"Azog!!!"
Smaug's furious roar echoed through the Lonely Mountain palace, the first time he had left his lair in over a hundred years.
But Azog had already anticipated that if those invading human soldiers escaped Smaug's lair, he would undoubtedly be the first target to face Smaug's wrath.
That was why he had arranged for some pathetic orc slaves to remain in the outer palace hall for Smaug, while he himself had already hidden with the orc army in various corners of the dwarves' vast palace.
Smaug didn't even glance at the trembling orc slaves; dragon fire swept over them, leaving a trail of charred corpses.
"You cannot escape, humans! I smell the stench of dwarves on you!"
He roared, charging towards the gate of the Lonely Mountain.
The entire Lonely Mountain trembled the moment Smaug burst out of the mountain.
Amidst the roar of unfurling dragon wings, the stone pillars within the palace snapped in half, and granite pedestals cracked like fragile eggshells.
Half of the Lonely Mountain gate was hurled into the sky by Smaug, disintegrating into countless fragments in the air currents stirred by his wings.
The carved reliefs of dwarf kings on the rock walls were gouged with five grooves, over ten meters deep, by Smaug's dragon claws; shattered stones flaked off, and Thorin's father Thráin's statue shattered into dust as it fell.
At the same time, continuous muffled thuds came from deep within the Lonely Mountain's belly.
The vault of the dwarf treasury collapsed like heavy rain, piercing through the golden mountains piled below. The accumulated dwarf treasures slid down in the tremors, gold coins and gems forming a metallic torrent that poured out from within the Lonely Mountain, then slowly overflowed the gate of the Lonely Mountain, as if the mountain itself was bleeding gold.
Smaug swept across the sky, thick clouds torn into fragments, as if the sky had been wounded by dragon claws.
The dwarves in Dale naturally saw the sight of Smaug bursting out of the Lonely Mountain. As the dragon's roar approached them from afar, the fear that had once plagued the dwarves gradually consumed their hearts, even their spears and battle-axes trembled in their hands.
Ori's shield clanged to the ground, the sound making his brothers Dori and Nori look over. The fallen shield reflected the lingering image of the diving dragon.
Even Balin's heart began to panic. Smaug's diving posture towards Dale was exactly the same as when he charged towards the Lonely Mountain in his memory, unchanged.
The melted armor, carbonized beards, and screams solidified in dragon fire, all now turned into cold sweat soaking Balin's back.
Smaug deliberately flew low over the ruins of Dale, his dragon eyes arrogantly enjoying the fear of the dwarves and humans below, and roared again.
Smaug's dragon roar hammered a deafening sound into Thorin's eardrums; he heard the cries of the dwarves.
Those were not the screams of his compatriots standing beside him now, but the cries of his compatriots who had tragically died in Smaug's dragon fire one hundred and seventy-one years ago.
Thorin tightly covered his ears, blood slowly trickling from his ear canals, his eyes bloodshot.
The hallucinated screams in his ears overlapped with Smaug's current dragon roar, turning into an icicle piercing his spine.
"Smaug!!!!"
Thorin roared, propping himself up, the frozen shell axe in his hand emitting a chilling mist.
Smaug ascended again, but his second dive did not continue to target the dwarves; instead, he discovered a more interesting prey.
It was a banner, embroidered with the same Redmane as on the armor of those despicable humans who had offended him.
Radahn's battle flag was now fluttering on the tower of Dale.
Smaug hovered in mid-air with an agility that defied his massive size, his neck arched back, and magma-like light seeped through his scales from deep within his throat.
Thorin was all too familiar with this posture; his compatriots had been burned to charred bones during such a buildup of power.
"No!"
Thorin suddenly surged forward, wanting to rush towards the Red Lion Legion's position, to use the frozen shell axe in his hand to create a large amount of ice mist to block the dragon fire.
He didn't care if the dragon fire would evaporate him, nor did he care if Azog was watching this farce.
The blood debt of one hundred and seventy-one years boiled in Thorin's veins, and now Smaug was even attacking his friend's army. He wanted to rush into the column of dragon fire and fiercely cleave this sharp axe, given to him by Arthur, into Smaug's eye.
