The Ultimate Evolution

The moment the first Knight of the Past Kings moved, a series of ruptures could be heard, as if the layer of invisible shackles on the surface of his body had completely shattered. Sheyan could even see a large number of transparent broken fragments falling off his body onto the ground.

The knight raised his spear and stabbed at Reef!

Before the sharp spearhead had even reached him, Reef was already feeling a great pressure pressing down on him, making it hard for him to breathe. He felt as if a rocky cliff was collapsing onto him! The dark, empty eyes of the knight were like two deep whirlpools; under his gaze, shouts of fury filled Reef’s mind! Those were the angry cries of the past Kings of Gondor. They lowered Reef’s speed considerably.

The Knight of the Past Kings was already displaying a part of his abilities. Although his speed was not that fast, he could slow down the ones he attacked, and he used this to create a disparity between the enemy’s speed and his!

However, Reef was wielding the legendary shield, ‘Grond’s Tenacity’! Just as the spear was about to get past Reef’s defence and stab into his chest, the shield suddenly tilted slightly by itself. The deformed shield was suddenly on top of the spear tip. A dark light suddenly enveloped Reef, and Reef proceeded to take half a step back, successfully avoiding the attack.

The Knights of the Past Kings seemed to have their own rules. If there was only a single enemy violating the forbidden area, only one knight would be mobilised. Of course, there was the possibility that this seemingly gentlemanly behaviour was for the purpose of conserving energy.

Sheyan, Ronnie and the others quickly joined the battle, and the rest of the knights unsealed themselves one by one. After they were freed, they actually left trails of afterimages in their wake when they moved. Everyone participating in the fight was slowed down by the ‘Past Kings’ Cries of Fury’ without exception.

Therefore, at a glance, it did not look like there were only five Knights of the Past Kings fighting on the courtyard at all, because the whole courtyard was filled with their illusionary images. It looked as if there were at least forty or fifty of them. Therefore, although the attacking side actually had the numerical advantage, it looked as if dozens of knights were ganging up on Party Ace instead!

They were truly powerful. No wonder Sauron had to send his messenger to warn them to be careful.

There was actually another way to resolve the problem of the Knights of the Past Kings. The alternative method was much slower, but it was definitely more convenient. The method was to stall for time. Let those human alliance contestants reap what they sow and be unraveled by the rules they added themselves! Where were they going to find a thousand people to supply power of faith at this moment? However, Sheyan was afraid that undue delay may bring trouble, so unless there was no other choice, he would rather not go down that road.

After combating the five knights for a while, Party Ace gradually withdrew from the courtyard. The knights did not pursue them; they slowly returned to their statue-like state to stand guard around the White Tree once again.

“My attacks appear effective at first glance, but they were actually absorbed. Even if I manage to cause some superficial damages, they quickly healed,” Aziz was the first to report his findings.

“They’re quite difficult to deal with. If we’ve kept fighting just now, I would have had to take some recovery medicine,” said Reef, gasping for air.

“They recover from negative conditions very quickly, but magical damages seem to heal slower than physical damages,” Zi reported, and Aldaris concurred.

“Either my diseases didn’t work at all, or it takes a very long time for my virus to find a way to take effect on their bodies. Nevertheless, I realised two things. First, if these knights are born to protect the honour of the past Kings of Gondor, then the sword of the King of Gondor, Andúril, should have some effect on them. Second, I suspect that the source of their power comes from the White Tree! This White Tree is said to be a descendant of Galathilion, famously known as the communion between the dead and the living, so the power of the semi-undead creatures possibly comes from the tree.”

“In that case, can we try making the White Tree the focus of our attack?” Percival was now the wielder of Andúril. The sword was not only a symbol of status, it also symbolised the future for him. Therefore, not only was the sly old fox not willing to take such a risk, he was also afraid that it might be a trap, so he completely ignored Sheyan’s first suggestion.

However, the current situation did not allow for his selfish intentions. After some discussions, and after Reef confirmed for the third time that he would definitely save Percival with ‘Holy Grasp’ the moment Percival gave the signal, Percival finally consented, reluctantly, to give it a try.

