"Hmm, I'm growing more and more interested in this place!"
Kel'Thuzad extended his withered hand, intricate magical lines appearing at his fingertips. He tapped the air before his eyes, and a band of purple light appeared across them, covering them like a blindfold.
This was Arcane Sight, a wondrous, specialized spell that could replace the eyes. Kel'Thuzad noticed no difference in his field of vision. But when he turned around, he saw Dick and Jaina embracing, locked in a passionate kiss.
They were so absorbed, so oblivious to everything else, as though they had eyes only for each other.
To be honest, the Archmage was rather dumbfounded. This public display of affection had caught him completely off guard.
But he soon understood why. These two youngsters had probably had their minds affected by the peculiar field here.
Kel'Thuzad was an obsessive, reclusive researcher, and he had no desire to waste time on such trivialities. He swung his staff and struck Dick from behind, interrupting the passionate kiss.
"Enough, boy. You can carry on with that once you get back!"
The Archmage gave Dick a displeased look. Dick was staring blankly at Jaina in his arms before hastily letting her go. Jaina lowered her head, her cheeks red, looking shy.
"I... what happened to me?"
Kel'Thuzad ignored Dick's question entirely. He gestured, and the thirty-odd cultists behind him, whose expressions were growing increasingly strange, went ahead toward the lake.
"What are you doing?! They'll... they'll be controlled!"
Seeing those people approach the lake so casually, without blindfolds or anything plugging their ears, Dick could not help asking. Kel'Thuzad turned back and "looked" at him. Though the purple band concealed his eyes, the chill that rose from deep within made Dick involuntarily retreat two steps.
He understood what Kel'Thuzad intended.
The Cursed Mages and Warriors reached the lakeshore safely, but at that moment, the atmosphere turned eerie.
The thirty-odd people stood blankly by the lake like marionettes. Every one of them stared at its surface, and their perfectly synchronized movements sent a chill through Dick's heart.
He had experienced this storyline more than once in the game. The mind-controlling power of the Old Gods permeated this valley, and anyone who entered rashly would go mad. Players in the game had only passed through this area safely under the protection of Emperor Arathor's soul.
But seeing this scene in reality was truly unnerving.
The next moment, a sudden slaughter began!
Thirty people shouted all manner of slogans. The Mages used no magic, and the Warriors used no blades. They simply swung their fists in a chaotic frenzy, fighting a mad brawl with fingers and teeth.
Flesh and blood flew-literally flew! Every cultist seemed controlled by the malice in the deepest recesses of their minds. As they destroyed the bodies of others, they also sent themselves to their doom.
Even Kel'Thuzad had probably never witnessed anything like this. Dick stared in a daze, while Jaina's face turned pale. In the end, the bloody spectacle frightened her so badly that she ran aside, bent over, and began dry heaving.
Ten minutes later, Grayson, the strongest of them, was the last person standing. But scratches and bite marks covered his body, and the flesh on his chest and face had been torn open. He was still alive, but he was certainly close to death.
Kel'Thuzad broke his silence as well. Leaning on the Cursed, the Archmage strode forward, with Dick following behind him. Though Jaina did not want to approach this slaughterhouse, she wanted even less to remain alone in this eerie valley.
Kel'Thuzad did not so much as glance at the surviving Grayson. The fallen Archmage raised his staff, arcane power surging within his body,
forming a dark red point of light at its tip. He touched the staff to a corpse whose intestines had been torn out. Once the dark red energy entered it, the corpse began moving strangely. What little flesh remained on it fell from its skeleton. The skeleton seemed to retain its own consciousness; it shook itself, wiped the blood from its white bones, then pulled a black robe from the ground and draped it over its frame.
Two green soul flames burned slowly in the skeleton's dark eye sockets. It held a Bone Staff in its hand. This was... a Skeleton Mage, and judging by its appearance, a relatively high-level one!
Kel'Thuzad touched them one after another with his staff. Before long, a thirty-strong skeleton force had taken shape. In this slaughterhouse, where blood covered the ground and its stench was choking, twenty Skeleton Mages and ten Skeleton Warriors carrying white Bone Swords and bone shields appeared beside the clear lake.
But this was not enough to surprise Dick. What truly stunned him was Kel'Thuzad pushing two black stones into the bodies of Grayson and another Warrior. After he chanted an incantation and poured energy into them, dark red light surged over the two corpses, seemingly reshaping them.
From his Storage Backpack, Kel'Thuzad took out two sets of black skeletal armor and finely crafted dark runic weapons, then tossed them into the dark red light.
A few minutes later, amid a series of cracks, black mist billowed up. Two towering figures, their entire bodies encased in black armor, stood behind Kel'Thuzad. Merely approaching them, Dick could sense the bloody, lurking, corrosive presence emanating from these two shadows. Dark red soul fire had replaced their eyes.
"Death Knights!"
Jaina cried out involuntarily!
