could not be considered particularly cold, but the environment of Long Lake Town made it appear somewhat chilly and damp.

At this moment, Town Mayor Stephen was sweating profusely despite the temperature.

This was because he was currently facing a difficult choice.

Allen and Bard had bypassed him entirely to discuss the matter of evacuating the residents from Long Lake Town.

And Bard was currently asking for his opinion in a merely symbolic gesture.

Looking at the elite troops on the shores of Long Lake Town, and then at Alfred and his other subordinates who were trying to persuade him nearby, Stephen looked on.

He finally compromised and agreed to the demand to evacuate all the townspeople from Long Lake Town.

Stephen knew that once he agreed to this demand, his authority in Long Lake Town under Allen would be gone completely.

He felt that he might soon no longer be the Town Mayor, and Bard, who was favored by Allen, would become the new leader of the people of Long Lake Town.

But judging from the expressions of his subordinates, Stephen also knew that he had no other choice; if he refused, the outcome might be even more miserable.

Just after Town Mayor Stephen announced that the dragon was about to attack and everyone must leave Long Lake Town.

This town on the water began to bustle with activity; the townspeople packed up their belongings one after another, swarmed onto the wooden bridge of Long Lake Town, and headed toward the Woodland Realm accompanied by the army from Wilderness Town.

For certain stubborn individuals, Allen would have Bard take the guards of Long Lake Town to provide some appropriate "persuasion," and if they still refused to leave, Allen would simply stop caring.

At the same time, Allen also dispatched Holimion to the Woodland Realm, hoping that King Thranduil could temporarily look after these residents.

Additionally, his own army would be staying near his territory for a period of time.

Soon, Holimion returned with the news that Thranduil had agreed; Thranduil had also guessed what would happen next, and he was not stingy with a little help.

Durin's Day was approaching, and according to the plot in the movie, the dragon would fly out from the Lonely Mountain that very day to take revenge on Long Lake Town and the residents living there, leaving Allen with very little time.

Therefore, from the very beginning, Allen discussed with Bard how to deal with that dragon.

He explicitly told Bard that his ancestor Girion had indeed shattered a scale on the dragon's chest, and it was right at the vulnerable heart position.

As Allen spoke, he drew a picture of a large lizard based on his memory, roughly pointing out the location of that scale.

Allen's plan was to have Braga take the guards of Long Lake Town to use bows and arrows within the town, and when Smaug flew over, to shoot at this dragon to attract Smaug's first wave of attention.

Once Smaug knew that Long Lake Town was already an empty city, he would inevitably be enraged and attack Braga's team.

At that time, Braga would take his men and run as hard as they could toward the wooden bridge.

At this moment, Allen would take his personal guards to continue shooting at Smaug from the wooden bridge, attracting its attention once again.

Smaug's size would certainly not allow him to walk onto the wooden bridge, and his fire breath could not reach that far either.

It was also impossible for Smaug to step into Long Lake to give chase; the lake water had its own magical properties, which would weaken Smaug and cause harm to this dragon.

Then his only choice would be to fly up and attack Allen and the others.

When the dragon Smaug flew toward Allen's direction.

The hidden Bard could then operate that Dwarf Wind Lance and use the heirloom Black Arrow to deal a fatal blow to Smaug.

Allen had never considered letting his own army confront the dragon in Long Lake Town; Long Lake Town should rely on its own soldiers to defend it.

As for Allen and his personal guards, they could take some risks; they were few in number and highly mobile, and if things really went wrong, they could jump into the lake to hide.

Although there were certain risks, how could doing such a thing be without risk?

If Braga and the Long Lake Town guards chose "no," then Allen would change the plan.

At that time, he would let Smaug vent as he pleased, and when his anger and vigilance subsided, Allen would come out to attract his attention and find an opportunity to deal him a fatal blow.

It was just that, at that time, the farmland on the shores of Long Lake and the nearby forests would inevitably be burned to the ground by the angry Smaug.

The environment near Long Lake Town would then no longer be suitable for human survival in the short term, and Allen would only be able to "reluctantly" bring the people back to Wilderness Town.

Bard agreed to this plan, but what Allen did not expect was that this master archer actually did not know how to use that Wind Lance very well.

