The black armor, the momentum of one man sweeping through thousands, and that inadvertently revealed arrogance that seemed inhuman.
All of this made the Goblin King think of one person—an existence that dominated all orcs and wargs with absolute terror.
That dark shadow gradually overlapped with the figure before him like a nightmare made manifest.
No, it couldn't be that one.
Although he was also quite formidable in battle, he was still far inferior.
That one wasn't merely capable of fighting...
"Don't waste time with meaningless attrition here. Take another route!"
The well-informed Goblin King led a large swarm of goblins away with desperate urgency.
"No, you're really not coming!"
"Come back!"
Levi shouted while chasing after them with relentless determination, his sword gleaming with deadly intent.
At this moment.
Inside the cave, Levi was chasing behind a group of goblins with his sword raised, while on the other side, a group of goblins were chasing the dwarves and Gandalf through winding passages.
The Goblin King was caught in the middle, sweating profusely as he ran. Dodging the fierce man behind him while giving orders to the goblins ahead to attack the dwarves. For a time, various chaotic sounds filled the air like a symphony of terror.
While Goblin-town was in the heat of battle.
In that unknown, secluded valley bottom, Bilbo had just awakened from unconsciousness with a throbbing head.
Upon waking, he heard a somewhat hoarse voice not far away, talking to itself about what it was doing.
"Goblins... little meat and thin, must skin them first before eating..."
"Better than nothing, gollum..."
Thanks to the unique stealth talent of hobbits, Bilbo hadn't been discovered even while unconscious.
At this moment he hid behind a rock, quietly observing the thin, strange creature that was using stones to bash a goblin's head with savage efficiency.
That goblin ultimately couldn't escape being beaten to death with sickening thuds.
As this unfortunate goblin was killed, a golden ring eagerly slipped from the strange creature's body, rolling all the way to Bilbo's feet with purposeful motion.
It was picked up by the hobbit.
"What is this?"
Bilbo examined the ring with some curiosity, thinking it was quite beautiful despite the grim circumstances.
"Gollum!"
However, his attention was soon diverted as he looked warily at the strange creature processing the goblin, casually stuffing the ring into his pocket.
Looking at this cruel scene, Bilbo took a deep breath, feeling this place was quite eerie. He turned his head, took a deep breath to calm himself, and when he peeked out again, he found the thin creature had suddenly disappeared.
Bilbo became alert and looked up sharply.
A pair of large, luminous eyes was staring right at him.
"Ooh, precious bless us, he looks very plump. Now there's plenty of meat to eat, gollum..."
Just as the thin creature showed a cruel smile and prepared to attack Bilbo, Bilbo suddenly drew his short sword and pressed it to his throat.
"Back off! Stay away from me!"
"Gollum..."
"Elvish blade, but you're not an elf, nor an orc. What are you, gollum..."
"I am Bilbo Baggins."
"Baggins, what is Baggins?"
"I'm a hobbit, from the Shire..."
"Oh, hobbit. We've eaten bats and fish, but never hobbit, gollum. Is he fresh? Is he tender?"
"Get away!"
Bilbo swung his short sword, driving back this creature that wanted to eat his flesh with desperate determination.
"Listen, I don't want to complicate things. Just tell me the way out, and we can each go our separate ways. This isn't some game..."
"Game?"
"We likes games! Gollum. How about you play some riddle games with us? If you win, I'll tell you how to get out..."
"Us?"
"Yes precious, we, gollum."
Bilbo looked left and right but didn't see a third person.
Good heavens, it was also mentally split.
This creature hiding in the dark corners of the valley bottom beneath Goblin-town was naturally Gollum.
Thus, due to some coincidences, Bilbo and Gollum began playing riddle games in the depths.
However, Gollum had picked the wrong opponent today.
Riddles had always been Bilbo's forte.
Soon, Gollum fell into a disadvantage, losing thoroughly. However, he was never one to keep his word.
"You lost. Now you should take me out," Bilbo said, breathing a slight sigh of relief after winning the game.
"I lost?"
"No, we didn't lose, gollum."
Gollum stared warily at Bilbo's sword, his expression turning vicious as he reached toward his waist, planning to pull out the ring and put it on to become invisible and attack Bilbo.
However, he felt nothing.
"Where did it go?"
"Precious, my precious, no! No! It's lost!"
"What's in your pocket?" Gollum glared viciously at Bilbo.
"Nothing."
Bilbo quietly took out the ring and put his hand behind his back.
"You must have stolen it!"
Discovering the ring was missing, Gollum immediately went mad. No longer fearing Bilbo's short sword, he cried out and pounced with wild fury.
Caught off guard, Baggins was knocked down.
The ring slipped from his hand, tumbling through the air. It actively adjusted its angle and size, landing perfectly on Bilbo's finger when it fell.
Obviously, it had long grown tired of Gollum and was eager to change owners, escaping this sunless underground abyss.
The moment the ring was put on, Bilbo's form immediately disappeared, entering another dimension.
He became invisible.
Gollum could no longer see him and could only wail and cry beside him.
"He must have gone toward the exit..."
Gollum muttered and walked in one direction.
The exit?
Not bothering to think about why he had suddenly become invisible, Bilbo hurriedly followed.
"Run!"
In another part of the cave, Gandalf led the way ahead, staff in left hand and sword in right, taking down goblins one by one with tremendous courage.
However, when he looked back, he found countless goblins still chasing behind them, looking quite anxious as if being urged by something.
"Why are they still chasing!"
"They're really persistent!" a dwarf complained loudly.
Behind the dwarves, the Goblin King continuously moved his bulky body forward, directing his subordinates to surround Gandalf and the others while also looking back.
He saw a black figure following behind like a persistent ghost, running while placing blocks under his feet, crossing various difficult rugged terrain.
"Damn it, why is he still chasing!"
The Goblin King was truly afraid at this moment.
However, fortunately, through their constant detours and pursuit, they finally managed to corner the dwarves and wizard ahead, while that figure was temporarily left behind, giving them breathing room.
"You think you can outrun me?"
The Goblin King panted, looking smugly at Gandalf.
Thud!
He swung his massive skull staff toward Gandalf with bone-crushing force. Gandalf tried to block with his sword, but no matter how sharp and hard it was, it was still just a long sword and couldn't compare in size to that war hammer-like skull staff.
With a "clang!" Gandalf's precious sword was knocked aside, and he retreated several steps, nearly falling to the ground.
Seeing his opponent's weapon knocked away and surrounded by his own subordinates, the Goblin King couldn't think of how he could lose.
"Now let's see what you can do, wizard!"
He raised the heavy skull staff again, about to deliver a fatal blow to Gandalf.
However, Gandalf struck his staff on the ground, and the precious sword that had been knocked to the ground actually flew up by itself, slashing across the Goblin King's belly and bringing him to his knees.
The sneak attack succeeded, instantly reversing the situation. In a flash, the Goblin King's life was in Gandalf's hands, with a sword about to fall on his head.
"Wait, stop, don't do it. I'll let you go, alright?" The Goblin King urgently submitted, completely losing his previous smugness.
"No."
Before Gandalf could answer, a voice came from above that made the goblins instinctively afraid.
It was that man. He had caught up!
Above everyone, Levi put away the stones used for building his path and drew his long sword.
Without hesitation, he jumped down with a chopping strike, ending the Goblin King's life.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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