Chapter 1 The Boundless Darkness

Darkness.

Endless darkness!

Within the darkness seemed thick, turbid breaths, muffled, frantic heartbeats. Worse, it felt as if hearing and sight were completely lost, utterly filled and permeated by that insane darkness!

Aragorn, having entered the Dark Spring Hall, immediately felt the severe consequences of this sensory deprivation, and his heart sank. But Aragorn was a seasoned warrior. After reaching adulthood, he had traveled throughout Middle-earth for at least ten years. Then, concealing his identity, he joined the Gondor army, quickly rising to become the renowned general "Thorongil," destroyer of the Corsairs of Umbar. Later, he became Strider, chieftain of the Rangers of the North!

In the battle on Weathertop, Aragorn was even more formidable, single-handedly resisting five Ringwraiths. The Ringwraiths' power stemmed from the darkness and fear in their enemies' hearts, which showed just how strong Aragorn's strength and mental fortitude were!

He immediately took a deep breath, gripped his holy sword Andúril tightly, and, even more importantly, the extravagance of Aragorn's equipment was simply appalling. The accessories hanging from his waist emitted a faint white light, dispelling the darkness around his body.

This emerald, inlaid in a silver eagle-shaped setting, was also equipment—an Elven gem given to him by Galadriel, the Lady of Light in Rivendell, called Elessar. The Lady of Light's possessions were, naturally, the nemesis of darkness.

Besides this, the Evenstar pendant around Aragorn's neck was the soul-relic of his beloved Arwen, and the twin-serpent ring on his finger emanated an ancient and boundless aura. It was a treasure passed down for tens of thousands of years, the pinnacle of legendary equipment, the Ring of Barahir, a symbol of the lineage of the Númenórean kings! Even in the darkness, even though Aragorn wasn't using its power, he could faintly hear the majestic rebukes issued by generations of Númenórean emperors!

To meet the myriad changes with constancy – this was Aragorn's strategy. He retreated a few steps, his back against the wall, holding his sword horizontally in front of his chest, his defense impenetrable.

He believed that the enemy could not trap him here for long. This was their last desperate attack, and once he broke free, their end would be near!

Unlike the calm Aragorn felt, once Fang Senyan threw Aragorn deep into the Dark Spring Hall and set up such a fleeting, lethal trap, Sauron's will sensed it all and became violent and intense.

Not only did the darkness in the Dark Spring Hall overflow madly, surging and covering the vicinity for forty or fifty meters, like an eerie, impenetrable black fog, but even in Mordor, thousands of miles away, where Sauron's main body, the Eye of Fire, resided, flames churned. Mount Doom spewed thick black dark magic, and the Eye of Fire's gaze reached tens of kilometers, leaving scorched earth and barren desolation in its wake.

At the same time, the roar of Sauron echoed in the minds of all the surviving contractors of the dark forces:

Kill him! Kill him! Sacrifice the flesh and soul of this last remnant of the Númenórean royal family to me! I forgive you all your sins!

(Note: Aragorn is in the Dark Spring Hall, suffering from Sauron's curse. If killed by a contractor, there will be an amazing drop rate.)

It was no wonder that Sauron reacted so violently when he realized there was a chance to kill Aragorn. Because during the War of the Last Alliance in the Second Age, Sauron originally had a great chance to successfully rule Middle-earth.

He boldly stepped forward like Lü Bu, first taking down Gil-galad, the High King of the Noldor Elves, and then crushing Elendil, the strongest human warrior, with a few strokes. But just as he was about to reach the pinnacle of his life, Isildur, Elendil's son, pulled him down from his lofty goal with a humiliating defeat!

And now, Aragorn held in his hand the legendary sword Andúril, reforged from the shards of the holy sword Narsil! Moreover, Aragorn was a direct descendant of Isildur! As the saying goes, seeing an object evokes thoughts of a person, and now Aragorn was giving Sauron a double stimulus!

Of course, in addition to the old hatred, Aragorn had also led the Army of the Dead to crush the Orc legions and the war-elephant legions of the Haradrim from the South. This was a fresh hatred. With old and new hatreds intertwined, how could Sauron not be furious?!

*

Fang Senyan's Horn of Mad Rage stopped halfway through its charge. Although time was so precious, he still halted.

