Chapter 584
Chapter 584: Holy Light Cannot Save Everything
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Although Ner’zhul obtained unparalleled mental power with the help of the Helm of Domination, allowing him to control the massive undead army and spread his will out, he couldn’t move himself. Kil’jaeden had imbued powerful magic on the ten-thousand-year-old piece of ice he collected from Northrend. Although this piece of ice was called the Frozen Throne, it was actually Ner’zhul’s cage.
Therefore, after calculating in his heart for a long time, Ner’zhul found Tichondrius and Mal’ganis.
Ner’zhul knew very well these dreadlords were the prison guards that Kil’jaeden had sent, but he had no choice. Most of his subordinates were brainless undead, so he could only find the dreadlords to cooperate with his plan.
Tichondrius and the others were very dissatisfied with being summoned by Ner’zhul, especially Tichondrius. He was the leader of nathrezim, but he was now sent by Kil’jaeden to be a prison guard, so he had always been resentful. But Ner’zhul ignored the arrogant and dissatisfied attitudes of Tichondrius and the others and told them bluntly that as the number of undead in the Scourge continued to increase, he couldn’t command them alone, so he needed to find a deputy and a commander for the army.
He needed a powerful death knight and an equally powerful lich.
Although the dreadlords were very unhappy with Ner’zhul ordering them to work, they couldn’t refute Ner’zhul’s reason. If millions of undead had to rely on Ner’zhul, who was far away in Northrend, to command, it would be too inflexible, and it was very likely that the Scourge Army that had been painstakingly accumulated would be defeated by Azeroth.
Therefore, even though they were extremely unwilling, the dreadlords still planned to cooperate with Ner’zhul and took away the runeblade Frostmourne.
In Ner’zhul’s words, Frostmourne was bait, and he needed it to complete the final fall of Prince Arthas. As long as he held this runeblade, Arthas would become the strongest death knight.
But what Ner’zhul said was actually half true and half false. The true thing was that he really needed Frostmourne to lure Arthas to fall, and the false thing was that he actually wanted Frostmourne to leave his sight!
It couldn’t be helped. Every time he held this runeblade, Ner’zhul would think of Demon King Osiris of the Abyss, whom he had encountered on Argus. He was one of the three giants of the Burning Legion and a commander even stronger than Kil’jaeden and Archimonde. And this runebade was Osiris’s sword. With this sword by his side, Ner’zhul always felt that Osiris was monitoring him…
In fact, when he held this sword, he felt as though his soul was being watched…
In order to successfully realize his plan and obtain a new body to escape Kil’jaeden’s control, Ner’zhul took into account all the unstable factors…
But what Ner’zhul didn’t know was that after Tichondrius and the other dreadlords left and appeared outside Northrend, they stopped.
Tichondrius held the hilt of Frostmourne with both hands, raised the sword upright, and infused his mental power into it.
At the same time, Roy, who was far away in Outland, suddenly felt that someone was calling him with mental power. After thinking about it, he immediately knew what was going on, so he released his mental power field and connected with this call.
“Who is calling my name?”
“Lord Osiris, I am the dreadlord Tichondrius!” Tichondrius replied.
Roy wasn’t surprised and asked with interest, “Oh, it seems like Frostmourne is in your hands now?”
“Yes…” Tichondrius replied. Then he reported everything that Ner’zhul planned to do to Roy in detail. Finally, he asked, “Lord Osiris, I keep feeling that this damn orc seems to be plotting something. Please tell us what we should do.”
Roy didn’t answer him immediately. Instead, he thought for a while before saying meaningfully, “Tichondrius, instead of asking Kil’jaeden about this, you came to ask me?”
“Lord Osiris, after all, I’m holding your sword now… You are the one who I can contact the fastest!” Tichondrius replied flawlessly.
‘ Roy tapped his fingers on the armrest of his chair. After a long time, he said, “Don’t do anything unnecessary. Cooperate with Ner’zhul!” “Yes, I will obey your will!” Tichondrius replied respectfully.
Just as the connection was about to end, Roy suddenly said, “Well done,
Tichondrius. When I return to the Shadowlands, I will report your merits…”
This one sentence immediately made Tichondrius feel relieved. He had deliberately contacted Roy through Frostmourne to confirm this matter. Now that he heard Roy mention the Shadowlands personally, he immediately understood that Osiris was one of them.
After disconnecting the mental connection and putting away Frostmourne, Tichondrius revealed a devious smile and nodded at the other dreadlords. This expression that could only be understood but not spoken of was immediately felt by Mal’ganis and the others, and they also showed the same smile.
