Chapter 89: Taking the Bait

Fimbul took a few close guards and, following the guidance of his senses, crawled out from a cave in the valley; positioned at a high vantage point, he spotted at a glance a flag fluttering as it moved through the valley.

Fimbul was very familiar with this flag; under the sunlight, a crown stitched in gold thread, topped with a star composed of three tiny white gems, shone brilliantly on a green-based flag.

The star made of white gems emitted a dazzling, eye-catching radiance under the reflection of the sun, stinging Fimbul's desire-filled eyes.

The pain calmed the surging Orc slightly and caused a moment of hesitation, yet this strange thought was quickly suppressed by greed, and his eyes were once again occupied by the emotion of desire.

Fimbul did not know exactly what was guiding him, but he knew that what he wanted was definitely in this valley below the mountain.

And among the group of over ninety people in the valley, someone must possess this extremely precious treasure, and he was now determined to obtain it.

But he needed to make some plans, to be steady, to take it slow; the flag had left a deep impression on him, and besides, he was one of the few Orcs with a good brain.

With such intense desire, he still carefully searched the ranks of the Humans, and only after confirming that he did not see the tall figure of a Skin-changer did he feel at ease.

By this point, Allen's plan was a complete success; the "bait" he had prepared for Fimbul was extremely hard and would absolutely break all of this Orc's rotten teeth.

However, Fimbul, already completely seduced by the Ring, could no longer care about much else; after watching with his own eyes as that group of Humans entered the cave at the main entrance of Orc Town, he immediately turned and returned to Orc Town with his personal guards.

He wanted to gather all his forces to catch up with that group of Humans tonight, kill them, and take from their corpses the treasure that haunted his dreams, even though he didn't even know what kind of thing it was.

"Right, I should call the Wargs living nearby and have them help me."

"No, what if they snatch my treasure? No, I must think about this carefully."

After issuing the order to gather all the Orcs, Fimbul sat on his throne and pondered in detail.

Allen, unaware that he was being watched, was carefully observing the cave where the group was staying; the passage at the entrance of this cave was actually about five meters wide, which, logically speaking, was already very spacious.

However, after walking through a passage of over ten meters, the group arrived in this even broader cave.

There were many traces of Humans here; there were strange patterns drawn on the walls at some unknown time, and there were even ruts from carriage wheels on the ground, extending deep into the cave.

Presumably, in years past, many merchant caravans must have rested in this vast cave; of course, there could be another possibility.

"This is definitely not a naturally formed cave; the place Desaiwei found is somewhat unusual."

This extremely wide cave gave Allen a very bad feeling, a sensation somewhat similar to his encounter in the front hall of Orc Town last time.

According to the records in Allen's mind, he had always been full of vigilance toward all the caves in the Misty Mountains, always feeling that countless Orcs were crouching on the other side of the cave walls.

Allen's feeling was correct, and it was hard to say whether Desaiwei's luck was extremely good or Allen's luck was extremely bad; it was not difficult to find a place in this valley suitable for nearly a hundred Cavalry to camp, but to also possess strong defensive capabilities, that certainly had some difficulty.

In the entire valley, only the cave where Allen and his group were staying met these requirements, so it could be said that Desaiwei's luck was extremely good to have found this place.

This cave was actually the main entrance to Orc Town; in the past, it had been specifically opened by the Dwarves for their merchant caravans to rest, but after the decline of the Dwarves, it was used more by Humans.

And the Orcs entrenched nearby, in order to better harass Humans, opened a path here leading directly to the main gate of Orc Town; the cave was renovated to be so wide, which also conveniently allowed the Orcs to swarm out from here to attack those merchants passing through the valley.

Therefore, Allen's luck was also extremely bad, as he had delivered himself to the enemy's doorstep as bait.

However, after entering, Bilbo Baggins drew his Elf Short Sword, and it did not glow with blue light, indicating that the Orcs' forces had not yet fully gathered, and the group was still safe for the moment.

Moreover, Allen could only rely on the "Sting" that Bilbo Baggins possessed, which could issue warnings about Orcs.

