Chapter 32

It was ironic that life force could be used to summon the Army of Anubis when life and death were opposing powers. Yet, it was life force Zheng used to summon several Anubis Warriors.

Infinitesimal control allowed Zheng to utilize energy in minor amounts instead of letting the Bracelet of Anubis drain all his energy like it used to. Once the life force of the Ents entered his body, he summoned several warriors as expected. Gandalf and the Ents frowned upon seeing these monsters with the head of a dog and bodies of men.

Despite believing these monsters were from evil summons, Gandalf and the Ents agreed to Zheng due to the pressure of the hundreds of thousands of the Mordor army. The Ents would focus their energy to Zheng and had him summon the Army of Anubis.

“The Anubis warriors can stand against even the Uruk-hai with battle Qi. Three meter tall bodies and nearly unkillable as long as their heads weren’t destroyed. They can ignore gravity, although not to the degree of the Army of the Dead. However, an army of ten thousand Anubis warriors could probably break through the Black Gate with ease and bring havoc to the orc army behind it!” Zheng said to Gandalf with certainty.

Gandalf originally opposed Zheng after seeing the strength of the Army of Anubis. He worried most to the possibility of Zheng losing control of the monsters. Ten thousand of these monsters would wipe themselves off from Middle Earth. And then Zheng shut him down with one question.

“Without these monsters, can a fifteen thousand army take down Mordor?”

The answer was… no.

However, under the aid of the Ents, men had a safe retreat. To Gandalf’s knowledge, a majority of the Mordor army did not possess worthy strength. The army was composed of mostly half-orcs. What Mordor could not replenish with the lost of the hundred thousand army were ordnances. Thus, they could view the remaining Mordor army as an army of eighty thousand. Yet, even at eighty thousand, when given the advantage of garrison, were nothing a fifteen thousand human army could break through.

The decision was difficult but they had no alternative.

Zheng was still wrapped up like a mummy. ChengXiao’s techniques were to be praised. He found a pile of green leaves and added some disgusting, translucent caterpillars then mashed them into a viscous liquid. He rubbed the liquid all over Zheng’s body, reliving him from the pain that would result in the process of infection. All accomplished in a place without antibiotics, without medical equipments, and without pain killers.

“Don’t pull such a face. You don’t like a man rubbing all over you. Neither do I like to rub all over a man! Damn it. If I can, I want to touch those massive boobs…” ChengXiao said with feebly.
Zheng didn’t know whether he should laugh or be mad. He endured the tingling from the liquid. “Bullshit. My face is wrapped in bandage. Which eye of yours saw my expression? Enough with this. I say, do you feel Heng and YingKong changed a little?”

ChengXiao glanced at Heng then carefully studied YingKong. A while later, he said. “Uh… it seemed that her boobs jiggled when she gripped her sword. Did the cloth wrapped around her boobs loosened?”

“… Forget it. There’s nothing I can talk to you about.” Zheng closed his eyes. He gave up talking and peacefully endured the tingling pain over his body.

Heng and YingKong indeed changed. Maybe they didn’t notice the changes themselves. Heng’s eyes were determined when he held an arrow in hand. It differed from how he used to avoid looking the target with his eyes. YingKong’s movements were slightly slower. However, the angle of her attacks came from more cunning angles. Zheng could only see with one eye and his injuries limited his view. But he could see the clarity in YingKong’s eyes. The hatred… seemed to have disappeared, or perhaps hidden.

What ought to come would eventually come. The group began their journey as soon as they could, carrying along their worry over the other members of team China. Dawn of day three, this fifteen thousand people group embarked on their final journey, marching toward Mordor!

“… So you used a verbal promise of the future as a condition, to recover the woods of Isengard from trees within ten years? Where did you obtain such superb means?” Zheng asked Neos.

Neos replied casually while eating a piece of chocolate. “There are a lot of items that can achieve this in the exchange system. It’s nothing to brag about. Same as you forming a trading deal with the powers of this world.”

That was when Zheng remembered Neos was an intelligent character. He laughed awkwardly. “You know of our trade with the elven Queen?”

Neos nodded. “Yes. Just now. From you.”

Zheng almost wanted to smack himself on the face. He asked in a mutter. “Right, the newbies from yesterday… that wasn’t us. You know? The notifications of the newbies being killed.”

