I didn't particularly plan to rescue these people. In a little while, Aragorn would free them all anyway. That would make for a better story. So I left them as they were and returned to Minas Tirith.
Minas Tirith was in the middle of cleaning up after the war. Everywhere, they were gathering and burning the Orc corpses, while the human bodies were being collected separately, families were being identified, and funerals were being held. Even though it was an open plain with good air circulation, the sll of burning bodies perated everything.
'Wow… what are they going to do with those giant Mûmakil…'
The Mûmakil had been a problem during the battle because of their size, but disposing of them seed no ordinary task either.
'When a horse dies, at least you can eat it… No, wait, can you eat Mûmakil?'
I thought for a mont, then shook my head. Co to think of it, Sauron's side didn't just raise animals normally. According to the lore, they fed tortured and corrupted at to raise the fell beasts the Nazgûl rode, so who knows what they fed the Mûmakil.
As I walked around watching the body disposal, Gandalf spotted and approached.
"You're back. I saw you flying off in a hurry. Did sothing happen to Frodo?"
"It wasn't a contact from Frodo. Sauron mobilized Balrogs to attack Rivendell. I was stopping that and coming back."
At that, Gandalf seed quite shocked.
"What??? Is that true? Are Elrond and the Elves alright?"
"I arrived quickly, saved everyone, and moved them to safety."
At that, Gandalf sighed in relief. "Huh… That's a relief."
"Instead, Rivendell is half-destroyed. I suspect Sauron did it to divert my attention."
"You're right. They advanced as soon as you left."
Just then, Aragorn and his party ca over and greeted .
"Brother, long ti no see."
"Long ti no see."
Aragorn and I clasped hands and exchanged greetings.
"I don't see Boromir. Is he in Minas Tirith?"
When Aragorn asked about Boromir, Gandalf told them everything that had happened. As they listened, Aragorn's party's expressions grew very dark.
"No…"
"There was nothing we could do."
Aragorn's party mourned Boromir's fate greatly.
Once the post-war cleanup was sowhat settled, we moved into Minas Tirith, ate, rested briefly, then gathered again for a council. The hobbits rry and Pippin attended, as well as Théoden of Rohan, Théodred, Éor, and Éowyn. Éowyn had apparently secretly participated in the battle and been caught by King Théoden. But since he brought her to the council, it seed King Théoden now acknowledged her.
"We must help Frodo."
Aragorn strongly argued that they should march to the Black Gate to divert Sauron's attention to themselves. King Théoden opposed.
"Both Gondor and Rohan are exhausted from the great battle. And Mordor's forces are still nurous. There are also the Balrogs to consider."
"But if we don't destroy the Ring this ti, the sa events will repeat themselves."
Their opinions wouldn't easily converge, and they remained at odds. Regardless, I kept tracking Frodo's location. After crossing into Mordor, Frodo hadn't been moving very quickly. With so many Orcs around, it seed the path to Mount Doom was not easy.
The council eventually decided to divert Sauron's attention, with Gandalf and Éowyn siding with Aragorn.
'It's going just like the original story, after all.'
I certainly got the feeling that the world of The Lord of the Rings moves according to a divine plan. Of course, I couldn't prove it. It was just a hunch. If that were true, my very presence in this world might not be welco. To anyone, I'm a foreign substance, a bomb-like existence that could break the world's rules at any ti. But judging from before, they didn't seem hostile, so as long as I didn't cross the line, they seed willing to overlook to so extent.
'I'm not sure about the Ring, though.'
Just then, Gandalf ca to and asked, "What will you do?"
"I'll just wait here for Frodo's contact."
Gandalf thought for a mont, then spoke. He too seed to think it was better for to wait here and respond quickly if Frodo failed.
"Hmm… Yes, that would be best."
I called Aragorn over. I handed him the shield that Boromir had returned to .
"Boromir returned this to . Take it. He'll be with you."
"Understood."
