Hiss!
After the Uruk-hai commander delivered his complete report, a bone-chilling roar erupted from the Tower of Sorcery. The terrifying sound sent tremors through the evil army stationed within the fortress walls, causing even battle-hardened warriors to shake with primal fear.
"I don't seek him out, yet he dares to come and provoke me directly?"
The Witch-king's rage burned like molten fire within his spectral form. His figure immediately vanished like smoke dispersing in wind. The Uruk-hai commander stood bewildered in the vast hall, confusion etched across his scarred features, when the Witch-king materialized once more, carrying an ornate water bottle.
He thrust the vessel into the commander's trembling hands.
"Take this and pour every drop into that intruder's territory. The liquid contains my most potent curse."
The Witch-king's voice hissed like serpents through dry leaves. "I want his stolen land to become a barren wasteland, choked with deadly poison. He will be corroded in his sleep and die screaming in agony."
The Uruk-hai commander gripped the cursed bottle, cold sweat beading across his brutish forehead despite the hall's oppressive heat.
"You... you want me to use sorcery against that legendary warrior?"
"What troubles you? Do you lack the courage?"
The Witch-king's hollow gaze fixed upon his newly appointed commander, displeasure radiating from his towering form like waves of crushing darkness.
The commander immediately bowed his head in submission, his voice barely above a whisper. "I will complete this task without fail, my master."
"Excellent."
"The time has arrived to test your true capabilities. Show me whether you deserve to retain this position of authority."
Whoosh.
As night descended over the contested lands, massive flocks of bats swept across the territory like a living shadow. Their leathery wings beat in unison, creating an ominous chorus that echoed through the darkness.
Levi emerged from his freshly excavated underground chambers, brushing stone dust from his armor as he gazed upward at the unnatural swarm.
"Foul creatures indeed."
He smoothly drew his firework crossbow, the weapon's mechanisms clicking with practiced precision. Multiple volleys launched skyward in brilliant arcs of light. When the explosive projectiles detonated among the dense formation, the concussive blasts tore through their ranks. Dozens of bats plummeted earthward in flaming spirals, their death cries piercing the night air.
The surviving scattered remnants were methodically picked off with conventional arrows, their blazing corpses raining down like fallen stars.
Far away in Minas Morgul, the Witch-king's supernatural vision went completely dark.
Thud.
By pure coincidence, one dying bat crashed beside a gnarled tree at the territory's eastern edge, where a furtive Uruk-hai crouched in the shadows, quietly conducting his assigned sabotage.
When the flaming corpse illuminated his position, the commander's heart plummeted into his boots. It's finished. Those cursed bats—what brought them here at this precise moment!
"Well, well."
As Levi's penetrating gaze swept across the battlefield, the exposed Uruk-hai commander froze completely, not daring to draw breath.
"You seem familiar somehow..."
"My lord!"
When Levi approached within striking distance, the scales of loyalty and survival tipped decisively in the commander's calculating mind.
He immediately dropped to one knee, words tumbling from his lips in desperate haste. "I have successfully delivered the message you commanded! No more foolish creatures will dare trespass upon your rightful territory!"
"Ah yes, it's you."
"Not entirely disappointing work."
Levi moved closer with predatory grace, his voice carrying lethal undertones. "Now you can explain what gave you the audacity to tamper with my domain."
"If you cannot provide a satisfactory explanation within three sentences, I'll ensure you lose both hands and feet."
"Yes, yes! It was the Witch-king's direct command. He ordered me to bring this cursed water and pour it throughout your territory."
The incriminating bottle was immediately surrendered with shaking hands. Levi accepted it, noting its empty state, but his enhanced senses detected something far more troubling.
"An empty vessel?"
"Not quite."
His nostrils flared as a putrid stench of decay assaulted his senses. Glancing around, he observed that the surrounding grass had mysteriously yellowed and withered into brittle stalks.
Behind the kneeling Uruk-hai, a small excavated pit contained a pool of sickly green liquid that was steadily seeping into the previously healthy soil.
Without hesitation, Levi produced a water bucket and poured out its pristine contents. The clean water directly displaced the corrupted substance, halting the spreading contamination through sheer force of will and supernatural authority.
The poisonous blight ceased its advance immediately.
"I... I was only..." the commander stammered pathetically.
"This is my territory," Levi stated with absolute finality.
The bucket's unique properties, at least when wielded by his hands, allowed any water he poured to completely replace existing liquids at the target location. It represented aggressive manipulation of natural laws themselves.
"Fortunate that I discovered this treachery early, or you might have actually succeeded in your sabotage."
The Uruk-hai commander remained motionless as Levi methodically removed the few patches of corrupted vegetation and replaced them with fresh, uncontaminated earth. Every movement was precise and purposeful.
