A wave of scorching heat surged up from below, seeping through his armor and warming his back like a furnace.
A faint shimmer of emergency runic shields flickered across his body, preparing for incoming impact.
A longsword forged from pure flame came slashing toward him. Garrett quickly threw an ender pearl, teleporting to the canyon wall. The wave of heat scattered the lingering purple particles. The Balrog clung to the mountainside, glancing left and right, and spotted a figure below, running while placing blocks beneath his feet. In just seconds, he built a stone path, attempting to climb upward.
"Heh heh..."
A mocking rumble echoed from the demon's throat. The flaming longsword dissolved, transforming into a blazing whip. With a sharp crack, it lashed out like it had eyes, curling downward.
Suddenly, Garrett's foot sank slightly, and in the next moment, his entire body was flung away uncontrollably, crashing into the cliff face with a thunderous boom, scraping against jagged rocks and debris as he tumbled upward.
Whoosh.
His figure vanished. The whip only wrapped around a cluster of dissipating purple particles.
A second later, he reappeared above the Balrog's head. After placing several blocks, he quickly poured down multiple water buckets. The flowing streams cascaded downward, dousing the Balrog with a violent hissing, and steam surged back up in thick clouds.
But it couldn't hide those fiery eyes drawing closer.
Boom!
The blocks beneath his feet shattered instantly. Those few puddles were laughably inadequate against the Balrog's massive frame, vaporizing in a heartbeat. The flames wreathing the demon's body remained just as fierce, no, even more intense, as a furious roar erupted.
Garrett once again lost his footing, plummeting downward.
To the Balrog, that narrow one-block-wide path was utterly insignificant, barely enough to wrap a single finger around. A casual squeeze would crush it to powder.
Clang!
Garrett drew his blade and clashed directly with the Balrog. The sword shimmered with an unnatural brilliance, and the powerful impact flung both combatants apart, one hurtling downward, the other launched upward.
The Knockback enchantment finally showed its true worth, each swing of the sword struck like a war hammer, massively amplifying its striking force.
Did this mean he now had the strength to stand against the Balrog...?
He stared at the sword in his hand with surprise.
This...?
No, it wasn't just Knockback. There was something else, something his system hadn't identified.
He had wielded this blade long enough to know exactly what each enchantment did.
ROAR!
Unwilling to retreat, the Balrog climbed the cliff again, forming another flaming sword in its hand. Garrett didn't flinch, he met it with full force.
Bzzz.
A harsh metallic screech rang out. The immense force numbed Garrett's arm. Even a sword with such strong shock-absorption properties couldn't absorb all the impact. The counterforce from the collision made his arm drift backward uncontrollably. Yet the Balrog's flaming blade was successfully deflected. This time, it was an even match.
Ordinary weapons were useless against a Balrog, they'd melt into molten slag from its intense heat. But that didn't apply to weapons imbued with ancient power.
The blade hummed coldly, radiating a chilling light. At last, Garrett understood, it was blessed by the Eldar of the Elder Days.
One of the Balrog's most infamous titles was Bane of the Elves, for the countless Firstborn it had slain. But the Elves had never yielded, they had bravely fought back.
The Balrog, upon seeing the sword, for the first time showed an expression of surprise.
Which lord of the Eldar had come seeking vengeance?
It had been asleep for over a thousand years, and yet these lesser beings could still fight like this?
In all that time, this servant of Morgoth had never once left Khazad-dûm. It had no knowledge of the outside world. Perhaps in its mind, the surface was still ruled by elven lords roaming the lands.
"Interesting mortal... I shall remember you."
"No need. I don't need to be remembered by a coward hiding in the depths."
Garrett grabbed a protruding rock and looked down, loudly responding to the Balrog.
"Hahahahaha..." The Balrog laughed.
The fires on its body shifted from orange-yellow to deep red, then began turning white-hot. Thick smoke surged from both wings, bringing waves of intense heat.
At that moment, Garrett felt like a piece of meat being slowly roasted, specifically, deep-pit smoked Khazad-dûm-style meat cooked over Balrog fire.
That dish would probably be worth a small fortune, if anyone survived to cook it.
If only Gandalf were here right now...
As that thought crossed his mind, he began throwing ender pearls one after another, teleporting along the cliff face, blinking from side to side as if running vertically, evading the Balrog's relentless attacks.
The Balrog unfurled its wings and followed closely behind Garrett's teleportation trail, speeding through the chasm. Anything in its path was either shattered or incinerated.
The pressure was overwhelming.
Gandalf had defeated a Balrog not just with Glamdring or powerful spells, he possessed Narya, the Ring of Fire, one of the Three Rings of the Elves. It granted him dominion over flame, allowing him to summon the light of Eärendil, the fire of the stars themselves, to suppress the Balrog.
Whoosh.
A sudden blast yanked Garrett's attention back. Orange-white flames burst forth, engulfing his entire body.
Yet even the fiercest fire couldn't harm him at that moment. Thanks to his fire resistance potion, he could feel the heat's presence, but it caused no injury. But the Balrog's attacks weren't limited to heat alone.
A deafening crash rang out as his runic shield shattered completely. The Balrog's fist, larger than a cave troll, slammed into him. Garrett's form blurred from the impact and went flying out of the chasm, tumbling through the air.
His armor's durability dropped significantly for the first time in ages. His health bar took a massive hit, then quickly began regenerating.
"You grilling something or what?"
A brief "Nausea" debuff flashed in his status bar for two seconds. Taking advantage of the distance gained while airborne, he hurled another ender pearl, passed through the doorway, and escaped the chasm, reappearing inside the great hall of Khazad-dûm.
The moment he landed, he took a deep breath of the cool, stale air.
Ahh.
He had never realized cold air could feel so refreshing. But the coolness didn't last long. The scorching heat was right behind him.
He bit into a golden apple, a faint golden aura enveloping his body. At the same time, a new set of amber-colored runes lit up from his ring, spreading across his form.
In his inventory, the vis stored in his staff began rapidly depleting, fueling the runic shield's regeneration.
This was the most challenging battle he'd faced in Middle-earth.
He gritted his teeth and turned back.
After all that fighting, he hadn't even managed to see the Balrog's health bar yet, was that acceptable?
Rumble...
A tremor echoed from below. In his mind, he pictured the colossal figure scaling the chasm wall.
"You think I'll just take that lying down?"
He sprinted to the doorway and lined it, top to bottom, with several rows of TNT, then crouched to the side, silently waiting.
The rumbling grew louder.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted. The doorway connecting the hall and the pit was far too small for the Balrog to pass through, so it simply crashed through, smashing the doorframe and the wall above into jagged rubble.
As the entrance collapsed, one massive foot stepped inside the hall.
Garrett drew his sword, and struck downward with all his might!
Clang!
ROAR!
The Balrog let out a furious howl, yanking its foot back.
[Durin's Bane - Balrog of Morgoth: 998 / 1000]
Finally! A health bar appeared.