The Ultimate Evolution

“Who are you? Why do you know so much?” The question was like a spike, stabbing deep into the Mouth of Sauron’s heart.

“Where I come from, there used to be a man who did not hesitate to break his own arm in order to gain the enemy’s trust. He then made use of that trust to destroy everything that could be destroyed,” Sheyan stared at him and said slowly, one word at a time. “Like you said before, if the ditches under the Court of the Fountain are damaged, even by only a little, more than half of all the people here will die. Then how do I know there’s nothing under the White Tower that can kill us all when it’s detonated? It must feel amazing to see the enemy fall to the bottom when they’re so close to reaching the top, right?”

The Mouth of Sauron remained silent. Sheyan’s words had isolated him from the rest of the people. After a while, he asked flatly, “You don’t even trust in the power of Lord Sauron?”

“Of course I trust Lord Sauron, but that doesn’t mean everyone under him is loyal!” Sheyan retorted sharply. “Besides, I believe in myself more than anything.”

He turned to Party Ace and said, “Aziz and I will stay here, while the rest of you retreat to the fourth wall immediately! Take half the hired troops with you. Those inside the White Tower are already at the end of their wits; why do we have so many people here? To give the enemy a chance to surround us all?!”

Everyone felt that Sheyan’s words were reasonable. The terrain inside Minas Tirith was really dangerous. The enemy only needed to block off the main roads, and the dark side contestants would be trapped. Where could they escape to? Considering this, more was not necessarily better in this operation. If they were surrounded, it would be really bad.

After a large number of people had left, leaving the elites behind, Sheyan said, “Now, Mr. Messenger, tell me your identity and origin. This is not a request.”

The Mouth of Sauron remained motionless for a while. He then took off his mask. The face he revealed gave everyone a shock, because it looked very similar to the deceased Aragorn, except that a horrible scar stretched across his cheek. The colour of the Mouth of Sauron’s skin was unlike the human skin at all, but rather green like tree bark. There was even some moss on it.

“I’m a half-dead creature, wandering on the edge between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Because I was converted only after I’ve taken my last breath, I do not possess terrifying powers like the Ringwraiths, and I’ve only kept the memories that I’m allowed to keep. My name should have been Dars Telcontar, a descendant of Isildur! By the family hierarchy, I should be Aragorn’s uncle!”

“The reason why I know this damn city so well is because I’ve lived here! Ecthelion II, the previous Steward of Gondor and father to the current Steward, found me when I was young. He told me that he would return me to the ruling seat of Gondor when I reached adulthood, but…when he gave me the crown and the scepter, but also gave me poison!”

“That doesn’t make sense,” interrupted Sheyan with a frown. “If Ecthelion had no intention of returning you to the throne, why would he raise you and give you access to these secrets? Why didn’t he just kill you when he found you?”

The Mouth of Sauron sneered. “That’s because he has two plans prepared. Do you know that the current Steward, Denethor II, was only born when Ecthelion was 187 years old? He was already an old man when he finally gets an heir.”

“Ecthelion had two plans. If he got no heir in his lifetime, he would return the throne to the royal house. This way, his political opponents would get not benefits, while he would leave behind a shining legacy! But if he did get a son, of course he would eliminate me! And unfortunately for me, that old bastard got an offspring when he was about to rot.”

“What luck,” Sheyan offered his sincere words of sympathy. “Even though the humans of Middle Earth live a long life, it’s still hard for a man to impregnate a woman after the age of 100. The old bastard actually did that at the age of 187, and he actually got a son too. That must have a lower chance of happening than to encounter a 30-year-old woman who’s still a virgin while walking down the road.”

The lips of the Mouth of Sauron, or more precisely, Mr. Dars Telcontar, curled into a smile which did not reach his eyes. He said viciously, “No matter. Everything is in the past. I have long stopped caring. Right now, there is only one thought in my rotten brain, and that is to destroy this damn city with my own hands! Yes, let me be the biggest black sheep in the family! If the wealth and power my ancestors left me are the cause of my death, then I will destroy them all myself!”

“Your story sounds realistic and has no flaws,” Sheyan nodded.

