Having come this far, Dick simply stopped hiding his identity. As he fired his Dwarven Rifle at the feeble remnants of the Old Gods, he openly told Kel'Thuzad the history of this palace.
"This place is called Tyr's Fall. It's the tomb of Tyr, one of the ancient Titan Keepers."
"Back then, Tyr left in anger over internal disputes among the Guardians, only to be surrounded and attacked here by the Old Gods. The valiant Guardian was outnumbered, but at the moment of his fall, he detonated the titan power within his body, killing every servant of the Old Gods on the battlefield. This valley was also created by that enormous explosion."
"Although Tyr was blown to pieces, his brothers built a tomb here to commemorate him. But they also discovered Zakajz, a gravely wounded, dying servant of the Old Gods. It was so powerful that even the Titans couldn't destroy it completely. They could only seal Zakajz away."
It was year 20 of the Dark Portal. At this time, the entire human world had only just recovered from war, and the mages had little leisure to study such ancient history. So not only Jaina but even Kel'Thuzad listened with keen interest.
And Kel'Thuzad truly lived up to his future reputation as an Archlich. The Skeleton Soldiers he had made himself were absolutely ten thousand times stronger than those pieces of trash that shattered at a touch. The Skeleton Warriors held the front, while the Skeleton Mages unleashed tides of ice and shadow. The Death Knights served as a mobile force. Whenever those remnants of the Old Gods, resembling disgusting lumps of mutated flesh, broke through, the Death Knights rushed over to plug the gap.
So, despite the enormous number of enemies, the three continued chatting at an unhurried pace.
"You said there was an artifact here. What artifact is it, exactly?"
By now, even if Kel'Thuzad had been blind, he would no longer have taken Dick for an ordinary soldier. He held great respect for anyone who possessed unknown knowledge, a trait common among mages. Dick concealed nothing either, although both knew that, in the end, they would certainly have to fight it out.
For now, however, their cooperation was going fairly well. Dick did not want to conceal too much, either. He looked at Kel'Thuzad.
"This artifact is actually the relic that Twilight's Hammer is desperately searching for. Do you know those lunatics?"
Kel'Thuzad nodded.
"I've heard of them. They're an organization that only arose after the Second War, and they mainly operate in Kalimdor. Are you saying this artifact has some connection to them?"
"No."
Dick shook his head. "I'm only saying that Twilight's Hammer will be this dark artifact's third victim."
"Remember Zakajz, whom I mentioned? Do you know why it took Zakajz twenty thousand years to break through the seal? Because this dark artifact has been secretly devouring its power all along. Zakajz only has a sliver of a chance when the dark artifact enters the mortal world."
"This dark artifact is the remains of an Old God. A true Old God, one of the five original Old Gods born on Azeroth. But before it could grow, the other four Old Gods devoured it. Xal'atath, Blade of the Black Empire-that is the last proof that the Old God named Xal'atath ever existed."
"It has appeared in the mortal world three times. The first was ten thousand years ago, when a priest of the Gurubashi Troll Empire obtained it. The result nearly destroyed the Troll Empire, which could contend with the Elf Empire. The second was on the eve of the dwarves' War of the Three Hammers, when Modgud, the wife of Sorcerer King Thaurissan, obtained this artifact. That directly triggered the division of the dwarven empire."
Dick turned to Kel'Thuzad, his expression bizarre in the extreme. Even his voice turned cold and eerie, his tone like someone telling a ghost story.
"Twilight's Hammer has already been drawn to this dark artifact. They'll soon come looking for it. Kel'Thuzad, are you ready to become its third master? Its first two masters
both died without even a place to be buried. Even their souls were completely devoured by this never-satisfied demonic weapon." Of course, Dick was not deliberately using that tone. Kel'Thuzad had already activated the Scourge Mark, and his body was transforming into that of an undead creature with every passing moment. He could even feel his body slowly growing colder, and his sense of touch had become much duller.
Faced with Dick's question, Kel'Thuzad fell silent for a few seconds, then strode proudly toward the great hall, which had already been completely cleared.
"Only an insatiable artifact like that is worthy of me! It will ultimately become my most powerful weapon."
Dick shrugged and followed Kel'Thuzad into the great hall. Behind his back, however, his fingers secretly gave Jaina a signal to stay alert. Though it lasted only an instant, Jaina's eyes immediately lit up.
The Death Knights and Skeleton Soldiers were besieging a giant Faceless One in the hall. This servant of the Old Gods had an octopus face, a body covered in the shells of undersea creatures, and long feelers like a lobster's. Its arms were two enormous lobster claws, opening and closing with tremendous force. Its whole body was a weapon, and it was also proficient in the Old Gods' dark sorcery.
It was an exceptionally difficult opponent. Alone, it kept every undead soldier occupied. Each attack shook the spacious hall, and whenever it was wounded, its foul-smelling blood fell to the floor and formed twisted lumps of flesh that attacked the undead.
Dick knew that this Faceless One was called Pos, a guardian born from the blood of the sealed Zakajz. It was not particularly powerful. Moreover, in the real world, the game's challenge levels had naturally been removed. Otherwise, any level 100 goblin bandit could have thrashed Archmage Kel'Thuzad, whose level in the game was only 80. That was simply impossible.
