Chapter 7

The surgery for Richard was very successful and with a Charm of the Three Pure Ones, there was hope of fully regaining his strength in several days. Team Africa let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this news.

Team Africa suffered the heaviest in the battle against the Ringwraiths. Their previous leader was killed and the strong member was critically injured. The remaining members were either powerless or relied on special abilities. So when these two close combat forces were killed and injured, team Africa’s strength greatly weakened. If Richard lost the ability to fight or died, team Africa would be in a disadvantaged position among the three teams.

Team Northern Ice Land weren’t much better off. The negative score from the death of several newbies could kill even some of their veterans. Thankfully this world was full of various bonus missions and other ways to obtain points, so they weren’t worrying too much. Gungnir still seemed confident after the death of two close range fighters. It seemed like he could uphold the team by himself. This confidence gave their veterans peace.

All in all, team China obtained the most in this battle. Not only did they kill five Ringwraiths, they also obtained the only Nightmare. The anti-gravity attribute, speed, and its style made everyone envy. Furthermore, YinKong made a breakthrough during the fight and succeeded the technique she had been developing. There was almost no loss aside from the few charms.

After a day and night in Bree, Richard’s injury, Zheng’s broken arm, YinKong’s wound on the chest, and all the other injuries on everyone else were treated. The group still hadn’t found the major movie character yet, the Strider who was Aragorn. Neither Gandalf nor Aragorn were here.

The veterans sat beside a round table by the entrance of the bar. The Hobbits and newbies sat inside. This way, the Hobbits and newbies wouldn’t get attacked first in case of an ambush.

“We will wait one more day. If Aragorn still doesn’t appear, we will head to Rivendell by ourselves.” Gungnir said to Zheng and Neos.

Neos sneered. “What are you joking? Do you know the road to Rivendell? There are no maps you can buy in this world unless you are prepared for several months journey.”

Gungnir returned with a cold laugh. “Then what do you say? Sit here and wait until the Ringwraith comes? He’s now a monster from the fusion of all nine. Who here can fight him? You? Or that half dead berserker?”

Neos didn’t show any anger. He got out a piece of chocolate. “There are two key problems. First is the direction and second is the relationship between Aragorn and the elves. If we reach Rivendell without a plan, how do you think we would be treated? Once we hand off the One Ring, we will become grunts. Maybe you like to be one but our team wants to the one giving orders. There are still two teams we have to face outside of the mission. Humans have to think further ahead. Do you rather take a little risk now and wait for Aragorn then gain influence from the elves and human kingdom or search for that Rivendell where you don’t even know where it is?”

Gungnir hesitated. He didn’t say anything more. Neos turned to Xuan who was quietly eating mashed apples. He crushed the chocolate and said. “Xuan is it? Aren’t you going to express your opinion? Didn’t you always have a way?”

Xuan raised his head and glanced at him like that was a pointless question then went back to his food. This attitude of ignoring someone made the veins on Neos’s forehead showed up. He would bite Xuan if he wasn’t controlling himself.

Xuan didn’t remain silence though and said. “God won’t issue an impossible mission. It won’t send the Ringwraith to this town at least when it’s only our three teams here. Whether or not we can take on the Ringwraith is one point and if we suffer too many casualties, it will be unfair to the other teams. Because we won’t obtain any influence in this time and become weaker than when we first entered. Just wait. Aragorn or Gandalf will appear before the Ringwraith.” He continued eating like no one else was around.

Zheng knew Xuan’s behavior but the others didn’t, so this might appear arrogant. Neither Neos nor Gungnir looked good after that. Zheng was afraid the veins on Neos’s forehead were going to bust. No wonder he killed himself from anger in Starship Troopers. He was disciplined enough to be still alive for someone so impatient.

Gungnir let out a sigh of relief. “Then we will wait three more days. If Aragorn still doesn’t come, we will exit the alliance. We will head to Modor by ourselves. Perhaps we will arrive after the fights are over or we might cross the mountain. I don’t think this place is safe after three days. We won’t stay here with you guys.”

Just as he finished, a man with gray cloak walked in. This was a handsome man with black hair and light blue eyes. He wore a leather armor and carried a two handed sword on his back.

