Miss Dagger

A sharp voice suddenly rang out. Tonatiuh froze, then immediately realized he had not heard it through his ears—it had spoken directly inside his mind.

In other words.

She, or He, or it, or something else, was communicating with him telepathically.

Considering the dagger's appearance and suspicious identity, an amused smile appeared on Tonatiuh's face.

"Who are you?"

He played dumb.

"..."

"I am a supreme Loa, troll. Do you wish to obtain the power of a god?!"

Tonatiuh suppressed a laugh.

"A Loa? Are you truly a Loa? Ah, then which god are you? The Scorpion of Wrath Sand from the desert, the Vulture Loa, or the Serpent God?"

"I am a Loa of a higher order, troll. You should worship me and devote yourself to me. Then I shall grant you supreme divine power!"

"How should I serve you?"

"Sacrifices. Just like your traditional rituals, offer me a feast of flesh, blood, and souls! If I am satisfied, I shall bestow supreme power upon you and make you lord over the trolls!"

"Oh? Blood, flesh, and souls? Then I'll go kill a hundred desert rabbits. Would that satisfy you?"

"..."

That voice hesitated.

"Desert rabbits? Troll! You are mocking me! Do you know the consequences of angering a god?! I will summon storms and thunder to destroy your tribe, let your enemies trample your people, leave your corpse to bake beneath the blazing sun, and have vultures and jackals devour—"

It had not finished speaking.

Tonatiuh impatiently cut it off. "Enough. 'Loa,' stop pretending. No, I should say... Xal'atath, stop pretending."

The frenzied, seductive voice, so full of primal violence that it suited communication between Loa and trolls, abruptly fell silent.

After a long while.

The voice finally returned, but it had completely shed its previous childish, manic, savage tone.

It became calm and quiet, yet carried a strange bewitching quality. It even sounded somewhat like the voice of a gentle older sister:

"Oh?! Little one, who are you? You actually know my name! Tsk, tsk. How remarkable."

"Are you really Xal'atath?"

"Ha~ How rare! I never expected a mortal to know my name, much less a troll. Troll, you are not as savage and primitive as you appear. Trolls like you only exist on that island. Did you come from Zandalar?"

"I don't care whether you are Xal'atath, but remember this: from now on, there is one thing you are forbidden to bring up when speaking with me. Do not ask about anything concerning me unless I choose to tell you myself!"

"You dare threaten me?!"

I am threatening you!

A fallen Old God is less than a chicken!

Tonatiuh did not answer. Instead, he gripped the dagger tightly and tried to spread that uncontrollable power within his body into it. Under his unfamiliar, all-out urging, he felt a tiny trace of that power creep into the dagger.

Almost instantly.

The presence within the dagger gave an intense response:

"Ah?! You wretch, what have you done?! Stop at once! Void above, what kind of power is this?!"

"Stop! Mortal!"

"You filthy troll, the Void will devour you!"

"..."

Under the intrusion of that unreasonable power, Miss Dagger seemed to be in terrible pain, as if she were being tortured.

Feeling that was enough, Tonatiuh stopped.

"Well, my lady?"

"You... insect!"

"Judging by that, you still wish to suffer at an insect's hands?"

"No! Stop! Mortal, you are crueler than C'Thun, Yogg-Saron, Y'Shaarj, and N'Zoth!"

"Heh... I'm flattered. Compared to everything you did to this world, what I'm doing does not even compare to a single hair on a Tauren."

"..."

The dagger fell silent.

After a long time.

It finally continued in a leisurely tone:

"It seems you know a great deal about us, troll. I am curious. Aside from those followers, there is actually a mortal who understands us so well. You are not a follower, so what exactly are you? There is a strange power within you. It prevents me from seeing your soul. Troll, what... are you?"

What am I?

I'm merely a lucky transmigrator.

Tonatiuh truly did feel fortunate now, and the reason for his relief...

He was already 99.9 percent certain that the dagger in his hand was the Blade of the Dark Empire—Xal'atath.

