Chapter 123: The Destruction Plan

Gandalf, Galadriel, and Celeborn desperately wanted to send the Ring to Mount Doom for destruction, but now that legendary place was surrounded by Sauron's forces like an impenetrable iron fortress. It proved extremely difficult to penetrate Mordor, whether approaching from the sky or the ground. Even worse, they worried there might be some supernatural connection between the Ring and Sauron, meaning once they drew close enough, the Dark Lord would sense its presence immediately. "I think we need to contact Elrond. He understands the Ring more deeply than any of us and might offer different perspectives," Gandalf said thoughtfully. Then he looked directly at Kael with hopeful expectation. "Kael, could you trouble yourself to connect the Floo Network here?" Kael nodded readily. "Lord Celeborn, Lady Galadriel, may we borrow your fireplace for this purpose?" Galadriel smiled warmly and nodded with gracious approval. "Elrond has praised this magic of yours to me before. Let us witness its wonders ourselves." "It would be perfect. When Arwen wants to visit Rivendell in the future, she won't need to cross the dangerous Misty Mountains anymore." When she spoke these words, profound sadness flashed briefly in Galadriel's ancient eyes. Her daughter Celebrían had once been captured and tortured by Orcs while traveling to visit them in Lórien, and finally had to sail west to Valinor for healing that only the Undying Lands could provide. This tragic event had become an eternal source of pain for the devoted couple Galadriel and Celeborn. For this reason, Elrond had specifically entrusted Arwen to their loving care, hoping to ease the sorrow of not having his daughter nearby. With Galadriel and Celeborn's wholehearted consent, Kael continuously cast intricate spells on the fireplace, connecting it directly to Rivendell's corresponding hearth. Then he sprinkled a handful of shimmering Floo Powder and plunged into the brilliant green flames, disappearing completely. Except for Gandalf and Bilbo, who had already witnessed this magical transportation and grown accustomed to it, everyone else displayed obvious surprise and wonder. Arwen's eyes sparkled with fascination as she watched Kael disappear into the fireplace. Because of her mother Celebrían's past traumatic ordeal, her grandparents and father remained reluctant to let her travel thousands of miles across the perilous Misty Mountains to reach Rivendell, so she had lived primarily in Lórien since early childhood. Basically, it was always her father, Elrond, and her two brothers, Elladan and Elrohir, who made the dangerous journey to Lórien to see her. Now with this miraculous transportation magic, it would be incredibly simple for her to visit Rivendell whenever she desired, and she could even frequently travel between both realms, accompanying both her grandparents and father without any conflict. At the same time, she became intensely curious about this young wizard, Kael. She knew her grandmother Galadriel had commissioned this wizard to create a wand specifically for her. This magical focus was reportedly also created by this young wizard and possessed the remarkable ability to let magical races cast spells with ease. Such innovation had earned admiration and appreciation even from Grandmother Galadriel, one of Middle-earth's most revered and powerful Elves. For this service, she had even gifted the precious Elessar emerald that she had treasured for countless years. And now there was this magic that could transport people thousands of miles instantaneously. Kael was vastly different from other Middle-earth wizards in her impression, and his magic proved far more wondrous and practical. She was now even more eagerly anticipating her own custom wand. What kind of magical focus would Kael create specifically for her? Before long, brilliant green flames lit up in the fireplace once again. Elrond emerged from the fireplace first with characteristic dignity. Kael followed closely behind with obvious satisfaction. "Father!" Arwen's eyes lit up with pure joy as she gracefully hurried forward. "Arwen." Elrond lovingly stroked his daughter's silken hair, then bowed respectfully in greeting to Celeborn and Galadriel. "Lord Celeborn." "Lady Galadriel." As fellow lords of great realms, Elrond's status was equivalent to Celeborn's in most matters. However, the two before him were his beloved parents-in-law, so Elrond maintained a respectful attitude befitting family relationships. With Elrond's arrival, everyone once again focused their complete attention on the Ring. Elrond looked at the ring before him with an extremely complex expression filled with painful memories. "During the Last Alliance war, I was still High-King Gil-galad's herald. Sauron wielding the One Ring was absolutely unstoppable in battle. Even Gil-galad and Elendil fighting together were no match for Sauron's terrible power. That battle was extraordinarily tragic. Gil-galad, High-King of the Noldor, and Elendil, King of Gondor and Arnor, both died in the fighting. The legendary sword Narsil was trampled and broken by Sauron himself. Just when we faced complete despair, Isildur, son of Elendil, seized a crucial opportunity to use fragments of Narsil to cut off Sauron's finger wearing the One Ring, causing him to lose his power and his physical form to dissipate completely. The Alliance finally achieved a costly victory." "I once tried desperately to persuade Isildur to throw the One Ring into Mount Doom to completely destroy the Ring and permanently cut off Sauron's chance of resurrection." Elrond sighed with deep regret. "But Isildur was bewitched by the Ring's corrupting power and refused my urgent suggestion. Later he was ambushed and killed by Orcs near Gladden Fields, and the Ring he carried disappeared without a trace." "I had hoped the Ring fell into the river and would be washed into the sea by the Anduin's current. I never expected it to appear again today!" Then Elrond expressed surprise that Bilbo had possessed the Ring for so long yet remained completely uncorrupted. "Perhaps this is fate's wonderful design. Fate created the miraculous race of hobbits. Though small in stature, they