Azeroth's Reward

Deren's consciousness floated amid a boundless river of stars.

Beneath his feet, Azeroth slowly rotated, its azure oceans and verdant continents shrouded in a gentle silver glow. A torrent of starlight flowed around him, as though he could reach out and touch the essence of time itself.

"Bomb Boy, not bad at all~"

A clear female voice came from behind him. Deren turned around and saw the little girl with silver hair and starry eyes—the incarnation of Azeroth's Soul—floating barefoot in midair, fine ribbons of light twining around her slender ankles.

"Azeroth?!" Deren instinctively called out the nickname he had given her in private.

Azeroth puffed out her cheeks. "I told you it sounds awful... forget it." She suddenly spread her arms and crashed into Deren's embrace like a tiny cannonball.

The hug carried an unimaginable warmth. Deren felt countless motes of starlight seep through his skin and into his veins. His bones gave off a faint hum, and his muscle fibers reorganized on a microscopic level. By the time she released him, a translucent golden seed-shaped mark had appeared in his palm.

"Though it's nowhere near as good as what those demigods have, at least..." Azeroth poked his bicep. "Now you can catch an Orc's axe with your bare hands."

The starlight suddenly split into two streams, solidifying in her palm—two ancient coins. Azeroth's outline was engraved on one side, while ever-shifting draconic runes covered the other.

"These are for those two troublemakers." With a flick of her finger, she shot the coins into the Void. "Lucky Gold Coins. I personally blessed them, and they're especially suitable for people who are always courting death."

Just as Deren was about to thank her, the galaxy before him suddenly warped.

"Wait!" he hurriedly shouted. "What should I do next—"

"Go sleep!" Azeroth pulled a face and kicked him out of the astral realm.

Deren jolted awake, cold sweat soaking through his pajamas.

Morning light spilled across the bed through a gap in the curtains. He blankly spread open his palm—the golden seed mark was slowly fading beneath his skin. On the small table beside the bed, two ancient coins glimmered with an unusual sheen in the sunlight.

He tried clenching his fist, and the air between his fingers let out a faint crack.

"Ha!" Deren sprang upright, only for his head to hit the ceiling with a bang.

As he crouched down, clutching his forehead, he heard Onyxia's cold snort from the neighboring balcony.

"Human, tearing down the house this early in the morning?"

Deren grimaced as he pushed open the French windows and saw the Black Dragon Princess leaning against the ornate railing of the next balcony. Unusually, she wore a silk morning robe in Theramore style today. Droplets of water still clung to her golden hair, making it clear she had just bathed.

"Ahem, I've got a gift for you—" Deren grabbed a coin and tossed it over.

Onyxia caught it in midair. The instant the coin touched her skin, the draconic runes on its surface suddenly lit up. Her pupils shrank slightly. "This is..."

"A Lucky Gold Coin. Once you wear it—"

"—you'll be incredibly lucky." Onyxia rubbed the coin's surface, then suddenly narrowed her eyes. "A gift from that lady?" She pointed down at the earth.

Before Deren could answer, Chromie's scream rang out from the garden below.

"My coin!!!"

The two looked down to see the young Bronze Dragon staring wide-eyed at the other coin in Deren's hand.

"Give it to me, give it to me!" Chromie bounced excitedly, waving both hands.

Deren smiled and tossed the other Lucky Gold Coin down to the little gnome.

Chromie caught the coin in one hand and excitedly stroked it again and again. Then she put it in her mouth and gave it a gentle bite. The runes lit up before her nose, bathing her entire face in golden light.

"Whoa!" she cheered indistinctly. "Now I won't get lost while time traveling!"

Deren and Onyxia exchanged a glance and simultaneously facepalmed.

After fooling around for a while, Deren finally sat down on the terrace of the Theramore inn and happily enjoyed his breakfast.

Golden-browned ham sizzled on the plate, accompanied by swamp berries marinated in Dwarven Spirits and drizzled with a spoonful of honey—this was the "Hero's Meal" the Theramore chef had specially prepared at Jaina's instruction.

Onyxia sat across from him, idly playing with her Lucky Gold Coin. It danced between her fingers, occasionally reflecting a flash of golden light onto her thoughtful face.

Chromie, meanwhile, squatted on the railing like a curious sparrow, nibbling on bread while studying the runes on her coin.

"So this thing can really improve your luck?" She tilted her head. "Then if I go buy a Goblin lottery ticket right now, would I—"

Before she could finish, Onyxia's body suddenly stiffened.

The coin slipped from her fingers, bounced twice across the wooden table, and eerily came to rest standing upright in a gap between the boards.

"Nefarian." Her voice instantly turned icy. "He's here."

