Sothing interesting happened in Minas Tirith. The nobles who had been hiding ca out again and, acting like they were in charge, started giving various orders to the soldiers. And not just any soldiers—but the ones who had been fighting hard for a long ti and were now resting because they finally had a brief mont.
'Wow, really. Whether modern tis or here, opportunists are everywhere.'
Judging by the situation, since this was a great battle that would go down in history, they probably wanted to do sothing themselves and leave their nas behind. Gandalf wasn't the type to sit back and watch that. He gave those trashy nobles a furious beat-down (with his staff).
Thwack thwack thwack!
"Ah! Soldier! Protect ! Stop this mad wizard!"
The nobles scread and asked the soldiers for help, but the soldiers, as if they couldn't hear a thing, ignored them and either went about their business or just sat down and rested.
I was watching this amusingly when suddenly I got a signal from my Nano Buckle. It wasn't from Frodo—it was from Arwen.
'Huh? What's going on?'
With many eyes around, I had no choice but to jump into the air, transform into my dragon form, and fly quickly toward Arwen. When I reached a deserted spot, I teleported to Rivendell. As soon as I arrived, the first thing I saw was Rivendell, half-destroyed and burning.
I quickly moved toward the direction the signal was coming from. The signal originated from a forest north of Rivendell, not far from it. There, I saw Elves being chased by two Balrogs.
'You bastards!'
I imdiately pinned down one Balrog, bit its head, and tore it off.
Crunch!
Then I pounced on the Balrog next to it, grabbed its head with my front paw, and crushed it with force.
Crackle!
Having quickly subdued those two, I looked over to where the Elves were and saw Arwen standing in front, waving her hand. Fortunately, Arwen seed safe. I transford into my human form and went to Arwen.
"I'm so glad you're safe."
At my words, Arwen hugged , tears streaming down her face. "I missed you."
I patted Arwen on the back as she clung to .
"Where is Elrond?"
"Father was injured holding off the Balrogs, but thankfully not seriously."
"Really? I'll take a look."
I moved to where the Elves were gathered to find Elrond. There, I saw Elrond being supported by other Elves. Apart from limping slightly, just as Arwen said, he didn't seem badly hurt.
"Thank goodness. I was really in the dark until my son-in-law arrived so quickly."
"I'm glad you're safe."
I imdiately healed Elrond's leg with [Heal], then returned to Rivendell with the Elves and, together with Arwen, used water magic to extinguish the fires.
"They might attack again, so I think it would be best to move your residence to the Grey Havens."
Rivendell was quite damaged from the Balrogs' attack, but it still seed habitable. However, there was no knowing when another attack might co.
"Hmm… That would be wise."
Accepting my suggestion, Elrond packed up with the Elves. Arwen and I helped with the work.
After that, I transford into my dragon form, loaded all the Elves, along with Elrond and Arwen, onto my back, and flew to the Grey Havens. Since most of the Elves of Rivendell had already departed for Valinor (the Undying Lands), their numbers were small, so carrying everyone was possible.
I moved a bit faster this ti because Frodo might contact urgently, so I couldn't help it. I used magic to block the wind so the Elves wouldn't be uncomfortable, and flew at maximum speed. Within half a day, I was able to cross the Shire and reach the Grey Havens.
Upon arriving at the Grey Havens, I first installed the Dragon Tower near the port and filled the refrigerated warehouse with ingredients. It was enough food for the Elves to last several months. They had left in a hurry, and since Rivendell was largely destroyed, they had hardly any food—only so lembas bread—so I needed to provide for them.
Elrond and Arwen had stayed in the Dragon Tower for a long ti, so they knew the interior well. They took charge of the Elves, assigned them places to stay in the Dragon Tower, and taught them how to use the modern facilities. Of course, they could have just stayed at the port, but there weren't many of them, and I judged that staying in the sturdy, well-stocked Dragon Tower would be better.
Once things were sowhat settled, I sat with Arwen and Elrond in the living room and talked about what had happened. They seed to have heard about the events at Helm's Deep from Aragorn when he brought them 'Andúril' (the reforged Narsil).
"Sauron even summoned dragons…"
"I killed all the dragons that attacked Minas Tirith, but there may be more. Also, we don't know how many Balrogs remain, so be careful."
Elrond sighed and continued, "Huh… Without you, what would have beco of Middle-earth… I suspect this may be the will of the gods."
