Bear School Astartes

Smaug’s chest was covered with a messy layer of gold.

This was mainly because, in the Lonely Mountain, the dwarves poured liquid gold over him and he ran out covered in it.

The scales on the dragon’s chest were dense and interlocking, and because Smaug buried himself in the Golden Silver Sea to sleep, many gold coins were lodged in the gaps.

Later, they got even more messed up, sticking together with the liquid gold.

Although Smaug spun rapidly in the sky, shedding the layer of brilliant liquid gold before it cooled and solidified,

a body as large as 140 meters long couldn’t be completely cleaned.

Thranduil listened to the report from his elite archers, his originally calm expression became more grave.

The Elf King, wearing armor yet still light in movement, unconsciously looked toward a particular direction on the other side of Long Lake Town.

That was where they planned to deliver the ’fatal blow’.

Bard was hiding on the corner of a building in Long Lake Town, with a bow on his back and in his right hand, the black arrow, which felt as light as a feather despite resembling a short spear.

At this moment, the oil gleaming on the arrowhead of the black arrow, twisted like two entwined snakes, and in his left hand, he held the triangular oil paper packet Lann had given him.

The effect of the [Loose Golden Pine Resin] wouldn’t last long, so Bard planned to apply it right before shooting.

The human archer crouched low, sticking close to the roof.

His eyelids twitched uncontrollably, and his jaw was clenched as he watched the dragon roaring and spewing flames in the middle of Long Lake Town!

He was nervous.

There’s no need to hide it, not everyone dares face a dragon.

Although Bard was a descendant of the former Lord of River Valley City, he had been just a fisherman and archer since childhood.

He had confidence in his archery skills, but holding the decisive blow in this battle, his fear of failure surpassed even the fear of death.

If he succeeded, the entire Lonely Mountain region would be freed from Smaug’s shadow.

After a long period of dark rule, there would be a chance for revival here.

But if he failed... the dragon’s cruel and vicious mind had already figured out every possible hiding place the townspeople could flee to.

It would be nothing more than escaping and then slaughtering everyone.

One arrow’s chance determined the rise and fall of this whole region, and the future life, death, and well-being of the townspeople...

The fear brought by a sense of responsibility can sometimes weigh even more than life itself.

Someone might passionately rush to death, but under the heavy weight of responsibility and expectation, they could collapse and retreat.

Bard’s hand was trembling as he held the ancestral black arrow!

There was still a large area of ice floes on the lake, and while dragon fire raged through the town, Bard stood amid the fierce alternations of hot and cold, sweat streaming down his forehead.

His eyes scanned Smaug up and down but he dared not haphazardly place the black arrow on the bowstring.

”Where... exactly where?”

Bard muttered with trembling lips.

In fact, from his previous observation angle on Smaug, there was a chance to directly shoot the black arrow into the dragon’s wide-open, roaring mouth.

But he didn’t do it.

Because, holding the ancestral black arrow, he knew full well about the weapon’s performance.

This is the world’s finest arrow, even elves would envy it.

It was crafted using precious Lonely Mountain minerals, the advanced forging methods of the Lonely Mountain’s master craftsmen, and mysterious dwarven magic.

These elements combined in an arrow were what made the black arrow capable of ’killing a dragon in one strike’.

And thus, even with the close collaboration between River Valley City and the Lonely Mountain Kingdom at that time, Lord Jirian could only purchase a mere four black arrows from the Lonely Mountain.

There really were no more available.

But the precision and value that brought power also came with problems.

This weapon is actually... quite ’fragile’.

Just like Lann’s Lady of the Lake’s Sword, which was whimsically altered by Lady of the Lake, even Lady Galadriel often mocked it.

Any subtle change could damage the extraordinary lethality of the black arrow.

Therefore, in River Valley City, the black arrows Jirian shot were deflected off the dragon scales due to incorrect angles, rendering them unusable again.

Even if they only underwent slight deformation upon hitting the dragon scales.

So Bard dared not shoot the black arrow into Smaug’s mouth with its scorching dragon fire.

Surely being scorched by dragon fire would have more serious consequences than slight deformation.

After encountering dragon fire, would the dwarven magic on the arrow, if disturbed or damaged, still be able to kill the dragon?

Bard couldn’t take that gamble.

He could only anxiously search for the flaw left by his ancestors, on the left side of the dragon’s chest.

But as observed by the elves, Smaug’s chest was covered by a misshapen patch of gold!

”Bang, bang, bang!”

Just as the evil dragon was wantonly spewing flames, the light from the dragon fire slightly illuminated the fog and dark clouds from below when another burst of three rapid shots emanated from Long Lake Town.

