"According to Gandalf, everything went smoothly at first."
Because the One Ring is part of Sauron's very life, it can't be stashed away in a storage space—just like the Bladewraith's flying sword. But if Jasper Xiao slips it onto his finger and wraps it up tight with holy light, well, that's a clever workaround. The Void Ferry appeared, enveloping all the Chosen. The Traveler returned to Earth, and the Nine Rings of Mortal Kings along with the One Ring vanished together.
That day, many powerful figures kept a close eye on Mordor from the Mage Tower. On that day, the City of the Dead howled, Doom Volcano rumbled nonstop, and the monsters of Mordor panicked like the sky was falling.
Three days later, the outpost sent back news so good it made people delirious: the Eye of Sauron atop Mordor's Dark Tower, along with Sauron's magical form and soul avatar—had gone out.
Queen Galadriel of the Elves pulled out all the stops, unleashing a legendary spell and tapping into the power of the Elven Well to look back in time and witness that historic moment. She saw, as Jasper Xiao traveled back, the giant flaming eye suddenly twitching and shrinking, like a critical patient whose oxygen got cut off—agonized convulsions and tidal surges galore.
A flood of dark magic erupted chaotically; the magic eye darted everywhere, scanning sky and earth, its piercing soul-scream killing countless orcs near and far. But it couldn't find what it wanted, nor could it change its fate. Finally, after one last massive spasm, the flaming eye collapsed like a dying star, shrinking in a flash to a tiny spark and vanishing into the earth.
Mordor's dark army was suddenly a snake with its head chopped off.
The kings wasted no time—consensus reached, troops dispatched, victory locked in! All the races rallied their armies and charged straight for Mordor. Without Sauron, the monster legions were brainless and gutless, and even with ten times the strength of the Alliance of Light, it didn't help them one bit.
That day's purge was an absolute ghost-wailing, demon-crying massacre. The Alliance of Light vented years of pent-up grievances with a glorious victory. Doom Volcano's surroundings were swept clean, Mordor's army routed, and in the blink of an eye, they scattered like stars and clouds, vanishing without a trace. The war was written into the history books of many nations as the Battle of Black Mountain.
After the war, the coalition burned Mordor's camps, tore down its fortifications, and occupied a huge area around Doom Volcano. Maybe it was fate, but even the infamous Doom Volcano started to calm down. No more smoke from the crater, no more clouds blocking the sun, no more sulfur in the air—sunlight finally reached the ground.
Doom Volcano became a dormant volcano.
The Ringbearer Squad all got their rewards and recognition. The four Hobbits returned home as heroes, and Jasper Xiao suddenly found himself drowning in titles and medals from every country. Aragorn didn’t get crowned right away, but his popularity skyrocketed. With a little more groundwork and maneuvering, becoming Gondor’s king was just a matter of time—no worries there. The elves who wanted to sail east did so, those who wanted to stay, stayed. Everything looked pretty much like the movie ending.
"If only it all ended there, it’d be perfect. But alas, alas…" Jasper Xiao shook his head, looking gloomy. "Alas, I never imagined the Miasma would hitch a ride on the Nine Rings and sneak through the void barrier, invading Middle-earth in secret."
"Why did you bring the Nine Rings back?" Jill Young asked, puzzled. "Even if you didn’t notice the rings had changed, you’re not the type to invite disaster. You wouldn’t be that careless. Was it because you had no way to get updates, no idea what was happening in Middle-earth?"
"No, it’s not that simple." Jasper Xiao shook his head and gave a bitter laugh. "Remember that expert who gave me advice a bunch of times? He did a divination for me and came to one conclusion: the volcano isn’t dead, it’s just sleeping."
Jill Young frowned. "You mean Sauron isn’t dead?"
"Not only is he alive, he’s brewing up something scary. That expert told me straight up: I had to bring the rings back to Middle-earth, or the world would face a disaster beyond repair. So, I came back. Who could’ve guessed, the second I set foot in Middle-earth, before I could even get my bearings, the stowaway Miasma traced the soul link right back to the sleeping Ringwraiths and Sauron. That’s when I realized there was Miasma hiding deep inside the rings."
Jasper Xiao took out several rings—the Nine Rings of Mortal Kings. He gave them a casual squeeze, and they crunched flat with a squeak. "See, now these rings are just junk metal. To the Ringwraiths, they’re meaningless. The Miasma became their new soul vessel, their new soul core. They’ve completely broken free from the Nine Rings’ restrictions, and they don’t need soul boxes anymore."
