Since four years ago, he and Raynor fought against the Zerg on the protoss' home planet of Aiur and helped the protoss escape. Over the years, feeling the power of the Zerg, Zeratul has been pursuing a story about the Zerg. and the ancient prophecy of the Xel'Naga's return.
He had an intuition that if he didn't figure this matter out completely, something terrible would definitely happen!
After a long period of time, based on some fragments of ancient Protoss documents, Zeratul discovered that on this remote planet Ulan, which had long been abandoned by the Protoss, there were actually some records of ancient prophecies preserved here. slate?
Therefore, he came here today on a small Star Spirit Space Shuttle, to this remote planet, trying to uncover the long-shrouded secrets buried here...
"The arrival of the insect swarm is exactly as predicted..."
In a huge dark cave, Zeratul used the strong light emitted from the green psychic blade on his right hand. He looked at the stone slab carefully while muttering something.
Sure enough, what he saw in front of him was what he had been pursuing.
After confirming it, he began to read patiently, bit by bit, while his colleagues also struggled to translate the obscure ancient words and abstract patterns on the stone slabs.
"Then the protoss, the first race conceived by the gods, rose up against them..."
"Now, the Xel'Naga who created us...is about to come back..."
"Are they coming back to save us...?"
"...Or is it destruction?"
This is all the information Zeratul learned from this stone tablet.
Well, actually, this was just a random guess by Zeratul based on the patterns. As for the words, he didn’t quite understand them!
Moreover, he also discovered that the information recorded on this stone tablet was not comprehensive. It was probably just a part of the entire prophecy? Therefore, after carefully removing the slate, he planned to search in other temples, scan and record all the other slates recording prophecies, and then directly take them down and pack them away.
Suddenly, when Zeratul turned around and prepared to leave for other temples on the planet Ulan, several Zerg hydralisks appeared in the ruined temple cave and attacked him. .
"Hehehe..."
When Zeratul easily killed all the insects blocking his way in a few seconds, a woman's deep laughter came out in the darkness.
Then, when Zeratul followed the laughter and looked over, he saw a man with a pair of huge bone wings, his whole body covered in cuticle-like scales, and his hair was segmented like bone spurs. But a woman with a human body and a beautiful face stepped out of the darkness.
Zeratul said that he knew this person, and he was very familiar with him! At the same time, he gritted his teeth with hatred!
She is: the culprit who destroyed countless creatures and planets, the new queen of the Zerg after the Overlord was killed, the Queen of Blades - Kerrigan!
"I knew you would definitely come here in the end. Zeratul, were you also attracted by that prophecy?"
Kerrigan walked out of the darkness alone. After looking at the hydralisks hacked to death by Zeratul with disdain, Kerrigan smiled indifferently.
Although there are still many of her troops in the cave, she is not ready to summon them now, so as not to overly irritate this ancient templar and leader of the dark church.
As an existence deliberately created by the master, Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades who was granted knowledge, certainly knew why Zeratul came here. Therefore, after roughly knowing Zeratul's whereabouts, she came here in advance. I came to this planet named Ulan to make arrangements, and planned to have a good talk with this old man who had a pivotal position among the stars.
Just now, the reason why she let out a few hydralisks was just to let the old man beat him for a short while to dissipate his anger.
"Your mere presence has defiled this sacred place, Kerrigan!"
Unfortunately, Zeratul didn't want to listen to the words of this Zerg executioner who had slaughtered countless creatures. In the next second, he released the green psychic blade he had just withdrawn again, preparing to attack the enemy.
"Don't you hear it? Zeratul - that whisper coming from the stars? The entire galaxy will soon turn into a sea of fire..."
Kerrigan planned to persuade this stubborn old man that she didn't need to look at the prophecy tablet at all. She knew much more than what Zeratul now learned from the tablet!
In fact, this matter started when the Lord was born...
Originally, the Zerg master was created by Eamon and given the ability to think and learn, but was unable to gain free will. It kept resisting in the prison of its thoughts.
