The Ultimate Evolution

Chapter 1387: Exchange and Undercurrent

Chapter 1387: Exchange and Undercurrent

Translator: Sean88888 Editor: Elkassar1

Sheyan felt that it was a pity he would not see the Uruk-hai Lurtz here. Based on the timeline, after Lurtz had killed Boromir in the plot, he immediately encountered Aragorn who had the MC plot armour. He ended up being stabbed a few times and had his head chopped off with a sword!

(https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Lurtz)

Based on Sheyan’s observation along the way, perhaps because all nine Ringwraiths would be participating in this war, as well as a few hundreds of the mighty Trolls, there were not many of the exceptionally strong Uruk-hais – he saw none that were even on Lurtz’s level. However, the commander of the army was still an Orc. To be more specific, it was their king, Gothmog.

(https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Gothmog_(Lieutenant_of_Morgul))

This guy was probably a hybrid between an Orc and a pig (the sperms of Orcs were abnormally strong and could inseminate the eggs of many kinds of animals). He had pale white skin like a domestic pig, a muscular body, and a completely deformed pig head. His head had a lot of warts on it, making it look extremely disgusting but ferocious.

But Gothmog was actually a tactical master. His ugly deformed body housed a soul that may be evil but was surprisingly wise.

His individual combat prowess was actually no inferior to a mighty Troll, but the main reason he was appointed as the commander of the army was still due to his superior mind. His value was obvious from one of his personal properties, ‘Commander-in-chief’.

[ ‘Commander-in-chief’ — The commander-in-chief will not fall in battle as long as he has soldiers who still have the courage to fight within 100 meters of him, even if there is only one. His life will stay in his body forever through the power of Sauron and the nine Ringwraiths! ]

Obviously, such a setting was to avoid the tactic of assassinating the commander-in-chief to end the war. It was possible to kill Gothmog, but the minions around him must be eliminated first.

That was because, due to Gothmog’s position, he would sometimes appear under the city wall to boost his army’s morale. Although the overall strength of the defending side was weaker, they had the absolute advantage in terms of contestants. The contestants could easily gather ten heavy sniper rifles to focus fire on Gothmog. The higher grades heavy sniper rifles would often have trigger-type special properties like ‘One-hit KO’ or reducing a certain amount of HP based on percentage, so it would be easy for them to assassinate him.

Gothmog’s residence was in the centre of the Orc camp, and it was a simple barrack built out of granite and wooden blocks. Of course, you could not expect the Orcs to have any sense of aesthetics, so it could not be called pretty. However, it was spacious and had a solid structure.

The barrack was only about the size of a basketball court, but the central barrack was surrounded by several black tents that were least 10 meters high but only 20-30 square meters in area.

The large tents were pretty eye-catching. They were rotten, dusty and covered in spider webs, but there were also some mottled and heroic patterns on them. Although the tents had been ravaged by time, it could still be vaguely seen that they used to be gorgeous and grand. They were like skeletons that were wearing crowns, or like the ruins of the Old Summer Palace after the great fire.

These should be where the Ringwraiths resided. They protected the central barrack like the stars surrounding the moon. Next to the black tents were lava pools which emitted the pungent smell of sulfur. Through the black and brown cracks on the pool surface, one could see the fiery red magma surging below. These were a necessity for the Ringwraiths, as they served as a residence for their land mounts, the Night-mares. Without the lava pools, the Night-mares would waste away like horses that had not eaten in three days.

(TL: The Ringwraiths didn’t ride on Nightmares in the books or in the movies. When they first appeared, they rode on black horses, which were later killed at the Ford of Bruinen, but I don’t think there was anything special about the horses.)

On the other hand, the Ringwraith’s aerial steeds, the Fell beasts, were ancient ferocious creatures raised from deep in the rock stratum and corrupted with darkness by Sauron. They would attack all living creatures, so they could not be kept in the camp as that would bring a lot of unnecessary troubles. Fortunately, the Ringwraiths only had to play the death bone flute hanging from their lower jaws, and the Fell beasts would appear from the deepest of darkness to answer their summons.

