Hogwarts wizards who signed in to Middle-earth.

Chapter 284 The Corpse Demon Resurrects
Everyone was talking about the ring, especially those who had seen it, who described its wonders in vivid detail.

Such a discussion naturally attracted the attention of some interested parties.

In a tavern in Hogsmeade, a cloaked figure sat in a dark corner, listening silently to the conversations around him, a black cane beside him.

If Dui were here right now, he would be very surprised.

Because the person in the cloak before them was none other than Saruman!
Saruman was disguised as a tourist at this moment, and his staff was also disguised as a cane.

Because Hogsmeade is frequented by many traveling merchants, travelers, bards, adventurers, and others who come to admire Windrise Castle and the Silver and Gold Trees.

Therefore, Saruman's appearance did not attract much attention.

Saruman's trip here was not at Sauron's behest, but rather a secret one.

The purpose was obvious: to obtain the One Ring.

Saruman was not as loyal to Sauron as the Ringwraiths; he had his own ulterior motives.

After receiving news of the One Ring, Gollum arrived, and Saruman followed right behind.

Although Sauron agreed to forge a Ring of Power for Saruman, given Saruman's greed, even the most powerful Ring of Power could not compare to the One Ring and could not satisfy his appetite.

Rather than submitting to Sauron, Saruman preferred to seize the One Ring and then rule the world with its power.

Now that Saruman has heard that Gollum stole what is believed to be the One Ring, and that the whole nation knows about it, he is naturally skeptical of the news, given his intelligence.

But at this moment, he was already overwhelmed by the temptation of the One Ring, and confident in his own strength, he decided to find Gollum first to confirm whether he had the One Ring.

If that's true, then it's obtained without any effort.

With the One Ring, he would no longer need to rely on Sauron. Not only would he be able to reclaim Isengard, but he could even rule the world.

The only thing that worried him was that this was Duir's territory, and he couldn't make too much noise or even use magic easily. Otherwise, if Duir inside the castle noticed, all his efforts would be in vain.

If he were to expose himself here, he would likely attract Duir's attention, and not only would he fail to obtain the One Ring, but he might even face Sauron's wrath.

After all, he came out this time with a different excuse.

Once Sauron discovers him here, he'll guess that he's also looking for the One Ring.

At that time, he will be attacked from both sides, and will have no foothold between the light and the darkness.

Meanwhile, on Kozuka Hill.

The Witch-King of Angmar stared into silence at the empty, deserted ancient burial mound, devoid of any undead creatures.

The place he once cursed, filled with dark power, has long since been purified.

Only a few extremely weak corpse demons remained, lying quietly in the underground tombs, falling into eternal slumber.

The Witch-King of Angmar was furious that his masterpiece had been destroyed in this way.

He exuded a dark aura and chanted ancient dark incantations.

Then the sky darkened, dark clouds covered the sky, and the evil forces revived once again at the ancient mound.

Wisps of black energy, exuding an evil aura, emerged from around the Witch King Angmar. These black wisps were corrupted evil spirits, controlled by the Witch King Angmar.

Thousands of evil spirits swarmed into the ground and graves, possessing the skeletons.

Under the influence of evil forces, the restless skeleton once again opened its evil eyes with a faint red glow. Its whole body was emanating black energy, and the skeleton became as hard as iron. Its hands were hard and sharp, enough to easily tear a person apart.

The skeletons possessed by evil spirits transformed into corpse demons, crawling out of their graves with stiff yet swift movements, emitting low, gloomy roars filled with an evil aura.

The temperature at Kozuka-oka plummeted, becoming incredibly cold and biting. Fog filled the air, shrouding the mountaintop and casting an ominous shadow over the place once again.

In the old forest, Tom Bombadil and his wife Goldenberry seemed to sense something and looked in the direction of the ancient mound.

Goldenberry looked worried.

But Tom Bombardier remained all smiles, as if nothing could upset him, and he gesticulated wildly as he comforted his wife:

"Alright, dear Goldenberry, don't worry about these things. Just like flowers bloom, leaves fall, and after winter comes spring, everything will pass. Let's think about what to make for dinner!"

Upon hearing this, Goldenberry withdrew her gaze and said gently to Tom Bombadil, "These ghosts are looking for the ring, Tom. Don't lose the ring and cause trouble for Duir and the others, okay?"

Tom took out the One Ring, played with it in his hand, then slipped it onto his little finger and said confidently, "My dear Goldberry, don't worry, old Tom will take good care of it."

These past few days, however, the little thing has been a bit restless, always trying to attract those ghosts and that poor hobbit, so I have to calm it down! I don't want my old forest to be disturbed by those ghosts!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

On the ancient burial mound, the Witch King Angmar knew nothing of what was happening in the old forest beside him.

Facing the thousands of respectfully prostrate corpse demons around him, the Witch King Angmar was very satisfied.

The evil spirits within these undead are all people who died by the Blade of Mogul. Fragments of the Blade of Mogul pierced their hearts, transforming them into creatures of the underworld, and they are now controlled by the Witch King of Angmar.

