The undying Zul'jin

Inside the hall at Farstriders Camp, Herad leafed through the confiscated supplies.

Everything piled here for communal storage consisted of artworks and books with no practical value.

The other spoils had long since been divided up in private.

Although the Forest Trolls were savage and backward, they had amassed plenty of plundered gold, silver, and jewels.

But to Herad, those treasures were worth less than the book of yellowed papyrus in his hands.

The Trolls wrote in hieroglyphs, which were not too difficult to understand.

The author of this book had been a fairly powerful Hexxer.

Hexxers were much like Witch Doctors, both unorthodox practitioners of Voodoo.

The difference was that Hexxers practiced it with greater finesse, making them an advanced form of Witch Doctor.

Judging by the book's contents, this Hexxer had wanted to absorb the mana essence of Animal Loa.

But the mana essence of Animal Loa was too overpowering. Absorbing it recklessly would give the user an animal's head.

The Hexxer clearly could not accept losing his handsome tusks.

He had been researching a method of absorption that would leave his head unchanged, and his work had been nearing completion.

Had he succeeded, he would certainly have helped Zul'jin absorb an Animal Loa, then taken a share of the benefits himself.

After preying on the Animal Loa, those two Trolls would undoubtedly have ranked among Azeroth's strongest.

If such powerful beings emerged, especially Forest Trolls, Quel'Thalas would never know peace.

Animal Loa were not particularly intelligent and could be frightened by the Sunwell, which was merely an inanimate object.

Forest Trolls, however, would not be scared off by an inanimate object.

They would charge into the Magic Defense Barrier to wreak havoc, then flee when an army arrived to surround and destroy them.

Who could stop enemies like that?

Certainly no one in Lordaeron.

The Dwarven kingdom to the south had High King Modimus Anvilmar.

But he had already turned into a stone statue.

Those ordinary Dwarven kings certainly could not defeat a demigod-level powerhouse.

Farther south, in the Kingdom of Azeroth, lived Medivh, a human demigod-level Mage.

But an evil soul had invaded him, leaving him mentally unstable.

The High Elves were indeed powerful. They had created a demigod-level Mage for humanity.

Yet they had no supreme powerhouse of their own who could reach that level.

Perhaps this was the ugly face of politics!

A demigod-level powerhouse could stand alone against an entire army.

If he started throwing his weight around in Silvermoon City's Council, the councilors would have a difficult time.

To preserve the purity of politics, such a supreme powerhouse could never be allowed to emerge!

For a High Elf Mage relying on his own training, even becoming an Archmage was a rare achievement.

Reaching demigod level required a qualitative leap that normal training could never accomplish.

The most powerful High Elf Mage at present was King Anasterian.

But he was still very, very far from becoming a demigod.

Even Arthas, empowered by an artifact, could defeat him with ease.

The strength of an entire race meant nothing before a demigod-level powerhouse!

The Forest Trolls were already preparing to produce demigod-level powerhouses, while the High Elves had made no preparations at all.

That was clearly unreasonable.

Herad brought in a scholar well versed in Troll writing to translate the entire book.

From the moment the scholar began translating until he finished, cold sweat never stopped beading on his forehead.

Having spent years studying Troll writing and history, the scholar gleaned a wealth of information from the book.

The scholar wiped the cold sweat from his face and said, still shaken:

"How terrifying! They've actually succeeded in devouring loa before!"

Herad was also somewhat shocked by the scholar's translation.

It was an account of the Hexxer's everyday experiences during a pilgrimage to Zandalar, the Troll Holy Land.

It described how Priests subdued Animal Loa, then extracted their mana essence to strengthen themselves.

Those Priests had grown animal limbs.

But they had indeed gained tremendous power as a result.

However, the extreme act of devouring Animal Loa was not accepted by mainstream society in Zandalar.

They would be hunted down as heretics.

Other Animal Loa and the powerful Troll Enforcement Squad would hound them wherever they went.

Yet the secret to devouring Animal Loa had still spread.

Although this Hexxer was dead, there was no guarantee another would not emerge.

Herad handed the original book and its translation to a messenger, ordering them delivered to Silvermoon City as quickly as possible.

It was time for those idle old men in the Council to convene another squabbling session and argue endlessly among themselves.

Whether they would come up with any effective countermeasures remained unknown.

But the undying Zul'jin would soon return from the Underworld with the help of the god of death.

Perhaps the next time he appeared, he would already be a demigod-level powerhouse who had devoured an Animal Loa.

The esteemed councilors had little time left to deliberate.

Watching the messenger mount a Dragonhawk and depart, Herad could only hope the esteemed councilors would prove useful and devise a solution quickly.

If they feared demigod-level powerhouses meddling in politics, they could create eight or ten of them to balance one another out.

The sight of demigod-level powerhouses squabbling among themselves would probably be quite entertaining.

After Herad watched the messenger leave, Sylvanas noticed him staring blankly at the white clouds overhead with a very strange smile on his face. She almost thought something was wrong with him.

She held her hand in front of Herad and raised several fingers.

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Three. Why are you asking me that?"

"You looked like an idiot just now."

At Sylvanas's jab, Herad immediately bristled.

"I was just thinking! There's no way I looked like an idiot!"

Faced with Herad's denial, Sylvanas produced compelling evidence.

"Lor'themar, come here and imitate what he was doing just now."

Lor'themar, who had been wandering nearby, reluctantly came over when called.

At Sylvanas's insistence, he convincingly imitated the way Herad had been gazing up at the sky.

Seeing that vacant stare and odd smile, Herad had to admit that the combination did look rather stupid.

But he quickly thought of a way to clear his name.

"Although I might have looked a little stupid, I was considering matters of national importance."

Sylvanas remained noncommittal about Herad's defense.

"What matters of national importance could there possibly be now?"

Zul'Aman had been razed to the ground, and the Animal Loa had all been sent back where they belonged.

There were no longer any threats around Quel'Thalas.

Brimming with confidence, Sylvanas soon heard Herad drop a bombshell.

"A Troll developed a method of devouring Animal Loa. When Zul'jin returns again, he may well become a demigod-level powerhouse."

Zul'jin, a demigod-level powerhouse!

Lor'themar reacted most strongly to the news.

His proudest achievement had been capturing Zul'jin alive.

In the end, he had forced Zul'jin to sever his own left arm and flee.

Zul'jin was a ruthless, unyielding bastard notorious for his brutality and bloodlust.

The strength of his thirst for revenge needed no explanation.

If that old monster who refused to stay dead truly became a demigod-level powerhouse, coming after them for revenge would definitely be his first priority.

Annoyed to see her subordinate already losing his nerve, Sylvanas gave him a kick.

"Now you're scared? Why didn't you just kill him with one slash back then?"

The High Elves had killed Zul'jin many times, yet he had never been seen singling anyone out for revenge.

But torture was far more vicious!

He would certainly find a way to retaliate.

Especially once he possessed tremendous power, his desire for revenge would be intense.

Seeing Lor'themar cowering like a whipped dog, Herad shook his head speechlessly.

It took some nerve to provoke an undying monster!