From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 288 The Seal of Ilúvatar

When the sun once again covered the earth, the coalition forces welcomed the long-awaited good news.

Elrond, Lord of Rivendell and bearer of the Ring of Water, arrived at the foot of the Lonely Mountain on a giant eagle.

But at the same time, he also brought bad news.

"The orcs from Mount Gundabad are almost at the Lonely Mountain, and will arrive by this afternoon at the latest. Their numbers are even greater, and they are accompanied by an equal number of wargs." Elrond jumped off the Eagle King's back and explained to the commanders of the coalition forces, "But the Eagle King has led the giant eagles to destroy all the evil bats that followed the orcs. In the next battle, we will have absolute air superiority."

Arriving with the Giant Eagle were the bear-man Beorn and the brown wizard Radagast, who all decided to contribute to the peace of the Great Wilds of Rhovanion.

"The orcs in Gundabad Fortress are led by the pale orc Azog. Their target is Raven Ridge in the west. If they succeed in stationing there, Riverdale will be completely surrounded." The dusty Elrond continued to explain Azog's marching route.

Riverdale was surrounded by water on three sides, and the only land it faced was Raven Ridge. If the orcs really relied on earthworms to camp in the mountains, then Riverdale would not have any chance to breathe.

Moreover, the number of orcs is more than ten times the total number of the coalition forces. Even if the siege is in favor of the defending side, the number of orcs can definitely make up for the gap.

At that time, the orcs from Dol Guldur led by the Ringwraiths will attack from the east, while the orcs from Gundabad will attack from the west. Sandwiched between the two, the dwarves of Lonely Mountain and the elves and humans in Dale will have no chance of victory.

"So, our only chance is to defeat the orcs in the east before Azog arrives."

Even if Ivy didn't say it, this was a strategy that everyone could see. The orcs of Dol Gudu had fought many battles with the coalition forces and had never gained any advantage. If they didn't completely defeat this army when their morale was low, and wait until they formed a siege with Azog's orcs, the coalition forces would really have no chance of winning.

"Let's do it! I've been fed up with those bastards for a long time!" Dain was the first to agree with Ivy's plan.

"With the Eagle King and the Giant Eagle, we have absolute air superiority and will surely win!" Gandalf returned the staff that sometimes worked and sometimes didn't to Radagast, and only used the sword to strike the enemy.

"This is a very risky strategy." Thranduil glanced at every face in the tent, "But the Woodland Kingdom will never back down."

"Humans will never sit still and wait for death." Bard also said, "Although most of us are fishermen and merchants with no combat experience, you can rest assured and leave your back to us."

The coalition forces gathered at the foot of the river valley city, ate their last meal before the battle, waited for a while, and then set out from the city.

They had to cross the hillside that had been ravaged by Ivy's earthquake magic and annihilate all the orcs in the valley.

Standing in the front row of the coalition forces were the dwarves' heavy infantry. They held shields in their left hands and spears in their right hands. Each of them was like a tin can, and standing together they formed a dark steel defense line.

The valley where the orcs of Dol Guldur were located was extremely deep, but the entrance was not wide. After several days of fierce fighting, the dwarves were still able to fill the entrance of the valley. Behind them was the second line of defense composed of elves. All the elves standing here were long-range strike forces, that is, archers.

Thanks to the pre-war reserves, the elves’ arrows, although few in number, were not completely used up.

Behind the elven archers are the agile elven infantry. Their well-trained phalanx changes allow them to be placed in the third row without affecting the battle formation at all.

At the end of the team are the dwarf goat riders led by Thorin. Together with the giant eagles in the sky, they will serve as the reserve force for the battle and will also be the key to deciding victory or defeat.

The air and ground forces have all been assembled, and it's time to launch the final attack on the orcs.

The sound of battle horns echoed in the valley of Lonely Mountain, and the orcs came out of their camp. Perhaps because the battles were all started by the orcs, these guys had no sense of defense at all. It was not until the sentinels blew the horns that the orcs hurriedly picked up their weapons and rushed to the battle position.

Fortunately, these dirty guys didn't have the habit of taking off their armor, otherwise the coalition forces might have been able to deal with them with just one surprise attack.

