Far away in Isengard, Saruman still did not know that even his personal interests and food preferences had been catalogued and reported to his enemies.
As for his other spies, their every move was being carefully watched in turn.
Sometimes the most frightening thing is not being ignorant, but believing you have knowledge when you only know what others have chosen to reveal.
Meddling in Eriador had been a mistake from the start.
"How has so much time passed with still no news?"
Inside Orthanc, Saruman felt increasingly uneasy.
"Those lazy spies better not be shirking their duties, or they'll answer to me."
Complaints aside, daily life had to continue.
At night, just as Saruman set aside a full day's research planning to rest briefly, someone knocked at the tower's main door.
Saruman turned over in his bed, ignoring it.
Thud Thud Thud!
Saruman covered his ears with a pillow.
Thud Thud Thud Thud Thud...
CRASH!
The massive sound jolted Saruman upright.
He took a deep breath, gripped his staff tightly, and hurried down the spiral stairs.
Upon reaching the great hall, the White Wizard nearly choked in shock.
"Where's my door!?"
"In my hands," answered the figure he least wanted to see.
"You'd better put it back right now!"
"What if I don't?"
The two glared at each other with open hostility.
Finally, perhaps due to some guilty conscience, Saruman softened slightly. He said slowly, "You absolutely cannot touch my door next time."
"It's just a door. I can replace it with a better one anytime, but I didn't come here to discuss your door."
Cold wind blew in through the empty doorway, bringing with it a sense of foreboding.
"What do you want?"
"You should ask those spies you sent to my lands."
Levi approached Saruman step by step. "I never wait overnight for revenge."
"So this is your reason for breaking down my main door at night?"
"I don't know what grievances exist between us."
Saruman's voice rose with indignation. "All along you've been unilaterally attacking me. I haven't even settled accounts with you, yet you dare pin some fabricated grievances on me to justify coming here and causing trouble?"
"Know your limits, or I'll make you witness an Istari's true majesty!"
"You can continue being stubborn if you like."
Levi stood at an appropriate fighting distance. "But your spies have confessed everything."
"From the start you keep saying spies, spies—I have no knowledge of such things."
Saruman remained obstinate.
"It doesn't matter whether you admit it or not—I've already confirmed it was you."
Levi raised his head, meeting Saruman's eyes directly. "You must understand one thing: I don't need you to admit any wrongdoing. Even if I said I just came to cause trouble, what could you do about it?"
"Then you're far too arrogant," Saruman said, striking his staff against the stone floor with a sharp crack.
His anger finally ignited fully.
Levi stared at him with deadly seriousness.
"Last warning: admit your mistakes now and promise never to do such things again. Then I can forgive you—consider today merely a visit. I'll even repair your door, and we can sit down and talk properly like civilized people."
"But if you continue refusing to acknowledge what you've done, if you even dare to pull more tricks behind my back, then don't blame me for being merciless."
With everything laid bare, the words hung in the charged air.
However, would an extremely arrogant, conceited, self-important wizard who considered his status beyond compare bow his head over a few harsh words?
"It seems my past indulgence and courtesy gave you far too much confidence."
Saruman's expression darkened like storm clouds. "Today I'll teach you a lesson about what politeness and humility truly mean."
"Oh, really?"
Levi slowly drew his sword as Sting emitted its characteristic piercing light in the presence of evil.
Wait. Did it just glow?
"Then try it."
Saruman's robes began to move without any wind, looking quite imposing and majestic.
Levi's attention snapped back. He raised his blade, pointing it directly at Saruman's chest.
"How many times have we fought?"
"Hard to say—we've been at odds since we first met."
"Time to settle this, Saruman."
"Heh." Saruman snorted coldly, raising his staff with deliberate menace. "You're right—it's time you received a proper lesson."
"Remember this well—this is my tower, Levi!"
BOOM!
Saruman roared, staff pointing forward. Tremendous magical pressure howled forth like a living thing. Surrounding firelight instantly extinguished throughout the hall. Various ornaments and tapestries were torn from their places, smashing against walls and the floor in a cacophony of destruction.
Even vision itself darkened under the onslaught.
This was the White Wizard's true anger. As long as he remained in this tower, even a horde of Nazgûl could not easily harm him.
Just as Saruman had said—this was his home ground, his domain of power.
The runic shield flared to life, helping Levi resist the tremendous pressure threatening to crush him.
Levi bit into a golden apple as a pale golden absorption shield materialized around him.
This casual behavior made even Saruman feel genuine distress—a priceless golden apple eaten just like common fruit, and this man was not even injured yet!
Swoosh!
An ender pearl arced through the air toward Saruman. The wizard instinctively dodged. The next moment, as purple particles flashed into existence, Levi appeared instantly before him.
Saruman's eyes widened in shock. He quickly raised his staff, using its inherent hard material to directly clash with Levi's vicious strike.
This time it was Levi who felt surprised—this blow was actually evenly matched.
CLANG!
Sparks flew brilliantly. The collision of enchanted metal against ancient wood echoed through the great hall. The two engaged in close combat several times, trading blows, but Saruman was ultimately a wizard rather than a true warrior. Soon he was beaten back, unable to properly parry, only able to roll aside embarrassingly to avoid the incoming sword light.
Swish!
A sword energy slash cut through the air, severing a corner of Saruman's white sleeve cleanly.
Saruman quickly retreated several steps, rapidly opening a dozen meters of desperately needed safe distance.
Just as Levi prepared to pursue, Saruman raised his staff high once more, shouting with all his magical authority, "Stand back!"
