Mission
Leaving aside how the civilians of Westfall were plunged into war, and the relationship between Kul Tiras and Stormwind, the regime established by the Defias Brotherhood collapsed like a tidal wave after the Kul Tiras army landed.
Stonemason's Keep at Dagger Hills Ridge was eventually breached by the Stormwind royal forces. Edwin VanCleef and his gang were missing and their fates unknown. Many members of the Defias Brotherhood were arrested and executed, and their bodies were hung up by order of King Varian because they had been responsible for Queen Tiffin's death.
Zul'ra felt saddened by the fate of the Defias Brotherhood, but he was more concerned about the life or death of Edwin VanCleef. Unfortunately, he was currently in Durnholde and there was nothing he could do, or even if he could, he might not be able to.
The Defias Brotherhood fallen, and Kul Tiras has aligned itself with Stormwind. Although there may be some tensions, the reorganization of the Alliance is inevitable.
Stormwind and Kul Tiras's power is concentrated in the Eastern Kingdoms. Kul Tiras is a maritime power, while Stormwind has strong land power. The combination of these two is something the Defias Brotherhood cannot afford to provoke, nor does the Amani want to, because the Horde's power in the Eastern Kingdoms is still too weak.
With no further news from the Defias Brotherhood in sight, Zul'ra decided to settle the matter of the Black Knight first, and had the Syndicate send a team to escort Velinde, who was wielding the Scythe of Elune, away.
Velinde was escorted by humans, while Zul'ra secretly followed behind with Syndicate assassins. Sure enough, on the first night of their journey, the black knights reappeared.
They rode black mares out of the thick fog of night. Upon seeing them, Zul'ra immediately reached out and patted the scabbard at her waist. The Forest Sword instantly transformed into a streak of green light and flew out, severing the necks of the black mares in the first instant.
"Be careful, everyone. These guys are unkillable. You have to cut them open to incapacitate them to be effective. Don't fight, everyone move aside." Zul'ra recalled the Forest Sword and held it in his hand, looking at the black knight who stood up from the horse carcass, and gave a long warning to the guards around him.
"Those who can't fight, step aside." The assassins surrounded the guards, shouting a warning as they threw black-painted darts, which were all blocked by the black-clad knights' swords.
"Scythe of Elune!" The black-armored man wearing a spiked helmet gave the command, and all the black knights raised their weapons and charged towards Velinde, who was holding the Scythe of Elune, behind Zul'ra.
"You don't want the sword in my hand anymore." Zul'ra looked at the black-armored men coming towards her, asked with a smile, then strode forward, dodged a slash, gripped the sword with both hands and counterattacked. The blade cut through the gap in the armor and directly severed his head.
"Capture him." The black-armored man with the spiked helmet watched as the Trolls slashed down one of his companions with a few sword strokes and echoed those words.
"Then you'll have to put in some effort." Zul'ra chopped off the black-armored man's sword-wielding arm with a backhand, then dodged his attack and hid behind him, letting him block three or four sword blades coming from behind for her.
Seeing the besieged King of the Amani, the Syndicate assassins shouted for help. Some of them abandoned their crossbows and throwing knives for mid- to long-range attacks and instead took out rope grappling hooks, throwing three or four at a time to grab the black-armored men besieging Zul'ra and forcibly drag them away with the ropes.
Surrounded by the black-armored men, Zul'ra held his longsword in both hands to parry their attacks. After the assassins dragged away several of the black-armored men, the pressure on him was greatly reduced. He swung his sword and quickly cut down several more of the black-armored men. As for the black knight leader wearing a spiked helmet, he was taken over by Velinde.
Velinde was a priestess, but she was also a Warrior, and had even served as a sentinel. Shouting the name of Elune, she wielded a scythe and fought the spiked-helmeted black knight. Although the weapon was not her forte, she could hold off her opponent for the time being.
While Velinde was holding off the leading black knight, Zul'ra fought fiercely with his longsword. Last time, he suffered a great loss due to not knowing the details, but this time he was more vigilant. He first beheaded them and then cut off their limbs, breaking them into smaller groups.
The Syndicate assassins were all formidable. Although they weren't good at direct combat, they managed to hold off most of the Black Knights. While they were still capable of dealing with the Undead Knights, they immediately followed suit when they saw King of the Amani dismember a body. The Black Knights who came to steal the artifact were instantly reduced to a pile of dismembered limbs.
After Zul'ra dealt with her opponent, she immediately went to help Velinde. The black knight with the spiked helmet was the leader. He wielded his longsword with great force and was not weak in combat. Moreover, he was not reckless. When he saw that things were not going well, he tried to slip away, but he was blocked by Zul'ra.
"Come on!" Zul'ra smiled as she looked at the spiked-helmeted knight who was trying to slip away, and raised her longsword.
"Come on!" The black knight's face was covered by his helmet, making it impossible to see any expression, but he did not show any weakness in the face of Zul'ra's challenge. He raised his longsword slightly to his shoulders with both hands, using the palm holding the hilt in front as the axis, and rotating the palm holding the back, and slashed down one sword after another, a standard series of slashes.
"Not bad swordsmanship." Zul'ra dodged the Black Knight's first sword strike, then swiftly thrust out with one hand, pressing his sword against the Black Knight's blade and deflecting it off its track. Then, he slammed his shoulder against the Black Knight, his entire body enveloped in true energy, knocking him back several steps. He then swung his sword upwards again.
With a crisp "clang," unlike the previous black-armored men, the spiked-helmeted knight lowered his head and used his helmet to block the decapitating sword, then thrust his sword horizontally, forcing Zul'ra, who was close by, out of a safe distance. His fighting and swordsmanship were extremely proficient.
Zul'ra parried the opponent's greatsword with his own, then pressed down, disarming him once again. At the same time, he reached out and grabbed the opponent's right hand holding the sword, twisted it in the opposite direction, and then twisted it forcefully before swinging his sword backhand, severing one of his arms.
His opponent was very skilled in swordsmanship, but Zul'ra remained calm and composed, skillfully applying the fighting techniques of Monk. After eight or nine rounds, he severed the opponent's head, limbs, and hands.
"Tell me, what's your name?" Zul'ra finished off her opponent, plunged her longsword into the ground, and asked the head wearing a spiked helmet on the ground amidst the horrified gazes of the humans around her.
"You can't kill me." The voice came from the head wearing the spiked helmet, and the humans watching nearby, even the assassins known for their composure, couldn't help but be shocked.
"Yes, that's right, I can't kill you, but I can seal your head, hands, feet, and body into different stones, then throw them into the sea, bury them in the ground, and let them rot slowly." Zul'ra straightened the head on the ground, glanced at its cavity, and then removed the spiked helmet from its face, revealing a human face.
"My name is Eridin..." the gray-haired, gray-eyed human uttered.
"Anything else!" Zul'ra looked at the sensible guy and asked with a smile, knowing that this guy still had something to be wary of.
"I used to be a conman, but I ended up tricking a mage who cursed me, turning me into what I am now, and giving me a mission: I must collect different artifacts and deliver them to a certain place." The human named Eridin explained his origins and his target with a blank expression.