Bard's family had declined directly in the generation of Girion, and by the time it reached Bard, he even had to rely on ferrying to earn money.

The Town Mayor here had always been at odds with Bard, so how could he possibly agree to let him use the town's property for training?

Bard took out his family's Black Arrow and handed it to Allen, and told Allen that he would replace Braga to command the guards in Long Lake Town to attract Smaug's attention.

Because Braga simply did not have enough courage and prestige to complete such a task, but Bard could.

This disrupted Allen's plan, and with no other choice, Allen had to try firing the Wind Lance himself; he did not expect that this Wind Lance was somewhat unstable after completing one attack.

Only then did Allen recall that if this Wind Lance had been brought out from Dale, it would probably be nearly two hundred years old.

The environment of Long Lake Town was extremely damp, which must have affected the parts of this Wind Lance.

And now, this greedy and stingy Town Mayor had probably never maintained this Wind Lance.

After such a long time, the fact that this Wind Lance could still barely fire was enough to show how excellent the Dwarven forging craftsmanship was, but no matter how good it was, it could not withstand the erosion of time.

Fortunately, Allen had brought a few Dwarf blacksmiths from the Iron Hills this time, and they had not yet had time to leave.

These Dwarves naturally knew how to repair this thing, and now, they were working overtime to repair the Wind Lance with the help of the blacksmith shop and materials in Long Lake Town.

And Allen looked at this Black Arrow, which was nearly two meters long, pondered for a while, and took out his Noldor Rune Bow, wanting to use this magic bow to try shooting this Black Arrow.

The result of the attempt was not particularly ideal; even when Allen pulled the bow to its full extent, it could barely accommodate half the length of this Black Arrow.

However, the Noldor Rune Bow did possess magical power after all, and the powerful kinetic energy it contained could still shoot the Black Arrow out.

But it could only shoot at short-range targets; for anything slightly further away, Allen could not guarantee its power and accuracy.

Fortunately, the Wind Lance was soon repaired by the Dwarves, and Allen no longer worried about the issue of the Rune Bow.

He was now using the Wind Lance and the Black Arrow to shoot at distant targets, increasing his feel for it.

And Bard was also leading the guards of Long Lake Town to make corresponding preparations in the town.

Allen knew that the time of Smaug's attack would be at night, and in order to avoid arousing the dragon's suspicion.

Allen requested that Bard and the others start maintaining the lights in the town at dusk to create the illusion for Smaug that the residents were still living in the town.

At the same time, to avoid being burned to death, they also found many tools for holding water, filled them up, and placed them in the positions they had prepared to confront the dragon.

That was the Round Pool Market, which could be considered one of the few open areas in Long Lake Town.

Moreover, Bard also led them to build many escape routes in the Round Pool Market, and most importantly, to conceal themselves and escape Smaug's targeting.

Once they discovered signs of the dragon breathing fire toward them, they would jump into the water, hiding where Smaug could not see them.

Allen knew that the water contained the power of the Valar Ulmo, sufficient to resist the dragon's fire.

Moreover, the dragon would certainly not dare to step into Long Lake; the bone-chilling lake water would continuously drain his strength and cause him harm.

Time passed bit by bit as everyone prepared; Allen did not know the specific date of Durin's Day, but he knew that there would be signs before Smaug arrived.

Looking toward the Lonely Mountain from the side of Long Lake Town, one could not actually see the gate of the Kingdom of Erebor, but the battle between the dragon and the Dwarf would surely make noise.

And when Smaug flew out from the Lonely Mountain, his talkative nature would surely expose him once again.

Allen believed that as long as he kept a constant watch on the direction of the Lonely Mountain, it would be enough to know the time of the dragon's attack.

That evening, Allen was continuing to familiarize himself with the operation of the Wind Lance at the entrance of Long Lake Town when an unusual sound from the Lonely Mountain suddenly startled him.

Allen stopped what he was doing and looked toward the Lonely Mountain; in the pitch-black night, flashes of light began to appear frequently inside the mountain.

Allen knew that Thorin Oakenshield and his party were already fighting Smaug.

Soon, this Dwarf Prince would teach Smaug a harsh lesson with his family's gold statues, and the rest would be up to him to handle.

Allen began to loudly order his personal guards to hide and performed a simple camouflage on the Wind Lance; Smaug's eyes were very sharp.