That voice rumbled like divine thunder. The runic shield's power dropped significantly under the assault, yet this magical voice with law-speaking effect was blocked outside, unable to affect Levi directly.
Seeing his maximum-power magical voice actually had no effect, Saruman felt genuine horror creeping into his heart. Seeing Levi approaching relentlessly, he quickly drew a concealed dagger to block the sword.
As that blade pressed dangerously close to his face, heat suddenly rose in the air around them. Flames swirled in a vortex. With a thunderous bang, they shattered Levi's last shield, successfully forcing him to retreat half a step.
Sensing he had broken through a crucial defense, Saruman quickly pursued, raising his staff and commanding, "Rise up for me!"
Thus Levi felt tremendous upward pressure forcing him to levitate against his will.
But it was useless.
His emergency shield activated automatically, successfully blocking this suddenly attacking telekinetic force.
"That damned shield—how are there still more!"
Saruman's voice rose with growing anxiety.
BOOM!
He summoned a massive fireball half as large as a person's entire body, shooting it with explosive intensity toward Levi.
The oncoming flames exploded directly against Levi's body, even igniting the floor and air around him in a roaring inferno.
The runic shield completely shattered under the assault.
After such a long fight, he was finally injured.
"You can be proud of landing that hit."
Levi walked calmly out from the flames, his body still burning with orange-red fire that scorched his health steadily.
A fire resistance potion went down his throat, extinguishing the troublesome flames on his body and armor.
"Oh really? I have far more than just this ability at my disposal."
Saruman's expression grew increasingly dark and dangerous.
A wizard was ultimately a wizard—and Saruman was the most magically powerful White Wizard at that.
He indeed had considerable capital for his pride. An orc here would have been obliterated long ago. Even a troll experiencing such a magical onslaught would kneel with only gasping breath remaining.
Wizards and mortals had fundamental differences in their very nature.
Grey Gandalf could perish together with a Balrog in mutual destruction, while White Saruman possessed higher authority and far greater raw magical power.
In raw combat ability, Saruman was objectively the stronger fighter.
Squeak Squeak...
What is that sound?
Saruman suddenly looked up to see above Levi a small crimson creature flapping leathery wings, flying directly toward him with clear hostile intent.
"A bat?"
"A blaze," Levi corrected calmly.
Saruman disdainfully waved his staff, knocking the charging blaze to the stone floor with one contemptuous strike.
Bang!
The creature exploded on impact, but its destructive power was barely worth mentioning.
"Such petty tricks..."
Just as he prepared to mock Levi properly, his ears caught an ominous sound multiplying rapidly all around him.
In just this brief moment, Levi had already switched through several summoning focuses, calling forth several hundred blazes that now filled the air.
These creatures might be useless against massive entities like Balrogs and giant beasts, but they were devastatingly effective against humanoid enemies in enclosed spaces.
"Curse you! Damn you and your tricks!"
Saruman's eyes widened with genuine alarm, raising his staff high and pointing directly at the swarm of blazes descending upon him.
"All of you get away from me!"
BOOM!
In one magically empowered shout, several hundred blazes simultaneously exploded in a chain reaction, swept away by Saruman's voice alone.
Levi quickly hurled an ender pearl toward the far corner.
He had to teleport—without his shield protection active, that shout alone had knocked him back several staggering steps. This was only because his armor possessed knockback resistance enchantments; another person would have been sent flying directly into the wall.
"Where did he go?"
When several hundred blazes exploded in overlapping fireballs, the figure behind the flames disappeared completely.
Saruman's heart tightened with sudden dread.
Wait, those purple particles just now...
"Right here," came an eerie voice from directly behind him.
Thump.
A strong hand landed firmly on Saruman's shoulder with an inexorable grip.
Impossible to break free from that iron hold.
"Got you. You're not getting away from me today, Saruman."
"Wait, Levi, we can discuss this like reasonable—"
Mid-sentence, Saruman turned sharply, launching a desperate sneak attack. Tremendous telekinetic force struck out, nearly lifting Levi's feet completely off the ground.
Fortunately, the runic shield received timely replenishment from his reserves. That brief protection blocked the telekinetic assault just enough, allowing him to dash forward with his enchanted blade, breaking through directly to Saruman's exposed front.
This time Levi dared not be careless or hold back, bringing out all his combat abilities without restraint.
Tonight Orthanc was not peaceful. Countless sounds emanated from inside the tower—roaring flames, crashing thunder, blinding light, explosive detonations, and the sharp sounds of stone and wood shattering.
One had to admit, a wizard fighting on his own carefully prepared home ground was indeed extraordinarily difficult to defeat.
But quite unfortunately for Saruman, this particular wizard's opponent possessed the unique ability to gradually change and reshape the home ground's terrain itself.
Given enough time, Levi could systematically turn the enemy's advantageous home ground into his own domain.
Bang!
Finally, after brutal minutes of combat, that white-robed figure was knocked to the hard floor with one devastating punch.
Looking at the tower's interior now, from the blasted main entrance to the cracked stairs, the entire great hall had become utterly unrecognizable. Everywhere were dark traces of flame burns and lightning strikes, plus many hastily constructed blocks used for elevated positioning or emergency defensive barriers.
Year 2954 would be remembered: Saruman made a binding promise to no longer send spies to Roadside Keep and all cities of the Free Peoples, nor would he undertake any actions threatening the Free Peoples as a whole.
In subsequent years, even the aggressive Dunlendings became noticeably more cautious, no longer daring to harass Rohan's borders through Isengard's valley as they once had.