Chapter 638 639: The Wizard’s Tower

As Mike used vines to eliminate more than half of the Orcs, a horn suddenly sounded from behind, and hundreds of tall Ents surged towards the battlefield.

Although their movements were relatively slow, their speed was not, due to their height and long legs.

Furthermore, the Ents's physique made them immune to pain and incredibly strong.

Thus, upon charging into the battlefield, the Ents, relying on their formidable physique, could send several Orcs flying with each sweep.

On the Orc side, although many had been killed by Mike earlier, there were still over a thousand Orcs who had fortunately survived.

Originally, with the sharp blades and giant axes in their hands, these thousands of Orcs could still have fought against the Ents.

However, having already been terrified by Mike's forceful methods, upon seeing hundreds of Ents join the battle, their rational side finally gained the upper hand.

In fact, although the Orcs were called monsters, they also bled and felt fear.

Therefore, when the first Orcs, unable to withstand the pressure, began to flee, the defeat of the Orc army was already sealed.

"Kill! Kill all those monsters!"

Seeing the Orc army gradually collapse, Quickbeam, the faster, tall, and slender Ents, used his speed advantage to catch up to a few slower Orcs, swept them down with his branch-like arms, smashed their heads, and then called upon his kin to continue the pursuit.

The Ents had long harbored resentment towards the Orc's previous actions, and now that they finally had an opportunity to strike them when they were down, they naturally would not let it pass.

Thus, inspired by Quickbeam, the Ents strode forward, chasing the scattered Orcs all the way to the Isengard Highlands.

"Respected Human Warrior, thank you for helping us drive away those monsters…" After all the Ents went to chase the Orcs, Treebeard, the leader of the Ents, came before Mike. After expressing his gratitude, he continued, "There is still a powerful Wizard living in the tower of Isengard, and those monsters are his creation. Your previous actions have undoubtedly disrupted his plans, so please be especially careful."

The endless years had endowed the Ents leader with wisdom.

This made Treebeard realize that the Orc disaster was merely an appetizer; the real danger was the Wizard hiding in the tower of Isengard.

[Nature Affinity (Trait)]… [Wood Affinity (Trait)]… [Long-lived Species (Trait)]…

[Nature * Energy + 990,000]…

Without surprise, Mike obtained many trait traits and energy traits from the Ents leader.

Moreover, he had also obtained many traits from other Ents earlier.

Coupled with the fear energy contributed by the Orc army, Mike had a small harvest this time.

Of course, for him, who had already ascended to the Genesis level and whose energy bar was calculated in billions, it was merely a drop in the bucket.

Better than nothing, right?

"Don't worry, I will deal with the Wizard myself. You don't need to worry." After organizing his gains, Mike reassured the Ent leader.

It was not difficult for Mike's intelligence to discern that while the Ents leader remained to express gratitude, there might also be an intent to test him.

After all, the strength of the Ents could deal with fleeing Orcs, but it was absolutely impossible for them to confront the mysterious and powerful White Wizard Saruman.

Therefore, whether the crisis in Fangorn Forest could be thoroughly resolved ultimately depended on Mike's intentions.

"Thank you again, Human Warrior. You will always be a friend of our Ents!" Seeing Mike take on the responsibility, Treebeard's gratitude became noticeably more sincere.

"You don't need to thank me; this is what I should do, and you have already paid the price." Mike nodded slightly to the Ents leader, then flew up and headed towards the tall tower on the Isengard Highlands.

The Isengard tower was the Wizard's tall tower that Saruman had specially built for himself. In this towering Wizard's Tower, the power he could wield would be even stronger.

At this moment, at the top of the spiral-structured Wizard's Tower, Saruman, the White Wizard, who was studying the distribution map of Middle-earth, suddenly felt an impulse, stood up, and walked to the window.

Then he saw the Orc army being pursued by the Ents.

"Useless!" Saruman cursed angrily, then his expression quickly returned to calm, and he turned and said, "What brings you to Isengard? You wouldn't just want to help the Ents vent their anger, would you?"

"Of course, I'm not that bored…" Mike sat in Saruman's previous seat, glanced at the Middle-earth power distribution map on the stone table, and suddenly said, "Don't tell me, your Wizard's Tower is quite interesting."

With Mike's current strength, let alone sharing a room with Saruman, if he wished, even if he walked behind the other party, Saruman would not be able to detect him.

But just now, as soon as he appeared, Saruman sensed his arrival.

It could only be said that this Wizard's Tower had indeed greatly enhanced Saruman's strength.

Moreover, although the lower part of this tall tower had a spiral structure, the platform at the top was exceptionally luxurious, with tables, chairs, benches, a study, a lounge, and everything else.

