Chapter 342 Battle of Five Armies
"I once commissioned the dwarves to repair a gemstone necklace that was left by my wife." Thranduil saw Bard's serious expression and spoke slowly, "But after the repair, the dwarves changed their minds. They demanded more compensation and were unwilling to return the necklace."

Bud nodded and said, "I understand."

"Your Majesty, I helped those dwarves and they promised me one thing. I can help you get the necklace back!"

Thranduil looked at Bard and said, "If you can help me get the necklace back, you will be an honored guest of the Woodland Elf Kingdom!"

"But I think the dwarf will deny your request."

"Impossible, they promised me." Bud didn't believe it.

Galadriel, Elrond and the white wizard Saruman rushed to the rescue immediately after receiving the news from the brown wizard. After a fierce battle, the three of them finally defeated Sauron.

And he was unable to leave Mordor for the next few decades.

After being rescued, Gandalf had no time to rest and immediately rushed to Lonely Mountain.

When he finally arrived at the Lonely Mountain, the elves and humans had already gathered in the town of Dale. Gandalf did not stop and hurried to the Lonely Mountain.

"Thorin, the orc army is heading here. Have you called for reinforcements?"

Gandalf came over briskly and asked.

"Of course, Gandalf!"

"On the first day of that Arkenstone, I contacted Cousin Dain."

"According to the time, he has already arrived with the army of the Iron Hills, and is expected to arrive tomorrow. By then, with a large army guarding, no one will be able to take away the wealth of Erebor!"

When Gandalf heard this, his heart skipped a beat, and then he had a bad feeling.

"You've changed, Thorin!"

Thorin didn't care about Gandalf's words. He walked up to the throne with his head held high. Then he turned around suddenly and said calmly, "Really?"

"you're right!"

"I have indeed changed. I am no longer the downtrodden dwarf who was displaced and had nothing!"

"Now I am the king of the great dwarf kingdom."

"you!"

Gandalf's face became increasingly grim.

What he was most worried about had happened. Now Thorin looked exactly like his grandfather, conceited, greedy, stubborn and violent.

This is a curse that is deeply rooted in the blood of the dwarves. Once infected with this curse, even the wisest king will become like this.

"Thorin, you have become just like your grandfather! If you put down the gem now, return the necklace to the elves, and make amends to the humans of Riverdale, it will not be too late!"

"What did you say?" Thorin glared at Gandalf and said loudly, "You want me to give up all the wealth I have worked so hard to find and the Arkenstone, the treasure of the dwarves, and give up the King under the Mountain?"

"Let me give the necklace and those riches to the elves and humans?"

"Are you kidding me? These are the wealth of the Dwarf Kingdom that I fought so hard to defeat Smaug and took back. Those elves and humans are not worthy of them!"

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Gandalf said angrily, "It was the human archer Bard who defeated Smaug! And you made an agreement with Lake Town that you would share the wealth with them. Are you going to break your promise now?"

"Enough!" Thorin said angrily, "Gandalf, I am the king of the dwarf kingdom now, and I have the final say in everything! You have no right to order me!"

Gandalf looked at the stubborn and greedy Thorin, sighed, and said, "In that case, you will give me one-fourteenth of the treasure that belongs to me in the contract, and convert the white gem necklace into gold for me."

"I can take it that you are joking again, Gandalf! There won't be a next time!" After saying that, Thorin turned and left without giving Gandalf any face at all.

Gandalf saw Thorin leaving, was silent for a moment, and then turned and left.

Soon it was the next day, and just as the sun rose, rows of well-equipped golden-armored soldiers walked out of the Valley Town.

"The elves are coming!"

"Close the gate! Alert!"

Thorin shouted immediately, and the surrounding dwarves immediately climbed onto the city wall with various weapons.

"What is the elven army doing?" said a dwarf who was the first to see the situation outside.

"Is there any need to think about it? They must have seen the dragon die, and now they want to take advantage of it!"

"These despicable elves have no good intentions!"

The dwarves spoke in unison.

Swish!
The mighty elf army stopped in front of the city gate in unison, and the entire army was silent. An oppressive atmosphere enveloped the entire battlefield.

