On the shores of rippling Lake Mirondal, in a quiet wilderness almost no one visited, two sides faced each other. One radiated indescribable chill and evil; the other was cold enough to almost freeze the soul.
"Kel'Thuzad, it really is you!"
Dick stood in front of Jaina, shielding her, but when she saw Kel'Thuzad step out of the portal, grief she could hardly conceal crossed her face. She even broke past Dick's protection, looking ready to rush toward Kel'Thuzad.
"Why? Why would you do this? Our mentor... our mentor valued you so much."
Frankly, this was Dick's first time seeing Kel'Thuzad in human form, too. How should he put it? Though his temples were gray, paired with his cold face, they made him unexpectedly handsome, like an older man with a cold exterior and a warm heart. But Dick was certain that the heart of the man before him was far colder than his face.
So he immediately caught Jaina in his arms as she rushed forward and forcibly held her as he backed away several steps.
Kel'Thuzad merely watched the sobbing Jaina and the exceedingly wary Dick with indifference. Then he shook his head.
"A little girl like you will never understand! The Kirin Tor Medivh opened the Dark Portal and brought the Orc invasion, but he also brought us mysterious and precious Warlock Spells. Those secret texts are hardly inferior to the system of magic we inherited from the High Elves. Their offensive power is even greater!"
With a mocking smile, Kel'Thuzad looked at Jaina, seeming to see Antonidas's stubborn influence in her. He gave a cold snort.
"But Antonidas has grown old. He no longer has the wisdom of his youth. He actually locked those precious texts in the library basement and forbade anyone from studying them! He doesn't understand the power of those spells at all. All of Dalaran is filled with cowards who dare not challenge Antonidas's authority. Only I, I alone, can see the value of those spells!"
"They are the prelude to a new era! A magnificent age of magic!"
Kel'Thuzad spread his hands as though to embrace that great age, yet his madness and reason seemed to coexist. He looked at Dick, who had taken the rifle off his back, and Jaina, who had wiped away her tears and tightened her grip on her staff.
"Only the chosen are qualified to enter that great age! You... you are all about to be cast aside!"
As Dick watched Kel'Thuzad, a strange smile suddenly appeared on his face.
"Oh, is that the philosophy that crazy old Orc imprisoned in the Frozen Throne explained to you?"
At those words, Kel'Thuzad's eyes suddenly widened. He asked in disbelief,
"You... how do you know?"
Bang!
Dick's answer was to take aim covertly and pull the trigger.
Flame flashed from the twin barrels of the Dwarven Rifle. Driven by this world's primitive, explosive gunpowder, two specially made black bullets roared toward Kel'Thuzad's face.
A smile of success had only just appeared on Dick's face when Kel'Thuzad raised his left hand. A white energy palm, half a person's height and radiating icy cold that could freeze anything, hurtled toward him. Dick only had time to raise his arms in front of himself.
It felt just like being struck by the Troll two days earlier. Nearly half his body froze over, and he was sent flying backward. As he hit the ground, he saw Jaina wave her staff and summon two enormous emerald-green water elementals. The young lady deftly cast spells at Kel'Thuzad, who now stood protected by a crimson shield.
At that same moment, a quest triggered.
Beep... Lingering on in Desperation Save Jaina Proudmoore, an important figure in future history, from Kel'Thuzad. Friendly reminder: the only person Kel'Thuzad will spare now is Arthas. Jaina is not important enough for him to abandon the mission bestowed upon him by the Lich King. If you are still using the original history as your reference, you will undoubtedly die a terrible death. (This quest is extremely difficult! Completing it unlocks the main quest!)
In the few seconds Dick spent reading the quest description, the inexperienced Jaina quickly went from taking the initiative to being forced onto the defensive.
Antonidas himself specialized in time magic and frost magic, but he also dabbled in fire magic. Of his two disciples, Kel'Thuzad had previously focused on fire magic, while Jaina was a genius naturally suited to studying frost magic. An outstanding fire mage-that was one of the few impressions Kel'Thuzad had left on Jaina.
Yet now, facing him again after a year apart, Jaina, the frost magic specialist, was being overwhelmed head-on by Kel'Thuzad using frost magic, something he had previously been utterly unskilled in.
The two medium water elementals Jaina had summoned possessed innate freezing and heavy-strike abilities. They were strong enough to face Trolls head-on, yet they could not even break through the shield around Kel'Thuzad. In contrast, Kel'Thuzad could attack Jaina at will through his shield.
His frost magic was astonishingly powerful. With a casual toss, a fist-sized Frostbolt whistled toward Jaina, so fast that she had to use Blink to evade it. But Kel'Thuzad lightly pointed the staff in his other hand, and a green ray shot from its tip, striking Jaina squarely as she emerged from Blink.
Dick recognized the spell. It was unmistakably a warlock's Drain Life. Caught off guard, Jaina suffered a slight disruption to her attack rhythm. As her life force was drained away, she stumbled. Kel'Thuzad seized the opportunity, pointing his staff again and again. Curse of Agony, Curse of Weakness, Fatigue The Cursed, and Elements The Cursed landed on her in succession.
