Wizard: This witcher is neglecting his duties.

Chapter 262 Rapid Rescue

The next morning, after a short rest, Wayne set off for Lonely Mountain.

In yesterday's war between the Orcs, the Woodland Kingdom was victorious, but it also suffered heavy losses. The Orc army that attacked them numbered around 15,000. Even with the advantage of terrain and Lord Wayne's overpowered abilities contributing greatly, the casualties were still seven to one, with more than two thousand Elven warriors losing their lives.

More than half of them needed a long period of recuperation to be able to move normally again, more than 500 people became permanently disabled, and another 400 to 500 people gave their lives to protect their homes.

These two thousand-plus warriors make up almost a third of the Woodland Kingdom's army. After deducting the soldiers who must stay at home to guard their homes, even if King Thranduil were to set aside past grievances and be willing to send troops to help the dwarves of Lonely Mountain, he could only send a maximum of two thousand-plus soldiers to provide support.

However, such support is predicated on the dwarves of Lonely Mountain still being alive and the kingdom below not having fallen; otherwise, the so-called support would be meaningless.

Therefore, Wayne's early departure also had another mission: to find out the current situation at Lonely Mountain and report it to King Thranduil.

Only in this way could the Elf King decide whether to lead his people on an adventure. He was also a racial leader, and although kind, he could not allow his people to die in vain for something meaningless.

Before dawn the next day, Wayne set off. There was no time to delay. Last night, his magic was severely depleted, making it impossible for him to continue using the flying carpet for an extended period. He needed to rest, otherwise he might have set off overnight.

Lonely Mountain wasn't too far from the Woodland Kingdom; Wayne flew for about twenty hours and was already close to its vicinity.

However, before he even entered the Lonely Mountain, while he was flying in the sky, he suddenly saw a large group of people groping their way on the ground in the direction he had come from. They hadn't lit any torches, nor were they carrying any luggage. They were helping each other as they ran desperately, looking extremely disheveled.

Behind them, a group of people carrying torches and riding horses were in pursuit, occasionally killing any stragglers and laughing wildly.

Wayne had an idea and immediately manipulated the flying carpet to descend, flying towards the people who were chasing him.

Sure enough, as he got closer, he discovered that those who were holding torches, riding mounts, and laughing wildly were orcs riding dire wolves, and those they were chasing were dwarves who were fleeing.

Seeing this, Wayne did not hesitate and immediately began a killing spree, attacking the pursuing orc cavalry.

First came a barrage of artillery fire and alchemical bombs, letting the dwarves know that reinforcements had arrived, while also catching the orcish pursuers off guard.

Then came the burst fire from the Dragon's Roar Bow. This time, however, he used ordinary arrows, firing one arrow every few seconds to pick off the orc pursuers in mid-air, quickly killing those orc scum.

Upon hearing the explosion, the dwarves, who had been fleeing, realized that reinforcements had arrived. They excitedly stopped running, picked up their weapons, and began fighting the orc pursuers.

When Wayne killed the orc pursuers, he saw that the leader of the group of dwarven refugees was the old dwarf Balin, along with members of two other expedition teams.

Their confidence soared after they discovered that the aerial reinforcements were none other than Wayne.

Having traveled together for several months, they knew the adventurer's strength very well; the few orc pursuers behind him posed no threat whatsoever.

Without saying a word, he picked up his weapon and joined Wayne in a counterattack.

The orc pursuers were quickly overwhelmed by Wayne's rapid slaughter, while the dwarven refugees, though suffering minor casualties, successfully eliminated the relentless orc cavalry.

After the battle, the dwarves had suffered many more wounded. The old dwarf Balin wiped the blood from his face; he had a wound on his face where the flesh had been cut open, but the old dwarf didn't have time to treat it.

He strode over to Wayne and said in a somewhat urgent tone:

"Wayne, we are under siege by the Orc army at Lonely Mountain."

"This army was commanded by the Witch-King of Angmar and four other Ringwraiths."

"We held out for two days and one night, but this afternoon we lost our position."