All the veterans had watched the movie so many times before coming in. They were well aware of person with such characteristics, especially appearing at this time. This was probably the person they were waiting for a whole day.

The Strider looked around the bar. He frowned when he saw the group. He took the sword off his back then just stood there. When he noticed the Hobbits, he looked surprise but remained cautious and walked toward them.

“Aragorn, come have a drink.” Zheng coughed and said in a voice that Aragorn could hear. Then he snapped his finger at the bar owner.

The Strider became more cautious. He gave a smile and said. “I am just a normal strider. Have you mistaken me for someone else?”

Zheeng also smiled. “Fine, I mistaken you. Strider Aragorn, come have a sit. We are friends of Gandalf. Same for the four Hobbits.”

Aragorn sat down on the empty seat next to Zheng. The bar owner brought him a beer. He drank half the glass in a gulp and said. “I learned from my elven friends that a group of mercenaries are fighting the Ringwraiths to protect four Hobbits. Some of them killed seven Ringwraiths. So that means there are only two Ringwraiths left.”

Gungnir gave him a smile. “Not two, just one. We killed eight Ringwraiths. The last one escaped back to Mordor.”

Aragorn looked shocked. He looked around at them then at the Hobbits. “If that’s true then you are one of the most powerful fighters among us humans. Only one Ringwraith left? This might be troublesome. I haven’t introduced myself. I am Aragorn. Gandalf told me the Hobbits are carrying that item so I have been waiting for them here. However, I learned from some striders two days ago that the Ringwraiths appeared between the Shire and Bree. I worried for your safety and left to look for you. I never would have thought you killed some many of them.”

Zheng asked despite knowing the answer. “Where’s Gandalf? Shouldn’t he be waiting for us here? Why are you the only one?”

Aragorn smiled bitterly. “He might have encountered some troubles. He went to look for Saruman in Isengard. Something might have delayed him on the way. I will take you to Rivendell. The town is filled with life force. The Ringwraith won’t easily enter it. We will be safe temporarily there. However, that’s only temporary. The final Ringwraith is as powerful as Sauron himself. We don’t know if he will charge into Rivendell.”

Charge into Rivendell? If the elves were as weak as they were portrayed in the movie, the final Ringwraith could actually enact a massacre in Rivendell. Though the elves weren’t weak either. The elves’ leader who was merely a side character in the movie could Explosive shot, even if it was only with two arrows. This fact still surprised the players. The arrows the elves used were equivalent to enchanted arrows. There might be more powerful archery techniques in Rivendell.

Anyway, under Aragorn’s suggestion, they left Bree on the say day and headed east. The journey to Rivendell was going to be seven days.

Aragorn had a mount. He thought everyone in the group should have mounts but everyone other than Zheng was empty handed. He had no choice but to walk along with his horse. Bree was a little town. There weren’t thirty horses theey could buy. And of course, Zheng’s mount seriously shocked him.

Aragorn yelled. “That’s a Skeleton Nightmare! You seized the Ringwraith’s mount! Ha. Unfortunately, only wizards can ride them. They were created by wizards in the Second Age. The method has been long lost but Sauron obtained this method and created nine Nightmares for the Ringwraiths after he lost his physical body. Thus, the Ringwraiths were undefeatable to man.”

Zheng laughed. He pulled the lead rope and the horse ran at full speed. The crimson mist and burning flame on the horse’s hooves and eyes made it seem execeptionally handsome. Many in the group stared straight at it. Aragorn also exclaimed. A mount with such speed and anti-gravity was the dream of every warrior.

And so they advanced toward Rivendell with Zheng guarding the group on his mount. He seemed in love with his current form, holding onto the rope in one hand and a half translucent crimson blade on the other.

Xuan glanced at Zheng with an expression of disdain then he looked over the other two teams’ members. It felt like there was something behind his gaze. Anyone he looked over felt a chill like a prey targeted by a snake.

Nothing happened for three days since the Ringwraith had returned to Mordor. It would take him at least ten days run back. The group wasn’t in a hurry as such without the danger. Aragorn acted like he was waiting for someone. He frequently stood on higher places and looked east.

“We are here. So this is The Lord of the Rings’s world.” This was a handsome man with long hair. He stood on the edge of a cliff and said with a smile. Fourteen men and women stood behind him. Eleven of them looked confused. They asked the people around concerning their whereabouts but the answers were all disappointing.

