Chapter 259: The Elf Statue Battles the Evil Dragon, George Rides Alone Through the Canyon
Although Finrod was rescued by Barahir, the defensive line in the west was breached. The orc army advanced in full force, launching a two-pronged assault on the High King's territory.
Soon after, the central battlefield was also completely overrun, with Angrod and Aegnor killed.
In the western battlefield, due to humans who believed in Morgoth feigning allegiance to the elves and launching a surprise attack, only the eldest of the Seven Sons of Fëanor—who was the strongest—barely managed to hold one fortress. The other six sons were utterly defeated and routed.
In the end, they had no choice but to abandon the defensive lines and retreat eastward to preserve their strength.
From that moment on, the three layers of defenses against Morgoth completely collapsed.
To save the final glory of the elves, the High King Finrod charged alone into Angband to fight Morgoth in a decisive battle, hoping to end the war by killing Morgoth.
After a fierce battle, he inflicted seven wounds upon Morgoth, but was ultimately defeated and killed.
If George wanted to stop all this from happening, he needed to first help Finrod hold the gap in the canyon and stabilize the western battlefield.
Then he could return with reinforcements from the western front to support the central battlefield, and if there was still time, assist in stabilizing the eastern battlefield as well.
In this way, the elven race wouldn't suffer such a crushing defeat in this great war.
Not only could he win the friendship of the entire elven race, but he could also help preserve most of their strength to ultimately fight Morgoth.
Otherwise, if the elven defensive lines completely collapsed, he alone would have no chance against Morgoth and his dark army.
"You really can fly that fast?"
Angrod and Aegnor's eyes lit up instantly. According to the dragon's words, even if they sent a messenger now, it would likely be too late.
Sending someone would just be a desperate attempt to do their best and leave the rest to fate.
But if George's flying speed was several times faster than a warhorse, there was a real chance he could warn their eldest brother before the great battle began.
"Don't worry, I wouldn't lie to you about something so important."
George nodded with a firm tone.
Bregolas patted George's shoulder and said:
"Aiven, go at full speed and report to His Highness the Crown Prince. This concerns the honor of humankind—you must succeed!"
"Understood, chieftain!"
George unfolded his snow-white wings.
However, he didn't fly off immediately. Instead, he pointed to a two-hundred-meter-tall statue in the center of the elven city and asked Angrod and Aegnor:
"What material is that statue made of? Is it sturdy?"
"That's a statue we carved of our father in Valinor. It's made of white stone, which is relatively solid," Angrod and Aegnor replied, though they were a bit puzzled by the question.
"Good."
George flew swiftly to the top of the white statue and pressed his hand to its forehead.
"Mimetic Transformation!"
A vast amount of magical power surged into the white statue. Only when the power was nearly exhausted did the statue suddenly open its eyes and begin to move.
"Stay here and hold the battlefield."
Catching his breath, George gave the order to the statue before accelerating westward.
After he left, the white statue took a few giant strides out of the elven city, stepped on a group of orcs, and punched a dragon roughly the same size as itself.
"What the hell is this thing?"
Seeing this, the dragon spat a stream of magma-like fire, but it couldn't harm the statue made of white stone, so it resorted to melee combat.
With the white statue restraining the dragon, the battlefield for the elven army and human warriors quickly stabilized.
George didn't want to leave the central battlefield without a helper. He feared that after helping the western front, by the time he returned, everyone in the central front would be dead.
"What a miraculous human!"
Angrod and Aegnor looked in amazement at the white statue fighting the giant dragon.
They had never seen this type of magic before.
On the Central-Eastern Continent, there were stone giants several hundred meters tall, but those weren't created by magic—they were unique lifeforms, rare and dimwitted, often fighting among themselves until they shattered each other into rubble.
"How did we not know Aiven had such a trick up his sleeve?"
Even Bregolas and Barahir were dumbfounded, their jaws dropping.
Kid, if you had such powers, you should've said so earlier! Our human-made statues might not be as exquisite as the elves', but they're not that bad either. Even if you just used them to help carry things, it would've been useful.
They decided that if they survived this war, they'd go back and mobilize everyone to start carving stone statues.
Soaring at top speed, after nearly half an hour of flight, George finally reached the canyon at the junction of the central and western battlefields.
"Sauron, that crafty bastard!"
From high in the air, George could clearly see hordes of orcs—several times more than those in the central battlefield—hidden on both sides of the canyon.
It was obvious they were planning to ambush Finrod's elven army as soon as they appeared.
Smoke and fire filled the central battlefield. Finrod couldn't possibly be unaware and would likely lead his troops here to investigate.
Sauron had anticipated this and set up an ambush in advance, hoping to eliminate Finrod easily.
"Finrod's elven army has arrived too."
Turning to the left, George saw Finrod leading the elven army toward the canyon, clearly worried about the situation with his second and third brothers.
Historically, when Barahir arrived with his human warriors, Finrod's army had already been annihilated, and Finrod was on the verge of being slain.
Barahir had to sacrifice nearly all the human warriors, forming a wall of flesh and blood, to rescue Finrod from Sauron.
Because George was faster than Barahir, he arrived before the battle started.
"Patronus!"
Instead of flying directly to Finrod's army, he used a hand gesture to summon his guardian spirit—a panda—to fly in his stead and reach Finrod's forces.
Sauron's army lacked high-level units like Balrogs and consisted solely of orcs. However, the sheer number of orcs allowed them to overwhelm Finrod's army through attrition.
Thus, George needed time to prepare an ancient spell that could cause large-scale damage and support Finrod's forces.
Orcs were physically stronger than humans but dim-witted. The ancient magic might not kill them outright, but if it could leave them paralyzed in place, Finrod's troops could finish them off.
"Ancient Magic: Thunderstorm Descent!"
As George continuously shifted his casting gestures, dark clouds gradually gathered over the canyon, with countless bolts of lightning swirling within.
At that moment, Sauron—amid his massive orc army—looked up at the sky and felt a deep sense of foreboding.
(End of Chapter)