Ursal Must Die!

Andy grabbed Hilar and quickly fled out of the Furbolg village.

"Andy, what did you find?" Hilar asked as they ran.

"It's too much to explain in a sentence or two. Anyway, it's a big deal!" Andy panted.

"What was that spell that made you disappear in an instant?" Hilar asked, irritation rising in his chest. Andy hadn't even given him a heads-up before vanishing in the blink of an eye.

"Well, that's a new skill I just learned!" Andy said. "Old Nathas gave me a book before he left and told me to study it. That enhanced Shadowmeld spell was in there."

"Enhanced Shadowmeld?" Hilar frowned. "I know Shadowmeld, but the spell breaks as soon as you make even the slightest movement!"

"Oh, come on. Didn't I just say it was enhanced?" Andy was thinking about the Furbolgs, so his explanation was somewhat perfunctory. "It's enhanced. You can move and cast spells, but you can't speak, because that would give away your position. It also has a time limit."

"Nathas is that powerful?" Hilar asked in amazement. "He even enhanced Shadowmeld to that extent."

Andy curled his lip. Nathas was capable of far more than that. Without his system, which was practically a cheat, how could Andy possibly have learned these skills? Ranger skills were somewhat similar to those of hunters, but they all relied on magic. Shadowmeld, for instance, as well as various traps and Multishot.

"How did you knock that Furbolg out?" Hilar asked. He couldn't believe Andy had managed it without a struggle, even while invisible, and without making a sound.

"Used Sap!" Andy said as if it were obvious. As soon as he said it, even Andy thought he didn't seem like someone who made a living with a bow at all. Look at these skills: a kick and Sap! He was a rogue through and through!

Hilar didn't seem particularly surprised. He just said, "Oh." Andy knew Hilar had definitely misunderstood.

The sky was just beginning to lighten when Andy and Hilar returned to Darnassus. While the priests were getting up early to pray, the two of them went to have breakfast.

"Andy, was everything safe along the way?" Tyrande asked.

"Yeah, there wasn't much danger," Andy said. Of course, that was thanks to his enhanced Shadowmeld. Anyone else would probably have had to fight their way in.

"What did you find out?" Tyrande asked.

"The situation isn't looking good!" Andy said with a frown. "There's nothing wrong with the Furbolg settlement as a whole. According to the Furbolgs, they follow every order from their king, Ursal. The Furbolgs at the bottom of the hierarchy are no problem. They still don't communicate with other races, and they don't have any advanced tools or weapons. But Ursal is different."

"I went in and saw him. Ursal is a gigantic Furbolg, and I can say for certain that he only grew that big recently," Andy continued. "His condition is strange, too. He's extremely violent! He killed the Furbolgs who fled back there, and he tortured them to death. I didn't dare get too close, but when I was leaving, I found something behind the hut where Ursal lives..." Andy paused, noticing that Tyrande and Hilar were listening intently.

"What did you find?" Hilar asked.

"A cage!" Andy took a deep breath. "The cage used to hold the orc!"

"What?" Tyrande shot to her feet. "How did that cage end up in the Furbolg village? Did the Furbolgs steal it? That doesn't make sense either. Larsen's squad should've been able to handle a few Furbolgs!"

"No one knows what happened. We can only ask Larsen about the situation at the time. And they never sent back a signal saying they'd been attacked," Andy said. "We should send someone to check whether the orc is in the Sentinel Unit's dungeon."

Tyrande nodded. After praising Andy, she sent him and Hilar off to rest. She arranged for Weiwei, the captain of the Temple of Elune guard, to go to Ashenvale herself. All they could do now was wait. A round trip from Darnassus to Ashenvale took more than ten days.

Over the next few days, Andy devoted himself to studying the little booklet Nathas had left behind. He knew that the days ahead would be an age where the strong ruled! The orc invasion would bring disaster to this land, but it would also bring people opportunities.

Ten days passed in a flash, and Weiwei returned from Ashenvale. But the news she brought Tyrande was anything but good: the orc wasn't in the dungeon, and Larsen, who had been in charge of the matter, was nowhere to be found! The unit said Larsen had gone out on patrol!

Tyrande's face darkened. What were they supposed to do now? If that was the case, then the orc had almost certainly appeared in the Furbolg village. The only question was whether he was dead or alive.

"He's definitely dead!" Andy said with conviction. "An orc with Fel energy inside him can only spread it once he dies and loses control of it. That Furbolg, Ursal, must've been corrupted by Fel."

"What should we do? We know nothing about this Fel energy! Why hasn't Malfurion returned? It would be easier to handle with him here!" Tyrande said worriedly.

"The only option now is to kill Ursal!" Andy said. "Ursal must die, and then his body must be burned!"

"That won't be easy. We can't wipe out the entire Furbolg race!" Hilar exclaimed.

"I said kill Ursal, not wipe out the whole Furbolg settlement!" Andy rolled his eyes. "I can go kill Ursal by myself!"

"You?" Tyrande glanced at Andy. "Can you do it?" In her eyes, how could a boy in his teens kill a Furbolg corrupted by Fel all on his own?

"Yes, just me!" Andy was brimming with confidence. "It'll actually be harder with more people!"

Tyrande thought it over, then shook her head. "Let's wait until Malfurion comes back. Andy, it's not that I don't believe in you. I'm just afraid you'll be in danger!"

