Gandalf must have seen them pouring oil on the gates as well, for he was on top of the walls, instructing the soldiers to shoot the Orcs bringing the oil vats with arrows. However, ordinary arrows were not enough to stop the Orcs, who were heavily armored and protected by shields.
I put my bow into my inventory and headed down. Though my concept was supposed to be a dragon that uses magic, there was a reason I had used the bow. It was because the nature of a dragon wouldn't have allowed for much participation in the original plot. I had intended to help secretly with the bow, but just like at Helm's Deep, it was so fun this time that I got excited and ended up performing too well. Everyone had probably noticed by now.
'I think I might have failed the roleplay because I enjoyed myself too much.'
If I were to roleplay in another world, I'd have to be more careful.
Anyway, as I went down, I saw Gandalf on the wall above the gate.
"Gandalf, why aren't you using magic? Have you truly converted into a staff-wielding martial artist?"
"Hmph... I'm busy right now, so do not disturb me."
Gandalf seemed bewildered, perhaps taking my words as a joke. I said to him,
"Move aside for a moment."
I gently pushed Gandalf to the side and looked down from the gate. Below, Orcs were still diligently bringing barrels and pouring oil. I reached out and used my [Ice] ability to instantly freeze the area in front of the gate into a thick block of ice.
CRACK!!!
As the area in front of the gate froze so suddenly, the Orcs underneath died instantly, frozen in their tracks without even knowing why. I expected the people around me to cheer at the sight, but instead of cheering, everyone just stood there with their mouths agape, startled by the sudden appearance of the massive ice block.
"Ha... if you had such magic, you should have used it sooner."
Gandalf also seemed quite shocked. He mistook the [Ice] ability from the My Hero Academia world for magic. Of course, it was something that could be achieved with magic as well.
"You're one to talk, being someone who received great power and isn't even using it. You can do this too."
"I? You mean I can do this as well?"
Gandalf asked me repeatedly, as if he couldn't believe it.
"Geez, Saruman would be sad to hear that after he gave you all that power."
Certainly, the current Gandalf was capable of such feats with magic. The power Saruman had passed on to him was that significant. However, perhaps because it hadn't been long since he received it, he didn't seem to have a grasp of just how much power he held.
It was then. Unable to hold back any longer, the Balrogs began running toward the walls of Minas Tirith, shaking the very earth beneath them.
ROOOOAR~~~!!
THUD! THUD! THUD!
"Aargh!"
"Help me!"
"Kieeeek!"
As the Balrogs ran, they paid no heed to what was beneath them. Consequently, the Orcs in formation began to be trampled or kicked to death by the massive Balrogs.
"Whoa~ the Orcs are being wiped out in droves, aren't they?"
As I expressed my admiration, Gandalf spoke urgently.
"Now is not the time for such remarks! Do you not see the Balrogs coming?!"
"I see them perfectly. Anyway, I'll take care of the Balrogs."
After saying that, I jumped down from the wall. I immediately transformed into my dragon form. Some of the soldiers watching from behind screamed in terror. It wasn't just the people on the wall who were shocked; the Orcs in front also began to retreat, nearly wetting themselves in fear.
Since the mood was set, I gave a menacing roar.
"GRAAAAAAWR~~!!!"
Then, I immediately unleashed a breath attack onto the Orc formation.
WHOOOOOOSH~~~!!!
As the massive flame breath swept through the Orc formation, the Orcs turned to ash before they could even scream. With just this one breath, at least a tenth of the Orc army seemed to have vanished. Of course, I could have eliminated more if I had breathed harder, but this seemed sufficient to clear enough space to fight the Balrogs.
'Now the stage is set.'
Recognizing the opening, the Balrogs approached the vacant space I had created. There were six of them in total; it seemed Sauron hadn't mobilized all the Balrogs. But it wasn't just Balrogs—four dragons could also be seen flying slowly through the air. Apparently, Sauron thought this would be enough to deal with me.
'He's making a mistake.'
