"Aren't these guys a type of orc? Why did they chase us even faster after we killed their king?!" Kili asked, panting and on the verge of collapse as he fled.
Fili also ran, panting, but he corrected, "I need to correct you. It wasn't us who killed their king, but Sir Igon."
Kili rolled his eyes, or perhaps he was just too tired to keep them open: "Why care about such details at a time like this?"
Thorin listened to his two nephews arguing. After his frozen shell axe cut down two charging orcs, he retorted impatiently, "Both of you, shut up and save your strength!"
All the dwarves looked exhausted, but even Bombur showed no sign of stopping, squeezing out the last ounce of strength from his body.
They knew that if they stopped, they would be angrily torn to shreds by countless Goblins.
It was strange, indeed. Usually, when they encountered orcs, once the captain or commander was killed, the remaining ones would automatically break formation and scatter.
Why did this particular type of orc go berserk after their king was killed today?
However, the dwarves dared not stop to question it; instead, they hurried to run.
Igon watched as more and more Goblins gathered on their path and immediately shouted, "Cover your ears!"
The dwarves immediately understood what Igon was about to do. After all, they had witnessed it before in the Old Forest.
They instantly stopped whatever they were doing, whether chopping or anything else, and tightly covered their ears with both hands.
"Roar——"
A soul-stirring Dragon Roar erupted from Igon's position. All the Goblins within the Dragon Communion Incantation's range of attack were stunned into unconsciousness, falling into the abyss below.
Some Goblins who were closer had their internal organs and brains shattered.
"Keep running!"
Thorin immediately shouted upon seeing a large gap appear in the Goblins' encirclement.
Balin, the oldest, was struggling to keep up. He asked disjointedly, "This… this running, it's not… a solution. We… really… need to rest."
Thorin gritted his teeth and replied, "I know, but…"
Just then, a dazzling white light, like the sun, rose from a rock not far in front of Thorin and the others.
Along with this intense light came an irresistible gale, as if the entire underground Goblin kingdom was filled with this blinding radiance and terrifying storm.
The Goblins pursuing them were all affected by this sudden phenomenon; some were blinded by the strong light and fainted on the ground, while others were swept away by the storm and fell into the deep chasm.
Igon directly bypassed the dwarves and came to Thorin at the very front, using his body to shield the dwarves from the storm.
But he quickly realized that the light and wind did not seem to be targeting them.
The white light and gale came abruptly but also left quickly, soon vanishing without a trace.
Some clear footsteps slowly approached Thorin and the others in the darkness. They couldn't immediately make out who it was because the previous strong light and storm had extinguished all the lit torches in the underground kingdom.
As the figures drew closer, Igon, using the lingering glow of the not-yet-completely extinguished torches, recognized the person holding two swords and breathed a sigh of relief, smiling, "Haha, isn't this Arthur's friend, Gandalf?"
The dwarves were overjoyed at the sight and happily exclaimed, "Oh, it's Gandalf! We're saved!"
"So, can we rest now?"
"Although the environment here is a bit bad, I don't mind sleeping here."
Bernal's voice came from behind Gandalf: "And me, Igon. I brought Bilbo and Ori. Are you all right?"
Igon nodded and then shook his head: "I'm fine, but these dwarves are almost exhausted. They must rest, or they'll die from exhaustion."
Bernal nodded, then frowned: "Wait, where are Arthur and Millison? Are they not with you?"
Igon also looked confused: "What are you talking about? We've been chased by these creatures ever since we fell in; we haven't seen Arthur or Millison."
Bernal said with a strange expression, "But they also jumped in to find you… We can't go back the way we came, can we?"
Thorin took a few breaths, recovering some strength, before asking, "Gandalf, and Sir Bernal, how did you get here?"
Bilbo was tentatively touching the unconscious Goblins with his Elvish short sword. When he heard Thorin's question, he poked his head out from behind Gandalf's grey robe and volunteered, "Oh, less than a minute after Sir Arthur and Miss Millison left us, we met Gandalf coming in from the cave entrance. I originally wanted to call Arthur and them back, but then a very loud noise came from the cave, and our calls were drowned out."