No one has ever known who was controlling the Overlord behind the scenes. Later, the Overlord of mankind was discovered, and finally a good way was found to free all the Zerg from Eamon's control, and that was to create the Queen of Blades Kerrigan. !
This magical being created by Eamon believes that only she can keep the Zerg away from the fate of slaves, and only she can prevent the cruel future foreseen by the master...
This is why Kerrigan does not blindly attack Zeratul now. She knows more than the other party, and she obviously hopes to cooperate with the protoss with powerful psionic power to resist the coming fate of destruction!
As for finding cooperation with humans, she didn't dare to think too much. After all, she, Kerrigan, has killed billions of humans over the years. Is this hatred almost boundless?
Besides, in the view of Queen of Blades Kerrigan, who has not yet restored her human memory, humans are too selfish and fickle, and their individual strength is too low, so they are really not a good partner!
Therefore, the Star Spirit clan became her only choice!
Among the various branches of the protoss, Zeratul, the respected and open-minded leader of the Dark Church of the Nerazim Protoss, has become the only person she can possibly talk to?
"Probably...but I'm afraid you won't be alive to see that time!"
Seeing that Queen of Blades Kerrigan seemed to appear alone in this place, without many swarms to accompany her, Zeratul would certainly not miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
If he really accidentally killed the queen of this insect swarm, wouldn't that have solved a big harm to the creatures in the Koprulu sector? !
Therefore, he stopped talking nonsense with the enemy in front of him, directly raised the green psychic blade in his hand, and then a shadow struck, turning into a black mist, and instantly rushed towards the Queen of Blades Kerrigan. past.
It's a pity that the Shadow Raid has just reached the front and top of the Queen of Blades. Before Zeratul's psychic blade could swing down on the enemy's head, he was blocked by the opponent's psionic energy. In mid-air, he was violently pushed out by an invisible psionic energy field.
"Please! The small conflict between us has now become meaningless! An unstoppable storm is coming!"
"Zeratul, we don't have much time left. Now we should unite...to fight the cruel fate of imminent destruction."
Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades, doesn't want to fight this stubborn old protoss, at least not now!
She was afraid that if she accidentally beat the other person to death, wouldn't there be no room for relaxation? By then, it would be obvious that she and her insect swarms would not be able to effectively fight against that terrifying existence that was hiding in the darkness and always ready to destroy everything!
Because of this, she did not summon the swarm of insects not far away just now, nor did she use any lethal skills. Instead, she only protected the opponent's attack and bounced it back.
"No!!"
Zeratul still stubbornly refused the other party's proposal. He already had a lot of sins on his body, how could he still join forces with the bugs? He has not forgotten why the protoss' home planet Aiur fell!
If he really did what the other party said, then he, Zeratul, would really become the eternal sinner of all the protoss.
Therefore, after being bounced into the air by the opponent's psionic shield, he disappeared instantly again, and once again used his shadow raid skill. With thunderous momentum, he used up all the shadow power in his body, disappearing and appearing. In an instant, he waved his psychic blade and struck directly at the Queen of Blades...
The next second, a burst of shadow smoke appeared again, and Zarath appeared on a rock in the distance, covering his right arm in pain.
With the blow just now, he had successfully hit Kerrigan, Queen of Blades. However, his own right arm was also severely injured by the opponent's counterattack.
"It seems that fate cannot be changed after all... The ending will eventually come... When it is my turn... I will accept it happily..."
Looking down at one of the psionic bone wings that had been cut off by the opponent and slid to the ground, Kerrigan frowned in frustration.
From this point of view, the negotiation and cooperation between the two parties has obviously failed, right?
Since the cooperation failed, it can be foreseen that in the near future, the destruction of the entire galaxy will be, perhaps, really inevitable?
Therefore, after using her super regeneration ability to regenerate the bone wings, Kerrigan stretched out her hand to calm her surroundings a little. Those behind the swarm who were planning to rush up to tear the enemy to pieces, sneered and took one last look at the stubborn star. Old Man Ling then turned around and walked into the darkness.