These evil weapons, first developed by Orc Warlocks during the Second War, were slaughterers on the battlefield. She had never expected Kel'Thuzad to possess the technique for creating Death Knights as well.
Dick watched coldly from the sidelines. He knew that the Lich King trapped in Icecrown Glacier in Northrend-the soul of Ner'zhul, the first Orc Warlock-must have taught Kel'Thuzad this. The gifted Archmage had then improved upon it, imbuing the Death Knights with the power of ice and plague.
The crowning masterpiece of Death Knight creation was Arthas, wielder of the Runeblade Frostmourne. The power of ten thousand souls protected the second Lich King's body at all times. Had Tirion Fordring, the last surviving First Paladin, not wielded the divine sword Ashbringer seven years later, staking his life under the Holy Light's personal blessing to sever the Runeblade in a single blow, Arthas would never have fallen.
In his previous life, Dick had also played through the Death Knight class questline. Becoming a proper Death Knight required an extremely complicated, precise, and tedious process. It could not possibly be as convenient as Kel'Thuzad made it look, so however ferocious these two Death Knights appeared, they were probably only half-finished products.
"Look! The undead have no reason, cannot think, cannot hear tempting demonic voices, and cannot see scenes of depravity. They don't even rest. They're simply perfect soldiers!"
Kel'Thuzad paid no attention to Dick or Jaina. After a few self-satisfied remarks, he gave the order to advance. The two Death Knights led the way, with the thirty skeleton guards following behind, surrounding Kel'Thuzad protectively.
The entire force walked straight into the bone-chilling lake water. A spell resembling a large air bubble appeared around Kel'Thuzad's body, keeping all the water outside, and he too walked easily down to the lakebed.
Of course, he did not forget to give shields to Dick and Jaina, whose arcane power had been sealed.
The lake was not particularly large. A ruined palace lay in the center of its bed. The temple's style was both rugged and intricate, nothing like the work of humans or other creatures.
Dick knew this was a tomb the remaining Guardians had built for their fallen brother.
This place was called "Tyr's Fall."
Kel'Thuzad's personal command of the undead already bordered on art. Under his control, the thirty Skeleton Soldiers searched the entire ruined palace in less than ten minutes, but aside from some murals with research value, they found nothing meaningful.
The Archmage turned to stare at Dick. Dick stepped forward, roughly surveyed the temple's layout, paced a few steps, then lay down on the ground. He pointed at the stone slab before him and made a knocking motion with his hand.
They were underwater, where sound could not travel. Although Kel'Thuzad possessed immense arcane power, he was not powerful enough to maintain a mental link at all times, so they could only communicate through gestures.
Seeing Dick's movements, he pointed a finger. The Death Knight carrying a runic War Axe on his back walked over and raised the heavy weapon, which shone with intertwined green and red light, in both hands. Three clanging blows disturbed the water, but also successfully shattered the slab.
The surrounding water abruptly grew turbulent, rushing joyfully into the enormous passage beneath the slab. Kel'Thuzad's eyes lit up. He moved his fingers again, and the Death Knights led the Skeleton Warriors in great strides into the hidden passage.
It was a winding, upward-sloping U-shaped passage. After walking underwater for ten minutes, the three finally breathed air again. But when everyone emerged from the passage, they all froze in place, Kel'Thuzad included.
They were now beneath the lakebed, where an Underground Palace Complex lay hidden. Its construction style was identical to that of the palace in the lake, but the buildings here were more intact. Large patches of glowing moss clung to the rock overhead like lamps, illuminating the underground palace all the more brightly.
Recovering himself, Kel'Thuzad looked at Dick suspiciously, his tone distinctly unfriendly,
"What is going on? Don't you think you owe me an explanation?"
Dick narrowed his eyes. A few seconds later, he exhaled,
"Phew... that slab was a seal left by the Titans, because there's not just an artifact here, but a monster they sealed away!"
Shing!
The other Death Knight's Runeblade came to rest against Dick's neck. Beside him, Kel'Thuzad's face was dark,
"You were lying to me?"
"No, I wasn't lying to you! Without me, you would never have found this place."
A polite smile appeared on Dick's face. He looked at Kel'Thuzad, his tone growing forceful as well,
"We've already come this far. The Titans' seal is broken, and the monster is awakening. Unless we kill it, none of us can leave safely. So whether you like it or not, you have to keep playing this game!"
Kel'Thuzad took a deep breath. He turned toward the bizarre creatures of all manner of shapes pouring out of the palace. Though deeply unwilling, he still ordered the Death Knights and Skeleton Soldiers to charge.
He hurled a highly corrosive red orb, disintegrating a monster whose face was covered in tentacles into a scatter of minced flesh. Then he turned back to Dick, who was loading a bullet into his Dwarven Rifle,
"Then who exactly are you?!"
Dick glanced at him, then at the now-activated Scourge Mark on the back of his left hand. He shrugged,
"I'm Dick. Dick Tang."