Awakened by the rooster's crow at dawn, the people of Stromgarde, seeing the scene before them, quickly parted to focus their gazes on the Death Knight, then whispered amongst themselves:
"Isn't that King Thoradin? When did he go out? Why is he back now? And with the cavalry from Refuge Pointe?"
"Didn't you notice something's wrong? The sword of the Kingdom of Thoradin is gone, replaced by a giant sword! And his face is so pale, like... like a dead man!"
"Shh! Don't talk! Let's just watch. Something seems off!"
Despite the murmurs and whispers, the knights kept their eyes straight ahead.
Two days ago, when His Majesty the King appeared before them, when the legendary Marquis appeared before them, and when they saw the Marquis take out the divine sword Strom'kar, they had already made their choice.
When His Majesty the King, now Death Knight, accurately named two-thirds of them, they were convinced that the man standing before them was their King, the one who had led them to slay countless Troll and Orcs!
But what's in the royal palace is fake!
Each of them, upon joining this ancient and glorious force, swore an unbreakable oath: to forever protect Stromgarde, to protect Stromgarde, to protect His Majesty the King, with their lives!
Now, it is time for them to fulfill their vows.
They followed closely behind King Thoradin, their destination the royal palace, and that wretched imposter, that damned Dreadlord!
The bone dragon took to the sky again, flying first to the palace and casting a long shadow. Suddenly, a phoenix appeared, rapidly growing larger until its wingspan was twenty meters. However, it was not a fiery red phoenix, but a dark blue-purple Shadow Phoenix.
People's attention shifted again, drawn to the Shadow Phoenix, and then to the Bone Dragon and the person on its back.
"Huh? What's that? A Frost Wyrm?"
"Idiot! The Frost Wyrm is covered in icy cold, while that dragon is covered in scorching flames. Didn't you see the palace walls are blackened by smoke? That's a bone dragon, a bone dragon that breathes fire!"
"Is that the legendary phoenix? Why is it blue-purple?"
"Are you focusing on the wrong thing? Didn't you see the person on the bone dragon's back? That dragon knight?"
"A dragon knight? You don't know him? See that sword on his back? Is there another one like it in the whole world? Don't you know who he is?"
"My God! Could it be him? He actually came? I've heard of his exploits! He's the rising star of Lordaeron!"
"He is humanity's rising star! He has arrived, side by side with King Thoradin. What has happened?"
The king led the way, and no one stopped him.
Even though people soon discovered that another " King Thoradin " had emerged from the palace, wearing the famous " Trol'kalar Sword" at his waist, accompanied by Prince Galin.
Even though everyone knew there was something wrong, and that one of the two kings was definitely True Unity was fake, no one stepped forward.
A king possesses the " Trol'kalar Sword," and Prince Galin stands beside him;
The other king was followed by the last Arathor Cavalry of the world, and he came side by side with Marquis Nicholas.
So, who is the real king?
At this moment, no one dared to be certain.
"Who dares to impersonate His Majesty the King? I'll kill you!"
Suddenly, a captain of the guards, leading a dozen or so guards, charged toward King Thoradin, who was carrying a sword on his back.
Carlos's heart tightened:
These people have definitely been corrupted and controlled by the Dreadlord. There were more than a dozen of them at once. Who knows how many people in Stromgarde are still under his control? Who knows if the friends and family standing next to you have already been controlled by him!
But the next moment, suddenly a dozen cold lights flashed, and a dozen phantoms appeared behind the guards, their daggers poised at the guards' throats or hearts.
Throat slit! Heart piercing!
Clean, efficient, and a fatal blow!
Without a sound, more than a dozen guards fell, and the phantoms vanished again, in just three seconds, as if they had never appeared at all.
A chill ran down their spines: Could such a terrifying assassin be lurking among them?
Carlos felt a chill run down his spine!
Even he hadn't noticed the assassins' presence; their assassinations were swift and efficient, and each of them was more capable than him!
Aside from that legendary place, what other organization in the world could mobilize so many high-ranking assassins at once?
Carlos thought to himself, "The Marquis hasn't been idle for the past three days and three nights. Not only did he go to the Refuge Pointe, but he also went to the Ravenholdt Manor?"
"Protect His Majesty the King!"
"The cavalry has mutinied!"
"People of Stromgarde! Take up your weapons and protect His Majesty the King and His Highness the Prince!"
Chaos erupted throughout the city!
Just as Carlos had suspected, merchants, commoners, relatives, friends, the elderly, children, and even pregnant women—everywhere was corrupted and controlled by the Dreadlord —and now they were all attacking, not King Thoradin and his cavalry, but the rest of the people!
