Chapter 373: Dragon Slaying
Chapter 373: Dragon Slaying
The next morning, as the sun rose and shone upon the gates of Lonely Mountain, Liam arrived. After pulling out two tons of explosive cherries, he found a hidden spot and detonated the pile.
Instantly, the gates of Lonely Mountain were shattered, sending debris flying everywhere. Even from several hundred meters away, Liam felt the ground tremble. Naturally, such a commotion was impossible for Smaug to ignore. Just a few seconds after the explosion, an angry roar echoed from the depths of Lonely Mountain, and the sound of flapping wings grew louder, indicating the dragon was about to leave its lair.
Bard and the elves watched the gates of Lonely Mountain with tense eyes, while Liam held a thick stack of Yellow Talismans in each hand.
"Boom!" The gates of Lonely Mountain were violently smashed open, and a 140-meter-long dragon flew out. At that moment, Liam threw all the Yellow Talismans from both hands and shouted, "Bind!"
Countless Golden Seals appeared out of nowhere, surrounding Smaug, and the dragon's speed slowed considerably upon contact with them.
Naturally, Smaug also noticed Liam's position. Just as it was about to incinerate the insignificant insect with a burst of fire, it suddenly sensed a fatal attack approaching. Unfortunately, due to Liam's magical constraints, it was unable to dodge.
"Zap." Six golden-red beams struck the slowly moving Smaug almost simultaneously. The alchemically treated, ultra-resilient Long Piercing Warheads, accelerated by powerful electromagnetic forces, easily penetrated the dragon's hide. In particular, the three turrets on Smaug's left side accurately hit the area on its left chest where the scales had been stripped away 60 years ago.
The high-speed, scorching projectiles drilled into Smaug's body and detonated under the influence of runes, destroying its internal organs. With a mournful howl, the massive dragon fell from the sky.
After a few convulsions on the ground, the light in Smaug's eyes gradually faded. Finally, it stopped breathing and lay still, its eyes fixed on the sky, unseeing.
"Absorb." Liam used Ancient Runes to activate Life Magic, and a grayish-white shadow emerged from Smaug, forming an apple-sized Soul Orb in front of Liam's chest. At this moment, the Rose Crystal, which had been sent to Bard as a communication device, flew over and sealed the Soul Orb with a purple Crystal Seal adorned with silver threads.
At the very center of the Soul Orb, a tiny, faint white flame flickered, and everyone who saw it could sense the immortal power it contained. This must be the Flame of Eternity.
In the world of the Lord of the Rings, everything originates from the Flame of Eternity. Eru Ilúvatar, the supreme deity, is himself a Flame of Eternity, and the Valar are the same, though they prefer to appear in physical form when they visit the mortal world rather than as a flame.
The secret to the immortality of all Immortal Beings lies here. After their death, their souls return to the Halls of Mandos, the domain of the Valar Mandos, where they sleep, awaiting Eru Ilúvatar's final symphony.
Eru Ilúvatar and the Valar created the world and its species using the Flame of Eternity, but only Eru granted the entire elven race the Flame of Eternity. The other Valar, being less skilled, could only create mortal races.
Beings like Gandalf, who are Maiar, can at most gain the use of the Flame of Eternity, but not ownership.
Only the great villain Morgoth was willing to invest heavily in creating dragons, Balrogs, and even bestowed the Flame of Eternity upon Sauron. This is why Sauron, having received a portion of a Valar's Flame of Eternity, became the most powerful of the Maiar.
After slaying the dragon, Liam had originally planned to use the dragon soul to perform a Baptism for his five dragons. However, he unexpectedly gained this additional treasure. Naturally, Liam immediately opened a Portal to have Rose Crystal deliver the item to Teacher Luo Zhen, as he was the only person Liam knew who would be interested in it and had the ability to study it.
"Did we, did we kill Smaug?" Rose Crystal asked when she returned through the Portal. The Bard and the Elves had also rushed over to Smaug's body. Seeing the massive dragon corpse, which resembled a small hill, all the humans and elves present let out gasps of shock. Shock and disbelief were clearly etched on everyone's face.
"Yes, we did it", Liam said, looking at the stunned crowd. "The times have changed, gentlemen. With Sauron's death, the power of these evil dragons has waned, and we have gained unprecedented strength. Therefore, we have successfully killed the last Dragon of the Zhongtuworlds."
After weeping over the dragon's corpse, the Bard's face showed a look of immense relief. He then knelt on one knee before Liam and swore his allegiance. Liam announced that the Bard would be the deputy king of the valley, responsible for all the kingdom's affairs in his absence.
After Smaug's death, the construction of Rivendell's Ruins returned to normal. Soon, many refugees who had fled to Lake Town returned to Rivendell's Ruins at the Bard's call.
When the mayor of Lake Town noticed a decrease in revenue, he sent troops to forcibly bring back the people who had moved to Rivendell's Ruins. However, they were quickly captured by Liam's robot army. The entire process was very peaceful; the soldiers, upon realizing they were surrounded by invincible robots, immediately dropped their weapons and surrendered.
After all, most of these soldiers were from Lake Town, and many had various connections with the people who had moved to Rivendell's Ruins. Upon learning about the current state of Rivendell's Ruins, they were naturally unwilling to fight.
At the request of the people, Liam, along with the Bard and a team of robots, stormed Lake Town and captured the mayor and his henchmen. After a public trial, they were exiled. Amid the cheers of the crowd lining the streets, the mayor and his henchmen were driven out of Lake Town. Liam took the opportunity to publicly announce that he would not take a single penny of the wealth left behind by these people, and it would all be used for the town's construction to win the hearts of the people.
With everyone's efforts, Lake Town gradually shrank, no longer the distorted town it had become after accepting a large number of refugees. It returned to its former role as a trade and supply center near Rivendell's Ruins.
Meanwhile, Rivendell's Ruins regained its popularity, with all buildings restored to their former glory. Many areas that had been completely destroyed were rebuilt with new factories and residences. Liam used a memory input device to quickly train a large number of skilled workers, and production in Rivendell's Ruins was restored.
Within two months, these abandoned areas seemed to have regained their former vitality, and caravans began to appear again. The valley's first major business deal came from Thranduil, who, through a bird, ordered two Power Towers and three hundred robots from Liam.
"I always thought you elves didn't particularly like these noisy machines, so I didn't recommend them to you at the time", Liam said when Thranduil and a group of elves arrived to collect their order. The elf king had asked why Liam hadn't offered these items earlier.
"We don't particularly like them", Thranduil admitted with a nod, "but with our small population, anything that can save labor is welcome, especially these—robots. They can greatly reduce casualties in battle."
After staying overnight, Thranduil returned to the forest with over a hundred robots, the components of the Power Towers, and a dozen engineers to help with the installation. Of course, he also promised that regular caravans would come to the valley for trade.
As Liam bid farewell to Thranduil and his entourage from the city walls, he was surprised to find that Legolas had not left. It turned out that Thranduil had allowed Legolas and a small team of elves to stay temporarily as a communication channel.
"I volunteered for this", Legolas shrugged. "This way, I can be with Tauriel."
(End of Chapter)
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