It was ironic that life force could be used to summon the Army of Anubis when life and death were opposing powers. Yet, it was life force Zheng used to summon several Anubis Warriors.
Infinitesimal control allowed Zheng to utilize energy in minor amounts instead of letting the Bracelet of Anubis drain all his energy like it used to. Once the life force of the Ents entered his body, he summoned several warriors as expected. Gandalf and the Ents frowned upon seeing these monsters with the head of a dog and bodies of men.
Despite believing these monsters were from evil summons, Gandalf and the Ents agreed to Zheng due to the pressure of the hundreds of thousands of the Mordor army. The Ents would focus their energy to Zheng and had him summon the Army of Anubis.
“The Anubis warriors can stand against even the Uruk-hai with battle Qi. Three meter tall bodies and nearly unkillable as long as their heads weren’t destroyed. They can ignore gravity, although not to the degree of the Army of the Dead. However, an army of ten thousand Anubis warriors could probably break through the Black Gate with ease and bring havoc to the orc army behind it!” Zheng said to Gandalf with certainty.
Gandalf originally opposed Zheng after seeing the strength of the Army of Anubis. He worried most to the possibility of Zheng losing control of the monsters. Ten thousand of these monsters would wipe themselves off from Middle Earth. And then Zheng shut him down with one question.
“Without these monsters, can a fifteen thousand army take down Mordor?”
The answer was… no.
However, under the aid of the Ents, men had a safe retreat. To Gandalf’s knowledge, a majority of the Mordor army did not possess worthy strength. The army was composed of mostly half-orcs. What Mordor could not replenish with the lost of the hundred thousand army were ordnances. Thus, they could view the remaining Mordor army as an army of eighty thousand. Yet, even at eighty thousand, when given the advantage of garrison, were nothing a fifteen thousand human army could break through.
The decision was difficult but they had no alternative.
Zheng was still wrapped up like a mummy. ChengXiao’s techniques were to be praised. He found a pile of green leaves and added some disgusting, translucent caterpillars then mashed them into a viscous liquid. He rubbed the liquid all over Zheng’s body, reliving him from the pain that would result in the process of infection. All accomplished in a place without antibiotics, without medical equipments, and without pain killers.
“Don’t pull such a face. You don’t like a man rubbing all over you. Neither do I like to rub all over a man! Damn it. If I can, I want to touch those massive boobs…” ChengXiao said with feebly.
Zheng didn’t know whether he should laugh or be mad. He endured the tingling from the liquid. “Bullshit. My face is wrapped in bandage. Which eye of yours saw my expression? Enough with this. I say, do you feel Heng and YingKong changed a little?”
ChengXiao glanced at Heng then carefully studied YingKong. A while later, he said. “Uh… it seemed that her boobs jiggled when she gripped her sword. Did the cloth wrapped around her boobs loosened?”
“… Forget it. There’s nothing I can talk to you about.” Zheng closed his eyes. He gave up talking and peacefully endured the tingling pain over his body.
Heng and YingKong indeed changed. Maybe they didn’t notice the changes themselves. Heng’s eyes were determined when he held an arrow in hand. It differed from how he used to avoid looking the target with his eyes. YingKong’s movements were slightly slower. However, the angle of her attacks came from more cunning angles. Zheng could only see with one eye and his injuries limited his view. But he could see the clarity in YingKong’s eyes. The hatred… seemed to have disappeared, or perhaps hidden.
What ought to come would eventually come. The group began their journey as soon as they could, carrying along their worry over the other members of team China. Dawn of day three, this fifteen thousand people group embarked on their final journey, marching toward Mordor!
“… So you used a verbal promise of the future as a condition, to recover the woods of Isengard from trees within ten years? Where did you obtain such superb means?” Zheng asked Neos.
Neos replied casually while eating a piece of chocolate. “There are a lot of items that can achieve this in the exchange system. It’s nothing to brag about. Same as you forming a trading deal with the powers of this world.”
That was when Zheng remembered Neos was an intelligent character. He laughed awkwardly. “You know of our trade with the elven Queen?”
Neos nodded. “Yes. Just now. From you.”
Zheng almost wanted to smack himself on the face. He asked in a mutter. “Right, the newbies from yesterday… that wasn’t us. You know? The notifications of the newbies being killed.”
Neos ate another piece of chocolate. “Of course. If your team were to kill the newbies, you would have done it long ago. Or at least when you still have power instead of waiting until you become a mummy. Either someone wants to kill you so he killed the newbies to direct our hatred, or the newbies of both our teams died. It’s simple.”
Zheng had no words in reply. He suddenly noticed he disliked being next to these intelligent types. It was like they could see through everything he was thinking. Not a comfortable feeling.
(I will find a time and put you together with Xuan. Your facial expressions must be fabulous when you can’t even save the color of your undies.) Zheng maliciously thought.
At any rate, the group of fifteen thousand approached Mordor. The terrain became more horrendous which bothered the Ents the most. The burnt ground was unbearable to them. If it wasn’t the promise with men to reach the Black Gate, they would have returned to the woods.
Despite the horrendous terrain, the group did not encounter any obstacles on their way. A few days later, they arrived outside the Black Gate. It spanned over a hundred meters in width and over fifty meters in height. The gate creaked open upon their arrival. A single rider walked out.
He rode a black horse, wore a full helm and armor in black, covering every feature he had and leaving only a grotesque mouth. His teeth disgustingly stained in yellow.
“My master, Sauron the Great, bids you welcome. Is there any in this rout with the authority to treat with me?” The Mouth of Sauron said.
The characters met eyes with each other. Aragorn went up front. “Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth! Let justice be done upon him!”
Gandalf stopped Aragorn. “We do not come to treat with Sauron, faithless and accursed. Tell your master this: The armies of Mordor must disband. He is to depart these lands, never to return.”
The Mouth of Sauron expressed a sarcastic form. “You might have learned my master has retrieved the One Ring. The One Ring will finally rule over Middle Earth. Do you wish to know how my master obtained the One Ring? The two little Hobbits, their flesh was so delicious. Their screams under torture… haha.”
The characters listened in silence. Aragorn took a deep breath then rode his horse forward.
The Mouth of Sauron said. “And who is this? Isildur’s heir? It takes more to make a king than a broken Elvish blade.”
Before he finished his words, Aragorn cut the Mouth of Sauron’s head with a quick, hard, slice. The body collapsed to the ground.
“Sauron!” Aragorn shouted at the Black Gate. “Do you still remember this sword? It killed you once. It will now kill you again! Come. Let us bury you!”
The Black Gate made a dull sound. It was as though multiple gears were turning. And then it slowly swayed open. In under a minute, the gate was fully opened, revealing and endless army of orcs behind it. The number they could see with their eyes struck terror into their hearts.
Aragorn turned around and looked at his troops. He gripped Andúril tightly. Waiting for the moment to initiate attack.
Not far behind Aragorn…
“Ents. You can focus energy onto me. Let all the Ents send your energy. Thousands? Ten thousands? Twenty thousands? Let’s see how many Anubis Warriors I can summon!”