A dark shadow appeared in front of the coalition army. It was the Ringwraith leading this orc army. Since the last time Ivy saw him across the ridge, he had never been seen on the battlefield again.

"The age of orcs has arrived, and our Lord, the Dark Lord, will devour the entire world!" The Ringwraiths holding flails stood in front of the coalition forces and threatened, "Elves and humans will all prostrate themselves at his feet. If you surrender now, you may have a place under his command..."

Before the Ringwraith could finish his words, Ivy appeared silently behind him through the arcane door and attacked him first.

The Ringwraith thought that the elves' bows and arrows could not threaten him at this distance, so he kept talking nonsense. However, he did not expect that Ivy's spells could move across a range of 500 feet, so he was completely unprepared.

The flashing beast-bite sword struck, cutting off his right hand with the ring of power before the Ringwraith could react.

Ivy grabbed the golden ring that was tumbling in the air, held it high, and gave an order to the coalition forces: "There is no need to follow any rules when dealing with darkness and evil! Attack!"

Jinjiao jumped out from the coalition forces and came to Ivy in a few leaps.

Ivy jumped on her horse and charged towards the orc army, waving her elven curved sword.

Suddenly, the shouts and footsteps of the coalition forces resounded throughout the valley, slowly advancing like a high wall.

The arrows thrown by the elves became the offensive means to get the second drop of blood in this battle.

The orcs who had not yet assembled had begun to pour out of the camp and attacked like a tide.

But black arrows fell like raindrops, pinning a group of orcs to the ground.

A few lucky ones saw Ivy's face and the cold blade in his hand, and fell into a deep sleep with contentment.

More orcs began to join the battle. They were getting closer and closer to the coalition forces, and Ivy swung the long sword in his hand faster and faster.

Three orcs attacked Ivy at the same time. Two of them used spears, aiming at the golden horns under Ivy's crotch. The other one used a scimitar and had already rushed in front of the horse, and was about to swing the knife at Ivy's calf.

The Golden Horn jumped up on the spot, and Ivy on its back suddenly swung the Beast Bite Sword in his hand.

The elven curved sword forged in Gondolin in the Second Age drew a graceful arc in the air, instantly cutting off the head of the orc holding the scimitar, and in the meantime chopped off the wooden shafts of the two spears.

After landing, Jinjiao kicked out with his hooves twice, kicking the two ignorant orcs backwards and causing them to fall headfirst into the ground.

The carotid artery without the head spurted out a large amount of hot black blood, making the ugly head flying high look even more terrifying.

Ivy and the coalition forces behind him had collided head-on with the Orc troops in the valley, and a brutal battle took place on this land.

The dwarf's spear pierced through the howling orcs, and the exhausted body became quiet, and then was trampled into a pulp by other companions behind him. The elves passed over the dwarf's shoulders and gave the orcs who were charging in the front a fatal blow from above.

The dwarven heavy infantry behind them took the time to pull their weapons from the orc corpses and marched forward again. The elves turned and stepped gracefully, squeezing through the gaps left by the dwarves and pushing the coalition's battle line further forward.

This was an efficient massacre. If the ogres had not rushed out of the camp, the coalition forces' advance would have continued.

Even the fully armed dwarves could not resist these huge beasts wielding huge hammers.

Often when these terrible guys swung their hammers, one could hear the metallic deformation sounds coming from the dwarves' armored shields.

In the past battlefields, these guys had to rely on the cooperation of elite soldiers to be killed, but now the coalition forces have the addition of giant eagles, so the ogres who don’t like to wear clothes have met their doom.

Although the giant eagles prefer to use their powerful claws to carry the enemy to high altitudes and then drop them down to reap the fruits of victory, when facing ogres that they cannot defeat, they will also use their claws as sharp as steel knives to pry open these unprotected and generally greasy heads.

The skin that the ogre was so proud of was like a piece of paper under the giant eagle's iron claws, and it could be easily penetrated without much force. And for the giant eagle, the ogre's counterattack was like a staggering old man waving his cane at a flying bird, which had far more deterrent significance than practical significance. Hawkeye's dynamic vision was superb, and no giant eagle would be hit by such an attack.

The ogres fell one after another, and the coalition forces burst into cheers again and again.