Neos ate another piece of chocolate. “Of course. If your team were to kill the newbies, you would have done it long ago. Or at least when you still have power instead of waiting until you become a mummy. Either someone wants to kill you so he killed the newbies to direct our hatred, or the newbies of both our teams died. It’s simple.”

Zheng had no words in reply. He suddenly noticed he disliked being next to these intelligent types. It was like they could see through everything he was thinking. Not a comfortable feeling.

(I will find a time and put you together with Xuan. Your facial expressions must be fabulous when you can’t even save the color of your undies.) Zheng maliciously thought.

At any rate, the group of fifteen thousand approached Mordor. The terrain became more horrendous which bothered the Ents the most. The burnt ground was unbearable to them. If it wasn’t the promise with men to reach the Black Gate, they would have returned to the woods.

Despite the horrendous terrain, the group did not encounter any obstacles on their way. A few days later, they arrived outside the Black Gate. It spanned over a hundred meters in width and over fifty meters in height. The gate creaked open upon their arrival. A single rider walked out.

He rode a black horse, wore a full helm and armor in black, covering every feature he had and leaving only a grotesque mouth. His teeth disgustingly stained in yellow.

“My master, Sauron the Great, bids you welcome. Is there any in this rout with the authority to treat with me?” The Mouth of Sauron said.

The characters met eyes with each other. Aragorn went up front. “Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth! Let justice be done upon him!”

Gandalf stopped Aragorn. “We do not come to treat with Sauron, faithless and accursed. Tell your master this: The armies of Mordor must disband. He is to depart these lands, never to return.”

The Mouth of Sauron expressed a sarcastic form. “You might have learned my master has retrieved the One Ring. The One Ring will finally rule over Middle Earth. Do you wish to know how my master obtained the One Ring? The two little Hobbits, their flesh was so delicious. Their screams under torture… haha.”

The characters listened in silence. Aragorn took a deep breath then rode his horse forward.

The Mouth of Sauron said. “And who is this? Isildur’s heir? It takes more to make a king than a broken Elvish blade.”

Before he finished his words, Aragorn cut the Mouth of Sauron’s head with a quick, hard, slice. The body collapsed to the ground.

“Sauron!” Aragorn shouted at the Black Gate. “Do you still remember this sword? It killed you once. It will now kill you again! Come. Let us bury you!”

The Black Gate made a dull sound. It was as though multiple gears were turning. And then it slowly swayed open. In under a minute, the gate was fully opened, revealing and endless army of orcs behind it. The number they could see with their eyes struck terror into their hearts.

Aragorn turned around and looked at his troops. He gripped Andúril tightly. Waiting for the moment to initiate attack.

Not far behind Aragorn…

“Ents. You can focus energy onto me. Let all the Ents send your energy. Thousands? Ten thousands? Twenty thousands? Let’s see how many Anubis Warriors I can summon!”

The capacity of infinitesimal control was difficult to explain. It was an insight into power, an insight of oneself. Unlocking the fourth stage was the prerequisite of entering such state, even just the initial fourth stage. While in infinitesimal control, you can feel the distribution of force even if you take just a simple step. As you get more experienced, you could utilize the force you used in this step to gain extra speed. Infinitesimal control was absolute precision of control over strength and energy.

Once the Ents’ energy entered Zheng’s body, he quickly directed it into the Bracelet of Anubis. He pointed to the land in front as he had always done. The empty area standing between the Mordor and men armies began to change. Large number of the Anubis warriors appeared. By large number, there were over ten thousand.

This area no longer had enough room to fit the still appearing army. As their number continued to increase, the Anubis warriors stacked on top of each other. Some climbed onto the cliffs. Their ability to ignore gravity rid them of the danger of being on cliffs.

(Ten thousand… twenty thousand… thirty thousand. They are still coming. Shit, hit the jackpot.) Zheng expended all the life energy that entered his body. An army of forty thousand monsters stood between the Mordor and men armies. The monsters were three meters tall and had the head of a dog and the body of a human. Their bodies formed by sand and soil. They carried a long shaped weapon. The monsters roared.

Zheng controlled the Bracelet of Anubis with his mind. He directed the attack to the sea of orcs in front. An Anubis warrior leaped onto a half orc nearest to it, pressed it onto the ground. The long shaped weapon sliced from top to bottom and split the half orc into halves while it screamed.

