The Ultimate Evolution

Very few of the prey Aziz had set his eyes on could escape from him.

Moreover, the prey was under the ‘Mother Nature’s Gaze’ curse, so even when he was walking on solid earth, he would feel as if he was treading on a muddy swamp.

And what’s more, the prey had been severely injured by a ‘Pyroblast’ spell only a moment ago.

Three merciless bullets arrived in succession, one after another. They seemed ordinary, and there were no magic effects on them. They only had two main characteristics. The first was that they were amazingly powerful, and the second was that they were extremely fast.

While a wry smile was still plastered on MCDH’s face, the first bullet had reached him, the impact knocking him off the ground. The second came in quick succession, sending him into a state of near death, and the third blew his head into a bloody mist!

Aziz’s stony face showed no expression at all having succeeded in his attack. It was still as calm as the surface of a granite. In his opinion, MCDH was only one of the many prey he had killed, no more than that. There was nothing to be elated about.

He displayed the loot he got in the party channel, then left it in the shared party storage. After that, he disappeared again. He would never let anyone pinpoint his exact location.

MCDH had dropped a silver storyline cloak named ‘The Malfoys’ Invisibility Cloak’. It did not boost any base attributes or attack power, but it could be equipped at any time.

The cloak’s explanation was:

[ When Draco Malfoy finally discovered the secret that Harry Potter had an invisibility cloak, he blamed all his failures on it. At his persistent request, his father found him an invisibility cloak that was every bit as good as Harry’s. ]

[ Upon Use: Turn yourself invisible immediately. Even your footprints and smell will be temporarily masked, so it is very difficult to see through. Furthermore, an illusion that you can control will be left in place of yourself to confuse the enemy. However, your movement speed will be reduced by 33% until you leave the state of invisibility. ]

***

MCDH’s death was like the fall of the first domino, causing an intense chain reaction among the mixed regiment. The fierce penetration of the two MTs had destroyed their remaining self-confidence. When they met with the crazed attacks of the rest of the dark side contestants, they finally felt the gap in strength between the two sides. They lost their will to fight and routed one after another. The dark side contestants pursued after them gleefully, gaining a lot of spoils.

Sheyan and Reef would not let up. After all, their idea was to take advantage of the situation to chase after the enemy into the city, to see if they could get all the way to their main base! However, Knight proved to be a steady man. Although he had sent out 60 to 70% of his contestants, he had also redeemed a shocking number of archers.

The Minas Tirith defenders were now frightened. They now knew what a monster Sheyan was. Therefore, the moment Party Ace got close to the city, arrows poured down in large amount. However, Party Ace, who had always taken a cautious approach so far, suddenly did a one-eighty. Sheyan led the party to launch a fierce attack on the city. They lasted for more than ten minutes before they were forced to retreat. After a while, they launched another assault on the city. Fortunately, Knight had not relaxed in the slightest, and the defenders managed to repel them again, successfully defending the city.

Jax snorted coldly when he heard of Party Ace’s behaviour.

“It turns out that this Seaman isn’t anything special after all. All brawns and no brains! It’s obvious that Knight is prepared for something like this. He’s able to make Party Ace retreat with their tail between their legs with only the archers he redeemed. He must have a plethora of other methods prepared that he hasn’t even used yet. And yet, that guy continues to charge at the city. I think it’s obvious that he’s just a muscle-head.”

Percival and Rak’shiri were also feeling quite surprised.

“Is there something wrong with Seaman’s brain? Why is he wasting his party’s combat strength at such a time?? And why are Aziz and Reef going crazy with him??! We’re under so much pressure here against the Rohirrim cavalry. Why don’t they come and share the burden with us instead? Damn it, how can the Rohirrim cavalry be so tough?”

When Party Ace retreated, it signified the end of the intense, spectacular round of counterattack. Almost all the dark side contestants went back to the bitter battle with the Rohirrim cavalry. Party Ace also did the same quietly. However, when the rest of the contestants looked at them, there was now a hint of respect in their eyes.

This was a matter of course. There were no fools among those qualified to join this war. Any party who could still charge at the enemy under that kind of situation and even managed to cause so much chaos in the enemy formation was worthy of respect! The battlefield was cruel, but it had also washed away the sand to reveal the gold. No one could say for sure that Sheyan and Reef were the strongest MTs in this war, but they were almost certainly the only pair of MTs who would fight alongside each other, fully trusted each other, and would die fighting for each other in this war! It was almost impossible to find another pair that even came close.

The situation of the war was getting more dire. No one dared to say for sure that they would not find themselves in a dangerous situation later. If they could build up a good relationship with Party Ace now, perhaps Reef’s ‘Holy Grasp’ could save their life in the near future.