The Mouth of Sauron glared at him. Sheyan ignored him and told the members of the Blue-ray Party and the Maritime Alliance who remained, “We have a few hundred redeemed troops on our hands, right? Besides the valuable ones, I suggest we split up the rest into groups of ten and let them raid the White Tower continuously, one group at a time. There’s not enough space for a bigger group than that anyway. This way, even if the enemy have any traps prepared, we can keep our losses to a minimum. It’s not like we can bring the redeemed troops out of this world anyway, right?”

“This way, the last person to finish off those bastards and conquer the White Tower will depend on luck. Of course, those who are willing to invest more contribution points and hire more troops will have a higher chance of winning the jackpot. Oh, Mr. Dars Telcontar seems to have something to say. I hope to hear a better suggestion from you.”

“Your plan is fine. I just want to add something,” the Mouth of Sauron said coldly, “Lord Sauron has bid me to bring some excellent equipment here to strengthen the combat power of the dark believers. I think you may find them useful. Each set of equipment can provide the wearer with extra strength. It will let an ordinary Orc reach the strength level of an Uruk-hai.”

Sheyan stared at the Mouth of Sauron for a long time before he said, “Thank you.”

***

Blood stained the steps in front of the White Tower. The grassy lawn on the Court of the Fountain had been mercilessly trampled on. The White Tree had long turned to ashes. Corpses piled up in front of the White Tower. The screams never stopped for even a moment.

The scariest warriors in the world are the believers – fanatical believers supported by their strong religious beliefs! They do not fear death, because for them, to die for their faith is the proof of their loyalty!

This was already the seventh round of attack. The people blocking the door of the White Tower had changed six times, and it would have been more had Gimli not resisted the first four rounds of attack by himself before he retreated to rest. It was unfortunate that the highly talented dwarf had preferred two-handed weapons ever since he was born. If he was a Dwarven Shield Warrior, he would have caused Sheyan and his allies endless amount of troubles with his robust Dwarven body.

By the tenth round of attack, those defending the door started sustaining casualties. By the nineteenth round of attack, the remaining members of the human alliance had retreated to the third floor of the White Tower. This indicated that the door, which was their best choke point, had been lost.

And the dark side had 27 rounds of attack lined up!

The fall of the White Tower was only a matter of time.

However, a weird feeling suddenly filled the air. Strange ripples suddenly appeared in the air around the White Tower, like water that was being stirred by a colorless and transparent rod. This was the consequence of choosing to end the battle quickly! The Mouth of Sauron did not lie!

The destruction of the Royal Mausoleum of Gondor had caught the Maiar’s attention. They had started to make their moves, trying to make the believers of the Dark Lord suffer as much losses as possible. Those with high Perceptive Sense could already perceive that the Maiar would awaken the souls of those powerful equipment and enable them to fly back to their master’s tribe according to their master’s will!

But at that moment, Sheyan suddenly stepped forward and shouted at the White Tower in a disdainful tone, “I, the great Seaman, challenge you cowards to a duel. The soul and blood of Aragon alone are not enough to satisfy my hunger and thirst. Don’t you want revenge for Aragon? Don’t you want to avenge the companion who had lived and fought beside you? Or do you want his skull to remain my trophy forever?”

The White Tower, which had been silent, suddenly erupted like a volcano.

“Your soul shall be cursed and tormented for all eternity!”

“I’ll knock your brains out with my axe!”

“No, don’t go, don’t be fooled!”

“….”

“I respect courageous warriors, so I’m offering you a chance for a fair fight,” shouted Sheyan. “The people next to me will not intervene. It will be the simplest, most direct single combat. If you beat me, you can obtain my precious equipment, so at least you can get these bastards to let you and two others leave.”

“How do we know you’re telling the truth?”

Hearing the voice which replied, Sheyan seemed a little surprised.

Sheyan’s goal for doing this was simple – to defeat him, the enemy could not choose to give up the precious weapons and equipment they were familiar with, or they would just be coming out to die. This way, Sheyan could reap one final round of profit!

He was now in peak condition, while the enemy were almost running out of fuel. There were only a few heroes of the human alliance remaining. Except for Gandalf, he was confident of defeating everyone else in single combat.

At first, he thought the short-tempered Gimli would be the one to step out. His legendary two-handed axe was indeed a nice weapon.

However, to Sheyan’s surprise, the person who took the bait was the one he least expected, the Elven prince Legolas!