Bard, guarding inside Long Lake Town, did not need Allen's reminder; after hearing the commotion from the Lonely Mountain, he already understood that the crisis had arrived, and he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

Sure enough, after a short while, both Allen and his guard unit, as well as Bard and the guards he led, saw a red dot flying from the direction of the Lonely Mountain; the red dot was getting bigger and brighter.

Accompanying it were bursts of Smaug's frantic roars and his cries of "Revenge," "Destruction," and "Incineration."

Before long, Smaug's hideous and terrifying face, his scales radiating red light, and his body full of oppressive power became clearer and clearer in the vision of Allen and the others.

The moment of battle was coming.

The evil and terrifying monster glided to the north of Long Lake Town, deliberately slowing his flight speed a little, the scales on his neck becoming increasingly bright.

In flight, he opened his huge mouth and unleashed a long-lasting breath of fire toward Long Lake Town, spraying directly through the town.

Bard and his men, guarding at the Round Pool Market, began to use the Purple Willow Longbows in their hands to shoot at the gliding dragon; the arrows fell one after another onto Smaug, but all were deflected by that hard Scale Armor.

Smaug did not care about those attacks that felt like scratching an itch; no, those attacks did not even count as scratching an itch.

He did not pay attention to those guards, but after flying past Long Lake Town, he made a turn and arrived at another edge of Long Lake Town again, followed by another long breath, once again spraying through Long Lake Town.

A large number of buildings in Long Lake Town fell apart under Smaug's breath, and two long corridors formed by flames slowly spread to all parts of the town.

Having breathed two bursts of flame, Smaug lowered his speed and flew slowly over Long Lake Town, preparing to carefully admire his masterpiece.

Smaug believed that these two bursts of his flame breath were enough to bring fear to all the residents in the town; he wanted to admire the figures of those Humans fleeing in panic.

Then, when the other side had hope of escaping, he would personally extinguish that hope; only such revenge had pleasure and could dissolve the humiliation he had suffered at the Lonely Mountain.

But what made him strange was that flames were soaring in the town, yet no residents were running out of their houses, which made him very puzzled; soon, another wave of arrows attracted his attention.

It was Bard and the guards he led; this was already the third wave of arrows they had shot at the dragon, and it had no effect at all; not a single arrow could penetrate the dragon's scales.

Most of them had been trembling in the face of the dragon's breath, and it had always been Bard encouraging them that allowed them to persist until now.

Smaug shifted his attention to them at this time; the shrewd and cunning dragon already knew that he might have been played.

Although he did not know the reason for all this, he knew very well that there was no one else in the town besides those dozens of guards.

This turned Smaug's already angry mood into pure rage; he had just been played by a Dwarf at the Lonely Mountain, and now he was actually being played by the Humans of Long Lake Town.

Furious, he roared and swooped down, flying toward the guards in this town; he wanted to stomp these Humans who dared to toy with him to death, crush them, and grind their bones to dust.

The dragon dove and landed at the Round Pool Market of Long Lake Town; he did not even need to do anything deliberately, just a simple movement, and the surrounding buildings collapsed one after another due to his massive body.

Facing Smaug's dive, the guards who had not reacted in time or were completely intimidated by the dragon died miserably under the dragon's claws.

A casual wave of his was enough to break the bones of fully armed Humans.

Some of the strong-willed guards, amidst the dragon's rampage, hurriedly jumped into the river and barely saved their lives at the prepared escape points.

And Bard led another group of people, running toward the direction of the bridge of Long Lake Town; there, the Twilight Knights were already prepared.

The intricate buildings in Long Lake Town had always created opportunities for Bard and his men to escape; they kept using the terrain to disappear from Smaug's sight.

Even so, the number of people around Bard was getting smaller and smaller; these people were the most elite and bravest warriors of Long Lake Town.

At this moment, they sacrificed themselves here to protect their town, to protect the place where the people of Long Lake Town had lived for generations.

Soon, Bard and the remaining few people stepped onto the long passage of Long Lake Town; the wooden passage was far too narrow.

Smaug could not continue the pursuit, and at this moment, there were no more buildings that could block the dragon's vision.

"Run, run!

!"

Smaug roared, firelight gradually brightening in his chest; it was clear he was brewing a fierce breath.

