A thunderous roar erupted from the tower crowned by Sauron's Eye.
At the same moment, far to the west, the besieged Sauron saw it.
The Ring was falling.
The One Ring slid free of Frodo's hand, descending toward the molten abyss below. Terror and disbelief filled every burning gaze fixed upon it.
"No—!!!"
As it fell through the air, the Ring unleashed its will without restraint. Its spiritual allure surged to its absolute peak, a final, desperate struggle born of pure unwillingness.
Frodo and Sam watched in silence, hearts pounding, praying that the apocalyptic flames and lava would finally consume it.
But then, a black shadow burst from behind them.
It leapt past Frodo and Sam, plunging downward with terrifying speed, and caught the Ring in mid-air.
"My treasure… my treasure…"
The creature clutched the Ring to its chest, its face twisted in manic ecstasy, completely ignoring the fact that it was falling straight into the abyss. It refused to let go, even as death loomed below.
Frodo and Sam froze in shock.
They had never expected this.
They had not expected Gollum to have escaped Aragorn's petrification spell so quickly, nor that he could have tracked them through mountains crawling with dark creatures, all the way to the Rift itself.
For a moment, it seemed possible that Gollum and the Ring would perish together.
Frodo and Sam could only sigh inwardly, bracing themselves for the end.
Then;
A pillar of flame erupted from the lava below.
It engulfed Gollum.
Unable to withstand the unbearable heat, Gollum finally let go.
In an instant, his body was reduced to charred blackened remains, then shattered apart, leaving only the Ring, still intact, suspended within the flames.
The fire did not melt it.
Instead, the Ring blazed brilliantly, its inscriptions glowing with blinding light.
A second later, the lava surged violently.
A massive figure clawed its way out.
Horns curved from its head. Its entire body was wreathed in roaring fire. The flames themselves formed a living whip, snapping and coiling through the air.
A Balrog.
This Balrog had slumbered deep within the Volcano of Doom, far more powerful than the one that once dwelled in the depths of Moria. The fiery whip wrapped around the Ring and retracted, placing it neatly into the demon's massive palm.
Seeing this, Frodo and Sam were seized by terror.
Beyond fear, Frodo felt an overwhelming sense of defeat.
They had been so close.
Just as the Ring was about to be destroyed, fate had turned against them at the very last moment.
Frodo staggered forward instinctively, but Sam clung to him desperately, dragging him back.
"This thing… we can't face it!" Sam shouted.
The pressure radiating from the Balrog, combined with the scorching heat, was utterly unbearable.
Far to the west of the Misty Mountains, the besieged Sauron threw back his head and laughed.
"Hahahaha!"
His laughter echoed with triumph, and the relief of narrowly escaping annihilation.
"You failed," Sauron sneered at Gandalf, Elrond, and the others."Even if you brought the Ring to the Volcano of Doom, what good did it do? You didn't know there was a Balrog sleeping within. And now, the Ring is back in my hands!"
This Balrog had not originally dwelled in the volcano.
Decades earlier, after Sauron sacrificed countless lives and souls to Morgoth, he regained his physical form and much of his strength. Guided by Morgoth's lingering will, Sauron seized the resting place of one of Morgoth's former lieutenants, a surviving Balrog, and relocated it here.
After Morgoth's defeat, nearly all Balrogs were destroyed. Only a few escaped, hiding deep beneath the earth.
The Balrog of Moria had been awakened by the Dwarves' relentless mining of mithril, bringing ruin upon Khazad-dûm.
This Balrog, however, had been deliberately placed within the Volcano of Doom.
It was not Sauron's servant.
It did not obey his commands.
Sauron merely relied on it to guard the volcano, while the Balrog used the primordial fire of the world's core to slowly restore its own power.
Hearing Sauron's triumphant laughter, Sylas, along with Gandalf and Elrond, all turned grim.
Without hesitation, Sylas ordered them to restrain Sauron at all costs.
But Sauron had already acted.
Sensing the mark he had placed upon Frodo, he transformed into a blazing phoenix and vanished into fire.
