Chapter 178: The Sudden Simulation

There are two routes from Lothlorien to Rohan; one is on the west side of the Anduin River.

One must travel along the Celebrant, and after crossing the Limlight, one enters the territory of Rohan.

From there, one should be able to clearly see Fangorn, where the Ents dwell.

Given the current situation, this route would be safer, as Orcish armies have already appeared in Mirkwood.

No one knows how many enemies have slipped out from the Black Gate, lurking and lying in ambush in the desolate, withered, and bleak Brown Lands.

As for the other road, it naturally involves heading to the Two Rivers of the Brown Lands, crossing the Anduin River at several fords there, and entering the grasslands of Rohan, but this route is very dangerous.

However, after consulting with everyone, Allen chose this more dangerous path.

Because, after all, they were not a small squad of few, but several thousand fully armed Cavalry, plus an even larger number of horses.

Whether building bridges or using the boats of Lothlorien, transporting such a massive army across the great river would be an extremely time-consuming task.

For those who needed to hurry, this was somewhat impractical.

In the end, the thousands of Cavalry, led by their respective commanders, left the beautiful Lothlorien and advanced toward Rohan.

Several days later.

Allen, walking on the road, kept talking with Estel, while Cress, acting like a quail, rode her Sapphire beside them without saying a word.

The great bear that Grim had transformed into followed closely near the troop; as long as he restrained his aura, the horses could live in peace with him.

Further back in the troop were Malherbe, Beren, Allen's personal guards, several hundred Heavy Cavalry, and the Dunedain managed by Abinas.

Gale certainly could not return; Allen had instructed him to stay in Wilderness Town to help Yamila handle some matters after delivering the letter, as the road back was still very dangerous.

As for why Cress did not return to Wilderness Town with Beren, that was a matter that left Allen very conflicted.

Allen also knew that as a king, even if his word was not law, what he said should be carried out smoothly.

Otherwise, where would the king's majesty be? And how could the royal family's credibility be guaranteed?

Yet sometimes, the king's majesty is always delayed by one reason or another.

Besides Grim pleading for mercy to Allen, Cress also very proactively admitted her mistake and cautiously argued that she and Grim could be considered to have discovered the enemy's tracks and uncovered an enemy ambush in advance, which should count as some contribution.

Allen certainly knew this, but he would not let Cress stay just because of this.

Even if the result was good, the process was too dangerous; this was merely sophistry.

However, Allen finally compromised because Cress reminded him that on the way to Gondor, the troops might very much need the help of her little animals.

After all, the enemy already knew the whereabouts of this troop and had made corresponding arrangements.

Therefore, the scouting range and efficiency of the animals were very important to Allen at this time, but staying meant staying; Allen required Cress not to leave his five-meter radius.

Even when sleeping, she had to sleep in the tent next to his; if any more problems arose, he would punish Grim—who told this young Skin-changer to plead for him.

In fact, Cress's little animals soon helped Allen a great deal.

During the journey from Lothlorien to the Brown Lands, there was no telling how many Wolf Rider squads were following closely behind Allen and the others.

Once this information was learned by Allen, he immediately led his personal guards to strike quickly and kill them all.

In such terrain, these filthy creatures could never outrun Allen's Elf Horses, nor the lightning and arrows that arrived in an instant.

But the current situation also let Allen know that the Nazgul stationed at Dol Guldur had not given up on obstructing his troop heading south to support, which left a trace of unease in his heart.

The young and valiant Estel also requested several times to follow Allen to drive away the enemy, but he was stopped by Abinas each time and also refused by Allen.

However, the young chieftain was not angry about this, but instead humbly asked Allen why the Elves of Lothlorien did not occupy Dol Guldur in Mirkwood; as long as they occupied that place, there would be no need to worry about the enemy returning to Mirkwood.

In fact, Allen's memory did not have an explanation for this matter, but he also had some of his own guesses, and based on the situation of the Tower of Barad-dur, Allen believed his guesses were likely correct.

"In fact, when our enemy built Dol Guldur, he spent a very long time and effort; he lurked there for at least a thousand years. In this process, the Great Enemy must have, in some way unknown to us, left evil permanently in Amon Lanc, shielding the strange fortress standing upon it, Dol Guldur."

Saying this, Allen looked far away at Mirkwood behind him and continued to speak:

"That place is in gloom all year round; even sunlight cannot dispel the evil Magic that shields it. Whether we are Humans or Elves, even the sturdy-bodied Dwarves cannot live there for long. Not only that, as the enemy recovers his strength, the evil there will also become more powerful, polluting the surrounding forest. Unless one day we can truly defeat the Great Enemy entrenched in Mordor, we will never be able to truly purify the Great Green Wood polluted by evil."

Hearing this, a look of realization appeared on Estel's face. He had not failed to ask the Elves about these questions, but the Elves' answers were always vague and ambiguous.

It left the young Dunedain chieftain confused, far less thorough and easy to understand than Allen's explanation.

However, he still had one question.

"Can even the Lady of the Golden Wood not do it? She is so powerful."

After hearing this, Allen smiled and shook his head, continuing to answer: "The beautiful Lady Galadriel is indeed very powerful, but her power has a certain gap in rank with the enemy's evil. If one must use an analogy, it is as obvious as the gap between the blessed Numenoreans and ordinary Humans. Estel, you must remember, never underestimate our enemy; when facing him, one cannot be too careful."

After hearing Allen's explanation, Estel, or rather Aragorn, lowered his handsome face and fell into deep thought.

At this time, he had already learned his identity in advance and had also understood the thorns and ruggedness on the road ahead.

The young Aragorn did not feel the slightest bit of cowardice, but the enemy's power and the hardships on the road still made the young chieftain feel a bit lost.