Then Bilbo quietly glanced at Gandalf before continuing, "Then Gandalf said he knew a shortcut and walked deeper into the cave where we were resting. There was indeed a narrow path there, and after we entered, we immediately saw you all being chased by these Goblins."
Gandalf then took over, looking helplessly at Igon and saying, "Yes, we also saw you shoot the Goblin King dead with three arrows, which then enraged the entire underground kingdom of Goblins. So, I could only continue to lead Bernal and the others through the shortcut to get ahead of you, but luckily, you attracted enough attention, so we didn't encounter any guards on the shortcut."
Igon shrugged, "I didn't know that bloated fat guy would stand still and let me shoot him. He even sang to taunt me. I felt I wouldn't do his singing justice if I didn't aim accurately."
Gandalf decided to ignore the topic and said, "So, where are Arthur and his Miss Millison? Has no one among you seen them?"
The dwarves, already collapsed on the ground from exhaustion, all shook their heads, which made Gandalf frown.
Bernal sighed and said, "How about this. Gandalf, you take Bilbo and these dwarves and run towards the exit you mentioned. Igon and I will stay behind and search back along the path they fled."
Just then, Arthur's voice came from nearby: "No, no need… I'm right here, and Millison is too."
Everyone looked around, but they couldn't see Arthur or Millison.
Bilbo scratched his head: "Did Sir Arthur use some sorcery to turn invisible?"
At this moment, a pile of unconscious Goblins not far from Thorin and the others stirred a few times, and then Arthur jumped out, not forgetting to lend a hand to help Millison also jump out from the pile of Goblins.
Arthur took a few breaths of relatively fresh air, weakening the Goblin stench lingering around his nostrils before complaining to Gandalf, "We were following the secret passages left by these Goblins below, ready to meet Thorin and them, but then you, Gandalf, used a spell to blow a whole bunch of Goblins down here, almost burying Millison and me alive."
Gandalf chuckled, "It's fine as long as you're alright. Let's keep going. On the way here, I heard Bilbo and Ori say that you actually encountered Rock Giants. Those are creatures that even I find a bit daunting."
Thorin looked at his compatriots, who were so exhausted they had collapsed onto the ground, preferring to lie with the unconscious Goblins rather than get up, and pleaded, "Arthur, Gandalf, can we rest for a bit? Fili and Kili are really too tired; they haven't had a good rest since this morning..."
"Uh, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but there's something I must say..." Bilbo's voice came, making everyone present look at him.
The hobbit was drawing the Elven dagger from his waist again, only this time, the blade of the Elven dagger glowed with a bright blue light.
Bilbo blinked, looked at Gandalf, whose expression was gradually becoming serious, and said, "This sword is glowing. I remember you told me, Gandalf, that when it glows, it means..."
"It means orcs are approaching nearby," Gandalf said gravely, and at that moment, from the sloping rock wall above them, came the light of numerous torches and the flickering shadows cast by their flames.
Bernal whistled, drawing his knight's greatsword from his back: "Looks like we have new guests."
Gandalf immediately said, "Don't be impulsive, Sir Bernal. There are at least tens of thousands of orcs. Their king died at our hands; it's an endless struggle between us."
Bernal said indifferently, "It's just an endless struggle. It's not like we haven't encountered such enemies before."
The dwarves tried to struggle to their feet, but their bodies, after overexertion and that brief rest, not only failed to recover but left them unable to even stand.
This included Fili and Kili.
Upon realizing their bodies wouldn't obey, the dwarf brothers immediately used the Prayer, Wild Beast Vitality.
But unfortunately, their remaining stamina did not support the cost of casting the Prayer, so Wild Beast Vitality was not successfully used.
At this moment, Bilbo heard faint rustling from the deep chasm below his feet. He cautiously peered down, and his face turned pale: "Uh, everyone, there are those Goblins down there too. I think we need to do something."
Upon hearing this, Thorin immediately leaned over to look, then quickly recoiled.
Bilbo was not wrong; there was also torchlight in the deep chasm below. Arthur and Millison must have used this passage to quickly approach them.
"Arthur." Thorin looked at Arthur; he knew the other party possessed miraculous sorcery that could quickly restore one's strength.
Arthur nodded. Golden light spread from his hand, and Erdtree's Grace affected everyone.
