Reporting

After the four Forsaken warships received their orders and set sail, Harkel commanded her the Witherer to proceed at full speed, while she herself diligently sharpened her swords in the cabin, her eyes fixed on the Grand Marshal's Sword on the wall. She needed to prepare thoroughly before heading to the other side of the Great Sea to annihilate humanity.

The temperature in the cabin suddenly dropped significantly, and three dark figures appeared, all of them Blood Elf with dark skin.

"You've done very well, Harkel. Lord Delvin is very satisfied," one of them said. His voice, coming from beneath his mask, was unpleasant and unsettling.

Harkel loathed swearing allegiance to anyone other than the Witherer, reminding herself that this was merely a deal between her and Vampyr. This deal was struck one night after her naval attack. The Blood Prince Delvin had personally approached her, promising her a chance for revenge: all she had to do was travel to Ratchet, and the rest was taken care of.

Were those humans brought by him? Harkel had her doubts, but upon reflection, conflict was indeed one of the effective means of instigating war. Commander Tatsel decided to take action because of her experience. What was wrong with that?

"Everything is going very smoothly on my end. What about Delvin? How long is he going to drag this out? In less than two days, my ships will be facing off against the humans of Southshore. Within a week, the Alliance will completely lose control of the northern border of the Eastern Kingdoms."

"Excellent. You did a great job, Harkel."

"All I do is for the Forsaken. I care about nothing else."

"Of course, this war will unleash the wrath of the Forsaken upon the living. You have been suppressed for far too long."

"You still haven't answered my question. What is Delvin doing? He promised to get the Forsaken the help of the Horde. Now I haven't even seen a single Horde soldier."

"Lord Delvin will give you an answer: the Alliance and humanity will pay the price."

"It's good that he remembers his promise."

In Harkel's view, he was simply choosing the lesser of two evils. While the Horde and Vampyr were hardly benevolent, at least they wouldn't provoke the Forsaken. The Alliance, however, was different; they had plotted assassinations against the Witherer and harbored prejudice and hatred towards their former brethren.

Harkel had been abandoned before, but that wasn't all. The Witherer had always maintained a policy of 'taking a step back' towards the living, letting the world know that the Forsaken were not the Scourge. Harkel also believed that one day the living would gradually understand them, these cursed souls, and treat them as equals. But as time went by, humanity's prejudice against them deepened.

At first, they avoided them, but after seeing their timid and submissive manner, they were no longer afraid of the Forsaken. Instead, they began to mock and ridicule them, truly treating them as weaklings who were easy to bully.

Harkel had reached his limit. If he could team up with a vampire and let humans taste blood first, Harkel felt it would be acceptable.

Of course, this would undoubtedly go against the Will of the Witherer's master. Harkel didn't want this to happen either; she was always grateful to the Witherer. Everything the Forsaken today was connected to him. But the Witherer's master harbored a blind illusion about the living, perhaps because he had an Elf wife and children.

But so what? His family had abandoned him, proving that the Witherer's master's expectations were fundamentally flawed. With time, Harkel believed he would realize his mistake. This time, the Alliance's last remaining port stronghold in the northern Eastern Kingdoms would also perish.

War was imminent. Harkel had finally sharpened her weapon, and she couldn't wait to see it lick human blood.

When Marla and her two companions returned safely to Maraudon, Veronalara was waiting for them.

"Madam," Marla said immediately upon seeing the Dark Ranger Commander, "I'm sorry, I have some bad news for you." She glanced to the side and then noticed that Archmage Meryl was also there.

"You're back too late," Veronalara couldn't help but scold. Anger and apology flashed in her eyes in quick succession. In Marla's eyes, she seemed to be struggling with something.

"Alright, tell me what you've discovered."

Calila glanced at Meryl suspiciously. The Undead waited calmly to the side, the Dark Ranger curious about his purpose there. Before she could figure it out, Marla began to speak.

"Madam, we are certain that those Alliance ships at sea are pirates in disguise. They are secretly gathering on Okaz Island, attempting to escalate the conflict between us and the Alliance."

"Pirates can't stir up any trouble, Marla. Any other discoveries?"

"Yes, we suspect that the Horde was the one who orchestrated all of this."

"Horde?"

Marla nodded, and then spent a few minutes explaining the situation of the Terror Totem, followed by a report on their ambush by Vampyr.

Upon hearing this, Veronalara's expression turned incredibly grave. "Vampyr, I thought these vampires were all dead. I can't believe they're also connected to the Horde?"

Before Marla could respond, Meryl spoke first, "Very likely. Nathanos refused to accept Vampyr because they are cold-blooded and ruthless, and fond of killing and war, and the Great Chief Horde the same kind of person."

"The fact that we were attacked on our way back means they knew our itinerary perfectly well. Someone must have informed those vampires in advance. There is a traitor within our ranks."

Veronalara's expression turned grim; she was certain that even if she were still alive, her face would be deathly pale.

Calila added, "It's no secret that Vampyr is good at disguise. Many years ago, a Blood Prince named Valanar infiltrated the upper echelons of the Alliance's Fortress of Courage. The point now is how we find those vampires."

"This matter is indeed important, but it's not the most urgent thing right now." Veronalara waved her hand, as if to block out the information that Marla and the others had worked so hard to gather.

Calila looked at her, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Before you returned, Tatsel left Maraudon with four warships and headed towards the Eastern Kingdoms."

Marla didn't need to know where Tatsel had gone; she only heard 'four warships.' She frowned and asked, 'When did this happen?'

"Last night, she didn't even ask for our opinion."