Hogwarts wizards who signed in to Middle-earth.

Chapter 197 The Sulfur of the Soul
Faced with the onslaught of the ghost army, Dui drew the Light of Eyarendil, infused it with magic, and released a dazzling and holy light.

The dazzling light made the ghosts instinctively uncomfortable, and they all stopped.

Although the Light of Eyarendil is not as deadly as evil spirits, ghosts are still inherently inclined towards darkness, and will instinctively retreat when faced with such holy light.

Dui, holding aloft the radiant crystal bottle, once again proclaimed to the King of Ghosts:
"King of the Mountains, I have no intention of being your enemy. Please cease your attack. Although I cannot help you break the curse, I know of one who can help you be freed!"

Upon hearing this, the ghosts stopped their attack.

The King of Ghosts stared at Dui with the empty eyes of a dead man, and asked suspiciously, "You're not lying?"

"I assure you in the name of a wizard that what I say is true!" Dui said with a calm and certain expression.

"Who is it? Who can help us break free from the bonds of our vows?"

“The one who tied the knot must untie it. You swore allegiance to Isildur back then. Although Isildur is no longer here, you can still swear allegiance to his descendants. In this way, you can fulfill your oath and thus gain liberation and peace…” Dui explained.

But before he could finish speaking, the King of Ghosts suddenly flew into a rage, unleashing a terrifying aura. The sea of ​​skulls burst into flames of a ghastly green, radiating a chilling, bone-deep heat.

“You’re lying to me! Gondor has no king for a long time, the bloodline of Isildur is extinct, and no one can break the oath we have taken!”

"Wizard, you dare to mock the King of the Dead! May your bones remain here forever, rotting alongside us!"

The surrounding ghosts, amidst the will-o'-the-wisps, grew even more ferocious and terrifying, like vengeful spirits from hell, ready to claim souls and take lives.

Clearly, the ghosts were truly enraged and unleashed their most powerful force.

Dui was also taken aback by this sudden scene. The raging will-o'-the-wisp gave him a feeling of unease, as if it could hurt his soul.

"Wait! I'm not lying, I swear to you, the bloodline of Isildu is not yet severed!" Dui hurriedly shouted, while firmly protecting his guardian spirit around him to prevent the will-o'-the-wisp from burning him.

"You say the bloodline of Isildur still exists in the world? Is what you're saying true?" The Ghost King remained skeptical.

Dui nodded quickly.

"Although the bloodline of Isildur in Gondor in the South has been severed, there is still a direct descendant of him in the North."

The King of Ghosts' anger subsided slightly after hearing this, but he remained skeptical: "But how can I believe what you're saying is true?"

"This is hard to fake. Every generation of heirs of Isildur in the North is sent to the Valley to be raised by the elves, and this generation's heir is now growing up. He will be the rightful heir of Arnor in the North and Gondor in the South."

Even the once-broken sword of Nasir will reappear in his hands. His future is destined to be extraordinary, and he will inevitably face many conflicts. At that time, you may serve him to fulfill your former vows.

Duiqi explained, assuring, “When the time is right, I can guide him here to help you achieve complete liberation.”

The King of Ghosts' rage gradually subsided, his aura weakened, and the ghostly flames around him, powerful enough to freeze souls, vanished instantly.

“I need a guarantee, wizard.”

Dui secretly breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this and nodded in reply:
"How about I make a magical oath with you, an unbreakable vow spell?"

But the King of Ghosts was clearly unwilling; he shook his head.

“You are a wizard, magic is your specialty, and the oath of magic may not be able to bind you.”

"So what do you want?" Dui asked, frowning.

"I demand that you swear an oath to the Black Stone of Ereh to help us be freed, or you will suffer the same fate as us!"

"Okay, I agree."

In any case, even without him, Aragorn would help them find liberation in the future, and he would then guide Aragorn to fulfill his vow.

At that moment, the system also responded.

[Hogwarts Check-in System: Location: White Mountains - Path of the Dead, check-in required?]

"Sign in."

[Sign-in successful! Congratulations on obtaining the crafting recipe for the Deathly Hallows - the Resurrection Stone!]

The Resurrection Stone? Dui was astonished.

He never expected to get this from signing in.
However, he remembered that this thing, apart from being able to summon matter that was more real than ghosts and more illusory than physical entities, could not actually resurrect the dead.

It's quite useless and doesn't live up to the name "Resurrection Stone".

However, Dui was currently dealing with the ghosts and couldn't focus on delving into the knowledge he had just acquired, so he had to put it aside for the time being.

Guided by the ghost, Dui continued deeper into the cave. After walking for a long time, he finally emerged from the cave and arrived at the south side of the white mountain range.

The entrance to this cave is near the Ereh Black Rock.

Surrounded and carried by the ghost army, Dui followed the Ghost King to the top of Mount Ereh.

There were no trees around, only a spherical black boulder.