are naturally pure, love peaceful life, and have few material desires or worldly ambitions. Even the One Ring's terrible power has difficulty taking effect on their innocent hearts. And now fate has allowed a hobbit to find the One Ring." Elrond looked at Bilbo with a warm smile, his eyes filled with genuine hope. "I think fate has given us clear guidance. The One Ring has appeared in the world again and been brought before us. This surely destines Sauron's ultimate doom." Then Elrond engaged in serious discussion about methods to destroy the Ring with Gandalf and the others. Elrond agreed completely with the proposal to cast the Ring into Mount Doom's fires. "However, now is not the right opportunity for such an attempt," Elrond said with obvious caution. "After the last battle at Dol Guldur, I sent urgent word to warn the Steward of Gondor in the south. Gondor quickly sent their best scouts to investigate deep into Mordor, but the results were deeply unsatisfactory." "Sauron is now extremely cautious and careful. The entire Mordor region is constantly monitored by giant bats, and the ground teems with Orcs, trolls, corrupted humans, corrupted beasts, even giant spiders descended from Ungoliant herself. It's heavily guarded with the strictest possible defenses." "Attempting to penetrate deep into Mordor to reach Mount Doom is nearly impossible under current circumstances." "Then do you have any strategy to suggest, Lord Elrond?" Gandalf asked with growing concern. "Given the current situation, Sauron will never appear voluntarily and will continue hiding in his Mordor lair to recover his strength, unless we form a massive alliance army to attack Mordor directly, forcing him to appear and creating an opportunity to secretly enter Mount Doom and destroy the Ring." Speaking of this grim possibility, Elrond shook his head with obvious discouragement. "But now the northern kingdom of Arnor has completely fallen, the southern kingdom of Gondor has long had no king, only a ruling steward, and Rohan governs itself independently. Unless there emerges a king with sufficient prestige who can rally all human kingdoms and unite with Elven forces to once again form a powerful alliance of Men and Elves, only then might we break through Mordor's defenses and force Sauron to appear." But such a unifying figure had only appeared once in history: Elendil, King of Gondor and Arnor. Thinking this, Elrond considered Aragorn, who now lived safely in Rivendell. Aragorn was a direct bloodline of Isildur, son of Elendil, the rightful heir to the northern Arnor royal house. The southern Gondor royal line had long since ceased to exist. Aragorn was the most suitable heir to inherit the kingdoms of both Gondor and Arnor. As long as Aragorn became King of Gondor and Arnor, the kingdom of Rohan would also have to honor their ancient oath of loyalty to Gondor's rightful king. This would consolidate human kingdom forces and form powerful resistance against Mordor's expansion. It was just that the current Aragorn was only ten years old and couldn't possibly bear such tremendous responsibility. "Secondly, we wait until Sauron recovers some strength. He will inevitably expand outward. Then we can intercept the dark forces, using this conflict to attract Sauron's attention while a small team secretly takes the Ring into Mount Doom to complete the mission of destroying it." After hearing this strategic analysis, Gandalf and the others nodded in agreement with Elrond's practical suggestion. "But the critical question remains: who should carry the Ring to Mount Doom? The Ring has the power to corrupt minds. None of us dare touch it directly. Who could undertake the long, perilous journey carrying the ring while guaranteeing they won't be affected by its influence?" Hearing Gandalf's pointed question, everyone's gazes inevitably fell on Bilbo. Bilbo frantically waved his hands when he saw this expectation. "No, absolutely not! I can't do it!" He had just survived the perilous journey of the Lonely Mountain expedition. His heart couldn't handle another even more dangerous mission. Seeing his strong resistance, everyone reluctantly withdrew their gazes. The matter of escorting the Ring to Mount Doom wasn't immediately urgent and didn't require deciding who would undertake the quest right now. Since they currently couldn't destroy the Ring, everyone began discussing how to handle it. Who should keep it safe? "The Ring matter concerns all of Middle-earth's safety. Should we notify Saruman?" Elrond said thoughtfully. After all, Saruman was the official leader of the White Council. Not summoning him during the last battle at Dol Guldur had already made Saruman extremely angry and created significant distance between them. If they didn't inform him about the Ring matter this time, Saruman might completely turn away, which wouldn't benefit White Council unity. Hearing Elrond's words, Gandalf remained silent for a long moment but eventually nodded. "Last time at Dol Guldur, time was desperately urgent, and we couldn't notify him properly. But this Ring matter indeed needs to be explained to him, or we might lose a valuable ally." The others also agreed with this reasoning. "If you don't want Sauron to know about the Ring, I wouldn't recommend telling Saruman about this," Kael suddenly spoke with obvious concern. Everyone was drawn by his unexpected words, their expressions showing varied surprise. "Kael, what exactly do you mean?" Gandalf frowned and looked at him with obvious confusion. "Why would Sauron know if we tell Saruman?" Elrond, Galadriel, and the others' gazes were also filled with puzzled uncertainty. Facing everyone's intense scrutiny, Kael's expression remained perfectly calm. "You should all know I possess a palantír, and the seeing-stones can communicate with each other. During the Battle of Five Armies, Sauron tried to influence me through the crystal connection, but I repelled him using Lady Galadriel's gift of Eärendil's Light." "But what you don't know is that Saruman actually also possesses a palantír, and now he's probably using that stone to communicate regularly with Sauron. If we tell him about the Ring, Sauron will probably know within seconds!"