Prologue III

The green flames gradually died out, and Vihana vanished completely from sight. All that remained was a pile of dull steel armor, corroded by Fel and stripped of its luster.

As if doused in oil, the Fel Fire blazing across Duan Ming's body grew ever more intense, yet he felt no discomfort. He had finally turned the tables and killed his enemy, and his emotions gradually settled. Once calm, he began walking toward the only source of light behind him.

Outside the window, the sky was dim, dotted with stars of all sizes. Void Energy flowed like countless rivers, twisting onward before his eyes as bizarre planetary fragments and meteorites drifted along in their currents. Below lay a barren wasteland, devoid of any trace of vegetation: nothing but patches of blackened earth and green rivers polluted by Fel. Rivers was hardly the right word. They looked more like pools of slime or slicks of oil, occasionally bubbling with something revolting.

Duan Ming was standing at a window aboard a sinister starship. In the distance, several other flying vessels circled, all likewise products of demonic technology—powerful tools for conquering worlds.

From Vihana's soul, he had learned that this place was Mardum, the Shattered Abyss, once a prison for demons and the starting point of the Demon Hunter questline in the game he remembered. But now was not the time to think about the connection between this world and that game.

The Burning Legion now held all of Mardum. Unless he became one of them, Duan Ming would be wiped out beneath their endless demonic onslaught, no matter how powerful he was!

There was only one way to leave!

Duan Ming turned and looked just beyond the remains of the Eredar demon. A conical, emerald-green crystal hovered in the air, radiating the Fel power he knew so well.

The Sargerite Keystone—the key to a gateway between worlds. It should include Azeroth.

After all, judging from Vihana's memories, the Burning Legion had already discovered Azeroth and launched an attack on it. That meant the Keystone held Azeroth's coordinates.

The thought immediately excited Duan Ming.

His last experience had been so tragic that anyone who heard about it would have wept. He had nearly been crushed by the despair of reality. But a game had helped him find confidence and hope again. That world was called Azeroth.

Though disaster after disaster had threatened to destroy it, Azeroth's inhabitants had never given up the fight. Again and again, they had turned the tide, rising from the brink of ruin.

The Orcs, once used by the Burning Legion, eventually found a purpose in life. The Eastern Kingdoms, brought back to life beneath the Scourge's iron heel. The Wyrmrest Accord, united against Deathwing's world-ending flames...

Again and again, they overturned the future laid out before them. Their stories moved Duan Ming and gave him hope. Though he couldn't change the ending, he had quietly struggled against his illness, living to see the dawn of a second day, then a third, while his doctors stared in amazement. Summoning all his strength beneath the mockery of fate, he had opened his mouth and spat.

Looking at the Fel power curling around his fingertips, a thought suddenly came to Duan Ming—one that thrilled him beyond measure. I can't change my own fate, but perhaps I can use this power to change Azeroth's.

Clenching his fist, Duan Ming wore a wildly excited grin. In the crystal's green light, it looked thoroughly eerie, but his emotions were still those of someone simple and childishly naïve.

In this vast sea of stars, he wasn't even a child. He knew nothing and had nothing. Yet this bizarre turn of events had quietly planted the delusion that he was special in his heart. With Fel fueling it, that delusion swelled to its peak.

"The Queen ordered you to repair the Keystone, Soul Eater, not destroy my ship. What are you—" Just as Duan Ming was still caught up in his excitement, a huge shadow began to take shape in the entrance ahead. Its green eyes, like a pair of lanterns, drew closer.

His massive frame radiated terrifying power. His sulfur-colored skin seemed ready to burst into flames at any moment, and broad, batlike wings spread from his back, swaying as he advanced. His features gradually became clear.

A Doomguard!

"I've never seen you before. Who are you? Where's the Soul Eater?" Though Duan Ming was a spirit, the green flames wreathing his body led Belash to mistake him for one of their own. His eyes held only confusion, not hostility.

Then he saw the remains on the ground...

Boom!

A massive hoof slammed down, seeming to shake the entire starship. From the point of impact, a ring of Fel Fire rapidly spread outward like a wave.

Duan Ming made no attempt to dodge. The Fel flames swept over his body, leaving him unharmed.

It had been a casual attack, but as the Spider Queen's commander and foremost general, Belash was not far below a demon lord in strength. Few ordinary creatures could withstand that kind of power.

"Looks like you do have some ability." His probing attack had failed, and Belash finally gave the translucent soul before him a proper look. "But don't compare me to that bitch Vihana, outsider. Tell me who you are, or I'll reduce you to ashes!"

After devouring Vihana's soul, Duan Ming had gained a fragmentary grasp of the language demons used to communicate. He had also recognized his opponent.

Belash, Tyranna's commander, the owner of this starship, and a formidable foe skilled in shadow magic.

As former Titan Hounds, Doomguards possessed extensive knowledge of Arcane magic. Combined with their mastery of Shadow and Fel, Belash was far stronger than Vihana—not just by a little!

Of course, this soul would surely taste even more intoxicating...

An eerie, terrifying smile curled Duan Ming's lips. Gone was the affable manner he'd once had. His expression was savage and dreadful. He looked like another demon!

"The Keystone? Fool, put it down!" When the other demon failed to answer, Belash grew even more impatient. He was about to approach when he caught sight of the familiar gleam in Duan Ming's right hand.

Shock and alarm flashed in the Doomguard's eyes. He imagined Tyranna's punishment when she learned what had happened, and all his feelings turned to fury.

