Chapter 76: The Dark Arrow Strikes

Seeing the dense army of Orcs in the mountains, everyone immediately felt as if facing a great enemy. The dwarf Bofur looked hopefully at Kael. "Kael, quickly take out that crying plant of yours and kill them all!" The others also looked at him expectantly. After all, the scene in the Goblin caves was still fresh in their memories. Kael glanced at the surrounding environment and the distance to the Wargs, then shook his head. "Don't place too much hope in the Mandrake. The cave environment was special, which allowed for that effect. But this is open wilderness, and at such a distance, the Mandrake's cry won't cause much damage over a large area." Despite saying this, he still took out the Mandrake. After casting a Imperturbable Charm on everyone, he pulled out the plant and threw it in front of the charging Orcs and Wargs. The result was as Kael expected—the nearest Wargs and Orcs, caught off guard by the Mandrake's cry, instantly collapsed powerlessly to the ground, their fate unknown. Only the distant Wargs and Orcs escaped disaster. Frightened by this scene, they immediately stopped their attack. The Orc leader, hearing the faint crying sound, felt a sharp pain in his head and immediately looked warily at Kael and the humanoid plant making the crying sound. "Retreat to where we can't hear the sound!" the Orc leader barked in the Black Speech. "He is that Black-robed Wizard, and the thing in his hand is strange—we mustn't listen!" "But the chief ordered us to get the dwarves' heads at all costs!" the lieutenant Orc reminded. "Then we'll attack from range and shoot them dead! The chief only wants their heads anyway." On Kael's side, seeing the Orcs and Wargs hesitating to approach, the dwarves cheered and made various crude gestures to taunt the distant Orcs. But the next second, thousands of densely packed arrows came shooting toward Kael and the others. Kael raised his wand high, forming a barrier that blocked the countless arrow attacks. But just as everyone was cheering for Kael once again, he felt a warning shock in his heart, as if facing a deadly threat. The next second, he saw the tall Orc leader on the distant hilltop grinning maliciously as he shot an arrow at him. Without giving Kael time to react, that arrow actually ignored the magical barrier's protection, directly piercing through it and striking Kael in the chest. "Kael!" Everyone was shocked and horrified. Unable to believe Kael had been hit by an arrow, they all gathered around him. "Kael, are you alright?" Bilbo asked nervously and worriedly. Gandalf reacted fastest, quickly supporting Kael with a concerned expression. But when he saw the black arrow embedded in his chest, his face immediately changed. "A Morgul arrow!" "A Morgul arrow? What's that?" Bilbo asked. "Those are arrows forged in Mordor, inscribed with dark spells. The arrowheads carry deadly poison—those struck will die in agony." "Will Kael be alright?" The dwarves looked worriedly at the pale-faced Kael. "Cough, cough..." Kael's coughing drew everyone's attention. "How do you feel, Kael?" Bilbo asked nervously. Kael shook his head, pulled the arrow from his chest, and tore open his clothes, revealing that beneath his robes, he wore a silver mail shirt. "Mithril mail!" Thorin showed surprise. "I didn't expect you to have such a treasure. No wonder you could block the Morgul arrow." "Thank goodness! Kael, you're alright!" Bilbo said very happily. Gandalf and the dwarves also breathed sighs of relief. Kael looked at the arrow in his hand with lingering fear. If he hadn't been wearing this mail shirt since obtaining it in Lake-town, today might have been dire indeed. Thinking of this, Kael looked toward the Orc leader on the distant hilltop, his eyes cold. Since crossing over, he had been mostly smooth sailing. He hadn't expected this fellow to nearly cause his downfall today. "Uh, Kael, that Mandrake outside seems to have stopped crying?" the dwarf Kíli suddenly reminded. Everyone looked toward the Mandrake outside the Silencing Charm. They discovered the Mandrake looked wilted and listless, as if tired from crying, whimpering, and lying there, no longer making sounds. The Orcs watching from afar also noticed this situation and began to stir restlessly. "Accio Mandrake!" Kael summoned the Mandrake back, replanting it in the pot's soil to let it rest properly. "Gandalf, please take Thorin and the others to break through later," Kael entrusted to Gandalf. "What about you?" "Me?" Kael looked toward the Orc leader on the distant hilltop, his eyes full of killing intent. "Naturally, I'm going to deal with that leader." Although the mithril mail had blocked the Morgul arrow, his chest still ached faintly. If he didn't avenge this arrow, his resolve would be shaken. "Nebulus!" Kael released mist, shrouding several miles in fog, giving Gandalf and the others a chance to quietly escape while also giving himself an opportunity to attack. The appearance of the mist made the Orcs and Wargs restless. The Wargs could only rely on howling to determine each other's positions. Kael moved through the mist, guided by the Palantír, advancing toward the Orc leader like entering an uninhabited realm. When encountering Wargs and Orcs along the way, Kael struck ruthlessly. "Reducto!" Accompanied by a Warg's scream, both Warg and Orc were instantly torn apart by the powerful force. The other Orcs and Wargs in the mist became restless and uneasy. The Orc leader's face changed. "Have everyone gather together to guard against the wizard's sneak attacks!" he commanded in the Black Speech. The Warg beneath him heard the command and immediately let out a massive howl. Other Wargs, hearing this, quickly converged toward the leader. Kael saw this scene in the crystal ball and sneered. "Think numbers give you an advantage? You've just given me a chance to deal with everyone at once." Hearing the continuous screams from within the mist, the fear in the Orc leader's eyes deepened. He knew that wizard's target was himself. But seeing the nearly thousand subordinates and Wargs gathered around him, he felt somewhat reassured. Even if that wizard's magic was powerful, he couldn't possibly kill so many at once, let alone himself. Just then, the Warg beneath him seemed to smell something and immediately bared its teeth at the nearby mist. "Shoot arrows! Shoot arrows in that direction!" he barked in the Black Speech. The Orcs reacted quickly, immediately shooting countless arrows toward where the Warg was alert. The Orc leader even took out another Morgul arrow and shot it into the mist. The dense arrows shot into the mist and disappeared. As the Orcs waited anxiously for results— "Protean Charm!" A voice came from within the mist. The next second, all the arrows just shot were reflected back. Accompanied by countless screams and wails, Orcs and Wargs suffered massive casualties. The Orc leader quickly grabbed an Orc subordinate to shield himself, avoiding being shot. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief— A very brilliant red light suddenly flashed in his vision, and the Orc leader showed terror. "Confringo!" The magic was dazzling and brilliant, but carried a deadly promise. Accompanied by an earth-shaking explosion, countless Orcs and Wargs were caught in the blast. Those closer were directly blown to pieces, while those farther away were heavily thrown back, causing massive casualties in an instant. Even the dense mist was blown away by the huge explosion, quickly dissipating. (End of Chapter) *** [Check Out My Patreon For More Chapters On All Of My Fanfics!!] [www. 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