"Let's go out and take a look."
After hearing the Hobbit's description, Mike stood up and walked out of the great hall.
Upon reaching the outer city wall, he happened to encounter Gandalf, who had just arrived.
"The dwarves who have come this time are from the Iron Hills, led by Thorin's cousin, Dáin II Ironfoot. If I'm not mistaken, he should be here to demand justice for Thorin…" Gandalf, who was well-informed, gave Mike a heads-up.
At this moment, on the square in front of the Lonely Mountain, a Dwarf with long reddish-brown hair and a large beard, leading several hundred heavily armored dwarves riding wild boars, was confronting the Elves warriors led by Thranduil.
Seeing Mike, the true master, appear, the reddish-brown haired Dwarf urged his wild boar forward, breaking through the Elves defenses and approaching the city alone.
The Iron Hills are located to the east of the Lonely Mountain, within the Orc activity zone.
The Dwarves living there, having fought Orcs for many years, had developed an even more fierce disposition.
"Human, you stole the Lonely Mountain! Now I command you to return it to Thorin!" Dáin, who had arrived closer, raised his great axe and glared up at Mike on the city wall, exuding an aura of readiness to fight if there was any disagreement.
It must be said, this was very much in line with the style of the Dwarves.
"What kind of cat or dog dares to threaten me…" Mike said, casually throwing a small fireball.
The fireball, empowered by [Flame Affinity], whistled as it struck five meters in front of Dáin.
It immediately exploded into a large pit in the ground, and Dáin, who was on the edge, was also sent flying by the residual force of the flames, tumbling several times on the ground after falling from his wild boar mount.
He looked quite disheveled.
"As expected of the Dragon Slayer!!!" Amidst the exclamations of the dwarves, Dáin got up and dusted himself off, seemingly unharmed.
However, Mike's power also made him abandon his previous arrogant posture.
Clearly, while Dáin had a fiery temper, he would give due respect to a stronger opponent.
"Thorin, my preferential treatment of the Dwarves is not a reason for you to push your luck…" After teaching Dáin a lesson, Mike ignored him and looked at Thorin, who was mixed in with the Dwarves, saying, "Two choices. I'll give you three more days to consider. If there's no answer after three days, I will withdraw the promise I made to you."
The arrival of the Dwarves this time was likely Thorin's doing behind the scenes.
He thought that with someone backing him, he could gain more benefits.
But he seemed to have forgotten that Mike, who possessed the power of a Dragon Slayer, was not a pushover.
"What choices?" Dáin, who had suffered a silent loss without understanding the situation, remounted his wild boar and returned to Thorin's side.
"Take back the Arkenstone, or get a portion of the Lonely Mountain's treasure…" Seeing Thorin remain silent, the white-bearded Balin spoke up and explained the current situation of the Dwarves to Dáin.
"Then what are we waiting for? Of course, we should get a portion of the Lonely Mountain's treasure to rebuild the Kingdom Under the Mountain!" After hearing the explanation, Dáin immediately made a choice for the Dwarves.
After all, no matter how beautiful the Arkenstone was or how great its symbolic meaning, it was still just an ordinary gem.
In terms of cost-effectiveness, it certainly couldn't compare to a large amount of gold coins.
With gold coins, the other Dwarves who had been displaced to the Grey Lanes could at least live better lives.
This was considering the entire Dwarves.
"The Arkenstone is the token of the Dwarf race; it cannot fall into human hands." Unfortunately, Thorin, as the new King of the Dwarves, did not have such awareness at this time.
He, who had been gloomy-faced all along, finally chose to speak when it came to his own "interests."
"Then choose the Arkenstone. With it, you can gather the seven Dwarf clans, and everyone gathered together can look out for each other." Dáin persuaded Thorin again.
In Dáin's view, there was nothing to be conflicted about.
Moreover, that Human on the city wall had been very generous; both choices offered considerable benefits to the Dwarves.
