Chapter 591: Quel’Thalas
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Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The terrifying thing about the Scourge was that it grew in strength like a s...o...b..ll. Facing undead that didn’t know pain or fatigue, the living would eventually be killed no matter how hard they tried to resist. And every time the Scourge killed an enemy, they could transform them into undead to join the army.
Therefore, in just a few months, Arthas had gained control of a ma.s.sive number of Scourge soldiers. After all of Lordaeron fell, he began to plan to march farther into the Eastern Kingdoms so that the Scourge could spread to the entire continent.
Under the pressure of the surging Scourge, the various countries finally took Medivh’s warning seriously, especially Jaina. She had already begun to organize the survivors of Kul Tiras and planned to take s.h.i.+ps to the continent of Kalimdor in the west.
Not only them, but the Orc Horde led by Thrall also saw the disaster caused by the Scourge and realized that there was no hope for the Eastern Kingdoms, so he brought the orcs to Kalimdor.
Unanimously, the survivors thought of preserving their strength and waiting to counterattack in the future…
With more people fleeing, the resistance against the Scourge naturally decreased. At the same time, Arthas encountered another dreadlord, Tichondrius.
The appearances of the dreadlords were very similar, and Arthas couldn’t distinguish them. So when he first saw Tichondrius, he thought that Mal’ganis had resurrected.
But after Tichondrius introduced himself, Arthas realized that this was another dreadlord. What was interesting was that Tichondrius didn’t care about the fact that he had killed Mal’ganis. He was only here to convey the order of the Lich King Ner’zhul.
What Arthas didn’t know was that although Ner’zhul had allowed him to kill his enemy Mal’ganis, Arthas, who had just obtained Frostmourne, couldn’t control it very well. When he slashed Mal’ganis, he didn’t absorb Mal’ganis’s soul into the sword. After Mal’ganis died, his soul had returned to the Twisting Nether and only needed to wait for a while before resurrecting.
Although the death of Mal’ganis was unexpected to the dreadlords, he had basically completed his mission, and his death had no impact on the subsequent plans. Therefore, Tichondrius and the others had no intention of pursuing the matter. After all, they still needed to continue using Arthas and wouldn’t fall out with him over this matter.
Of course, just as Roy thought, it didn’t matter whether Mal’ganis was dead or not. The key was the meaning reflected by Arthas’s actions… The dreadlords were here to monitor Ner’zhul. In other words, be it Kil’jaeden or the dreadlords, they didn’t trust Ner’zhul from the very beginning. Mal’ganis’s death increased their suspicion of him.
Although Tichondrius communicated with Arthas in a friendly manner while transmitting the orders, only he knew what he was thinking in his mind.
According to the Lich King’s orders, Arthas returned to Andorhal and found the corpse of Kel’Thuzad, whom he had killed. Even though this powerful necromancer was dead, his soul was still preserved, and he could even communicate with Arthas in the form of a soul.
Knowing that Arthas killing him was one of the scripts arranged by the Lich King, Kel’Thuzad didn’t have any hatred for Arthas. He was truly loyal to the Lich King Ner’zhul, and he could still accept Arthas, the first death knight under Ner’zhul.
Although they had found Kel’Thuzad’s corpse, because his corpse was rotting very quickly, Tichondrius suggested that Arthas find a special coffin to preserve Kel’Thuzad’s corpse.
Ner’zhul had agreed that he would give Kel’Thuzad eternal life and powerful strength, allowing him to become an archlich. And transforming an archlich not only required the skeleton to be as intact as possible, but it also required the support of powerful energy. So the place chosen for Kel’Thuzad’s resurrection was the Sunwell in Quel’Thalas.
It was a long journey to the territory of the high elves, so it was reasonable for Tichondrius to suggest finding a coffin to preserve the corpse.
But as a dreadlord who played with people’s hearts, how could he be so kind? The coffin he asked Arthas to find was actually the coffin containing the bones of his father, King Terenas!
Moreover, this coffin was currently being escorted by Uther and the Knights of the Silver Hand… If they wanted to s.n.a.t.c.h the coffin, then Arthas would have to confront Uther head-on.
Since he had the reputation of being a filial son, then he should show his filial piety to the very end! Not only did he kill his father, but he would also kill his mentor…
But Arthas agreed without hesitation. His mind was already under Ner’zhul’s control, and his heart was full of darkness and cruelty. How could he still consider family affection?