"There are too many enemies, and the Ringwraiths can use magic. Thorin and Dain refuse to run away."

"They led the other warriors to cover our retreat, and ordered me to lead the dwarven civilians to retreat first."

Wayne raised an eyebrow. Thorin and Ironfoot Dayne, two important figures, hadn't chosen to run away, and Kili and Fili were nowhere to be seen in the group. Did they want the Turin clan to be wiped out?

"How are Thorin and Dain doing now?"

Wayne's expression was also somewhat serious. Thorin was his most important investor among the dwarves, and there were several high-level quests that needed to be completed before he could receive the rewards. He had to stay alive to complete them.

Dane the Ironfoot is also very important, even related to the future Fellowship of the Ring.

If possible, it would be best to save these two people.

Balin's expression was very somber. As an old dwarf who was loyal to the Turin family, he would rather stay behind to cover the rear.

"His Majesty Thorin and Dain are both adamant that they will not flee Lonely Mountain a second time. They will live and die with the kingdom below the mountain, until the last man is killed, and they will wipe out more orc scum."

"Before I left, they took the remaining troops and chose to advance into a narrow secret passage inside Lonely Mountain, probably to use those small spaces to limit the number of enemies."

"We escaped using a secret passage, but we were caught up by some orc cavalry halfway through our escape, and that's how we met you."

Wayne nodded, but then frowned. Thorin and the other dwarves could find a narrow place to squeeze into, but his Deathclaw couldn't. Its size wasn't suited for crawling through holes.

Although he was confident in Robin's strength and believed that the orcs should be unable to defeat this doomsday behemoth, the dwarves had already been defeated, so he couldn't help but worry.

"How's my Deathclaw? Did it stay in Lonely Mountain, or did it escape with you?"

Upon hearing Wayne mention Deathclaw, Balin couldn't help but show a wistful expression. He was only up to Wayne's waist, and he reached out to pat Wayne's thigh, saying:

"Speaking of which, we have to thank your battle partner Robin. If it weren't for his bravery in battle, protecting the walls of Lonely Mountain and holding off the Witch-King of Angmar and most of the Ringwraiths, our warriors would not have been able to hold out against the Orcs for so long."

This was not unexpected. Given Deathclaw's strength, it would be difficult for any orc to break through the behemoth's defenses unless they chose to take a detour or used large siege equipment. In terms of combat effectiveness on the battlefield, Robin was even stronger than Wayne himself.

It is estimated that if the Orcs did not have the Witch-King of Angmar and four Ringwraiths, they would have had a hard time breaching the walls of Lonely Mountain, no matter how many Orc warriors they had.

No wonder Thorin and his companions were able to hold out for two days and one night against the orcs' siege.

Bahrain, with a hint of pride on his face, said:

"Wayne, don't worry. We dwarves are not ungrateful people. When we chose to split up our forces, we let Robin leave on his own. We saw him escape from the battlefield with our own eyes, and no orc dared to pursue him."

"Judging from the direction it went, it should have gone towards Changhu Town."

After listening to Balin's explanation, Wayne nodded, patted the old dwarf on the shoulder, and said:

"Continue along this road and seek refuge towards the Woodland Kingdom!"

"The orc army attacked not only you, but also the kingdom of the wood elves, but we have already defeated that orc army."

"King Thranduil has decided to bring reinforcements to support Lonely Mountain first thing tomorrow morning. Go and meet them, tell them what you know, and make arrangements for the refugees you brought."

As he spoke, Wayne met Balin and the dwarf beside him with a resolute gaze, and said:

"I will head to Lonely Mountain now."

"Regardless of whether Thorin and the others are still fighting, I will try to rescue them. Once the Elven King's forces arrive, we will definitely crush these orcs' plot and destroy the dark forces of the entire North."

Wayne's words were powerful and resonated with the surrounding dwarf refugees, who cheered in waves.

If it weren't for the need to ensure the continuation of their race, and if it weren't for the forceful orders of the new King Thorin and Dain, these refugees would never have chosen to flee.

They were all descendants of dwarven warriors, possessing the determination and courage to perish alongside orcs on the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)