Chapter 172 The Matter is Settled

At this most critical juncture, the Dark Fountain Hall played a pivotal role. Once the Army of the Dead entered within a hundred meters of it, they would completely lose control, or rather, frantically dart about like headless flies, even turning against and attacking friendly forces. Of course, if they didn't enter that range, they would still be invincible!

Not only that, but the Dark Fountain Hall also had very powerful buffs:

As long as there were warriors inside the Dark Fountain Hall, it was indestructible, and the warriors fighting inside the Dark Fountain Hall would be protected by the power of Sauron, with their health increased by 200%, attack and defense increased by 30%, and all ranged damage reduced by 40%.

Moreover, once damaged inside the Dark Fountain Hall, an additional recovery effect would be triggered. The more severe the damage, the stronger the triggered recovery effect of the dark wind. After testing and calculation, a dying warrior, if placed in the Dark Fountain Hall, would recover from near death within ten minutes, even without taking any medicine, and be fully restored in an hour (only for contractees; storyline creatures are calculated separately). However, the Dark Fountain Hall could only accommodate a hundred or so people at most, and although there was only one gate, the width of this gate was not small. Even without entering the Dark Fountain Hall, ranged weapons could cover most of the area from various angles. Only about a quarter of the area could be considered a blind spot, unless the enemy rushed in through the gate, otherwise there was absolutely no way to attack it.

Faced with the overwhelming offensive of the Army of the Dead, the dark side was truly routed, collapsing like a mountain. In the face of such a terrifying defeat, it was really difficult to figure out the direction and goal in the chaos. The only thing many people could do was to be involuntarily swept away in the escape.

Therefore, the situation that Fang Senyan was worried about before, that the Dark Hall would be overcrowded and the elite team would not be able to squeeze in, did not happen. On the contrary, under the deliberate obstruction and guidance of the opposing contractees, until most of the killing on the battlefield had subsided, the entire Dark Fountain Hall, which could accommodate hundreds of people, actually only contained the elite team, half of Skull's team, and scattered contractees, no more than thirty people in total!

It seemed that teams like Blue Light, the Sea Alliance, and Zeus' Glory did not enter the Dark Fountain Hall. Why? The answer was also obvious. Once trapped inside, although they would receive additional buffs, it would be like catching turtles in a jar with no way out. Without outside support, it might seem like they could defend temporarily by relying on the terrain, but could they defend forever?

You have to know that although shrinking in the Dark Fountain Hall would give you certain buffs, if the enemy blocked the only exit, you wouldn't even think about rushing out.

More importantly, the Army of the Dead feared the magic of Sauron, but that didn't mean that other storyline characters feared it! The protagonist Aragorn, the dwarf Gimli, and the elf prince Legolas could all act as arrowheads to launch a desperate breakthrough! As long as the gate was breached, they could use the purchased storyline creatures to pile you to death!

Although it had been mentioned before that once the main mission was upgraded, failing the mission meant death, the three teams above probably possessed powerful team-type props that could exempt them from the penalties for failing the mission. Therefore, as soon as they saw the Army of the Dead appear, they immediately began to wait and see, preparing to escape. And as soon as they saw that the situation was bad, with the Haradrim from the south acting as cannon fodder in front, they escaped faster than anyone else!

At this time, facing the group of guys who were blocked in the Dark Fountain Hall and stubbornly defending, the opposing contractees tried to attack twice, but found that Skull and Reef were defending very tightly. They simply sent some people to keep an eye on them, blocking them inside, and instead followed the Army of the Dead to kill wantonly, earning contribution points to their hearts' content.

The human contractees weren't stupid either. There was no reason to actively go and gnaw on the hard bone in the Dark Fountain Hall when there was fat meat everywhere! This kind of hard bone couldn't run away, so it was best to leave it to the end for everyone to divide.

Time passed quickly, and the shouts of killing on the battlefield gradually became low, replaced by moans, cries, and the occasional short scream. This was the situation most likely to occur when cleaning up the battlefield. The moans were because a wounded friendly soldier had been found, the cries were because the body of a comrade had been found, and the short screams were naturally because an unkilled dark side guy had been found and finished off with gritted teeth.

