When night fell, the hidden Eärendil's Star and Carnil's Star once again rose from the western sunset, projecting starlight down into the magical array atop Orthanc Tower.
When dawn broke, the two stars temporarily disappeared again, and the magical array continued operating on residual starlight.
Day after day, more of the golden liquid in the furnace transformed to red, releasing increasingly intense red light.
Bathed in the red glow, Kael's magical power surged rapidly. His spiritual realm continuously elevated, and his understanding of magic deepened.
But simultaneously, desires from his heart's depths were increasingly amplified, becoming ever more realistic illusions in his mind.
In these illusions, he possessed tremendous power, becoming invincible. Sauron was crushed in his hands, Morgoth became his defeated opponent, the Valar bowed before him, and the entire world was under his control. He evolved from Maiar level to Valar level, then beyond the Valar, finally reaching the realm of creator god Eru Ilúvatar.
Then he broke through the void, saw the true magical world, even met the three Peverell brothers who, as Death, gifted them the Deathly Hallows. He witnessed the four founders establishing Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Finally, he returned to his original homeland, becoming that world's only god!
These illusions were incredibly real, making it increasingly difficult for Kael to distinguish reality from fantasy. He could only desperately hold onto his last shred of reason, using his mental fortress to guard against giving desire any chance to invade and occupy.
Gandalf and Elrond stood guard outside the magical array, continuously channeling power from the Ring of Air and Ring of Fire. Arwen also remained, watching Kael's figure in the array with worried expression.
This Venus conjunct Mars phenomenon lasted far longer than previous ones. As starlight projected down each day, people across Middle-earth gradually became accustomed to this strange sight.
Two months passed in the blink of an eye—the seventy-second day of the fourth stage of Philosopher's Stone creation.
The golden liquid in the furnace had almost completely transformed to red, with only the last trace of gold slowly changing.
The red light in the furnace reached peak intensity. Brilliant red light burst from the furnace, bathing the entire top of Orthanc Tower in red, with nearby Isengard also within the red glow's range, as if a red star was embedded in the tower.
Throughout Isengard, whether the hippogriffs in the forest, Cerberus in the tower, Aslan, or Gandalf's mount Shadowfax, all were bathed in red light with comfortable expressions.
As for the amplified desires accompanying the red light, these simple-minded animals were largely unaffected.
Gandalf, Elrond, and Arwen, closest to the magical array, also felt changes. Despite being at Middle-earth's power pinnacle, they could sense their magical power slowly growing while bathed in red light—a surprising harvest since their magic had not increased so rapidly in ages.
But they could not focus on physical changes, instead watching Kael in the array with worry.
"Mithrandir, standing outside the array and touched by that red light, I feel desires surging that I can barely suppress. But Kael faces the red light directly, experiencing effects countless times greater than ours. He may not last until the end. If necessary, we must wake him in time—we cannot let him fall to desire!" Elrond said gravely.
Seeing Kael's struggling expression in the array, Gandalf nodded in agreement.
"But the longer he persists, the greater his harvest. I'll use Narya's power to help him—igniting his courage and hope while easing his fatigue. Hopefully he can last until the end."
He activated Narya, the Ring of Fire on his finger, channeling part of its power into Kael's body.
Seeing this, Elrond's furrowed brow relaxed slightly with a smile.
"Kael's quite fortunate. Among the three Elven Rings, Lady Galadriel's ring has protective properties, mine heals, but only yours, Mithrandir, has inspirational qualities with the power to resist negative emotions. Perhaps this lad can successfully pass the trial."
Empowered by Narya, Kael's weary spirit refreshed, and his crumbling mental fortress became solid again. The Ring of Fire's power filled with light, courage, and hope, could not resist Kael's amplified desires but strengthened his spirit, letting his remaining thread of reason and consciousness, like a weak flame in wind receiving oil, quickly grow stronger.
Kael's pressure suddenly decreased. Just as he was about to fall into illusory desires, he pulled himself from the treacherous whirlpool again.
But this did not mean Kael was safe. As more red liquid transformed in the furnace, his desires would be infinitely amplified; even the deepest hidden desires in his heart would be excavated.
It was like a heart demon living in his body, growing stronger and constantly trying to break his mental defenses, devour his last consciousness and reason, and completely control his body.