Dain, who had been standing with Thorin, reacted quickly, hooking Thorin's waist armor with his hammer and shouting loudly, "Are you mad, Thorin! That's Smaug!"
Fili and Kili, having recovered from their panic at seeing Smaug, quickly held their uncle tightly.
The moment Thorin turned his head, all the dwarves saw the tear stains on his face, tears melted by anger in his eye sockets.
He said hoarsely, "Precisely because it is Smaug, it must be ended by the bloodline of Durin."
At the same time, Smaug's breath finally descended.
An orange-red pillar of fire shot towards the Red Lion Legion. Smaug was ready to listen to the humans' wails, but the flames were twisted by a purple gravity field at the last moment, scattering and disappearing into the sky.
In Smaug's widened dragon eyes, a strange figure wearing golden lion-headed armor rapidly rose from the ground.
The commotion Smaug made in the Lonely Mountain was visible even from Lake-town.
Arthur had already received Radahn's message, knowing that Azog had begun his plan, and was therefore rushing to Dale with Gandalf and Bilbo.
Thorin, on the other hand, had left for Dale a step earlier when Arthur wrote to Thranduil informing him that his son was in Lake-town.
Gandalf watched Smaug's arrogant figure in the sky with a solemn expression, his fingers under his grey robe quietly gripping his staff tightly.
He said, "The commotion Smaug is making is much livelier than the drumbeats of a dwarf feast, Arthur. Are you sure Radahn can really withstand his attack?"
Arthur, riding on Torrent, replied without turning his head, "Given the circumstances, you still have the leisure to use such a metaphor, which means you already have the answer in your heart."
Gandalf coughed lightly, "Mainly, I just wanted to be sure."
Arthur sighed, "I was sure, but you brought Bilbo along, and now I'm not. This is a war between dwarves and Smaug, and orcs. The people of Lake-town have also been ravaged by Smaug, and I have an alliance with Thorin and them. But Bilbo Baggins, this hobbit, has no reason whatsoever to be involved."
Gandalf looked at Bilbo, who was sitting in front of the saddle in his arms, and said, "But he insisted on going to Dale rather than staying in Lake-town."
Bilbo, now recovering from the shock of seeing the dragon with his own eyes, immediately replied after hearing Arthur' words, "No, no, no, I certainly have a reason to be involved. I signed Thorin's contract, remember? And I always have a feeling that Thorin, and those dwarves in the expedition, might need my help."
Gandalf, after hearing Bilbo's words, looked at Arthur with an "Exactly" expression.
Just as Arthur was about to say something, Bilbo shouted, "I think Thorin and the others might really be in big trouble. Although Smaug crashed a big hole in the Lonely Mountain, those black dots coming out of the gap are clearly not rubble."
The hobbit suddenly stood on tiptoe in the saddle, startling Gandalf, who quickly helped support Bilbo.
But Bilbo ignored him, his pupils reflecting the black tide surging from the foot of the mountain, and he shouted, "It's orcs! And so many Trolls! Damn it, Azog wants to take this opportunity to attack Thorin and the others! No, no, there are also many things flying out of the Lonely Mountain, it seems to be... bats? We must hurry to Dale to inform Thorin and the others and Arthur' army!"
Gandalf quickly pressed the hobbit back into the saddle, "Calm down, Sir Baggins, Smaug's wrath is far more dangerous than orcs. We are too conspicuous now."
Bilbo took a deep breath, "I know, but Thorin and the others are still on the front lines, and Azog has somehow gotten an entire army of bats..."
Arthur spoke, "Just some bats flying in the sky? Don't worry, Bilbo. With Radahn here, nothing can fly in the sky without his permission."
Despite Arthur saying this, his speed on Torrent still increased a few points.
On the other side, Smaug looked at Radahn, who was gradually reaching the same height as himself. It had never seen a flying human, and moreover, this human's physique was far too massive compared to any human it had seen.
Therefore, Smaug's curiosity was piqued, and it prepared to open its mouth to communicate with this human.
Once this human communicated with it, Smaug intended to surprise attack the opponent, using its flames to melt this strange human.
It was curious, true, but that didn't mean Smaug was foolish enough to think the opponent couldn't harm it.
In fact, the moment Smaug first laid eyes on the opponent, it sensed a dangerous aura emanating from them.
