"You didn't joke when you said a big war," Natasha said, her eyes fixed on the battlefield below.
Luke stood beside her, watching the clash without much change in expression.
"Yeah," he replied, as if it had been obvious from the start.
He tilted his head slightly, glancing behind him.
"Smaug," he called, almost casually, "feel like stretching your wings?"
Behind him, the smaller form of the dragon hovered for a moment, then its eyes gleamed.
"Me?" Smaug said, a low rumble in his voice. "I would not object."
Luke smirked faintly.
"Good," he said. "Go burn some Orcs. No Elves, no Dwarves."
With a simple snap of his fingers, the change began.
Smaug's body expanded rapidly, scales shifting, wings stretching wide as his full form returned. The air itself seemed to recoil as the dragon grew, his presence pressing down over the battlefield.
He lifted his head and roared.
The sound tore across the valley.
Then his wings spread, and with a powerful beat, he launched into the sky.
Below, both armies reacted at once, the shift rippling through the battlefield like a sudden break in rhythm.
Elves froze mid-strike, blades half-raised as their eyes lifted skyward. Dwarves turned instinctively, weapons lowering just a fraction as confusion cut through their focus. Even the Orcs hesitated, their snarls faltering.
Dáin looked up, his expression tightening, while Thranduil's gaze followed a heartbeat later, sharp and calculating.
The dragon.
It was supposed to be gone.
For a brief moment, tension crept back in—uncertainty settling over the field, the quiet expectation that destruction was about to fall on all of them.
Then Smaug descended.
Not toward the Elves. Not toward the Dwarves.
He came down like a falling star—straight into the Orc ranks.
Fire followed.
A wave of flame swept across the battlefield, incinerating Orcs where they stood. Wargs shrieked as they burned, formations breaking instantly as chaos spread through their lines.
The Orcs shouted in their harsh tongue, panic replacing their earlier confidence.
"Dragon! Dragon!"
Smaug moved through them without restraint, claws tearing through ranks, wings scattering soldiers like dust. Fire rained down again, turning the ground into a field of burning bodies.
The tide shifted.
Elves and Dwarves watched for a moment, stunned, before reacting.
The enemy was breaking.
And the dragon… was on their side.
Thranduil glanced at Tauriel beside him, his expression tightening as the battle shifted in ways he didn't expect.
"Does that mean Smaug's master is here?" he asked. Tauriel had said before that whoever controlled the dragon was unpredictable, not someone whose actions could be easily understood.
"Maybe," Tauriel replied, her voice steady.
She didn't wait for anything more. Her eyes moved across the battlefield, scanning through the chaos, searching for any sign of the one responsible.
It didn't take long.
On one side of the field, she spotted him.
Luke stood surrounded by Orcs, yet none could get close.
With a simple motion of his hand, several Orcs dropped at once, their bodies collapsing as if something inside them had snapped. He didn't rush, didn't strain—he just moved forward, clearing space around him with effortless precision.
***
On Luke's side of the battlefield, things were far less composed.
"Bilbo, what the hell are you doing?" Luke said, turning toward him while another group of Orcs fell behind him. "Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?"
Bilbo looked rattled, breathing unevenly, clearly realizing too late what he'd done.
"I—I didn't think," he admitted. "Everything was happening so fast… I just ran in."
Luke let out a slow breath, the frustration clear.
This wasn't just recklessness. Bilbo wasn't just another fighter on the field.
He had the Ring.
If that Ring slipped into the hands of the Orcs—even by accident—then the Necromancer wouldn't stay hidden for long. Everything would spiral out of control before anyone could react.
"Well, it's a good thing I came. I'll send you to Gandalf's side," Luke said, and with a snap of his fingers, Bilbo disappeared.
He shifted his gaze slightly and added, "And Tauriel—you should watch your back."
Tauriel turned immediately.
An Orc was already mid-swing behind her, axe cutting down toward her shoulder.
She pivoted sharply, her movement clean and precise, releasing an arrow at point-blank range. The shaft drove straight into the Orc's head, dropping it before the blow could land.
Luke stepped in beside her without breaking stride. Another Orc lunged—he caught it, twisted, and snapped its neck in one smooth motion before tossing the body aside. A second came from the flank, only to be flung away by an unseen force, crashing into the ground.
"I always like this type of situation," Luke said, moving with her rather than ahead of her, their steps falling into an effortless rhythm.
Tauriel shifted her footing to avoid debris, but the ground slipped under her for a fraction of a second. Before she could fall, Luke's hand caught her at the waist, pulling her steady.
The motion flowed naturally—her turn aligning with his step, his hand guiding just enough, her blade rising as his body angled, the two of them moving through the chaos like a coordinated dance.
For a brief moment, everything else faded.
Luke looked down at her, a faint, easy smile on his face. "Heh… isn't this battle interesting?"
Tauriel held his gaze for a heartbeat longer than she should have, then pulled away, regaining her stance as more Orcs closed in.
Far from them, Natasha watched through her scope.
Her expression stayed flat, but her finger tightened on the trigger.
She fired.
The bullet cut across the battlefield and struck Luke's head.
It didn't penetrate. It didn't even slow.
The moment it touched him, it simply disappeared—evaporating as if it had never existed at all.
"Tch… him and his thick skin," Natasha muttered under her breath, still watching through her scope.
In the distance, Luke had already noticed.
He turned slightly, eyes locking onto her position—then, without a hint of urgency, he raised two fingers to his lips and blew her a casual flying kiss.
*****
A/N: If you'd like to read ahead of the Webnovel release schedule, you can join my Patreon!
The Patreon version is 50 chapters ahead.
👉 patreon.com/Universal_Peace