Planning

Bzz—

Deep underground directly below, a ring trembled.

"My precious~"

A filthy hand stroked it, clutching it tightly.

"The more powerful someone is, the more easily they are blinded by power and led astray by temptation. But they will never come to a good end, because from beginning to end, that object has only ever had one true master."

"Isildur, who once possessed the Ring, was tempted before the volcano. In the end, he died in the Golden Iris Marshes south of here, where the Ring was also lost—perhaps carried into the sea."

At the foot of the mountain, Gandalf walked ahead, recounting the major historical events that had taken place in this region.

Li Wei followed behind in silence, listening and occasionally nodding.

"Don't you think that if someone had kicked him into the volcano back then, there wouldn't have been so much trouble afterward?"

Gandalf shot him a glance.

"Every fate has its inevitable course, Li Wei. The possibility you mentioned would not happen even if that moment were repeated a hundred times, a thousand times."

The connections involved were far too complicated.

"Fine, I believe you."

The two walked and talked, casually discussing this and that in a remarkably relaxed manner.

As though the great battle they had just gone through had been nothing more than an illusion.

Naturally, Li Wei could not keep fighting a war of attrition against the Orcs. After blocking the entrance at the start, he had fought while retreating all the way. Perhaps the Orcs had truly been terrified by the slaughter, or perhaps the battle had caught them too suddenly, but their pursuit afterward was extremely weak. Before long, the two had escaped the mountains.

That said—

Gandalf had a very strange feeling.

The man behind him seemed ignorant of history, yet he knew many ancient secrets that almost no one else knew. But if one said he understood history, that did not seem right either, because whenever Gandalf asked about details or common knowledge that even ordinary people might know, he would answer that he did not know.

It was terribly contradictory.

"Shh—"

On a plain far from the Misty Mountains, Gandalf suddenly stopped and signaled Li Wei to stay quiet.

"Orcs."

Roar!

Accompanied by the low growls of Wargs, a large group of Orc riders swept past, hurrying in a certain direction.

"I'd guess there's an Orc fortress over there, or at least a camp."

Gandalf poked half his head out and watched the Orcs' retreating backs.

"So what do we do? Go wipe them out?"

"Oh, no, no. That would be too risky. After all, there are only two of us—"

Looking at Li Wei's relaxed expression, Gandalf suddenly trailed off.

Actually... maybe it was possible?

"I think we should investigate first. After all, we don't know how many of them there are."

"Agreed."

Though Li Wei looked relaxed, he knew his limits. If they accidentally stumbled into an Orc army, it would still be very troublesome.

A quantitative change could lead to a qualitative one. Once the numbers reached a certain point, even he would feel uneasy.

"Let's go."

Following the Orcs' marching trail, the two quickly arrived at a rather noisy fortress, using their robes as cover.

Though rather than calling it a fortress, it would be more accurate to call it a temporary camp built amid the ruins of one. A relatively sturdier little Orc leader with 20 HP was commanding the group.

At that moment, a large number of Orcs rested in the dark, damp camp. Occasional curses could be heard—some Orcs were fighting.

"There are more than a dozen Wargs and over twenty Orcs."

Gandalf quickly counted the enemy forces.

"Look." He pointed at two Orcs fighting in the distance. "The word 'unity' has never existed among Orcs. They can always start infighting over the smallest things."

"I think we can give them a little push and let them fight among themselves for a while first..."

Gandalf picked up a small stone, blew on it, and flicked it with a snap, striking an Orc that was dozing off.

"Who was that?!"

The Orc beside it jolted upright at the roar, immediately growing annoyed. "What are you yelling for?!"

"Was it you who hit me?"

"So what if I did?"

Smack!

The awakened Orc scooped up a handful of pebbles and threw them, striking the Orc opposite him so hard he could not open his eyes.

"Trash!" The struck Orc flew into a rage and charged with a roar.

The two Orcs quickly began grappling with each other.

Such things were commonplace in an Orc camp and drew no attention at all. The surrounding Orcs even looked on as though enjoying a show.

Where there was a dispute, there would surely be an ending.

Very soon, one of them lay on the ground with a bruised and swollen face, groaning miserably. Clearly, he would not be moving anytime soon.

"Pah." The other naturally did not forget to humiliate him.

Looking over, Gandalf wore a sly grin. Clearly, this was not his first time doing something like this.

"I often use this method to make them fight among themselves. It lets them weaken their own strength without even realizing it."

"A very clever approach."

"Thank you."

Just as Gandalf picked out a second target and prepared to stir up another internal conflict, Li Wei rose directly from their hiding place.

Gandalf paused and looked up at him.

"But that's too troublesome. I think it'll be faster to just go in."

Whoosh—

His longsword slid free, gleaming with azure light.

"Enemy!"

"Roar!"

At the warning cry, the Orcs immediately mounted their Wargs. Those without Wargs grabbed their weapons and followed behind.

"Ah! Too reckless!" Knowing they could no longer remain hidden, Gandalf immediately stood as well, seizing his staff.

"Aha, look what I've found—a human holding that disgusting sword, and— a wizard?"

"Who gave you the nerve to enter my territory?!"

"Kill them!"

The minor leader raised his cleaver, and the Wargs behind him immediately pounced.

Thud!

With a sweeping strike, Li Wei stopped three riders at once. Flames ignited the Wargs' dry fur, making the Orcs riding them scream as they promptly flipped off and jumped down.

Gandalf glanced at the flames behind him. With a sudden flare, the fire that had nearly been smothered by the rolling Wargs surged back up, so fierce that it directly set the nearby Orcs ablaze.

Li Wei did not turn around. He knew Gandalf possessed a Ring of Fire, a ring that could ignite both flames and hope.

On this side, Li Wei cut down swaths of enemies with every sweep. Clad in black armor, he charged into the Orc horde through wave after wave of ranged and close-range attacks, slaughtering wildly and leaving behind a field of charred corpses that made the Orcs in the rear tremble in fear.

If I can't beat him, can't I at least avoid him?

Compared to him, that old man over there looked far easier to bully.

With a strange cry, an Orc raised his weapon and rushed at Gandalf, bringing it down toward him. Gandalf remained unhurried, raising his staff and thrusting it forward. Taking advantage of the principle that longer weapons had the advantage, he used the staff's reach to knock the charging Orc straight onto the ground.

After that thrust, he immediately turned and swung again. The staff whistled through the air and struck another Orc, actually denting that Orc's flimsy armor. Even Gandalf himself was surprised.

This thing was getting easier to use the more he used it.

Though Gandalf fought with considerable vigor, he was still far inferior to Li Wei. Before long, five or six Orcs had gathered around him, clearly treating him as the weak link and intending to deal with the weaker one first and take him hostage.

Yet Gandalf merely slammed his staff against the ground. A terrifying flash suddenly streaked across the sky above the camp, and as the smell of gunpowder drifted through the air, several Orcs fell dead on the spot.

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