Andy wanted to say more, but Tyrande was so troubled that she waved them away from the Temple of Elune. Andy firmly believed in his abilities now, and with the Elf System to help him, he could kill Ursal without a problem!

Andy had already made up his mind. After resting for two days, he set out with his bow on a dark, stormy night!

Andy was determined to kill Ursal. Once again, he used his enhanced Shadowmeld to slip through the Furbolg village without anyone noticing, then crouched down at the spot where he had found Ursal last time.

Ursal was inside the hut thirty meters ahead. Roars echoed from within, then came a sudden thud as a huge body flew out of the hut and landed not far from Andy. It was clearly already dead. A deep gash marked its neck, and dark red blood kept pouring out.

Andy frowned. Ursal had become so savage that he was even killing his own kind! Andy set a trap at his feet, then placed another every five meters as he advanced. He laid out four traps in total, all the way to Ursal's door.

Andy took his bow off his back, nocked an arrow, and stood quietly outside the hut.

Inside, a gigantic Furbolg roared as it tore into another mangled corpse. It looked like Ursal had tortured this one to death, too.

"Hey, you bastard!" Andy used the Monster Spirit translation function to yell at the huge black Furbolg inside.

Ursal looked up in surprise and dropped the corpse he was holding. He stared at the shadow outside the hut, unable to believe someone had come all the way here just to insult him.

"Roar!" Ursal bellowed. "Who are you?"

"Get out here!" Andy shouted.

"You're asking for it!" Ursal was furious. He was the king here, and no one had ever dared speak to him like that. He lumbered out of the hut, and Andy instinctively took two steps back.

"Elf?" Ursal roared. "I hadn't gone looking for you yet, and you come right to my doorstep!" He waved the enormous Stonehammer in his hand and bellowed, "Come out! Kill him!"

As soon as Ursal finished speaking, five Furbolgs roared out of the darkness behind the hut. They all had black fur, but none of them were as huge as Ursal. The five charged at Andy with furious roars. Andy gave a cold snort and instantly loosed the arrow in his hand. It flashed with a cold glint and pierced one Furbolg's throat. The creature clutched its neck with both paws and crumpled to the ground.

The fall of one Furbolg didn't stop the others. Andy quickly retreated. With a pop, one of the Furbolgs was frozen solid by a trap. Andy raised his hand, and two streaks of light flew from the Eaglehorn Bow toward two Furbolgs.

"Roar... hiss!" The two Furbolgs hissed and fell to the ground, twitching uncontrollably.

The last Furbolg hesitated, but when it saw Ursal's gaping maw, it charged anyway.

An arrow glowing green pierced the Furbolg's throat, and it fell to the ground in despair. Andy waved his fist at Ursal, and the Furbolg charged at him, lumbering and swaying.

Andy retreated behind his last trap and shot an arrow at Ursal. Ursal swung his hammer and knocked the arrow aside. But when he ran over the trap, it didn't work!

Andy's heart lurched. Had he underestimated his opponent? To be honest, he knew about Fel, but he had no idea how powerful it was. While he was distracted, Ursal had already charged past the third trap and was almost upon him.

Andy quickly retreated, firing arrow after arrow, but Ursal either knocked them aside or Andy missed. Ursal's hammer came crashing down. Andy dodged to the side, and a huge crater appeared in the ground.

As he dodged, Andy asked the Monster Spirit, "What do I do now? Why isn't anything working?"

"Ursal's strength is too high. Your traps can't stop him. I recommend that you run!" the Monster Spirit echoed in Andy's mind.

Andy glanced toward the village exit. It was probably too late to escape. Their battle with Ursal had already alerted the other Furbolgs outside. They were charging in with torches and Stonehammers.

Andy lost focus for a moment and was a little slow to dodge. Ursal's hammer smashed into the ground at his feet, and its tremendous force sent Andy tumbling away. Andy shook his head, but he couldn't get back up.

Ursal roared, seeming to leer as he walked toward Andy. Andy panicked. If this kept up, he was going to die here. As he frantically tried to think, the bow in his hand suddenly began to shine with dazzling light. The light enveloped Andy, and even Ursal stared in shock.

"Eaglehorn Bow activated!" a voice rang out in Andy's mind. "User's strength increased by 10, agility increased by 10!"

The light surrounding Andy gradually faded along with the voice. Ursal froze for a dozen seconds, then roared and charged again. But the moment he attacked, he was stunned all over again! Andy moved with incredible speed and vanished from Ursal's sight.

"Kick!" a shout rang out from behind Ursal. He spun around in shock, but it was too late. With his increased strength, Andy planted a kick in Ursal's torso. Ursal roared and went flying sideways. The ordinary Furbolgs who had charged in stood frozen in shock.

Andy didn't let up. He rushed over and kicked Ursal in the chin. The tremendous force left Ursal dazed. Andy kicked his head again and again until Ursal finally stopped moving.

"Now you can die!" A cold glint flashed in Andy's eyes as an arrow pierced Ursal's throat from above.

Ursal's dark red blood spilled out, mixed with a pale green substance. Andy looked up at the Furbolgs and snorted.

"He's dead!" Andy shouted at the other Furbolgs. "No one can enslave you anymore!" After that, Andy pulled a flint from the little pouch at his side and set Ursal's body on fire. A foul stench rose with the flames and drifted into the sky.