Luke watched as the Watcher in the Water quickly regrew its tentacles and continued its assault. He wasn't panicked. So what if it had powerful self-healing abilities? He just happened to have learned a dark magic spell specifically designed to counter such regeneration. It was the perfect opportunity to test its power.
He raised his hand, and an invisible spell shot out from his wand. This spell was unlike other magical incantations that produced various strange visions and lights; instead, it was invisible, silent, and without the slightest fluctuation.
The next second, one of the Watcher in the Water's tentacles was instantly split in two, as if torn by an invisible blade. And this time, the tentacle of the Watcher in the Water that was cut by the curse could not heal itself and grow back. Because at the wound where the spell hit, there was a magical force that prevented the wound from healing itself, causing blue-black blood to continuously flow out.
Seeing this, Luke was immediately cheered and unleashed the spell repeatedly, attacking the tentacles. Soon, more than a dozen thick tentacles were severed. The continuously bleeding tentacles dyed the entire lake surface blue-black, releasing a strong, fishy odor.
"Well done, Luke!" Gandalf exclaimed, severing another tentacle, his eyes lighting up at Luke's success. The other Dwarves also cheered, waving their weapons in support of Luke. The giant dragon Smaug, which had been circling in the sky, swooped down and sprayed hot dragon flames into the lake.
The Watcher in the Water felt pain as it watched its tentacles being sliced and its healing ability rendered ineffective. A trace of fear flashed in its huge eyes. When it saw the dragon's flames approaching, it quickly retracted all its tentacles, then sank directly into the lake and disappeared.
Everyone was stunned. Had the Watcher in the Water retreated? After waiting for a long time, there was no movement in the lake. "Is it scared? Will it come out to attack us again?" Balin asked cautiously and doubtfully, staring into the lake. Gandalf shook his head seriously, staring at the lake without blinking. "The Watcher in the Water is a creature older and more evil than the orcs. Even I know very little about it, but I don't think it will give up so easily."
"What should we do now?" Balin asked. With a water monster hidden in the lake that could rush out to attack at any moment, it wasn't easy for them to get close to Durin's Gate. But it was impossible to rush into the water and fight the water monster on its own terms. Gandalf was also a little distressed.
At this moment, Luke's expression froze, his eyes fixed on the lakeshore. He reminded in a deep voice: "Gandalf, have you noticed that the lake level is rising?" When Gandalf heard this, he immediately followed Luke's gaze and found that the lake was spreading rapidly and silently. His expression suddenly changed, and he immediately turned and ran, shouting, "Run! The flood is coming!" Then he ran towards the nearest big tree. His body was so agile and flexible that he didn't look like an old man, and he quickly climbed up the tree.
"Hurry up and climb the tree! Hold on tight!"
After hearing this, the Dwarves climbed up the surrounding trees without hesitation. Luke immediately took out a flying broom from his space bag, rode on it, and flew into the air. The next second, the water level in the huge lake rose rapidly, and then like a huge basin overturned, the lake water directly set off huge waves and rushed towards the highlands on the lakeshore.
The flood came like a tidal wave, and some Dwarves who climbed slowly or were in a low position were directly washed away. Some trees even couldn't withstand the impact of the huge waves, and fell into the flood along with the Dwarves on the trees.
Luke was riding on his flying broom, looking at the situation below with a frown on his face. He shouted to the sky: "Smaug, Súlond, come down and help!" Hearing Luke's words, Súlond swooped down, his two eagle claws quickly grabbing two Dwarves struggling in the water, then throwing them onto a large tree that hadn't fallen.
Smaug followed closely behind, and his huge dragon claws easily hooked up several Dwarves. Luke also flew down to help, using Levitation Charms to control the Dwarves who were swept into the flood, allowing them to land on the nearest trees. Gandalf climbed high up the tree and used his staff as a stick to hold back two Dwarves who were almost swept away. Then he remembered that he still had a flying broom. With a look of frustration, he quickly took the broom from his space bag and joined in the rescue of the Dwarves.
But the Watcher in the Water who caused this flood obviously did not want everyone to have such an easy time. It hid in the water, its thick and powerful tentacles tearing down trees and sending the Dwarves tumbling into the floodwaters like drowned dumplings.
Perhaps it knew that Luke, Smaug, and the others were not to be trifled with. The cunning water monster simply hid its face, using the power of the flood to conceal its body, and then attacked the trees where the Dwarves were climbing from underwater. This forced Luke and Gandalf to exhaust themselves with the rescue.
"Luke, the Watcher in the Water can control the water flow. We have to find a way to force it out of the water, otherwise we can't do anything about it," Gandalf said helplessly.
