The next second, Thunderbird Thorondor appeared above Bree city.
Electrical sparks flickered across his body as his feathers bristled. Lightning from the surrounding clouds was drawn to him, then instantly condensed into a massive bolt that struck straight down.
Under the lightning's illumination, everything lit up like midday. Everyone on the walls felt their hair stand on end, skin prickling with electric current.
The massive lightning bolt narrowly missed them, striking the pile of stacked barrow-wights directly.
The blast was devastating—countless barrow-wights shattered, their bones instantly turning to ash.
Others were blasted away, bodies crackling with electricity, turning charred black with severed limbs scattered across the ground.
The militia on the walls, seeing those terrifying barrow-wights so easily destroyed by lightning, looked at the thunder-wreathed Thunderbird with awe and reverence.
Thorondor didn't stop. As his wings moved, the surrounding mist surged. All the storm's power was absorbed by him, then released as lightning to strike the wights below.
The barrow-wights suffered a lightning baptism. The purifying power of the lightning gave the evil spirits possessing the bones no chance to react before turning them to ash.
Watching the number of barrow-wights decrease under Thorondor's relentless attacks, the militia on the walls grew increasingly excited, spontaneously cheering.
Citizens in the city also calmed from their panic, looking up at the Thunderbird with worship and delight.
"Look! Lord Kael's Thorondor came to save us! We're safe!"
All the city's subjects showed excited, proud expressions—they knew Lord Kael would come to their rescue!
Meanwhile, traveling merchants and visitors temporarily lodging in the city, after their relief at surviving, all looked with awe at the Thunderbird releasing lightning.
Such a divine creature controlling thunder and weather belonged to that mysterious lord of Weathertop, filling them with curiosity and reverence for the wizard lord.
If possible, they too wanted to become his subjects.
The Thunderbird's one-sided assault on the barrow-wights continued. Thorondor controlled the storm clouds, absorbing electrical current while continuously releasing lightning.
Outside the city, lightning blasted craters into the earth, with broken wight limbs scattered everywhere.
But just as Thorondor was clearing the wights, an arrow suddenly aimed at him from the darkness.
A black arrow shot forth with a whoosh, carrying an ominous dark aura, flying straight toward Thorondor.
The black arrow's speed was tremendous, concealed by night, making it nearly impossible to avoid.
Only when it reached the Thunderbird did he sense it.
But avoiding it now was impossible.
Just as the black arrow was about to strike, a scale-shaped shield appeared before him, blocking the attack.
This shield was made by Kael using a frost dragon scale through alchemy—a magical shield that automatically blocked attacks when worn.
Thorondor wore such a dragon scale shield.
Nearly hit, Thorondor reacted with fury, his sharp gaze instantly locking onto the ambusher.
It was one of the Nazgûl—the Quiet One, Akhorahil, skilled at ranged attacks with Morgul arrows.
Thorondor released massive lightning, attacking the Nazgûl.
The Nazgûl didn't panic but raised his bow again, chanting dark incantations. His Ring of Power glowed with ghostly light as the Morgul arrow shot forth, colliding with the lightning.
The Morgul arrow erupted with tremendous dark power, matching the lightning equally. The two forces collided in midair, producing a violent explosion and creating massive shockwaves.
Everyone on the walls was nearly blown off by the force.
Thorondor released a sharp cry, wings flapping to stir up fierce winds. Cloud layers surged, becoming thicker, as if about to collapse from the sky.
The next moment, torrential rain suddenly fell.
The militia on the walls and citizens in the city all sought shelter from the rain, eyes wide trying to see through the downpour.
They wanted to help but knew this wasn't a battle they could intervene in.
In the storm, Thunderbird Thorondor was in his element. The downpour not only didn't hinder him but became his advantage.
Thorondor charged directly into the clouds, merging with the surrounding storm, erupting with tremendous lightning.
In an instant, like a lightning pool overflowing, countless bolts used the rainwater as pathways, densely attacking the Nazgûl.
The Nazgûl tried to dodge, but lightning came like a net from all directions. Even the ground below crackled with electrical currents, cutting off all retreat.
With no choice, the Nazgûl could only activate his Ring of Power, using dark energy to resist the lightning attacks.
In an instant, the Nazgûl was surrounded by countless lightning bolts, erupting with dazzling electrical light.
In the collision of lightning and dark power, everything around was destroyed. The Nazgûl's black robe and armor were torn apart by lightning.
But the Nazgûl himself wasn't critically wounded. His Ring of Power, one of the Nine Rings given to Men, meant unless the ring was destroyed, he wouldn't be eliminated by lightning.