And the experienced Allen saw some clues from Aragorn's face, and in his heart, he felt a little bit of emotion for this young man.

The difficulties you can see now are still good; when you grow up a little more, there may be the pain of unrequited love waiting for you to experience on the road ahead.

Emotion is emotion, but guidance must still be given.

He smiled and pointed his horse whip at the sky and said: "Estel, the enemy's power at this time is nothing. I don't know if you have heard the name 'Earendil's Star'. If you have heard of it, you should be able to understand that compared to the evil people faced in ancient times, we are still lucky at this time; at least there are some ways to defeat the enemy."

"What way?" Aragorn's inquiry was slightly hurried; it was clear his patience had not yet been tempered by time.

"There are some things that cannot be spoken of in such an open place; who knows if our Great Enemy is spying on us? However, there is a story I can share a little bit with you."

As he spoke, Allen picked some parts of the story of the Silmaril after it reached Middle-earth to tell Aragorn.

In Allen's view, this part of the content could be told, because whether it was the story of Beren and Luthien or the Silmaril worn by Earendil, they were all recorded in books treasured somewhere in Middle-earth.

Even if Allen did not tell these stories today, Aragorn would learn this knowledge elsewhere.

And he would also compose a poem for his ancestor Earendil together with Bilbo Baggins in the future.

Of course, Allen would not tell what happened in Valinor, because those things about the gods, coming from the mouth of a Human, were truly a bit shocking.

However, Allen was just telling a story; he did not remember any of those beautiful and moving poems. At the end of this story, Allen told Aragorn:

"Among these stories, there is a powerful item, which is the treasure of the Noldor royal family, the Silmaril. Those three precious gems have blessings sufficient to restrain any darkness, as well as the Radiance containing life. If one could find one, as long as it is used well, it would be enough to deal with our Great Enemy."

"Then why...?" Before this question was finished, Aragorn knew he had said something extremely stupid. If it were really so easy to obtain, then the Silmaril would long ago not have been something to be passed down as the content of a story.

"You want to ask why no one went to look for them, right?" Allen smiled gently after hearing this.

Once his smile faded, Allen answered Aragorn's question very seriously.

"Those three Silmarils have long since found their permanent resting places: one is high above in the firmament, worn upon the brow of Earendil; one is at the bottom of the deep ocean, watched over by who knows how many deep-sea creatures; and the last is within the fire at the heart of the world. I think there is no creature in Middle-earth that could endure the high temperatures there, including that Balrog hidden deep in Moria."

Allen paused to think for a moment after saying this.

"I tell you these things that happened in ancient times in the hope that you can grasp from the stories the spirit of maintaining hope amidst suffering, and firmly believe that after our arduous struggle, the enemy will eventually perish and light will surely shine upon the earth."

Having said this, Allen had no desire to continue. Aragorn was only fifteen or sixteen years old at this time; even if he was gifted and of noble birth, he was, in the end, just a child.

Saying more would not be as effective as letting him ponder it himself, and Allen also believed that the young man before him would certainly grow into a resilient and outstanding figure. Aragorn possessed such qualities; he only needed a little guidance.

"Everyone, begin to accelerate." With that, Allen gave the order to end the rest and began to head toward the Two Rivers.

Yet at this moment, Allen did not know that his every move and every word were under the prying eyes of Sauron.

As early as several hundred years ago, the Dark Lord's subordinates had seized the Palantir placed at Minas Ithil, and now, that place was called Minas Morgul.

If it were only a very small party, then Sauron, who was thousands of miles away, would inevitably find it difficult to detect the traces of this group, even with the power of the Palantir.

If they were further away, then Sauron's spiritual power would not be enough to support him in using the Palantir to observe more distant places.

But galloping across the Brown Lands at this time were thousands of powerful Cavalry, among whom were many of Sauron's mortal enemies; such a force could simply not be hidden, and it was truly too difficult not to be discovered, unless Lady Galadriel were traveling to Gondor with this party.

But that was an impossible thing.

Allen had also prepared long ago for his tracks to be discovered by the Great Enemy, but he did not want the Nazgûl commanding the Orcish armies to grasp his specific movements as well.

Because that would lead to him being very passive; after all, judging the enemy's position through information transmission is a completely different matter from arranging a scout force to follow closely behind the enemy.

That is why he borrowed the eyes of animals, sparing no effort to clear away the scum spying on him.

And the insidious and cunning Sauron had actually learned long ago that Gondor would receive reinforcements.

After his gaze, aided by the Palantir, peered into the north, he discovered a large number of Easterlings migrating toward Rhun, and at the same time, he also noticed Ashur, who was fleeing rapidly toward Mordor.

But the blizzard that followed immediately also obscured the Dark Lord's gaze further north.

But Sauron would not wait there; in order to find out the situation in the north immediately, he sent out his loyal servant at once.

And that evil creature, riding a Fell Beast, took less than two days to abduct Ashur from near the Running River and bring him to the evil and dark Mordor.

Afterward, Sauron learned everything.

In this confrontation with Gondor, Sauron had his own plans and needs; if he could crush the Kingdom of Gondor and enslave the many Humans, that would naturally be good.

But the result of the war left Sauron extremely dissatisfied. With the help of Rohan and the Wizard, Gondor quickly resolved the troubles within its borders and pushed the defensive line to the Anduin River. The subsequent comprehensive defensive strategy greatly reduced the intensity of the war.

This did not meet Sauron's needs at all, because the things he required were still far from enough, and he could not fully repair Barad-dûr.

Therefore, the Dark Lord, not wishing for the war to end in a short time, summoned most of his allies, excluding the Easterlings, preparing for a grand slaughter within the borders of Gondor.

However, Sauron, having sensed that a cavalry force in the north was preparing to support Gondor, also prepared a big surprise for the enemy in the Brown Lands.