Back in the Nightmare Realm, Sheyan had discovered a few new contact type infectious disease skill trees. The ultimate abilities of the skill trees included the Ebola hemorrhagic fever, Teta.n.u.s and AIDS.
After that, he had gone back to the real world. At that time, no one knew where he went specifically or which choice he made; they only knew that he had returned to the real world to learn a new disease. Sheyan had claimed this disease to be his ultimate hidden card, so he would not disclose what it was before he used it.
Of course, many people had speculated that it must be the Ebola hemorrhagic fever, because AIDS" reputation was simply too notorious; Sheyan might be strong, but he probably would not dare to infect himself with this disease.
There was a saying that a man should be harsh on himself. It appeared that Sheyan agreed with this saying and had put it into practice. He actually climbed the skill tree in one go until he got to the final disease!
AIDS!
***
[ Pestilence Monarch skill tree: Contact type infectious disease: Ultimate disease: AIDS ]
[ You can activate other Pestilence Monarch skill trees to make yourself stronger. It takes 320 achievement points to activate other Pestilence Monarch skill trees! ]
[ AIDS: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. When you come into contact with the enemy, you will be able to infect them with the HIV virus. The virus will then incubate in their body. The virus has enhanced the HIV virus so that the symptoms will break out much faster. The enemy"s immune system will fail progressively under the effect of the HIV virus. When the infection reaches its peak, all kinds of severe diseases would appear on the enemy. ]
[ The virus is transmitted through air and droplets, so it takes only three seconds for the disease to take effect. ]
[ When AIDS starts to take effect, the enemy will enter a high-risk period. Their defence will decline at a rate of 1 point/second without displaying any signs or symptoms. Only when their defence has dropped to one third of its original value will symptoms like low fever and sneezing start appearing (the symptoms are similar to the symptoms of the airborne transmission disease, common cold). ]
[ When the enemy"s defence is reduced to 0, the high-risk period will end, and the enemy will officially enter the infection period. During the infection period, the enemy"s defence will keep declining into the negatives, but the time it takes for every drop in defence point will keep doubling. ]
[ For example, it takes one second for the enemy"s defence to drop from 0 to -1, two seconds to drop from -1 to -2, four seconds to drop from -2 to -3, and so on. When the enemy"s defence is in the negatives, they will receive much higher damage than when their defence is 0. For example, when the enemy"s defence is -13, the damage they receive will be (theoretical damage x 2) even when an explosive strike is not triggered. ]
[ After entering the infection period, the enemy will experience fatal complications. The complication will be randomly selected among the following four options. After the first complication has absorbed 15% of the enemy"s current HP or after 300 seconds, whichever comes first, the next complication will randomly appear. ][ Complication A: Kaposi Sarcoma – Red or purple patches of tissue (lesions) will grow under the enemy"s skin and in the lining of the mouth, nose, and throat. The Kaposi Sarcoma will cause great destruction to the enemy"s blood circulation system, severely inhibiting the enemy"s self-restoration ability. The healing effects received by the enemy will be reduced by 75%. At the same time, every three seconds, there is a 50% chance of the enemy taking 150 points of bleeding damage. The Kaposi Sarcoma may affect the heart, so there is also a very small probability of causing 3000 points of bleeding damage to the enemy! But because a contestant"s body is digitalised, this effect will only cause 200 points of bleeding damage on a contestant. ]
[ Complication B: Esophageal Candidiasis – A horrible erosion of the esophagus by Candida albicans. It affects the enemy"s digestive system, making it extremely weak. The enemy"s attack power will be reduced by 25%. Every three seconds, there is a 50% chance of the enemy taking 150 points of damage from a convulsion in the throat due to intense pain. The Esophageal Candidiasis will affect the enemy"s breathing, so when the enemy releases an ability, there is a certain chance of it failing. ]
[ Complication C: Pneumocystis Pneumonia (PCP) – A large amount of yeast-like fungus called Pneumocystis jirovecii will grow in the enemy"s lungs, seriously affecting the enemy"s respiratory system and making the enemy dizzy. The enemy"s. .h.i.t rate will hence be reduced by 15%. The Pneumocystis will consistently make the enemy suffer, so every three seconds, they will receive 50 points of damage with a high probability of triggering triple-damage explosive strike. Because PCP severely affects the enemy"s respiratory system, there is a certain probability of causing asphyxiation for five seconds, rendering the enemy unable to attack (but they can still move). ]
[ Complication D: Neurotoxoplasmosis – Infect the enemy"s brain with the Toxoplasma gondii parasite. Symptoms include severe headache, vomiting and blindness. The enemy will become unable to make normal judgment and avoid fatal attacks, so the chances of suffering from explosive strike is increased by 10%. They will also receive 30 points of damage every three seconds. Because the Toxoplasma gondii parasite is acting directly on the brain, the damage is true damage, and the damage will also be converted into a recovery effect which heals you. ]
[ After all four major complications have appeared, AIDS will enter the late phase. The enemy"s defence will drop to -N point in an instant (N = the enemy"s original defence / 2), and their maximum HP will be reduced by a third. The symptoms of all four major complications will continue to worsen, and their frequency of occurrence will drop from three seconds to one second! ]
[ This disease cannot coexist with the ultimate disease of another branch! ]
***
Sheyan had obviously been waiting for the AIDS disease on Aragorn to conclude its high-risk period and for Aragorn"s defence to drop to 0 before he made his move! That was his M.O.; he would normally not make a sound, but when he did, he would make sure it was deafening. He would lie in wait patiently until he was sure that he could strike a heavy blow!