Ivy, who was charging at the front, released deafening thunder and dazzling light, wantonly slaughtering all the creatures in front of him. He was the fastest general in the coalition army, and at this time he had already advanced to the gate of the orc camp and was casting fireball to blow away the sentry tower at the gate.

"Charge! The gate of hell is right in front of us. We must drive these bastards from the darkness back to hell!" Among the goat cavalry reserve, Dain was the first to roar.

And his signature loud voice made the elves and dwarves in front of him make way.

Thorin drew the sword of the Lonely Mountain and roared, "Son of Durin! Charge with me!"

The dwarf knights, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately responded to their king with a fanatical war cry: "For the King under the Mountain!"

No orcs could stop the charging dwarf knights. These goats were specially trained to jump over obstacles on complex battlefields, allowing the knights behind them to destroy everything that stood in their way with hammers and axes.

Before, the orcs had used ogres to block the dwarf knights and chariots, but now with the addition of the giant eagles, these fanatical skullbreakers and bonebreakers were like a whirlwind, easily sweeping away a large number of orcs blocking their way.

Thranduil and Elrond both saw the dawn of victory and led the elves to charge.

The coalition's offensive was like a reef splitting the huge waves. No matter how many counterattacks the orcs launched, they could not stop their momentum of advancement.

The orcs trapped in the camp fell into an anxious and depressed state. The valley was only so wide and the width available for fighting was limited. Therefore, the quality advantage of the coalition soldiers was fully demonstrated, while the orcs were completely unable to take advantage of their numbers.

But Ivy, who had already destroyed the watchtower and penetrated deep into the Orc camp, sensed a new crisis.

Only a small part of the camp built by the orcs deep in the valley was exposed, and most of their camp was buried deep underground.

With the help of the earthworms, these orcs are almost hollowing out the valley. The mountain walls and the ground are full of dark caves. Who knows how many orcs are hiding in the dark, waiting to launch a thunderous attack on the coalition forces that break into the camp.

Fortunately, Ivy is a powerful wizard, and he still has a lot of spell slots left for today, including an eighth-ring spell slot that can cast earthquake.

Riding the golden horn onto a high platform, Ivy waved his staff and began to guide the power of magic.

He planned to raze the caves on one side of the valley first. If the coalition forces also advanced to such a deep place, at least they would not be surrounded by the enemy.

Mountains trembled and the earth collapsed.

The mountain, which was riddled with holes drilled by earthworms, suddenly collapsed, and the cave structure that the orcs had worked so hard to build was destroyed by Ivy's spell. The orcs who had not yet crawled out of the tunnel could only be buried alive tragically, but this also saved them the trouble of being eaten by their companions.

In just one minute, Ivy's spell successfully reduced the mountain on the west side by more than half, and the steep mountain wall turned into a gentle slope made of rocks. Due to the gnawing of earthworms, most of the material in the mountain had been transferred to other places. If it weren't for the solid rock support, the structure inside the cave would have collapsed long ago due to the activities of the orcs.

Thanks to Smaug's evil spirit, no plants have grown on the land near the Lonely Mountain for many years. Even if there are some scattered trees, they cannot be used as pillars for building houses, let alone being cut down by orcs to reinforce caves.

After deflecting a few arrows shot by the orcs, Ivy urged Golden Horn to jump down from a high place again, preparing to cast the earthquake spell in another place. The earthquake just now destroyed about a quarter of the area in the valley. If Ivy wanted to bury all the orcs underground, he had to cast the same spell three more times.

Unfortunately, he didn't have many high-level spell slots, otherwise he would have been able to completely raze the orc camp to the ground with just earthquake spell.

After finding another hidden corner, Ivy used the same trick again. This time, he deliberately chose the mountain wall in the deepest part of the valley as his target. If this earthquake spell could cause the structural collapse of the valley, it would save a lot of effort.

However, the earthquake technique, which had been successful many times, failed this time.

Although the earth still shook violently under the influence of the spell, it could not create even a crack, except for knocking the orcs on the ground to the ground.

Ivy knew that he had encountered a being that could counter his spell. He had been an arcane spellcaster for so long, but this was the first time he had encountered an opponent with the same impressive spellcasting skills.

Countless dark shadows emerged from the deepest cave in the valley. Ivy no longer tried to maintain her concentration on Earthquake, but instead prepared to fight with caution.