Of course, the short sword did not have this name now; due to Allen's interference, Bilbo Baggins's weapon might have only been stained with the foul blood of enemies during that one battle in the Misty Mountains.

In the subsequent journey of the Expedition, whether from Mirkwood to the Lonely Mountain, or the Battle of the Five Armies involving tens of thousands, this Hobbit had been well protected by Allen and Thorin II.

Afterward, Bilbo Baggins, having had a smooth journey, had not encountered any decent battles, so Sting had also stayed lonely inside its exquisite scabbard, never killing any more enemies.

But Allen would not let Bilbo Baggins follow his original life trajectory, spending decades in Bag End in Hobbiton, being regarded by his neighbors as a wealthy eccentric.

Allen had to frequently send people to call Bilbo to visit Wilderness Town, or have him help with some things.

In Allen's plan, there was already a rather troublesome matter that required the help of this friend who possessed the Ring, but it still needed more opportunities and conditions; the timing was not yet ripe.

All the soldiers acting with Allen had already fully understood Allen's plan before setting out; experienced as they were, they did not need the King to give them any orders and had already begun to silently make preparations for battle.

At this moment, they had already taken the lead in placing their horses on the left side near the entrance of the cave and tied them all to large rocks they could find, reinforcing the ropes to avoid a stampede of horses in the event of a battle, which would cause unnecessary harm to their own men.

Subsequently, they began to help each other organize their armor, and some were also carefully checking their personal weapons to avoid any accidents during the battle.

Allen's good friend, Bilbo Baggins, had already lit a campfire and started making dinner for nearly a hundred people.

His current status was more like an army cook than a Burglar, though Allen believed that most army cooks could not possibly have as good culinary skills as Bilbo Baggins.

Having experienced so many dangers, and even having faced Smaug, Bilbo Baggins had long since cultivated a mindset of remaining calm in the face of a great battle.

After all, his equipment was indeed a bit too luxurious; in addition to the impenetrable Mithril Armor and the sharp, peerless "Sting," he also had top-tier throwing skills, which were enough to protect his safety in battle.

At worst, there was still the Ring, which could make him invisible.

At this moment, Bilbo Baggins was humming a pleasant song, pan-searing a dozen sausages that emitted an alluring luster with one hand, and stirring a meat soup in a large pot that gave off a mouth-watering aroma with the other, busy and dancing about.

The smoke produced by the campfire and the steam from the rolling meat soup drifted out of the cave along the ventilation shafts, and next to the fire were plenty of honey bread and some specialty snacks; he believed dinner could start soon.

This mood of Bilbo's even infected the surrounding soldiers, making the originally tense atmosphere in the cave become slightly lighter.

Holimion took a few Twilight Knights and went out; they needed to search the surroundings to put on a show, for if such an elite group did not even go through the motions of searching, it would likely arouse the enemy's suspicion.

The Grey Wizard Gandalf, after walking around the cave, found a spot and sat down; he placed his staff and Gramdring within easy reach, smoked "Old Toby" in his mouth, and squinted his eyes, looking around the cave, wondering what he was thinking.

"Dinner's ready."

With Bilbo Baggins's shout, the sky gradually turned dark.

Allen, who had finished dinner and was leaning against the wall, had been quietly observing the "Sting" that had already been drawn.

However, before this short sword could give any warning, the clear sound of wolf howls outside the cave rose one after another; it seemed that Fimbul was not the only one seduced by the Ring.

As monsters bred from evil wolves and loyal subordinates of the Demon Wolf King Sauron, how could these Wargs not be attracted by the power of the Ring? They and the Orcs were a perfect match.

Especially at this moment, this Ring, which possessed its own consciousness, had faintly sensed that its master was rising, and it also knew that as long as it was carried across this mountain range, the distance between it and its master would be too great.

By then, not only would its power be greatly diminished, but returning to Mordor to its master's side would also inevitably be an extremely difficult task.

And the Ring's current situation was dire; its current master was a Hobbit whose willpower was so strong that even it was helpless, and the Humans it had tried every possible way to seduce treated it like a viper or a scorpion.