It was not difficult to see that Saruman had poured a lot of effort into this Wizard's Tower.

"Just some simple settings, nothing worth mentioning." Although Saruman said this, seeing someone appreciate his masterpiece, a hint of pride inevitably appeared on his face.

From a magical perspective, this Wizard's Tall Tower was another masterpiece of Saruman's in recent decades.

Here, his magical abilities would be greatly amplified.

Even if Sauron, came here, Saruman felt he had the power to fight.

With such confidence, Saruman naturally wasn't afraid of any small moves from Mike.

Then, he calmly poured a cup of black tea for himself and Mike, and then continued, "You should have realized by now that I have allied with the forces of darkness. So what do you intend to do? Will you stop me… or join us?"

Although Saruman had been frustrated by Mike several times, and Sauron, had also warned him not to provoke Mike.

But now, in his own domain, with full confidence in his abilities, Saruman still chose to lay his cards on the table with Mike.

"How so?" Seeing the other party seemingly fearless, Mike also walked to the window and looked at the scene below where the Orcs were being chased, crying for their parents, by the Ents. For a moment, he was not in a hurry.

Saruman naturally saw the scene below, but as long as there were Orc primal genes and ore pits for cultivating Orcs, he could have as many Orc armies as he wanted.

Therefore, Saruman was not too concerned about the situation below the Wizard's Tower.

Or rather, his primary focus now was on how to deal with Mike.

As long as he could bring this powerful human into his faction, he would have the confidence to further contend with Sauron.

"Who defines light and darkness? Therefore, it's not the process that matters, but the outcome…" Saruman began to explain his plan.

The general idea was that the constant warfare in Middle-earth was due to the coexistence of dark forces and the forces of good.

Therefore, as long as one side completely disappeared, Middle-earth could achieve peace.

As for which side to eliminate, Saruman did not care.

Thus, he joined Sauron's faction, which possessed an immortal body.

"Join me! As long as we unite and cooperate with the Dark Lord, Middle-earth will soon be at peace. Afterwards, we will jointly govern Middle-earth." To enhance his persuasiveness, Saruman even used magic.

This made his alluring voice resonate and echo throughout the top of the tower like an echo.

Saruman had traveled Middle-earth for many years, always known for his wisdom and political manipulation skills.

He had once moved between Gondor and Rohan and other countries, uniting human forces to resist the invasion of dark forces.

Perhaps it was the fear and expulsion by the Regent of Gondor that disheartened him, or perhaps it was the unkillable nature of Sauron, that made him despair.

Of course, it was also possible that after many years of effort, he was easily surpassed by Gandalf, the Gray Robe Wizard, in Maiar rank, which caused him dissatisfaction.

In short, after much consideration, he embarked on a misguided path.

Now, his wisdom was used to help Sauron create Orcs, and his political manipulation skills were used to persuade Mike.

"What if I say no?" Mike picked his ear, smilingly refusing.

Not to mention whether Iluvatar, who was in Middle-earth, would stand by and watch Middle-earth be occupied by dark forces.

Just consider how the dark forces could bring peace to Middle-earth after taking it over.

If Saruman had normal cognitive abilities, he would not fail to realize this. His current obsessive state likely meant he had been "forced" to madness.

Cooperating with a madman was clearly not something Mike was reckless enough to do.

"Now it's not a question of whether you're willing, but whether you can leave here." After being rejected, Saruman finally bared his fangs.

Waving his staff, he summoned countless black mists to surround the room.

"This will be your cage until you come to your senses…" Saruman said with a hint of madness on his face, "Now, to give you a clear understanding of my power, I'm going to teach you a lesson first."

Since the two had already torn off their masks, Saruman, who had been frustrated by Mike several times, naturally wanted to reclaim some interest now that everything was under control.

After speaking, he once again raised his staff, gathering magic, and pointed it at Mike.

With the Wizard's Tower's amplification, the powerful magical burst overturned all the tables, chairs, and benches in its path.

However, when this powerful pressure reached Mike, it was directly dissipated into nothingness by the passive Guardian Power of the Light Armor.

As for Mike himself, he simply returned to the stone table, without any other movements during the process.

His leisurely posture was undoubtedly the best mockery of Saruman.

"How is this possible? What exactly did you do?!" Unable to break through the opponent's defense despite putting in all his effort, Saruman finally snapped.

He could accept that the opponent's strength was a little stronger than his, but it absolutely could not be this strong.

"Didn't you see? I didn't do anything at all." Mike still had a slight smile on his face.

However, precisely because he did nothing, Saruman was completely broken.