Then, through the evil sorcery of the Witch King of Angmar, it possessed the corpse and skeleton, transforming into a ghoul.

At the height of his power, the Witch-King of Angmar used this sorcery to create a massive army of undead, established the Kingdom of Angmar, destroyed the kingdoms of Azerdan and Kaldoran, and wreaked havoc in the Eridor region.

The Witch-King of Angmar turned his gaze eastward, landing on the distant Storm Peaks, his eyes filled with malice.

He then turned to Buri, which was closer to the Ancient Tomb Hill, and commanded the undead: "Attack that city tonight! Destroy it! Turn all the people there into your slaves!" Hearing the Witch-King of Angmar's words, the undead roared excitedly, their eyes flashing with evil light and filled with bloodlust.

……

Brie,
The former town of Buri has been completely transformed into a city with a population of tens of thousands.

Because of its convenient location at the intersection of East-West Avenue and North-South Avenue, it is a popular destination for pedestrians and travelers, and its development level is comparable to that of Hogsmeade.

Especially since the disappearance of the Ancient Tomb Ridge Corpse Demon, the road from Bri to Shire has become much safer, so the contact between the two places has become more frequent.

The finest goods from all over the world are gathered in Brie, and then sold to the Shire region.

At the same time, various tobacco, malt liquor, mushrooms and other products from the Shire were also transported to Buri, and were sold not only to the residents of Buri but also to other regions.

Pipe grass, in particular, is renowned far and wide, sold not only to Gondor and Rohan in the south, but also to the dwarven kingdoms east of the Misty Mountains, where pipe grass is a favorite.

The city of Brie earns a steady stream of money solely from the pipe grass trading business, a pillar business that makes Hogsmeade Mayor Luke envious.

As a result, the city of Bri developed rapidly. The original wooden plank walls were replaced by tall stone walls, and thousands of militiamen were stationed there for defense.

Previously, there was a group of bandits in Nangang who coveted the wealth of Buri City and dared to attack Buri to plunder its riches.

Ultimately, they were defeated by the militia of Brie, captured, and put on trial.

This matter didn't even alarm Dui until Mayor Lach came to report it to him, and Dui only then learned about it.

So since then, the bandits and robbers in the surrounding area have no longer dared to covet Buri, and have not even dared to block the trade routes to and from Buri.

On this day, the city of Brie remained prosperous and bustling.

The city gates were not closed until late at night.

But the city remained lively, especially the taverns and inns, which were still crowded with people.

As the largest inn in Brie, the Leap Horse Inn has a history of hundreds of years and has become a landmark of Brie.

Even though the city has expanded and more guesthouses have opened, Yuema Guesthouse still has the highest number of guests.

Mr. Butter Chrysanthemum, the innkeeper, seemed to never need to sleep. Even late at night, he would still sit behind the bar, constantly wiping the wine glasses, listening to the news brought by guests from all over the country, or chatting with some familiar customers.

Recently, the biggest topic of conversation at the inn has been the lord's stolen gold ring.

Everyone was talking about the thief who dared to sneak into the castle to steal things, especially the local residents, who all looked at the thief with disgust for daring to offend the lord, saying that if he were caught, he would definitely be severely punished.

At the same time, I couldn't help but be curious about the ring that could make me invisible.

Just as things were getting lively inside the inn, the militia guard at the city gate couldn't help but yawn.

But just as they were drifting off to sleep, a chill jolted them awake.

"Is it foggy?" The militiaman looked at the thick fog in the distance, which was spreading towards them, with a puzzled expression.

Meanwhile, dark clouds appeared in the sky at some unknown time, blocking out the moon and making the surrounding area dark.

But an older militia captain felt uneasy and immediately became alert.

"Watch out! Something's wrong with this fog!"

"Something's wrong with the fog? What's wrong with it?" the young militiaman asked, puzzled.

The militia captain shook his head; he wasn't sure either, but something just felt off.

Just as others expressed their doubts, faint lights appeared in the mist, appearing and disappearing.

The next second, an extremely fast, almost invisible black shadow burst out of the mist and came straight to the city gate, crashing heavily onto it.

The immense impact caused the militiamen on the city wall to feel a slight tremor.

Everyone gasped, their faces filled with terror.

"What...what exactly is that?"

After the dark figure crashed into the city gate once, it did not give up and slammed into it again.

It was as if they wouldn't give up until they broke down the city gate.

"Quickly smash the oil lamp down and see clearly what it is!" the militia captain shouted immediately.

A soldier quickly threw an oil lamp off the wall.

The oil lamp was smashed on the ground in front of the city gate, scattering and igniting a raging fire that illuminated the area around the gate.

Finally, the camera caught sight of the thing that had crashed into the city gate.

In an instant, everyone turned pale and their faces showed terror.

"Corpse Demon!!!"

Just then, countless corpse demons rushed out of the mist, numbering in the thousands!

Upon seeing so many corpse demons, everyone's heart seemed to stop for a few seconds, and their fear was palpable.

(End of this chapter)