Almost at the same instant, the second arrow pierced the right eye of the same troll. Before the troll could even register the pain, it was already blind. "AAAAHHH! My eyes! My eyes!" The troll covered his eyes with both hands, letting out an earth-shattering scream. Dark blood flowed from between his fingers, glistening repulsively in the firelight. It thrashed wildly and jumped about, knocking over the nearby grill and scattering sparks.
The sight of Karl using a bow and arrows completely stunned Gandalf. He could still see Karl's movements during the first arrow's release. But when the second arrow was loosed, he hadn't even seen the troll raise his hand before he heard his scream. Regardless of whether the arrow hit the target's eye, the speed at which Karl drew the bowstring would make any archer blush with shame.
What shocked Gandalf even more was that Karl used an ordinary bow, not an enchanted one. With such strength, an ordinary bow would have long since broken, but this bow remained completely intact. While Gandalf was still in a daze, Karl had already loosed the third and fourth arrows. "FWOOSH! FWOOSH!" The same speed and precision. Another troll, unaware of what was happening, was struck in the eyes by arrows. It let out a scream even more piercing than its companion's and began flailing wildly in the air. It blindly charged toward the fire, but stepping into the flames, it flinched and screamed in pain from the heat.
Now, of the three trolls, two were blind, and only the largest remained unharmed. It cautiously looked around, trying to find the attacker. Having blinded two of the trolls, Karl stopped using the bow and arrows. He crouched, slinging the bow over his shoulder, and placed his right hand on the hilt of his silver sword. In front of everyone, he had to at least "pretend" and not act too inhumanely, especially in Gandalf's presence. After all, an archer capable of blinding two trolls in less than half a second was already fearsome enough on his own.
"I'm going in," Karl said simply, and sprang out of the bushes. Gandalf finally snapped out of it, quickened his pace to catch up, and his staff began to glow faintly in his hand.
Karl approached the blind troll from behind, which was covering its eyes and spinning in place, disoriented by pain and rage. He spun the silver sword in his hand, the blade tracing a cold arc in the firelight. The sword's tip grazed the troll's knees. "Ouch!" The troll cried out, buckling and collapsing to its knees. But the sword did not fall immediately. Karl instantly returned to the front, slashing the silver sword with a backhand stroke.
"THUD!" The blade sliced across the troll's neck. The troll's cries abruptly ceased, replaced by a gurgling sound of escaping air. It tried to cover its neck, but blood gushed out like a fountain, quickly staining the ground red. Its massive body swayed a few times before crashing to the earth, raising a cloud of dust.
"Well done, Karl! Finish them, kill these trolls!" Thorin shouted from inside the sack.
"Stab him in the rear!" Kili yelled, completely forgetting that he had nearly been roasted alive. The other dwarves cheered, though they were still tied up in sacks, writhing like worms.
The largest troll leader, seeing his companion fall, looked at him in fear. But it did not flee; it again tried to grab Bilbo, hoping to use the same trick to threaten Karl and force him to lay down his weapons. But this time, the troll underestimated Karl, even though he was pretending and had significantly reduced his capabilities. More importantly, don't forget that Gandalf was nearby.
Gandalf raised his staff high, its tip blazing with dazzling white light. He gripped the staff with both hands and struck its base against the ground with force. "THUD!" It was not a real sound, but rather a vibration caused by the impact. In an instant, a strong wind blew from Gandalf, causing the fire to flicker and sparks to fly everywhere. Along with the gust of wind came a light that struck the troll leader.
The troll froze, its body swaying as if drunk, and its hand reaching for Bilbo went off course. At that moment, Karl moved forward. He darted toward the troll, raised his silver sword high, and aimed at the troll's outstretched right arm. With a characteristic "swish," cold light flashed as the blade sank into the wrist, passed through the palm, and finally cut at the base of the fingers. Several thick fingers fell to the ground, still twitching, and black blood gushed from the severed hand.
"AAAAHHH!! My, my hand!" The troll clutched his hand, severed at the base and now only half a palm, and let out an earth-shattering roar. Pain and rage drove it mad; it wildly swung its remaining left hand, trying to grab Karl.
Karl leaped up and landed on the troll's knee, using the momentum to launch himself into the air a second time. In mid-air, he performed a backward somersault, and the silver sword in his hand sliced through the air. The sword pierced the troll's neck from one side and emerged from the other. As the troll's cries ceased, its body froze in place, and its eyes lost their light. Then, like a felled tree, it crashed to the ground. "THUD!" The earth shook, and dust rose.
The last troll, hearing the sound of its companion falling, let out an enraged roar. It could see nothing and could barely distinguish objects by sound, so it lunged at Karl. It spread its arms wide, wanting to tear apart the little man who had killed its kin.
Karl stood still, not moving, not taking a defensive stance. He simply raised his right hand, holding the silver sword point-up, and waited silently. The troll leaped — "THUD!" It was not the sound of the troll hitting Karl, but the sound of the silver sword piercing flesh. The troll missed Karl, but immediately impaled itself on the sword. The silver sword pierced through its jaw, through its mouth, and out the back of its head. The blade sank completely into the body, leaving only the hilt visible. The troll's body froze in mid-air, then crashed down. Karl, withdrawing the sword, managed to dodge to the side and retreat at the last moment.
Blood gushed from the troll's mouth, nose, and the back of its head, quickly pooling beneath its body. It twitched a few times, then went still; all three trolls were dead. The entire process, from Karl's first shot to now, had taken no more than ten seconds.
Thorin and the others lay in the sacks and witnessed firsthand how Karl had effortlessly killed three trolls. There was not a single drop of blood on Karl's body, and his breathing remained perfectly even. The dwarves present fell silent — not cheering or rejoicing, but rather... stunned, even awed.
Kili swallowed hard, squirmed a few times in the sack, and spoke in an almost inaudible voice. "Uh, Fili... my neck feels a little cold."
"Me too... you're not the only one..."
"He killed the trolls... like chopping vegetables..."
"If I remember correctly, Thorin tried to 'test' him earlier..."
Thorin was silent, his gaze fixed on Karl, who, with the ease of someone returning from a walk, was sheathing his sword. Then Karl walked over to them and began cutting open the sacks with a knife.
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