Chapter 27

Two days passed since Zheng’s group returned to Edoras. Their only reward from the journey to Isengard was killing Saruman who had gone insane. Such a famed wizard died to Legolas’s three arrow Explosive Shot and Heng’s Charged Shot. He didn’t even use a barrier. At that stage, he was merely an old man.

The tower began to collapse after Saruman’s death. This differed from the movie plot. Gandalf told them it was Saruman’s magic that supported the tower and that it would fall to the ground upon Saruman’s death.

“It’s such a pity to the items inside. According to what you said, a wizard should have a rich collection. The treasures of a White Wizard could rival that of a kingdom. I wonder how many energy stones and other magical items are in there.” Zheng said to Gandalf.

Gandalf was rather embarrassed because to him, team China didn’t necessarily have to participate in the war against Mordor. His recruitment of them as mercenaries dragged the team into the war. The energy stones he had given them were obviously of too little value for what they had done. Yet, he was not nearly as rich as Saruman since he just became a White Wizard.

Gandalf said. “Once the war is over, I will try my best to compensate you. Don’t worry. Your teammate’s death won’t be in vain.”

Zheng answered without paying attention. He was thinking of finding a time to return to the Lord of the Rings world to dig up the items buried beneath Isengard. The tower could collapse but the things inside wouldn’t disappear. The treasures were still buried there.

Nothing much to be said about Isengard. The group returned to Edoras. The villagers of course cheered. This was a victory over a battle that was expected to destroy the kingdom. Furthermore, Theoden’s consciousness returned and he began bringing back the exiled riders. The number of riders increased to seven thousand in just under a week. Even without counting the injured and sick, there were five thousand capable elite riders. This was a strong army in this world, enough to pose threat to the half orc army of Mordor.

“Tell me.” Theoden shouted. “Why should we ride to the aid of those who did not come to ours? What do we owe Gondor?”

The others had no words. The players couldn’t understand but to the people of this world, allies must fight when the time came. If the other party broke the promise, it was generous already to not break all their bonds. Fighting for such people wouldn’t happen so easily. Theoden was only exercising his right.

Gandalf said in an unconvincing tone. “Yet if Gondor falls, Rohan will be next…”

“No!” Theoden stared at him in seriousness. “Our dignity is more important! If Rohan forgets the heartless that Gondor showed and go aid them, our kingdom will no longer have any dignity. We will not aid them unless… the Beacons of Gondor are lit. Let them tell us by themselves, that they are on the brink of death and need the blood of Rohan to save them. Or else, our riders will not leave even if Mordor raze Minas Tirith to the ground!”

This was Theoden’s answer. Gandalf had no choice but to ride to Minas Tirith ahead of everyone. He planned to persuade ruling steward of Gondor and have him light the Beacons. The forces of men would then become one. He didn’t bring Aragorn along because Denethor was still in control of Gondor. Aragorn going would incite unexpected consequences.

“You must come to Minas Tirith by another road. Gondor’s final force lies there. Seize that power… you will what it means to be the king of men.”

(Planning to have Merry sneak in and light the Beacons when he fails to convince Denethor? Isn’t this the same as the original plot?) Zheng simulated HongLu’s thinking process. The battle at Minas Tirith was of utmost importance. It affected how the team would obtain influence in the remaining time in this world. He had no choice but to accompany Gandalf.

“We need to split here. Lan and I will head to Gondor. We have to protect Gandalf and Merry and secondly, to help Gondor achieve victory. These aren’t the key-points. The problem lies in the attacks from the other two teams which we need to be on guard. Although I can’t control the fourth stage, it’s still extremely powerful. I can pose threat to the other two teams by heading to Gondor… YinKong, Heng, and ChengXiao go with Aragorn. The Army of the Dead in the movie are strong. You have to help them obtain the oath at all cost. Of course, put your lives before anything.” Zheng said in a serious manner.

ChengXiao laughed. “Don’t worry. As long as I can still breathe, I will protect YinKong. As to Heng, go back to where you came from. I won’t protect men.”

Zheng grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up. “I need you to live, not to see you standing in front of women again. Live on. This is more important than anything. More important than anything… Live on. We will all live on together!”

ChengXiao couldn’t help but nodded. After Zheng released his collar, he murmured about him tore his shirt. Though they could see a hint of seriousness in his eyes.

“Well then… meet in Minas Tirith. Let us all live on!” Zheng pulled the lead rope. The Nightmare stood up then ran off.

