"The war has begun."
Radahn remained with his arms crossed, his mountain-like massive body floating in the air.
He lowered his head and said to Freya, "Blow the horn and have the humans in Lake-town hide indoors. At the same time, send someone to notify Arthur and inform him of the situation here."
Freya saluted Radahn very respectfully before leaving.
Jerian looked at Freya's departing figure and spoke to Radahn with a relaxed tone: "Lord Radahn, it's just as you predicted. That orc commander named Azog instructed the Earthworms to attack from underground, and the target he chose was Ravenhill, exactly where you thought."
Radahn's tone remained calm: "Because after Ravenhill fell into our hands, Azog had no choice. But my calculations were also based on understanding the enemy's intelligence. Arthur's dwarf allies were ambushed by Earthworms, which let us know that Azog has the ability to launch attacks from underground. Ravenhill's location is very important. If I were the enemy commander, I would either send troops to retake it or destroy this place."
"However, not only Ravenhill was occupied, but also Dale. If the enemy isn't foolish, they will definitely be able to analyze how powerful the army that killed so many Goblins is. If Azog sends troops to attack, even if he occupies it, he will suffer heavy casualties. Therefore, directly destroying the open Ravenhill, putting both sides on the same starting line, would become Azog's secondary option. And it just so happens that the Earthworms mentioned by the dwarf allies possess this ability, so it's not difficult to infer what Azog will do after knowing Ravenhill has been occupied."
Jerian nodded, then asked curiously, "What if Azog also thought of this point, and instead of having the Earthworms destroy Ravenhill, he had them head towards the underground of Dale?"
Radahn's tone carried a sneer: "That would be exactly what I want. I hope Azog realizes that the tunnels gnawed out by the Earthworms are not one-way. This is also why I didn't have Ogha withdraw his men but instead kept them at Ravenhill. To get that giant dragon sleeping in the Lonely Mountain to return the favor, we must first personally visit and offer a grand gift."
Ravenhill.
The tremors from underground became increasingly obvious. At first, only fine grit seeped from the rock crevices, like a hourglass about to run out of its last grain of dust.
Immediately after, the entire mountain groaned dully, and cracks, as if cleaved by an invisible giant axe, burst open along the rock face.
The Earthworm's thick carapace flashed between the fault lines, its black shell scraping against the rock layers, sparks flying like golden-red fireflies splattering in the dust.
Ravenhill's fortress was like the hollowed-out skeleton of a giant, its battlements collapsing one after another, shattered bricks and stones rolling into the abyss, disintegrating in the tremors caused by the Earthworm.
The uppermost watchtower plummeted from mid-air, the falling stones crashing against the mountain rock with a dying roar.
At this moment, a sticky gnawing sound came from underground, and the Earthworm's grim, massive maw finally broke through the surface.
Its slime-coated fangs bit into the fortress's base, and the granite shattered like brittle biscuits.
The entire cliff tilted and slid into the deep valley, the remaining beams and pillars emitting a sharp wail before breaking, like countless rusty knives dragging across flagstones.
Smoke and dust, like a yellowish-grey giant wave, engulfed everything. Sunlight was twisted into turbid strands, shining on the churning dust.
The perpetrators of all this, the two Earthworms, let out satisfied burps and comfortably wriggled their bodies back into the Lonely Mountain.
And their departure caused a secondary collapse at Ravenhill, with huge rocks rolling down from the mountain, making the terrain here even more complex and dangerous.
It wasn't until the Earthworms had left and the dust gradually dissipated with the wind, and everything returned to calm, that a troop of fiery red Soldiers appeared from a less affected mountain nearby.
Ogha looked at the completely destroyed Ravenhill, his eyes narrowed, and looking at the tunnel where broken stones continued to roll, he said, "Alright, before those stones block the tunnel, let's clear the entrance first. Then, according to Lord Radahn's plan, we'll invade the Lonely Mountain and poke that dragon out of its bed."
Lonely Mountain Palace, lower level.
There was no light in the tunnel drilled by the Earthworms, and the air was filled with an unpleasant smell.
Ogha walked at the front, hunched over. The end of the tunnel was an upward-sloping crack, from which a putrid smell seeped into the tunnel.
The Earthworm's massive body had disappeared here not long ago, and the orc army responsible for attacking Thráin had also left. Only the orcs taking care of the Earthworms here were yawning boredly.
Whenever the Earthworms went out, it was the most relaxed time for these orcs.
Their unguarded and lax appearance naturally fell into Ogha's eyes.
Thanks to the Earthworms, the occasional clanking of armor from Ogha and the Lataan Soldiers behind him was also covered by the noise created by Earthworms in several other tunnels.
Therefore, these orcs did not know that an army from the Erdtree was lurking right under their noses.
A total of five orcs…
Ogha noted down the position of all the orc guards one by one, then raised a finger and waved it behind him. Ten Lataan Soldiers carrying hand crossbows separated from the hundred-man squad.
Amidst the subtle sounds of the Lataan Soldiers operating the crossbows and winding the strings, ten sharp arrows shot out from the darkness.
The sharp arrowheads pierced into the Orcs' bodies. They fell without even a scream. The Lataan Soldiers precisely hit their respective targets' heads or throats, and each fallen orc corpse had two crossbow bolts stuck in it.
As the orc corpses fell, Ogha had already led his team into the hall.
The burning torches in the hall illuminated a scene of disarray, with dwarf skeletons, having died here at some unknown time, strewn everywhere by the orcs.
The Soldiers' combat boots carefully avoided stepping on the scattered bones, not only out of respect for the corpses but also because they did not want to make any noise by stepping on these bones.
Ogha raised his hand to signal the team to follow him, continuing to stealthily ascend a wide stone staircase.
However, what Ogha did not expect was that when he cautiously pushed open the closed wooden door at the end of the stone staircase, he was met with the familiar stench of orc body odor and sweat, and at the same time, snoring entered his ears.
There were also orc Soldiers who had not rested, opening their eyes in confusion, staring blankly at Ogha and his men. Their meager brains kept them rooted to the spot, unable to react for a while.
But Ogha reacted quickly. As soon as he realized that the wooden door he had opened led to the orc Soldiers' resting quarters, he immediately raised his hand and made two gestures, shouting briefly and forcefully: "Clear this place!"