The exhausted Aragorn with zero defence vs. the crazy Sheyan that had activated "Peerless" and was wielding the terrifying Evil Sword Apophis! Aragorn was in an extremely dangerous situation!
There was a saying that a man"s true qualities would only show in the face of adversity.
Aragorn, who was coughing blood, could no longer hold anything back. He offered up the last card in his hand. He raised his right hand, on which an originally dull ring was suddenly s.h.i.+ning brightly!
It was a ring that had the shape of two intertwining serpents with emerald eyes, one devouring the other. They supported a crown of golden flowers, the emblem of the House of Finarfin. The emerald polished by the Noldor Elves in Valinor glittered brilliantly.
This ring had been pa.s.sed down through the generations for thousands of years. It was the symbol of inheritance of the Númenorean royal family, the Ring of Barahir!! It contained the inheritance, fortune and spirit of the past Kings of Gondor! It was a symbol of royalty, a symbol of kingly authority!
If the legendary sword Andúril was akin to the Dragon Robe of the Chinese emperors of old, then the Ring of Barahir was akin to the Imperial Seal! Every generation of Gondor"s royal family must use it to rule over the kingdom!
Aragorn was currently forced into a desperate situation. At this time, the fortune of the Steward of Gondor had declined, so the fate of reviving the entire Kingdom of Gondor fell on Aragorn"s shoulders. It was for that reason that the Ring of Barahir had suddenly glowed.
Even within Sauron"s power of darkness, the illusions of the previous Kings of Gondor emerged one after another, shouting loudly. They then slowly overlapped together, forming a majestic illusion of Isildur, the one who defeated Sauron! Isildur raised his scepter and smashed it down on Sheyan!
"The Fury of the King"!
The attack was executed as smoothly as if it was a part of nature itself. The scepter seemed to move slowly, but its downward swing felt unstoppable! The flow of time around the scepter had been slowed down thousands of times!
Although Sheyan could match Aragorn"s plot armour, what he was facing at the moment was a fatal strike performed by the spirits of all the past Kings of Gondor combined together. The attack had broken through the barrier of time and s.p.a.ce. Like fate itself, it was unstoppable and unavoidable!
Although it was only an illusion, the attack landed heavily on Sheyan"s physical body! Sheyan heard a notification that made him tremble with fear:
[ The opponent has attempted an instant death attack on you. Check in progress…. Check pa.s.sed. Instant death successful! ]
[ "You have lost 588,173 HP!! ]
After being hit by the scepter, Sheyan"s body remained stiff and unmoving on the spot, but a black illusion that looked just like him was knocked out of his body. The illusion struggled desperately to return to his body, but the scepter suddenly blew up, and the black illusion which symbolised Sheyan"s soul burst into thousands of pieces, like shattered gla.s.s!
It not only meant that Sheyan"s soul had left his body, it also meant that the soul had shattered.
When Gandalf fought the Balrog, his body was destroyed, but by relying on his strong soul, he managed to reshape his body and had even evolved afterwards.
But if the soul was shattered, it meant utter destruction!
The emerald on the Ring of Barahir also shattered at the same time!
Aragorn curled up in the corner, panting like a wild beast, his face bloodstained. He no longer had an ounce of royal demeanor. His body trembled violently, not only from the pain of being tortured by the disease, but also because of the shattering of the Ring of Barahir. It would take several generations of kings acc.u.mulating power back into the ring to restore it.