"No wonder, no wonder that Bladewraith is so weird," Jill Young nodded seriously. "Miasma can assimilate, fuse, and mutate. Ringwraiths taking over other creatures’ bodies, or morphing into bizarre forms, isn’t surprising at all. As for Sauron... he’s definitely unpredictable."
The soul of the archvillain, plus Miasma—nobody can predict what’ll happen.
Because time flows differently on both sides, when Jasper Xiao came back again, four years had passed in Middle-earth. Four years was enough for the Alliance of Light nations to recover, but also enough for the Mordor Legion to regroup. All those monsters who fled during the Battle of Black Mountain scattered to the ends of the earth, hiding their tails and living in fear. But after surviving the tough days, they started popping up everywhere in Middle-earth.
Now, no one knows how many monsters there are, or how strong they've become.
Without a leader, they'd just be wandering ghosts, low-level mobs not worth mentioning. Isolated monsters pose no threat. Unfortunately, the Miasma arrived. Then, the Ringwraiths woke up.
"Queen Galadriel once made a prophecy—she foretold the decay of the whole world. Not just Middle-earth, but the Elven ancestral lands across the ocean, and many other unknown regions. The whole world would be corrupted and ruined. So, all nations had to join forces to face the coming disaster of monsters."
"You have to admit, Lady Galadriel is a top-notch prophet, with tons of prestige and credibility. But even she couldn't form a multi-national alliance by herself. Still, ten days after the announcement, Blademaw the Ringwraith started assassinating important figures left and right—and was scarily successful. Since the new Ringwraiths were as strong as nine old ones combined, the nations finally dropped their suspicions and grudges and formed the Alliance of Light we have now."
"Meanwhile, I rushed back to Earth and left a rescue plan behind. Now, this is my third trip into the Lord of the Rings world. Just recently, Aragorn and his crew were all killed, and the Ringwraiths started hunting down the former Ringbearer Squad members. That means the One Ring has become special again—at least Sauron seems to need it. And it means Sauron's soul is starting to wake up, so the toughest battle is about to begin."
"That’s when I decided to send the signal and officially call for help."
"And then you guys showed up."
After a long talk explaining everything, Jill Young finally understood what was going on. Jasper Xiao watched her quietly, hoping she’d say something. Jill thought for a moment, raised a finger, and said, "Everything else checks out, but there’s one thing that seems fishy to me."
"What is it?"
"It's that so-called 'expert' who gave you advice," Jill Young frowned. "Just a few days ago, I met Boy Qian Kun, and he said something spot-on: fortune-tellers should never spell everything out. It's not just professional ethics—it's a rule you can't break. But your expert was way too direct; that's not how fortune-tellers act. Plus, look: he said 'If you don't come back, there'll be a disaster,' but it turned out your return caused the disaster. Feels like he set you up. That guy's suspicious."
"Makes sense," Jasper Xiao nodded seriously. "I've thought about it, but my gut says it's not that simple. Plus, that guy helped me send the rescue signal through the space-time barrier, so it's hard to judge. I'll keep an eye out—if he really set me up, I won't let it slide."
"Alright, that's all," Jill Young dusted off her clothes and stood up tall. "If there’s a tough guy, leave him to me. I don’t like bullying weaklings, but I love fighting the strong. The rest is up to you—just holler if you need me, I’ll back you up all the way."
"Wow, hearing you say that is really inspiring." Jasper Xiao stood up too, giving Jill an apologetic smile. "Dragging you into something this dangerous, I..."
"Enough, enough—keep being so polite and I’ll smack you. This world’s great: plenty of resources, cool skills, and tons of XP. Perfect for training. Plus, I can study how to deal with the Miasma. Don’t forget, Earth’s got a hundred or a thousand times more Miasma than here." Jill Young patted Jasper Xiao’s shoulder and strode off. "Here’s something you won’t like but it’s true: here, I can afford to lose. On Earth, I can’t."
Jasper Xiao was silent for a moment, then nodded quietly. "Here, I can't afford to lose either. On Earth, even less so."
"That’s the spirit! Only with extraordinary guts and strength can you pull off extraordinary feats and shoulder extraordinary burdens." Jill Young walked on without looking back, waving a hand behind her. "Paladin, stick to your path of holy light. I may not walk your road—at least not entirely—but I’ll support you all the way."
"That’s all I need—more than enough." Jasper Xiao grinned, watching Jill Young walk away step by step. Once she was out of sight, his expression turned cold and serious again.
There was one thing he hadn't told Jill Young: after his investigation, the emergence of the Black Death Emperor—was suspicious.