The Scourge Attacks Again

Following Adona through one narrow alley after another, Alpha weaved through the city, having no idea how long they had been walking.

"We're here." Adona stopped. Alpha stared at the building before him and could not help but freeze. It was an utterly ordinary house, no different from the ones beside it. Old walls, a dilapidated tiled roof, and, well, a window that creaked and scraped in the wind.

Everything seemed so strange. Alpha forced out, "Are you sure it's here? This is where the journals are stored? Are you sober yet?"

Adona said with certainty, "This is the place. You don't understand. This house looks this rundown, but in reality, it really is this rundown. Don't hit me! Careful, or I'll send soldiers to arrest you. Easy!"

After being hit, Adona spoke seriously, "Don't hit so hard. To tell you the truth, when I first came here, I also thought this place was far too shabby. The journals of every previous commander were stored somewhere so unsafe, so I wanted to renovate it. Then the veteran accompanying me told me that these commanders' journals were the safest things in all of Northrend, because there was nothing useful inside them. Naturally, no one bothered stealing them. Besides, there wasn't enough funding to repair this place. I looked through them before. They were mostly useless diaries and journals. There was practically no valuable intelligence."

"But because you mentioned dragons last night, I suddenly remembered that I seemed to have seen something about them somewhere. It was probably in one commander's journal. To confirm that thought, I got you drunk and came here again, where I found that commander's journal. This information can't be explained clearly in a few words. You should read it yourself." With that, he pushed open the door and walked inside, Alpha following after him.

A musty smell rushed over them. Alpha realized then that having a keen sense of smell was not always a good thing. Noticing his discomfort, Adona laughed. "This place hasn't been cleaned in years. When I came last night, the mildew smell was even worse. Look, this is it."

A thick bundle of scrolls was placed before him. Adona drew out a red scroll from within. Unlike the other journals, this one was much cleaner, without nearly as much dust. Judging by the signs that it had been flipped through, Alpha easily found the passage. It was short, only a few lines:

"In the twentieth year of Darkness, I led the remaining men through the northwest of the Borean Tundra. Due to the fierce snowstorm, we unfortunately lost our way. I was also separated from my subordinates in the blizzard. I did not know how long I had walked, only that I seemed to have crossed an immensely tall mountain. Then, suddenly, the snowstorm vanished. What I saw before me was a sight I would never forget:

Blue dragons circled a massive ice pillar of some unknown material at the center. New dragons joined them from time to time. On the ground, dragonkin that resembled lizards crawled past.

"Soon after, I fainted from sheer exhaustion. When I awoke again, I was in a small town, reunited with the subordinates I had been separated from. According to them, I had collapsed from weakness and extreme cold. I hurriedly asked whether they had seen what I had seen, but not a single one of them had. Because of this, I began to doubt whether it had merely been an illusion. Later, I sent soldiers and adventurers to that mountain peak, but none returned alive. In the end, because of the Scourge, I had no choice but to abandon the matter. Perhaps it had only been a dream. The dragons had already vanished."

After reading the account, Alpha asked, "What lies to the northwest?" Adona said, "That is where the problem lies. No one near that mountain has ever managed to cross it. To put it another way, anyone who tried to cross that mountain eventually disappeared." Shifting his stance, he continued, "My sixth sense tells me that the dragons this commander saw were real. That place has never been explored, and it is also the place most likely to have dragons."

Alpha closed the journal. "Whether it's real or not, I have to make a trip there. It's the only lead we have right now."

A series of ringing bells suddenly sounded. Adona listened carefully, then said, "The Scourge has come again. This isn't right. Logically, there should be half a month between their two attacks. It hasn't even been two days. Something must have happened. Forget the dragons for now. Helping me deal with the current crisis is what matters most. Hurry and follow me."

Alpha hurriedly asked, "This Scourge is a little different from what I imagined. Why is it different from the ones I saw before?" As they walked, Adona said, "What you saw before was probably the undead branch. This is another branch of the Scourge, one that's relatively easy to deal with. When Arthas was still the Lich King, you could never imagine just how terrifying the Scourge was back then. I'll explain it to you later. The situation is urgent right now. The bells are ringing far too frequently."

"What happened?" Upon arriving at the watchtower, Adona questioned his adjutant. Seeing the man, Alpha could not help but sympathize with him again. The adjutant handed over a telescope and pointed in a direction. After looking through it, Adona silently passed it to Alpha. "You take a look too. Over there." He pointed in that direction.

Through the telescope, Alpha saw several spiders as large as hills in the distance. No, they could not really be called spiders anymore. They looked more like beetles, their bodies covered in thick armor. Behind them was a massive black hole, from which all kinds of spiders continuously poured out.

Adona explained, "The ones you encountered the day before yesterday were ordinary Webweavers. The ones flying in the sky are Flying Spiders. Those are the most common types, and also the easiest to deal with. As for those large ones that dig tunnels, as the name suggests, they are Crypt Lords. A single Crypt Lord can command a group of Webweavers and Flying Spiders. There are at least five Crypt Lords now, so the situation is rather troublesome."

"The best solution is to blow up those tunnels, then kill the Crypt Lords. For blowing up the tunnels, we need people who can move quickly—people who can run and fight." As he spoke, Adona's gaze could not help but settle on Alpha. Seeing the commander looking at Alpha, the adjutant also turned his gaze toward the werewolf, despite not knowing why.

Feeling the eyes gathering on him, Alpha sighed. "Fine. What do you need me to do, great commander? I will follow your orders."

Adona pulled Alpha over and draped an arm across his shoulders. "Good brother, I'm counting on you. The adjutant will explain the details to you. I still have other matters to handle, so I'll be taking my leave."

With that, he released Alpha and left with several others. The resigned Alpha and the adjutant exchanged wry smiles, both sensing that they shared the same fate. The adjutant said, "Lord Alpha, allow me to explain the relevant details. This way, please."

"Given the urgency of the situation, I'll keep it brief. Your task is to destroy those tunnels, and if possible, kill those five Crypt Lords as well. We have already prepared the explosives. Do you have any questions?" Alpha only felt that this was truly concise. It sounded easy enough, but actually doing it would be difficult.

Seeing no response from Alpha, the adjutant continued, "As for the bombs, let a professional teach you how to use them. We're here." Only then did Alpha notice that they had arrived beside the armory.

"Lord Soth, the commander sent us to collect explosives—the kind that can blow a Crypt Lord into the air!" the adjutant shouted.

"What are you shouting for? It's not like I didn't hear you." A short, dark-skinned Dwarf rubbed his messy bird's-nest hair and replied impatiently.