Deren's fork froze halfway to his mouth. "What? Now?"

Onyxia's golden vertical pupil contracted into narrow slits. "He's reached the Swamp of Sorrows—he's inspecting the blast site."

Chromie's bread fell to the floor. "We're doomed! If he finds any clues—after all, he's a pure-blooded black dragon."

Deren abruptly shot to his feet, his chair scraping harshly across the floor.

"Teleport us!" He seized Chromie's wrist. "We're going to the scene right now!"

Chromie frantically pulled out her pocket watch and grabbed Onyxia's sleeve with her other hand. "Hold tight! There's no time to adjust the landing coordinates this time—"

Whoosh!

The three of them vanished instantly. Before disappearing, Onyxia did not forget to snatch up the Lucky Gold Coin she had dropped on the table.

Nefarian, Onyxia's brother, stood upon the scorched earth, his dark crimson armor gleaming with a cold metallic sheen beneath the blazing sun.

His dragon claws brushed over the enormous gouges in the rock wall—blast marks disguised as Black Dragon claw marks. A faint residue of energy lingered at his fingertips, making him frown.

"Something's not right..."

As the Black Dragon Legion's most outstanding scientist, Nefarian was far more sensitive to energy fluctuations than most. Deep within these "claw marks," there seemed to be some kind of... destructive pattern that did not belong to the Dragon Race.

He crouched down, pinched up a bit of ash from the scorched soil, and sniffed it.

"Saltpeter? Sulfur?" His frown deepened. "This smells like... fertilizer?"

"What are you doing here so early in the morning?"

A familiar, cool voice came from behind him.

Nefarian slowly turned around and saw Onyxia stepping out of a golden rift, followed by Deren and that little Bronze Dragon dwarf.

His sister wore simple traveling clothes today, her black hair tied high. Yet, unusually, she was not wearing the Black Dragon Legion's runic sword at her waist. Stranger still, she gave off a certain...

Lucky aura?

Nefarian's dragon eyes narrowed slightly. "Sister, you look... different."

Onyxia sneered and kicked a charred fragment of elementium with the tip of her boot. "Father just blew my lair into the sky. How do you think I should look?"

Nefarian's gaze swept over the three of them. They did not seem especially saddened that their father had flattened the swamp. Instead, there was a faint sense of pride about them.

The corners of his lips slowly rose. "Interesting."

Nefarian's gaze moved back and forth between the three of them before finally settling on Onyxia.

"So," his voice was low and slow, "Father came to the Swamp of Sorrows in person just to blow up your fertilizer factory?"

Onyxia crossed her arms, her expression calm. "He was very dissatisfied with my 'neglect of proper duties.'"

Nefarian raised a brow. "And then you fought?"

"And then I won."

The air froze for a moment.

The corner of Nefarian's mouth twitched. He clearly doubted that answer. Crouching down, he ran his fingers over the scorch marks on the ground again, his dragon eyes contracting slightly—these marks were too neat. They did not resemble claw tears at all, but rather some kind of directed explosion.

Seeing this, Deren immediately stepped forward, his face piled with smiles. "Your Highness! Actually, this is what happened—"

Just as he was about to make up a story, Nefarian's gaze fell upon Onyxia's waist—the Lucky Gold Coin had somehow slipped halfway out of her pocket, glimmering faintly beneath the sun.

Bzz—

The rune on the coin flashed softly.

Nefarian's eyes went unfocused for an instant, and his brow eased slightly, as though some invisible force had interfered with his judgment.

"...Father really does hate these 'mortal tricks.'" He muttered, as if trying to convince himself.

Chromie keenly noticed the change and immediately struck while the iron was hot. "Yeah, yeah! Lord Deathwing was furious! He slammed down with one claw, BOOM!!!" She gestured wildly. "Then Sister Onyxia did this beautiful spinning kick—"

"Chromie." Onyxia coldly cut her off.

But Nefarian seemed to have genuinely been led astray. He stood and brushed the dust from his armor, nodding thoughtfully. "So Father thought you were too obsessed with the fertilizer business and were disgracing the Black Dragon Legion?"

"That's right." Onyxia's expression did not change.

"Then he came personally to teach you a lesson, only to be injured by you instead?"

"Mhm."

Nefarian looked at her silently for a few seconds, then suddenly—

"Ha!"

He laughed aloud.

"Wonderful, Sister." He shook his head, and there was actually a trace of admiration in his tone. "I should have known—Father has become more and more paranoid these past years. Even I think he deserves to be taught a lesson."

Deren: "..."

Chromie: "..."

Onyxia: "..."

The Lucky Gold Coin's effect seemed a little absurdly good.