Forty thousand Anubis warriors roared then marched at the half orcs with the momentum of war horses charging. The front line ran up the Dark Gate. The orcs wailed with terror. They fired the arrows in their hands but the arrows only pierced through the monsters. A body of sand did not fear the arrows. A few unlucky ones got hit in the head by Explosive Shots and their bodies turned back into sand.

The half orcs and orcs were weaker than the Anubis warriors. The monsters attacked without fear of death. Their size advantage allowed them to strike from top to bottom. The march did not reach the same destructiveness of the riders’ charge but it was not far behind. The formation of the orc army collapsed. Many orcs fee as they screamed… Perhaps they did not fear a battle against men but monsters of sand that wouldn’t die brought them fear.

Aragorn and Theoden met eyes with each other then turned to their troops, the riders and infantries. The army shouted their war cries. As the Army of Anubis broke deep into the Mordor army, this was the chance to bring down Mordor, a chance that would never come a second time!

“Warriors of Gondor! For mankind! For the future! For the defeat of the Dark Lord! Charge!” Aragorn charged in front of the army. His riders and infantries followed.

Theoden also shouted. “Riders of Rohan! Bring forth death and destruction! Death!” He also led in front of his riders. The strongest force of this age charged.

Zheng sat on his Nightmare. He did not have the ability to participate in battle. He looked at his team members who were next to him and said. “Lan, have you found Xuan and the rest?”

Lan nodded. “Yes. They seem to be on a stand off with some people. The Nemesis are also there. Let me send you the image.”

Zheng said to the others. “Heng, go meet with them. Your arrows are powerful. You might be able to give them some help. YinKong stay here and protect us…”

YinKong said. “No. Let me go. I… want to see someone.”

Zheng looked at her with surprise. Her eyes were filled with determination as she looked straight at Zheng.

After a while, Zheng said. “Then… be careful. And bring an end to this past if you can!”

YinKong nodded. She ran toward the location from the psyche scan image. Zheng led the others to the border of the battlefield. The scan marked a special target there… the Dark Lord Sauron!

On a stand off with Xuan were two members from East America. ZhuiKong wasn’t by his team so as soon as they met with the Nemesis, Xuan surrounded them without giving them a word. He completely ignored their threats of ZhuiKong taking revenge on team China.

“That’s not a possibility. He has things he need to do. And the thing you need to do is… wait.” Xuan calmly said.

HaoTian gave these two people a look of sorrow. It was not a certainty but he felt that their deaths had been decided. Xuan was waiting for the right time to kill. He was not the kind of person to take his losses without return after losing four newbies to ZhuiKong. Xuan would seize back the points they lost. As to HaoTian himself, death was probably not that far in the future either.

YinKong wasn’t aware of what was happening at Xuan’s group. She continued running until a familiar figure appeared in front of her. The man with long hair smiled at her.

YinKong felt an explosion inside her head. A big wave of killing intent emerged all at once.Yet, she then recalled the scene she experienced inside the Valley of Harrowdale. That man with a gentle smile… The him in the past truly cherished her and all his brothers and sisters. That man was the person in front, Zhao ZhuiKong.

He gave YinKong a look of surprise. “Not bad. You learned to conceal your killing intent. We are both assassins. So remember, never show your killing intent before your target dies.” He slowly walked toward YinKong.

YinKong clenched her teeth. She stared without a word as he walked past her. The moment their bodies crossed path, she asked. “What are you going to do?”

“To kill your comrades of course. Was there a need to ask?” ZhuiKong kept a smile on his face and said without turning around.

YinKong slashed her sword without a second thought. The invisible sword sliced through his upper body. Yet, there was no feeling of cutting into anything. A second later, she found two fingers placed by her neck. ZhuiKong had moved to her back before she realized. The sword merely sliced through a shadow.

“You are not a good girl to block me. I can’t afford to offend the other man but this one is at his weakest. Plus, he hasn’t reached the power I was hoping. Death is the best for him. Otherwise, he disgraces that strongest potential.” ZhuiKong said, smiling.

YinKong stared coldly. “If you want to kill him… or them, you will have to walk over my dead body! Haven’t you wanted to kill me for so long already? Why not just do it now?”

ZhuiKong tilted her head up by the chin. He moved to the front of her then kissed her lips. Strangely, YinKong didn’t bite him this time nor expressed hatred. Two lines of tears rolled down her pearlescent face. Her tears couldn’t stop as he kissed her.