A pair of armoured Trolls were standing guard outside the residence of Gothmog, as well as a row of Uruk-hai guards. Thanks to Sheyan’s Legend Level, there were hints of respect in their eyes when they looked at Sheyan.

Sheyan walked inside. Some unknown substances had been smeared onto the stones and pillars in the interior, giving them a strange metallic lustre.

Although the barrack sounded like Gothmog’s private residence, a large area towards the outside was actually a public area where they were free to enter and leave. This important place had even been given a name by the Realm.

As soon as Sheyan stepped foot in the place, he immediately heard a notification:

[ You have entered the Source of Darkness hall. ]

According to the notifications from the Nightmare Imprint, the Source of Darkness hall was a more important existence than the commander of the army, Gothmog. Its existence could decide the victory of this war!

The Source of Darkness hall was not so easy to tear down.

As long as there was a warrior standing in the Source of Darkness hall, it was indestructible. Warriors fighting in the Source of Darkness hall would be blessed by Sauron’s power. Their HP would increase by 200%, their attack power and defence would increase by 30%, and all ranged damage sustained would be reduced by 40%. Besides that, if they got hurt in the Source of Darkness hall, they would trigger a bonus recovery effect, the ‘Wind of Darkness’. The more serious the damage they sustained, the stronger the ‘Wind of Darkness’ recovery effect would be.

There was one other very important point. Contestants belonging to Noah Realm C could not attack each other in the Source of Darkness hall.

All these no doubt greatly increased the difficulty of the enemies to conquer the Source of Darkness hall. However, to put it in another perspective, if even the Source of Darkness hall was under attack, it meant that their side was close to losing. It would be akin to the capital of a country being under siege. The warriors guarding the the Source of Darkness hall at that time would surely have to take on tens or even hundreds of enemies each. By that time, the bonuses would not be of much help.

Behind the Source of Darkness hall was the real place where Gothmog ate and slept.

He may be a very powerful and wise Orc commander, but he was, after all, still just an Orc, so his living space definitely could not be described with adjectives like clean, fresh or comfortable. Sheyan only wandered on the outside for a while, but he was soon chased away by the awful smell of the decaying bones that were thrown everywhere inside, as well as the rotting fur laid down on the floor.

In the centre of the Source of Darkness hall, a black crystal ball was enshrined. A three-dimensional image of Sauron’s fiery red magical eye could be seen inside the crystal ball. The crystal ball obviously contained a terrifying power as anyone who got close to it would feel the impulse to worship it.

But when the contestants moved near it, they would hear a voice in their head informing them that they could check and redeem the various items available, including medicines, equipment, recipes and unknown mysterious items. It must be noted that, not only could the items here be redeemed with contribution points, they also accepted utility points, potential points and achievement points, as well as a mix of all four.

For example, you could trade for an Orcish leather armour with 3 contribution points, or you could use 8000 utility points, or 1 achievement point (although you’ll be making a bit of a loss), or even 1 contribution point plus 6000 utility points.

In general, the most cost-effective way to trade for these things was with contribution points, because those would be worthless once you left this world. The reason why the Realm allowed the contestants to mix and match with utility points, potential points and achievement points was so that they could make full use of all their combat potential.

Party Ace had apparently entered the world a little late because there was already a crowd around the magic eye crystal ball, but the crowd was very quiet and orderly. From time to time, they would hear an exclamation of surprise or joy. All those who were qualified to join this war definitely had high standards, so the items that could be traded for must be quite good.

