Chapter 265: The Elves' Life Magic
"The demon dragon is dead! Everyone, follow me and counterattack!"
Once again transforming into a giant, George hurled the head of the demon dragon Glauron into the ranks of the orc army, then teleported to the top of the city wall with the three elven princes using Phantom Shift and shouted loudly through a sound amplification spell.
Upon seeing the dragon's severed head, the Balrogs and orcs instantly became panicked and disordered.
Meanwhile, the morale of the elves and humans surged. Roaring in unison, they charged down from the city walls, launching a counteroffensive alongside the giant George and the three elven princes.
"Plasma Railgun!"
Leaping into the midst of the orc army, George relied on the giant form's defenses to withstand the orcs' attacks. Spinning around with both hands releasing plasma, he swept a wide area.
The plasma railgun could cut through small mountains—its power was naturally not weak. While it couldn't inflict fatal damage on beings of Sauron or the demon dragon's level, to these orcs, even a glancing blow meant injury, and a direct hit meant death.
After unleashing the plasma railgun and waiting for the electricity in his body to recharge, a golden magic circle lit up behind him:
"Light Magic: Rain of Light!"
Countless light arrows felled another large portion of the orc army that had surged back.
At the same time, the three elven princes, working together, managed to slay a Balrog. Seeing the situation turn against them, the remaining Balrogs immediately turned to flee.
Their lives were far more precious than the cheap, expendable orcs—losing one meant one less forever.
With their commander, the demon dragon, fallen, and the Balrogs retreating, the already low morale of the orcs plummeted into the negatives. They had no will to fight left and all turned and fled toward Angband.
George and the three elven princes led the high-spirited human-elf coalition (which in truth numbered fewer than a thousand by then) in pursuit all the way to the ruined fortress at the elves' front lines, where they finally stopped.
"So this is Morgoth's power?"
Standing atop the broken fortress, gazing into the distance at Angband shrouded in black smoke and sensing the unfathomable magic emanating from within, George felt a wave of awe.
To be honest, Sauron had already felt incredibly powerful to him—but compared to Morgoth's power, it was like comparing a novice to a master.
No wonder he was able to seduce so many Maiar into falling at the dawn of creation.
The key point was that Morgoth's power now was far inferior to what it had been before the creation of the world. To corrupt this world, he had infused most of his power into it.
One could only imagine how mighty the gods of Valinor must be.
"It's a shame—these fortresses, originally built for defense, are now completely unusable."
The three princes looked upon the ruined fortresses and the charred corpses of light elves burned by demonic fire on the ground, their faces showing grief.
The memory of their victory over Morgoth's army and the construction of these fortresses was still vivid.
[Translator: sauron05]
"Your Highnesses, now is not the time for sorrow. We must quickly notify the eastern elven tribes."
George, regaining his composure, reminded them.
Elves' souls go to the Halls of Mandos after death, so there would still be a chance to meet again in the future. And the broken fortresses—those could be repaired with the Restoration Spell.
The most urgent task now was to see if the eastern front could still be saved.
"The Agron Pass has been breached, the eastern front has fallen. Aside from the stronghold where Maedhros has taken refuge with his troops, the rest have all retreated south. The Balrog King has already led his army deep into the continent."
The second and third princes shook their heads as they spoke.
It wasn't that they were unwilling to help. Though they did bear resentment for what their seven cousins had done, they shared the same bloodline and had a common enemy.
However, before the attack in the central region, they had already received an urgent message from Maedhros in the east.
The eastern front had been the first of the three fronts to be attacked, followed by the center, and lastly the west.
Unfortunately, by the time the message from the east arrived, it was already a step too late. The princes hadn't had time to prepare before the forward fortress was ambushed and destroyed by the demon dragon's army, who then slaughtered their way to the elven city.
"Well, I suppose it's not the worst. At least two defensive lines have been preserved—it's not a total collapse."
Hearing the second and third princes' explanation, George was momentarily stunned but eventually came to terms with it.
Some things were simply impossible to do perfectly. Even if the eastern defense line hadn't been breached, it would have been difficult to send aid from here.
The three princes and their elven troops had just gone through a brutal battle and were not in a fully intact state. Physically and mentally, they were at their limits. Without several days of rest, they wouldn't recover.
As for George himself—though his magic had no limit, his superpowers had been pushed to their limits. Having repeatedly used electricity to stimulate his body, he was physically exhausted.
"Restoration to the Original!"
After arriving at the ruined fortress and having the elven warriors carry out and bury the charred corpses, George cast the Restoration Spell on the castle.
The orc army had been driven back to Angband for now, but there was no guarantee Morgoth wouldn't send them charging back again.
So restoring the fortress and leaving troops to garrison it was essential.
Under George's spell, the broken walls and collapsed towers seemed to rewind in time, returning completely to their former undamaged state.
This scene once again astonished the humans and elves present.
But next, it was the elves who gave George a bit of a shock in return.
While George repaired the magic structures with spells, the light elves chanted collectively, placed their hands on the ground, and revived the trees and plants that had been destroyed by demonic fire.
They also took out seeds and planted them, rapidly using magic to grow various fruit trees, picking the fruit to eat.
"This is life magic!"
Only now did George understand why elven cities were always so beautiful, surrounded by lush flora, and why they never needed to engage in agriculture like humans.
They were always graceful and abundant.
"Looks like the elves know even more magic than I imagined. It's just that not many of their spells are offensive in nature—or perhaps, when it comes to attack, shooting arrows or swinging swords is simply more effective than using magic."
At that moment, George became filled with anticipation for elven magic.
To be honest, this kind of life magic wasn't even part of the magic system he had studied.
If the eastern front was lost, then so be it. As long as the elves maintained the upper hand overall and could temporarily stabilize the situation, it would give him a chance to study magic peacefully for a while.
Leaving the majority of the elves and humans to garrison and rest at the frontline fortress, George, Bragolas, Barahir, and the three princes returned to the elven city with a small group.
Meanwhile, the eldest prince's forces had already rushed over from the gorge.
The three princes began redeploying defenses, while Bragolas and Barahir returned to the human town and relocated all the humans there to the elven city.
George, on the other hand, went to stand before the corpse of the demon dragon.
(End of Chapter)