"What do you know? If we take the Arkenstone, we'll have to live in Moria and be constrained by that Human…" Alright, Thorin still couldn't let go of the treasure within the Lonely Mountain.
"Is there a problem with going to Moria? I think it's quite suitable for us dwarves to develop there…" Dáin said, then saw Thorin's face turn even uglier, so he simply "gave up" and said, "Forget it, you take your time to consider!"
"Whether it's war or peace, just let me know then."
It seemed that the hot-tempered Dáin probably didn't like to use his brain, and Thorin's wavering attitude had already made him irritable.
Just as Dáin was about to lead the Dwarves away, a loud horn blast suddenly came from a peak on the side of the Lonely Mountain.
At the same time, an Orc banner was erected on the side of the mountain.
Then several exceptionally strong Orcs appeared on the mountain peak, and as they waved their command flags, several batches of Orc armies successively appeared in the wilderness outside the Lonely Mountain.
Their numbers were approximately one hundred thousand, and their vast momentum almost overwhelmed the entire Lonely Mountain.
"Dragon Slayer, we meet again! I wonder if you can stop my Mordor army this time!!!" As the dark mass of Orc army approached the city, the Orc leader Azog subsequently appeared on the side of the mountain peak.
Last time, when Sauron, was banished in Dol Guldur, Azog was actually there too.
However, seeing that the situation was unfavorable, he had scurried away first.
This time, having mobilized almost all the Orcs within Mordor, he felt that the advantage had finally come to his side.
Therefore, he also wanted to wipe away his previous shame in front of Mike.
"Azog!!… Die!!!!…"
However, the Orc leader had not yet received a response from Mike when he first heard Dáin's roar.
Like Thorin, Dáin also had a vendetta against Azog for his father's death; Dáin's father, Dáin I, had died at Azog's hands.
With his enemy right before his eyes, Dáin, filled with rage, directly rushed towards the side of the mountain peak, heedless of anything, leading a dozen or so personal guards.
The dwarves riding wild boars had a low center of gravity, and instantly knocked over the Orc troops that came to block them.
However, with the command of the Orc standard-bearers on the mountain, a continuous stream of Orcs gathered at the foot of the mountain, finally blocking Dáin's charge.
"We should go help too!"
Seeing the Dwarves cavalry bogged down, Kili, who had recovered from his injuries and rejoined the ranks, immediately rallied the Dwarves.
After finding a chariot from the Dwarves contingent, he also charged towards the side of the mountain peak.
However, before long, the chariot, like the Dwarf cavalry led by Dáin, was intercepted by the Orc army's human wave tactics at the foot of the side mountain.
"Thorin, what are you still waiting for? Kili and the others need help!"
The white-bearded Balin observed the dwarves' situation and couldn't help but urge Thorin, who had remained inactive.
Thorin, who had been waiting for Mike to act, saw that the dwarves were already at a disadvantage, while Mike was still leisurely watching the show.
He finally could only glare at Mike before shouting to the remaining Dwarves around him, "Let's go, kill all those Orcs!!!"
Strictly speaking, the Dwarves were the true lineage among the seven Dwarf clans.
And Thorin, with the royal bloodline of the Dwarves, was the "King" of all dwarves.
Therefore, with him leading the charge, the remaining Dwarves and Dwarves united, and quickly erupted with powerful combat strength.
"Are we just going to watch?" On the city wall, Gandalf watched Mike's prolonged inaction and gradually grew anxious.
"Of course, we can't just keep watching…" Mike shook his head slightly, then shouted down, "Aragorn, it's your time to shine. Don't let any Orc break through our defenses."
"Understood!"
With the shout, a contingent completely clad in black armor emerged from the city gate below.
They quickly united with the Dale Kingdom guards and the Elves warriors, establishing a temporary defensive line at the Lonely Mountain.
With their excellent weapons and armor, they quickly repelled wave after wave of Orc scouting parties attempting to bypass the Lonely Mountain and reach the river valley behind it.