"Now we address your situation."
After completing his restoration work, Levi crouched down to meet the kneeling warrior at eye level. "You claim the Witch-king commanded this betrayal?"
"Yes, my lord! I speak only truth!"
"Tell me everything you know about their plans, and I might consider allowing you to live."
"I have already revealed all my knowledge..."
Swoosh.
The legendary blade cleared its sheath in one fluid motion, its edge gleaming with supernatural sharpness.
Facing imminent death, the commander's words exploded in panicked desperation. "I can pledge my complete loyalty to your cause, my lord! I've been promoted to commander with an entire army under my authority. I can provide invaluable assistance!"
The razor-sharp steel halted mere inches from his exposed throat.
"How intriguing. You wish to betray your current master?"
This development struck Levi as genuinely unusual. Logically, these dark creatures spawned within Mordor's borders possessed no capacity for treachery. From the moment of their creation, Sauron's mental imprint marked their very souls. This psychological control ensured absolute obedience. Even when facing certain death against overwhelming odds, they would charge without hesitation, their morale artificially locked in place.
Indeed, when Levi posed this direct question, the Uruk-hai commander immediately fell silent, his expression becoming blank and distant.
"Ah, I see."
Nothing but empty posturing and desperate lies.
If these words came from half-orcs dwelling in the Misty Mountains, there might be some credibility to consider. But not from Mordor's factory-produced soldiers. They were psychologically locked with base programming that Sauron himself had installed.
To force their betrayal would require Levi to possess the One Ring, or at minimum one of the other Rings of Power. Only then could he rely on such artifacts to forcibly twist their thoughts and wrest control from the Dark Lord's influence.
"Your loyalty holds no value because it serves no purpose to me."
"Instead, I want you to carry a message to your master, the Witch-king. I am formally challenging him to single combat here on this very ground. That coward who relies solely on underhanded tricks, if he possesses any courage whatsoever, let him come to the crossroads. I will wait there for exactly one day."
"If he fails to appear after one full day passes, all of Middle-earth will know he's nothing but a craven dog who cannot bark without his master's protection."
Upon hearing these inflammatory words, the Uruk-hai commander was literally drenched in perspiration, his crude armor slick with nervous sweat.
"Do you understand your mission clearly?"
No living soul could fathom the commander's emotional state when he finally returned to the poisoned halls of Minas Morgul. But every warrior stationed within those accursed walls definitely heard the Witch-king's explosive roar of pure, unbridled fury.
"You will not go."
Just as the Witch-king prepared to mount his skeletal steed and charge from the fortress in murderous rage, another Nazgûl materialized to block his path with supernatural authority.
"You cannot defeat him in direct combat."
"Would you have me endure that mortal's insulting provocation?"
The Witch-king's spectral form writhed and twisted with barely contained wrath, his anger so intense it threatened to overwhelm even the blocking Nazgûl's formidable presence.
History's boomerang struck with perfect ironic timing.
A thousand years earlier, he had employed this exact same tactic against Gondor's thirty-third king, Eärnur. The Witch-king had called the proud monarch a coward and issued an identical challenge to single combat.
Unable to bear such public humiliation, Eärnur had placed his royal crown within the sacred tomb and ridden alone into Minas Morgul to face his tormentor. The king never returned from that cursed fortress.
Gondor's ancient royal bloodline was severed forever, ushering in the current age of Steward rule. That abandoned crown still rested undisturbed in its tomb after a thousand years of patient waiting.
Now this same weapon had returned to wound the Witch-king through Levi's calculating hand. The irony cut deeper than any blade.
"The master's direct orders forbid your departure."
The blocking Nazgûl spoke with unwavering authority.
These words achieved immediate submission. Despite any personal defiance burning within his spectral heart, under Sauron's absolute will, the Witch-king could only choose obedience, even if it meant enduring tremendous humiliation.
"I submit to the master's wisdom."
"You cannot take action of any kind."
The Nazgûl emphasized this restriction once more, which visibly irritated the seething Witch-king.
"You need not remind me repeatedly. I understand the constraints perfectly..."
"But I can act in your place."
Leaving those ominous words hanging in the poisoned air, the Nazgûl strode toward the fortress exit with purpose.
The Witch-king watched that retreating figure intently, his gaze lingering on the broken sword that remained permanently fused to the wraith's spectral hand even after centuries of undeath. Ancient memories stirred within his corrupted consciousness.
"The irony is... exquisite."
His voice rasped like rusted iron dragged across bone, the sound seeming to leech warmth from the ancient stones.
"He has achieved what no mortal has managed since the day you knelt before our master and accepted your fate. Show me that your centuries of service were not... wasted."
The challenge had been issued. Soon, the crossroads would witness a confrontation that would shake the foundations of both light and shadow.