“ZhuiKong, you had your reasons right? The you that had always protected me and everyone, you had your reasons right?” As their lips separated, YinKong calmly said but the shine on her eyes were dim.

ZhuiKong’s smile faded. Along with it was the coldness in his eyes. It felt complex, unable to express himself in words, and with a hint of vulnerability. This psychopathic assassin actually showed vulnerability.

“YinKong, I…”

As soon as his eyes showed humanity, his body quivered as if he was going through an extreme pain. He uttered one word at a time. After he said only the second word, a wave of frost rose behind him. Several ice spears shot through the frost with a force that aimed to pierce through the two of them!

ZhuiKong’s eyes instantly changed back to sharp and cold. Without turning his head, he grabbed YinKong with one arm and moved a dagger to his back with the other. The dagger quickly blocked the ice spears as they approached him. He used the force from the impact to leaped forward.

The two of them were standing on the hillside. This leap brought him off the cliff that was several hundred feets above the ground. However, ZhuiKong floated down along with the wind. Three seconds later, YinKong discovered his secret. He somehow floated in the wind like a piece of paper, unaffected by the acceleration from gravity. He floated down at a steady speed that wouldn’t damage him upon landing. It was as if he jumped from a two meter high place.

The frost did not stop spreading after they reached the bottom of the cliff. They heard Gungnir’s mad shout. “Come! Come kill me! Didn’t you subdued me and my team with a sneak attack? Didn’t you skinned them right in front of me? Didn’t you castrated me then buried me alive in the swamp? I am here right now! Come kill me!”

This was indeed the voice of Gungnir, leader of team Northern Ice Land. He had used his Ice Age. The skill had limited duration like Zheng’s Destruction but its AOE power way surpassed Destruction. The several hundred cubic meter area of frost quickly expanded and turned the hillside into a large frozen boulder by the time ZhuiKong and YinKong landed. The roar of the frost was pressing down from twenty meters above the two.

“Fuck! I used up all my saved energy stones! Fuck sustain and surviving! I will kill you first even if I am going to turn into a ghost! This is the strongest power of Logia Devil Fruits! I am nature! Who dares to rival nature?”

Gungnir had obviously gone insane. His voice echoed from the most intense part of the frost. As he continued to release his power, a thick layer of ice covered a thousand meter area, despite Mordor being a place of fire, and being so near to Mount Doom.

ZhuiKong did not showed any concern at the frost chasing after him. He casually walked with YinKong in his arms. But his actual speed was much faster than the frost. The two parties ran with one chasing the other.

ZhuiKong jumped on top of a boulder then suddenly stopped. He smiled at the approaching frost. “I am curious… You mentioned energy stones, correct?”

The frost split up and surrounded the two people instead of sweeping at them. Gungnir’s voice came through. “Correct! I admit I am not qualified to use the strongest power of Logia fruit. The power of the Hie Hie no Mi rivals the force of nature. Only those who unlocked the fifth stage and gained control over energy can possess such power. I rely on energy stones to use this power!”

ZhuiKong nodded. “Oh, good then…” He stomped several times with his foot. The force shattered the boulder he was standing on. At the same time, the frost swept at him and YinKong.

Right before the frost reached the two people, boiling water and steam rose from the ground around them. The water froze upon coming in contact with the frost but it continued coming out as if there was an endless supply. In just two seconds, they heard Gungnir’s wails.

“The fourth stage has an ability called infinitesimal control. Every time I touched the ground, I can feel what is buried underneath. The rebound force from the ground, the flow of water, the lava. The mountain over there is a volcano. Underneath the ground here is the water from a hot spring. Its temperature is quite high.” ZhuiKong said.

He didn’t merely stomped the ground several times as they could see with their eyes. Every one of his stomps was formed by dozens of stomps in continuous succession. The hundred stomps he did created a resonance that shattered the ground. Then the hot spring and steam burst out from around him. His mastery of infinitesimal control was beyond imaginable.

“And then look at how much time you spent chasing. How much energy do you have left? I think you can freeze this area. I am standing in the center. Freeze my feet and I won’t be able to run.” He said with a smile.

