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Chapter 287 Trap

Chapter 287 Trap

Gollum attempted to escape by hiding, but Saruman was not one of those humans.

He activated his staff to release a detection magic aura, instantly revealing everything around him.

In an instant, it locked onto the invisible Gulu.

His gaze fixed directly on Gulu, unleashing a burst of scorching flame as he coldly threatened, "If you don't want to be burned to ashes, then you'd better show yourself!"

Seeing that he was locked on and looking at that terrifying, scorching flame, Gulu sensed the danger of death and, with a look of fear on his face, took off the ring and revealed his figure.

When Saruman saw the ring in Gollum's hand, a greedy look immediately appeared on his face.

Give me the ring!

Gulu hesitated.

The next second, he saw Saruman's chilling killing intent, and immediately shuddered, quickly handing over the ring.

Saruman didn't even bother to look down on Gollum; he simply snatched the ring from his hand.

"The One Ring, the One Ring, is finally in my hands!" Saruman's face was filled with excitement and fervor, as if he could already foresee the scene of him ruling the world after possessing the One Ring.

But the next second, he sensed something was wrong, his face froze, and he looked at the ring in his hand again in disbelief.

His face turned extremely grim and ugly. "It's fake, it's fake!"

He threw the ring on the ground and grabbed Gulu by the neck with one hand, lifting him up.

"Really? Where is the real One Ring? Tell me!"

Gollum, struggling to breathe from being choked, could only frantically flail his arms and legs, managing to say with difficulty, "I don't know—I don't have the One Ring!"

But Saruman clearly refused to accept this answer. "You're lying to me! Tell me where the One Ring is, or I'll make even death a luxury for you!"

Without the One Ring, Gollum could not answer Saruman's question and could only struggle desperately, begging for mercy and swearing that he did not know the whereabouts of the Ring.

"Then how do you explain this ring on your hand? Why is it exactly the same as the One Ring?"

"That was given to me by the black-robed wizard. He captured me, tortured me, and then gave me this ring to attract others." Without saying a word, Gollum sold Dui out completely.

Upon hearing Gollum's words and confirming that he showed no signs of lying, Saruman disgustedly threw Gollum to the ground.

"Duir?" Saruman gazed intently at the southern peaks of Windrise. "He can forge rings exactly like the One Ring; he must have seen the One Ring, or perhaps it's even in his possession!"

Gulu collapsed to the ground, weak and pale, curled up on the floor, gasping for breath.

Then he saw the gold ring that Saruman had thrown on the ground. Seeing some words faintly appearing on the inside of the ring, he instinctively picked it up, wanting to see what was on it.

Gulu didn't recognize the characters on it and could only tilt his head to look at them curiously.

"What are you looking at?" The gurgling sound caught Saruman's attention.

Upon hearing Saruman's voice, Gollum shuddered, fearfully took out the ring, and carefully explained, "There are characters on the ring that Gollum doesn't recognize—"

Saruman snatched the ring again, frowned, and looked inside. He discovered it was the elf Tenguwaven.

"Those who uphold this precept, upon calling my name, will be able to see me?" Saruman read the words aloud, a look of doubt on his face.

At that moment, Gollum suddenly spoke up: "The black-robed wizard Duir!"

"Hmm?" Saruman looked at Gulu with a puzzled expression.

But in the next instant, the ring on Saruman's hand seemed to be activated, vibrating slightly and emitting a blue light.

"Oh no!" Saruman instinctively sensed something was wrong and tried to throw the ring away.

But the ring seemed to be glued to his hand, and before he could react, it instantly took him away and disappeared from the spot.

Seeing this, Gulu revealed a smug and vengeful grin, glanced around warily, and then quickly left.

Hogwarts Castle, top floor of Amonsur Tower.

Saruman appeared out of nowhere here.

"Disarm you!"

But before he could react, a curse struck him.

The staff in his hand slipped from his grasp and was caught by Dui.

"Long time no see, Saruman," Dui greeted with a smile. "I never expected to have you here as a guest today; it's truly an honor!"

"Du-I-R!" Saruman's face was grim and ugly.

He knew he had fallen into a trap; Gollum was just bait, but he had been blinded by the One Ring and had taken the bait, thus being brought here.

Dui was also very surprised and delighted.

He originally only intended to use Gulu as a pawn to lure out the person hidden behind Gulu.

But unexpectedly, this time they caught a big fish, and Saruman fell for it.

Saruman lost his staff, but he remained calm, sneering, "You think this will leave me helpless?"

As he spoke, he raised his right hand, revealing a ring with angular, crystal-like edges.

"The Ring of the Dwarves!" Dui exclaimed with surprise, a hint of mockery in his voice. "Sauron is truly generous, giving you one of the last three remaining Seven Rings of the Dwarves!"

Saruman snorted coldly, showing no awareness of being trapped, but rather a determination to succeed.

"Duir, bringing me before you was the biggest mistake you ever made! Now, obediently hand over the One Ring! Don't try to deny it, I know it's in your hands." Duir shrugged. "Saruman, you're wrong. The One Ring isn't in my possession. I wouldn't want it even if it were given to me for free! I really don't understand why you're so obsessed with a ring."

Saruman's eyes were cold, his face full of disbelief. "You can't fool me. Even if the Ring isn't in your possession, you certainly know its location!"

"Tell me the whereabouts of the One Ring, or I'll show you what I, as the chief wizard, can do!"

"Really? Then I'd like to ask you about your methods," Dui said jokingly, without the slightest pressure on his face.

Saruman was thoroughly enraged by Dui's attitude. He activated the dwarven ring in his hand, chanted a spell, and prepared to take down Dui.

But the next second, he was dumbfounded.

His spells seemed to have lost their effect, and the dwarf's ring seemed to have lost its power.

The large fireball that was originally released turned into a small spark and extinguished itself before it could be thrown.

"What, what's going on?" Saruman finally panicked. He tried to cast a stronger spell, but it failed.

Dui chuckled as he watched Saruman's flustered state, tapping the ground with his staff. "Saruman, look around. The floor, the walls, and the ceiling are all covered in runes made of mithril."

These runes are used to suppress magic, similar to the effect of the Curse of All Curses. The dense runes turn the entire room into a magic-suppressing zone, and no one except Dui can cast spells in this room.

This was a room that Dui had prepared long ago, with Gandalf's guidance and help, all in preparation for an unexpected event like today.

Taking advantage of Saruman's distraction, Dui unhesitatingly cast the spell: "Avada Kedavra!"