As a weak and helpless ring, sensing that things were not looking good, it began to crazily radiate its charm to the surroundings, just as it had done over three thousand years ago.

Only creatures that were sufficiently dark, sufficiently evil, and sufficiently intelligent could feel the waves it emitted.

It was making a final effort, desperately wanting to return to its master's side; to achieve this goal, it could no longer care about much else.

The horses, which had entered a state of rest, were the first to show a little agitation upon hearing the wolf howls; as battle-hardened Warhorses, they quickly regained their calm under the soothing of the Cavalry.

And the soldiers, who had instantly entered a state of combat, grabbed their weapons one after another and looked at Allen, waiting for the order to begin the battle.

Several thoughts flashed through Allen's mind in an instant; now that the Wargs had taken the lead in attacking at the cave entrance, it was obvious where the Orcish would appear—there must be an Orcish mechanism within the walls of this cave.

Considering this, Allen immediately issued an order to his Captain of the Personal Guard.

"Holimion, go launch the signal, and while you're at it, take your men to block the cave entrance; do not let any enemies in. The Rhodok Sharpshooter are also under your command."

Allen's plan this time was essentially a ruse; he had carefully observed the cave entrance when he came in, and fifteen Rhodok Sharpshooter carrying Broad Shield were more than enough to block it.

Besides being able to coordinate with the Twilight Knight to inflict damage on the enemy from a distance, they could also take out the Broad Shield on their backs when the enemy approached, forming a shield wall at the cave entrance to continue covering the Twilight Knight as they fired.

As long as there were not too many enemies, holding them off for a certain amount of time would be absolutely no problem.

The remaining soldiers, under Allen's command, faced the depths of the cave and formed a simple formation, with Allen holding a Noldor Rune Bow at the very front.

Beside his feet was a Greatsword that gleamed in the firelight; if any enemy dared to approach, Allen would use it to hack them into pieces.

Beside Allen was Gandalf, holding his staff, looking toward the depths of the cave with a solemn face, muttering something to himself that no one could hear.

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Behind them were the Swadian Knight, wearing Sleeveless Plate Armor and Great Helm, holding two-handed swords, standing guard on both sides of Allen with majestic bearing, covering the Horse Archer who were already prepared to fire behind them.

On the other side, under Allen's command, Holimion did not hesitate in the slightest, taking the Twilight Knight and Rhodok Sharpshooter, and rushed quickly toward the cave entrance; at this moment, the howling of wolves coming from there was getting closer and closer.

Just as Holimion led everyone out of the cave and lit the fireworks in their hands, countless eyes emitting green light had already appeared in the forest near the entrance.

Immediately following, more than ten beams of light rose into the sky one after another, exploding in the high air of the valley with "Bang," "Bang," "Bang" sounds; thanks to Gandalf's special preparation, the huge explosions began to echo throughout the valley.

Accompanied by the loud noises, a sound of "Whoosh~~" actually came from somewhere in the valley as well.

And the large expanse of light from the exploding fireworks, along with these sounds, sent a signal for a forced march to Bandak, who had already led his army into the valley; he would arrive to support them within half an hour.

At the same time, this exceptionally bright light also illuminated the countless wolf shadows surrounding the cave entrance; in this short time, Holimion could not count exactly how many enemies were in the distance.

But this Twilight Knight did not hesitate much; with a command to "Fire," nearly thirty arrows shot toward the nearby enemies, and under the intimidation of the fireworks, these Wargs besieging the cave fell into a momentary state of confusion, and in an instant, nearly twenty of the vicious wolves collapsed to the ground.

The miserable howls they emitted before dying awakened their companions.

And Holimion, having succeeded in one strike, did not launch a second volley, but instead led the men to quickly retreat into the cave passage, where the terrain was far easier to defend than outside.

At this moment, standing behind Allen, the Sting in Bilbo Baggins's hand began to glow with a blue light.

"Prepare."

Allen, who was the first to notice this, gave a low shout and raised the Noldor Rune Bow in his hand, aiming at the depths of the cave under the illumination of the firelight.