As soon as Belash finished speaking, he reached into the air and grabbed. A massive surge of energy gathered in his hand. He swung it down, yanking a whip of black energy from the air and sending it hurtling toward Duan Ming.

Boom!

The Shadow lash slammed into the floor. Even the Fel-reinforced plating couldn't withstand the blow. It cracked apart in great swaths, webbed with countless black fractures!

The demon had already prepared to dodge as soon as his opponent summoned the whip. Vihana certainly lived up to Belash's description of her as a bitch. She had honed both her soul and her mastery of pain to perfection, and she often fantasized about inflicting pain on her colleagues—even her master. Thanks to her, Duan Ming knew quite a bit about this Doomguard's combat abilities.

As a spirit, Duan Ming moved swiftly and nimbly, sometimes floating into the air, sometimes vanishing into a wall. Belash's attacks looked devastating, each blow rocking the starship, but they posed little threat to his opponent.

Watching the other demon dart around the room like a slippery eel, Belash grew ever more impatient. He lashed out, and as Duan Ming dodged, immediately reached out with his other hand and clenched it in the air. "You slippery pig! Kneel!"

Vast Shadow power spiraled in the Doomguard's hand, then shot toward the spot where Duan Ming would land like a cannonball.

The Shadow energy struck the floor beneath him. To everyone's surprise, it made no splash at all, like a drop of water falling into the ocean.

Duan Ming landed safely and was about to taunt him when the brown-green floor beneath his feet was suddenly swallowed by endless darkness. Countless finger-thick tentacles burst from within and instantly bound him like a tightly wrapped bundle.

Though they looked frail, the tentacles had an unbelievable grip. They clamped onto Duan Ming and held fast, and no matter how he struggled, he couldn't break free of the Shadow's grasp. An irresistible force dragged his body down. He trembled, but did not submit as Belash expected.

"Ha! Fool! This is what happens when you challenge the mighty Belash!" The Doomguard threw back his head and roared, then began swinging his whip. It rapidly contracted in the air, soon transforming into a greatsword the size of a door. Of course, to Belash, it was only a one-handed sword.

The Shadow energy gradually faded, replaced by blazing flames. The Blazing Longsword radiated waves of heat. Even from a great distance, Duan Ming felt the scorching air wash over him.

Demons seemed to take perverse pleasure in savoring their enemies' fear and pain. Belash approached the demon slowly, his thunderous footsteps pounding against the other's nerves like a hammer striking a heart, blow after blow.

But the other demon clearly wasn't one to be rattled. Seeing Belash put on such a show, he actually rolled his eyes in annoyance!

"Posturing, and utterly ignorant! You can't begin to understand the power I wield!"

The moment the words left his mouth, the Fel-surging spirit vanished into thin air inside the Shadow prison. The temperature seemed to plummet, and a strange chorus of wails and screams swept toward Belash's ears—and his soul.

Don't forget, this was Vihana's room. And who was Vihana? She was a demon lord's technological adviser, but she was also a Soul Eater.

Nearly everything in the room was connected to souls. Vihana had treasured her collection too much to use it, but Duan Ming had no such qualms about spending lavishly.

Soul Gems, Demon Prison Crystals, Soul-Stealing Scythes...

One by one, the treasures Vihana had held dear were lifted by an unknown force. At Duan Ming's rough summons, pale streams of light burst from them and began circling the room, wailing.

Soon, a storm of tangible soul energy swept across the entire dim space. On closer inspection, countless twisted wraiths appeared within it, only to vanish moments later. The sinister, terrifying sight made the skin crawl.

Boom!

Belash swung the Blazing Longsword, slaying every wraith that dared approach without the slightest hindrance. His savage face was full of contempt. "Is that all you've got, you loudmouthed bastard?"

"You think devouring the Soul Eater means you can beat me? I carry out my master's will. I am the Shattered Abyss's blade of dominion. Vihana's power is nothing before me!"

"Fool! Submission is your only choice!"

"Shadow will be the final resting place of these decaying souls!"

After using his flames to devour the wraiths that attacked him once more, Belash stopped bothering with them. He beat his wings hard, and a surging firestorm instantly cleared the space around him.

Then he raised his left hand. A vast mass of black energy, the opposite of the colors in the air, answered his call. Under the Doomguard's control, it quickly formed a Shadow vortex that twisted and collapsed in on itself.

Its immense pull easily sucked in the souls nearby, and the black vortex grew larger. Just as the Shadow storm was about to banish all the wraiths nearby, a streak of green light silently appeared behind Belash.

"It's over, demon."

"Aah—!"

The Shadow storm in his hand burst apart. The smug satisfaction on his face vanished, replaced by boundless fury and fear, as green lines rapidly spread across his body.

"This power—no, impossible! This is Sargeras—"

Before Belash could finish, dazzling green light swallowed him completely. From the outside, Vihana's room seemed to give rise to a green sun. Its brilliant emerald glow shone like a beacon in the night, drawing the attention of many demons.

Vast, chaotic energy swirled around Duan Ming. If Vihana had given him experience and common sense, then Belash had given him power—real power. Suddenly infused with such tremendous energy, he felt a tearing pain course through his entire body.

Fueled by the power around him, his spirit slowly rose, like a balloon being inflated. Duan Ming could barely endure the growing pressure, as if he would burst at any moment.

"Aah—!"

His piercing shriek seemed to ignite a fuse. The chaotic energy erupted with a thunderous roar, and a tidal wave of energy rapidly spread into the distance.