A second later, the phoenix reappeared above the Rift.
"Sylas!"
Hope flashed across Frodo and Sam's faces.
Sylas had no time for words.
With a powerful beat of his wings, two phoenix feathers drifted down, landing precisely before them. In the next instant, Sylas plunged straight downward, launching himself at the Balrog.
As Frodo and Sam grasped the feathers, space twisted around them, and they were instantly teleported.
Below, the Balrog roared, noticing the incoming phoenix. It lashed out with its flaming whip, striking toward Sylas.
In phoenix form, Sylas twisted through the air, narrowly evading the attack, and unleashed searing phoenix fire in response.
Golden flames cascaded onto the Balrog's body.
Sacred fire collided with demonic flame.
The Balrog howled in pain.
Yet this was the Volcano of Doom.
Dark demonic power overflowed here, endlessly replenished by the primordial fire from the world's core. That immense power surged forth, crushing against Sylas's phoenix flames, eroding his strength, devouring his life force, and forcing him to weaken with every passing second.
The phoenix fire burning on the Balrog's body was rapidly consumed.
He could feel it clearly.
The surrounding darkness was relentlessly eroding his phoenix fire. His life force was draining away, second by second.
This situation was dire.
If he did not decide the battle quickly, death was inevitable.
Sylas fixed his gaze on the golden ring clenched in the Balrog's grasp.
He made a decisive choice.
In an instant, he dismissed his phoenix form and reverted to his human body, plunging straight toward the Balrog.
The moment his transformation ended, the protection of phoenix flame vanished.
Now, Sylas was directly exposed to the Balrog's terrifying heat.
One by one, the defensive artifacts layered across his body shattered under the overwhelming temperature, crumbling into ash. The flames scorched his flesh mercilessly, and Sylas felt as though he were being burned alive.
Gritting his teeth through the agony, he poured every shred of his remaining power into the Earth Ring.
Golden light erupted.
A massive dome of radiant energy condensed in midair, slamming down around the Balrog and sealing it inside. At the same time, Sylas activated a gravity seal, its force crashing downward like a thousand-ton weight, driving the Balrog violently toward the molten lava below.
This Balrog's power was scarcely inferior to Sauron's.
Worse still, they were fighting within the Volcano of Doom itself, the Balrog's true battlefield.
Sylas knew he had no hope of killing it outright.
The only path to victory was simple and absolute.
Force the Balrog into the lava.
Once The One Ring slipped from its grasp and fell into the flames, it would finally be destroyed.
And with it, Sauron.
But the Balrog saw through Sylas's intent immediately.
Standing atop the lava, it roared and linked itself fully to the Volcano of Doom. Vast streams of fire surged up, flooding into its body. In moments, the Balrog expanded into a colossal giant of flame, bracing itself against the crushing pressure of the golden dome.
Though Sylas still wielded the power of the Earth Ring, this was a realm of darkness and fire.
Here, the Earth Ring could not truly commune with the land.
Sylas could rely only on his own dwindling magic to sustain the seal.
His power here was like rootless grass, cut off from nourishment.
Dark energy gnawed relentlessly at his life force.
As the struggle dragged on, Sylas grew weaker with each passing breath, while the Balrog steadily gained the upper hand. Flames coalesced in the demon's grasp, forming a massive sword of fire that crashed again and again against the golden dome.
Crack-crack
The barrier trembled.
"Sylas, Sauron has broken free of the restraints and is heading toward the Ring!"
The worried voice of Galadriel echoed in Sylas's mind.
His heart clenched instantly.
If Sauron returned to the Ring, every sacrifice and every plan would be rendered meaningless.
At this critical juncture, retreat was no longer an option.
Sylas looked down at the Balrog still locked in desperate resistance beneath him, and then, in his mind, at the approaching shadow of Sauron.
He drew in a deep breath.
His eyes hardened with resolve.
No longer did he attempt to suppress the Balrog.
Instead, Sylas abandoned all restraint.
He unleashed everything.
Every remaining drop of magic within his body surged outward as he poured it violently into the Earth Ring.
...
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