The black stone is about 12 feet or more in diameter, with its lower half buried in the ground atop Mount Ereh, and its upper half, which protrudes above ground, is more than a meter tall. Incredibly heavy, the stone has never been moved since it was placed there and has always been regarded as a symbol of oaths.

Dui looked at the boulder with curiosity and tried to lift it with a spell.

Even with all his might and the greatest amount of magic he used, the boulder remained unmoved, as if it were rooted to the ground and could not be moved by any means.

Dui was very curious about how the Numenor people managed to transport such heavy stones across the ocean to this place.
Dui, refusing to believe in superstition, used the flaming sword and the divine spear Egolos to cleave the boulder.

To his surprise, neither weapon left any mark on the black stone.

This was the first time Dui had ever seen such a hard substance, and he had no idea what the black stone was made of.
Seeing that he couldn't do anything to the black stone, Dui gave up trying to break it. Then, in the presence of the Ghost King and all the ghosts, he swore an oath to the black stone, promising to help the ghosts find liberation.

The instant the oath was made, Dui keenly sensed an invisible force emanating from the black stone.

His vow was then captured by the Black Stone and imprinted into it, becoming a part of the Black Stone.

At the same time, he also keenly sensed that the black stone seemed to have become somewhat heavier.

This feeling was so faint that if Dui hadn't possessed a fairy's sensitivity to magic, she might have mistaken it for an illusion.

Dui finally understood why the black stone was so heavy.

Clearly, the Blackrock absorbs oaths and becomes heavier. Over the thousands of years, the Blackrock has absorbed countless oaths, and its weight is probably greater than Mount Ereh beneath it!
How could Dui, with his magic, possibly lift the weight of a mountain?

[Hogwarts Check-in System: Location: Erechthe Rock, check-in required?]

Dui paused for a moment, then looked surprised.

I didn't expect you could check in here!
"Sign in."

[Sign-in successful! Congratulations on receiving the Marauder's Map creation method!]

Well, something is better than nothing, and Dui wasn't too disappointed; after all, something is better than nothing.

Because of the oath they had made, the Ghost King's attitude towards Dui softened.

Dui once again returned to the Path of the Dead with the ghosts, and the atmosphere was no longer confrontational.

“Wizard, since you have sworn an oath, you are now our guest. What do you need? We will find anything that is in these mountains for you,” said the King of Ghosts.

Dui didn't stand on ceremony and stated the purpose of his trip: "I want to find something called Soul Sulfur. It looks like sulfur and appears where souls gather. Do you remember it?"

"Sulphur of the Soul?" The Ghost King looked puzzled, clearly hearing about such a thing for the first time.

He then turned to the other ghosts and asked, "Have any of you seen something like this?"

Most of the ghosts shook their heads, indicating they had no recollection of it.

Only one female ghost hesitated before saying, "I remember seeing some yellow ore in another tunnel, but it was stained with our tears. I wonder if it's the sulfur of the soul you're talking about?"

Dui's eyes lit up at the question. "Where is it? Can you show me the way?"

Then, guided by the ghost, Dui headed towards a tunnel leading deeper underground.

At the end of the tunnel, there was a tall, black stone wall.

The stone wall is called the "Wall of Memories" or the "Wall of Sighs" by the ghosts. It is said that in front of this stone wall, the ghosts' minds become clearer. They constantly reminisce about their past lives and regret and grieve for their fate of breaking their vows and not finding peace.

Upon arriving here, the first thing Dui saw was that black stone wall.

Curious, he reached out and touched it. It felt metallic, and at the same time, it sent a cold, stinging sensation through him, like touching a block of ice.

This black stone wall, its origin unknown, exudes an eerie aura.

Although Dui was somewhat curious about the stone wall, he still turned his gaze to his surroundings.

This place looks like a mine, with black ore hidden in the surrounding stone walls. On these black ore stones, there are spots of yellow marks that have seeped into them, like impurities.

According to the ghosts, these yellow marks are the result of their ghostly tears accumulated over thousands of years.

Dui was overjoyed; he had finally found the sulfur of the soul.

After obtaining permission from the ghosts, Dui directly dug out all the ores containing the sulfur of souls and put them into a spatial bag.

The plan is to take it back and remelt and purify it to extract the sulfur of the soul.

After spending half a day, Dui finally scavenged all the ores containing the sulfur of the soul in the mine, which greatly expanded the space of the mine.

He then looked at the black stone wall that could clear the minds of ghosts. After consulting with the Ghost King, he used the divine spear Eglos to cut open a section of the black stone wall, intending to take it back for research.

He then made a pact with the Lord of the Ghosts that when Aragorn, the descendant of Isildur, grew up, he would guide him to the path of death and break the curse that had afflicted them for thousands of years.

Aragorn is only a teenager now, but for the ghosts who have been waiting for thousands of years, waiting a few more decades is no problem at all.

(End of this chapter)