Smaug watched as the opponent was only about a hundred meters away, a distance that for Smaug was no different from standing right in front of it.
Then it opened its mouth and said, "Interesting human ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah—!"
Smaug's words were cut short as its dragon wings were restrained by gravity magic under Radahn's "Are you an idiot?" gaze.
Then Radahn raised both hands, and Smaug's massive body suddenly paused in mid-air. Its dragon wings flapped desperately but could not break free from the purple restraint, and the entire dragon plummeted towards the nearby wasteland outside Lake-town.
Smaug let out a deafening roar, its golden pupils filled with terror and disbelief.
"Boom!!"
Smaug's massive body crashed to the ground, causing a considerable tremor.
Radahn in the sky frowned slightly, looked up and around, and thought to himself, 'As expected, gravity magic is a bit subtle in this world. This dragon should have been killed by its own weight.'
But on the ground, Smaug was groaning in pain. Although its wings were fractured in a strangely twisted way, its limbs and head were still normal.
Simply put, Smaug had lost the ability to fly, but on the ground, it was still the arrogant giant dragon.
"[[[This is impossible—!]]]"
For the first time, Smaug's roar was mixed with anger and shock, and Radahn's faintly visible figure in the sky was reflected in its golden dragon eyes.
It tried to fly again, but the intense pain in its dragon wings prevented Smaug from making any movement. Especially when it sensed that the surrounding gravity was becoming increasingly abnormal, and even lifting its head required a lot of effort, the giant dragon finally became panicked.
Radahn descended from the sky, hovering not far from Smaug's slightly lowered dragon head, slowly drawing the Starscourge Greatsword from his waist, and said emotionlessly, "Welcome to the ground, lizard."
However, the panic emanating from Smaug instantly vanished. Its ferocious dragon head suddenly lifted, and the long-brewing scorching dragon flame shot directly at Radahn.
Radahn's cloak flapped in the heat current brought by the dragon flame, and the Starscourge Greatsword crossed in front of him, with purple gravity magic fluctuations wildly spreading from him as the center.
Smaug's right side, along with its dragon claw, suddenly collapsed three meters downward, as if an invisible giant hand was pressing it to the ground. The dragon's body tilted, and the scorching dragon flame swept past Radahn.
But Smaug actually used the gravity pressing down on its body, its golden dragon eyes angrily staring at this human who had humiliated it, and its slender, whip-like dragon tail swung from the left, striking at Radahn.
"Hmph!"
Radahn snorted coldly, drew his sword, and slashed vertically. A huge sound erupted the moment the Starscourge Greatsword collided with the dragon's tail.
Radahn was sent flying backward dozens of meters by the immense force from the dragon's tail, but the Starscourge Greatsword also left a bone-deep wound on Smaug's scale-covered tail.
This time, Smaug let out no roar of pain. After its dragon tail sent Radahn flying, it exerted force with its four limbs, opening its ferocious teeth to bite at Radahn, who had not yet stabilized his stance.
But gravity magic once again pressed on the dragon's head, causing Smaug's head to tilt downward. Its fangs narrowly grazed Radahn's breastplate, sparking.
[Die!]
Smaug tried to use dragon language to interfere with Radahn's thoughts, its bleeding dragon tail giving Radahn no chance, sweeping back with suffocating force.
But this time, the dragon tail was smashed back by a rock sphere created by Radahn using gravity magic.
The shattered rocks on the ground floated up at some point, molded into a meteor shower by Radahn's gravity field, and hurled at the giant dragon.
Smaug immediately spewed dragon flame, and the breath collided with the stone rain, exploding into dozens of fireballs in mid-air.
Meanwhile, on the walls of Dale, Millison, who had not returned to Lake-town with Arthur, was looking at Dale with a solemn expression.
When she saw Radahn and Smaug engaged in their most intense battle, she finally couldn't help but want to cross the city walls and join the battlefield of one man and one dragon.
But she was stopped by Freya, who was also watching the battle.
Millison looked at Radahn's guard knight in surprise and blurted out, "Why are you stopping me?"
A muffled sound came from under Freya's lion helmet, "Because the General doesn't need pity. He said he would personally face a giant dragon."