When the Angmar Witch-king fled, the sky above Lake-town was once again bathed in sunlight.
Bernal immediately recognized the letter Thranduil held as one sent by Arthur, realizing then why the Woodland Realm's support had arrived so swiftly.
Legolas's expression subtly changed upon seeing the letter in Thranduil's hand, but he ultimately said nothing.
He merely put away his silver dagger, which had been notched during his battle with the Ringwraiths, and then went to find Tauriel, who had been knocked unconscious after flying into a wooden house midway through the fight.
Thranduil's gaze remained fixed on his son; he wanted to speak and hold him back, but his Adam's apple bobbed a few times, and he still didn't utter a word.
Bernal and Igon understood the relationship between the father and son, but they couldn't express any opinions on it.
Firstly, because it was a family matter between the Elven father and son, and secondly, neither of them had ever been a father.
Bernal inwardly understood that Thranduil was currently focused on whether his son was injured, so he lightly coughed and said to the Elven King, "Lake-town now needs me to take charge of the overall situation, so I won't disturb you."
Then he pulled Igon and quickly left.
Thranduil maintained his Elven grace and etiquette, patiently waiting until Bernal and Igon were out of his sight before dismounting, then hurriedly followed in the direction Legolas had gone.
Soon after Bernal and Igon left, they heard a desperate Dragon roar coming from the direction of Dale.
This Dragon roar was different from the Dragon roar Igon unleashed using Dragon Communion Incantation; it was filled with despair and unwillingness in the face of death.
A little earlier, just as Thranduil had led the Woodland Realm's army to support Dale, the fierce battle between Radahn and Smaug had also reached its conclusion.
Smaug endured the pain, using its twisted Dragon wings to whip up a storm, sending snow and dust from the ground high into the air, obscuring Radahn's view of the ground.
And its Dragon fire took the opportunity to once again blast towards the human in mid-air who had caused it so much trouble.
Radahn's lion-headed armor was covered in scorch marks, his cape had long since turned to ash from countless Dragon fire breaths, and his exposed golden shoulder plates were burned red, sizzling against his skin.
He spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, took a deep breath, and crossed his Starscourge Greatsword in front of him to stabilize his stance, purple gravity ripples flowing along the blade, deflecting the Dragon fire aimed at him back into the sky.
"So what if you don't let me fly? The absolute difference in strength and size is something you can't make up for! Flee, insect! Crawl back into your hole like those dwarves!"
Smaug's taunt arrived at Radahn's face simultaneously with its Dragon tail lashing like a steel whip.
But Radahn surged forward into the attack, gravity magic exploding from the sword hilt, sending gravel flying. Then he actually leaped onto the thicker part of the Dragon tail, plunging his Starscourge Greatsword fiercely into the gaps between the scales.
Smaug roared in pain and rolled, sending Radahn flying towards the ground. Although he used gravity magic to cushion the impact, his back still hit with a spiderweb crack.
However, Radahn immediately got up, then stomped his battle boots on the ground and leaped, his sword tip aimed directly at the Dragon's eye.
Yet Smaug's Dragon claw suddenly shot out, its five blade-like talons seizing one Starscourge Greatsword, swinging Radahn, man and sword, into the air, while its other Dragon claw followed right after to strike down.
The purple light of gravity magic flashed across the descending Dragon claw, causing its downward speed to suddenly increase by several points, narrowly missing Radahn's body.
The ground collapsed from Smaug's strike, and Radahn used his other Starscourge Greatsword to slash at the Dragon claw in front of him.
The moment the sword edge met the Dragon claw, Radahn channeled all of his gravity magic into the Starscourge Greatsword.
"Crack!"
The Dragon's talons shattered in response, and Smaug let out a deafening shriek of agony. Radahn seized the opportunity to escape, but his right arm was scorched by the lingering Dragon fire that the Dragon had already brewed in its mouth.
The smell of charring mixed with blood permeated the air. General Radahn stumbled a few times in mid-air before steadying himself, breathing heavily, his golden eyes locked onto Smaug below.
As expected of a Dragon, although it didn't use the Dragon Lightning that the Ancient Dragons in The Lands Between could, its massive size of one hundred forty-one meters compensated for the disadvantage of not being able to use Dragon Lightning.
Fighting such a behemoth, Radahn felt a thrill from the bottom of his heart.
"You are the only human who has pushed me to such a state of disarray. Tell me your name, and I am willing to remember it forever."