Aragorn took the shield and stared at it for a long ti. Then Legolas, Gimli, rry, and Pippin also ca over, silently touching the shield one by one, mourning Boromir.
The next day, I watched from my lodging as the soldiers of Minas Tirith and Rohan departed for the Morannon (the Black Gate). The Rohan soldiers had diminished considerably—many seed to have been killed or wounded by the Mûmakil.
'Rohan fought too recklessly.'
At any rate, the distance from here to the Morannon was considerable, so it would take several days. I stayed leisurely in my lodging, waiting for Frodo to reach Mount Doom. The als were good—now that they knew I was a dragon, they seed to take good care of . But it wasn't particularly delicious.
Two days after Aragorn's allied force left, Frodo's movent in Mordor picked up speed. It seed they had succeeded in drawing Sauron's attention, just as Aragorn intended.
Several days passed, and finally Frodo reached the 'Sammath Naur' inside Mount Doom. I activated Stealth and teleported to Mount Doom. Frodo was standing at the edge of a cliff inside the Sammath Naur, and Sam shouted from the entrance.
"Frodo!!"
"I'm here, Sam."
"Destroy it!"
Hearing Sam's shout, Frodo lifted the Ring hanging around his neck and looked at it.
"Frodo!! Hurry! Throw it into the fire!!"
When Frodo hesitated, Sam shouted again. "Why are you hesitating? Just throw it!"
Frodo stared at the Ring for a long ti, then turned back toward Sam and said to him, "The Ring is mine!"
Frodo said those words and tried to put the Ring on his finger. Sam looked at Frodo in despair.
"No…"
Just then, I appeared, quickly snatched the Ring from Frodo's hand, and said to them, "This is as far as you go."
"Gasp! Lord Arkadzin!"
Startled by my sudden appearance and my snatching of Frodo's Ring, they seed extrely flustered. I first put the Ring into my inventory, then took out a replica I had made beforehand and threw it straight into the lava. Then Gollum, who had been hiding, suddenly leaped out and jumped off the cliff, desperately trying to catch the Ring.
"No!!"
The ridiculous thing was that Frodo, not in his right mind, tried to jump too, but I caught him. Then Sam also ca and restrained Frodo.
"Frodo, snap out of it!!"
Sam shook Frodo desperately, trying to bring him to his senses. Gollum had fallen into the lava with the replica Ring and had already vanished.
Just then, lava suddenly began erupting from Mount Doom.
'Huh? I haven't used the [Penalty Removal Ticket] on the Ring or anything yet. Why is this happening?'
I first picked up Frodo and Sam and quickly got outside. Then what I saw was Sauron's tower, 'Barad-dûr,' collapsing.
'Could it be… that because the inventory is a different dinsion, the connection to Sauron was severed, and that caused this?'
It was truly absurd. If I had just put the One Ring into my inventory once, all of this would have been resolved.
'Wow… This is really ridiculous…'
I first carried the two of them to a safe-looking spot at the bottom of the mountain, took out a water canteen from my inventory, and handed it to them. Frodo and Sam took the canteen and began gulping down the water.
"Sam… It's over now."
"Yes. It's over."
Frodo seed to have co to his senses now, so I said to them, "Let's get out of here first."
"Okay."
I imdiately transford into my dragon form, picked them up, crossed the Ephel Dúath, and headed for Minas Tirith. As a first asure, I made so porridge and fed them, then called a magical bird and sent word to Gandalf. If I didn't send word, he would call the eagles and search for Frodo and Sam for a long ti. After eating, Frodo and Sam lay down on beds and fell asleep imdiately.
Several days passed, and the allied army returned to Minas Tirith. Aragorn's party rushed to see Sam and Frodo. But Frodo and Sam were so exhausted that they couldn't get up and remained in bed.
I prepared to leave.
"Where are you going?" Gandalf asked.
I answered, "The Grey Havens. I moved the Dragon Tower there. You'll co, right?"
"Yes, I'll go there as soon as my business here is finished."
"Then I'll go ahead and wait."
