With the Doors of Durin opened, everyone could finally enter.

The dwarves entered first with reverent feelings.

However, Smaug's size was too massive to fit into the spatial chest, and there were many narrow tunnels inside Moria that weren't conducive to movement.

Kael simply had Smaug fly to the eastern gate on the other side of the Misty Mountains.

He remembered the Balrog appeared at the Bridge of Durin, which was near the eastern gate.

It would be easier for Smaug to enter from the eastern gate.

They would rendezvous there to deal with the Balrog together.

As for the great eagle Thorondor, Kael had him guard the skies above the western gate to prevent Orcs from escaping through it.

After entering, Gandalf sternly warned the dwarves, "Be careful. There's an evil creature here older and more dangerous than the Watcher in the Water, hidden in the depths below. We cannot awaken it until we're absolutely certain!"

The dwarves' excitement from entering Moria instantly vanished. They naturally knew of Balrog legends and immediately fell silent, gripping their weapons alertly as they looked around.

Moria had countless interconnected, complex passages. Without someone familiar with the routes to guide them, it would be easy to get lost and never find a way out.

Fortunately, Gandalf had been here before and had good memory.

So everyone followed him up a stairway corridor.

Along the way, they could see countless bottomless mine shafts, remnants left by Khazad-dûm's dwarves mining mithril.

Even on the corridor's stone walls were ore veins containing mithril that reflected bright silver when illuminated.

Such mithril ore, worth its weight in gold outside, was commonplace to the former dwarves. They weren't even interested in mining it due to its low mithril content.

But the current dwarfs looked at the surrounding mithril ore with burning eyes. If not for the gravity of their situation, they would have wanted to pry these ores loose with their weapons.

Walking to the stairway corridor's end brought them to the Twenty-first Hall on Moria's seventh level.

Moria had twenty-one halls total, with the First Hall nearest the eastern gate, followed westward by the Second Hall, Third Hall... up to the Twenty-first Hall nearest the western gate.

The former Khazad-dûm dwarves had continuously mined mithril from the east, establishing hall after hall until they dug through the Misty Mountains, forming a passage straight through the range.

According to Gandalf, walking from Moria's western gate to its eastern gate took a full four days.

The ability to dig through the Misty Mountains, once used by Morgoth to block the Valar's armies, showed the dwarves' excavation capabilities.

The Twenty-first Hall was a spacious area supported by massive stone pillars, with doors on all sides leading to different places.

The Twenty-first Hall also contained the Chamber of Mazarbul for storing dwarf records and books.

This was where, in another timeline, Balin's tomb lay and the last dozen dwarves were killed by Orcs.

"Durin's Axe!" Balin suddenly discovered an axe on a stone table, quickly running over to pick it up and examine it carefully, showing the delighted expression of finding treasure.

Durin's Axe was indeed a treasure for Durin's Folk. It was Durin I's weapon and had always been a symbol of Moria's ruling authority as the Durin family heirloom.

Balin was ecstatic about obtaining Durin's Axe.

Kael looked around, surveying this dwarven library.

Unfortunately, due to long years of erosion and Orc destruction, the precious records and books the dwarves once stored had all turned to dust.

Even Repairing Charms couldn't restore them.

Suddenly, a hidden arrow flew forth.

Its target was Balin holding Durin's Axe.

Balin was completely unprepared. Just as the arrow was about to hit his neck, Kael immediately cast a Shield Charm to block the arrow.

Looking at the arrow only ten centimeters from him, Balin took a deep breath with lingering fear.

"Kael, you saved my life!"

Gandalf immediately drew his sword, shouting sternly, "Prepare for battle. Orcs!"

The dwarf warriors became alert, quickly aiming weapons at the doorways.

Drumbeats echoed through Moria's empty caverns, reverberating through the mine tunnels along with the sounds of Orc roars and movement.

Kael muttered an incantation, shooting a brilliant light orb into the air to illuminate the entire mine outside the Twenty-first Hall.

Dense masses of Orcs were frantically pouring toward them through the hall's four doors.

The well-trained dwarf warriors quickly split into four groups, blocking the four doorways to meet the attacking Orcs.

The Orcs numbered in the thousands, several times the dwarves' number, and included hundreds of trolls several meters tall.

Battle was about to erupt.

As the first charging Orcs rushed through the doors, dwarf warriors swarmed them, using the "closing the door to beat the dogs" tactic to quickly kill the Orcs that entered.

Though numerous, the Orcs faced the dwarves' advantageous position. They could only enter through four doors and were killed in batches by the dwarves, creating a "one man holds the pass against ten thousand" situation.

After the Orcs were repelled once, they quickly sent up the massive, heavily defended trolls as shields and siege weapons to clear the way.

A troll used a giant hammer to instantly smash open the door's stone wall, preparing to enter and attack.