These curses all ignored defenses and acted directly upon the body. Under curses with such different effects, Jaina's fighting strength quickly fell to its lowest point. Finally, with a triumphant smile, Kel'Thuzad casually flung the sulfur-scented flames surging in his left hand toward Jaina. They slammed into her like a cannonball.
The blow not only shattered the young lady mage's Ice Barrier, but also sent her flying straight into the arms of Dick, who had just stood up, knocking them both to the ground again.
Though the battle between the legendary mages had lasted only a dozen or so seconds, the surrounding ground had already been frozen and corroded by ice and shadow energy, leaving it riddled with pits like a battlefield bombarded by artillery.
This was also Dick's first time watching a battle between mages. Visual effects: MAX. Destructive power: MAX. If the victor had not been his opponent, Dick reckoned he would have jumped up and applauded.
Even now, their situation was already utterly terrible. Dick was frozen stiff, and his fighting strength was insignificant in the eyes of Kel'Thuzad, who combined a frost mage and a shadow warlock in one. Worst off was the young lady. Jaina still bore four deadly curses, and that final Immolate had thrown all the arcane power in her body into chaos.
Her face had flushed red, and her body was convulsing. Even with his frozen hand pressed against her forehead, Dick could feel its burning heat.
"Your spells are reasonably powerful, but your combat awareness and casting technique are a complete mess. Antonidas has ruined another genius. Heh, how pathetic!"
Kel'Thuzad dismissed his blood-red shield. The two water elementals had already dissipated when Jaina lost the ability to fight, leaving only four broken Elemental Binding Bracelets behind. Watching Kel'Thuzad approach them step by step, feeling the cold and corrosive aura emanating from this future Archlich,
Dick knew he had little time left. This man had decided to kill them!
"Any last words? I will mercifully give you the chance to speak!"
Kel'Thuzad raised his bizarre staff, dark red from end to end, carved with dragon-shaped ornaments, with four blood-red stones floating at both its upper and lower ends. But at that moment, Dick, who had been staring at him all along, suddenly spoke.
"Let's make a deal, Kel'Thuzad!"
"What?"
Kel'Thuzad thought he had misheard. What right did this wretched human brat have to make a deal with him? Simply because he knew the great Lich King's true form? Ridiculous!
Kel'Thuzad considered this nothing more than a bluff. Just as his staff was about to descend, Dick shouted again,
"An artifact left by the Titans!"
Whoosh!
The reddish Dragon-shaped Staff, wreathed in terrifying cold and shadow power, stopped above Dick's forehead. Dick looked at it. If he remembered correctly, this staff should be called "The Cursed," one of the drops from the Scourge Necropolis Naxxramas. It looked impressive, but because its stats were mediocre, few mage players used it.
"What did you say?"
Kel'Thuzad finally gave Dick a chance to speak. But judging by the staff hovering rock-steady above his forehead, if he answered poorly, cold death would probably still await him and the young lady Jaina.
Under the pressure of life and death, Dick swallowed, gathered his words, and spoke.
"After the Titans finished their work of creation, they left this world. But they left the Guardians behind to watch over Azeroth. Those Guardians all live in a hidden realm in Northrend. While serving in the Fourth Legion, I once accidentally entered another hidden realm in Tirisfal Glades. The remains of a Guardian are buried there. I'm certain there's an artifact left by the Titans there!"
"Heh!"
Kel'Thuzad looked at Dick as though he were mad and shook his head. His staff was about to swing down when Dick shouted again,
"Our lives are in your hands! What would I gain by lying to you? Come and look with me. If it's true, give me a chance. I... I'm willing to serve the Lich King! I'll persuade Jaina to join you, too. Don't you hate Antonidas? Making him watch both his most prized disciples betray him-isn't that the cruelest punishment?"
"Oh... interesting!"
Kel'Thuzad narrowed his eyes at Dick, then glanced at Jaina, who had passed out but was still convulsing in pain. He tilted his head.
"One last question. Why should I believe you? You're merely a soldier. Jaina is a princess of Kul Tiras. Why would she listen to you?"
"I... I..."
The unexpected question stumped Dick. He glanced at Jaina's pained face, gritted his teeth, took the Violet Badge from his belt, and held it before Kel'Thuzad.
"Because we've already pledged ourselves to each other in secret! Surely you recognize this? She gave it to me as a token of her love! So I can persuade her to join the Scourge, but not now!"
"Hmm~ Jaina's identification badge from when she first joined Dalaran. Hahaha! To think a princess would fall for a vulgar human soldier. This is the funniest joke I've heard all year!"
Kel'Thuzad withdrew his staff, reached out, and touched Jaina's forehead. The young lady's body immediately went limp, though she remained unconscious.
Dick had only just breathed a sigh of relief when Kel'Thuzad abruptly seized his left hand. With a light press, Dick let out a howl of agony-the pain of flesh being sliced open, seared, and charred.
"I still don't trust you. But with this Scourge Mark, if you disobey my orders, your body will slowly turn undead. I think a filthy Ghoul would suit your station perfectly... hahahaha!"