Those black shadows might be the magic of the Ringwraiths. Ivy heard that most of the Ringwraiths were kings and nobles among humans, but there were also a few who were evil wizards before they put on the rings. Perhaps these rings of power enslaved them and also gave them stronger magical powers.

But what about the fact that when Ivy met all nine Ringwraiths in Dol Guldur, they did not show impressive spellcasting abilities? Could it be that Sauron, who had returned to Barad-dur, was able to enhance the spellcasting abilities of those enslaved by the Ring of Power?

The black smoke that gushed out from the deepest part of the valley soon gathered in front of Ivy, and a human figure walked out of it, completely the classic image of the Ringwraiths - black cloak and black armor.

The only difference was that Ivy could see a pair of burning evil eyes through the gaps in the armor.

The identity of the person standing in front of Ivy was obvious.

It was the Dark Lord Sauron himself.

It seems that the Witch King of Angmar, as the leader of the Nazgul, plays a very important role in Sauron's plan. Otherwise, he would not have sent out so many Ringwraiths and Orcs, and secretly avoided the White Council's attention and came to the Lonely Mountain to meet Ivy in person.

"You have already got the Ring of Power, why don't you wear it?" There was a bewitching magic in Soran's dull voice. He must have used similar methods to fool other people who got the ring.

"Your power is meaningless to me, Soran." Ivy raised the corner of his mouth slightly. "What makes me curious is the method you used to forge the ring."

"Join me, wizard." Sauron's arrogant voice sounded again, "I will share everything with you. All the secrets of Middle-earth will no longer be secrets. The hypocritical Valar will be pulled down from the altar, and this continent will be in our control! As long as you wear that ring!"

"Excuse me for rejecting you." Ivy snorted coldly, holding the Ring of Power he had just obtained in his hand and holding it high. "I have no interest in becoming someone else's puppet. I have already obtained three Rings of Power. With just research, I will soon know the true secrets of them."

The Ringwraith possessed by Sauron suddenly stretched out his right hand, and several black smoke formed chains, attacking the Ring of Power in Ivy's hand like a poisonous snake.

Ivy flipped his palm, and the Ring of Power disappeared instantly. At the same time, he swung the Beast Bite Sword in his other hand rapidly, cutting off all the black chains that were stabbing at him.

"Where did you hide it? Where did you hide my ring?" Soran's voice was no longer calm, but he roared loudly in anger.

The Ringwraiths enslaved by the Ring of Power are spirits living in the netherworld. They must rely on Sauron's power to keep their bodies in reality. This characteristic makes them not afraid of weapons made of ordinary iron, and they can quickly recover even if their heads are cut off. But the Beast Bite Sword in Ivy's hand is an elven curved sword with divine power. It can not only hurt the Nazgul themselves in the netherworld, but also cut off their connection with the Ring of Power on their fingers.

Without the support of the Ring of Power, these bewitched spirits would be liberated, and apart from the humans who followed Sauron during his lifetime, few were willing to continue serving him.

But the spirits of the Ringwraiths in the underworld can detect each other from a long distance. Even if Ivy does not wear the Ring of Power on her hand, they can still see the existence of the ring through the connection in the underworld.

But just now, Sauron, who occupied the body of the Ringwraith, witnessed the disappearance of a ring with his own eyes.

Originally, Sauron only saw the ring of the Witch-king of Angmar on Ivy, and he thought that Ivy had handed the other ring to the White Council.

But after observing the ring disappear from a close distance, Sauron felt only fear. Because the ring disappeared without a trace, without any sign, as if it had never existed. If the One Ring also disappeared in the same way as Ivy, then where should Sauron go?
"You will never find it, Sauron." Ivy showed a triumphant smile, "This is the seal of Ilúvatar. The two lost rings will never appear in Middle-earth again!"

"Lies!" Sauron said angrily, "He has not paid attention to any movement of Arda for a long time! So it is absolutely impossible for Him to help a little Istar!"

Ivy wasn't lying.

His Room of Requirement was sealed by Ilúvatar, and now things that went in couldn't get out. Aren't the two rings that Ivy threw into the Room of Requirement equivalent to being sealed by Ilúvatar himself?
(End of this chapter)