"Don't get caught up fighting it! As long as Zakajz lives, this monster's vitality is limitless!"
Seeing Kel'Thuzad about to act, Dick hurriedly stopped him.
"That cave behind him! There, that's where Zakajz is sealed. Xal'atath is there too!"
Kel'Thuzad reacted immediately. Gripping Dick's and Jaina's shoulders, he flickered out of sight, using Blink to take them both across the battlefield between Pos and the undead.
That power! He absolutely deserved the title of Archmage.
At least, Dick had never seen any NPC mage in the game who could Blink with other people.
Standing at the cave entrance, Kel'Thuzad immediately sensed a heavy dark power permeating the cave. Somewhat carried away, the Archmage strode inside.
Jaina had already slipped her left hand out of the Anti-Magic Shackles she had secretly opened and was about to cast a spell, but Dick held her back. His face had become horrifyingly gaunt, and his complexion was dreadful. Jaina looked at him, and Dick silently shook his head.
This wasn't the time to act yet!
Dick hurried into the cave, with Jaina close behind. Kel'Thuzad stood in its center, looking at the enormous creature pinned to the ground before him by purple magic.
If Guardian Bors outside had been terrifying enough, then the giant beast lying here absolutely had the appearance of a demon king.
Like Pos, its entire body was covered in dark green chitin, but his body was five times larger than Pos's. The octopus face atop its head was even more ferocious, with rings of fin-like structures surrounding it. It had a long tail like a sea beast's and bone spikes all over its body. Bound to the ground, its every breath made the oppressive atmosphere in the cave heavier.
Visible black energy swirled around its body. Each intake and release seemed like the beginning of a black storm. The energy dispersed through the air, colliding with the purple energy restraining it and throwing off countless sparks every second. Less than a step away from the beast, a strangely shaped dagger floated in midair.
It was deep purple all over, its grip just long enough for an adult's hand. It also had a ring-shaped guard covered in black barbs. At the very center of the guard was an eye that kept opening and closing. Dick could even feel that eye looking at it. The blade was curved, with a reversed edge.
What was a reversed edge? It was a construction completely opposite to that of a normal blade, designed specifically to tear flesh. It was a vicious weapon, and a different ring of fel runes surfaced on its dark, sinister blade every second.
As Dick looked at it, whispers gradually rose in his ears, a jumbled din that went straight into his heart!
Kel'Thuzad gazed at the dagger in fascination. The immense arcane power within it intoxicated him, and the whispers drew him under. He approached it step by step. With all his attention on the dagger, the Archmage failed to notice that Dick was also quietly approaching Zakajz's sealed body behind him, one step at a time.
As Kel'Thuzad reached out and took Xal'atath's grip in his trembling hand, the purple binding effect on the surface of Zakajz's body vanished completely. Dick leaped up as well, throwing himself onto Zakajz's body.
Of course, Dick was not trying to get himself killed. Quite the opposite-he was pursuing the only chance of survival for himself and Young Lady Jaina.
Because Zakajz was lying on the ground, even Kel'Thuzad had failed to notice that a bronze-colored two-handed longsword was actually embedded in its chest.
Dick had lied. Well, it could not quite be called lying. He had merely withheld some information.
In this palace, more than one artifact actually lay hidden around Zakajz, the servant of the Old Gods.
Three in all!
Aside from Xal'atath, Blade of the Black Empire, which was trying to devour Zakajz's power completely, the closest one to Dick was the longsword embedded in Zakajz's heart. It was a two-handed greatsword, and it had remained inside Zakajz's body for a full 2,800 years.
Some 2,800 years ago, faced with a troll invasion, the fragmented human world formed its first unified nation, the Kingdom of Arathor. Arathor, a mighty ruler of his age, allied with the high elves of the time to repel the trolls, utterly scattering the Amani Trolls, the former overlords of the Northern Frontier. But not long after the war ended, Arathor mysteriously disappeared. His kingdom endured for 1,600 years before splitting into the seven nations of the present.
While inspecting his borders, Arathor happened upon Xal'atath entering the mortal world. Freed of its restraints, Zakajz broke through the seal for the first time. The servant of the Old Gods was very weak then, and Arathor fought it. With his final strike, he drove his longsword into Zakajz's heart, forcing it into slumber.
Emperor Arathor himself also fell in this nameless valley under the Old God's final counterattack.
The sword was named Strom'kar, also known as the Warbreaker. It was the longsword Arathor had used to wound Zakajz, the human world's first steel sword. It housed the soul of humanity's first warrior king and had remained inside the servant of the Old Gods for 2,800 years, nourished by its power for all that time.
Without exaggeration, this was a weapon whose potential rivaled the runeblade Frostmourne. In fact, even in the game, this sword was one of the Warrior class's three artifacts. Xal'atath, Blade of the Black Empire, was the Shadow Priest artifact. But the Shadow Priest class had only appeared less than ten years ago, so naturally there was no question of ownership yet.
Dick's goal was not this sword. He knew perfectly well that, with his current strength, even obtaining Strom'kar the Warbreaker would give him no hope of beating Kel'Thuzad. The gap between their strength was simply too great for a single weapon to bridge.
But Dick knew one detail: once this sword was pulled out, Zakajz would awaken from its forced slumber!
This was the opportunity he had been waiting so desperately for!