Luke thought about it and took out the suitcase containing the Basilisk. "The Basilisk Herpo can move in water. Let's see if we can use it to threaten the Watcher in the Water?" He patted the suitcase and said, "It's your turn!" Then he opened the suitcase and threw it directly into the lake.
As soon as the box landed on the lake, a tentacle emerged from the water and tried to drag it under. The next second, a huge snake head rushed out of the box, bit the tentacle hard, and injected venom. The tentacles felt pain and immediately let go of the suitcase and retracted into the water.
Luke, who saw this scene from above, suddenly had his eyes lit up and was full of anticipation. The venom of the Basilisk is extremely poisonous. Even a single drop is enough to kill an elephant. Besides the tears of the phoenix, there is no antidote. Now that the Watcher in the Water had been bitten by the Basilisk, who knew if the poison could kill it?
But the result disappointed him. The Watcher in the Water was obviously very smart and cunning. It realized something was wrong the moment it was injected with venom and bit off its own tentacles without hesitation, preventing the venom from spreading to its body. Only a large piece of broken tentacle, more than ten meters long, floated out of the lake.
"Herpo, kill that guy in the water!" Luke hissed at the Basilisk that had just crawled out of the box. The Basilisk closed its eyes and nodded, then immediately dived into the water and followed the direction of the Watcher in the Water. Soon, the lake water began to surge, as if a fierce battle was taking place underwater. Suddenly, the lake water, which had been dyed blue-black by the blood of the Watcher in the Water, turned pitch black as if ink had been poured into it, and there was no clarity at all.
Luke felt uneasy. The most powerful feature of the Basilisk is its eyes. They are already restricted in the water. Now that the lake is so dark and visibility is low, can they still be of any use to monitor the people watching in the water? Sure enough, Herpo soon emerged from the water.
"Herpo, what's the situation?" Luke asked hurriedly.
The Basilisk shook his head. "That big creature was very perceptive. It sensed danger before it even saw my eyes and sprayed ink at me. The ink blinded me and I couldn't kill it at all. It tried to wrap itself around me, tearing me apart, but after I bit its tentacle and injected venom into it, it controlled the water flow to keep me away." So the Watcher in the Water feared Herpo's eyes and venom, while Herpo couldn't get close enough to attack because of the Watcher's ability to control the water flow. Neither could do anything, and a stalemate ensued.
Luke couldn't help but frown when he got such a result. This Watcher in the Water is truly difficult to deal with in the water. But it was obviously not easy to force it out of the water. After all, this Watcher in the Water was very cunning and cautious. When he saw that the situation was not good, he immediately hid in the lake and started a guerrilla war with them.
Suddenly he looked towards the downstream of the lake, and his eyes suddenly lit up. There was originally no lake in front of the gate of Durin. There was only a stream called Sirannon Creek flowing in front of the gate. But as time went by, the downstream was blocked. The water was blocked and then gathered to form the current landslide lake, which submerged the entire West-gate area. As long as the impounded lake was drained, the Watcher in the Water would lose the lake water on which it depended for survival, and there would be nothing to fear at all.
Luke immediately told Gandalf about this idea. "As expected, you young people have flexible minds, unlike an old man like me whose brain is almost rigid!" Gandalf nodded and praised. "But we can't directly destroy the dam. The water here has accumulated for thousands of years. If it is destroyed, it will cause a flood that will submerge the entire downstream area, bringing disaster to the residents downstream!"
Luke hadn't expected this and nodded seriously: "Then we should just make a hole and slowly release the water so as not to cause a flood!" Have Herpo continue to harass the Watcher in the Water in the lake to distract it. Luke flew to the landslide dam. This place was built with many stones, dead wood, and soil, forming a huge dam that connected the hills on both sides of the river valley. Such obvious human traces were clearly a barrier lake created by the Watcher in the Water to expand its living space.
In order to avoid the destruction of the dam and the resulting flood, Luke simply asked Smaug to use his tail to carve a canal on the side of the mountain to divert the lake water out. The lake water poured down the aqueduct, causing the stream to swell rapidly and covering the river channel, but no flood was caused.
As time passed, the water level of the lake gradually dropped. The Watcher in the Water noticed the situation, became very anxious, and tried to destroy the canal to prevent the lake water from flowing out. But it was forced back by the dragon flame of Smaug, the giant dragon guarding the flood outlet. In addition, there was a snake monster in the lake that was constantly harassing the Watcher in the Water, and the Watcher was unable to take care of itself. As the water level of the lake got lower and lower, Luke finally cast a Bombarda Maxima, which blew up the dam, and the remaining lake water poured out. The full appearance of the Watcher in the Water was also completely exposed.