"Reducto!" Kael cast a spell, blasting the troll away.

Then he shouted to Balin, "Leave the trolls to me and Gandalf. Focus on the Orcs!"

Balin nodded. With the most dangerous trolls handled by Kael and Gandalf, the dwarves had no worries.

He immediately took up his newly acquired Durin's Axe and joined the dwarf warriors in killing Orcs that entered the hall.

Kael and Gandalf focused entirely on dealing with trolls.

Trolls were not only massive but also had strong magic resistance. Even Kael's full-power Blasting Curse couldn't completely kill one.

But Kael wasn't panicked. With waves of his wand, he animated a long series of statues carved on the hall's north and south walls.

These statues were of Khazad-dûm's past dwarf kings or excellent craftsmen, several meters tall and comparable to troll size.

The statues broke free from the walls, kicked aside blocking Orcs, and grappled with the trolls.

Several statues ganged up on each troll. Despite the trolls' great strength, they were held down by the statues and thrown to the ground.

Seeing this, Kael directly took up the divine spear Aeglos, nimbly leaping onto a statue's shoulder and instantly piercing through a troll's head, turning its brain to mush.

Seeing more and more Orcs, Kael simply released the basilisk Herpo from the chest to guard the western gate.

He and the statues guarded the northern gate.

Gandalf and the dwarves respectively defended the southern and eastern gates.

Basilisk Herpo's power was immediately effective. Guarding the western gate with yellow eyes staring at the doorway, all Orcs and trolls entering from the west died instantly without exception.

Orcs lucky enough not to see the basilisk's eyes retreated in terror.

For a time, Orcs at the western gate dared not attack again.

At the southern gate guarded by Gandalf, besides him, five hundred dwarf warriors jointly fought the Orcs.

He led the charge with staff in left hand and Glamdring in right, nimbly dodging troll attacks while using his staff to release shockwaves that sent trolls flying, then immediately following up with sword strikes, quickly dispatching trolls.

At the eastern gate, Balin and the remaining five hundred dwarf warriors successfully repelled wave after wave of Orc attacks.

The dwarves were well-equipped, covered head to toe in armor crafted by dwarf smiths. Orc weapons couldn't harm them at all.

Kael's northern gate was even more secure, with animated statues fighting in front while he delivered finishing blows from behind.

This battle continued for a long time.

Only when Orcs suffered massive casualties did they stop attacking.

With urgent drumbeats, the Orcs retreated back into darkness.

Seeing this, the dwarves erupted in victorious cheers.

They had killed twice their number in Orcs this time!

Kael also put the basilisk Herpo back in its case.

The basilisk was useful but deadly to look at.

Like a sharp double-edged sword. If dwarves accidentally saw it, that would be tragedy from triumph.

So when there were many people around, he tried not to let the basilisk out.

After the battle, everyone was somewhat tired.

The dwarves pushed the mountain of Orc and troll corpses into the mine shafts' depths, then rested briefly again.

When sufficiently rested, everyone set out once more.

Under Gandalf's guidance, they headed east through the Twentieth Hall, Nineteenth Hall, Eighteenth Hall...

Each time they encountered small groups of attacking and blocking Orcs.

The dwarf warriors handled these Orcs without needing Kael and Gandalf's intervention.

Kael and Gandalf conserved their strength. The closer they got to Moria's center, the more serious their expressions became.

Reaching the Second Hall, they faced unprecedented Orc attacks.

Tens of thousands of Orcs swarmed densely toward the Second Hall.

The Orcs had become very frenzied and aggressive, all attacking fearlessly without regard for death.

Countless cave trolls carried large clubs or catapults, trying to trap everyone there.

Seeing so many Orcs and trolls, everyone felt very grave.

These Orcs were even cunning. To guard against Kael's basilisk's eyes, they blinded the trolls' eyes and had Orcs ride them for control and attacks.

The Orcs also closed their eyes. Living long-term in dark caverns, even without sight they could still rely on hearing and smell to sense surroundings.

Facing so many Orcs and trolls in frenzied, fearless attacks, even Kael and Gandalf didn't dare underestimate them.

"Impendimenta!"

Kael cast a spell directly at the mine tunnel's upper stone walls. The walls instantly collapsed, and countless boulders and fragments crashed down, crushing countless Orcs to pulp.

He also destroyed stairway corridors and passages to deny Orcs attack routes.

"In the name of the Valar, evil begone!"

Gandalf also struck the ground heavily with his staff, releasing brilliant shockwaves that sent Orcs and trolls flying.

After briefly repelling the Orcs, neither wanted to tangle with them further.

Gandalf looked as if facing a great enemy, saying gravely to Kael, "Kael, do you feel the surrounding temperature rising?"

Kael nodded, meeting his serious gaze.

"Our real enemy is coming!"