Soon, a list of available items appeared in front of Sheyan. The redemption list was divided into four categories: Creatures / Items / Equipment / Miscellaneous. Sheyan was currently looking at the Creatures list. To check out the other lists, he had to move to other places. In the introduction column, he could see a series of relevant information about creature redemption:

[ Important Redemption Information: Initially, the redeemed creature cannot be brought out of this world. The relevant food needs to be provided to them to maintain their satiety level. If their satiety level drops, there may be betrayal, disobedience, grumpiness, inefficiency, etc. The Charm value of the owner will also affect this. ]

[ After the redeemed creature accumulates enough experience points through killing, Lord Sauron will evolve it for you free of charge. If you use the special item ‘Beast Taming Contract’ (which can also be redeemed) on the evolved redeemed creature, you can bring it back to the Nightmare Realm. However, if your contracted servant slot has reached the upper limit, this will not take effect. ]

[ When the redeemed creature dies, it will not revive, but creatures that have been placed in the servant slot will not be subject to this restriction. ]

[ The redeemed creature will be given the corresponding standardised equipment. Please choose your desired combination. Weapons include warhammer, curved knife, sword, hammer, axe.... Armours include leather armour, cotton armour, wooden shield, chain armour, plate armour.... ]

Sheyan got a special treatment here too thanks to his + 3 Legend Level; he was given a 30% discount. Unfortunately, he could not redeem on behalf of others.

The Creature redemption list was as follows:

[ Orc: 5 contribution points ]

[ Introduction: The Orcs are ugly, evil creatures. Although they only have intelligence equivalent to a five or six-year-old human child, their extraordinarily strong body and bones means their individual combat prowess is always above a human’s. They can use bows and arrows, but due to their limitations in vision and intelligence, their precision is often found wanting. ]

[ Combat Power Evaluation: In melee combat, the ratio of the combat power of an Orc to an ordinary human could reach 1.3 to 1, but in terms of long-range attack, the ratio of the combat power of an Orc archer to a human archer is only 0.4 to 1. ]

[ Suggestion: If you can, please equip the dirty creature you hire with leather armour, stone clubs, axes and so on, then throw it into melee combat. Even if you need it to attack from long range, bow and arrows really shouldn’t be your first choice. Compared to that, its precision with hand axes, javelins, and the likes is still passable, but only barely. ]

[ The Orcs are Sauron’s minions and have lived in this world for several centuries. It is their instinct to fear the sun. ]

[ Evolution: Uruk-hai / Orc Shaman. ]

***

[ Uruk-hai: 60 contribution points ]

[ Introduction: The Uruk-hais are the stronger forces of darkness cultivated by the wizard Saruman. They are stronger than the Orcs, bigger than the Orcs, and are equipped with better weapons. They are also unafraid of the sun and are naturally bloodthirsty. They usually have a white handprint on their head. ]

[ Combat Power Evaluation: Every fully-armed Uruk-hai is as strong as a knight; not just any knight, but a knight riding a horse of Mearas breed. Their strength still lies in melee combat. Only those with the specific gene mutations will achieve some accomplishment as an archer. ]

[ Suggestion: The Uruk-hai’s thick skin provides almost as much defence as a leather armour, so it is not recommended to equip it with a full body steel armour to turn it into a steel tank, as that will only slow down its speed greatly. If you give it a sharp enough weapon and let it rush into the midst of the enemies, it will surely gain a reputation as a meat grinder. As for javelins and hand axes, based on the strength of the Uruk-hais, accuracy can be guaranteed within 30 metres. ]

[ The Uruk-hais are Saruman’s minions and have only recently appeared in this world. ]

[ Evolution: Elite Uruk-hai / Uruk-hai Thrower ]

***

[ Elite Uruk-hai: 100 contribution points ]

[ Combat Power Evaluation: Unable to evaluate. ]

[ Suggestion: Unable to provide suggestions. ]

[ Evolution: Unknown. ]

***

[ Troll: 380 contribution points ]

