The experience of fleeing from the Lonely Mountain and heading south to the Blue Mountains has always been deeply engraved in the hearts of the Durin dwarves.

This is an unforgettable memory for them. Even after hundreds of years, these surviving dwarves will never forget the pain and hardship they experienced when they traveled south, as well as their relatives and friends who died on the way.

Therefore, with such a group of dwarves leading the way, the route to Lonely Mountain was not unfamiliar.

After everyone set out from Wayne Manor, the expedition quickly got on track.

After the other members of the expedition team learned that Wayne possessed a magical item that could store large amounts of supplies, the task of managing the logistics fell on him.

Among the traveling team, he was responsible for cooking, and Deathclaw Robin was responsible for hunting and capturing wild animals from the dangerous wild. He alone took on most of the work during the trip.

With this big guy guarding the rear, its two-story-tall body and the terrifying aura it exuded made it so that no wild beast dared to attack the team during the journey.

Coupled with the magic that Wayne displayed from time to time and the magical props he used, everyone in the team felt more identified with him.

Bilbo even joked with Gandalf: "Gandalf, who is the real wizard between you and Wayne? We have never seen you use magic."

Such a joke made everyone laugh, even Gandalf himself was no exception.

Half a month later, the expedition team left the Hobbit Kingdom and entered a primeval forest.

The territory of Middle-earth is very large. Although there are many races such as elves, dwarves, orcs, humans, etc., their total number is not large. The total population of the entire continent does not exceed two million. Most of the land is still covered by forests and wilderness, and there is no human habitation.

The major races themselves lack stable routes of passage, which also makes long-distance travel difficult. Except for those areas with prosperous trade and have been fully explored, few people can leave their homes and go to other places.

The endless wilderness, ferocious beasts and other man-eating monsters are the biggest challenges in their journey.

That night, when all the dwarves in the expedition team fell asleep, it was Wayne's turn to keep watch. Out of trust in his strength, everyone slept soundly and did not worry about danger at all.

After some time, Bilbo was suddenly awakened by some noises, including the faint cries of horses in panic.

He opened his eyes blearily, rubbed his eye sockets, and first looked up in the direction of the fire.

Wayne, who was supposed to be sitting there to keep watch, was nowhere to be found, and the most reliable fighting force in the team, Deathclaw Robin, no longer lay beside his master as usual, and his huge figure was nowhere to be found.

Bilbo was startled by this discovery and became much more awake from his sleepiness. He subconsciously got up and looked towards the place where the horses were kept.

Sure enough, they found that of the fourteen horses tied to the tree stumps, only ten were left, and the whereabouts of the other four horses were unknown.

He looked back at the campfire and found that the dwarves in the team, including Prince Thorin, were all sleeping there stupidly, covered with high-end sleeping bags provided by Wayne, snoring loudly, and no one noticed anything unusual about the horses.

Bilbo tried to push Kili and Fili, the youngest dwarves, but they were both sleeping very soundly and did not respond even after several pushes.

Seeing this, Bilbo didn't force it anymore. He wasn't sure if there was really a problem and didn't want to wake everyone up by making a fuss.

So he carefully climbed out of the sleeping bag, and then walked quietly in the direction where he had just heard the sound.

Hobbits are short and nimble, and their feet are different from those of other races. They never wear shoes and go barefoot all year round. They are born with a structure that can eliminate sound, so there is no sound when they walk. Just as Gandalf thought, they are very suitable to be thieves.

After chasing for several hundred meters, following the sounds and traces left along the way, Bilbo bypassed a cave blocked by stones, and a flash of fire appeared before his eyes.

He pushed aside the weeds that were taller than him, rubbed his eyes, and looked in the direction of the fire.

There were three huge humanoid creatures with rough skin, gray bodies, ugly faces, and bald heads, wearing only fur skirts. They were stirring in a huge iron pot on the fire and discussing how to cook.

Next to these monsters, the four Shire horses brought from the Hobbit Kingdom were tied up by the ogres in a corner near the fire, shivering and cowering, as if they also sensed their imminent fate of being eaten.

Bilbo was immediately frightened by the scene. Living in a peaceful village, he had never seen such a monster. He quickly covered his mouth and tried to retreat.

However, he suddenly thought of the dwarf Prince Thorin's distrust of him along the way, who believed that a hobbit immersed in peace could not complete the task of the Snitch and was not worthy to join them in the expedition to the Lonely Mountain.

However, although Bilbo is a timid man, he is a man of great courage. He inherited the good bloodline of his father and mother as well as the innocence and kindness of the Hobbits. After gritting his teeth and thinking for a few seconds, he decided to prove his courage with action and try to rescue the tied horses.