After the fight started, they immediately found out that the ‘Past Kings’ Cries of Fury’ would not slow down the wielder of Andúril. Furthermore, when the knights were injured by Andúril, the wounds were visibly more severe. A light cut would result in a wound that penetrated through the armour and the flesh, so deep that the bones were visible. It looked very similar to a wound made by ‘Extinction’. Speaking of ‘Extinction’, these Knights of the Past Kings were truly monstrous. Even when they were injured by ‘Extinction’, the injury would slowly heal too.

When the contestants found that the powerful legendary sword, Andúril, was effective, they thought that Percival would immediately go on a killing rampage, but the guy started signaling for Reef to pull him back. Because the two of them had an agreement that Reef would have to rescue Percival under any condition if Percival gave the signal, Reef had no choice but to pull Percival back despite his bewilderment.

Everyone thought that Percival was being a little too cautious. He had only lost a third of his HP, for God’s sake. However, Percival soon told them with a pale face, “The White Tower! Someone in the White Tower was aiming at me! My weapon must have angered them! If Reef was even a fraction of a second late, I would have been dead!”

Percival sounded very honest, so although the others were not really convinced, they still offered him some words of comfort. But it was true that the people in the White Tower could find ways to attack the Court of the Fountain if they really had the intention to.

After that, they tried to attack the White Tree, but to no avail. Even after the Knights of the Past Kings had left their stationary state, there would still be a layer of invisible protective barrier around the White Tree. Even Aziz’s legendary gun could not break it.

At this time, Sheyan saw the Mouth of Sauron who was watching from the side, and it suddenly struck him. Why did Sauron send the guy here? Just to observe the war?

The Mouth of Sauron had a twisted and terrifying appearance, but after they had a chance to talk to him, he turned out to be someone who carried himself with a dignified bearing. He was definitely no ordinary person. Sheyan took the initiative to go over and converse with him.

“My lord, you’ve informed us of the origin of the Knights of the Past Kings and knows all the details. Surely you’re not here just to observe the war?”

“You’re right. I do know of a way to eliminate the knights,” the Mouth of Sauron told Sheyan honestly. “To defeat them, you’ll have to defeat them at their source; that is, you’ll have to destroy the tombs of the past Kings of Gondor. However, doing something so outrageous will inevitably arouse the attention of the Maiar that remain hidden, and that will cause some changes which might have an impact on your personal interests.”

“Changes? What kind of changes?” asked Sheyan with a frown.

“The Maiar are not powerful enough to save the people hiding in the White Tower, but they can control the fortune from the dark. For example, you might be able to kill Legolas, but the magical equipment on him that contain great power will return to his tribe,” explained the Mouth of Sauron patiently.

All the contestants were shocked to hear the messenger’s explanation. In other words, if they were to use his method, the storyline characters they killed would no longer drop any loot! But it had taken them so much effort to force Gandalf, Legolas and Gimli into this critical situation and trap them inside the tower. Wouldn’t all those efforts go to waste if they chose this option? Those were Gandalf, Legolas and Gimli, for crying out loud! Each of them would surely drop at least two legendary equipment!

However, Sheyan did not react as strongly as everyone else expected. He could be said to be the biggest reason the dark side now found themselves in such an optimistic situation. Of course he wanted the treasures in the White Tower too.

But right now, everyone was casting their covetous eyes on the treasures, so it was almost impossible for Party Ace to monopolise the spoils. After all, the storyline characters were now trapped beasts and would certainly retaliate with everything they have,so killing them would not be easy. Some of them might even have kamikaze tactics up their sleeves. In the end, Party Ace may very well only end up with a single piece of legendary equipment. But the most important thing was that Sheyan had an ominous feeling. He did not know why, but his instinct told him that they should end the war as quickly as possible!

“Is there no other way?” asked Jax. He was obviously unwilling to lose the spoils.

“There is. You can wait,” answered the Mouth of Sauron flatly. “The White Tower is no longer supported by the faith of the believers. Even if Gandalf can use his powerful magic to draw on the power left behind by past kings to support the tower, it will last no more than two sunrises.”

“Two sunrises… so, 48 hours?” Sheyan did some quick calculations in his mind. The sense of foreboding kept getting stronger. If they had to wait for forty-eight hours, there would be way too many chances for unexpected occurrences to happen! Yes, on paper, the enemy no longer had any ways to turn the tables, but did the human alliance not also thought the same thing just dozens of hours ago when they trapped the handful of contestants in the Source of Darkness hall with an army of ten thousand?