Kerrigan actually doesn't feel much sadness about not being able to reach cooperation.
From the perspective of Kerrigan, who has not yet recovered her human memory, since we can't work together to survive in the face of the upcoming tragic fate, then we might as well be destroyed by our destined fate together...
"Prophecy... is not absolute! There will always be new hope..."
After seeing the Queen of Blades Kerrigan leading her swarm into the darkness, Zeratul thought about it and resisted the idea of cooperating with her.
In fact, at that moment just now, he really believed the other party's words. Just now, the other party clearly had the opportunity to kill him easily, but she did not do it cruelly...
Coupled with the prophecy he had just seen and his own intuition that he had already had a premonition about it, what about the whispers among the stars?
Otherwise, he would not have spent a lot of time in the past few years, dedicated to finding this ancient prophecy about the return of Xel'Naga.
However, at least for now, he still has a trace of fantasy. He feels that if he can collect all the fragments of the prophecy slate, he may be able to find some kind of better one that can avoid being destroyed without cooperating with the Zerg. method?
————
"My mother! Did I hear you correctly just now? We seem to be involved in some big event?"
"The ancient prophecy of the Star Spirits? The destruction of the world? The unstoppable storm? The fate of Laoshizi? And the galaxy will turn into a sea of fire? What on earth were those two monsters talking about?!"
In the bridge of the Führer heavy battlecruiser after the magic modification, Captain Plank grinned excitedly and shouted loudly while drinking wine.
It turned out that they had just passed the detection magic engraved on the battleship by Lord Anne, and used an invisible mobile true vision detection guard to quietly follow the strange protoss that landed on the Ulan planet, and then use the bridge to The magical manifestation, through the vision provided by the scout guard, saw and heard the entire battle and conversation between Zeratul and the Queen of Blades Kerrigan!
"Your Majesty the Head of State, what should we do now? Do we want to get involved? Have you seen it, right? That protoss named Zeratul seems to be planning to collect all the prophecy tablets?"
After watching the images transmitted from the reconnaissance guard screen for a while, Gangplank became a little uneasy!
According to what those two people said, a disaster that seemed to be sweeping across the entire galaxy was engraved on those prophecy tablets?
Then, think about the identities of those two people: one of them is a high-ranking member of the Protoss race, the leader of the Dark Church? And the other one is even more amazing! Is it Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades of the Swarm? Given their identities, they wouldn't just come here to act out of trouble, right?
Therefore, Planck thinks that this matter is at least 80% likely to be true!
If people like myself don't get involved quickly and understand the details, maybe we will really be finished with a black eye by then? He didn't want to be a confused man when he was about to die!
"Well……"
Little Annie frowned and ignored the old man next to her who smelled of alcohol.
She just hugged her little bear and sat on the captain's chair with interest. She squinted at the images fed back by the reconnaissance guards and didn't know what she was thinking.
In fact, when Zeratul checked the stone slab just now, she had secretly asked the scouting guard to scan it, and now she herself roughly knew some of its contents.
It's nothing more than the creator of life in this universe named Xel'Naga, who is preparing to return to this universe again! Then, based on the conversation between the two people, it was not difficult for her to guess its meaning: It seems that the returning Xel'Naga intends to completely destroy the life created by them in this world?
Isn't this just like the Burning Legion in the world of Azeroth? Is it the so-called Dark Titan or something? It is said that he is the boss of the great demon Archimonde who was killed by the green-headed elves? what do you say that is? It seems to be Sargeras?
Tsk! Little Annie herself didn't expect that in this world that seemed to be on the technological side, there would be something like this Creation Titan?
If this is really the case, then this is consistent with the huge and dark malice that little Annie felt when she first came to the Keprulu star region!
By now, she had a rough understanding of the patterns, but she didn't quite understand the specific words on the stone slabs.
It seems that the above is written in an ancient language written by some kind of spiritual imprint?