[ Introduction: Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, created Trolls before the First Age. They are very strong and vicious, but will turn into stone in sunlight. No one knows how Morgoth created the Trolls. The Ent Treebeard says that Trolls were “made in mockery” of Ents, as Orcs were of Elves, though not necessarily from Entish stock. The Trolls have dark green scales and black blood. ]

[ Combat Power Evaluation: Every Troll is a terrifying warrior. Perhaps only the human heroes whose names were engraved in history can defeat them one-on-one. They are generally more than three metres tall. Their hide is as thick as stone, and their fat body looks like a horrible wall of meat. Moreover, their abnormal strength enables them to bear the weight of a full steel plate armour on their body. ]

[ Suggestion: Congratulations, you are about to procure the services of a walking fortress. Even the trebuchet would find it hard pressed to kill a Troll in a single hit. Unfortunately, the Trolls are still bad in long-range attacks, but hey, they’re very good at pulling a trebuchet. In addition, I can’t help but remind you that a Troll consumes an astonishing amount of food. Before you redeem a Troll, please ask yourself if you have the ability to provide it with enough food! ]

[ The Trolls are a race charmed and enslaved by Sauron, so they are likely to go berserk after sustaining severe injury and ignore the orders of their master. ]

[ Evolution: Drummer Troll / Mountain Troll / Troll Thrower ]

***

[ Fell Beast: 1500 contribution points + 1 Sauron badge ]

[ The number of this creature is limited to 3. ]

[ Introduction: Sauron made these creatures out of darkness, filth and ancient fossils. These semi-dinosaurs were used as flying mounts by the Ringwraiths. Sauron made 12 Fell beasts in total, so the surpluses are all here. ]

[ Combat Power Evaluation: Unable to evaluate. ]

[ Suggestion: Unable to provide suggestions. ]

[ Evolution: Unknown. ]

***

After going through the Creature redemption list, Sheyan was lost in thought. Ronnie suddenly appeared beside him with a flash. He sat down and said with some excitement in his voice, “It seems like the operation this time is very rewarding, probably to make up for the fact that we’ll have difficulties finding suitable servants. Even the most basic Orc can evolve into a powerful creature! It’s definitely worth raising! After all, the higher the difficulty, the greater the profit!”

Sheyan contemplated for a while, then shook his head. “Im’m afraid the creature redemption feature is a trap.”

“What! How?” exclaimed Ronnie in surprise.

“These creatures are, without exception, not proficient in long-range attack. To make them evolve, you must send them to the battlefield to accumulate enough experience points. But! We’re besieging a city, not fighting on the field! With the thick walls in the way, what can you do even with 10 Trolls? On the battlefield where so many things are happening at once, you have to stay alert at all times because you might find yourself in an unfavourable position at any moment, but you’ll be distracted because you have to make sure your redeemed creatures don’t die! That’s fatal!”

Ronnie was stunned. Sheyan’s words were unpleasant to the ears, but he had to admit they were very reasonable. He could not help drawing inferences based on this example.

“Wouldn’t the contestants on the defending side have it too easy, then? They just need to hire some archers, place them at the top of the city walls, and let them do all the work.”

Sheyan smiled. “It probably won’t be that simple. Yes, they’ll have certain advantages at first, but towards the end, when the nine Ringwraiths launch their full assault with the Fell beasts together with the thousands of trebuchets made by the Orcs, only one or two out of ten are likely to survive.”

“So you think we shouldn’t trade for any creatures?” asked Ronnie after a moment’s thought.

“The main aspect of this war, I think, is likely concentrated on the battle between siege weapons. So, if there’s a chance, I’d rather trade for siege weapons. But we have Sanzi, who’s proficient in training creatures. We can’t just let his talent go to waste. I do think he should trade for a few creatures and see what he can do with them.”

While they were having the conversation, they suddenly sensed something out of the ordinary. When they looked up, they saw five people who were forming a loose encirclement around them.