The ammunition of the heavy crossbow cannons, propelled by flames from the rear, headed straight for the dragon!

The dragon scales remained indestructible, but the impact, due to the precise hitting position, made Smaug’s original action of sweeping his head while spewing fire suddenly pause.

The dragon’s head couldn’t swing around and stopped mid-breath.

Then... ”Bang!”

A sharp and huge crackling sound!

That was Smaug realizing the direction of the attack after being hit. Since turning his head was interrupted, his massive body inertia also became huge.

Finding it inconvenient to turn, he simply lashed out with his tail!

The spiky, resilient tail whipped down from the sky with a heavy whooshing sound.

The houses along its long trajectory were instantly smashed!

Even a layer of the lake water on the giant rock in the lake was whipped into a high and thin splash!

But as the one launching the heavy crossbow cannons, Lann had already anticipated Smaug’s possible response.

And immediately after launching, he repositioned himself.

The height difference between the rocky giant in the lake where Long Lake Town sat and the lake surface was just the height of an average person.

Lann stepped on large fragments of wooden buildings around him, with small whirlwinds entwined on his legs and the Light Body Skill making his movement swift and light.

The surges raised by Smaug’s tail behind him couldn’t catch up.

Then, just as Smaug was about to turn his head to confront the infuriating ”bug” head-on, arrows with small metal balls attached came from other directions.

They couldn’t hurt Smaug but disgusted him once more.

The Elves’ archery skills were astounding, yet the arrows couldn’t pierce the dragon scales, lacking impact force. However, Alchemy Bombs could be hung from the arrows.

Lann’s heavy crossbow cannons couldn’t pierce dragon scales either, but the impact that could penetrate within the dragon scales was enormous. As long as he could see through Smaug’s actions and muscle movements, he could precisely use the impact to disrupt its smooth motions.

With Lann’s skills and eyesight, Smaug’s movements were quite clear to him.

”Bugs! A group of bugs trying to steal my treasure!”

Unable to catch Lann, and with arrows from the Elves continuously surprising him, Smaug became increasingly frantic!

He began flapping his wings so strong they could stir a storm, allowing him to take to low-altitude flight.

He wanted to use the speed and advantage of flight to burn these annoying fellows to death from above.

But as Smaug’s prime target of hatred, Lann wasn’t even fleeing at full speed.

Instead, he stepped back, raised his unknown weapon, and with the mechanical clanking sound, loaded a new clip.

Then came the continuous bangs of the three rapid shots!

”Ahhh!”

Smaug roared crazily with anger, plunging down fiercely, wanting to crush and tear Lann beneath him with his weight!

Yet the Demon Hunter swiftly navigated through the view-obstructing wrecked buildings.

Occasionally stepping into empty space, the next moment, a precise arrow shot from afar nailed into the walls at various angles, providing stepping points for the Demon Hunter.

”Do you think you’re being a hero? Do you think you’ll be celebrated after today?”

Smaug bared his teeth, mouth agape, snake-like body slipping along, smashing any building dare block his path!

His brutal beast eyes fixed on the Demon Hunter not far ahead.

”Let’s face it, you’re all pawns! You fight me to death here, but those you sent to the ruins of River Valley City? They’ve already run into the Lonely Mountain, relocating my gold mountain! Taking my gold!”

”Do you think your life is more valuable than gold? Don’t dream!”

Smaug’s malice wasn’t just in his cruelty but also in his malicious whispering.

He wanted to not only destroy the enemy’s body but also their spirit.

Unfortunately for him, his attempts at verbal jabs seemed beneath Lann.

”Gold, gold... all you talk about is gold. Is that why you’ve become this old, fat fool? Letting dwarves chase you out of the Lonely Mountain?”

Lann stepped on a large wooden boat fragment that was still sizable after being shattered.

Smaug’s descent caused huge vibrations, and waves from the lake.

Relying on his stability and timing, Lann stood on the wood, and instead, the waves distanced him from Smaug’s dive.

Meanwhile, his Roar of the Roaring Dragon weapon never stopped.

Though possibly due to the waves, the once constantly aimed crossbow cannons’ ammunition towards Smaug’s face now had several rounds swerving towards his even harder, unyielding chest and abdomen.

Irregular chunks of gold gleamed under the firelight, falling from Smaug’s chest shell.

But he noted no longer the tiny bits falling off him.

These bits of gold were too light and small, completely ignorable.

He just kept his fierce glare fixed on Lann, baring teeth, panting.

”Speak, bug. Keep talking. Let’s see how long you can keep it up!”