Smaug's Dragon eyes also stared fixedly at the human in the sky, while still stubbornly uttering Dragon speech, attempting to make Radahn reveal his name so it could seize the opportunity to enslave his soul.
Even if it failed, it didn't matter; it could use the moment of his distraction to quickly escape.
Yes, Smaug, having fought Radahn up to this point, had already begun to feel the urge to retreat and prepare to flee.
It felt that this human was too dangerous; if the battle continued, it might truly lose its life at his hands.
Damn it, why would such a warrior exist in the Third Age!
Smaug cursed inwardly. It had only heard that powerful Elven warriors could kill Dragons in the First Age, but this one in front of it was human, not those long-lived Elves. Where did he come from?
In Smaug's gaze, Radahn did not answer him, but instead silently raised his Starscourge Greatsword again and flew towards him, so it immediately spewed Dragon fire from its throat.
This time, however, the Dragon fire was not a direct column of flame aimed at Radahn, but rather a wall of fire, intended only to briefly obscure Radahn's vision.
But just as Smaug lifted its Dragon head to spew Dragon fire, Radahn's golden eyes, from above, suddenly narrowed: he saw the gold coins and jewels that had been stuck in the gaps of Smaug's Dragon scales on its chest, falling off due to the intense battle, revealing an unprotected wound.
Radahn immediately realized that the wound was a fatal weakness, caused by a brave human warrior long ago who had fought to the death, and later covered by the treasures of the Lonely Mountain.
"I've found your weakness, lizard!"
Radahn rarely roared, his Starscourge Greatsword tucked at his waist, his hands cupped into claws, a purplish-black gravity vortex spinning wildly in his palms, and all the shattered rocks beneath him floated into the air.
The shattered rocks blocked the Dragon fire Smaug spewed. Smaug had forgotten that while it used Dragon fire to block Radahn's vision, it also lost sight of Radahn's position.
An inexplicable fear welled up in Smaug's heart, and its twisted Dragon wings flapped desperately, trying to fly, but it found its body once again pressed to the ground by the sudden gravity.
"You ant! How dare you—!"
The last of the Dragon fire was hastily spewed out, but it was entirely pushed back into Smaug by Radahn's full-force gravity magic. The flames poured back into the Dragon's mouth, and Smaug's furious roar instantly turned into a suffocated whimper.
And Radahn had already arrived before Smaug's chest, both Starscourge Greatswords raised high overhead, aimed at the wound that was insignificant compared to the massive Dragon body.
At this moment, the gravity ripples coiling around the Starscourge Greatsword made the air wail, as if stars were collapsing.
It was the humans you always looked down upon who tore a gap in your chest, the hardest Dragon Armor, with their lives.
Radahn's gaze met Smaug's vertically slit pupils, which had for the first time shown a look of panic. The Starscourge Greatsword slashed down, and the gap in the Dragon Scales was torn wider by gravity, then it pierced the flesh beneath that gap, and the scorching Dragon Heart burst under the sword's edge.
"Roar—"
The heart-shattering pain made Smaug unleash a fierce death throe. His dying struggle caused strong vibrations on the ground. The Dragon Tail, which had already come down when Radahn swung his sword, now struck his waist and abdomen. The dull thud of the armor caving in and the sound of ribs breaking were clearly audible.
Then Smaug's Dragon Eyes lost their luster, and the Dragon Tail, which had just tried to entwine Radahn, fell limply to the ground, kicking up dust.
When the smoke and dust cleared, Smaug's carcass lay quietly in the shallow pit he had created. The Dragon Blood flowing from his chest had almost formed a bloody lake in the pit.
Radahn sat on Smaug's already closed Dragon Mouth, a Starscourge Greatsword deeply embedded in Smaug's head behind him, following the Texture between the Dragon Scales.
This was to prevent Smaug from feigning death. After all, Radahn was unsure of the vitality of Dragons in this world. It would be troublesome if the opponent could still move for a period of time after suffering a fatal injury to the heart.
Radahn's own breastplate was completely deformed, and his left arm was burned to the bone, but his right hand still clutched another Starscourge Greatsword tightly.
"This is the first, and last, time I will be so willful. From now on, the Red Lion Legion Commander's reputation for slaying Dragons will spread throughout this world. Other human nations will also have to re-evaluate the strength and status of our Golden Tree Territory. It will not be in vain that I risked so much to fight such a dangerous creature."
General Radahn's chest heaved violently, but in his heart, he was still calmly analyzing the future situation.