The next second, a gap appeared in the elven army formation, and Thranduil came forward riding a majestic stag and looked up at the dwarves on the city wall.

"Thorin, I heard you have retaken Erebor."

"What does this have to do with you?"

Thorin continued to perform steadily, saying foul-mouthedly, "Why are you here? Are you here to celebrate for me? Then I'll take it."

"Beyond that, we have nothing to discuss. I suggest you get back to your forest right now!"

Thorin's voice spread throughout the valley, and the dwarves nearby also raised their weapons in protest.

Thranduil raised his hand, and the elven army behind him drew their bows and arrows and aimed at the city wall. The dwarves were immediately frightened and crouched behind the city wall, not daring to show their heads.

Thranduil then made another gesture, and the archers behind him immediately put away their bows and arrows, returning to their previous state. All the movements were uniform and flawless, and thousands of elves seemed to be one person.

Thranduil spoke again: "I have no hostile intentions here. As long as you return the treasures that belong to my people, I will withdraw immediately!"

"Don't even think about taking a penny from me!"

"You treacherous elves, you will never get the white gem necklace!"

Thorin yelled.

"Thorin, we can't win. Let's return the necklace to the elves!"

The dwarf Balin tugged at Thorin's clothes and tried to persuade him.

At this moment Gandalf also walked out of the army and said, "Those treasures will only harm you, turn back, Thorin!" Thorin's face twitched, he clenched his teeth, and he was already burning with anger, as if he would explode in the next second.

At this moment, Bard stepped forward and said, "Thorin, King Under the Mountain, do you remember the promise you made to me?"

"What do you want to do by saying this now?"

"I would like you to redeem this promise now and return the treasures of the elves to them!"

"impossible!!!"

Thorin shouted loudly. Everyone on the battlefield fell silent. They were completely disappointed with Thorin.

"Is this your last word?" Thranduil held the sword in his hand and said calmly: "I will ask you one last time, do you want war or peace?"

Thorin was slow to answer. He knew very well that the Kingdom under the Mountain was no match for the elves. Once a war broke out, they would most likely be wiped out.

At the same time, he still had some hope in his heart and was waiting for reinforcements from the Dwarf Kingdom.

Just at this moment, a bird fell from the sky, landed on his shoulder, and then stayed beside his ear for a moment.

"Reinforcements have arrived!"

"Elf! I choose war!"

The horn sounded, and the dwarf army of the Iron Hills appeared on the hillside. Seeing the dwarf boar cavalry, Thranduil immediately ordered the army to change formation, and the fiery red phoenix on his shoulder leaped up.

In an instant, the phoenix turned into a huge flaming phoenix that was 20 meters long. The beautiful flaming phoenix spread its wings and flew high. Countless golden-red spiritual lights scattered from its body, leaving beautiful light and shadows in the air.

"What is that?" The dwarves looked at the flaming phoenix. But no one answered them.

"Prepare for battle!" Seeing the elves lined up, Dain, Lord of Iron Hills, immediately gave the order to prepare for the charge.

The dwarven heavy cavalry also began to charge. These dwarves riding wild boars were wrapped in fine armor all over their bodies, and each one was like an iron can. When they charged as a whole, their lethality was amazing.

Seeing the dwarven army charging, Thranduil did not hesitate and directly ordered the archers to shoot. The next second, thousands of arrows flew into the air and fell towards the dwarven army.

At the same time, the crossbows behind the dwarves immediately fired. This type of crossbow was developed by the dwarves specifically to deal with arrows. After the crossbows fired, the thick arrows spun rapidly in the air, like dandelions, directly crushing the arrows shot by the surrounding elves.

Only a few of the thousands of arrows hit the dwarves, and the dandelion crossbow arrows flew quickly towards the elven army.

"Wow!"

The sacred phoenix in the sky instantly let out a cry, and the next second a powerful flame instantly rose up. The sacred phoenix spread its wings and instantly flew in front of the "Dandelion", spewing out scorching flames.

The 'Dandelion' crossbow arrow was instantly burned to ashes by the flames. Then the Holy Phoenix flapped its wings, and countless fireballs fell from the sky. Countless flames fell like meteors, instantly igniting the dwarf heavy cavalry that was charging below.

