LOTR: The Mincraft Player

"If you had that ability up your sleeve, why didn't you use it earlier? I drank all those potions for nothing!"

Garrett was exasperated at Gandalf's maneuver.

"Ahaha... well, such magic cannot be used too frequently, you understand. It comes at a considerable cost..."

Gandalf gave an awkward chuckle, though his feet didn't stop, both of them were still running at full speed.

Behind them, the army had just realized what had transpired and began a noisy pursuit down the path. Gandalf struck his staff behind him, shattering the top of a watchtower. The falling debris crushed a group of pursuing orcs and blocked the passage.

Safe?

Just as Garrett was thinking that, wisps of black mist suddenly appeared before them.

BOOM!

A massive illusory eye-like apparition manifested ahead, completely blocking their path. Looking closely, there was a figure wreathed in flames at the center of the eye.

Sauron.

Gandalf was thunderstruck.

Garrett was stunned as well.

Because...

[?/?]

There was no health bar. Or rather, this wasn't Sauron's true form at all, merely some kind of projected manifestation.

With the effects of the potions still lasting several dozen seconds, he was growing restless.

He consumed another golden apple.

"No light can ever vanquish the darkness, wizard."

Sauron's voice emanated from within the seething black mist.

As soon as he finished speaking, a surge of boiling shadow rushed toward Garrett beside Gandalf, apparently intending to eliminate the non-wizard threat first.

But this attack met with an unexpected response. Garrett instinctively swung his sword, cleaving the black mist in half and halting the assault.

"A Man? No... Whatever you are, remain here."

Whoosh.

The black mist suddenly expanded, engulfing all nearby structures. Gandalf quickly raised his staff, summoning a thick barrier of light.

All the buildings outside the shield were instantly reduced to rubble, only the ground beneath Gandalf and Garrett remained intact.

"Go! Summon reinforcements!"

Gandalf said through gritted teeth as he struggled to maintain the defense. "I'll hold him here."

"No way. I just drank a potion. You think I'm gonna waste it?"

With only about ten seconds remaining on his enhancement, Garrett felt it would be criminal not to utilize it. As Gandalf's eyes widened, Garrett suddenly leaped forward, targeted Sauron's manifestation, and struck it with his blade.

Clang!

At that moment, he felt as though he'd struck bedrock. The impact was so tremendous it actually damaged his blade, which had barely shown wear until now. Sauron wasn't unscathed either, the flame-wreathed figure in the massive eye flinched and stepped back, and the surrounding black mist trembled.

But then, the Dark Lord erupted in fury.

The black mist on the battlefield suddenly swelled, blotting out all light, smothering everything in darkness. All Garrett could see was black.

At the same time, nine shadowy figures emerged from the pupil, Nazgûl. Their forms had been reforged by Sauron, made even more powerful by his essence, each one exuding thick, malevolent aura.

Gandalf's protective barrier contracted, nearly vanishing.

Garrett, moving faster than he ever had, lit several TNT charges, constructed a stone wall before them, and pulled Gandalf back.

BOOM!

A series of deafening explosions rocked the area. The force of the blasts scattered the approaching Nazgûl, even tearing a small gap in the enveloping mist. But it was only temporary. Almost the instant their forms dispersed, the Nazgûl began to reassemble, and the black fog surged forward once again, ready to engulf the two of them.

Effective, but insufficient.

The Nazgûl required Sauron's aid to regain their forms, anywhere else, if they were destroyed, they'd have to return to Sauron for revival, and wouldn't be able to reappear for some time. But now, Sauron was right here. It was essentially like having their respawn point placed directly before them. Surrounded by Sauron's emanating darkness, the Nazgûl's powers had become even greater, each one was now at elite level.

It was like encountering a monster spawner you couldn't destroy.

Gandalf raised another shield, this time using every last bit of his strength. He glanced sideways at Garrett, as if asking, "Have you anything left?"

Garrett shot him a look back: "Do I look like I've got a plan?"

Wait, actually, he did have something.

"Gandalf, take this."

He pulled out an ender pearl and handed it to Gandalf.

He'd acquired it during his travels to the Nether. He only possessed seven in total, three from extensive hunting in the spooky forest for ages, and four from bartering with piglins.

He didn't know whether it was merely terrible fortune or the piglins had something against him, he tossed in a whole batch of gold and only got two pearls in return, a total of four.

He was so mad he nearly drew his sword and eliminated them all.

The pearls were incredibly rare, so he never used them unless absolutely critical.

"What is this?" Gandalf asked weakly, breathing heavily.

"A magical item. Throw it, and you'll teleport to wherever it lands."

"But we're trapped at present, and, uh..."

As he spoke, the glow around Gandalf faded. He struck his staff against the ground, but no more light barrier appeared. Now he was relying solely on the raw magical power in his staff to fend off Sauron.

The pressure from Sauron was growing overwhelming. Gandalf's staff began to emit a faint, barely visible glow as it clashed against the darkness. It appeared as though it might shatter at any moment, but somehow, it held.

[Durability: 3]

"I'll create an opening."

Garrett quickly piled up a stack of TNT behind them, lit them, and built a stone wall to deflect the blast.

But this time, Sauron didn't just stand there and watch. He'd already witnessed the power of those red blocks and wasn't about to let Garrett ignite them again. A tendril of black mist shot out and knocked the lit explosives far away.

What he didn't notice, or simply couldn't, was that Garrett had already switched to a fishing rod. With a flick of his wrist, he hooked the glowing TNT mid-air with a thin line, and with a pull, reeled it directly back.

In theory, as long as it was a physical object, the fishing rod could snag it, and apparently, ignited TNT still counted.

BOOM!

The TNT detonated the moment it was pulled back, triggering the rest of the nearby charges. The massive blast shredded layers of black mist, and even destroyed the stone wall Garrett had constructed. Gandalf turned sharply, pointed with his staff, and the shattered mist instantly dispersed, revealing a path to the outside.

"Go!"

He shouted, already hurling the pearl. Garrett quickly followed and tossed his too.

The exit vanished rapidly, black mist crashing down and slamming both of them hard against the ground.

Gandalf was pinned against the wall, unable to move.

Garrett, though, he had it worse. For some reason, Sauron seemed especially hostile toward him, seizing him and hurling him straight into the tower, shattering structure after structure. The force was terrifying, every time a building collapsed, Garrett's health bar dropped. It reminded him of the early days, fighting the barrow-wight with no equipment.

He hadn't been beaten up this badly in a long time.

He consumed golden apples one after another, even burned through two pieces of lembas, and in desperate moments, used two Potions of Healing.

If he hadn't been so well-stocked, he might have actually died.

Just as Sauron gathered power for one final devastating strike, Garrett and Gandalf suddenly vanished, leaving only a cloud of purple particles in the air.