Punctured and Deflated

Rings were good things. Especially when certain heroes were laning, having a few extra rings along with potions brought enormous benefits.

Unfortunately, Josh did not have that ring, and he rarely drank potions anyway.

As for the Lord of the Rings Thrain had become, it naturally could not have the same effects as the games from Josh’s previous life. Josh figured that, most likely, wearing The One Ring along with other rings allowed one to control the power of those other rings.

Although Josh did not know what the other rings did, having seen the Elven Rings, he knew they were probably symbols of some kind of power. Of course, he did not think the other rings could compare to the Three Elven Rings. The difference in quantity alone made that obvious.

"If racial factors are excluded and we only consider the number of rings, then the rarer ones should be stronger. Otherwise, they would not have made so few of them."

If racial strength was factored in, though, things might not work that way.

Who knew whether the Elves of this world thought, My race is stronger than yours, so I don’t need that many rings. Your race is weaker, so you should wear more to balance things out.

Something like that was not impossible in this world, though Josh was only making a few sarcastic remarks.

Whether it was the first possibility or the second, neither had much of an impact on Josh. In fact, they had practically no impact at all. He did not think he would stumble in a world like this.

As he continued sensing everything within this strange space, Josh suddenly felt something appear. However, it was simply too far away for him to reach.

After thinking for a moment, Josh wondered whether he could channel his magic power into the ring.

The One Ring possessed magic power of its own. If Josh poured his own magic power into it, he might affect the ring’s internal power and leave this space. But Josh was no blockhead, much less some novice who had only just encountered magic.

He could use his mental power to guide his magic power, or simply seize complete control over The One Ring’s magic power. Josh did not have many methods available, but they were efficient enough.

Under the combined effects of his mental power and magic power, Josh quickly severed another source of control over the ring. Though he knew it was only temporary, it was enough.

In that instant, Josh discovered that he seemed to possess some mysterious thing called Spiritual Sense. He could actually investigate areas thousands of miles away, even farther than that!

This astonishing discovery greatly surprised Josh and made him even more interested in the ring.

No item capable of doing such things could be simple. Josh was even considering whether he should simply claim it for himself.

However, he soon discovered some clues within the ring’s magical rules. This thing was not something an ordinary person could possess at all!

Josh frowned and immediately tried to extract the information contained within that magic power. It had to be said that although the information was mysterious and bizarre, its level was not particularly high.

Using his Void Magic Power in conjunction with his mental power, Josh obtained it without much effort.

However, Josh had no time to study it now, because he suddenly realized he had arrived in a strange place.

Of course, Josh had not traveled here or used Spatial magic to get here. Rather, he found that he was still caught in the gap between life and death; only his consciousness had been brought here by the ring.

"Am I in a soul state right now?"

Josh looked at the ring in his hand, then glanced around as he silently pondered.

He knew that everything would return to normal as long as he removed the ring. But Josh did not do so, because he happened to see someone familiar here as well.

It was Gandalf. The Grey Wizard was not in the same state as Josh. Simply put, he was in a normal human form, unlike Josh, and he seemed to be searching for something.

Gandalf could not detect Josh in this state, but Josh found that his own perception had become extraordinarily powerful.

In this awful place, he sensed a vast, disgusting darkness, as well as an exceptionally dark and despair-inducing power.

This power carried neither the scent of magic power nor Battle Qi. It seemed to radiate solely from instinct, yet it had reached the Sixth Tier and was incredibly weak!

"It looks like this should be Dol Guldur, that hill of sorcery. I didn’t expect to come back here. And that weak aura whose essence has reached the Sixth Tier should be Sauron."

Josh quickly found the relevant memories. At this moment, Gandalf had already begun fighting a short, filthy-looking fellow.

This short fellow was agile and quite strong, reminding Josh of Dennis. Unfortunately, this fellow seemed to be fighting purely on instinct.

That was because Josh sensed a strange power inside the fellow’s mind, something that was affecting his brain.

Gandalf seemed to sense that strange power as well, so he quickly dispelled it from the dwarf’s mind and restored his clarity.

After they briefly exchanged information, Gandalf decided to take the dwarf—Thrain, Thorin’s father—and leave this cursed place together.

However, their luck was terrible. Or rather, Gandalf himself had not expected this place to be so dangerous.

They were ambushed by the pale Orc, Azog the Defiler. Yet because the pale Orc talked too much nonsense, Gandalf the wizard turned the tables and seized control of him instead.

Hidden within the gap between life and death, Josh watched everything with great interest. Honestly, this was a feeling he had never experienced while watching the movies.

