"Sorlin Oak Shield, you shameless Dwarf usurper!"

Smaug leisurely toyed with Bilbo’s nerves again, even though the Hobbit could see the Aken Gemstone not far from him.

But the presence of the dragon made him retreat cautiously until he backed into the hollow of a stone pedestal in the hall, giving him a false sense of safety.

This safety was a mere illusion, as Bilbo knew, for Smaug could easily flip over the hundred-ton stone pedestal with just a swing of his claw!

"Usurper? That Sorlin Oak Shield is a usurper?"

Bilbo panted and conversed with the dragon, trying every possible way to stall for time.

"What position did he usurp? I remember the King Under the Mountain Clan’s lineage being quite clear."

"Usurp what position?" Smaug slowly coiled his long body around the stone pedestal where Bilbo hid, speaking with unquestionable certainty.

"Of course, he’s usurping my throne!"

"I conquered this kingdom! I slaughtered all the Dwarves in this Lonely Mountain Kingdom! This kingdom and throne are my spoils of war! If he wants to take them, isn’t it a despicable usurpation?"

Oh, so a person reclaiming their stolen possessions is despicable to the thief?

Even though Bilbo was incredibly tense and panicked at the moment, internally, his simple sense of right and wrong made him silently ridicule Smaug’s words.

Of course, he dared not voice it, as dragging on the conversation might prolong his life; he couldn’t be sure what would happen next.

"Naturally, I care nothing for that despicable usurper’s plan, because his failure is inevitable."

Smaug continued calmly, even as his words seemed to carry a wicked magic power; yet, he didn’t know what Bilbo was thinking at that moment.

He was merely satisfied with showcasing his greatness to Bilbo, the ’thief in the shadows.’

"Sorlin Oak Shield couldn’t even dream: Darkness has descended upon this world, and no place can escape it! Much less this Lonely Mountain."

Smaug’s enormous, tooth-filled mouth gently touched the edge of the stone pedestal where Bilbo hid.

Amid the collision of lips, he whispered softly, with a tone that was both gentle and seductive.

The whisper carried an evil magic, penetrating one’s heart.

"Thief in the shadows, I see you’ve been misled by him!"

"The coward Oak Shield long ago weighed the value of your life; in his eyes, losing your life is inconsequential, otherwise, why would he send you alone to face me? It’s blatant exploitation."

"What did he promise you to make you risk your life and confront me? A share of these treasures?"

"Ha ha, as if these treasures are his."

"These Gold Coins are mine! And I... won’t part with a single one!"

Bilbo nervously licked his lips, as Smaug’s mouth was less than a meter away from him.

The dragon’s stench and heated breath were almost right behind him.

"No, no way. You’ve got it all wrong, completely wrong."

"Really? What’s wrong?"

Smaug said indifferently.

Bilbo gathered his courage and quickly stuck his head out for a glance.

A petite figure with three colors silently climbed down from a pillar, moving closer amidst various shelters.

Bilbo was now grateful for Rong Buqiu’s excellent fur texture; otherwise, he wouldn’t unconsciously rub the cat’s fur when together with the Elu Cat.

This mixed the scent of Rong Buqiu with that of the Hobbits, leading Smaug, who had never smelled Hobbits nor the Elu Cat, to mistakenly believe this mixed scent belonged only to him.

Taking a deep breath, Bilbo suddenly dashed out of the stone pedestal toward the Aken Gemstone lying on the pile of Gold Coins!

But Smaug, who had been waiting, with his gentle words and seemingly benevolent tone towards Bilbo, were, of course, all vicious provocations and verbal stimuli.

He had been expecting the Hobbit to charge out all along!

The long tail coiled beside the stone pedestal lashed out, striking like a wave on the golden mountain, raising a heavy wave of gold.

Bilbo immediately soared through the air along with the Aken Gemstone lying on the golden mountain, and scattered Gold Coins flew up with them.

During the moment, the Hobbit seemed utterly terrified, frantically flailing his arms in mid-air.

Moreover, because he had already rushed close to the Aken Gemstone, his frantic waving directly sent the Aken Gemstone flying in the opposite direction.

Finally, the Hobbit and the Aken Gemstone were separated far apart.

High above, Smaug’s massive, menacing dragon head wagged with a mocking tongue and sighed.

"All thumbs, truly all thumbs, little one."

The Hobbit crashed onto a new heap of Gold Coins, sliding down the slope formed by the Gold Coins to absorb the impact; yet even so, the act of standing was still difficult.

Meanwhile, the Hobbit looked longingly at the Aken Gemstone he sent flying into the distance.

