New students start from 'Game of Thrones'

Chapter 100 Banishment

The remaining spires of Dol Guldur vaporized in an instant amid the collision between Sauron and Owen.

The Dark Lord's true form was neither armor nor shadow, but a black hole singularity compressed from boundless magic—every inch of space collapsed with each of His breaths.

The ground beneath Owen's feet crumbled into dust. For the first time, his dual swords let out a shrill whine simultaneously, and white flames erupted around both blades.

"Strange human warrior!" Sauron's voice warped reality, creating double images. "Your skull shall wail beneath my throne."

Owen remained utterly unaffected by Sauron's words. Flames flickered in his pupils, and the arcs of light from his sword tips even froze the spatial collapse temporarily.

"I'd rather test it out—let's see who dies first, you or me!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Owen thrust his dual swords at Sauron from an eerily sharp angle. The once-calm Sauron now wielded a weapon forged from condensed magic: his warhammer.

"Bang..."

Their weapons clashed again, and the unbridled magic sent a tremor through the entire fortress.

Sauron raised his hand and summoned the Black Fire of the First Age. This was no ordinary flame, but the corrupted fire that had devoured the roots of the Two Trees—wherever it passed, even light was corroded into slime.

Owen spun and leaped into the air, plunging his sword into the heart of the Black Fire vortex. The fire magic on the blade surged, transforming into a flame-devouring beast. The Black Fire and white flames merged on the sword edge into a gray singularity, and the shockwave that burst forth ground all the stones around them into powder.

The massive magical surge caused the Great Eye to flicker on and off. Owen was jolted by the shockwave, barely able to stay on his feet—fortunately, his passive ability (which had lain dormant until then) was triggered.

Owen stood firm. Taking advantage of the Eye's tremors, he darted forward and thrust his sword; all his magic converged at the tip, where tiny stars of light condensed.

He struck seven times in quick succession. The bits of starlight flashed like shooting stars, and each time the sword tip touched Sauron's true form, it triggered a super-magical explosion.

Yet Sauron's current form was a fusion of soul and magic. His pierced "body" was instantly replenished by dark magic, and his warhammer cut through the starlight, slamming hard at Owen's left arm—as if trying to smash Owen to pieces in a single blow.

But since sparring with Glorfindel, Owen had mastered Elven swordsmanship and footwork. With a single sideways flip, his powerful body dodged the fatal strike perfectly.

The fortress's foundations began to sink.

Sauron let out a shrill roar. The flickering Fire Eye solidified once more, and the dark magic throughout the fortress rushed into it in a steady stream.

The faint traces of dark energy left by the annihilated Nine Nazgûl re-gathered at this moment, and their nine figures reappeared around the Great Eye.

"Hahaha..."

Sauron let out another harsh, piercing laugh. "Mortal warrior, you cannot kill me!"

"As long as darkness endures, I shall be immortal. All of Middle-earth shall eventually bow beneath my feet..."

As his last words fell, the entire Great Eye suddenly erupted with an even more intense magical aura.

Just as Owen gathered his strength, ready for another fierce battle with Sauron, Galadriel—the Elven Queen—struggled to her feet, having previously leaned on Elrond for support. She held the Phial of Eärendil's Light in one hand; her magic swirled around her in a frenzy, making her surroundings feel like a black hole.

Sealed within the Phial of Eärendil's Light was the last radiance of Telperion the Silver Tree and Laurelin the Golden Tree—it carried the divine power of the Valar, the lesser gods of Middle-earth, and held a natural power to subdue Sauron!

When this holy light blazed forth from Galadriel's hand, the Great Eye trembled violently. Even the Nine Nazgûl vanished in an instant. Sauron could no longer maintain his physical form; the light shattered his dark essence, forcing him to retreat into a state of nothingness.

"There is no power here for you to claim..."

"Servant of Morgoth..."

"You have no right to speak your name before this sacred light..."

"You disembodied wraith—flee back to your void!"

Each word, infused with magic, fell from Galadriel's lips. Sauron's soul was scorched by the holy light; he let out agonized howls, utterly unable to recondense his form.

"Ah!" Unable to bear the agony—like a thousand arrows piercing his soul—Sauron let out a roar. He and the Great Eye vanished from the fortress in an instant, turning into a flash of light in the dark sky as they fled swiftly toward Mordor.

With Sauron's disappearance, Galadriel lost all her strength and collapsed to the ground.

Elrond also broke free from the shackles of powerful magic and reached out to support Galadriel.

"We have all been deceived..." Elrond said, his face grim—but in an instant, his expression softened, and he looked at Owen with eager eyes.

"Fortunate indeed that we have a warrior like you on our side, Lord Owen!"

"I naturally stand with justice. I have never hesitated to fight against darkness!" Owen replied, smiling at Elrond as he sheathed his dual swords.

"Thank you for your aid, Lord Owen," Galadriel said, speaking with great difficulty as she looked at him. "Sauron is not yet destroyed—only driven away. I hope you will help Gandalf..."

Before she could finish, Galadriel's strength failed her, and she slumped weakly into Elrond's arms.

"You have banished him, Your Majesty!" Saruman the White Wizard said, still clinging to a glimmer of hope. Having witnessed Sauron's power once more, a subtle change had begun to take root deep in the White Wizard's heart.

"He will flee to the East... and return again, Lord Owen..." Galadriel's words were now slurred, but her eyes, filled with hope, fixed firmly on Owen.

"I understand what you mean, Your Majesty!" Owen nodded. "I will head to the Lonely Mountain and help Gandalf fend off the orc invasion!" After seeing the Nazgûl and Sauron himself, he had grown particularly curious about Smaug the Dragon.

Owen wanted to test whether his arrows could pierce Smaug's scales.

"We must warn Gondor! They must keep a strict watch on Mordor's borders!" Elrond said, trying to rise to his feet, ready to go to Gondor in person to warn the Steward.

"No. You stay and care for Queen Galadriel—she has expended too much power and is extremely weak. Take her to Lothlórien! I will go to Gondor," Saruman said. When he finished, his gaze fixed intently on the East, glowing with a fierce light.

"Saruman, we must find him... and destroy him!" Elrond's desire to eliminate Sauron had grown urgent; he did not want to endure another war that would engulf all of Middle-earth.

"Without the One Ring, Sauron can never rule Middle-earth..."

"Go now! I will deal with Sauron!" Saruman stared at the East, his eyes flickering, and his voice was cold through and through.

Owen had already sensed the change in Saruman.

Yet he said nothing—even if he spoke up now, no one would believe him. After bidding farewell to the three, Owen went outside the fortress, swung himself onto his horse, and summoned the hawk that had followed him ever since he arrived in Middle-earth. Once he had located Gandalf, he spurred his horse and galloped off in pursuit.