Xal'atath had a long history. Most native inhabitants of Azeroth had similar legends, and the origins of those legends all ultimately pointed toward the same ending.

The legends said that a group of great beings once existed. They were called the Titans, and they came to Azeroth, bringing order and light to the world.

But the natives of Azeroth knew nothing of what happened afterward. The true truth was known only to the Titan-forged, those created and left behind by the Titans under their orders.

As a transmigrator who had enjoyed the game's lore, Tonatiuh naturally knew the story that came after the Titans.

Long before the Titans discovered Azeroth, they already had their greatest and most terrifying enemies—the Void Lords.

The Void Lords had planted seeds of corruption upon this still-slumbering planet.

These seeds were called "Light-Dark Reactive Parasitic Symbiotes." These beings later became known as the Old Gods.

The Void Lords fired endless seeds through the infinite Void. Whenever these seeds encountered a living planet, they would take root there, corrupt it, and grow.

Five of them eventually arrived on Azeroth. They developed into the Old Gods: Y'Shaarj, C'Thun, N'Zoth, Yogg-Saron, and Xal'atath.

The Old Gods were extensions of the Void Lords, manifestations of the Void's forces in the physical world.

Through constant evolution, fusion, and devouring, they could transform into various forms as needed, with the primary goal of consuming and corrupting all things.

A world-soul successfully corrupted by the Old Gods was called a "Dark Titan"—and that was the Void Lords' purpose in corrupting Azeroth.

It was said that if Azeroth became a Dark Titan, the entire universe would completely fall into the Void, beyond all hope of redemption.

Azeroth's kin in the universe—the Titans—naturally would not allow such a thing to happen. They eventually found Azeroth, this world-soul of limitless potential that was still growing, already infested by the Old Gods.

Aman'thul, eldest of the Titans and father of the Pantheon, discovered that if Azeroth, this unborn little sister, could be born, she would sweep across the entire universe. The Void would be insignificant before her.

The Titans swore that they would let their little sister be born, and they made many efforts toward that end.

What happened between the Titans and the Old Gods after the Titans arrived would not be discussed for now.

Long before the Titans found Azeroth, the Old Gods had already begun ruling it. The period before the Titans' arrival was known to the Old Gods as the Dark Empire.

Yet at the very beginning of the Dark Empire, a drastic change had already occurred among the Old Gods. Through mutual invasion and devouring, the stronger Old Gods absorbed the weaker ones, turning them into extensions of their own power.

Among them, one Old God ultimately failed to resist the other Old Gods' invasion. It was devoured and perished. That Old God was Xal'atath.

Xal'atath's traces were completely erased from this world, but it had not left nothing behind.

Its remains were eventually reduced to a claw-like dagger, and within that claw lingered the Old God's remaining will and power.

Throughout the long history that followed, every appearance of this dagger was followed by horrifying rituals or disasters. This was Xal'atath—the Blade of the Dark Empire, also known as the Claw of Xal'atath.

This weapon was exceedingly ominous.

Legend said that everyone who obtained it would meet a terrible end. The best possible outcome was death.

Tonatiuh had witnessed it himself.

Modera had used it to stab Aegwynn. Had she not encountered him, she would most likely have ended up like its other wielders and eventually been controlled by Xal'atath.

Tonatiuh was also immensely relieved now. He was relieved that his unreasonable magic-immunity ability seemed to be a natural counter to Xal'atath.

Without that power.

Tonatiuh did not believe his will could have held firm against the power and temptation of an Old God, even a crippled and weakened one.

That was why he felt fortunate.

Hearing Xal'atath ask what he was, Tonatiuh replied leisurely:

"Sorry. It seems you have forgotten something. I told you earlier that unless I bring it up myself, you are not allowed to ask about my origins. As punishment..."

That unreasonable power invaded again.

"Ah! Stop! You insect! Niosaro will drown you!"

"Ah... stop!"

"..."

Miss Dagger screamed again.