Seeing he hadn't dealt a critical blow, Thorondor's entire body erupted with electrical sparks, seemingly preparing to attack with full force.
The Nazgûl didn't dare underestimate this, raising his vigilance and focusing all attention on responding to the Thunderbird's attacks.
But the next second, a dagger appeared out of nowhere behind the Nazgûl, stabbing directly into his spirit form.
Simultaneously, Kael's form emerged from beneath the Invisibility Cloak.
The dagger piercing the Nazgûl's back was one of the four daggers Kael had obtained from the Barrow-downs tombs—weapons forged by the Númenóreans specifically to counter Nazgûl, possessing the ability to restrain them and break their magic.
The Nazgûl's spirit form suffered a critical hit, constantly distorting while releasing painful, sharp screams.
Then it exploded. The massive blast nearly sent Kael flying backward.
The Nazgûl disappeared, leaving only a Ring of Power falling to the ground.
Kael used his wand to pick up the ring, storing it in a mithril box.
He looked at the Invisibility Cloak in his hands with satisfaction.
This Invisibility Cloak truly deserved being a Deathly Hallow, legendary for evading Death itself. Wearing it to approach the Nazgûl, even the undead wraith couldn't detect him, ultimately allowing his successful ambush.
After eliminating this Nazgûl, Kael had Thorondor continue destroying the remaining barrow-wights.
He quickly Apparated to the Barrow-downs, surveying the surroundings and immediately frowning.
The Witch-king of Angmar was the true controller behind those barrow-wights. He had originally come wearing the Invisibility Cloak to deal with the Witch-king.
But he had only encountered another Nazgûl—the Quiet One, Akhorahil—without discovering any trace of the Witch-king.
This made him feel uneasy, but he hadn't wanted to let the Nazgûl before him escape.
So he had simply dealt with this Nazgûl first.
But this would alert the enemy. Once the Quiet One disappeared, other Nazgûl would probably sense it.
"Hmm?" Kael suddenly sensed something, looking directly eastward. "Is there a situation with Gollum?"
Without another word, he immediately vanished.
In the Weather Hills north of Weathertop, Gollum had been hiding these past days. Not only was he being searched by humans, but also pursued by those things secretly watching him.
Though relying on the ring's invisibility, he had narrowly escaped several times, but he constantly lived in fear.
Finally shaking off his pursuers, he came to this hilly forest, finding an underground cave to hide.
Gollum didn't choose to leave but remained near Weathertop, mainly because he still hadn't given up pursuing his precious Ring.
He looked at the gold ring in his hand—seeing this ring identical to the One Ring, he knew that black-robed wizard must have personally seen the Ring, even closely examined it, to conjure a ring identical to it.
So either the Ring was in that wizard's hands, or he knew where it was.
Even though that wizard made him fearful, especially thinking of the torture made his body involuntarily convulse with phantom pain.
But the thought of reclaiming his precious Ring always prevailed, and he faintly sensed the Ring was somewhere in this region.
So before obtaining the Ring, he was unwilling to leave.
Looking at the gold ring in his hand, Gollum was transfixed, murmuring, "Precious, my precious!"
But soon he broke free from the Confundus Charm on the ring, showing disgust and hatred, wanting to throw away this fake.
Even though this gold ring had invisibility, to Gollum it was worthless as dirt.
But seeing the Two Trees mark on his arm, Gollum showed fear again, not daring to discard the ring.
He had tried various methods to remove this mark—all useless.
He had even considered cutting off his arm to escape the Dark Mark's control.
But the Dark Mark seemed to anticipate his thoughts—when he raised a knife to cut his arm, it simply moved to his chest and other places.
He could only give up.
Between Gollum's two personalities, the cowardly Sméagol was already extremely fearful of Kael, not daring any rebellious thoughts.
But the evil Gollum personality was different. Though fearing Kael's torture, he had no submissive thoughts—even with Dark Mark control.
He only wanted to reclaim and possess the Ring, waiting for any opportunity to betray his master.
Kael naturally could see Gollum's nature, but he didn't care.
If not for Gollum still having use, he would have dealt with him long ago.
Just as Gollum hid in the cave, holding the gold ring while reminiscing about the Ring, the cave entrance was blasted open by tremendous force, nearly making Gollum drop the ring.
Outside the cave entrance, Saruman stood there, coldly smiling into the darkness, his eyes locking onto Gollum's location.
"Gollum, I know you're inside. Hand over the ring!"
Gollum's face changed drastically, showing terror. He hastily put the ring on his finger, instantly becoming invisible.