Chapter 596: Coercion and Temptation
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Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The projection of Archimonde and his true body were not on the same magnitude of strength at all.
Arthas was stunned. Only after Archimonde’s true body descended did he truly understand how powerful a commander of the Burning Legion was. Even though Arthas had gradually lost many emotions and became increasingly cold, he still felt a long-lost fear when he saw Archimonde.
Archimonde spread his arms and roared excitedly at the sky. Powerful and terrifying fel flames spewed out from his palms and eyes, and the surrounding environment became cold and gloomy.
Of course he would be excited. To the Burning Legion, the planet Azeroth was simply a stain on the Legion’s great undertaking. During the tens of thousands of years of expeditions, the Legion had eliminated countless planets. Even though they had encountered resistance, they had resolved them quickly without exception. They had trampled on obstacles in their path until now, but they had encountered failures one after another in Azeroth. Whether it was Sargeras, Archimonde, or Kil’jaeden, they all regarded these failures as the greatest humiliation.
And this humiliation had to be washed away!
Now, after ten thousand years, Archimonde once again stood on this planet with his true body. This time, he swore to bury this planet!
“Well done, little lich!” After venting, Archimonde lowered his head and looked at Kel’Thuzad in satisfaction. “You have completed my plan very well.”
Kel’Thuzad bowed again, but he didn’t dare to answer. He knew that this praise was not sincere. Archimonde was probably just complimenting in pa.s.sing. It would be foolish if Kel’Thuzad took it seriously.
A light flashed. After sensing Archimonde’s aura, Tichondrius, the leader of the dreadlords, teleported over. Seeing Archimonde, he said happily, “My lord, all the preparations are complete.”
“Very good, Tichondrius!” Archimonde said. “In that case, the Lich King is useless to me, but the Scourge can’t be wasted. Next, you dreadlords will take over the command.”
“As you wish, Lord Archimonde!” Tichondrius smiled sinisterly as he placed his hand across his chest.
“Soon, I will personally launch the invasion of Azeroth. But before that, I want to make these b.a.s.t.a.r.d warlocks an example…” Archimonde looked at the outline of the city of Dalaran in the distance. “I will annihilate their city in the dust of history!”
Archimonde left the altar, and every step his tall body took caused the ground to shake. Tichondrius followed closely behind him.
Since his arrival, Archimonde had not looked at Arthas nor said a single word to him. Now that he was here, he regarded Arthas and Kel’Thuzad as nothing.
After Archimonde left, Arthas could no longer suppress his anger and roared in a low voice, “What is this?! Are they playing with us?! Are we relieved of our command just like that?! The Scourge is my army!!”
The once proud Prince Arthas felt that he had suffered a great insult. After talking to Kel’Thuzad, he naturally knew that the Lich King Ner’zhul was a tool of the Burning Legion. The Burning Legion had gotten him to form the Scourge only to allow the demons to invade Azeroth again. But in any case, Arthas had been doing his best to carry out his mission, and now, Archimonde, one of the commanders, had finally arrived. It was fine if Archimonde didn’t reward him, but he had taken away his command.
How could Arthas take this lying down?
Fortunately, Kel’Thuzad was more experienced and prudent, and he comforted, “Be patient, young death knight. You have seen Archimonde’s strength. We are powerless to resist him… But don’t worry. The Lich King has already expected all of this, and you still have a place in his next plan.”
The situation was beyond their control. Arthas understood this, so under Kel’Thuzad’s persuasion, he could only helplessly accept this reality.
After seeing that Arthas had calmed down, Kel’Thuzad floated back to the altar and planned to put away the Book of Medivh.
But at this moment, two figures suddenly appeared. It was Julia and Benia. The two of them appeared in front of the Book of Medivh and blocked Kel’Thuzad’s path.
“What do you want to do?” Arthas asked as he rode his skeleton warhorse forward and stood side by side with Kel’Thuzad while staring coldly at Julia and Benia.
“Ha, Your Royal Highness!” Benia smiled enchantingly. “Did you… forget something?”
“What did I forget?” Arthas remained unmoved.
Julia stretched out her hand and held the Book of Medivh floating in the air. Then she smiled and said, “You forgot that you have another task, right?”
“Do you want us to remind you?” Benia narrowed her eyes. “The true master of the sword in your hand…”
Arthas was shocked and blurted out, “You… you aren’t Tichondrius’s subordinates but…”
“Tichondrius?” Julia shook her head. “He can’t command us. After all, we’re on the same level as him… In fact, we’re not Archimonde’s subordinates either. We obey the King of Despair, Osiris!”
Kel’Thuzad was still at a loss because he didn’t know that Arthas and Roy had communicated. But when he heard the name Osiris, he suddenly reacted and turned to stare at Arthas. “You… you have communicated with the King of Despair Osiris?!”
“Yes…” Arthas didn’t hide anything. He nodded and whispered to Kel’Thuzad, “In Frostmourne, apart from the Lich King, there is another, stronger will hidden. He calls himself the King of Despair Osiris…”
“You…” Kel’Thuzad didn’t know what to say. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
Arthas was a little surprised. “Why should I tell you? Isn’t this King of Despair also a commander of the Burning Legion? Isn’t he on the same side as Archimonde?”