Compared to Mike's calmness, Saruman, who had previously appeared to have everything under control, undoubtedly became the clown.

...

At the same time, on the plains below the Wizard's Tower, the Orcs, who had not received rescue from Saruman, were finally annihilated by the determined Ents.

Looking at the filth everywhere, and the animal flesh sediment from the Orcs in the huge ore pit, the Ents remained silent for a long time.

It was then that Quickbeam, the young Ents, had a sudden inspiration and went to the Isengard reservoir.

There was originally a river here, called the Isen River, which flowed into Fangorn Forest.

However, after Saruman arrived, he dammed the river, turning it into a reservoir, to protect the only opening outside the Wizard's Tower, which was surrounded by mountains on three sides.

Now, this huge reservoir provided Quickbeam with an opportunity to wash away the filth on the plains.

"Bang!"

The tall and thin Quickbeam used all his strength to slam his body against the stone wall of the reservoir.

As the stone wall vibrated, water droplets began to fall from above.

However, it was still far from breaking the stone wall.

With Quickbeam's thin and tall physique, even if he died crashing against the stone wall, it would be difficult to break the sturdy rock wall.

However, as Quickbeam relentlessly crashed against the stone wall again and again, the surrounding Ents quickly understood his intention.

"Bang… Bang… Bang…"

Then, more and more Ents joined the ranks of crashing into the stone wall.

After a while, the previously chaotic crashing sounds became more and more synchronized.

The Ents, sharing a common goal, finally united as one, gathering their strength together.

The commotion caused by this awe-inspiring power was even heard by Saruman, who was at the top of the Wizard's Tower.

Just as he turned his head to look down again, he saw hundreds of Ents, working together, smash the stone wall on one side of the reservoir.

Rolling waves of water poured down, washing over the bodies of the Ents, and then quickly spread across the entire highland plain.

Countless Orc corpses and the blood and flesh sediment in the ore pit were all washed away by this surge of water.

Looking at the vast expanse of water before them, the old Ents helped up the young Ents who had fallen, and they cheered together.

What came from nature returned to nature; the Orc corpses and the blood and flesh sediment in the ore pit ultimately became nutrients for Fangorn Forest.

...

"Damn you, Ents! You all deserve to die!"

Above the Wizard's Tower, Saruman, who had witnessed the entire process, immediately changed his expression, which then turned to pure rage.

The ore pit was destroyed, and the primal genes for cultivating Orcs were washed away by the water. This meant that Saruman's efforts of the past few decades would also be ruined in an instant.

To raise Orcs again, he would have to start all over.

Not to mention the time cost, just the mental effort required made Saruman want to vomit blood.

And the Ents, who had caused all these losses, were naturally regarded by him as enemies.

So Saruman, standing by the window, raised his staff with bloodshot eyes. Under the immense amplification of the Wizard's Tower, the staff flashed with a blood-red glow, aimed directly at the cheering Ents below.

"Die!"

With a loud roar, a red blood-light carrying the aura of death shot out, like an evil dragon pouncing on the Ents below.

However, this power had not flown far before it was as if caught by a ruthless large hand, then churned into a red vortex, and slowly dissipated.

"Did you forget I'm still here?"

A playful voice sounded in his ear, making Saruman instinctively turn his head to look at the human by the stone table.

The other party still had the same leisurely demeanor as before.

Only his slightly raised hands proved that it was undoubtedly the other party who had just stopped him.

"Do you really want to oppose me?" Saruman, whose affairs were not going smoothly, had an even darker expression on his face.

"No, no, no, are you mistaken? It's always been you causing trouble, not me…" Mike stood up and looked at Saruman, saying with a slightly serious expression, "And, you're not even qualified to be my opponent."

Before Saruman could make another move, Mike condensed his sealing ability and threw it at the other party.

The white-gold runic chains, upon touching Saruman, directly sealed all the magic in his body.

"What did you do to me?" Feeling his power gone, Saruman finally knew fear.

"As you can see, you have now become a mortal. Next, you can go to the top of the tower and calm down." Mike finished speaking, snatched the staff from Saruman's hand, and then used a divine power to lift him up and send him to the top platform of the tower to cool off.

As a Maia, Saruman was a direct subordinate of Iluvatar, the Creator God, so how to deal with him was a problem.

After all, one should consider the owner when beating a dog.

Mike, who still planned to stay in Middle-earth for a while, had no intention of provoking Iluvatar at this time.

Therefore, after initially punishing Saruman, Mike caught a breeze and used it to send a message to another White Wizard.

As employees of Iluvatar, what Mike found inconvenient to interfere with could conveniently be handed over to Gandalf to resolve.