A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

All the furnaces were engulfed in fierce flames, and the extreme heat slowly melted the gold ore inside into a pure golden liquid.

Chapter 267 The Most Valuable Dragon in History—Golden Smaug

"Well done, Gaius." Thorin patted Aaron on the arm, then looked at the others.

"Bob, make the fire burn even more fiercely."

Pomber immediately jumped to the open space in front of the furnace and pulled the chains.

The blower started up, blowing air into the furnace, and the flames turned light blue.

"Bilbo, go over there, and on my command, pull that switch."

Following Thorin's directions, Bilbo climbed to the waterwheel switch, ready to pounce.

"Bahrain, can you still concoct Flashfire?"

“Yes, it will only take a short while.” Balin immediately led the two dwarves into the warehouse at the back, where all the materials he needed were located.

At this moment, Smaug climbed out of the mine and found the people in the smelting chamber. The huge iron door was quickly torn open by its claws.

“We’re running out of time,” Dwarin murmured.

“I’ll buy you some time,” Aaron volunteered. “But we won’t have much time.”

Thorin nodded. "The rest of you, get ready to provide support."

Aaron took a deep breath, walked up to the huge iron gate, and gave Smaug a big smile.

“A wizard,” Smaug said with a sneer, looking at him. “Not a grey robe, not a brown robe, not a white robe, not a blue robe. Who are you then?”

“Aaron Gaius.” Aaron gave a simple bow. “Just an ordinary archmage. No, my power is not yet complete, so I may not even qualify as an archmage.”

“Unlike others, Gaius the Dragon Speaker.”

You possess greater potential than those five wizards; surpassing them is only a matter of time.

"I think so."

“No, you don’t understand what I mean,” Smaug said seductively. “You can become the greatest wizard; there’s absolutely no need for you to help those vile dwarves.”

With the dragon and the dragon speaker joining forces, no one can resist. You can become a great king, a true overlord.

Humans, elves, and dwarves alike will revere you; even that necromancer will show you some respect.

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone, including Balin who had configured Flashfire, stared at Aaron in astonishment.

No one could have imagined he would have such potential, and no one could have imagined that he would make even a dragon show rare kindness. But what everyone was more worried about was whether Aaron could resist such temptation.

Although Aaron has been incredibly mature and flawless throughout this journey, it is undeniable that he is only a teenager. What if he throws a tantrum?

"Pfft! Hahaha~"

Aaron couldn't help but clutch his stomach and laugh, "Interesting, so interesting."

If you offered me some other tempting promise, I might have agreed, but when I left home, my elders specifically warned me that I must not have any thoughts of domination, or I would be expelled from the family.

Do you want to make me homeless? Or do you want me to be abandoned by everyone?

Smaug: ......

Everyone:......

“Then there’s nothing to talk about.” Smaug shook his head. “It’s a shame you made the wrong decision.”

boom!

Smaug pounded on the iron gate even more vigorously.

"Armor protection." Aaron cast an armor spell on himself, and then began to inscribe a magic circle.

A brownish-yellow star appeared in mid-air and adhered to the iron gate.

The circular magic circle slowly rotated, mobilizing earth elements to reinforce the iron gate, coating it with a thick layer of rock.

Smaug grinned coldly, then turned his head and unleashed a fierce burst of flames.

"Roar!"

The magic circle shattered after only one second.

Aaron immediately inscribed a mid-level defensive magic circle in front of him, and with the added defensive power of the Ironclad Curse, he barely managed to block the aftershocks of the dragon flames.

Even so, it was still blown more than ten meters by the flames before it came to a stop.

"As expected, intermediate-level magic circles are unreliable." Aaron dusted himself off and stood up, looking somewhat disheveled.

“You’re too weak now, you can’t even stop me from sneezing,” Smaug mocked, violently tearing open the iron gate and entering the smelting chamber.

Aaron slowly retreated, but Smaug pressed forward step by step, his abdomen turning bright red.

"It's over, young dragon speaker."

"Here!" Thorin suddenly roared.

Smaug instinctively looked at him. "Oak Shield, I'll take care of you first."

"pull."

Upon hearing this word, Bilbo immediately jumped up and pulled the switch.

Several stone statues on the wall spewed out large streams of water, which hit Smaug directly and extinguished the flames in his chest.

White steam emanated from Smaug's body, making him very uncomfortable, and he wriggled restlessly.

Coming to his senses, Smaug coldly stared at Thorin and slowly moved toward him.

Pangbo pulled the iron chain of the blower with all his might, and the blue flames burned fiercely, completely melting the gold ore in the furnace.

Balin and the others also ran out of the warehouse, and they distributed the prepared Flashfire to the other dwarves.