Kael simply tried to enter deep meditation, using a state of no-thought to resist endless desires surging from his heart.
As time passed like years, the furnace's last trace of gold was consumed by red. The glass-like red liquid erupted with incomparably brilliant red light, as if blooming in final glory.
In that moment, red light completely engulfed Kael. Heart desires were amplified to the extreme, becoming a flood attacking his mind, overwhelming his mental defenses like collapsing mountains, and drowning his consciousness.
"Not good! Quickly wake Kael!" Elrond, unprepared for this sudden change, paled and channeled the Ring of Air's power into Kael while using mental strength to continuously call out.
"Kael, wake up quickly!" Elrond's voice thundered through Kael's mind.
Gandalf also fully activated the Ring of Fire, trying to wake Kael's consciousness with power full of hope and courage.
But no matter what they did, Kael showed no response, his consciousness trapped in the deepest illusion.
Seeing this, Arwen's face filled with worry and unease. Watching her father and Gandalf fail to wake Kael, she noticed the Evening Star pendant she had given him hanging at his chest. Her expression became resolute, as if making some decision.
Amid the phone alarm's ringing, Kael woke from bed with a confused expression.
He looked around at the familiar yet strange environment. This was his rental apartment? But why did it feel like he had not lived here in ages?
"I think I had a dream?" Kael muttered, his eyes full of confusion.
He struggled to recall the dream's events, feeling as if separated by gauze—very blurry and fragmented.
"I seemed to travel to another place in my dream? And experienced many things?" Kael looked surprised but then shook his head with amusement. "What a strange dream! Have I been reading too many fantasy novels lately?"
He then put the dream aside, quickly getting up to brush his teeth. After dressing properly, he left home, had a simple breakfast downstairs, then joined the crowd on the subway to begin another day of corporate life.
Day after day, Kael had grown accustomed to this lifestyle.
But when he returned exhausted to bed after a busy day, wanting to do nothing, he always had thoughts that this was not the life he should have. These thoughts came inexplicably but constantly flashed through his mind.
Moreover, in his dreams, he vaguely seemed to hear a voice calling him.
Kael suspected he was overworked and ill? But he dared not see a psychiatrist, fearing a mental illness diagnosis that would cost him his job.
Helplessly, he sought stress relief—climbing mountains, visiting amusement parks, or watching movies alone on weekends.
This day, he came to the cinema. Originally planning to pick a newly released film, he unexpectedly noticed a poster.
"The Lord of the Rings trilogy 3D/IMAX 3D re-release?"
Kael looked surprised. He had seen these movies before and still had vague memories of the plot.
After scanning the movie posters and finding no new films that interested him, he chose The Lord of the Rings trilogy marathon, planning to revisit the films.
As the movie plot slowly unfolded, Kael watched with relish. But gradually, he developed a strange feeling. Looking at Gandalf, Elrond and others on screen, he felt they were very familiar.
This familiarity was not understanding of their characters, but the kind of family-like familiarity that comes from long cohabitation.
Kael felt very surprised by this inexplicable familiarity.
When he saw Arwen and Aragorn declaring their love on screen, while surrounding audiences sighed contentedly, he felt very annoyed, sourness rising in his heart.
Even knowing the plot, he still felt things should not develop this way. Arwen could not possibly marry Aragorn—she should marry... him?
Kael's eyes suddenly widened, finding this sudden thought absurd.
But just then, Aragorn suddenly disappeared from the movie screen. The actress playing Arwen became an incomparably beautiful elf maiden.
She radiated holy soft light, her gentle eyes full of starlight falling on Kael through the screen.
"Kael, wake up quickly. This isn't real—I'm waiting for you to return!"
Kael's eyes widened as the gauze in his mind was lifted and countless memories surged forth.
"Arwen!"
Arwen on the movie screen showed a brilliant smile. She stepped out of the screen, bent down to kiss him, and gently embraced him while saying: "Come back, Kael. We're all waiting for you."
Brilliant light erupted from her body, enveloping both of them.
Everything around rapidly retreated, twisted, and finally became nothingness.
In the magical array, Kael reopened his eyes, confusion lingering in their depths as he looked around as if in another lifetime.