“Let’s go back to Northrend and find somewhere to place Frostmourne!” Tichondrius said. “The rest of you, hide among the humans and spread the news that Northrend has a powerful runeblade. Tell those greedy people that obtaining this runeblade will allow them to attain incomparably mighty strength!”
“Understood. But in the end, the only one who can find this sword and pull it out is that Prince Arthas, right?” Mal’ganis said, immediately causing the dreadlords to laugh wildly.
The dreadlords separated and went to carry out their own tasks. This was why Ner’zhul needed their help. Only dreadlords could hide among humans and spread the news. The undead under his command couldn’t do this.
In Outland, Roy sat on his throne in silence for a long time after ending the connection.
This exchange with Tichondrius just now confirmed one thing for Roy—he indeed had some connection with the Shadowlands. Perhaps he was a collaborator of Sire Denathrius, so this group of spying dreadlords obeyed him to a certain extent. This also explained why they were excited when they saw him appear.
But perhaps because he had disappeared for a long time, they couldn’t confirm his situation, so they had probed carefully and contacted him like this.
Tsk, theyre actually a little responsible. Roy patted his leg with a headache. The troublesome thing now was that these events would only happen in the future. At this stage, he wasn’t too clear about the true situation between him and the Shadowlands. So when he spoke to Tichondrius and the others, he could only express himself vaguely, afraid that he would make too many mistakes.
Forget it. IfI’m not wrong, these things will happen in the future. I’ll just take it one step at a time! Roy could only think this way in the end.
As for Frostmourne, he didn’t intend to interfere. Arthas, this filial son, was too famous. Moreover, his appearance would undoubtedly promote the Burning Legion’s invasion of Azeroth again. Interfering with the birth of the Lich King Arthas wouldn’t benefit Roy at all.
Everything was as Roy had expected. After the dreadlords placed Frostmourne in Northrend and snuck into Lordaeron to spread the plague, the Undead Scourge began to erupt.
The dead corpses stood up again and then began to devour the living. This was not only due to the contributions of the dreadlords but also thanks to Kel’Thuzad, the first one to answer the Lich King Ner’zhul’s mental summons. Kel’Thuzad, one of the members of the Kirin Tor Council of Six, had always been obsessed with the research of spiritual magic and necromancy.
Although necromancy had always existed in the world of Azeroth, the mainstream values of human society naturally rejected it. And after being warned by Archmage Antonidas, Kel’Thuzad, although he had promised not to continue studying necromancy, he had already thought that he no longer had anything in common with the Kirin Tor.
Under these circumstances, Kel’Thuzad felt Ner’zhul’s mental summons, so he immediately went to Northrend and prostrated before Ner’zhul’s Frozen Throne.
And he was the majordomo of the Lich King chosen by Ner’zhul…
After offering his loyalty and soul to Ner’zhul, Kel’Thuzad was sent back by
Ner’zhul and allowed to return to Dalaran. He established the Cult of the Damned, secretly developed believers, and assisted the dreadlords in spreading the plague in Lordaeron.
The constantly appearing undead in Lordaeron and the believers of the Cult of the Damned attracted the attention of the kingdom. After realizing that these undead and the plague were shaking the foundation of the kingdom, Prince Arthas Menethil was burning with anxiety. He brought his childhood sweetheart, Jaina Proudmoore, and set off overnight to investigate the severely affected areas.
Coincidentally, when Kel’Thuzad was experimenting with a new plague variant with the Cult of the Damned, Arthas bumped into him, so Ner’zhul’s future death knight killed his majordomo…
After the death of Kel’Thuzad, the plague still couldn’t be contained. This made Arthas realize that this was probably not only the Cult of the Damned’s conspiracy, but there was an even stronger mastermind behind the scenes. Moreover, after studying the plague, Arthas and Jaina discovered something even more astonishing. The plague could not be treated with medicine, and holy magic had little effect on it. It spread so quickly that it wouldn’t take long for the living to become undead after being infected.
This shocking fact made Arthas’s originally firm faith in the Holy Light waver for the first time.
His faith in the Holy Light came from his teacher, Uther the Lightbringer. But being helpless in the face of the plague, Arthas really wanted to ask his teacher: Isn’t the Holy Light omnipotent? Isn’t it said that as long as there’s faith, everything can be overcome? Then, why can’t the Holy Light defeat the plague?
In fact, the firmer the faith, the faster it would collapse when it wavered.. Under the cooperation of the Lich King Ner’zhul and the dreadlords, who were the best at manipulating people’s hearts, Arthas was walking step by step toward the abyss…