[Misty Mountains Orc Reputation -1000]
Current reputation: -3456 (Mortal Enemy)
Thud.
Before flames could even ignite, the Goblin King's health bar dropped directly to zero as he collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
The moment he died, the words "Mortal Enemy" in the reputation interface suddenly turned crimson, as if they had been activated with ominous purpose.
"The King has been killed!"
Some goblin shouted this with piercing terror, and immediately all the goblins became agitated. Some wailed in despair, some were at a loss, some were terrified beyond reason, and others grabbed weapons and charged forward, trying to mask their confusion with violence.
But it was all futile.
"Now's our chance, run!" Gandalf quickly shouted, leading the way ahead with urgent determination.
Levi pointed his sword forward, forcing back several frenzied goblins while fighting and retreating with calculated precision.
However, the goblins soon accepted reality, realizing their king was truly dead. They unanimously turned their gaze toward Levi's group, moving in unison as they swarmed from all directions with unified fury.
Levi looked up to see goblins covering the rock walls, wooden bridges, and even the cave ceiling like a living flood, occupying every corner. Once submerged, forget the dwarves and Gandalf. Even he himself would be in trouble.
"It's too open here, I can't hold them all back!" Levi said urgently.
As he spoke, he pulled out his pickaxe and began digging with rapid thud thud thud sounds, placing several blocks behind him for cover.
"Quick, everyone get in! We'll dig our way out!"
"Stop, don't jump!"
Gandalf quickly grabbed a dwarf and said to Levi: "There might not be enough time. Don't forget there are thirteen dwarves here."
"I saw light over there, should be the direction of the back door. Follow me, move fast! We'll run straight out. These cave goblins don't dare expose themselves to sunlight!"
"Run!" With a great shout, Gandalf nimbly led the way ahead. Seeing this, Levi had no choice but to put away his pickaxe, following while running and looking around.
He still hadn't seen Bilbo and didn't know how the hobbit was faring.
Rumble!
While thinking, thunder crashed. Since too many goblins were blocking the path ahead, Gandalf had to use another lightning strike to clear the way, though this attack was much smaller than before. Just enough to clear a path.
As everyone continued pushing forward, the exit grew brighter, and they could faintly hear wind sounds.
The exit was right ahead.
The dwarves slipped out one by one, with Gandalf close behind.
Levi lingered at the exit for a moment, looking left and right, then followed them outside.
Whoosh!
Daylight stung everyone's eyes, but no one dared stop running. They ran far before pausing to catch their breath.
"Thirteen dwarves total, exactly right..." Gandalf counted heads.
"Wait, where's Bilbo?"
He suddenly froze, looking around with growing alarm.
Let's rewind to when everyone had just escaped to the back door exit.
Bilbo had followed Gollum all the way to the back door. The exit was visible not far away, but this cunning creature stood there blocking the way out.
Obviously, Gollum didn't have enough strength to guard this exit. As Levi's group approached, he immediately hid behind a nearby rock, not daring to make a sound.
Bilbo watched his companions run out and wanted to call for help, but before he could shout, everyone had disappeared.
Gollum breathed a sigh of relief seeing Gandalf's group leave, planning to come out and continue searching for that hobbit thief.
Bilbo was forced back into the cave.
Just then, suddenly, a black figure returned, frightening Gollum into immediately shrinking back, hugging his head and not daring to breathe.
Damn it, Gollum... such a terrifying person.
He thought to himself.
That person stood at the exit for a while, looking around, scanning corner after corner.
For a moment, Bilbo felt their eyes meet. He quickly stepped forward several paces, almost about to call out.
"Wait..."
But that person still left.
Bilbo sighed inwardly.
Another missed opportunity for rescue. He'd have to rely on himself.
He drew his short sword, raising it high, staring intently at Gollum who was still looking around.
Just one swing down. Just gently swing the sword down, and this strange creature who had tried to kill him several times would die on the spot.
