Chapter 354: Morgoth’s Temptation

Chapter 354: Morgoth's Temptation

"Another giant serpent? The one I took care of before was much bigger than you!"

Seeing Sauron transform into a massive serpent, his body constantly swelling as he slithered forth to strangle him, George shook his head, cast Giant Magic, and became even larger than Sauron. Then he extended his dragon claws and swiped through the air.

If Sauron had unleashed his full power from the beginning, George would have truly found him troublesome.

But now, after being hit repeatedly by the laws of the elves, Sauron had suffered significant injuries. His current strength probably couldn't even reach half of his original.

To be honest, Sauron's serpentine transformation didn't pose as much of a threat as the serpent incarnation of Kull, the God of Fear and Odin's brother, had previously.

It wasn't that Sauron was necessarily weaker than Kull, but rather that Light Magic suppressed Sauron far more effectively than it did Kull. Moreover, compared to when he fought Kull, George's overall strength had greatly improved.

The mighty dragon claw clamped down tightly on the serpent-form Sauron, slamming him heavily into the ground. Torrents of tri-colored flames spewed from George's dragon mouth. Endless subterranean iron sand was drawn up, forming massive iron chains that bound the serpent's head, preventing it from biting back.

More than ten billion volts of electricity burst from George's dragon claws. In the sky, purple lightning descended alongside the Laws of the Elves.

Although Sauron erupted with all his inner dark energy, his body writhing and struggling in an attempt to coil around George and strangle him—

It was all in vain under George's many overwhelming techniques.

In the end, like an eagle hunting a venomous snake, the serpent incarnation of Sauron was torn into countless fragments, gradually dissipating in flame, lightning, and light.

"Human, I will return!"

Sauron's physical body was destroyed, his soul floating in the air. He left a vicious declaration before attempting to flee.

The Valar and the Maiar were all gods. After descending to Middle-earth, they formed physical bodies to better operate and wield their powers.

If their bodies were destroyed, they weren't truly killed.

Ordinary Maiar spirits would return to the side of Ilúvatar, leaving Middle-earth.

Just like the Balrogs.

But a Maia of Sauron's level, given enough time, still had means to slowly construct a new body to replace the destroyed one and continue wielding power.

"Seal!"

However, how could George possibly give Sauron such an opportunity?

He reverted to human form, pulled out a prepared nesting doll from his dressing-space, and began casting the Matryoshka Sealing Spell from the world of The Sorcerer's Apprentice at Sauron's soul.

"No!!!"

Having lost his power and left with only his soul, Sauron never expected George to have such a method. Caught off guard, he was instantly sucked into the nesting doll.

"A top-tier Maia soul. Might be useful in the future."

George put away the nesting doll, then suddenly sensed something. He looked down at the spot where Sauron had just stood. There lay a ring exuding an irresistible allure.

He instinctively stepped forward, picked it up, and slipped it onto his finger. Immediately, whispers echoed in his ears.

"Follow me, and I shall grant you endless life, boundless knowledge, and limitless power. You will become one of the rulers of this world. Your status shall surpass even the gods."

The whispers were like dark creeping creatures, gradually gnawing at George's soul.

At that very moment, Marvel's main body suddenly opened its eyes. In the worlds of Harry Potter, Fairy Tail, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, A Certain Magical Index, and Cardcaptor Sakura, all his other avatars simultaneously opened their eyes as well.

"Begone!"

With the roars of the main body and all his avatars, the soul of his Middle-earth avatar suddenly surged in strength—sevenfold—utterly expelling Morgoth's soul-corrupting power. George's eyes cleared.

"Seal!"

Having regained his clarity, George immediately unleashed all kinds of sealing spells on the ring in his hand, severing the connection between the ring and Morgoth.

"How could the Ring of Power appear at this moment? And it even contains Morgoth's power?"

Confirming Morgoth had been fully severed, George took off the ring and carefully examined it.

According to the normal timeline, the Rings of Power were created after Morgoth's imprisonment, as tools crafted by Sauron to control Elves, Men, and Dwarves—especially the One Ring.

This ring shouldn't exist at this point in time.

But thinking deeper, because of his presence, the history of Middle-earth had long deviated from its original course. Besides, this ring resembled more a creation of Morgoth himself.

Otherwise, Morgoth wouldn't have been able to corrupt his soul through it.

"A blessing in disguise!"

George put the ring back on, unable to suppress a sigh in his heart.

Just moments ago, in the crisis where Morgoth tried to corrupt his soul, his main body and all avatars in the other worlds sensed the danger and instinctively channeled all their soul power into this one avatar.

Thus, this avatar's soul strength increased drastically, forcibly purging Morgoth's corruption.

If, in the future, he could actively control this ability, he might be able to channel the soul power and magic of all his other avatars into any one avatar—or even into his main body—at will.

If so, he'd possess a trump card.

And not just any trump card. As his main body and avatars grew stronger, and as he created more avatars, this trump card would only become more valuable.

Currently, he was sub-Skyfather level. But if he concentrated the strength of all avatars into one, he might temporarily reach Skyfather level.

Crucially, all his avatars shared power and physical compatibility. Combining strength would not create rejection or instability—it would be perfectly adaptive.

Of course, mastering such a feat would take time, research, and experimentation. That last incident had been purely accidental.

Maybe, in the future, after mastering this technique, he could truly use the connection between his avatars to open the pathways between all worlds.

"If this Ring was created with Morgoth's help, then it must contain a great deal of his knowledge and power. If I study it thoroughly, it could be quite a gain."

He formed a hand seal and dispelled the Five Elements Kabbalah Sealing Formation. George turned his head toward Lucien and the others, finding that Lucien, Galadriel, and the Gray Elves were all staring at him with stunned expressions.

George and Sauron's battle had unfolded far too swiftly, too brilliantly, and too unexpectedly for them to react.

"It's over. We can continue our journey now."

George stepped forward and waved at everyone, snapping them out of their shock.

"George, how did you just turn into a dragon?"

Galadriel grabbed George's arm, asking in disbelief.

George smiled and said:

"Remember when we princes killed that Glaurung created by Morgoth?

I developed a spell to absorb that dragon's power and made some adjustments.

That's how I was able to transform just like that."

(End of Chapter)