The flames fell and the ground instantly turned into a sea of ​​fire. A large number of dwarf cavalrymen who were unable to dodge rushed into the sea of ​​fire, and the armor on their bodies was quickly burned red or even melted.

The dwarf in the sea of ​​fire was burned into a ball of charcoal in just a moment.

Seeing such a terrifying flame, the dwarf leader Dain's face changed drastically, and he quickly ordered people to evade. The originally aggressive dwarf heavy cavalry immediately scattered. At the same time, the dwarf crossbows adjusted their targets and fired at the sacred phoenix.

The Holy Phoenix didn't care about these crossbows at all. The crossbow arrows, which were more than ten feet long, turned into charcoal in an instant after hitting the Holy Phoenix, without causing any harm to Him.

As an elemental energy creature, the Holy Phoenix is ​​almost immune to all ordinary physical damage. The dwarf's crossbows have no effect on it.

The sacred phoenix flapped its wings, drawing a graceful arc in the sky, and spewed flames at the dwarves' bed crossbows. The scorching sacred flames instantly burned the bed crossbows to ashes, and even the dwarves who did not have time to dodge were burned to charcoal by the flames.

At the beginning of the war, the dwarves of Iron Hill were beaten badly by Thranduil's phoenix. Instead of gaining any advantage, the dwarves suffered heavy losses.

If Thranduil hadn't stopped the phoenix from continuing its attack, these dwarves in the Iron Hills would not have been enough to be burned by the sacred phoenix.

Seeing such a loss, the dwarves' passion finally cooled down. If they went any further, they would all be burned to death. Even if Dain was furious, he didn't dare to rush forward again.

At the same time, Thranduil did not continue to attack, but looked at Thorin, the King under the Mountain.

"Thorin, hand over the necklace, my patience is limited!" said Thranduil.

Thranduil did not want the elves to suffer casualties. As the king of the elves, he valued the lives of the elves very much. Otherwise, after falling out with the dwarves, he would not have left without saying a word and led the elven army away.

So from the beginning to the end, he didn't want to go to war with the dwarves. In his opinion, the death of a thousand dwarves was not as important as the death of one elf.

Thorin's originally excited brain cooled down at this moment. He looked at the fire phoenix in the sky with fear in his eyes. He had already thought of the fire dragon Smaug.

Although the fire phoenix in front of them was not as huge as Smaug, it was still incomparable to any of them. More importantly, the flames of this fire phoenix were not inferior to Smaug's.

If they really do that, all of them will die!

Just when the situation was tense, a roar suddenly came from the ground. The ground in the distance suddenly bulged, and the next second, several huge underground worms drilled out from the ground.

The ferocious giant mouth looked extremely terrifying, followed closely by a dense and boundless army of orcs.

Seeing this scene, the dwarves and elves immediately began to re-form their formations, targeting the orc army. As the various tribes in Middle-earth, they had a consensus, that is, no matter how great the hatred was, when Sauron and the orcs appeared, they had to unite to face the outside world, or at least not cause trouble.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

On the top of a farther mountain, the pale orc Azogra pulled the rope, and the battle flag next to him raised a signal and began to command the army.

"Damn it! The orc army is coming!"

Bard's face changed drastically, and he quickly ordered the human army to prepare for defense.

"Hey, Thranduil." Just as Thranduil was about to give the battle order, a familiar voice sounded.

"Sir Richard, is that you?" Thranduil looked around but did not see Richard.

"It's me. This is your white gemstone necklace. I got it back for you!" Richard's voice rang out, and then a beautiful necklace suddenly appeared in front of him.

It was the white gemstone necklace that he had been dreaming about.

Thranduil grabbed the necklace with one hand and carefully put it back into his clothes. Then he looked at the battlefield and said, "Send the order, move to Riverdale Town!"

The elven army immediately moved towards the River Valley Town, directly out of the way of the kingdom at the foot of the mountain.

"What is the elf going to do?" Thorin said with a grim expression when he saw the elf's actions.

"I don't know. Are they trying to escape? I just know they are a bunch of cowards!"

(End of this chapter)