Moreover, Gandalf’s magic was very interesting. Some spells seemed to require chanting, while others did not. They were not overwhelmingly powerful, but neither were they weak. Killing people with them was no problem at all.

Gandalf himself possessed a considerable amount of magic power, yet Josh could not understand why he rarely used magic to kill people and instead preferred things like swords.

"It seems A Song of Ice and Fire was no different. That was my kind of magic. Game of Thrones was about the same. I really don’t understand what these people were thinking."

Shaking his head, Josh could not be bothered to think about such things anymore, because he sensed that weak fellow whose power essence had reached the Sixth Tier beginning to move!

A black power rapidly condensed, accompanied by gusts of black wind as if announcing to everyone that it was not to be trifled with.

"There is no light in this world! No wizard capable of defeating darkness!"

The moment this despairing black whirlwind appeared, Gandalf and Thrain froze in place. Thrain even began desperately telling Gandalf his last words!

Josh could tell that these people truly feared Sauron, even though Sauron was exceptionally weak at the moment.

Thinking about it, that made sense. Sauron’s deterrence had not been diminished in the slightest despite being defeated twice while possessing The One Ring.

That was because this fellow was like an unkillable Roach. Every time he was defeated, he could return once more, and every return brought a devastating crisis to Middle-earth.

To be honest, Josh did not understand what was wrong with the gods of this world.

He suddenly wondered whether this had been the gods’ will all along. But he quickly shook his head. Those gods did not seem to be living easy lives either, and Josh had learned certain things from his inheritance.

"Forget it. Why think so much? I can just look at the information I extracted later. For now, I should test what this Sauron is capable of."

Watching Sauron begin his attack on the dwarf Thrain, Josh acted as well!

Though Josh could not be bothered with the lives of these dwarves, if he saved Thrain, he might be able to get even more benefits from Thorin. Even if Josh truly emptied Thorin’s treasury, Thorin would not dare say anything.

With that thought in mind, Josh acted decisively!

Silver light illuminated the sky, making this cursed place saturated with dark energy become incomparably bright! Before Sauron’s black mist could even touch Thrain, it was cleaved apart by a silver Light Sword, drawing anguished howls from him.

Gandalf and Thrain stared blankly at the scene. They had never dreamed that someone capable of resisting Sauron was hidden in this place. Gandalf in particular still could not find or recognize the person who had saved them.

But they soon had their answer. A silver halo suddenly appeared above them, and mist much like Sauron’s but of a different color gathered into something resembling an eye.

Within that eye stood a transparent figure, who slowly stepped out.

"Good heavens! His Majesty Augustus! My heavens, it’s really you! You saved us!"

Gandalf became exceptionally excited upon seeing the figure, because he recognized him. The one who had saved them was the Elf King of the Elf Empire, the half-Elf who looked no different from a human yet wielded immense power!

Josh did not respond to Gandalf. His focus was always extremely high during battle.

In his soul state, Josh found that he apparently could not use elemental magic. However, he did not care much. He was a Void Mage, and although he knew few Void Magic spells, they were far more powerful.

"Who are you? A human? No, a half-Elf!"

Sauron asked in words Josh could not understand. At the same time, the black mist slowly gathered together. A black eyeball rapidly formed before Josh’s eyes, and Josh noticed that at the center of the eyeball—where its pupil should have been—the vertical pupil was actually a figure. Josh did not need to think to know that it was most likely Sauron himself.

"This guy is quite badly weakened. But it doesn’t matter. I wasn’t planning to kill him now anyway."

After briefly gauging Sauron’s strength, Josh immediately lost interest. This fellow had not fully recovered. His current strength was only around the peak of the Fifth Tier. Even in a soul state, Josh could dispose of him directly!

Not bothering to waste another word on him, Josh’s magic power surged. In the blink of an eye, he appeared right before the eye!

Gandalf did not react. Thrain did not react. Sauron reacted even less!

The moment Sauron saw Josh appear before him, he immediately manipulated the mist filled with dark power in an attempt to stop him. But Josh gave him no such chance!

The Void Blade stabbed viciously into the eyeball, and the violent Void Power instantly made it shrivel as though it had been punctured and deflated!

Howls! Sauron’s agonized howls! He had never imagined that someone would defeat him with a single sword strike! Worse still, he seemed to feel his soul slowly beginning to collapse!

He did not dare remain here any longer. In an instant, a sinister wind spread everywhere, and amid despairing cries, Sauron vanished from where he stood.

Only after doing all this did Josh calmly glance at Gandalf and the others. After thinking for a moment, he spoke.

"Hurry to Lonely Mountain. I’m there now. I’ll be waiting for you there, Gandalf."