The frost that was Gungnir collided with the hot water and steam. Each impact reduced the intensity of the frost’s coldness by a little. The steam’s temperature way exceeded the boiling point of water. This steam was trapped in the ground all this time and its temperature kept increasing. Endless steam burst out from the ground at this opportunity. Even the two people in the middle felt the heat, not to mention the frost that was taking the steam directly.

The frost finally broke through the steam but it could no longer remain its form. Gungnir appeared in front of them with his upper body in human form and his lower body remained part of the frost. ZhuiKong wasn’t in the mood to waste time talking with him. He flashed by Gungnir. The next moment, Gungnir’s head was in his hand.

“Such a powerful ability… Unfortunately, you don’t have the potential. You are also not the cute unripe apple… Yo, YinKong. I will spare your comrades for now. You have to tell him that if he doesn’t want to die, grow as fast as he can. He’s still too weak.”

ZhuiKong was carrying YinKong with one arm and holding Gungnir’s headless body with the other. He threw the body at a spot where the steam was weakest. As the body blocked the steam, he jumped on the body then again. The next moment he had already left this steaming area.

ZhuiKong released YinKong after they arrived at an empty place. He did not look at YinKong again before he disappeared, leaving only his last words.

“Do your best to grow stronger, YinKong… And then I will come back to kill you.”

Zheng didn’t know he just made a roundabout on the edge of hell. YinKong’s existence caused ZhuiKong to give up assassination on them. Zheng would not be a match for ZhuiKong given his physical condition at the moment, even if he managed to enter Destruction. Furthermore, what would have come was an assassination. There was probably no one who could withstand ZhuiKong’s assassination.

Zheng very luckily knew nothing about what had happened. The situation was under his monitor by relying on Lan’s psyche scan. He made contact with Xuan’s mind. This was not the time to speak in detail but Zheng kindly informed Xuan he would get beaten up badly.

“Even though I still don’t know what you have done or are planning to do. But I can tell you with certainty that you need to be prepared for what I have for you once we return to God’s dimension.” His tone was sweet rather than vicious. However, this sounded weird when combined with the content of his words.

“Oh.” Xuan responded as if he wasn’t concerned of the threatening in the least bit. “There are two things I need to remind you. First, Sauron’s death. The best case is our team obtaining this reward if possible. Second, about the time. The countdown begins once all five teams gathered at Mordor. Four teams are here. The last team, team Northern Ice Land is probably wiped. Thus, we must seize the One Ring into our hand at this final duration.”

Zheng turned serious. “For Sauron… it’s going to be difficult. We don’t know his strength but it is unlikely he will be weaker than the final Ringwraith. The Ringwraith took me a so much effort to take down. I can’t even move now. If Sauron comes… to be honest, I have no confidence in taking him.”

Xuan calmly said. “Let Heng and YinKong do it. You always rely too much on your own power. You are only a member of team China. Even though you are worried about the other team members’ safety, you also have to trust them. Begin the attack at Sauron once YinKong returns.”

A rare scene was happening at Mordor prior to their conversation. The enormous Mordor army was being pushed back due to the participation of the Army of Anubis. Tens of thousands of Anubis warriors chased after the orcs. The alliance could only serve as their backup. They followed closely behind the Anubis warriors, finishing off orcs that were lying on the ground and wailing.

The Anubis warriors knew no such thing as fatigue nor injuries. Their only goal was to charge forward and kill all living beings in front. The orc army was gradually pushed away from the Dark Gate. As the army was going to collapse, a giant in full armor appeared in the center of the orcs.

The armor was eight meters in height. The giant wielded a mace. Its body emitted an aura of black mist. Wearing on the finger of its left hand was a ring radiating a dark light. This giant in armor was the Dark Lord, Sauron!

He swung the mace at the incoming Anubis warriors. A black gust swept onto the Anubis warriors and corroded the monsters away in an instant. The corrosion consumed these sand and soil bodies and the dead bodies of orcs lying on the on the ground, leaving an empty land behind. This single attack from Sauron wiped off thousands of Anubis warriors.

“This scene… relived again!” Gandalf gazed at the corroded land in the distance and exclaimed. “History wrote men and elves came together in an alliance. Three elven kings entered the war with the three great rings. Yet, Sauron stopped the alliance all by himself. The alliance was at the verge of being destroyed. If Narsil hadn’t cut the One Ring from Sauron’s hand, men and elves might not exist at this age.”