This was a snowy mountain they were standing on. Cliffs surrounded them. There was seemingly no way to go. It wasn’t snowing but the ground was covered in a thick layer of snow. The man standing on the edge wasn’t affected by the snow as he stood on top of them instead of sinking down.

“This is troublesome. A five way team battle. Interesting, there’s also team Celestial. Hoho.” The man turned around. He maintained a smile the whole time but his eyes felt cold as ice. They were like a pair of daggers that could easily pierce your heart.

“ZhuiKong, don’t you have any advices? You are the formally acknowledged leader after our previous leader went to team Celestial.” A beautiful girl stood with her arms akimbo. Two long swords hung by her hips. She looked like a dual wield user.

ZhuiKong laughed. He disappeared and reappeared behind the girl. A beautiful head lay on his hand. It was the girl’s head. She looked shocked, in disbelief, and terrified. A second later, blood sprayed out from the headless corpse.

“I remember I told you to not think of yourself as anyone important to me with a sexual relationship. The burden to killing you is nothing compared to the burden of killing my friends. So you are not qualified to talk to me like this. Where did you get the courage?” He said to the head then brought it closer and kissed it. The eleven people were completely shocked. They screamed in terror but there was nowhere to run on this cliff.

ZhuiKong flicked his hand. The head turned into a paste then he let it fall off the cliff. There was no blood on his hand. He turned to the other two people who were calm and said with a smile. “Same rules for team battles. Kill all our newbies. Let’s see. Negative 11 points. We have to kill eleven people to stay alive. Hoho. The game is only fun when we can test our limits and capacities like this. Isn’t it? Why aren’t you two talking?”

If one looked carefully, you could see their arms and legs trembling. They were a Caucasian man and a black young man. The Caucasain carried a spear. The black young man carried a circular weapons. After they heard ZhuiKong’s words, they roared and leaped at the newbies. Ten seconds later, all the newbies died in their hands. They turned back to ZhuiKong not daring to make an extra sound.

ZhuiKong smiled contentedly. He looked down the cliff. After a while, he said. “Let’s first confirm our location. Then we can find somewhere within the plot and wait there or we can head to Mordor and kill everything there. What do you think?”

The Caucasian carefully said. “We, we can find a human town first. If you kill all the creatures in Mordor, the other teams could complete their missions without effort. We can watch how they struggle. Isn’t that more interesting than killing?”

“Watching the weak struggle and perhaps grow? That’s an interesting scene. Watch the fruit slowly ripen then crush it. Okay. We will look for a human town first and find our location. I am making it clear, don’t kill without a good reason on the way. Since we decided to watch a show, we have to follow our rules. Is that right?” He raised his leg and stepped off the cliff. There was nothing on his body other than his clothes. He disappeared in the bottom of the cliff.

The two veterans let out a sigh of relief and ZhuiKong was gone. They gave a bitter smile to each other. The black young man said. “Maybe we are also the fruits he was talking about. This guy became more insane after the battle against team Devil. Is it really interesting to fight yourself then with that monster that’s even stronger than you? Only monsters can understand monsters.”

The Caucasian patted him and said. “Shhh. Don’t say anything more. We have confirmed he doesn’t have psyche force attribute but it feels uncomfortable talking behind him like this. Sigh. Do our best to stay alive. Even if he kills eleven people, we are still several thousand points down. We have to kill some people from other teams to survive.”

They stopped talking. One person brought out two bottles. He pressed the buttons on them and threw them on the ground. The bottles turned into two gliders with parachutes. They equipped the gliders and jumped off the cliff.

A few hours later, the two found themselves using their communication device. They then walked a long way in the mountain before getting out. ZhuiKong was already waiting for them in the plains. He patted their shoulders with a smile. It looked like meeting up with an old friend.

They knew that once ZhuiKong decided on the rules, he would absolutely follow them. They were safe for now. The black young man finally said. “It isn’t easy to get a psyche force user. You killed her too fast.”

ZhuiKong said. “It’s fine. God will keep replenishing certain types of members. We will see a replacement soon. Let’s go look for a human town.” He began walking at a direction. His eyes were cold as ice.