At this time, seeing that the astonishing number of the Army of the Dead had completely defeated the enemies on the battlefield, and then began to gather from all directions, although adhering to the hundred-meter boundary, tens of thousands of the Army of the Dead surrounded the Dark Fountain Hall tightly. These dark green terrifying specters bared their teeth and roared loudly. That sound, coupled with the bloody battlefield background, was truly ferocious and terrifying, making people shudder.

Seeing this situation, the faces of all the members of the elite team changed drastically, and they looked at each other in dismay.

Because according to Fang Senyan's calculations, the Army of the Dead was not loyal, because they were not Aragorn's private soldiers at all!

Tracing the origins of the Army of the Dead, they were a giant tribe of mountain people three thousand years ago, who obeyed Isildur, the king of Gondor, Aragorn's ancestor. The leaders of this tribe promised the king of Gondor that they would participate in the war against Sauron, but they broke their promise and did not go, leading to the defeat and death of the king of Gondor.

In his anger, the king of Gondor cursed them, so that they would be tormented and troubled by this oath forever, unless they completed their oath and were forgiven by the king of Gondor! From then on, this group of mountain people was entangled by this curse for thousands of years, and even death could not free them. Therefore, they were just a group of undead monsters who owed an oath and were bound by the curse of Gondor for thousands of years.

In other words, they were only fighting for Aragorn because of the oath. If there was no oath, these guys would raise their swords against anyone.

Therefore, it was absolutely impossible to expect them to exert any subjective initiative or enthusiasm. Their oath was just a battle.

Therefore, Fang Senyan deduced that as long as the Battle of the Pelennor Fields laid the foundation for victory, they, who had been suffering for three thousand years, would definitely ask Aragorn to fulfill the oath and release them!!

Fang Senyan's analysis was well-founded and completely in line with the original plot. And now it was obvious that the Pelennor Fields had laid the foundation for victory, and the two hundred thousand orc army and the thirty thousand Haradrim army were almost completely annihilated. But why hadn't the Army of the Dead disbanded yet?

However, just as everyone was looking at each other in dismay, a calm voice sounded in the team channel:

"Immediately check the Dark Fountain Hall and see if there are any special characters."

This voice immediately injected new vitality into the entire bewildered elite team, and everyone shouted out in surprise:

"Boss!"

"Brother Yan!"

"Leader!"

"..."

Fang Senyan smiled slightly and said:

"My matter has been settled. I just took advantage of the chaos to sneak into this vicinity. Unfortunately, they were watching too closely, but it's not that I couldn't rush over, but rushing over would inevitably cost too much, so I decided to lie low first. By the way, go and check!"

The results of the check came out quickly. As mentioned earlier, behind the Dark Fountain Hall was Gothmog's residence. There, they found Gothmog seriously injured and unconscious -- or rather, half of his head had been smashed flat -- and a dead elite orc guard. Obviously, this loyal guard risked his life to save his master and brought Gothmog back, and then died directly from his injuries.

And although Gothmog had suffered heavy injuries, his situation seemed stable, and it was estimated that he would be able to recover.

After hearing this situation, Fang Senyan immediately and decisively said coldly:

"Throw Gothmog out."

"What!!!" Fang Senyan's decision was obviously beyond the expectations of most people, and Zi couldn't help but say:

"But this will directly lead to the collapse of the orc army."

Fang Senyan said coldly:

"The orc army has already collapsed."

Zi was stunned, opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't say anything. Aziz, on the other hand, revealed an admiring look in his eyes. Obviously, Fang Senyan's order was very much to his liking.

"If we can save Gothmog, the contribution points should be amazing..." Sanzi hesitated.

Fang Senyan said coldly:

"Which is more important, contribution points or life?"

Finally, Zi used a Force Barrier to push the seriously injured Gothmog out. Faced with this "gift", even the human side felt unbelievable for a moment! So Legolas took advantage of it. He bent his bow and shot an arrow, fully demonstrating the great advantage of ranged attacks, and blew Gothmog's head off with one arrow!

