The explosion left a scene of devastation, with rubble scattered everywhere.
Black blood oozed, and fragments of Warg and Orc bodies were strewn about.
Luke strolled over, his magic staff ceaselessly reaping the lingering Orcs and Werewolves.
When he reached the Orc Leader, he raised an eyebrow in surprise, seeing that he had only lost an arm and a leg.
"You have a strong life; you're not dead yet?"
"Wizard, you have no idea who you're up against!" The Orc Leader's eyes were filled with fear as he threatened hoarsely, "Our master possesses boundless power; he is the lord of darkness, and the entire world will prostrate itself at his feet, and you are powerless to stop him."
"Your master? Are you referring to Sauron, who is hiding in Dol Guldur?" Luke asked with a mocking sneer.
But before he could say anything more, the Morgul Arrow that had almost struck Luke instantly pierced his head, killing him with a single shot.
Having dealt with the Orc Leader, Luke finally breathed a sigh of relief and paid no mind to the remaining surviving Orcs and Werewolves escaping.
"Let me see where Gandalf and the others are," Luke muttered, pulling out his Palantír.
"Hmm? What's going on?" Luke's eyes widened as he peered at the crystal ball. "Why is there another Orc party? They've chased them up onto the cliff?"
Watching Gandalf and the others being cornered by Orcs onto the cliff, Luke's gaze fell upon the Orc leading them, riding a white Warg.
Seeing his broken hand with an iron claw and his hateful gaze towards Thorin, his identity was clearly obvious.
"Could this be Azog the Defiler? The leader of the Orcs?"
Gandalf in the mirror seemed to sense something and shouted in his direction, "Luke, we need your help!"
Luke couldn't hear Gandalf's voice, but he knew he was asking for help.
He shook his head, feeling a bit helpless.
Gandalf truly had it tough; despite being a Maia with sub-divine strength, his power was restricted, preventing him from using overly powerful magic.
Luke had quietly asked Gandalf about this before, and in Gandalf's veiled words, they (the Wizards) were not allowed to use too much magic, but instead needed to guide rather than replace the Free Peoples, to avoid destroying "free will."
Luke could only complain about the Valar who set these rules; they were no different from the leaders of his previous life, wanting their subordinates to complete tasks well yet imposing a multitude of restrictions.
No wonder Gandalf preferred to hit people with his staff rather than cast spells with it, to avoid having to worry too much when using magic.
Shaking off his jumbled thoughts, Luke hurried towards Gandalf and the others.
By now, they were forced to hide in the trees.
If he didn't go soon, they would probably fly away on Giant Eagles.
----
Atop the Misty Mountains, Thorin and Azog, two sworn enemies, met with intense animosity.
Thorin was shocked that Azog was still alive.
And Azog resented the loss of his arm, viewing Thorin as a major threat and vowing to kill him.
After all, the name Thorin Oakenshield was derived from Thorin having used an oak branch as a shield and successfully severed one of Azog's arms.
For this, Azog had previously placed a bounty on Thorin's head.
Now, he even personally led Warg cavalry in pursuit, vowing to kill Thorin in the Misty Mountains.
"Look what I smell? The scent of fear." Azog mocked, looking at Thorin hiding in the tree, "Your father had that same smell, Thorin, son of Thráin."
"Leave him to me; kill everyone else!"
At Azog's command, all the Werewolves scrambled up the trees, biting and tearing.
The Orcs seemed to enjoy the struggle of their victims before death, so they didn't use arrows to kill them, but instead let the Werewolves press closer step by step, until the Dwarves fell into despair and fear.
The Dwarves looked at the giant wolves below, baring their fangs, pushing them back with their weapons while shouting loudly.
"Quick, think of something! I don't want to end up in the bellies of these giant wolves and then be pulled out!"
"Where is Luke? When will he come?"
"If only Luke were here, he could just throw that crying grass of his over, and we wouldn't have so much trouble!"
"Don't even think about it; Luke has thousands of Orcs and Werewolves to deal with; how could he get rid of them so easily?"
Bilbo hugged the tree trunk tightly to avoid being shaken off by the giant wolves, and asked Gandalf hopefully, "Gandalf, do you know when Luke will arrive?"
Gandalf shook his head. "I can't guarantee that. After all, he's facing thousands of Orcs and Werewolves; dealing with them isn't an easy task."
"And we cannot rely on Luke for everything; that's not good for you or for Luke."
As he spoke, he saw a moth on the tree, and his eyes lit up.
"However, if there's enough time, we might be able to call for help from some friends."
With that, he caught the moth, whispered to it in his palm, and then released it to fly away.
After enjoying a game of cat and mouse, the Orcs finally lost patience and ordered the Werewolves to push down the pine trees.
Under the immense pushing and biting force of the Werewolves, the pine trees fell one by one.
The people in the trees were forced to jump to another tree, thereby delaying time.
By the time everyone was on the last pine tree, it was swaying precariously, in danger of collapsing at any moment.
Facing the Werewolves closing in below, everyone was suddenly in despair.
Gandalf picked a pine cone, ignited it with his staff, and threw it to the ground. The flames quickly spread to the fallen pine trees, igniting a raging inferno.
Such rapid flames were clearly due to Gandalf's use of magic.
The fire temporarily forced the Werewolves to retreat, saving the last pine tree they were on.
But before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, the overburdened pine tree, to everyone's horror, was uprooted and fell over the cliff.
Everyone was left dangling over the cliff, in danger of falling at any moment.
To buy more time for his companions, Thorin climbed down from the tree and chose to duel Azog once more.
But this time, Thorin was unable to repeat his previous victory; he was easily defeated by Azog and severely wounded.
Just as Thorin was about to be killed by Azog, Bilbo wildly swung his sting, stopping Azog's final blow.
Having his chance to kill his sworn enemy interrupted, Azog was filled with rage and murderous intent, and with one hammer blow, he sent Bilbo's sword flying.
"Kill him!" Azog commanded his mount, the giant Warg, then continued to try and kill Thorin.
"Diffindo!" A dazzling spell struck the Warg that was biting at Bilbo.
The Warg was instantly torn into countless fragments.
Bilbo was startled, then his face lit up with surprise: "Luke!"
Seeing his mount torn apart, Azog was startled by the sudden turn of events.
The next second, his keen premonition of danger instantly made him react, grabbing a subordinate and holding him in front of himself.
Luke's magic followed immediately, striking the Orc in front of him.
The body instantly fell into Diffindo, and black blood splattered all over Azog.