Because at that moment, he heard a prompt in his ear: Aragorn is in the Dark Spring Hall, suffering from Sauron's curse. If killed by a contractor, there will be an amazing drop rate.

Fang Senyan couldn't see the future, but he believed two things.

The first was that people's hearts were extremely greedy, and the second was that Aragorn was definitely not someone who could be easily killed!

So Fang Senyan stopped. At the same time, he didn't forget to apply medicine to his teammates protected by the magma from Mount Doom, and from the extent of blood loss from the dark gold leech, he got a piece of good news, which was that he had at least thirty seconds to kill Aragorn undisturbed.

At the same time, a dazzling white light flashed, tearing through the darkness, and then a series of screams rang out. Some warm liquid splattered in the darkness, hitting Fang Senyan's face, causing a faint pain.

There was no doubt that there was more than just the Ace Team in the entire Dark Spring Hall. There were also people from the Skull Clan, who should have recovered considerably in their ice-cold magma state. Some of them must have been unable to resist the immense temptation and attacked first.

But what kind of person was Aragorn? Now that he knew he was ambushed, he would definitely unleash all his ultimate moves, not striking until ready, and then launching an extremely fierce counterattack! This was why Fang Senyan wanted to slow down, to let those greedy guys absorb Aragorn's pent-up counterattack, while also giving himself a chance to catch his breath.

After the screams subsided, Fang Senyan slowly walked towards Aragorn, appearing calm, resolute, and unhurried. At the same time, the G-spot on his right hand continued to dissolve, transforming from a glove back into that dreaded weapon: the Magic Sword Apophis!

"Do you know why I'm not in a hurry at all? Aragorn?" Fang Senyan walked slowly and spoke slowly. The darkness of the Dark Spring Hall had no effect on him, so he could clearly see that the scene around Aragorn was very tragic. Two contractors had been cut into seventeen or eighteen pieces of flesh and blood, splattered everywhere!

The accessories around Aragorn's waist emitted a soft white light that enveloped him, like a white eggshell containing him. That was the power of the Lady of Light from Rivendell protecting him, preventing him from being invaded by the darkness. Although Aragorn's vision was limited to only half a meter, it was better than knowing nothing.

Hearing Fang Senyan's words, Aragorn originally didn't want to answer, but he immediately realized that he had to say something. How could the dignified King of Gondor not dare to retort to his enemy? Besides, his close friend was nearby, and there were tens of thousands of troops outside!

"Perhaps you know that no matter what you do, you cannot escape the judgment of justice and light, follower of darkness," Aragorn said lightly.

"No." Fang Senyan said seriously, "It's because I planned this trap for exactly eighteen days and twenty-one hours. The remaining time is enough to kill you."

Aragorn said faintly:

"There have been about a dozen people who dared to speak to me like this, but their fate is the same. Their heads were cut off and hung on trees to warn everyone that this is the consequence of falling."

Fang Senyan smiled and said:

"When you went to seize control of the Army of the Dead, you were intercepted by our people. Your strength began to decline from that time, right? Maybe not much, but at least by ten percent. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to be intercepted for nearly ten hours."

"Next, you led the Army of the Dead to travel thousands of miles, fighting against the Haradrim and the Orc legions. Your strength has declined again by at least another twenty percent, right? And that's being conservative. Although it was a smooth battle, the tenacity of the dark warriors would definitely not disappear so easily."

"After the battle, you rested hastily, probably recovering to eighty percent of your strength. But the three consecutive impacts on the Dark Spring Hall should have greatly depleted your vitality, right? My teammates' strength is very clear. It's no exaggeration to say that they consumed thirty percent of your strength."

"So, what I'm facing now is only half of Aragorn's strength! More importantly! Aragorn, I know and can break your greatest reliance, which is your destiny as king! In front of me, you are just a powerful Dúnadan!!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Fang Senyan's momentum had reached its peak, and he charged fiercely towards Aragorn! He was also wielding a sword with both hands, unstoppable! Seeing the seemingly ordinary weapon in his hand, which would only reveal its sharpness when the blades met, Aragorn also roared and met him head-on, because he knew that retreating would mean losing not only the terrain, but also his confidence.

The first attacks of both sides were without evasion. Fang Senyan's sword struck Aragorn's shoulder, and the legendary sword Andúril pierced Fang Senyan's left leg!