Zheng and Lan followed closely after Gandalf’s white horse toward Minas Tirith and slowly disappeared from the other members.

The Nightmare and the white horse could reach Minas Tirith in three days. All four people were quiet on the road. All that was on their mind was hurry to Minas Tirith and light the 火台 before Mordor sent out its army. So the riders of Rohan would assemble in the shortest time and aid Gondor.

Two days later, Zheng suddenly asked Gandalf loudly. “Do you still have the spatial bag on you? Or have you put it on Legolas?”

Gandalf was focused on riding the horse. It took him a while to register the question. “Uh. I gave it to Legolas and he seemed to have forgotten to give the bag back to me. Is there anything wrong?”

Zheng paused. He shook his head and said. “No. Nothing. Maybe I was overthinking it.”

Lan, who was in his arms, asked. “What happened? Did you guess something?”

“Uh, just a little feeling. I feel that Xuan wouldn’t die so easily. There was a notification but considering his calculations, this might be another one of his schemes. He schemed everyone of us and made us his chess pieces. And possibly made himself a piece of his calculation… I feel that he might be alive now that I am not seeing his dead body. It simply feels…” Zheng smiled bitterly.

He pulled the lead rope and the Nightmare ran faster. “Anyway, if he’s not dead, something interesting is going to be bound to happen. There’s no point to keep pondering. If he actually died, I have to actively seek more challenges. Or else our team will no longer has any hopes!”

While Zheng and Gandalf headed to Gondor, the people in Rohan didn’t waste any time. Everyone trained themselves. The two people whose weapons were unbounded adjusted to the lighter weight of the weapons and the true powers contained within them.

Excalibur was more than just its sharpness. Its attacks ignored battle Qi. It could annihilate any layers formed by battle Qi instantly. The light blade from Tiger’s Soul would probably shatter upon contact too. However, YinKong still hadn’t discovered the noble phantasm that Zheng described to her.

Heng also discovered interesting uses of his bow. He went to Legolas for help. When he saw Legolas, Legolas was seeing a rider in black rode off. The rider was slender and wasn’t wearing any armor. His horse headed out the city.

“Who’s that? Why does he look so familiar?” Heng muttered.

Legolas seemed surprised by his voice. He laughed awkwardly. “A messenger… that brings victory.”

Zheng’s group had been on the road for three days without sleep. Zheng and Gandalf were physically fit enough to sustain the strain but Lan and Merry had no way of keeping up. The two of them fell asleep leaning against the other’s backs. They barely had any rests during this journey. Dawn of the fourth day came. A white city appeared through the morning sunlight.

“The capitol of Gondor, most magnificent city of men, Minas Tirith, City of Kings. It is the symbol of human regime. If the forces of Mordor breached the city, the end of men would be near.” Gandalf sighed. He patted Shadowfax and it ran toward the city.

Zheng followed right behind Gandalf. The guards on the wall were excited at the sight of a large silvery horse followed by a skeleton horse. The White Wizard had a high reputation in this world. Saruman’s fall from grace lowered his reputation but the majority of men still believed in him as the savior.

In contrast to the White Wizard, the guards were more familiar with and feared the skeleton horse. It was the mount of the Ringwraiths that couldn’t be replicated. Seeing the White Wizard being chased by the Ringwraith, a group of archers hurried up the city wall from their camps in a commotion.

The misunderstanding took an hour to dissolve. Zheng dismounted from the Nightmare and handed it to the troops from Gondor. They finally believed that the White Wizard kill a Ringwraith and seized the Nightmare as spoil. No one would believe anyone could kill a Ringwraith with human bodies.

“Feeling helpless?” Gandalf laughed. “The people of Gondor are stubborn as this. They will follow through the end on things they decided on, whether it be good or bad, as long as it is the path they want to walk.”

Zheng was rather inexperienced riding a war horse. The Gondor troops gave him the war horse after taking the Nightmare away. He wasn’t worried about not getting it back though. Normal human troops couldn’t stop him if he were to use brute force to get it back. Furthermore, Gandalf wouldn’t let this happen.

“Let’s go and see the steward!”

What followed was a narration of the plot. Anyway, the group went to see the steward but Denethor didn’t wish for the assistance of Rohan because he knew the heir of Gondor, Aragorn, was there. Gondor returning to the hands of the king was not what he wanted to see. It would leave him with no place in this kingdom. Thus, Denethor refused Gandalf’s advice to light the Beacons.

