A Lifetime Ruined by Misplaced Trust in Velen
"Who will be used as collateral?" Rakeesh looked at his subordinates.
The subordinates retreated hastily, their eyes darting around furtively.
The Dreadlord shook his head. "Even if we were willing to be hostages, I'm afraid they wouldn't agree; it would have to be someone of considerable importance."
"Who's the heavyweight?" Rakeesh asked, bewildered.
The Dreadlord remained silent, gazing up at the ceiling, letting Rakeesh figure it out for himself.
After a long moment of confusion, Rakeesh understood and said loudly:
"Jaina, you should know that my relationship with my father, Velen, is exceptionally close. How about using my father as collateral?"
Jaina remained silent for a long while. "Are you really willing to use Prophet Velen as collateral?"
Rakeesh with some reluctance, "If you agree, I will immediately open Portal and send my father here. Although we are very close, for the greater good, this is the only way."
Jaina laughed, "Forget it, what use is an old man to me, Rakeesh? You have the collateral I need."
Rakeesh replied coldly, "You're joking. I don't have any Legendary equipment like the Lionheart Shield."
"No, you possess something far more valuable than the Lionheart Shield —an ancient artifact, but unfortunately, it's not worth much to you."
Jaina raised her voice. "I want Uzul in Chains."
Rakeesh's men were baffled; they were all Rakeesh confidants, but had never heard of such a thing.
Even the Dreadlord was in charge of intelligence gathering, looked surprised as he carefully observed Rakeesh's expression, a fleeting look of astonishment crossing his face.
"Something's fishy!" the Dreadlord thought to himself.
Rakeesh concealed his true feelings perfectly. "What Uzul in Chains? I've never even heard of him."
Jaina's voice was icy. "Rakeesh, stop hiding it. I know everything about the dirty deeds of the Army of the Light and the Burning Legion when they escaped Argus Planet."
Rakeesh exhaled a stream of Fel energy from his nostrils:
"Impossible, I've already silenced everyone involved. How could you possibly know you're not Jaina?"
Jaina's voice was very soft:
"Uzul, the third most powerful being on Argus Planet after Archimonde and Kil'jaeden, the chief Eredar Archmage, whose strength is equivalent to a hundred Medivhs. It's a pity he shouldn't have trusted your father, Velen."
"Shut up, stop talking!" Rakeesh roared angrily.
"You want me to say it in public?" Jaina sneered maliciously, "It all started 25,000 years ago, when the Draenei escaped from Argus Planet."
"Fine, you win. I'm willing to hand over Uzul in Chains as collateral." Rakeesh raised his hands, afraid that Jaina would continue.
Rakeesh glared at Jaina with resentment and then pulled a bronze mirror from his robes.
An ancient mirror, inlaid with a circle of mysterious Runes, contains a space within which a colossal creature is faintly sealed.
Rakeesh chanted incantations, and screams echoed continuously from the mirror.
After the incantation ended, a green light shone from the mirror, and a strange four-legged creature appeared before everyone.
Upon closer inspection, it was found to be composed of the heads of twenty-three Draenei, pieced together from multiple corpses.
The head at the very center was very young, with its eyes tightly closed and the muscles on its face trembling constantly, as if it were enduring great pain.
The Dreadlord gasped inwardly, for for reasons he couldn't reveal, he knew many secrets of the past.
Twenty-five thousand years ago, a super genius was born on the Argus Planet. He became the chief Archmage of the Eredar at less than two hundred years old.
This person is Uzul.
People believed that if Uzul were given another thousand years, he would surely become the first person of Argus.
Some even say that he is the reincarnation of Argus's World Soul.
Uzul had a bright future ahead of him, but unfortunately he misplaced his trust in the Prophet Velen.
When the Prophet Velen led the Draenei to escape, Archimonde and Kil'jaeden led the elite Eredar in pursuit.
Uzul led twenty-two of Argus's finest Archmages to cover the Draenei's retreat.
Archimonde and Kil'jaeden, valuing talent, couldn't bear to kill a genius, so they spared him.
Afterwards, despite countless temptations from the Burning Legion, Uzul remained unmoved and steadfastly believed in Velen.
Not long after escaping Argus Planet, Uzul and Velen clashed over their ideologies, leading to several arguments.
Uzul considered it a normal argument and continued to have great respect for Velen.
Velen, however, regarded him as a political enemy and felt he had to be eliminated as soon as possible.
So Velen found Rakeesh, who had already sided with the Burning Legion, and obtained a precious bottle of magical potion.
At a simple banquet, Velen secretly poisoned Uzul and his twenty-two followers with a magical potion.
Rakeesh summoned a Legion Engineers who twisted their corpses into a bizarre creature— Uzul in Chains.
When Kil'jaeden learned of this, Uzul went completely mad.
Kil'jaeden was very disappointed and, as usual, rewarded Rakeesh, promoting him to a general of the Burning Legion.
Rakeesh scoffed at the monster before him. "Jaina, what you want is Uzul's magical knowledge. Give up. Twenty-five thousand years ago, I drove him mad. The so-called Eredar genius is nothing more than this; now he's just an ugly mount."
"But he was very important to you; you became a general because you betrayed Uzul," Jaina said.
"Haha, Uzul is a fool. My father just said a few words to him and he believed them, willingly risking his life for my father."
Rakeesh said smugly, "Do you know how devastated he was when my father and I tortured him? This kind of person dares to call himself a super genius?"
Having retrieved Uzul in Chains, Rakeesh tossed the bronze mirror to Jaina:
"Now, let's talk about terms."
Jaina took the bronze mirror, carefully put it away, and said:
"Kill Illidan, and you will become the Lord of Outland. Your conditions are the same as Thrall's: I want Zangarmarsh and a million Orcs sacrifices."
Rakeesh hesitated, then said, "The Mag'har Orcs suffered heavy losses recently. Give me three years, and I'll let them reproduce like livestock."
"Can!"
Jaina readily agreed, and the tentacles parted to make way.
Rakeesh finally got his wish and led his confidants into the Council Chamber of the Black Temple.
The Council Chamber was unusually Anjing; you could hear a pin drop. Rakeesh immediately spotted Illidan resting with his eyes closed on the throne.
But what happened next completely stunned him.
The Thrall Faction Horde, the Alliance's elite Prince led by the Bastard Son prince of Stormwind City, outstanding adventurers from Azeroth, Mag'har Orcs, Murlocs stood in two straight rows, each with a strange smile on their face.
"Illidan, what have you done?"
Rakeesh felt a chill run down his spine.
Looking at his trusted followers, they all wore the same silly grin, standing silently on his right, facing a group of Murloc.
"Rakeesh, son of Velen," Illidan began wearily, "Did your father ever teach you what is most precious in the universe?"
Rakeesh's legs went weak, and he forced a smile, saying, "I don't know."
"It's knowledge." Illidan, having removed his blindfold, opened his eyes. "The accumulated wisdom of generations, the invaluable Wealth gained from countless experiences and lessons. My strength is dwindling, but the knowledge in my mind remains. You don't know why they acted this way; that's the difference in knowledge."