At this moment, thirteen Noldor Rune Arrows flew through the air toward his head; as the dragon lowered his head to breathe and Bard and his men fell into the water, the arrows landed on Smaug's head.

These magical arrows were so sharp that a portion of them actually broke through the relatively fragile Scale Armor on the dragon's head, causing him harm and sticking shallowly into it.

The pain in his head made the furious Smaug alert all of a sudden; he jerked his head up and discovered the Twilight Knights riding Elf Horses.

They were standing in the middle of the bridge, preparing to launch a second wave of shots at the dragon.

"Elves, there are actually Elves participating in this despicable activity."

Smaug roared, turned, and ran two steps, dodging a portion of the arrows aimed at his head.

Those arrows shot one after another onto the armor plates on his back and were all deflected; Smaug discovered this scene and finally felt at ease.

He ran a few steps in Long Lake Town and flapped his wings to fly up again.

The dragon's hateful voice came from the air.

"Cowardly creatures, you actually walked out of the caves of Mirkwood and attacked me without knowing your own strength; after this is over, I will definitely visit Mirkwood, just wait."

Smaug, who had flown up, was not leaving, but made a turn in the air and flew straight toward Holimion and the others.

These Elves had hurt him; how could the petty and cruel Smaug let them go?

Seeing the dragon fly up, Holimion and the Twilight Knights drove their Elf Horses, running frantically toward the end of the wooden bridge.

Allen, camouflaged, operated the fixed Dwarf Wind Lance on a hillside at the end of the wooden bridge.

Soon, the dragon caught up to Allen and the others, the fire in its mouth clearly visible.

Discovering this, Allen gestured desperately to his Captain of the Personal Guard, signaling them to jump into the lake.

Holimion, who was keeping a constant eye on Allen, saw this scene and, leading his subordinates, drove their horses into the river one after another.

They barely dodged this wave of breath from the dragon Smaug.

Allen's actions undoubtedly drew Smaug's attention; even while flying at high speed in the air, its vision was sharp enough to see a tiny gem under the Hobbit's feet.

At this moment, Allen was already continuously adjusting the Wind Lance, aiming at the incoming dragon.

Smaug saw it, but did not care; it was not as if it had never been attacked by the combination of a Wind Lance and a Black Arrow before.

Although it would bring it a little bit of pain, it was not enough to cause it injury.

This creature flew straight toward Allen, preparing to use its thick hind limbs to end Allen's life during its glide.

Allen knew that all his plans were for this very moment; he kept manipulating the Wind Lance, searching for the spot where the dragon lacked scales.

Facing the ever-closer Smaug, Allen did not panic; he quickly found his target.

The scales all over the dragon Smaug's body were glowing with firelight at this time, and only that small patch was dark, appearing so conspicuous in Allen's eyes.

Having found the target, Allen kept adjusting the angle of the Dwarf Wind Lance, locking onto that position; finally, he pulled the trigger and fired that Black Arrow.

"Clink."

After a crisp sound, the Black Arrow was deflected away.

Perhaps because of unfamiliarity, or perhaps because it was the first time facing such a high-speed flying unit.

Allen's strike unfortunately missed; the Black Arrow did not hit that black area, but instead struck the adjacent scale.

Fortunately, Allen saw the Black Arrow; it had been deflected to the lake shore not far from him.

But at this moment, Allen had no time to think; he quickly grabbed his Noldor Rune Bow, followed by a dive to dodge Smaug's gliding pounce, and ran desperately toward the Black Arrow on the lake shore.

Smaug crushed the Wind Lance in its wake, landed, and turned to chase Allen; its size was extremely massive, and its speed was also very fast.

The dragon looked comfortably at the Human fleeing before it, finally feeling a trace of the pleasure of revenge; it thoroughly enjoyed this cat-and-mouse game, watching the weak creature struggle painfully while unable to harm it in the slightest, only to die in despair at the end.

This tiny bit of pleasure even made it consider playing with the Human before it.

But the pain on its nose quickly made its mood turn furious again; it roared and ran a few steps, caught up to Allen who had just picked up the Black Arrow, and raised the claw of its right wing, preparing to strike at Allen.