“…” Kel’Thuzad didn’t know how to explain it to Arthas. Compared to the less experienced Arthas, he had been a member of the Kirin Tor Council of Six when he was alive and a powerful mage who was familiar with all kinds of ancient history. In the historical doc.u.ments of Dalaran, there were also mentions of the Burning Legion, all of which had been recorded from the mouths of the high elves back then. Arthas didn’t know the situation of the Burning Legion, but Kel’Thuzad did.
He could only say helplessly, “Young death knight, it is not good for you to come into contact with these powerful existences rashly. I don’t know what the King of Despair promised you, but you should understand after you saw Archimonde. Without a contract, demons often won’t fulfill their promises.
“Moreover, your communication with the King of Despair may have exposed the Lich King’s plan…”
Kel’Thuzad sighed.
“Then, what should we do?” Arthas was dumbfounded.
Kel’Thuzad ignored Arthas and turned to look at Julia and Benia. “Since you are Lord Osiris’s subordinates, let’s talk. When Lord Archimonde descended, you didn’t appear but only appeared after he left. I think Lord Osiris’s goal is probably different from Lord Archimonde’s, right?”
“You are very smart, lich!” Benia looked at Kel’Thuzad in surprise.
“And very courageous!” Julia agreed.
Kel’Thuzad placed his hand across his chest and bowed. “Thank you for the praise, Your Excellency Julia, Your Excellency Benia. In fact, the Lich King once told me that, strictly speaking, the one who created him was actually Lord Osiris…”
“That’s right!” Benia nodded. “Although the Lich King was born because of Kil’jaeden’s plan, it was the demon blood of the King of Despair that transformed Ner’zhul into the Lich King. Only the blood of a king of the frost demons from the Abyss can create creatures like liches.”
Arthas finally understood, but then he shuddered. He was a death knight created by the Lich King Ner’zhul, but the Lich King had been created by the blood of the King of Despair Osiris. What did this mean? It meant that be it Kel’Thuzad or Ner’zhul, liches like them were naturally under the control of Osiris!
Arthas’s guess was right. In fact, as long as Roy was willing, he could easily control Ner’zhul, who had transformed from his demon blood. After all, liches were a blood creation of frost demons, and Roy was Ner’zhul’s creator.
“In the historical doc.u.ments of Dalaran, the high elves once recorded descriptions of the commanders of the Burning Legion,” Kel’Thuzad said. “The Burning Legion has three commanders. They are the Lord of Fel, Archimonde the Defiler; the Lord of Flames, Kil’jaeden the Deceiver; and the King of Despair, Osiris the Destroyer. But apart from descriptions of Archimonde and Kil’jaeden commanding the Burning Legion to fight everywhere, there are very few records of Osiris. His whereabouts are very mysterious. Other than showing up at certain times, he hasn’t appeared much, so most people only know Archimonde and Kil’jaeden… I didn’t expect that he would appear again now that the Burning Legion is invading again.”
These words were for both Arthas and Julia and Benia to hear. Then Kel’Thuzad asked, “To be frank, Your Excellency Julia, Your Excellency Benia, the leader of the Burning Legion’s invasion this time is Lord Archimonde. Even Lord Kil’jaeden has acquiesced to his leaders.h.i.+p. Why did Lord Osiris suddenly send you to supervise?”
“It’s very simple. Lord Osiris thinks that Archimonde alone might not be able to handle it…” Benia’s eyes sparkled. “So Lord Osiris is also seeking to descend onto this planet. As for what he wants to do after arriving, it’s not something you can inquire about, lich!”
Julia threw the Book of Medivh to Kel’Thuzad. “Now, you only have one choice. Obediently summon Lord Osiris so that he can also descend into this world.”
“d.a.m.n it. You’re already in this world. Why don’t you guide Osiris’s descent yourself?!” Arthas said angrily. “Archimonde’s arrival has already taken away our command over the Scourge. What will Osiris do after he comes? Will he make us his slaves?”
“Pay attention to your tone, death knight!” Julia and Benia stared at Arthas coldly. “We know that you’re unwilling now, but Lord Osiris isn’t Archimonde. He doesn’t have the slightest interest in the Scourge formed by you dead people. Lord Osiris has already played such army games in other worlds. He will definitely give you what he promised you, as long as you carry out the agreement obediently. As for why he wants you to welcome his descent, you can ask Kel’Thuzad!”
Arthas turned to look at Kel’Thuzad. Kel’Thuzad nodded. “The so-called ‘lost incantation’ in the Book of Medivh was actually written by Lord Sargeras, the supreme commander of the Burning Legion, when he possessed Medivh. You should have heard about this and the fall of the Guardian Medivh… In particular, the part in the book about summoning powerful demons is a backup plan that Lord Sargeras developed. It requires the native beings of the world of Azeroth as a guide so that the summoning can bypa.s.s some kind of defense mechanism…”
“So, although these two demons are here, they can’t summon the King of Despair, right?” Arthas understood. He thought for a moment and nodded. “Okay, we will do as you say. But… Archimonde seems to want to destroy Dalaran. Without Dalaran’s magic power nodes as an energy source, the ritual may be difficult to complete.”
“Of course we know this, but isn’t there another, better place?” Julia and Benia smiled.
Kel’Thuzad immediately understood. “Silvermoon, the Sunwell?”
“Yes, it’s there. Although that place is contaminated by death magic power, it doesn’t matter. It can still be used as an energy source!” Julia said.
“All right. Let’s set off then. We have nothing left anyway…” Arthas said expressionlessly.