An Idol-Class Wizard
Despite his usual kind and amiable elder persona and occasional childish temper, Gandalf is a formidable opponent who can go toe-to-toe with Balrog when he gets serious and fights for his life.
With a roar, his staff shone brightly, colliding with the longsword in mid-air and producing a soul-shaking hum that caused the Balrog to stiffen and its flames to weaken involuntarily.
Gandalf raised his longsword high, leaped into the air and landed, unleashing a burst of frost-white, cold energy that transformed into an elemental blade, which he slammed down heavily on the head of the Balrog.
The Balrog's entire body stiffened, as if it had been struck by a spell that immobilized it. When the elemental blades attacked, it hurriedly unleashed its Magic Power and managed to turn its head to the side at the last second.
Clang!
The elemental blade slashed down, first severing one of the Balrog 'Balrog horns, then landing on its shoulder. As Gandalf's sword-wielding arm pressed down, the blade swept away everything in its path, cutting from shoulder to chest, severing a third of the Balrog's massive body.
The Balrog's body was hard, preventing the elemental blades from falling any further. But Gandalf's attack did not end there. The blades shattered and turned into boundless cold air, freezing half of the Balrog's body. The half of his face where the horn had been cut off was frozen into an ice block.
"Roar roar roar————"
Balrog a cry of pain, Balrog's eyes blazed with flames. He ripped through the air with his right hand, his five fingers forming a blade of fire element, which he then slashed down at Gandalf.
Gandalf faced the flaming blade head-on, chanting incantations as he raised his longsword high. A burst of light enveloped him, protecting him completely.
Boom!!
Two sharp blades, one large and one small, clashed, creating a powerful gust of wind that swept wildly in all directions from the two of them.
The Balrog was enormous, and Gandalf was nothing compared to him. But he was Maiar, not the old man he appeared to be. His withered body seemed to possess boundless strength, and he did not retreat an inch in the head-on collision.
A terrifying force surged into the ground from Gandalf's feet, shattering the palace floor tiles into dust and causing spiderweb-like cracks to suddenly appear. The crisscrossing cracks shook the foundations of the stone pillars, causing dozens of pillars around the two to collapse with a deafening roar.
Russell watched with secret envy. This was the first time he had seen Gandalf go all out. He could only say that he was indeed an idol-level mage. His physical abilities were such that he could wrestle with a dragon with his bare hands.
"Roar roar roar————"
The Balrog roared repeatedly, its ash mane on its back swelled, and its body was engulfed in blazing red flames. The wounds that covered a third of its body healed rapidly in the flames, completing their recovery at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Having fully recovered, Balrog summoned a long, flaming whip from the void with his left hand. This whip, composed of multiple ribbons of fire, whistled through the air as Balrog swung it with tremendous force, striking Gandalf's tortoise shell hard.
Click!
The materialized ball of light created by the staff cracked with a sharp sound. Gandalf's eyes narrowed, and he forcefully swung the longsword away, shattering the fire elemental sword and forcing the massive Balrog back.
The frost-white elemental blade erupted once more, Gandalf thrust his sword forward, the white blade shooting straight down like a meteor into the Balrog's chest.
It is dazzling and colorful, yet it contains terrifying power!
The sharp sword tip pierced the Balrog's chest, forcing him to retreat step by step, his massive body smashing through dozens of stone pillars.
The Balrog roared in fury, the flames on his chest extinguished, freezing into a vast expanse of frost, and excruciating pain swept through his body. In his rage, he lashed out with his fiery whip, shattering Gandalf's tortoise shell and sending him flying backward.
Boom! Boom! Boom—
Gandalf's figure fell into the darkness of the palace. Russell silently counted; the impact broke 32 pillars.
He knew Gandalf was perfectly fine. In the original story, the old man fell into the Abyss, climbed up, and fought his way up to the highest peak of the Misty Mountains with the Balrog. His physical abilities were many times stronger than his own, a complete weakling.
There were only 32 pillars, which was nothing to Gandalf. It was no different from tripping on the threshold when leaving the house. He could just get up, dust himself off, and be fine.
"Roar roar roar————"
Having dealt with Gandalf, Balrog turned to Russell, his burning eye sockets pulsating with dark power, an overwhelming Magic Power influence that unsettled Russell.
Russell bit his tongue, gripped the Adamantium Blade tightly with both hands, took a step forward, and swung the knife horizontally with fluid, effortless movements.
The sharp sword energy condensed into a line, cutting the air in front of it in two, creating a gap in the flames, and in the blink of an eye, it struck the face of the Balrog.
Clang!
The sword energy tore through the air, slicing a deep groove in the Balrog's face, but that was all. Apart from enraging the Balrog and making it even more violent, it did not cause any substantial damage.
Russell sheathed his Adamantium Blade and didn't bother to draw his dual pistols. With a wave of his hand, he released a giant silver wolf that charged towards the Balrog.
"System, activate the Balrog's two lottery draws!"
[Character Card: Balrog (The Fallen Maiar, a demon walking in flames and shadows)]
[Skill Card: King of Fire Element (Fire is your most trusted weapon)]
"Roar roar roar————"
The Balrog grabbed the giant wolf with both hands and tore it in half at the waist. After a loud bang, the Balrog's flames stopped, revealing its charred body for the first time.
He glared at Russell, his roaring maw opening wide, flames shooting into the sky, forming a crimson curtain of fire.
"Russell, get out of here! Don't touch those flames!" Gandalf rushed out of the darkness and saw this scene, his heart trembling with fear.
The Balrog glanced at Gandalf out of the corner of his eye, a hint of mockery flashed across his ferocious features, and he waved his flaming whip to block Gandalf. Then, he controlled the infinite flames and pressed towards Russell's position. In an instant, thousands of flames swept across, drowning Russell in an instant.
"No----"
Gandalf let out a mournful cry, and a mouthful of hot blood came out of his eyes.
"Roar roar roar————"
Balrog raised his arms high, roared and shouted, and strode toward Gandalf, brandishing his whip.
Behind him, flames roared and grew stronger, spreading rapidly in all directions, even reaching his feet.
The Balrog Demon was alarmed and hurriedly turned around to look. He saw flames rising out of thin air, dispelling the surrounding darkness. Accompanying the surging flames, a pair of huge shadows opened up. The flames converged and contracted, merging with the shadows to transform into a pair of enormous fiery wings.
The scorching temperature rose steadily, as if it would burn everything around it to ashes!
The Balrog's eyes bulged out... Since it had no eyeballs, it couldn't bulge out, so it spewed out two pillars of fire.
A huge fiery figure stood up, smashing the stone pillar beside it with a loud crash. It had the same black horns on its head, and the same black ash rose up.
Russell, transformed into Balrog, strode out, roared, and released his oppressive aura. With a single wave of his hand, a long whip of flame lashed down from the air, knocking the silly couple's Balrog to the ground with a bang.
Boom!!
The Balrog's enormous body crashed through the stone pillar and fell to the ground. Russell strode forward, straddled its chest, and began to swing his fists left and right.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—
The Balrog didn't retaliate; the sudden turn of events left him stunned.
Gandalf on the other side...
┏(゜ロ゜)┛
Who are you?
Russell?
Give me back my sadness!