I took flight and approached the dragons first, intending to handle them. I thought it would be very annoying if I were suddenly ambushed from the sky while fighting on the ground. Then, one of the dragons spoke to me.
"It is not too late. Join our side."
"Don't make me laugh."
"You are but a castaway who did not even participate in the war. Do you truly intend to betray our father (Glaurung)?"
Since these dragons were ones I hadn't seen during the War of Wrath, they seemed to mistakenly believe I had been hiding somewhere.
"I have nothing to hear from losers."
"You dare!"
With that, the battle began. All four were similar in size to me. They certainly weren't on the level of Smaug. They unleashed their breath first, but I soared higher to evade them and launched my own breath in return. My breath was much wider in range and more powerful than theirs; one dragon that couldn't evade it plummeted with its wings on fire.
Without giving them a moment's rest, I flew quickly toward another one and tore through its chest and neck with claws reinforced by [Armament Haki]. It was completely different from when I fought Smaug. Back then, I wasn't used to this body and couldn't deal proper damage, but now I could strike with full power.
"KRRRRAAAAGH!!!"
As the heavily wounded creature began to fall, unable to fly properly while bleeding profusely from its chest, I grabbed its neck and dove straight to the ground, slamming it hard against the earth.
BOOM!!
CRUNCH!
As I killed that one, the Balrogs, who had been waiting for me to land, began to lash out with their fire whips to bind my body. The Balrogs were certainly large, but in terms of sheer bulk, they were smaller than dragons. However, since the fire whip was a unique ability of the Balrogs, its length could change at will, allowing them to bind me regardless of my size.
I quickly pulled on one of the whips, dragging a Balrog toward me, then bit its neck and applied pressure.
SNAP!
The Balrog died without even a scream. I immediately put the corpse into my inventory. I intended to turn it into a shadow soldier later.
'Balrogs are precious. They're fellows who will work hard for me later.'
While I was doing that, the two dragons still in the air began to rain down breath attacks on me. I created a massive wall of ice with my [Ice] ability to block their fire. In truth, I wouldn't have taken much damage even if I were hit. I possessed the [Flame-Flame Fruit] ability and had SSS-grade [Flame Resistance], so ordinary flames couldn't hurt me.
'Still, I should block it. It feels bad to be hit.'
As I blocked the fire with [Ice], the dragon whose wings had been burnt by my earlier breath charged at me, attempting to engage in melee combat. It seemed to think it had a chance while I was still bound by several Balrogs.
It lunged to bite my neck, but I ducked to dodge and cast several wind blade spells—a magic I had practiced with Arwen—at it.
SWISH- SWISH-!!
"Ugh!!"
As expected, since dragons have tough hides, I couldn't deal major damage, but it left large scars on its scales and forced it back.
"This brat! You can even use magic?"
As I used magic in succession, the dragon attacking me seemed somewhat flustered.
"I'm different from you lots who did nothing but sleep."
I exerted my strength and began to move slowly. Then, the Balrogs holding me with their whips were slowly dragged along. Balrogs naturally have no facial expressions, so one cannot read their emotions from their looks, but I could instinctively feel that they were panicked.
Kieeeek~!!
Suddenly, eagles flew in from the sky and began to take on the two dragons flying above. It seemed Gandalf had hurriedly summoned the eagles, feeling that I was in danger.
The eagles were similar in size to the 'Fell Beasts' ridden by the Nazgûl, so they were much smaller than the dragons, but they had the advantage in numbers. Furthermore, they struck and retreated quite rapidly. This caused the dragons much confusion.
'I didn't really need help, but thanks anyway.'
I immediately unleashed a breath attack on the dragon right in front of me.
WHOOOOOOSH~~~!!!
The one in front tried its best to dodge, but since its wings were already burnt, it couldn't evade my wide-range breath and took the full hit.
"KRAAAAAAAGH!!!"
Being a dragon, it had flame resistance and managed to endure for a bit without dying instantly. However, that only made it more painful.
Sizzle—
THUD!
It eventually couldn't hold out, collapsing and dying with its whole body charred and smoking.