Now that his business in Middle-earth was over, Gandalf also planned to depart for Valinor. Aragorn's party ca to say goodbye.
"Brother, thank you for everything. I'll never forget your help."
"Likewise. I was glad to have a good younger brother."
Legolas and Gimli also ca to say goodbye.
"Lord Arkadzin, thank you for your help. Your deeds will be rembered as legends."
"I'll never forget Dragon Mister's delicious cooking."
It seed nothing much stuck in Gimli's mory besides my cooking. Anyway, I also said goodbye to rry and Pippin.
"Lord Arkadzin, I will surely pass down a song about you for generations."
'That won't be necessary…'
With that, I finished my goodbyes, transford into a dragon, and left Minas Tirith. I didn't go straight to the Grey Havens—I wanted to catch the remaining Balrogs. I landed in a quiet place, returned to human form, took out [Jack Sparrow's Compass] from my inventory, and began searching for Balrogs.
The compass was spinning in the Misty Mountains, so it seed they were gathered in the Mines of Moria. I had wondered why Rivendell, which was far from Mordor, was suddenly attacked—now it made sense: since they were gathered in Moria, it wouldn't have taken long to attack Rivendell, which wasn't far away.
"You bastards, I've caught you."
I entered the Mines of Moria, found the Balrogs, and imdiately cut them down. There was no one watching here, so I didn't need to hide my power or hold back.
Slice!
"Kraaah!"
Thud!
In the Mines of Moria, five Balrogs were hiding. I cut down every single one and turned them all into Shadow Soldiers. With this, the total number of Balrogs that had beco Shadow Soldiers was eleven.
I left the Mines of Moria and looked for any more hiding Balrogs, but there were only those sleeping deep underground, not participating in this war. So I didn't catch any more, teleported to the Grey Havens, and told Arwen and Elrond about everything that had happened.
"At last, peace has co to this land as well. You've worked hard."
Both Elrond and Arwen were overjoyed.
A month passed. Galadriel and the Elves of Lothlórien ca to the Grey Havens to depart for Valinor. They stayed at the port, divided into groups, and began sailing to Valinor. The Elves in the Dragon Tower also left with them, so the only ones remaining were Elrond, Arwen, , and Galadriel. So Galadriel also stayed with us in the Dragon Tower, waiting for Gandalf.
One day, while talking about Gandalf, I thought of Saruman and decided to go retrieve Saruman's belongings from Isengard.
"I forgot to bring Saruman's things. I'll go get them."
"We'll wait. Take care."
I imdiately transford into my dragon form, flew to Isengard, scooped up the entire Isengard into my inventory, and returned to the Grey Havens. Saruman would be pleased to see his tower again.
Several more days passed, and Gandalf and the hobbits arrived at the port. Among the hobbits was a familiar face: Bilbo Baggins, now old and being supported by the other hobbits as he walked.
"Long ti no see, Bilbo."
"Long ti no see, Arkadzin. Like Gandalf, you haven't changed at all."
Bilbo smiled and greeted . It had truly been a long ti since I'd seen Bilbo. I had visited the Shire once more with Arwen long ago and t Bilbo—that was already thirty years ago.
'Living among Elves certainly distorts one's sense of ti.'
In the original story, they departed imdiately upon arrival, but we decided to spend a day in the Dragon Tower before leaving. The hobbits asked because they wanted to taste my cooking one last ti. So that day, I put in so extra care and prepared a al for them.
"Wow~ As expected, Lord Arkadzin's cooking is delicious."
"Yeah, it's the best!"
When the hobbits praised my cooking, Galadriel also nodded and said, "I too was amazed when I ate the food in the Dragon Tower. I've never had such delicious food before."
Then Gandalf added, "Indeed. You have no idea how fortunate I am that Arkadzin is coming with us to Valinor. I can mooch off him so more."
Just then I said, "I'm going into business with Arwen. You'll have to buy it."
"What? Is that true?"
"Yes. We're opening a bakery."