“Foolish! Truly foolish! Gondor is his but what would he get once Mordor razes it into ground? Nothing! Only death would await him. Why does he not return the kingdom to the king and leave himself a good reputation?” Gandalf marched out from the throne room. He walked to the courtyard. There he could see Mordor beyond the mountains. It was covered in red as if the air was burning.

Gandalf looked in downcast. “We have lost. The end of men is near. Sauron has returned. The One Ring has returned to him. And men are still fighting with themselves for that elusive authority. With such an army, and such regime, how can we defeat the Dark Lord? We lost.”

Zheng patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t give up. We made it through so many difficulties and battles already. We won’t lose to a worthless Steward. We have the riders of Rohan. We have the Ents on their way. We have a group of allies. The elves will aid us when Sauron comes back. Or they would have to run.”

Gandalf took a deep breath. “We will follow through our plan. Merry.”

Merry was gazing at the red sky. The sight was beautiful yet peculiar. As he turned his head around, he saw three pairs of eyes fixed on him. A bad feeling arose, as if he had boarded a pirate ship…

“Finally, the Beacons are lit.”

A young man with black hair sat on top a snowy mountain. He was breathing rhythmically. He looked down on the mountain below. The Beacons at the peak of the it were lit. The light was in view to people on the other mountain. And then a second mountain lit their Beacons. The lights came on one after another until they reached the mountains far, far away.

“Well then, is the battle at Minas Tirith going to commence now?” The young man smiled then he laughed aloud. He spoke as though talking to himself. “Zhao ZhuiKong, there’s nothing you can say to stop me now. Fuck you! Wait until I reach Jindan (Gold Core), I won’t fear you even if you unlocked the fourth stage. I will kill you and your clone and that demon…

Xiuzhen (Cultivation) is the strongest power!”

Switching away from the wild young man. When the light of the Beacons reached Edoras, Theoden was decisive at agreeing to send his army to Gondor. As a person in an authoritive position, he knew the two kingdoms were interdependent of each other. The riders of Rohan could not hold out against the forces of Mordor by themselves. Their only choice was to unite with the Gondor infantry and fight the Mordor army together.

“This is an unfortunate news but I must inform you.” Theoden listened to a scout and his expression became burdened. “I sent several scouts to Gondor prior to the battle at Helm’s Deep. One, to request aid, and two, to check if the Mordor forces have begun their attack. Our scouts returned with information of what they saw… The bad news is we will be facing against an army of a hundred thousand half-orcs, orcs, and trolls. This army is beyond anything we imagined, beyond the evil forces in the War of the Last Alliance. We have only five thousand riders. This is all we have…”

Inside the Golden Hall, Theoden mustered his riders without a moment of hesitation. And when the scout came back with the message, the numbers crushed their confidence at once. This wasn’t the real world. Not one war in the history of Middle Earth had such a large evil force gathered together.

“If that’s the case… we will seek new allies!”

A voice came in from outside the Golden Hall. The people in the room turned their attention and saw a cloaked figure walked in. He took off his hood, revealing his identity. The man was Elrond, Lord of Rivendell, and the wielder of one of the three Elven rings.

All people aside from the three members of team China bowed. Elrond said. “Sauron obtained the One Ring once again. His power has returned. He’s as powerful as before yet the alliance became weak. Men only have one heir to Isildur. The elven rings are losing their power, forcing us to leave Middle Earth. For men to survive, Aragorn, you must seek new forces.”

Aaragorn’s smiled was bitter. “There are none. The Ents have set out. The riders of Rohan are ready. The infantries of Gondor are out of my control. The elves are leaving as the powers of the three rings fade. We have no more allies.”

“No. There is an army that has been waiting for a thousand years!” Elrond revealed a sword under his cloak. The sword glowed in a silvery light without activating it with battle Qi. It looked like a silver mirror.

“Reforged from the shards of Narsil. A sword that can only be used by the heir of Isildur. Use it to prove your bloodline.” Elrond paused then said in a serious tone. “Seek those who dwell in the mountain. They have been waiting for this over a thousand years. This is the only army that can negate our difference in number and change the tide of battle!”

“The mountain?” Aragorn paused. His faced turned pale as he muttered. “Murderers! Traitors! You would call upon them to fight? They believe in nothing! They answer to no one.”

Elrond shouted. “They will answer to the King of Gondor! This is your army!”

Gimli asked Legolas, seeing that Aragorn was hesitating. “What’s the matter? Why does it seem like he fears the army?”