If she wanted to further interpret it, she would have to get in close contact with the stone slabs. By relying solely on the images provided by the scout guards, she could only roughly understand the patterns.
But... there seem to be a lot of bugs down there. Do you want to go down and cause trouble?
"Darius, what do you think of those two people?"
Galen continued to look at the images fed back by the reconnaissance guards with a stern look on his face. In it, Zeratul, the warrior of the protoss, was advancing invisibly, dealing with the insects blocking the road like a melon and a vegetable.
He actually doesn't care about prophecies and the like, and he doesn't understand them either!
What he is more concerned about is the Protoss Templar named Zeratul! That star spirit seemed very different from the ones they had fought on Star Haven before? Very difficult to deal with?
"I don't know about that female bug, but that star spirit is indeed a terrifying opponent!"
Looking at the protoss warrior in the picture who killed a lot of bugs without taking any damage, Darius's expression was a bit unpleasant.
In the picture just transmitted back, the opponent actually used the magical method of invisibility to hack a huge thunder beast insect to death in just a few or two blows as if it was a joke?
This protoss, whether it is the method of turning into black smoke to teleport and attack, or the flickering and prison-like skills of suppressing the enemy, makes Darius find it very difficult to deal with!
What's even worse is: does the opponent even have the kind of skillful close combat skills and the ability to be completely invisible? If it was a being with low perception and low IQ like a bug, it would probably be hacked to death by the enemy without even knowing it, right?
"When there is a real fight, if there is no way to break the opponent's invisibility or sense the opponent's existence, then I am afraid that all of our two teams combined will not be his opponent..."
Darius is not afraid of this terrifying protoss warrior if it comes to a head-on confrontation!
But the opponent not only has weird attack methods, but can also turn into black smoke to attack at short distances or flicker at long distances. What's more terrible is that it can also maintain invisibility for a long time. This is really impossible to fight...
Darius could imagine that if ordinary human marines faced such an opponent, how many lives would not be enough to survive such a bizarre assassination, right?
"If the distance is not far, I have a way to force him out of invisibility, but... he can still flicker for a long distance..."
Looking at the picture, a flash across a cliff one to two hundred meters wide, Galen didn't know what to say.
The ability to run fast, be invisible throughout the entire process, attack in an instant, flash over a long distance, and also suppress the opponent, leaving him to chop and kill without being able to counterattack? This is simply cheating!
That is now, if it were the time before them, without melee capabilities or special powers, how many people would go up there would not be enough to kill by one person?
"Now! Galen, how many troops are there in our battleship?"
Finally, Anne, who had been sitting in the captain's seat in silence for a long time, wondering what she was thinking, finally spoke up at this time.
After thinking about it again and again, she felt that they could move forward and retreat freely now. With a battleship on standby in orbit, they could be teleported back at any time, and they were not afraid of being attacked by the swarm of insects? In this way, it seems that we can really go to the ground to stir up the situation and see if we can 'borrow' a few prophecy tablets that the protoss finally collected for a look?
"Army, army?"
Galen was stunned when he heard the questions from his little head of state Anne. Could it be that their head of state was going to fight with the bugs and protoss?
"Report to the Head of State: In addition to our 20-man Heads of State Guards, this Battleship of the Head of State is currently only equipped with a Marine Corps of 300 people, two heavy siege tanks, and the first batch of ten trial production maintenance tanks. Jing fighter!"
As a captain and military officer of the Führer's Guard, Galen is obviously relatively clear about the armed equipment of the Führer battlecruiser.
These are the troops that they can put into landing operations at any time. As for the security personnel, guards and crew members in other positions on other warships, they are not included for the time being.
"Why do we only have so few manpower..."
She wrinkled her cute little brows again. When she discovered that there were only so many troops on board her battleship, Anne muttered dissatisfiedly. She had always thought that there would be at least several thousand people on this battleship. Woolen cloth!
But who would have thought that there would be so many combat troops? Normally, this battleship looks quite big to her...