The movie characters looked toward Zheng with a sense of helplessness. He was the trump card in the plan. His strength shown in the fight against the Balrog and in the battle at Helm’s Deep was beyond the imagination of the movie characters. Thus, it was decided that Zheng was the main force of this battle, the strength to rival Sauron at the chance that he revived.

No one could have guessed that Zheng suffered such severe injuries in Gondor. He could no longer carry on this responsibility. Yet, Sauron’s power struck terror into their hearts. The movie characters could not come up with any mean to take down Sauron.

“If things have come down to this…” Aragorn sighed. “I will lead the attack. Narsil once countered Sauron and it will do so again today! What I need is to cut the One Ring off his hand. My only fear is the corrosion of his aura. It’s so powerful that I might not even be able to go near…”

Gandalf gripped his staff. “I can provide you with barrier to block off the corrosive aura. However, this barrier does not stand a chance against Sauron’s direct attacks.”

The movie characters met eyes. Gimli yelled. “Not to worry! We will all fight with you!”

Legolas nodded. “We came all the way from Rivendell. For what? To bury the Dark Lord… We have come to the final stop of our journey. We will fight until death takes us!”

Gimli sighed. “How ironic this is. A dwarf will die fighting alongside an elf.”

Legolas laughed. “What if… he dies fighting alongside a friend?”

“Friend…” Gimli’s eyes looked out of focus. He nodded heavily. “Right! He fights to death alongside his friends!”

While the movie characters exchanged words, the Army of Anubis had nearly been wiped. Half the army was lost after killing so many orcs. Sauron’s display of power quickly consumed the remaining Anubis warriors. The orc army still had tens of thousands remaining but their courage was shattered at this point. It was commanding presence of Sauron that kept them from fleeing. Their ability to participate in the battle was insignificant. Yet, Sauron exerted such a dominating pressure by himself. The full body armor walked forward. Each stride contained unstoppable force. This pressure forced the army of men to back with each step. They saw clearly how he annihilated the Army of Anubis.

Aragorn watched the army backing off. The Ents stayed outside the Dark Gate. This battle would be over if they lost their morale to Sauron… And if they failed to kill Sauron, the annihilation of men would be destined once he recouped his power!

“Fight! For our survival!” Aragorn unsheathed Anduril. A bright silvery light glittered on the battlefield. He yelled and the warhorse charged toward Sauron.

“To battle!” Gimli shouted and charged on feet. He was not riding a warhorse.

“For freedom!” Legolas took a deep breath. He stacked three arrows on his bow. The arrows aimed at the center of Sauron’s forehead.

“To bring death to our foes!” Theoden seized a lance from a troop. The lance was nearly four meters in length. He charged toward Sauron on his warhorse.

Aragorn and Anduril were the first to approach Sauron. The silvery light had the ability to disperse the black mist. The corrosive mist could not do any harm to Aragorn. Gandalf also enveloped him in a barrier. Aragorn sliced at the arm wielding the One Ring.

“How long has it been? Heir of Isildur! Do you attempt to kill me again?” Sauron’s deep voice echoed through the armor. His mace was over five meters in length. It moved extremely quick at his swing and clashed with Anduril. Clank! Aragorn felt a powerful force upon his hand. His battle Qi stood no chance against this force. He was sent flying away. The warhorse fell to the ground as blood gushed out of its mouth. The warhorse died under this attack.

Aragorn was knocked away over five meters. Gimli charged up to Sauron before he could pull the mace back. Instead of hacking at Sauron’s arm, Gimli hacked his axe at the joint of the armor. The impact brought forth a clank. He possessed strength above that of men and battle Qi and yet the strike merely left a tiny mark on the armor. The mark was centimeters deep into the armor. However, his hand was also wounded between the thumb and index finger.

“How tough it is!” Gimli exclaimed. Then he felt the pain on his abdomen as Sauron kicked him away. The kick broke through the barrier Gandalf placed on him. Fortunately, the barrier also reduced the force of the kick. Gimli was sent flying ten meters away instead of reducing the main characters of this movie by a dwarf.

The two people who charged in the front became wounded in just several seconds of the fight, while they didn’t cause any notable damage to Sauron. Sauron walked up to Aragorn in two steps and readied his attack. Just then, Legolas released his three stacked arrows at his head.