The people were in a panic, running around in all directions. Even Carlos himself had to be careful and avoid danger, as no one knew if someone would attack him!
Carlos instantly sensed the Dreadlord's sinister intentions:
I'm going to kill your people, what will you do?
Are you going to send those cavalry to stop them, or do nothing?
If you send your cavalry to stop them, you won't be able to do so in this chaotic situation. Even if you could, with so many cavalry lost, how will you fight against me and the guards I've corrupted and controlled?
If you remain indifferent, even if you defeat me and drive me away, you will lose the hearts of the people! At that time, I can still lie in wait and take the opportunity to cause trouble!
However, a few seconds later, Carlos realized that his worries were unnecessary.
How could the Marquis not have thought of this?
More phantoms appeared, hundreds of them in total, roaming the entire city. No one who dared to attack could escape their eyes or their hands!
Among these people were skilled assassins, at least twenty of whom were even stronger than him; they were likely experts from the Assassins' League.
There are also some who are clearly not that strong; where did their helpers come from?
It was too chaotic, but Carlos carefully observed amidst the chaos and quickly discovered some of the assassins' characteristics:
Their assassination methods clearly bore the hallmarks of Assassins' Order; they were actually members of Assassins' Order!
These people covered their faces before making their move, and even if they hadn't, he probably wouldn't have recognized many of them: most members of the Assassins' Order had never met each other before. This was a rule of the Assassins' Order, to prevent someone from betraying them and implicating others!
In addition, they had been clearing the ruins in the tomb for the past three days, and the guards were so tight that they were not allowed to leave. So Carlos was unaware that the Assassins' Order had also come here, and that they had mobilized more than a hundred of them!
The Marquis is indeed busy, and truly remarkable! The Assassins' Order members are scattered across various regions; how did he manage to mobilize so many in just three days?
Little did he know that Jiang Jie hadn't rested for a single second in the past three days in order to gather these people; he had practically run himself ragged! He had traversed the entire Arathi Highlands and Hillsbrad Foothills, and even returned to Lordaeron to finally gather them.
The power of hundreds of assassins is terrifying.
They were all highly skilled assassins, often killing with a single blow, slaying one after another those who first picked up a weapon in the chaos. Most of those people were controlled by the Dreadlord, some were members of the Syndicate, and of course, some were acting in self-defense...
So what?
In such circumstances, who can guarantee that no one will be wrongfully killed?
So what if a few are killed unjustly? The greater good must prevail!
King Thoradin kept his eyes straight ahead and continued walking.
Carlos looked at the dead face behind the blood-red helmet and thought that the Kingdom of Thoradin had probably changed.
Death can change a person!
He had read the Assassins' Order ' internal documents; the Undead often unconsciously loathe the world of the living, slowly distancing themselves from it, and their souls become as cold as their bodies.
If it were the former King Thoradin, he would have charged straight at the Dreadlord;
Now, he is taking his time, building momentum step by step, ignoring the fact that his people are being assassinated. He has changed!
Finally, King Thoradin stopped; the two kings were no more than a hundred meters apart.
Behind King Thoradin were several hundred Arathor Cavalry;
Behind Detheroc were several hundred Stromgarde guards, whom he had corrupted and controlled!
Of course, not all of these Stromgarde guards were under Detheroc's Mind Control; many were certainly misled into believing that Detheroc was the true king, especially since the one who had just walked over was a Death Knight!
Many guards were unsure of the situation, hesitant and unsure who to trust.
What will they do if they just start fighting like this?
Many uncontrolled guards will be killed, and even if the Dreadlord is driven away and killed, Stromgarde's last remaining strength will be completely depleted.
How to break this deadlock?
It's not difficult.
At the top of the palace, the bone dragon took off again, but Jiang Jie had already disappeared.
He took advantage of the chaos to approach Detheroc, and then suddenly unleashed his power, his divine sword piercing Detheroc's back like a ghost!
The sudden change happened so fast that no one had time to react.
The guards were filled with panic and astonishment: His Majesty the King had been assassinated?
However, the next moment, a thick black mist appeared around " King Thoradin's" body.
When the black mist dissipated, he had transformed into a Dreadlord nearly four meters tall!
At the same time, countless guards transformed into demons, and countless others were killed by the demons before they could react.
Everyone saw through the true colors of "His Majesty the King"!
" Charge!"
The real King Thoradin removed the Apocalypse Greatsword from his back, sprinted a hundred meters, and leaped into the air, aiming for Detheroc.
Behind him, the commander of the Arathor Cavalry raised his sword and gave the order.
A red wave swept through the palace in an instant, and a great battle finally broke out.