This expression, mixed with anxiety, pain, and desire, brought Smaug delight.

The enormous dragon head, along with the body, fully turned to Bilbo, his dragon mouth spewing words with apparent ridicule and wantonness.

"I almost want to give it to you... if it could make Sorlin Oak Shield suffer, then be destroyed by it, be eroded by it, be driven mad by it!"

"You should know what his family lineage has become because of the treasure, right?"

The dragon’s tail, studded with spikes and as soft yet immense as a giant wolf fang club, nonchalantly swept through the heap of Gold Coins upon which the Aken Gemstone had fallen.

And it pushed it a little further away.

The dragon liked gold the most, followed by other treasures.

The Aken Gemstone did not hold the symbolic or authoritative significance of ’Dwarven Royalty’ for Smaug, so Smaug himself did not care much for this invaluable Gemstone.

He merely piled it casually with the rest of the treasures.

Yet, if this little trinket could manifest someone else’s bone-deep agony... Smaug had to admit he was beginning to find it rather likable.

"But I’ve changed my mind."

Just as a glint of irrational hope appeared in Bilbo’s eyes, Smaug’s tone suddenly took a sharp turn.

The previously feigned ’easygoing’ and ’conversable’ demeanor crafted to toy with hearts vanished without a trace.

After all, it was a beast that delighted in oppressing the weak with power and violence!

"Tell me, thief. How do you prefer to die?"

Smaug retracted his long neck, while the large Scale Armor gaps on his chest began to emit hot, glowing patterns.

It was as if it were a lava block that had solidified on the outside, with fissures revealing the flowing magma inside!

At the same time, the depths of his wide mouth also began to shine with a blazing light!

The temperature around Smaug surged in an instant! So much so that even the air on his surface shimmered from the heat!

Yet, at this very moment, Bilbo, who had been standing there with an open mouth, unable to speak and having difficulty even breathing, suddenly had a change in expression.

The Hobbit stood confidently with hands behind his back, chest out, head held high, like someone who had just completed an important task, proud yet feigning modesty.

"Er, I feel, O great Smaug... my death is a matter that remains open for discussion."

Smaug was momentarily caught off guard by the Hobbit’s sudden shift in mood and expression.

But then, as if arriving at some realization, Smaug’s long dragon face took on an expression of human-like astonishment.

His elongated neck did a swift 180-degree turn to look towards his tail!

And in that direction... a tricolored cat, no longer masking the sound of paces on the Gold Coin pile, was rushing towards one exit of the Treasure Hall’s side door!

And atop the golden mountain beside Smaug’s tail, the Aken Gemstone had also vanished!

In but a moment, rage surged directly to Smaug’s head!

The brightness of the hot glowing patterns in the gaps of his chest Scale Armor surged sharply, the same in his throat.

The blazing light in that throat was so intense it shone through even from the outside, through skin and armor plates!

"Liar! Thief! Shameless!"

Accompanied by the tinkling sound of cascading Gold Coins, Rong Buqiu quickly darted into the Treasure Hall’s side door, clutching the Gemstone.

Smaug immediately realized there was no way he could catch up with that peculiar tricolored cat.

His long serpentine neck swiveled back around!

If that strange tricolored cat can run, can the Hobbits run too?!

Bilbo truly could run!

In the brief time it took for Smaug to turn his head back and forth, Bilbo had almost fully recovered from the prior diversions.

At least enough to once again barely slip on that golden ring, his hands, which had been hidden behind his back, were ready.

He slipped the ring on with his left hand and, with a jab to his right hand, disappeared entirely from view.

Smaug, who could easily hear Bilbo’s breathing and footsteps, now found himself in distress, and the dragon’s own heartbeat, breaths, and roars muddled his senses.

Moreover, Bilbo had already been flung away by Smaug’s tail, regained his footing on a slope, now already at the edge of the entire Treasure Hall’s golden mountain.

Here, the gold and Gold Coins no longer fully covered the ground, revealing the original rocky floor of the hall.

The Hobbit stepping upon it made scarcely a sound.

Thus, the dragon face, which previously had a touch of humanity, suddenly tensed up.

The selfish and greedy dragon had suffered a real loss and ridicule.

At this moment, it shredded all guise of jest and pretense.

"Roar!!!"

The mighty and gigantic winged claw slapped fiercely against an enormous stone pillar beside it.

This massive pillar supporting the structural hall’s mountain structure toppled as if it were mere building blocks in Smaug’s grasp!

The structural tremor reverberated throughout the entire Lonely Mountain, with aftershocks emanating even to the distant Long Lake.

Immediately thereafter, the blazing light from the depths of the dragon’s throat burst forth!