Nefarian did not even ask further about the strange explosion marks. He merely patted his sister on the shoulder—Onyxia barely resisted the urge to dodge—and said casually, "Since Father will not be coming to disturb us for the time being, can the fertilizer business... continue?"

Deren blinked, quickly catching on. "Of course! And we were just planning to expand!"

"Excellent." Nefarian nodded in satisfaction. "Blackrock Mountain has as much Volcanic Sulfur as you could ever need."

Chromie secretly poked Deren in the lower back and muttered, "Did this coin get some kind of 'intelligence-reduction' attribute?"

Deren lowered his voice. "Shh... Don't ask. Just enjoy it."

Over the scorched earth of the Swamp of Sorrows, a light breeze swept up fine ash. Nefarian stood with his back to the enormous crater, his dark crimson cape fluttering faintly in the heat haze. His fingers lightly tapped against his vambrace, producing crisp metallic chimes.

"So Father fled back to Deeprock Abyss with serious injuries and will not appear for the time being?"

Onyxia's expression remained unchanged as she gave a slight nod.

Nefarian narrowed his eyes, seemingly weighing the value of this information. His gaze swept over Deren, then flicked to Chromie before finally returning to his sister.

"Then our fertilizer business... can continue?"

Deren immediately caught the key word in that sentence—"our."

He cleared his throat, stepped forward half a pace, and put on a shrewd merchant's smile. "Of course it can, Your Highness. In fact, this is the perfect time to expand."

Nefarian raised a brow. "Oh?"

A calculating gleam appeared in Deren's eyes. "Look, Deathwing has temporarily... ah, gone into recuperation, so the Black Dragon Legion will inevitably need to make adjustments. As his eldest son, you should naturally be the one overseeing Blackrock Mountain, right?"

Nefarian gave a slight nod, clearly pleased with that framing.

"But the fertilizer business is still a 'small operation.' Having you run it personally would be beneath your status." Deren lowered his voice. "Why not... convert it into shares? We can keep the original operating model!"

Nefarian narrowed his eyes. "Convert it into shares? The same ten percent as last time?"

"You provide the resources, we handle the operations, and you just lie back and collect the money." Deren rubbed his fingers together. "For example, volcanic sulfur from Blackrock Mountain, Orc Peons... just allocate some to us, and we'll split the profits proportionally."

Nefarian fell silent for a moment, then suddenly chuckled. "Sounds good. But if Father wakes up and investigates this..."

Onyxia cut in coldly, "It has nothing to do with you. Let him come find me."

Her fingertips unconsciously caressed the Lucky Gold Coin at her waist, its runes faintly flickering. Nefarian's gaze fell upon the coin, and his eyes went unfocused for an instant before he nodded. "Fine."

Deren struck while the iron was hot. "There's one more small matter—Theramore is now one of our important partners. Lady Jaina is very interested in the business. The venue, manpower, and transportation all depend on her. But she needs some... political leverage."

Nefarian raised a brow. "Such as?"

"Such as the people of Kul Tiras captured by the orcs during the Second War." Deren lowered his voice. "I heard that Lower Blackrock Spire is still holding quite a few prisoners of war? So many years have passed; those people aren't much use anymore. Why not trade them for something tangible?"

A trace of amusement flashed through Nefarian's eyes. "You want me to 'rescue' them and give them to Jaina as a favor?"

"A mutually beneficial arrangement." Deren's smile was radiant. "You gain Theramore's friendship, we gain a stable sales channel, and Jaina gains political prestige... a win for all three sides."

Nefarian stared silently at Deren, then suddenly burst into laughter. "Interesting! A mere human dares negotiate terms with me?"

Deren calmly pointed at Onyxia. "I'm the Black Dragon Princess's partner. Naturally, I'm qualified to negotiate."

Nefarian's laughter abruptly stopped. He looked at his sister, then at Deren, and finally gave a cold snort. "Fine. I'll go look when I get back. If I can find such captives among the orcs, I'll send them all over to you."

He turned and walked toward the edge of the enormous pit, his dark red cloak dragging a long trail across the scorched earth. His voice drifted back from afar. "As for the sulfur... the crater of Blackrock Mountain can be mined at any time."

Chromie rose onto her tiptoes and muttered softly, "So... that worked?"

Deren wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and let out a long breath. "The Lucky Gold Coin is truly terrifying."

Onyxia watched her brother's receding figure, her golden vertical pupil narrowing slightly. "He believed it too quickly... Something's wrong."

Deren shrugged. "Maybe he just thinks lying down and making money is a better deal than fighting his sister?"

Chromie suddenly raised her hand. "Then can we go buy Goblin lottery tickets now?"