Elrond seed to misunderstand that all of this was the arrangent of the divine. I couldn't bring myself to tell him that Sauron had prepared that much precisely because of .
"Ahem… Anyway, I have to go back because the wizards asked to. If the Grey Havens are attacked, leave without delay for Valinor."
"Understood. Please take care of yourself."
I gave Arwen another signal ring, said goodbye, then transford into my dragon form. After traveling so distance, I returned to human form in a deserted place and teleported to the spot where I had fought the Balrogs. Then I imdiately turned the Balrog corpses into Shadow Soldiers and ordered them to stick their heads into the ground. The so-called "ground bombing."
"You bastards, how dare you try to touch my wife!?"
Thud thud!
I kicked the Balrogs' heads and vented my anger by harassing them for an hour.
"Be good from now on."
"Kuwoeok!"
"Good. Get in."
Upon receiving my command, the Balrogs quickly disappeared into the shadows. After that, I imdiately teleported back to Minas Tirith.
The first thing I saw upon arriving was the Orcs attacking Minas Tirith again. Judging by the situation, those bastards had intentionally sent Balrogs to attack Rivendell to divert my attention. I suspect they advanced and attacked as soon as I left Minas Tirith.
'How despicable.'
My heart wanted to burn all of them in front of , but if I did that, I would destroy the original story, and if things went wrong, even 'Ilúvatar' might get involved.
While I was pondering this, suddenly the sound of horns ca from the northern plains of Minas Tirith. I looked in that direction and saw countless soldiers on horseback appearing over the horizon. Finally, the Rohirrim reinforcents had arrived.
The Orcs hurriedly moved their spear units to form a formation to counter them. Just then, a figure erged in front of the Rohan army and gave orders to the commanders at the forefront. It seed to be King Théoden. King Théoden shouted to his soldiers.
"Riders of Théoden! Break the enemy's spears, shatter their shields! Today is the day of a great battle and a great victory! Annihilate the enemy before the sun rises!"
At King Théoden's shout, the Rohan soldiers leveled their spears forward, ready to charge. The Orc units also raised their spears in response.
"Prepare to charge!! Prepare to charge!!"
King Théoden rode his horse along the front of his soldiers, tapping their leveled spears with his sword and boosting their morale.
"Destroy the hordes of evil utterly! Death to the enemy!!"
Then the soldiers also shouted after King Théoden.
"Death!!!"
"Death!!!"
King Théoden turned his horse, took his position, and shouted.
"Sons of Rohan!"
With that cry as the signal, the horns blew, and King Théoden charged forward. The Rohan soldiers also raised their war cries and began to charge after their king.
"Charge!!!"
The sight of the massive Rohirrim army thundering across the ground on horseback was truly spectacular. It was worthy of being called the most famous scene in The Lord of the Rings. Seeing it in person, the emotion was indescribable.
"Wow… to think I'd see this with my own eyes…"
The Rohan army was smaller in number than the Orc army, but their montum was trendous. The Orcs, overwheld by that montum, began to step backward. The Orcs shot arrows frantically, but their charge did not falter at all.
When the Rohan army began to sweep through the Orc formation, the Orcs were mowed down as if by a gigantic wave. Pushing hard for a good while, the Orcs lost their will to fight and, without exception, all fled toward Osgiliath.
The Rohirrim pursued the fleeing Orcs, stabbing and killing them with spears or swords. The Orcs fleeing on foot were, quite literally, easy prey for the mounted Rohirrim.
As they were chasing and cutting down the Orcs, several Mûmakil—gigantic, elephant-like creatures—began advancing from the Osgiliath side. The Mûmakil were the ultimate war beasts of the Haradrim (Southrons). They were colossal elephants, asuring as much as 15 ters in height. On their backs were wooden tower-like structures, large enough to carry multiple soldiers.
Seeing this, King Théoden gathered his soldiers and began reforming ranks. Likely, just as in the original story, he intended to charge again to stop the Mûmakil.
"If he does that, the casualties will be severe…"
In my opinion, retreating to Minas Tirith for now and fighting using the walls would reduce casualties, but King Théoden did not do that. As soon as his formation was set, he charged at the Mûmakil.