“Not fear but anger.” Legolas sighed. “That army pledged their loyalty to the king of Gondor, but they abandoned their oath when they were most needed. The blood of Isildur was nearly lost. Aragorn became the only heir to remain. They aren’t people of the living. They are deceased men cursed by Isildur. Only when they fulfill their oath will they be forgiven and rest in peace.”

Although Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli were unclear how they really felt, they still decided to head to the mountain immediately. Anduril will save them from being killed by the Dead even if they failed to gain control of the army.

The three members of team China accompanied them. They knew the strength of the Army of the Dead. In the movie, it was this army that brought victory to the battle at Minas Tirith. It was also the reason Zheng left them behind, and to protect the three movie characters.

“It would be good if we have extra energy stones. This bow can focus energy on the string. You didn’t see it when Legolas used my bow yesterday. He gathered Life Energy on the string, then it formed into thin arrows. These arrows increased the area of impact by up to ten folds. That’s effectively turning the bow into a shotgun.” Heng said with excitement.

The road they crossed was bleak. There were barely any trees in sight. Which in turn brought down their emotion. Heng and ChengXiao began talking in turns to break the dullness. Waiting for YinKong to speak up by herself was like waiting for a donut to fall from the sky after all.

ChengXiao picked his nose. “Aren’t you scared of ghosts? I heard your guts are small.”

Heng blushed and defended himself. “I am not. I am just terrified of blood and being beaten due to psychological issue. I am not scared of ghosts!”

ChengXiao laughed. “Hehe. Speaking big now. Don’t get scared so much that you can stand when they come. That means something happened in your past and left the issue in your heart? I have a cure for your issue.”

Heng was overjoyed and said aloud. “What cure? How do you cure my problem? You aren’t lying, are you?”

“How can it be. We are bros.” ChengXiao laughed out. However, Heng felt something was off.

“You just have to bathe in blood everyday. Then tear apart ten half-orcs or other humanoids. I promise you will be as fearless as Zheng in less than half a year. Haha.” ChengXiao laughed.

“Fuck you.” Heng cursed at him. He went back to his bow. The metallic bow was extremely stylish and powerful. Much more so than the Sirius he owned. His biggest regret was not knowing the name and origin of the bow.

As they talked, they reached an entrance in the mountain. Numerous skulls the entrance. The skulls had open mouths and a terrified look. Hieroglyphs were carved on the rocks in blood.

“The way is shut. It was made by those who were dead, and the dead keep it. The way is shut.” Legolas read the hieroglyphs.

Gimli said loudly. “What does it mean?”

Aragorn didn’t reply. He bit his teeth then charged in. Legolas hesitated for a moment and followed, leaving Gimli and the members of team China standing behind. Gimli turned to the other three. They weren’t scared though since they knew the plot. They also ran in and so Gimli was the only person standing there.

A chill wind blew over. He shivered then shouted. “Wait for me! Wait!” He also entered the Paths of the Dead.

It was pitch black inside the Paths of the Dead. They all followed closely behind Aragorn who had the torch. It felt as though the path was leading to the underworld. A unique sensation crept up to them. They felt they were lost. The light from the torch was wavering in front, yet they could not see Aragorn.

YinKong felt she entered an endless corridor. There was no boundaries in this corridor and time was out of her senses. It had the same feeling as the transportation that happened when leaving and returning to God’s dimension. It was as if a long time had passed, yet at the same time it was also an instant.

“YinKong, wake up. Aren’t you scared of getting sneak attacked sleeping so deep? Little clumsy.”

A gentle and soft voice sounded next to her ear. She opened her eyes abruptly and jumped up. Then she saw a man with a smile standing in front of her. He was a handsome man with long hair, much taller than YinKong. His eyes was that of a big brother looking at his sister.

“Zhao ZhuiKong! Where is this?” YinKong was shocked. Her hands reached for Excalibur wrapped in a piece of cloth on her bag. However, she reached nothing. As she began her second attempt, she stopped.

YinKong frowned. “What am I doing? Eh? ZhuiKong-gege (niisan), where is this place?”

ZhuiKong said with a gentle smile. “It’s our training ground. Hurry up. Everyone’s waiting in ahead. We are going to hunt a few black bears today. We will have to depend on your speed. Let’s go. They are all waiting ahead.”

Following his voice, the images of the environment became vivid. This was the border of a forest. YinKong was lying on a grassy field just then. ZhuiKong began walking toward the forest as he finished talking.