"True courage is not in deciding when to kill, but in deciding when to show mercy."
Looking at Gollum's large eyes and suddenly remembering Gandalf's words, Bilbo finally shook his head, sheathed his sword, kicked Gollum over, and escaped.
"Damn thief!"
Gollum shouted behind him. Bilbo ignored him and ran down the mountain forest, following the dwarves' trail.
"No need to look anymore."
Thorin stepped forward, answering Gandalf's question.
"He's probably abandoned us and gone home alone."
"No, I haven't."
Bilbo suddenly appeared behind everyone.
"Bilbo..." Gandalf approached: "I've never been so happy to see anyone in my life."
"How did you escape from there?" a dwarf asked curiously.
Bilbo froze, unconsciously putting his hand in his pocket, touching the ring inside.
Should he tell them about this?
But why did he feel reluctant...
It's just a ring I found, at most with some magical properties, and besides, it wasn't originally mine anyway.
Taking a breath, Bilbo steeled himself.
"What does it matter? He's back anyway."
Gandalf's words suddenly interrupted his action.
"Of course it matters." Thorin stepped forward, staring at the hobbit.
"I want to know... why you came back."
"I know you've always doubted me. Actually, I do miss home. The beautiful garden, comfortable chairs, and warm cottage. That's my home, but you don't have these things. You have no home..."
"So I'll do everything I can to help you reclaim your homeland."
After this speech, the dwarves fell into collective silence, while Gandalf showed a gratified expression.
Levi patted Bilbo's shoulder in encouragement and support.
He looked down at Bilbo.
Suddenly, he noticed something glinting in his pocket. A subtle but attention-grabbing light that shone through the gap where his hand stretched the pocket, catching Levi's eye.
The One Ring.
Instinctively, Levi's breathing grew heavy, and he even felt an urge to pull the ring from Bilbo's pocket.
[Temptation: 3s]
A buff indicator appeared in his status bar.
When Levi noticed he was being tempted, the buff disappeared.
[Corruption: 0%]
A new entry appeared in his system interface.
"What are you doing, Levi?"
Seeing Levi suddenly produce a large bucket of milk and start chugging it, everyone was dumbfounded.
Never mind where the iron bucket and milk came from. Could he really drink that much? Even if it were ale, you couldn't drink like that!
"Nothing, I was thirsty."
Levi burped, signaling everyone not to worry. However, no matter how much milk he drank, the corruption bar in his system interface remained, seeming to have become a permanent status.
This thing was truly evil.
Levi raised his head, not looking down.
The light from the ring dimmed reluctantly.
Meanwhile, on a small hill not far from Goblin-town's back door, Azog listened to the goblin messenger's report about the devastation at Goblin-town, grinding his teeth in fury.
Not only had the dwarves escaped, but the Goblin King was dead too?
"Chase them!"
Howl!
Wolf howls echoed from the hill. Gandalf jerked his head up to see a white figure followed by a large pack of wargs and orcs.
The numbers... at least several hundred.
"Run!"
Having barely caught their breath, the group was running again, evading the pursuit of the warg legion behind them.
"Always running. Never a moment's peace."
Levi muttered, turning around to pass the dwarves in the opposite direction, drawing his long sword that gleamed in the twilight.
Packs of wargs roared, sweeping down from the heights like a mountain flood, leaving no corner unchecked.
However, this fierce charge was cut short at one point, as if hitting a boulder. No matter what, he stood immovable.
Roar!
Dense packs of wargs surrounded Levi. The thin shield from the golden apple was quickly depleted, but though the shield was thin, his armor was thick. Some agile wargs bit until their jaws went crooked without leaving a single scratch.
Levi could be attacked many times, but if a warg was struck by his sword even once, it was basically destined to become a charred corpse.
Soon, Azog, who was pursuing the dwarves ahead, noticed the commotion. He first ordered the remaining wargs and orcs to continue chasing the dwarves, then turned back toward Levi.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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