To Sheyan and Ronnie, these five people stood out quite a bit, not because they looked very different to other contestants in terms of outer appearance, but because this was the Source of Darkness hall, so everyone else was here to check the redemption list, but the five were obviously here in search of someone. They were like 5 gorgeous women who suddenly appeared in a gay bar. It was hard not to notice them.

In front of outsiders, Sheyan remained as low-key as ever. He just smiled casually like he was greeting an acquaintance, as if he would blurt out “how’s it going” the next moment.

Ronnie had not spent a long time with Sheyan, but he did see the way Sheyan hid his true strength on the Predator planet, only revealing his power as an MT at the very end. Therefore, he knew the way Sheyan liked to operate. He instantly asked in a flat tone, “What’s the matter? Do we need to go outside to settle it?”

But surprisingly, a tall man stepped forward and said to them with a gentle smile, “Hi. Our leader said that our Blu-ray party has to shoulder the main responsibility in the dispute with your party just now. With strong foes ahead of us, we should get rid of all previous prejudices and personal disagreements and work together to resist the enemies together. After all, what we’re involved in now is akin to a national war in the real world, and we’re at a slight disadvantage too. If we take one wrong step, everything might crumble! That means going against the plan of the entire Realm. Don’t you agree?”

After a momentary stun, Ronnie followed Sheyan’s suggestion and answered with a smirk, “I think your words are reasonable.”

Ronnie seemed to have agreed with him on the surface, but in fact, he only approved of the tall man’s words and not the tall man himself, let alone the organisation behind him. Since these five people were chosen to do this kind of work, they must be cunning people. How could they not hear the meaning behind Ronnie’s words? They instantly exchanged glances.

One of them, a man carrying a heavy sniper, said in a hoarse voice, “My name is Roulette. According to the setting of this world, every official human soldier killed gives 1 contribution point. In order to express our apologies, please accept these 10 contribution points as a gift.”

As he spoke, Ronnie received a trade request. Since they were free, there was no reason not to take them. Ronnie readily accepted.

Meanwhile, Sheyan was a little shocked. Based on this conversion rate, it was not impossible to form a team of Orc archers to attack the city... It did not matter that they were inaccurate. With enough numbers, they could just carpet bomb, in which case accuracy was not that important anymore.

However, Sheyan almost immediately rejected the idea because he suddenly realised that if Zi or Aldaris saw a large number of human archers grouped together, they would surely laugh in delight.... Similarly, if the opposing mages saw a bunch of Orc archers grouped together for them to throw AoE spells at, they would surely approve with two thumbs up.

Sheyan’s thoughts did not affect Roulette’s actions. He said, “Now that you have accepted our gift, perhaps we can leave the previous misunderstanding behind us?”

Although Roulette said that to Ronnie, his eyes were on Sheyan. It seemed as if Sheyan’s plan to keep a low profile had failed completely. The Metal Professor had obviously told her party everything she knew about Sheyan.

But unbeknownst to the Metal Professor, the real Sheyan and the Sheyan she thought she knew were miles apart. What’s more, most contestants followed the principle of seeing is believing, and rumours are deceitful. Since Sheyan had killed the Metal Professor once, it made sense for the Metal Professor to deliberately talk up Sheyan’s strength to make it appear less embarrassing for her. Therefore, who knows how many people actually bought her words.

And that was why Sheyan did not think his effort to keep a low profile was in vain. What he had to do now was to continue to deepen the impression he wanted to leave in others.

To Roulette’s question, Sheyan answered with a dumbfounded expression. Ronnie, instead, replied, “Of course. It’s only a small thing.”

There was suddenly a flash in Roulette’s eyes. “But it seems that the main cause of this matter is Mr. Seaman. If he doesn’t say anything, I’ll have to doubt your sincerity.”

Sheyan remained in a daze and continued ignoring him, all the while mumbling something incomprehensible. He stretched out his hand in front of him as if he was writing and drawing something on an invisible blackboard.

