Kael entered the vault.
The massive vault space had been expanded many times by Extension Charms, large enough to fit several football fields.
Inside, treasures piled high, resplendent under the dim light.
And amidst this golden hoard slept Dragon Smaug.
When Kael appeared, the dragon who had slept long reopened his eyes.
He stood up from the golden mountain. Instantly, countless treasures fell from him—an endless clattering of jewels and gold coins.
Smaug had grown even more massive since a year ago.
From originally over a hundred meters, he had doubled in size, now approaching three hundred meters long.
The aura he radiated was also stronger.
"Master, why have you come?" Smaug asked, then his eyes lit up with eagerness. "Could it be you're willing to let me safeguard the Philosopher's Stone?"
Kael rolled his eyes. What wishful thinking!
Giving the Philosopher's Stone to this money-obsessed dragon to safeguard would be madness.
He didn't waste words, directly taking out the mithril box and opening it to reveal the Dwarf-ring and Ring of Men inside.
"What's this?" Smaug leaned over curiously.
"These are Sauron's Rings of Power. You've absorbed the frost dragon's crystal—your dragon fire should be much stronger now, right? Can you destroy these?" Kael asked.
Smaug immediately puffed up with pride. "Though I've only absorbed part of the frost dragon's power, my dragon fire has strengthened two or three times. It now surpasses most fire dragons, rivaling ancient dragons! If other fire dragons could destroy Rings of Power, of course I can now too!"
Hearing this confident claim, Kael handed over the box. "Then destroying these two is your task."
"No problem!" Smaug patted his chest.
Then he swallowed both Rings of Power in one gulp.
Smaug's chest emitted scorching heat, becoming a dragon-shaped furnace filled with terrifying flames.
Under the dragon fire's heat, the two Rings of Power gradually began melting.
Finally, accompanied by two violent explosions from within Smaug's body, the dragon remained unaffected. He simply burped, exhaling black smoke radiating an evil aura.
The black smoke scattered and quickly dissipated.
Smaug looked satisfied. "Master, if there are more such things in the future, let me handle them. These rings stored quite a bit of power. Though contaminated, they're still good, even accelerating my dragon crystal absorption!"
Seeing the Rings of Power were useful to Smaug, Kael was surprised, then pleased.
After all, these Rings of Power were useless to him. Recycling them was a good thing.
Because of dragons' nature, even the One Ring had difficulty corrupting them, let alone lesser Rings of Power.
In other words, dragons were already thoroughly corrupted and evil, so the One Ring couldn't make them worse.
Moreover, dragons' attention focused almost entirely on gold treasures, with no interest in anything else—neither ruling the world nor desiring power.
So the One Ring and Rings of Power held no temptation for dragons.
Therefore, back at Erebor, when Smaug discovered Bilbo possessed the Ring, he had no thought of seizing it.
Or rather, if he wanted to seize it, it was only because the Ring was forged from gold.
Like Smaug before him, Kael never understood his thought process.
Gold coins and jewels couldn't be eaten or used, yet Smaug valued them more than life itself. Taking one gold coin from him was like cutting his flesh.
He constantly wanted to scrape more wealth from outside into his lair. He couldn't forget Kael's Philosopher's Stone that could transmute gold—every time he saw it, his eyes burned with desire.
After dealing with the two Rings of Power, Kael left the vault and returned to the castle.
Simultaneously, far in Mordor, Sauron sensed the destruction of two rings at the same time.
The Nazgûl, who had just recently revived from Sauron's Eye, screamed and completely dissipated when the ring was destroyed.
Of the original Nine Nazgûl, only seven remained.
But this time, Sauron unexpectedly didn't erupt in anger. He looked westward with cold eyes and then fully corrupted Saruman to transform him into the strongest puppet.
Time flew to September 21, 2948.
This day was Middle-earth's Harvest Festival and also Kael's wedding day.
Weathertop's Hogwarts Castle had colorful flags flying and flowers blooming. The castle's steward, servants, and guards all smiled broadly, immersed in busyness.
The castle floors were covered with spider silk-woven red carpets. Every wall, floor tile, moving armor, and statue was polished to shine brightly.
Portraits were carefully cleaned by servants, with portrait occupants complaining about having a layer wiped away.
Like the festive atmosphere in the castle, the portraits were likewise celebrating.
Kael and Arwen in the portraits got a head start, holding their wedding before reality. All the portrait people gathered in one castle portrait, holding the ceremony in the garden.
In reality, it was even livelier.
Kael's wedding ceremony hadn't yet been held, but on the road from the mountain base to the castle, an endless stream of people formed, flooding toward the castle.
To celebrate the wedding, Kael invited all his subjects to observe the ceremony.
Receiving such honor, the people of Hogsmeade and Bree celebrated with lanterns and decorations everywhere.
Especially Bree's residents—to attend their lord's wedding on time, they set out en masse from Bree a day early.
If someone seized this opportunity to attack Bree, it would be easy, because at this time Bree was almost an empty city.
However, no one would dare attack Bree.
After all, not long ago, Bree had suffered an attack from thousands of barrow-wights.
But before entering the city, they were all eliminated by their lord, Thorondor. Those spectacular scenes of lightning became unforgettable memories for city residents and were spread by foreign merchants, travelers, and adventurers.
Even bards specially composed verses celebrating the Thunderbird's control of thunder.
Hogsmeade's residents didn't need to depart a day early like Bree residents but also hung decorations, put on new clothes, and eagerly waited to go to the castle.
Although Kael had ordered subjects not to bring gifts, residents still brought their own grown melons and fruits, baked bread, and homemade delicacies. All along the road you could smell various aromas.
The two cities' residents totaled nearly ten thousand people, but the castle had ample room.
Residents entering the castle looked around with amazed faces.
They examined the magnificent castle, gazed at the two tall glowing trees in the garden, and watched flower petals falling like rain.
Moving armors stood like silent guards, but their spears were hung with flowers. When encountering children, they'd even present a flower.
In the huge fountain pool, water shaped into tiny mermaids dancing happily, causing children to exclaim, stretching over the fountain edge with wonder.
But such behavior drew parents' scolding.
The Smaug golden statue in the fountain's center, as if dissatisfied that the mermaids were stealing attention, flapped golden wings and spouted countless gold coins.
These coins covering the ground immediately caused a scramble.
However, after picking them up, they discovered these coins quickly dissipated—obviously fake.
There were also dwarf, elf, and human statues forming a choir, singing joyful melodious songs together, the music floating throughout the entire castle.