He looked up slightly, silently gazing in the direction of Dale. Radahn knew that Arthur was there at that moment.
"Arthur, Elden Lord, I know you don't like to show your powerful side to allies, and you cherish their friendship very much."
"But when you have a divine weapon in your hand, the best way is to show its sharpness to your allies with the blood of your enemies, otherwise the blood it drinks in the future might be from others."
"Holding a sharp blade but restraining its edge, and being bare-handed and at the mercy of others, both are ways of survival, but they reflect the most fundamental difference in the game between nations—the right to speak."
"Having a sword but not using it, and having no sword to use, are two different things."
Radahn took another deep breath and looked up at the sky where the dark clouds had dispersed.
Just as Radahn discovered the fatal weakness in Smaug's chest, Thorin, who was resisting Azog's army in Dale, also made a decision.
Arthur originally wanted to help Radahn quickly defeat Smaug, but Freya and Jerian jointly pleaded with Arthur to give General Radahn a chance to challenge the Dragon, which finally made Arthur reluctantly agree.
He looked at Jerian and Freya in front of him, and said in a serious tone, "I'm not against Radahn dueling Smaug. If it were any other time, I would be very happy, because I am also a warrior. But now it is war, and dueling is meaningless. As the commander, Radahn is crucial to us and cannot be lost. Therefore, as long as I see Radahn falling into a disadvantage, no matter how you try to stop me, I will join the battlefield between him and Smaug."
Jerian quickly agreed, "No problem, General Radahn said the same thing."
Arthur was stunned when he heard this, "He said the same thing?"
Jerian nodded, "Yes."
Then he looked at Millison, and Millison also nodded helplessly, "Just now, when they persuaded me not to help Radahn, they also had similar statements."
This made Arthur frown. Radahn saying this also meant that he knew it was very irrational for a commander to rashly duel a Dragon. In other words, he wasn't challenging Smaug out of excitement or a sudden whim, but had his own plans and considerations.
But the hurried arrival of Bilbo made Arthur temporarily put Radahn's matter aside, because the hobbit anxiously shouted to Arthur, "We have to go persuade Thorin! He actually plans to take the dwarves who came with him to the Lonely Mountain to behead Azog! Gandalf is almost fighting with Thorin!"
Hiss.
Arthur instantly got a headache. Radahn and Thorin, both of them were causing him trouble at this critical time.
"Millison, you stay here for me and pay attention to Radahn's situation. I allow you to judge for yourself whether Radahn needs support."
Millison looked at Arthur's eyes seriously and nodded, "I will."
By the time Arthur arrived at Thorin's side, the dwarf was already fully armed, riding a war-goat and glaring at Gandalf, who was blocking him.
And by Thorin's side, there were not only Fili and Kili, but also Balin, Dwalin, Gloin, and so on. All the original dwarf members of the Lonely Mountain Expedition were there, except for the fattest Bombur.
Because he was standing next to a dwarf Horn as large as his plump body, waiting for Thorin's command to blow the horn of attack for his king.
"Azog's defeat is almost a foregone conclusion, yet you insist on putting yourself in danger at this time, Thorin Oakenshield!" Gandalf glared, clearly very angry.
Thorin, acting as if he had a mind of his own, retorted in a low voice, "Then what if Azog escapes? Should we wait for him to recuperate for a few more decades and then launch another war against our Durin's Folk? Now is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to cut off his head, and you are stopping me, Gandalf."
Arthur came to their side and said to Thorin, "Gandalf is right, even if I agree to your beheading tactic against Azog, this many people are not enough."
Thorin's expression softened slightly when he saw Arthur, but he still stubbornly said, "I understand you're worried about me, Arthur. But Azog, this orc scum, his hands are stained with the blood of Durin's line. He must die here today, die at the Lonely Mountain, by my own hand. And I cannot draw more soldiers with me, otherwise the dwarf forces in Dale will be stretched thin, which might then affect the Red Lion Legion's plans."
He paused and said, "Your General is also challenging a Dragon, isn't he?"
Arthur took a deep breath and looked at Gandalf, "Since we all know the dwarves' stubbornness, why don't you and I join Thorin's team and stop him when he tries to throw his life away."
Upon hearing this, Gandalf tapped his staff on the ground, and his white horse trotted to the wizard's side.
He first glared at Thorin, then said to Arthur, "I'll listen to you first. After we lead this stubborn donkey back to the stable, I will definitely, in Thráin's presence, weave his son's pigheadedness into the dwarves' songs!"