At this time, a sharp sound suddenly resounded in the air, as if various extremely thin and sharp weapons were slas.h.i.+ng through the air at high speed. Upon a closer look, they were revealed to be numerous b.l.o.o.d.y scythes!
The scythes of Death himself!
Every time these scythes swung, the air would whimper, and countless broken soul fragments would flow out of the slit made in the air and regroup... eight became four, four became two, and two became one. In the end, they pieced back together into Sheyan"s intact soul, which drifted back into Sheyan"s body.
It was Sheyan"s innate ability, "Death"s Lament"!
"This...This is impossible!!!"
Aragon"s last resort had failed. He screamed furiously, as if questioning fate for its injustice. Meanwhile, Sheyan jolted awake from his daze and instantly erupted. Evil Sword Apophis stabbed into Aragorn"s throat.
"Extinction"!
The stab was so fast that the anger on Aragorn"s face did not have time to turn into pain. It was also so ferocious that it completely severed Aragorn"s vocal cord, trachea, artery, vein, Adam"s apple and everything else in his neck!
***
In distant Mordor, the Eye of Sauron opened abruptly. The red glow around it surged like a raging fire. The eye was originally 20 to 30 metres in diameter, but for some reason, its size had suddenly more than doubled. Its periphery became as hot as the sun, and the large vertical pupil inside was radiating light.
"...Oh, what a sweet soul this is! What a sweet taste of blood! The blood of the heir of Númenor is as delicious as always! Ah!! This happiness that seeps deep into my bones, this intense stimulation! It is as irresistible as the Silmarillion!"
Mount Doom, which was situated not far away from the eye, was affected by Sauron"s elation. It erupted for a short while, red hot magma spilling from the edge of its crater. Thousands of the Orcs of Mordor also evolved in that moment, stimulated by Sauron"s power of darkness.
Sauron"s plan to conquer Middle Earth a few thousand years ago was halted by a greenhorn from the Númenorean royal family, Isildur. That had become his inner demon. Now, Isildur"s lineage had been ended, and the last of his line was even killed in a place where Sauron"s power was congregated. This was a sacrificial ritual of the highest order, a sacrifice of both flesh and soul! Sauron"s inner demon was now gone. Naturally, his power had soared because of it.
***
Gandalf suddenly sat upright inside the White Tower in Minas Tirith, gasping for breath. He looked as frightened as if the One Ring had been put on his finger.
Such an intense movement obviously had an impact on his severely-injured body. It resulted in a string of wild coughing and gasps. Blood was even flowing down along his beard, dripping onto his white robe. The crimson patch stood out in stark contrast against the white cloth.
But Gandalf paid it no mind at all. He looked out of the window with a frown. Thick clouds rolled under the parapet of the sky. Originally, following the defeat of the Orc army, Sauron"s magic spell, which had enshrouded the sky above the battlefield to block out the sun, had shown signs of dispersing. Sunlight was even starting to penetrate through the clouds. But for some reason, the power of darkness had suddenly flourished once again and was retaliating hard!
Suddenly, a solemn comet streaked across Gandalf"s field of vision in the West, leaving behind an extremely bleak-looking tail. Gandalf lost his cool. In the west was Númenor, the birthplace of the Dúnedain. This omen marked the fall of the leader of the Dúnedain! A very ominous thought suddenly flashed across his mind. Could it be…!!!
"No! That"s impossible! We are clearly in control! He is protected by the Elven prince and the strongest warrior among the Dwarves, watched over by the souls of previous Númenorean kings, and guarded by thousands of soldiers. The Orc commander, Gothmog, is already dead. What remains of the opposing army are trembling in fear in the Source of Darkness hall. That is impossible!"
***
Isengard.
On the formidable Tower of Orthanc.
Saruman"s white hair billowed in the wind. The fallen Maia who had lived for several generations suddenly lost his composure.
"How could this be??? How could destiny have been overturned? Was it just a vision Sauron sent me? No, no! That was indeed the smell of the blood of the Númenorean royal family. The fury in the soul cannot be disguised!" With one hand pressed against the Palantír, Saruman muttered to himself.
A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky and illuminated Saruman"s face. He suddenly raised his staff, and the darkness was lifted like a veil. A large number of Uruk-hai could be seen gathering under the Tower of Orthanc.