Suddenly, with the death of Gothmog, the remaining orcs who were still resisting in small groups on the edge of the battlefield scattered in a panic! Even Fang Senyan and the others received an urgent warning:

"The allied commander Gothmog is dead! The morale of the orc army has collapsed and they will be unable to continue fighting!! The morale of the Dark Alliance's army has decreased, and their attack power has been reduced by 20%. (This weakening will not be applied to creatures purchased by contractees using contribution points.)" However, with the death of Gothmog, the Army of the Dead also dispersed, and under the leadership of their king, they headed towards Aragorn, who was holding the Holy Sword.

At this time, there was no longer any fighting on the entire Pelennor Fields. The Army of the Dead simply couldn't intervene near the Dark Fountain Hall, and the enemy commander was dead. The Army of the Dead had achieved great feats, completely annihilating the Haradrim army of the enemy and at least a quarter of the remaining strength of the orc army.

Logically speaking, the Army of the Dead had already done their best and fulfilled their promise!

In the skull eye sockets of the King of the Dead, two clusters of emerald green flames were burning. He stared fixedly at Aragorn. The thousands of resentful spirits behind him also looked at this powerful king with such cold and scorched eyes.

"Fulfill your promise! King of Gondor, wielder of the Holy Sword Andúril! Descendant of Isildur!"

Of course, Aragorn didn't want to release this army from the bottom of his heart -- terrifying combat power, fearless of casualties, and no logistical burden! However, at this time, in full view of the public, he couldn't make any refusal! If he broke his promise, it was hard to say that the angry Army of the Dead would even turn against him! He could only reluctantly smile and say:

"Go, since you have fulfilled the oath of three thousand years ago, then I, King of Gondor, wielder of the Holy Sword Andúril, will dispel the curse on you and release you!"

After Aragorn finished speaking, the Holy Sword Andúril in his hand emitted a soft light, shining on the Army of the Dead. Under the illumination of this light, these ferocious and terrifying soldiers threw away the weapons in their hands, looked up to the sky and laughed silently and comfortably. It could be seen that the flesh and blood on their souls were being rapidly repaired, and finally they turned into the appearance of wearing mountain people's holiday costumes, looking peaceful, happy, and serene, and finally being blown away by the wind!

Fang Senyan felt that the most troublesome enemy, the terrifying opponent that could not be resisted, had disappeared into thin air!!

However, what must be faced squarely is that the strength of the human alliance is still not to be underestimated. Their main force is undoubtedly the garrison in Minas Tirith. There were a total of seven thousand men in this garrison, and more than half of them died in the extremely cruel siege attrition war, but there were still three thousand men in scale. The only legendary figures who could fight were Faramir, son of the steward, and Gandalf, who was still recovering continuously.

The Rohirrim cavalry who came to help were also seven or eight thousand, but their casualties were very tragic, and it was estimated that there were only two or three hundred left. The legendary figures who could fight... none!

Yes, history took a turn here. King Théoden of Rohan was originally killed by the Witch-king of Angmar, but he survived, at the cost of crippling his legs. On the contrary, Éomer, who should have survived, was ambushed and killed by the contractees. Only Princess Éowyn survived, but according to modern medicine, she had a worsening intracranial hematoma and severe concussion, and it was estimated that it would be difficult for her to wake up and recover her combat ability in a short time.

Of course, the most dazzling was still the combination of Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas. If we count the remaining hundreds of contractees, and the various soldiers they exchanged with contribution points, they would still have tens of thousands of troops.

Not to mention those powerful legendary figures, the tens of thousands of troops alone had already reached the requirements for quantitative change to qualitative change, enough to easily crush any powerful team! Therefore, witnessing the Army of the Dead dissipate, the thousands of humans still felt that victory was in their hands.

And they also knew that there was a saying that a long night is full of dreams, so after a slight respite, the contractees launched the most fierce attack on the Dark Fountain Hall! In their eyes, there were only thirty or so people inside at most, and even with the powerful buffs, it would only double their strength, so let's just say sixty people! With sixty people, they would still be dragged to death by the wheel battle, after all, the disparity in strength between the two sides was too great!