The presence of Wayne in the team also gave him confidence. He believed that the abnormality here would soon be discovered by the powerful human adventurer. In front of the terrifying death claw, these three humanoid monsters were nothing to be afraid of.

But just when he took out the dagger from his waist and was about to take action, a tall figure suddenly walked out from the bushes beside him, holding a huge and gorgeous two-handed sword in one hand. He looked at the three humanoid monsters with a cold expression. There was no ripple in his eyes, as if he didn't take them seriously. It was Wayne in the team.

The scorching blue flames instantly enveloped the monster, turning it into a large burning torch while it also let out a shrill wail.

Then after a few seconds, while the other two monsters were still in a daze, the monster wrapped in blue flames suddenly exploded and blew into countless pieces. The foul-smelling blood and flesh were splattered everywhere, which directly scared the other two monsters silly.

Bilbo, who was hiding in the bushes, was also terrified. The Hobbits had never seen such a bloody scene before.

He looked at Wayne blankly. The courage he had just wanted to take action was stuffed back into his stomach. He could only ask stupidly:

"Where have you been, Wayne?"

"I thought you went somewhere else. Even Robin didn't know where you went."

Wayne raised the sword in his hand and pointed it at the remaining two trolls. He looked back at Bilbo and said with a smile:

"I have already discovered the traces of these monsters here. The reason why I let them take the horses away is that I just want to see where their lair is and eliminate them all at once to prevent future troubles."

"As for Robin, I sent him to wander around somewhere else. If he were here, these monsters wouldn't dare to approach our camp."

Bilbo put the dagger back into the scabbard with some disappointment. He knew that now that Wayne was here, he didn't need to take any action in the following matters.

And what happened next was exactly as Bilbo had expected.

The remaining two ogres were stunned for several seconds after seeing their companion die instantly and being blown into pieces by the explosive effect of the Igni Sign. Then one of the ogres seemed to have figured something out, and suddenly roared, picked up a mace on the ground, and rushed towards Wayne.

But the witcher did not give it a chance to attack. It raised its mace, roared, and charged forward. It had just taken a few steps when it suddenly felt a figure appear on its shoulder. The figure appeared in an instant, and it had no idea how it climbed onto his shoulder.

Before his stupid head could figure out this problem, the Sword of Promised Victory in Wayne's hand had already been wrapped in powerful force, turned into an afterimage, and slashed fiercely on the ogre's neck.

Ogres are monsters belonging to the forces of darkness. As a sacred weapon, the Sword of Promised Victory is naturally full of restraint effects on them.

The ogre, whose neck was hit, didn't even have time to let out a howl before there was a snap and his head flew off. The broken neck was like a fountain and it turned into a headless corpse.

As for the last ogre, he did not escape the fate of death. Although he had chosen to surrender and was about to kneel on the ground after seeing two of his companions killed successively by the humans in less than half a minute.

But Wayne had no mercy in his heart. As the three gangs committed the crime, they were man-eating monsters who had lived for who knows how long. It was estimated that countless lives had been eaten by them. This was not a sin that could be forgiven by kneeling down and surrendering.

After the flashing cooling time passed, Wayne instantly appeared behind the last ogre, and with the Sword of Promised Victory in his hand, he stabbed into the back of the ogre's head mercilessly. The sword penetrated his brain and poked out of his mouth, ending this evil life.

After killing the three ogres, Wayne's expression remained unchanged. He whistled at Bilbo, who was hiding in the bushes and still in a daze, and said in a gentle tone:

"My friend, go and get our horses. I am going to the ogre's cave to have a look."

Hearing Wayne's voice, Bilbo, who was shocked by his ruthless and decisive fighting attitude, could not help but shudder, then nodded hurriedly and replied: "Don't worry, leave it to me, Wayne."

Wayne nodded, took out a crystal ball that continued to emit light from his space wristband, and then walked into the ogre's cave without looking back.

He remembered very clearly that in this cave, there were not only many treasures left by the elves during the First Age, but also three elven swords from the First Age.

These three elven swords are masterpieces of ancient elves. Now that all three ogres have been killed by him, the spoils here should all belong to him.

Rather than leaving these good things to the ungrateful Thorin, it would be better to let him take them for himself.

By the time the other members of the expedition heard the noise and rushed here, they saw blood and flesh flying all over the ground, a headless corpse, a cannibal with a pierced head, and corpse fragments scattered all over the ground.

Wayne, who had just entered the ogre cave, walked out holding his nose.

The treasures and swords in the cave, as well as anything valuable, had been put into his pocket.

He was not prepared to share the news.

(End of this chapter)