The Mûmakil trampled the charging Rohan soldiers and swept them aside by swinging their tusks left and right. Because of their massive size, every ti they swung their tusks, many soldiers were flung away, inflicting heavy damage. Additionally, the Haradrim in the structures on the Mûmakils' backs shot arrows down at them.
The Rohan soldiers shot arrows too, trying to stop them, but the Mûmakils' skin was so thick that it had little effect. So their only option was to throw spears or concentrate attacks on the creatures' legs, managing to kill a few with great difficulty. While they were doing that, just as I had expected, the casualties among the soldiers were mounting terribly.
When the Rohirrim's losses beca too great, I thought about helping them and took out my greatbow. But before I could shoot, the gates of Minas Tirith opened, and unlike the original story, Gandalf was seen leading his soldiers out to help Rohan. It was probably possible because Minas Tirith's casualties had been relatively light.
Gandalf raised his staff high and used magic to shoot a powerful light into the Mûmakils' eyes, blinding them. The startled Mûmakils collided with other Mûmakils beside them and fell, and the Minas Tirith army subdued them with arrows and spears.
Gandalf didn't stop there. He used fire magic and ice magic to hinder the Mûmakils' movent or frighten them, making it easier for his allied soldiers to subdue the creatures. Following his lead, the soldiers of Minas Tirith began bravely fighting the Mûmakils.
Just then, the Nazgûl suddenly appeared and began targeting Gandalf. In the original story, they targeted King Théoden, but here, apparently judging Gandalf as the more dangerous enemy, they concentrated their assault on him.
"I need to help with this."
I raised my greatbow and infused an arrow with mana. Since the Nazgûl were wraiths, normal attacks didn't work on them.
Pssh~!!
Thwack!!
"Kyeeek!!"
My arrow flew swiftly, struck a Nazgûl or fell beast, and knocked it from the sky. Deciding they couldn't continue, the Nazgûl began to flee again.
"Damn, those bastards are really good at running away."
Just as the Nazgûl fled, a green wave was seen rippling from the Osgiliath side, washing over the enemy. It seed Aragorn had arrived with the Army of the Dead.
Because the Army of the Dead were ghosts, their way of fighting was a bit unusual—they floated and flew about, attacking the Orcs. Moreover, they attacked in large swarms, which made the sight even more grotesque.
I watched for a while and also spotted Aragorn's party fighting hard. Seeing Legolas shooting explosive arrows, Aragorn wielding a lightning sword, and Gimli smashing Orc skulls with his axe, I, who had made the weapons, felt quite proud.
"The war here is over too."
The war in Morannon still remained, but since I had to go find the Ring, I wouldn't see that battle. For , this was the last.
While the battle was winding down, I checked Frodo's location. Frodo had crossed the Ephel Dúath, passed the Tower of Cirith Ungol, and was heading north. It seed it would still take so ti to reach Mount Doom.
So, in order to move quickly once Frodo reached Mount Doom, I used Stealth, crossed the Ephel Dúath, teleported to Mount Doom, and went inside through the door leading to the Sammath Naur to check the interior in advance. The reason for this was that my [Teleportation] ability only allowed to teleport to places I had already visited. In other words, a preliminary site visit.
And while I was there, I also went outside and looked at 'Barad-dûr,' where Sauron's Eye was located. Barad-dûr was the fortress and tower that Sauron built using the One Ring—a place that would lose its power and collapse along with the Ring if the Ring was destroyed.
I just looked around the outside of Barad-dûr from nearby; I didn't actually go inside. Even if I went in, there would be nothing but Orcs, so I didn't really want to enter.
While exploring Mordor like that, I discovered a peculiar place: a patch of land covered in green that seed entirely out of place for a force of evil. I went over to take a look.
'Ah~ this is Nurn.'
Nurn was a region with a large inland lake in the middle. Thanks to the moisture from the inland lake and the volcanic ash that blew in from Mount Doom, the land was extrely fertile. So they used slaves to farm, producing food to feed the Orcs and Trolls.
I walked through the farmlands of Nurn. Almost all the slaves were humans, with occasional Elves as well. I presud they had been abducted from various parts of Middle-earth or were prisoners of war. Interestingly, among the human slaves, there were also Easterlings and Southrons—it seed if they were short on slaves, they even brought in humans who were nominally their allies. But Orcs were only present as overseers; there were no Orc slaves.
'Sauron's love for Orcs, really...'
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