"Oh dear… Well, I never…"
At Gandalf's lant, everyone burst into laughter. After that, the hobbits told stories of what happened after I left, including Aragorn's coronation, his marriage to Éowyn, and how Sam was doing well with a woman back in the Shire. Everyone listened with interest, and the day passed like that.
The next day, we said goodbye to the hobbits, packed the Dragon Tower into my inventory, boarded a ship, and set sail for Valinor. One difference from the original story was that Frodo did not co with us. Since he hadn't been wounded by the Nazgûl, he had no physical ailnts, and he had no reason to leave. So of the hobbits, only Bilbo Baggins boarded the ship and traveled to Valinor.
There were no particular events during the voyage. It was just a bit boring because it took so long. After sailing for over a month, suddenly the sound of singing ca from sowhere. The Elves took their places and began singing along. Bilbo and I just stood there, as we had never heard the song before.
Then a bright light began to shine down on us.
'My, they certainly go all out for immigration inspection.'
We followed the light and entered Valinor. When we arrived at the port, we saw the Elves who had arrived earlier, along with Saruman, waiting for us. Saruman seed to have been given a new body.
"Welco. We've been waiting."
Saruman greeted us warmly, and Gandalf, tears in his eyes, grasped Saruman's hand.
"At last I see you again."
"Oh, really. What are you doing at your age? Stop crying."
I too greeted Saruman.
"Old friend, long ti no see."
"Arkadzin, we must continue our unfinished research."
"Yes, we must."
We settled near Tirion, the capital of Eldamar, where the Elves of Valinor lived, and set up the Dragon Tower. I wondered if taking this thing out and installing it would cause problems, but they didn't seem to mind. Next to it, I also set up Isengard. Saruman was extrely grateful, saying all his research materials were there.
Arwen and I built a building near the tower and, as promised, opened a bakery. At first, there were few custors, but gradually word spread, and not only Elves but even the Ainur ca to enjoy our bread and tea, making it a famous spot. Of course, I also continued magical research with Gandalf and Saruman.
And between Arwen and , two children were born—both sons. We nad the firstborn 'Elladan' and the second 'Aire'. Their race, of course, was Elven. Elrond doted on them imnsely. I trained them thoroughly in magic and swordsmanship, passing on abilities to them as well. I could just leave, but they might have to fight Morgoth in the future.
However, Aire, my second son, showed greater interest in baking. In the end, after giving him only moderate training, I taught him baking and let him help at the bakery. I was a little worried about the future, but there is no overcoming a child's will, so I couldn't keep forcing him.
Before I knew it, another fifty years had passed in the blink of an eye while I was raising my sons. Elladan, my firstborn, although still very young by Elven standards, had reached a level in magic and swordsmanship that no one but could match. Aire, my second, had started making truly delicious bread.
I had also gained sothing. Teaching the children and continuing magical research had raised my [Teacher] ability to EX, and my [Mana Efficiency] ability to S. I also acquired a new ability: [(S) Oga Magic].
[Ability Description]
[(EX) Teacher]
The learning and enlightennt of the subject being taught are accelerated. One ability can be passed on to the student in a degraded version.
[(S) Mana Efficiency]
Mana used in abilities, etc., is reduced by 50%.
[(S) Oga Magic]
The completion and end of all magic.
Allows the creation or understanding of magic of S-rank or below. (All magic of S-rank or below is integrated.)
The [Teacher] ability's transfer cooldown was now gone. And the newly acquired [Oga Magic] ability was truly overpowered. Through my magical research, I had analyzed and studied the magic I had obtained from various worlds, and this ability was the result.
What made this ability special was that all magic and sorcery of S-rank or below were integrated into a single ability, and whenever Saruman or Gandalf created new magic, I could understand it imdiately. Just as the description said: "The completion and end of all magic."
'All those years of research paid off.'
However, curses, psychic abilities, and the like were not integrated. Those abilities seed to belong to completely different categories. Interestingly, [(S) Life Magic] was also not integrated—probably because it was original magic from the "Playful Life" world.
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