Roulette’s expression darkened. Fortunately, Ronnie quickly reacted to relieve the awkward atmosphere. He explained with a wry smile, “I’m really sorry, he’s always like this. He’ll just suddenly go into research mode out of nowhere. Umm...how about we give you some gifts in return? Hey, Seaman! SEAMAN!!”

Ronnie as good as shouted the last word into Sheyan’s ear. Sheyan woke with a jolt. “Oh! What the hell, Ronnie? Damn it, you interrupted my train of thought again! ”

Ronnie shrugged. “Give me five bottles of mixes.”

“Oh,” answered Sheyan. “Okay.”

Following that, Sheyan took out some materials and concocted the mixes on the spot. When he was done, Ronnie instantly gave the five bottles of mixes to all five people. Roulette was initially indifferent, but when he saw the properties, his expression turned to shock. The others, too, were visibly ecstatic. They kept the mixes with the utmost care.

Roulette gave Sheyan a deep stare, but then turned to Ronnie instead. “We’ll be holding a meeting at 8 p.m. this evening next to the Source of Darkness hall. Will your party attend the meeting?”

Ronnie hesitated. “That’ll depend on Zi and the boss, Reef, but I think they’ll probably agree.”

“Here’s the invitation. At the meeting, we, the Blu-ray party will disclose a lot of secret information. Our leader is magnanimous; we welcome anyone to the meeting, even those who are prejudiced against us or have previous conflict with us. Well then, there are some other matters we have to attend to, so I’m afraid we’ll have to excuse ourselves.”

Roulette’s voice was very loud, so many of the people around had heard him. Low whispers immediately rose. The five people turned around and soon left the hall.

When they had walked several hundred metres away, an axeman named Laut could not help but take out the mix produced by Sheyan. He tutted in amazement, then smirked.

“That Seaman guy was playing dumb, wasn’t he?”

“Of course he is. But it seems that the relationship between him and the Metal Professor is rather complicated, not as one-sided as the woman said. I think that guy was acting dumb because he doesn’t want to offend us, but he doesn’t want to make peace with the Metal Professor either,” said Roulette without any expression on his face.

A guy called Bourbon could not help interjecting, “If what the Metal Professor said is true, he’s actually an MT, but he’s so proficient in concocting mixes too?.... An MT specialising in potion making? Primary attribute Physique, secondary attribute Intelligence? That’s...uncommon.”

“It’s not impossible. A support MT like that is extremely rare, but it has a strong stabilising effect for the whole party. Moreover, if he can concoct such a powerful buff mix, he can definitely concoct poison too. And so, we can deduce that, although his explosiveness is weak, if he can make the battle drag on for a long time, he can chip away at the opponent’s HP until they die. Didn’t the Metal Professor claim that Seaman joined her party and followed her with no good intention back then? That obviously gave Seaman all the time in the world to prepare,” answered Roulette lightly.

Laut was amazed. “As expected of Mr. Roulette! You found out all his secrets so easily! If Seaman knew that he had revealed everything about himself just by giving away some mixes, he’d be crying in regret!”

Roulette immediately broke into a conceited smile, but he soon frowned. “It appears that reconciliation between Seaman and the Metal Professor is close to impossible. The Metal Professor has a huge influence on the leader of her party. On the other hand, Seaman, as a secondary MT with a strong support ability, must be a crucial existence to his party too. In that case, we must be prepared to be able to choose only one out of the two parties.”

Bourbon hesitated. “Seaman’s party also has an MT named Reef who wields a dark gold shield. Meanwhile, Ronnie is a top class assassin, and Seaman himself is a powerful support and secondary MT.... Even if Zeus is stronger than Reef, it won’t be by much, but no one in the Glory Party can match Ronnie’s fierce assassination skills. Moreover, there’s the secondary MT Seaman and his powerful support ability. 10% increase in all attributes! I think the choice is obvious.”