The dwarves immediately felt their exhausted bodies fill with vigor and vitality, their physical fatigue rapidly disappearing bit by bit.
Gandalf nodded at this moment and said, "I know where another exit is. Follow me."
The dwarves began to move, following behind Gandalf.
Bilbo glanced at Arthur, who was not in a hurry to leave, and quickly shouted, "We need to leave quickly, Arthur!"
Arthur regretfully withdrew his gaze and said to Bilbo, "Got it."
Millison asked curiously, "What were you thinking just now, Arthur?"
Arthur looked at the soul collector in his hand. At this moment, this deep blue source stone, as large as his forearm, was filled with the radiance of souls, flickering like a pulse, as if it had come to life.
He sighed and said, "I'm lamenting this source stone that Teacher Sellen gave me. Just now, Gandalf's Glintstone Magic annihilated a large number of Goblins, and their souls were all collected by me. But many couldn't be collected because its capacity has been used up."
Then Arthur put away the soul collector and gestured for Millison to follow.
It seemed that after he returned, he should ask Teacher Sellen to help him improve the soul collector, or make a few more for spare.
Perhaps Teacher Sellen hadn't anticipated such a situation back then.
Arthur looked at the Goblins around him that had been dealt with by Gandalf's Glintstone Magic, thinking to himself.
The Glintstone Magic that Gandalf cast, for a split second, made alarm bells ring in Arthur's mind. All sorts of Prayers, Glintstone Magic, and rare weapons for facing strong enemies were prepared.
Only then did Arthur realize that the Glintstone Magic was not directed at him, and he relaxed his guard.
This old man usually doesn't show off, but he actually possesses such powerful Glintstone Magic... But why does he keep running? If he just cast that Glintstone Magic again, wouldn't it deal with these pursuing Goblins?
Is it a matter of magic consumption? Does Gandalf only cast it once because it consumes too much magic?
If he can win, why run?
Arthur pondered with some confusion.
Then he suddenly felt the suspension bridge he was standing on shake, followed by Bilbo's scream.
"Bilbo! Arthur! Miss Millison!" The worried voices of the dwarves also reached Arthur's ears.
Arthur then realized that the chasm below the suspension bridge was, at some point, swarming with Goblins with pale white skin, and these Goblins were desperately hacking at the ropes and wooden stakes that secured the suspension bridge with the weapons in their hands.
Even if they trampled their companions or pushed them off, they had to collapse this suspension bridge.
This was why the suspension bridge suddenly shook unstably. Bilbo had just accidentally fallen down and landed among those Goblins.
However, Bilbo held an Elven dagger and a brass dagger in each hand, and with his frantic swings, the Goblins did not harm Bilbo, but this situation could not last much longer.
The hobbit had been forced to the edge of the abyss by the Goblins, with a pitch-black, bottomless void below.
Arthur jumped down without a second thought, sweeping his greatsword to clear a path, severing all Goblins approaching Bilbo at the waist, their black blood and organs scattering across the ground.
Millison followed closely behind, her Scythe curved sword flashing with cold light, slicing the few Goblins pouncing from another direction into pieces.
Just as the two of them voluntarily jumped down, the suspension bridge where they had just been also collapsed, its wreckage crushing a few Goblins before plunging into the abyss.
The dwarves were fine; they had already run to another rock platform in advance.
And it was because Bilbo saw that Arthur wasn't leaving immediately and asked him, which delayed him, that he didn't keep up with the dwarves.
Moreover, with the dwarves' agility, the shaking of the suspension bridge couldn't make them fall, but Bilbo was just an ordinary hobbit.
Arthur and Millison cooperated tacitly, quickly clearing the surrounding Goblins in a very short time, then shouted up to Gandalf and the others: "You keep running, don't worry about us! We'll find a way to get up ourselves!"
Gandalf's voice came from above: "No need to come up! The exit is below. Run towards where there's sunlight and wind. We'll meet below!"
Arthur shouted loudly, "Okay!"
Then he patted Bilbo's back, comforting the hobbit who was startled by falling off the suspension bridge: "Alright, Bilbo, don't be nervous. Next, I'll let you experience what a real adventure is like."