Just at this moment, a Noldor Rune Arrow pierced the area around the dragon's nostril; it was Holimion, who had just struggled out of the lake and was extremely close to the dragon.

Seeing Allen facing danger, he barely thought about it and shot an arrow directly at the dragon's head.

Feeling pain once again, Smaug looked at Holimion in an instant; it sprinted two steps toward this ant, and with a swipe of its right claw, directly knocked the Holimion who was preparing to continue shooting into the air.

Just as Smaug was about to chase to vent its anger, a voice entered its ears.

"Smaug, you stupid reptile, look at me."

The familiar-sounding curse made Smaug really turn its head to look at Allen; it had not experienced this kind of verbal insult for a long time, but today it had encountered it twice in a row.

Previously, no matter who its enemies were, upon seeing its massive body and terrifying flames, their hearts were filled with fear, either trembling or speaking incoherently.

The last ones who could talk to it were that interesting Hobbit and that hateful Thorin Oakenshield.

After finishing the business here, it would immediately return to the Lonely Mountain, and in a surprise attack, kill the Dwarves and that Hobbit there to vent its rage and take back its treasure.

Smaug did not know why it had suddenly thought of these things; following the thoughts in its mind, its left claw moved back a step, turning its body around as well.

And Allen had long since nocked the Black Arrow onto the Noldor Rune Bow, using all his strength to pull the Rune Bow open.

Allen's all-out effort even made the runes on the bow glow with a faint light, as if reminding Allen that it had reached its limit.

With Smaug's turn, that black area appeared before Allen's eyes once again; a faint smile appeared on Allen's face, for he knew that this time he would not miss no matter what.

Smaug faced Allen, looking at him holding a very mismatched bow and arrow, and even wanted to open its mouth to mock him a few times.

But at this moment, the Human before it suddenly released the bowstring, and he was not aiming at its head; Smaug's mind still had the leisure to flash a trace of doubt: what exactly was this Human doing?

But soon, the coldness coming from its heart made Smaug begin to fear; it did not know what kind of injury it had sustained, nor did it know how that tiny bow and arrow had pierced its dragon armor.

Only its body was getting colder and colder; this chill was as if it were placed in solid ice.

Smaug went mad in fear; it walked a few quick steps and took flight again, only its flight was no longer as stable or as swift as before.

Finally, the weakness in its limbs caused this greedy, cunning dragon to slide into Long Lake Town once again, causing considerable damage to that suffering town, and then it sank into the lake water.

The power of Ulmo surrounded Smaug, stimulating Smaug to make a final struggle; it flew toward the high sky once more.

But it was useless; the Magic on the Black Arrow had already taken its life, and in the end, it fell into Long Lake and died there.

Allen watched the motionless Smaug from afar, knowing that this dragon was already dead.

He turned around quickly, searching for his subordinates, and finally discovered Holimion on a hillside.

This Noldor Elf, who had not followed Allen for very long, lay there motionless, his face covered in filth and large patches of blood.

Seeing all this, Allen's heart twisted into a knot; he rushed over, knelt by Holimion's side, and discovered that his Captain of the Personal Guard still had a faint breath, letting out a heavy sigh of relief.

He untied the leather pouch at his waist, poured Miruvor into Holimion's mouth, and at the same time took off the Necklace from his neck and put it on Holimion.

The emerald on the Necklace flashed wildly, but in the end, it did not break; only the green hue contained within the gem faded significantly, though it would recover as time passed, only that time would be very long.

At this time, Holimion's breathing had stabilized; Allen knew that his Captain of the Personal Guard had survived.

That this Noldor Twilight Knight could survive that attack from the dragon was, besides his physical fitness which far exceeded that of ordinary people.

Another reason might be this Emerald Ancient Rune Armor on his body; this armor had borne the brunt of the dragon's damage, and the green light that used to faintly glow on the armor no longer flashed; it was clear that it had saved its master's life at the cost of itself.

Not long after, Bard, the Twilight Knights, and the surviving guards of Long Lake Town all arrived at Allen's side.

All of them sat slumped on this hillside, looking at the fire rising into the sky in the distance, at the completely destroyed Long Lake Town, each with different feelings in their hearts.

And Allen looked at Bard, and asked a question to this descendant of the Lord of Dale: "Now that the dragon is dead, do you want to rebuild Dale?"