As the battle got more and more intense, casualties started to gradually appear. Everyone from the dark side protected Gothmog and the Witch-King of Angmar with everything they had, and they succeeded, but…. the Rohan princess, Éowyn, still exploded with great power in the end! This kind of outburst of potential by storyline characters was unstoppable, just like the menstruation that would inevitably arrive every month. It might not arrive on Monday or Tuesday, but it would definitely be there come Friday or Saturday; it could only be postponed, not suppressed!

And so, although the Witch-King of Angmar was safe and sound, two other Ringwraiths met their demise at the hands of the Rohirrim king’s goddaughter. Their death was truly gruesome. Every part of their armour was bent and deformed like it was made of cardboard, and as if it had been kneaded by a pair of invisible giant hands. In the end, by the time a wisp of black smoke drifted out of the armours, the armours had been crushed into lumps of scrap metal the size of a pumpkin.

Therefore, the end result of the dark side contestants’ careful planning was to trade two for one.

They traded the lives of two Ringwraiths for the life of the Witch-King of Angmar. Strictly speaking, the Witch-King’s combat power was only equivalent to one and a half Ringwraiths at most, so this trade was, in fact, a loss. Moreover, the King of Rohan, who should have died in the hands of the Witch-King, had survived.

His legs were crippled, so he probably could take no more part in the war, but he had survived, and that had a huge impact on the morale of the Rohirrim cavalry. If King Theoden had died, and Éowyn had fallen unconscious, the morale of the Rohirrim cavalry would probably plummet by half. But now, King Theoden was alive, and Éowyn was also conscious, so the morale of the Rohirrim cavalry would continue to rise instead!

During this epic battle, no one noticed something that had taken place within Party Ace.

Sheyan halted his steps. He first stared at Reef, then at Zi. The calmness of farewell filled his eyes, as well as a defiant arrogance. He then slowly disappeared among the crowd, leaving behind only a few lingering words.

“My ‘Hedgehog’ milestone has been completed when we stormed Minas Tirith just now. The time is ripe to carry out the plan.”

“After I leave, you guys must work hard to farm for contributions points. We will operate according to the plan. Remember, prioritise on redeeming the items we agreed on.”

“My task this time is hard, but for me personally, the risk isn’t that big. You guys, on the other hand, must take good care of yourselves!”

“…”

Thirty seconds later, Jax, the leader of the Blu-ray Party, received the news of Sheyan’s disappearance. He was understandably shocked.

“What did you say? Seaman has suddenly disappeared on the battlefield? Did he leave the party or was he killed?”

“He just suddenly disappeared. He was standing right next to Reef one moment and the next, he’s gone, like he’s vanished into thin air.”

“Are you kidding me?! What’s the idiot trying to do? Damn it, our Oliphaunt reinforcements are arriving soon, aren’t they? Has he received news and gone to rescue the reinforcements? Oh right, what about the rest of his party? ”

“No one can pinpoint Aziz’s location, but besides him, all of them are still here. According to the latest intel we received, one of the Trolls redeemed by Party Ace has died in battle, but the other two have evolved. One of them can play a wardrum that buffs up the combat power of his allies and weakens the combat power of his enemies. The other one has evolved into a surprisingly powerful Axe Slinger capable of long-range attacks. He has comparable range to archers, and he can throw two axes at the same time.”

“So Seaman is the only one who’s left the team… In that case, don’t worry about him. With his party here, he can’t run far. We just need to keep a close eye on the rest of Party Ace. What we need to focus on are the Oliphaunt reinforcements that will be arriving from the south soon. The next battle will decide whether we’ll be able to take Minas Tirith.”

***

Sheyan had indeed left the battlefield. He had improvised and used ‘The Malfoys’ Invisibility Cloak’ dropped by MCDH. That was how he could leave without anyone noticing. It was much better than a disguise.

But of course, the item was just something that made his operation much more convenient. Even without it, Sheyan’s still had other ways. It was not crucial to his plan.

Sheyan was moving away from the battlefield. His destination was the longest river on Middle Earth, Anduin!

His target was the last round of reinforcements sent by the Dark Lord – the Corsairs of Umbar, the pirates from the coasts of Gondor!!

(The Corsairs of Umbar were a race of Men, specifically corrupted Númenóreans, living in Middle-earth, known for their piracy of ships along the coasts of Gondor – https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Corsairs_of_Umbar)

The fleet of the Corsairs of Umbar consisted of about 50 large ships and numerous smaller ones. These pirates mainly used dhows and traditional sailing ships that had large triangular sails. Because they had to attack the harbour city of Pelargir first, they were the last army host to reach Minas Tirith.

Their ending was also the most tragic. When they sailed along the Anduin River, they unfortunately encountered Gimli, Legolas, and the protagonist, Aragorn. They even laughed at the trio mockingly. After that, the Army of the Dead swarmed in and destroyed them, then made use of their ships to reach Minas Tirith more quickly.