I then tried to grab a fire whip to pull a Balrog again, but it simply let go of the whip to avoid being dragged like before. One of the whips binding me simply vanished. So I pulled on another, and that one also let go of its whip.
'What are these guys doing?'
At that moment, an eagle fell from the sky with a large wound. I looked up and saw that the dragons, along with the Nazgûl who had joined in, were taking down the eagles one by one. The Balrogs were trying to keep my movements restricted while they dealt with the eagles first.
"This is ridiculous. Do you think I'm held by you because I lack the strength?"
I rapidly spun my body, snapping all the whips wrapped around me. Then, I flew quickly, snatched a Balrog by the head, and slammed it into the ground. When the surrounding Balrogs manifested fire swords to strike me, I swung my tail and sent three of them flying simultaneously.
WHAM!!
"Argh!!"
Next, keeping the one I had slammed into the ground pinned with my foot, I bit its shoulder and ripped it right off. This one also died as its flames went out. Of course, I didn't forget to put this corpse into my inventory as well.
I immediately flew to the next Balrog and tore its head off.
CRUNCH!
With two dead in an instant, the remaining Balrogs began to shuffle back and flee. I let them be for now. The eagles were my priority. I couldn't just ignore those who had come to help me.
I soared into the sky and slashed through the wing of a dragon caught off guard. It could no longer fly and plummeted below. Then, I flew toward the last dragon. It realized it was the only one left and tried to flee in a hurry.
"Where do you think you're going!"
I didn't let it go; I flew faster, bit its tail, swung it forcefully into the Orc formation, and unleashed a powerful breath.
WHOOOOOOSH~!!!
"KRAAAAGH!!!"
It also couldn't endure and died. The Orcs nearby were a bonus. I then checked the eagles' location. The Nazgûl had already fled. I flew slowly to finish off the last dragon that had fallen to the ground.
"Ugggh… Please, spare me. There are not many of our kin left. Do you intend to kill every one of your own kind with your own hands?"
The creature pathetically begged for its life.
"How absurd. You are the ones who joined hands with Sauron and tried to kill your own kind first!"
"Did you not betray us first! Siding with inferior humans and abandoning us… this is unthinkable for a dragon!"
Honestly, I wanted to say I wasn't actually a dragon, but since there were many listening, I didn't say it.
"Whose side I take is my own business. Just die quietly."
"Damn it!!!"
In a final act of desperation, it unleashed its breath at me. However, I blocked the breath with a magic barrier, approached slowly, bit its neck, and snapped it.
Ding~!
[You have obtained the abilities: (C) Dragon Skin, (A) Flame Resistance, (A) Dragon Breath.]
[(C) Dragon Skin] has been absorbed by [(A) Dragon Skin] and promoted to [(S) Dragon Skin].
[(A) Dragon Breath] has been absorbed by [(SS) Dragon Breath] and promoted to [(SSS) Dragon Breath].
[(SSS) Dragon Breath]
Allows the use of Dragon Breath of various elements.
Having killed four dragons, my [Dragon Skin] and [Dragon Breath] abilities went up another rank. Reading the description of [Dragon Breath], I could now breathe not only fire but various other elements. [Dragon Skin] had the same description as before, so I skipped it.
'This is good.'
It was a bit disappointing that I didn't catch all the Balrogs, but I could catch them later, and since I gained a lot, it wasn't a loss.
First, I checked the eagles that had fallen to the ground. Three had fallen; one was dead, and two were severely injured but still alive. I moved them to the top level of Minas Tirith, returned to my human form, and used Heal to treat them. Gandalf also came up to the top level.
"Are you injured anywhere?"
"No, I'm fine."
"That is a relief."
Gandalf looked relieved that I had returned safely.
"My role ends here."
"Yes, thank you."
Gandalf thanked me and approached the eagles to express his gratitude to them as well.
After that, the war entered a temporary lull. The Orcs had lost nearly a quarter of their strength in the previous battle, leaving their forces significantly weakened. It seemed they retreated toward Osgiliath to regroup. Because of that, Minas Tirith was able to take a short breath.