When Arthas led the undead army to surround the Knights of the Silver Hand, Uther knew his intentions and felt incomparably angry. He berated Arthas and wanted to remove his disciple with his own hands. But Arthas, who had become three times stronger than before, was no longer the same as before. With the power of Frostmourne, he had killed many living beings and taken away many souls. These souls in turn made him stronger, and Uther was no longer his match.
Holy Light purified darkness, but darkness could also devour Holy Light. Ulther finally died under Arthas’s sword…
But Frostmourne only took away half of Uther’s soul, and the other half was missing…
After seizing the coffin, Arthas casually threw away his father’s corpse and stored Kel’Thuzad’s corpse inside. Tichondrius, who saw this scene secretly, was very satisfied with the script he personally directed, so he appeared and urged Arthas to set off for Quel’Thalas.
But under the protection of the coffin, Kel’Thuzad’s soul became stronger, so through the voice of his soul, he told Arthas not to believe the dreadlords. The Burning Legion had sent them to monitor the Lich King.
When Arthas heard the name of the Burning Legion again, his heart trembled, and he couldn’t help looking at Frostmourne in his hand.
While Arthas was rus.h.i.+ng to Quel’Thalas with the Scourge Army, the dreadlords led by Tichondrius met in secret.
As mentioned earlier, Mal’ganis’s death had already aroused the suspicion of the dreadlords. They had already realized that Ner’zhul was beginning to become restless. But out of confidence in the strength of the Burning Legion, the dreadlords believed that Arthas alone couldn’t change the general situation. Even Ner’zhul didn’t dare to disobey the orders of Archimonde and Kil’jaeden openly.
They were full of confidence in the return of the Burning Legion.
Of course, this didn’t mean that the dreadlords had relaxed their vigilance. They knew that with Archimonde’s hot temper, if his arrival plan was obstructed or failed, they, the dreadlords in charge of implementing the plan, would definitely suffer cruel punishment and lose their heads.
For the sake of their lives, the dreadlords didn’t dare to slack off. They had to ensure that the plan went smoothly.
At the end of the meeting, Tichondrius suddenly said, “In addition, there’s Lord Osiris! Two days ago, Lord Osiris’s two adjutants, Julia and Benia, contacted me. They asked me to provide the location of Arthas and are rus.h.i.+ng here…”
“What is Lord Osiris planning to do?” Mephistroth asked curiously. “Lord Archimonde is the one mainly in charge of the Legion’s invasion of Azeroth. Lord Osiris sent his adjutants to contact you. Could it be that he wants to intervene?”
“I don’t know…” Tichondrius shook his head. “Perhaps Lord Osiris doesn’t think highly of Lord Archimonde’s plan? Or is he just adding insurance for Lord Archimonde?”
“It’s also possible that Lord Osiris is acting on his own…” Mephistroth said. “After all, he disappeared for so long before returning. Although Lord Kil’jaeden and Lord Archimonde didn’t say anything, they have been silently excluding him. They only let him be in charge of Outland and didn’t allow him to partic.i.p.ate in the core plan. It’s normal for him to have his own ideas…”
“Yes, that’s possible!” Tichondrius nodded thoughtfully. “We can’t intervene in the power compet.i.tion between the commanders, but we’re on Lord Osiris’s side after all. So no matter what he wants to do, we’ll do our best to cooperate.”
The short meeting ended, and the dreadlords went their separate ways to carry out their respective tasks. But just as Tichondrius had said, Julia and Benia had already thought of a way to enter Azeroth through the Dark Portal in Outland and were preparing to go to Arthas.
Although Roy had used powerful strength as the temptation to get Arthas under his command, he had never fully trusted Arthas.
He hadn’t signed any demon contract with Arthas. It was only a verbal agreement, so he couldn’t guarantee that Arthas would follow his instructions.
Therefore, he sent Julia and Benia to Azeroth to hide beside Arthas to monitor his actions.
All parties were moving. At the same time, Arthas led the undead army into the territory of the high elves.
Here, Arthas, who had been unstoppable along the way, finally encountered a huge obstruction. And the one blocking him was the Ranger-General of Silvermoon, Sylvanas Windrunner!