The flashbang struck Smaug, emitting a bright light like a flashbang, but it did nothing to attract his attention.

Aaron looked up at the rows of minecarts hanging above and decisively cast several spells. The minecarts, fully loaded with ore, along with their cables, barely managed to hold back Smaug's steps.

As it broke free of its ropes, Thorin immediately pulled on an iron chain, and several furnaces simultaneously opened a gap, allowing golden molten gold to flow out along the channels, quickly converging and flowing in one direction.

"Lead him to the Hall of Kings," Thorin shouted, then pushed a minecart and jumped into the scalding liquid gold, rowing it into a low tunnel.

The other dwarves also dispersed and headed towards the Hall of Kings.

Just as Aaron was about to leave, he heard Bilbo's shouts.

Smaug's movement to break free of the ropes shattered the spot where he was standing, and he fell directly to the ground without even having to descend the steps.

Bilbo had just raised his head when his gaze met Smaug's beside the furnace.

Before he could react, Aaron ran to his side, pulled him up, and jumped down a slope, avoiding the sharp claws.

“Run, don’t stop,” Aaron said.

Bilbo followed closely behind him, and just as the two reached the back of the Hall of Kings, a roar came from behind, and Smaug burst through the wall.

Left with no other choice, Aaron pulled the hobbits behind him and hid behind a pillar.

"Do you think you can fool me?"

You come from Laketown, and this is a conspiracy orchestrated by the vile dwarves and the wretched Lakemen.

"Those cowards who whine and cry with longbows and black arrows, perhaps I should pay them a visit." Smaug said, preparing to leave, intending to destroy Lake-town first.

Aaron frowned upon hearing this.

Although he didn't know why Smaug guessed so accurately, it didn't conflict with his original plan. However, before that, he had to weaken its combat power as much as possible, or at least injure it.

“This isn’t their fault,” Bilbo jumped in. “Wait, you can’t go to Laketown.”

Snapped!

Aaron slapped his forehead speechlessly and followed them out, lest he be burned to ashes by Smaug's dragon breath.

“You care about them, don’t you!” Smaug turned around meaningfully. “Then watch them die!”

“Wait a minute.” Aaron sighed. “If you go to Laketown, you’ll die.”

Bilbo rolled his eyes. That was useless; Smaug wouldn't believe him.

Sure enough, Smaug burst into laughter the next moment, "You think you can scare me with those words? I will make the people there feel what disaster is again."

“Here!” Thorin shouted, standing atop a massive statue. “You ignorant piece of trash, I’m taking back what you stole.”

“You will take nothing back, dwarf.” Smaug approached slowly. “I have defeated your older generation of warriors and planted fear in the hearts of men. I am the king of the mountain.”

"This is not your kingdom, this is the land of dwarves, this is the gold of dwarves."

"We must have our revenge!" Thorin shouted, pulling on the chains beside him. "Come out!"

The other dwarves behind the statue simultaneously pulled on their chains, causing the locks on the statue to fall off one by one, and the surface of the rock to crumble rapidly.

A colossal golden statue appeared before Smaug's eyes; it was the image of Thorin's grandfather, Thor, cast from freshly poured molten gold.

Smaug gazed at the golden statue that stood shoulder to shoulder with him, its dazzling golden light making his eyes glaze over. He couldn't help but move closer, wishing he could press himself against it.

Bang~bang~bang~

Just as it was admiring it, the golden statue's eyes suddenly burst open, gushing out scalding golden liquid.

Smaug was stunned for a moment, before he could react to what was happening, other parts of the Sorkin statue also burst open.

The entire golden statue melted completely in almost a few seconds, and the scalding gold liquid was poured onto Smaug, submerging him in the blink of an eye.

Smaug let out a painful roar, struggled for a while, and then sank into the scalding gold solution that filled the entire hall.

Thorin's face lit up with an excited smile. So what if Smaug's scales are impervious to swords and spears? The golden pool below is at least a thousand degrees hot. He'll scald you to death if he dares.

"Did it succeed?" Bilbo asked in a deep voice.

“No.” Aaron said gravely. “There’s still a heartbeat in the pool. Smaug is still alive.”

The next moment, Smaug roared and burst out, its body seemingly plated with gold, leaving no trace.

"This is absolutely the most valuable dragon ever made, bar none." Aaron stared in awe at the golden Smaug, never imagining that a dragon could be so dazzling.

"Revenge, revenge, I'll show you what revenge is!" Smaug dragged his golden body out of the main gate, leaving behind a trail of golden liquid.

Thorin watched Smaug leave in disbelief, a sense of powerlessness instantly washing over him.