YinKong lifted her foot. Yet, as she was about to take the step, she took her foot back. She lowered her head and said. “ZhuiKong-gege… I can’t go to where you are going. But there’s a question I want to ask you…”

ZhuiKong turned his back around in a surprise but his smile was still gentle. “Go ahead. As long as I can answer it.”

“Will you… will you always be the brother in my memory?” YinKong asked, her head still lowing down.

ZhuiKong paused in confusion. He walked over to YinKong and gently wiped the tear by the corner of her eyes. “If you are not coming to us, then take good care of yourself… I will always be your brother. Never going to change…”

YinKong bit the tip of her tongue. She felt her mind stopped for a moment then the scene in front changed. It was still dark but she could make out a faint image. She was standing on the edge of a cliff. Its depth was unknown. If she just took one more step, she would have fallen into this abyss. However, before she recovered from the situation, she saw a person to the side.

Heng was soaked in sweat with his back facing the cliff. If he just backed one more step, he would fall into this abyss. YinKong was seven meters away from him. That shocked her and she immediately ran at him.

Heng felt burning heat and pain throughout his body. What was this? What happened to him?

Right, he was going home with YanWei, the woman he loved the most… Heng opened his eyes with great effort. He saw a man with a blurry face clung onto her body. She was struggling. Next to him was three men beating at him. He felt a violent pain with each punch. Blood was flowing out from his mouth and ears.

(Right, the ruffians caught me. They are beating me. They want to take her away…) The thoughts came to his mind. A punch landed on his eye and he felt the world became painted in red. It was the color of blood. The violent pain also registered from the bruises to his brain. It was as though these people transformed into his alcoholic father. Punch after punch, kick after kick, filling his body with bruises, beating him until his mouth and nose bleeds… (No. I am scared. These blood. They are still beating me…) Heng covered his head and tried to avoid their attacks. However, the beating was like coming from every direction. Soon, there was more blood on his body, trying to dye his clothes red. Heng kept backing away. He backed two steps then he couldn’t take another one. Because he saw YanWei was being further and further away from him.

“Run! Heng, leave me and run! I know you are scared of blood and being beaten. Leave me and run! They can’t catch you if you take a few more steps!” YanWei suddenly yelled while she struggled.

Heng’s conscious was urging him to run. The fear of being beaten was near breaking him down. However, he felt as though he had forgotten something. It was a determination that kept him standing in place, kept him for backing another step despite the beating he was getting.

“Run! Why aren’t you running? Didn’t you say you will always listen to me? I told you to run! Why don’t you listen? Heng!” The man was dragging her further away. She had to shout.

“I can’t run!” Heng took their punches, he took his fear head on, and faced the woman he loved so deeply. He cried back with tears. “I can’t run! If I take this step, I will tear apart our future with my own hands… I don’t want to run again. I don’t want to never see you again… even if this is an illusion, even if this is a dream. I won’t run this time, YanWei!”

Sometimes, people change at their root on the tiniest confrontation. Sometimes, people lingered on the same spot only because they hadn’t taken that one little step.

Heng took a step forward. When his foot was halfway over the cliff, he took one little step forward. And that brought him back to safety right before he would fall off into the abyss. Which allowed YinKong’s hand to strike him on the back and knocked him several meters away. His head bumped into a set of stairs.

Heng woke up after the hit. Though there was a big swollen bump on his head. He jumped up from the ground then looked around in confusion.

It was the same dark path he was in. Pale white skeletons lay throughout the ground. Around him were people with their eyes closed and shivering. Aragorn was the only exception. His sword glowed in a silver light. His lips were moving as though he was conversing with something.

On the other side, Gimli’s hands were making the motion of pouring wine into his mouth while moving forward. Legolas was making the motion of shooting arrows and running. In front of these two was the cliff.

Heng and YinKong met eyes then charged at the two of them at the same time. They each grabbed a person then threw him backward. Gimli and Legolas went through Heng’s experience. They stood up with a bump on the head.

Legolas said with lingering fear. “That was close. The mental energy of the dead controlled us. They showed us what we want or don’t want to see the most. Then use it to lure you to jump off the cliff.”

Heng and YinKong looked at each other again and asked at the same time. “Where’s ChengXiao?”

Legolas could see further than anyone here due to having the eyes of an elf. He scanned around and found ChengXiao just one step away from the cliff. The man held out his arm with hesitation, but he pulled it back halfway. Then he wanted to take a step forward but retracted his foot. This went on for a few more times until he woke up by himself with a sigh. The others became curious to his experience.