The power of the first of the three arrows grew exponentially. Its speed way surpassed the limit of what the human eye could catch. Bong! The arrow pierced through Sauron’s helm. The helm did not explode even after taking such a powerful shot. Its material was beyond anything they knew. The only damage the arrow caused was a hole the size of the arrowhead.

Sauron showed no sign of being wounded. There was not a bit of delay in his actions as he smashed the mace at the ground, where Aragorn was seemingly going to be turned into a paste. He rolled to the side and dodged the mace by a hair. The mace struck a large hole at the ground, which would have definitely taken Aragorn’s life.

Theoden also reached Sauron. Battle Qi exploded from his body. He thrusted the lance right at Sauron’s back. The lance pierced into the chest and out the other side. Without a moment of delay, Theoden drew his sword then sliced at Sauron’s arm.

However, Sauron reacted faster than he expected. The mace turned around and smashed over at Theoden before the sword reached Sauron’s arm. The sword shattered instantly. Theoden was knocked away just like what had happened to Aragorn. The difference being the mace struck right into him while Aragorn blocked it with his sword. The chance of Theoden living was slim.

“Ah!” The movie characters and the riders howled.

Aragorn climbed back up and charged at Sauron once more. His face was covered in blood. Gimli spit out a mouthful of blood then rushed behind Aragorn. Legolas stacked three arrows at his bow again.

“Lan, provide us with psyche scan… Heng and YinKong, do you see Sauron? Kill him!”

Zheng yelled from the center of the group. He no longer had the ability to participate in the battle but he could still issue commands as the leader. Coordination of members within the team was his expertise.

Heng took a deep breath. He drew his bow to full. He was only holding one arrow but the presence he exerted exceeded Legolas’s three arrow Explosive Shot. The Charged Shot was ready.

At the same time, YinKong appeared not far behind Sauron. Her steps followed a peculiar pattern as she approached Sauron, seemingly without a sound and without having any presence.

The mace struck toward Aragorn with the momentum of ten ton force. Along with it was the black mist that swept at Aragorn. However, the moment the Charged Shot fixed its target at Sauron, he pulled the mace back in front of his body with unbelievable speed. A magic circle emerged in the air between him and the arrow. The magic circle rotated. The mysterious symbols radiated with a black light.

On the far end of the battlefield, SongTian looked down with complicated feelings. His broken arm had stopped bleeding. However, smoking was coming off the wound as if it was being corroded.

“… Team China. Their potential is even higher than team Devil’s.” He said with worry.

Adam sat beside him. He was doing calculations on a piece of paper. He replied without taking his eyes off the paper. “Yes. Team China has higher potential. Their specializations complement each other. They are still weak but once they grow, they will have a talented individual in every field. Didn’t Luo YingLong said he was killed by a physical bullet from a sci-fi weapon? Even most powerful weapon, Space Compression Cannon, cannot not break through his defensive magical item and kill him in an instant unless there is a unique ability in addition to the sci-fi weapon. If this is the case, the user of this sci-fi weapon must be an individual of extremes in both strong and weak. However, as long as Zheng Zha exists in this team, he will not be held back by his weakness. Similarly, this archer is even more powerful in mid-range distance.”

“So.” Adam raised his head and said in a serious manner. “The only ones worth noting in team China are Zheng Zha and Chu Xuan. Every other member is a typical player who possesses critical flaws. However, their potential does exceed team Devil’s potential in a sense.”

SongTian sighed as he turned to Adam then to the blonde woman behind Adam. The woman was playing with a glob of light. The light changed shapes as she kneaded it like a liquid. It even tried to change by itself to please her. Luo YingLong seemed rather miserable.

“What about us?” SongTian sighed.

Adam lowered his head again. “We didn’t suffer much loss. Given you and Luo YingLong’s strength, we can quickly gain a large amount of points and rewards by heading back to our previous movies. However, these are not that useful to us anymore. We lost at ‘influence’ this movie. We no longer have the chips to go against team Devil until we can defeat team China the next time we meet. SongTian, be prepared for a long journey. You have to keep growing. Same to Luo YingLong. He might be our strongest force in the future. Stronger than you…”

SongTian turned his head away quietly. “Yes. He has taken off on a different path. If absolute power is Dao (path), we are walking the enlightenment path. We comprehend all that exist to achieve this path. His path is one of force. A force beyond all that exist, beyond the path itself. He will become the path.”

