After an unknown length of silence, the giant finally spoke.
"How is the Dark Portal coming along?"
The voice was familiar. When the giant turned around, it became clear that he was none other than Kil'jaeden, whom Leiluo and the others had met not long ago.
Ner'zhul bowed slightly and said,
"My lord, everything is proceeding smoothly. If nothing unexpected happens, it should be finished by the second spring of the year after next."
Kil'jaeden nodded. He didn't care how long it took. All he cared about was whether he could set foot on Azeroth.
"How are preparations for powering the Dark Portal coming along?"
"We don't have enough souls yet, but once we've conquered the Draenei city of Shattrath, we should have enough. However—"
Ner'zhul suddenly paused.
"However what?"
At Ner'zhul's hesitation, Kil'jaeden narrowed his eyes slightly. Ner'zhul immediately felt as if thorns were pricking his back.
"My lord, even if we include the captives from Shattrath, the combined souls will only let us keep the Dark Portal open for a limited time. Why do we need to do this?"
When Kil'jaeden heard that Ner'zhul's question wasn't about the construction of the Dark Portal, he stopped staring at him and turned back to watch the demons at work.
"What we're doing now is like a thief surveying a place and making preparations before a robbery. Once we understand the situation, we'll steal the homeowner's key. That way, we can enter the house we want to get into."
Ner'zhul fell silent at Kil'jaeden's words, then looked up and asked,
"Then, my lord, what is the key?"
Kil'jaeden glanced at Ner'zhul, then turned away again.
"That's not something you need to know. Your only concern right now is building the Dark Portal."
"Someone who can't even corrupt the Orcs is only