Following the defeat on Pelennor Fields, Saruman already had rebellious thoughts, but the Palantír showed him that Sauron had once again occupied the dominant position. Therefore, Saruman quickly mobilised his powerful elite Uruk-hai troops to join the war without any hesitation.
Though these elites would only catch the tail end of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, the Uruk-hai were excellent commanders by nature; they could be incorporated into the Orc army to become the army"s backbone, increasing the army"s combat effectiveness by leaps and bounds.
***
*BANG*
A loud sound was heard, as if a balloon filled to the limit with water had burst!
Under the frenzied attacks of Gimli and Legolas, the dark gold leech had finally reached its limit and had exploded. Large amount of viscous turquoise liquid splattered, drenching the area hundreds of square metres around the leech wet. A pungent smell filled the air.
Legolas, who had always been a clean freak, had no attention to spare for the filth. He completely ignored the viscous liquid dripping down his face as he rushed forward fiercely. Gimli had reacted even faster and was already das.h.i.+ng through the entrance. But the moment he stepped into the hall, he suddenly froze, as if he had been fully petrified!
Gimli may have stopped, but that did not mean time had stopped with him. Fortunately for him, Legolas was quick enough to pull him aside, for a grim, blood-red glint had suddenly streaked across the air at him. A common-looking longsword pierced into his shoulder and came out from his back. Only after the blade was stained with blood did it show its sharp edge. Some vague, sharp lines could even be seen around the blade from time to time, as if even the s.p.a.ce near the edges had been slashed apart.
A kick was launched at Gimli"s chest, but what should have been a kick to the chest for an ordinary man landed on Gimli"s face instead. He was sent flying, but even after taking such a blow, his expression remained dull and filled with disbelief.
Everyone around soon understood why Gimli had reacted that way.
A large hand extended forth, breaking through the darkness.
The hand was grabbing onto a clutch of hair!
And the hair was connected to a head!
It was the head of the Dúnadan, the heir of Isildur, Strider, son of Arathorn, Chieftain of the Dúnedain, the future king of Gondor, and the wielder of the sacred sword Andúril – Aragorn!!
The head had been chopped off at the neck!
The owner of the large hand slowly appeared before the audience. He was a robust young man with eyes that seemed like they were burning and eyebrows that announced his arrogance. He looked around. Though surrounded by thousands of troops, he looked at them as if they were but chickens and dogs.
"Next."
Sheyan stated curtly and clearly, then retreated back into the darkness within the hall. A few feeble arrows chased after him, but they could only pierce into the darkness without any accuracy and failed to threaten him in the slightest.
Sheyan had already used his trump card, "Death"s Lament", but he still had the honorary dosage and "Gloryheal". Those were powerful cards in their own rights.
What"s more, how many more among the enemy could lead the charge into the hall like Aragorn did? And even Aragorn was killed when he did so! That was surely a great blow to the enemy"s morale!
Among the powerful heroes in the Fellows.h.i.+p of the Ring, Gimli the Dwarf was severely injured, so it was impossible for him to lead the charge into the hall for quite some time. The remaining one, Legolas, had been deliberately preserved by Sheyan... The Elf"s marksmans.h.i.+p may be deadly, and he was the most lethal weapon in this confrontation so far, but his attacks were completely ineffective against Sheyan who had the "Hedgehog" t.i.tle. Would Legolas abandon his bow and charge to the frontline to break through with a dagger? That would not be practical at all!
Of course, Sheyan could not rule out the possibility of the Minas Tirith contestants giving it a try. However, the entrance to the Source of Darkness hall was now being guarded by Sheyan. After activating the ultimate disease of AIDS, he was an insurmountable wall even without "Peerless" activated!
Sheyan knew that Aragorn"s death was enough to unnerve the enemy for at least ten minutes. In addition to the time he bought previously, as well as the mixes he unleashed outside and the additional recovery effect inside the Source of Darkness hall, he was confident of holding off the enemy for more than thirty minutes. By then, Party Ace would have fully recovered!
More importantly, Reef had yet to trigger the effect of "The Magma of Mount Doom (Ice-Cold Version)". What he had triggered was only "Life-Link". His HP was half restored by now. If Sheyan met with a threatening situation, Reef could instantly come to his rescue, so defending the hall would not be that difficult.
His dominant display must have also made the opponents wary!
Furthermore, the Source of Darkness hall would collapse by itself in about four to five hours. If there was no hope left, the enemy would probably clench their teeth and try to breach the hall at any cost, but when there was another, easier option, they would surely choose the easier way.