ChengXiao walked over to them. Heng asked. “What did you see? That was weird.”

ChengXiao gave them a long face. “I felt like buried in a land of warmth and tenderness. Beautiful ladies wavered around me. You can’t imagine the exquisite beauties there were. Man, they were infinite times prettier than Ms. China or Ms. Earth. Too bad that I like the babyface loli type more. Let me tell you, Heng…”

YinKong smacked his back with her foot then turned around and walked over to Aragorn.

“Help! Heng! I am going to fall. Hurry, this rock feels loose!”

They all came near Aragorn. The glow from the sword allowed them to see the green ghosts. That was when they realized they walked right through these ghosts. Aragorn didn’t turn around to the group. He said to the spirit in front of him. “I have told you my comrades will pass the trial! Now, give me your answer. Do you still remember your oath? Do you wish for a place of peace? Answer me!”

Aragorn swung his sword. The ghosts lowered their heads with respect as they saw it. He walked to the King of the Dead. The Dead King laughed. His laughter echoed through the hall. There was no word from him. He and his army began to fade with his laughter.

Aragorn became anxious. He yelled. “You have my word! Fight, and I will release you from this living death! What say you?”

Just then, the sounds of rolling rocks emerged. The group was standing by the cliff. Leading to the top from the cliff was a great hall. The doorway to the hall opened with the sound. Thousands of skulls poured down like a wave. By the looks of it, the skulls would bury them down the abyss. Aragorn had no time to question the ghosts further. He gave a yell and began to run.

The group followed right behind Aragorn to the other side of the cave. Yet, a few steps in and the skulls had already drowned their legs. They gave their best to move forward. The skulls were getting more and more. They finally managed to run into a corridor before being buried. Following the corridor ahead, they soon escaped the cave. In front of them was a mountain. They had crossed the mountain.

There were over ten black ships on the river. A city by the shore was burning in fire. A black ship parked by the city. People were carrying goods onto the ship.

Aragorn fell to his knees in despair. He seemed defeated. These black ships were probably forces of Mordor. Mordor’s forces were showing their might while he failed to obtain his support. Such feeling would indeed put anyone into despair.

The three members of team China had no special feeling since they knew followed in the plot. A chilling wind swept by this silence. The Dead King came out from the rocks. His voice sounded hollow. “We fight! The last king of Gondor!”

Aragorn froze in shock until Gimli cried. He pulled himself up using the sword as support. Then he pointed to the black ships on the river. “Our first fight! Annihilate the corsairs!”

The Dead King charged toward the river. His army of ghosts followed after him. Ghosts had no form nor mass and were free from the bound of gravity. They ran down from the mountain. A green color surrounded the black ships.

At the same time, the orc army was near Minas Tirith. The hundred thousand army swept through the outposts in Gondor. When the defeated soldiers made it back to Minas Tirith and delivered the message, Denethor ordered his son, Faramir, to head out with their riders instead of defending inside the walls.

Faramir was Boromir’s younger brother. He lost multiple battles one after another while Boromir was still recuperating in Rohan. Not long ago, he let Frodo’s party went ahead to Mordor, which led to the ring returning to Sauron. He blamed himself for giving the ring back to Sauron.

“It’s sad but we have no control over this army. The one in command of the army is still Denethor.” Zheng said to Gandalf. And to him, the riders of Gondor had much better armors than the riders of Rohan. However, they were miles apart in bravery, training, and other aspects. Losing this group wouldn’t impact the battle by too much.

This group totaled to a thousand. However, they had to charge at an army of a hundred thousand because it was the order of the Steward. They couldn’t not follow the order even if it was a suicide.

Neither Zheng nor Lan attempted to change anything. Gandalf went to see Denethor multiple times. Yet, Denethor had gone mad. He couldn’t listen to anyone’s words.

As it had been expected, three riders managed to come back after an hour. Faramir, who survived in the movie, died. The Mordor army was many times more than was portrayed in the movie after all. His death was determined when the wave of arrows rained down.

Zheng and Gandalf sighed. Lan sent Zheng an image of the scan. The orcs, half-orcs, Uruk-hai, and trolls were not far from Minas Tirith and were approaching the city. They carried sieging weapons, catapults, siege towers, and battering rams, unlike the Uruk-hai of Isengard. This was a fully equipped army.

“The battle begins.”

Zheng could see the army with his eyes now. Looking down from the city, the orcs seemed endless.

“Now we just have to wait for our allies. Wait and see how many groups of allies will come.”