“But don’t forget, there’s a person in the Glory Party that even the boss can’t stop praising!” Laut suddenly said.

Roulette was obviously an expert gunman. His expression immediately turned serious. “You mean Aziz?” he asked.

Laut knew he had misspoken, but the words were already out of his mouth, so he could only nod.

After a moment of silence, Roulette said in a low voice, “He’s a troublesome guy to deal with, but this time, it’s those fools defending the city on the other side that should be worried about him. But I believe a guy as prideful as Aziz won’t listen to someone like Zeus, let alone listen to our order for him to wait quietly in a certain spot! So, even though Aziz is strong, he’s an uncontrollable X factor on the battlefield. If I’m the boss, I’d rather pick the controllable factor. ”

***

Seeing the five people walking away, Sheyan’s eyes suddenly brightened. He told Ronnie, “This Blue-ray party sure is ambitious. They weren’t arrogant, but they weren’t humble either, and they even took the chance to spread their name.”

“They should be a large party with hundreds of members. The leader of a party like that must have exceptional management skills, but his or her personal combat prowess probably relies on powerful equipment,” said Ronnie after a bit of thought.

“We have to be careful not to fall for their scheme this evening,” said Sheyan.

Ronnie thought to himself that he had only ever seen Sheyan scheme others, when had Sheyan ever fallen for others’ scheming? But of course, he only dared to say so in his mind. So, he changed the subject.

“So trading for a creature isn’t worth it. Why don’t we take a look at the other lists?”

Sheyan nodded, but suddenly, he was overcome with a bout of dizziness. Then, a series of notifications came from his Nightmare Imprint:

[ Time: 9 a.m., March 7, 3019, the Third Age of Arda (the eve of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in the movie plot) ]

[ Location: Minas Tirith, Pelennor Fields, Middle Earth ]

[ Setting: The Lord of the Rings ]

[ Difficulty: S (Extremely Difficult) ]

[ Pain limitation: 50% ]

[ Individual capability bonus: 0% ]

[ Present setting exploration rate: 0.00% (in this scenario campaign, all previous explorations will be converted into corresponding amount of contribution points, so your past history and character relationships are not preserved). ]

[ Additional Information: This is a Realm War setting. ]

[ You automatically grasp the relevant language of this world. You are able to interact freely with the characters in this world. The grasped language will be erased from your memory upon leaving this world. ]

[ Mission count: 1 ]

[ Your appearance and identity have undergone alterations; they will be restored upon returning to the real world. You can also modify your appearance within the Nightmare Realm. If you have any enquiries, you can voice the question to the Nightmare Imprint with your mind; you will receive an answer should you have sufficient authority. ]

**********

[ Warning: You are currently in Sauron’s faction. Unless you obtain the approval of the Orc commander, Gothmog, you will be punished severely if you move more than 20 kilometres away from the battlefield. Trust me, you will not like the punishment. ]

[ Warning: The attacks of siege weapons are likely to be fatal on contestants under normal circumstances. Therefore, in this setting, when a contestant is hit by a siege weapon (such as a trebuchet), they will not be killed right away, but will fall into a weakened state for 300 seconds. During this period, they cannot move or attack, but will be in an invincible state due to Sauron’s magic. ]

[ Hint: The key to success is to cleverly utilise the various redeemed items. ]

[ Hint: This is a battlefield with a high mortality rate, so you are given the special privilege to escape back to the Nightmare Realm in the Source of Darkness hall. The preparation time required to return to the Nightmare Realm is 10 seconds. If you are attacked during this period, the process will be interrupted. ]

[ It is important to note that we do not advocate the behaviour of running away from a battle, so you must pay a price if you do so. Your highest attribute will drop by 20, and you will have to pay 10 achievement points as the cost of teleporting back to the safe zone. In addition, all the benefits you have gained in this world will be forcibly erased. ]

[ If the nest is overturned, no egg will remain unharmed. So fight with all you have! ]