Team Celestial did not react too strongly. Adam’s plan failed in the end but no damage was done to the root of their team. None of the core members died. Even though they obtained little in terms of rewards, they also obtained information of other teams. An accurate perception of team China at their own perspective was especially important. Adam had begun his calculation ever since he obtained these information. He kept his head down at the paper and no one knew what he was calculating.

Team Celestial could still talk to each other. Team East America was left with only two people. ZhuiKong spared Zheng and his group so he went back to Xuan and retrieved two of his team members. Well, for the retrieval, he killed one of his own member right in front of Xuan and left with the head while laughing. His expression and actions sent chills right into people’s guts. Kampa and WangXia pulled out their weapons as a sign of vigilance at once. Gando was shaking from the shock and urged WangXia to take out his robot.

“Relax. I am not in a good mood… I probably won’t kill anymore until the end of this movie. Well then, let us meet again in the next team battle, team China.” ZhuiKong turned back and gave them a smile. He then left with the other team East America member, who also could barely stand from the scare yet still followed behind ZhuiKong.

Once the two people left, ZhuiKong stopped on a hillside that could see into the battlefield. He stared at Sauron until YinKong appeared. A smile crept up his face.

“Grow. Keep growing. Until we meet again, then…” He covered his face with his hand and laughed. A liquid flowed out between his fingers, just a little that could barely get noticed.

On the other end, Sauron was aimed by two bows. Neither Heng nor Legolas fired yet because the mace blocked the arm that wielded the One Ring. They could not fire even if they wanted to. The riders charged at Sauron without regard for their own lives. Their king had died in this battle. The riders’ loyalty overcame their fear of Sauron.

It was these brave riders who broke the stalemate. Sauron could not move freely as he showed worry of Heng and Legolas. He used non-physical attacks when the riders charged at him. The rotating magic circles were his best defense. They corroded any rider who ran into the circles into withered bones, and then into ashes. Yet, this appalling scene did not stop the riders. As thousands of them charged, Gandalf began his chanting.

Gandalf’s chanting concluded and several translucent barrier walls emerged in the air. The walls collided onto the magic circles. Both of these magics dissolved. The first hundred riders in the front charged at Sauron as they cried, which forced Sauron to use his mace. He raised he hand wielding the one ring. A misty cloud filled his palm. Heng and Legolas fired their arrows at the same time, both targeting the arm that wielded the ring. These two arrows hit the arm one after the other.

The arrows pierced into the black mist enveloping Sauron’s arm. The mist consumed Legolas’s arrow. The powerful corrosiveness of the mist corroded the life force and the arrow at once. Sauron merely trembled for a moment. A large portion of the mist dissipated but no damage was done to him. However, the following Charged Shot penetrated the arm at a speed beyond the eyes could capture. It then disappeared in the distance.

Heng collapsed after he fired the arrow. He no longer had the ability to participate in the rest of the battle. In contrast, Legolas’s arm was shaking but he managed to placed three more arrows on his bow and aimed them at Sauron. Sauron lost two third of his arm. It was kept on his body by a piece of the armor. The black mist extended down from his arm seemingly in an attempt to repair the armor.

The front line of the riders reached Sauron. Their spears and swords struck his body, causing ding-dongs from the armor. Yet, they were unable to damage Sauron. A black light radiated from the ring he was holding in the air. Black mist surged from the ring and consumed the riders attacking him. The mist kept expanding, reaching the riders and archers further away. Two seconds later, a thousand meter area of the battlefield was covered in the mist.

“YinKong!” Zheng was shocked then he shouted. Qi and blood energy rushed through his body. He seemed to have disregarded his injuries and wanted to charge into the battlefield because YingKong was sneaking behind Sauron. She had been inside the mist the whole time.

Before Zheng could make his next move, he saw the light behind Sauron became distorted. It was the phenomenon of uneven air density, and which was a sign of… The Shining Air Wave!

The movements in the Shining state pushed the black mist away from her body. YinKong attacked at the instant where Sauron’s attack reached its peak. The Air Wave sliced off the remaining part of Sauron’s arm. There was no time to worry about the corrosion. YinKong jumped into the black mist and grabbed the broken arm.

Then… the half awake and half dreamy feeling struck. As Zheng opened his eyes, the bright sphere of light floated in front of him. To his side, YinKong’s left arm was corroding away. Her right arm was holding onto the broken arm.