Upon hearing Sauron's question, Melina had no interest in answering him; instead, she immediately cast a Erdtree Prayer to rapidly restore Arthur's condition.
After Arthur repelled the Ringwraith and saw him instantly resurrect beside Sauron, he once again swung the Hunting God Greatsword and unleashed a Battle Skill.
Black and white flames incinerated the surrounding orcs, turning them into individual torches, and the Erdtree Prayer cast by Melina also restored much of Arthur's condition, so he immediately tightened Torrent's reins and, without wasting any time, turned around and galloped back the way he came.
There were too many enemies in front of him; even if most of them were orcs used as cannon fodder, Arthur did not want to put himself and Melina in danger.
After all, Arthur's purpose in coming to Black Gate this time was merely to harvest the souls of the orcs. Although he anticipated a confrontation with Sauron, he did not expect it to happen so quickly.
He had initially thought that only after slaughtering a large number of orcs would Sauron be unable to bear his massacre of his minions and finally show himself.
However, no one had told Arthur that Sauron had already been watching him. He had just beaten one of his subordinates, and Sauron had immediately ordered his minion to sacrifice himself and teleport over, bringing the remaining Ringwraiths with him.
So, when did Sauron start watching him?
A fleeting black mist that appeared when he purified the two Ringwraith Rings suddenly flashed through Arthur's mind. Combined with the fact that the Ringwraiths would resurrect beside Sauron after death, he guessed that he was very likely targeted by Sauron when he purified the Ringwraith Rings.
Arthur guessed correctly; the moment Sauron truly started observing him was when he felt the two Ringwraith Rings lose connection with him.
Whether it was an outsider or the Erdtree, Sauron would at most be curious.
But for Arthur to purify the Ringwraith's Rings effortlessly, the nature of the matter was different for Sauron.
This meant to Sauron that if the One Ring, which contained most of his power, fell into Arthur's hands, then the latter would also be very likely to destroy it.
In other words, the place to destroy the One Ring was no longer unique; besides Mount Doom, there was a second place capable of destroying the One Ring.
This was something Sauron could not tolerate, especially now that the whereabouts of the One Ring were still unknown.
If the One Ring truly fell into Arthur's hands, Sauron could only hope that he would be tempted and corrupted by the Ring.
Otherwise, if he purified the Ring, Sauron's side would directly fizzle out, and then what would he attack in Middle-earth?
Therefore, facing Arthur's Erdtree, which could potentially purify the One Ring, Sauron's first reaction was fear.
But after the fear, Sauron immediately thought that if he could, in turn, use all sorts of methods to corrupt Arthur into his own camp, wouldn't it be even easier to attack the Elves, Humans, and Dwarves in Middle-earth?
Unfortunately, although Arthur accidentally fell into his linguistic trap, the girl behind him, for some unknown reason, saw through his scheme and called Arthur's consciousness back.
Sauron squinted his eyes, looking at Arthur, who was getting further and further away. He did not order the Ringwraiths to advance; instead, he commanded the only remaining human minion, "The Tower," to direct the orcs to continue the pursuit, and then he left with the Ringwraiths.
Previously, when Sauron was in Dol Guldur, Gandalf and his companions sought him out. At that time, Sauron discovered that Gandalf and Elrond had acquired weapons gifted by the Erdtree wizards. Therefore, being in a state of recuperation, he chose to avoid battle and left that place.
Even now, Sauron's power has not fully recovered.
This is also why Sauron wanted to corrupt Arthur, using this wizard and the Erdtree's power to forge a new Ring.
Thinking of this, Sauron commanded the seven Ringwraiths following him: "Go search the last known location of the Ring. Do not miss any clues related to it."
The seven Ringwraiths knelt on one knee behind Sauron in unison: "Yes, Master."
Meanwhile, on Arthur's side.
Talion on Black Gate had been watching Arthur's battlefield. When he saw him fighting Shelob, he had already prepared his men, intending to go down and meet Arthur.
However, what Talion did not expect was that the Ringwraiths would appear on the battlefield, and Talion clearly understood the identity of the black-armored giant surrounded by the Ringwraiths.
But he still did not hesitate, choosing to lead his men to support Arthur.
Even if Arthur asked him to launch a death charge against Sauron, Talion and the Rangers behind him had no intention of refusing.
They were stationed at Black Gate precisely to resist Sauron. At this moment, with Sauron personally arriving on the battlefield, the Rangers were eager to charge at him.
The sound of hooves, accompanied by the drawing of bowstrings, echoed across the desolate land beneath Black Gate. The arrow rain shot by the Rangers flew over Arthur and embedded itself into the bodies of the pursuing orcs behind him, causing these creatures to let out painful screams.
However, the purpose of this arrow rain was more for cover than for killing, as it was still night, and apart from the area around Arthur illuminated by Glintstone Magic, everything else was pitch black.
The Rangers could only judge the Orcs' positions based on their faint shadows and the sounds they made, relying on the sheer number of arrows to help Arthur escape the Orcs' pursuit.
Talion shouted loudly forward: "Arthur!"
Arthur had already noticed the group of mounted Rangers coming to support him. After meeting with Talion, he immediately said, "Let's go back first. We don't know how many enemies are still outside. Besides Sauron, there's also a fellow named Shelob whom I'm not sure is still in the vicinity."
This was true; although Arthur was sure that Shelob had been severely wounded by him and fled, that didn't mean she wouldn't lie in wait and return while he was confronting Sauron.
He could handle Shelob easily, but it might not be the same for Talion and these Rangers.
Talion paused slightly upon hearing the name "Shelob," then realized how dangerous the pitch-black wilderness was at the moment and immediately ordered the Rangers to return to Black Gate.
As Arthur expected, although the Rangers did not suffer any attacks, a portion of the pursuing orcs suddenly fell into a panic, accompanied by Shelob's cries and the sound of spider silk being spat out.
The severely wounded Shelob needed more blood to heal herself. After being severely wounded by Arthur, she intended to flee, but she didn't expect Sauron to appear.
So Shelob decided that when Arthur and Sauron started fighting, she would see if she could pull off a 'mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind' move and pick up some easy gains.
However, to Shelob's disappointment, Arthur and Sauron did not fight. So she decided to shift her hunting target to the Rangers and stealthily crept near the towering walls of Black Gate.
Then Shelob saw Arthur running in this direction, and the wounds he had inflicted on her were still throbbing with intense pain.
Therefore, even though Shelob wished she could swallow Arthur whole, she still accepted reality and stayed away from the Rangers, changing her hunting target to the sour-smelling orcs.