"Forget it! You go now and let all the marines dress up. Later, we will also go to the ground of this planet to have fun!"
After saying that, she jumped down from her seat.
If she needed to go to the ground, she seemed to have to go back and change into her ghost suit that she hadn't worn for a long time.
"As you command!"
There was a fight, and the modified warship Head of State, like the protoss warships, has the ability to teleport individual soldiers back and forth, so Galen will definitely not be scared.
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"This is the last fragment of the prophecy, Karas, our mission will be completed soon..."
Zeratul looked at the last temple altar in front of him and said happily to the high-level templar warrior who had suddenly teleported down to help him.
He had fought for so long regardless of the injury on his arm, and now, it was finally time for him to get rewarded!
As long as they know all the stone tablets and the contents on them, maybe they, the protoss, will know how to resist the terrible fate of being destroyed?
"Headmaster Zeratul, please take down the slate quickly. I found that the insects seem to have followed..."
High-ranking Templar Karas was not very happy. Instead, he looked worriedly at the darkness in the distance. There seemed to be a faint roar of insects. They... I'm afraid they would be able to find this place soon. ?
"The last fragment of the prophecy...it mentions a person who will 'break the cycle of gods'?!"
After taking off the slate, Zeratul looked at it for a while. He couldn't understand what the contents meant.
Breaking the cycle of God? !
What is a loop? Why does it loop? Who can break it? What does it have to do with the coming destruction? Then, who is this person who breaks the cycle? !
"Master Zeratul, can't even you decipher the specific contents of these tablets?"
Karas was a little surprised. Could it be that even Zeratul, the older patriarch, couldn't interpret this prophecy? So what's the point of all their efforts and sacrificing so many warriors?
"Some of the writing is blurry, and other writing is very ancient... Perhaps, we need the wisdom of the guardian..."
After once again recalling the contents of the tablets he had seen before, Zeratul shook his head helplessly. His knowledge was not enough to completely decipher these tablets.
"Kerrigan, come out, I've found you!"
After putting away the slate, Zeratul suddenly straightened his face, waved his psychic blade, and coldly shouted at a high ground in the distance.
He had just sensed Kerrigan's nether energy fluctuations, and the other party was behind that high ground!
"Perhaps you can understand the full meaning of the prophecy, Zeratul!"
"However, since you have refused to cooperate, you will eventually be unable to escape the fate that awaits everyone and will eventually be destroyed together..."
Queen of Blades Kerrigan sneered and walked from the darkness to the high ground, looking down at the thirty or fifty Templars and Zeratul in the distance next to the temple below.
"Why don't you accept your death happily? Since it is already a destined ending...what's the point of your resistance...?"
Now that she had no expectations for cooperation, she also wanted to know the specific contents of the tablets obtained by Zeratul.
After all, survival is the instinct of all living things! Therefore, she also wanted to find specific methods from these prophecies that would allow herself and her Zerg to survive the coming catastrophe.
Therefore, it is obvious that defeating and killing Zeratul now, and then grabbing those stone tablets from the opponent is her best and only choice at the moment!
"Come out, my pets, and crush them!"
The next second, the soft gravel ground behind Kerrigan began to tremble, and then countless bugs ambush here, a large number of hydralisks, puppies, and even several huge thunder beasts, They all emerged from the ground one after another...
"We are simply outnumbered! Master Zeratul, take the fragments of the prophecy and leave here quickly. I will help you stop the Queen of Blades!"
The high-level temple wizard Karas discovered that not only the temple where they were, but also farther away and in all directions, there were roars of a large number of insects?
The situation is already clear. They are now completely surrounded by a massive swarm of insects!
"I will never leave you! Brother!"
Seeing that Karas, a heroic high-level warrior, actually wanted to fight against Kerrigan alone, Zeratul immediately became anxious. He knew that if the other party did this, he would simply die!
"The prophecy is more important than any of us. We must unlock this secret, Zeratul! It is our future!"
If we escape together, the final result is probably to die together!
Because Karas knew that under the swarm of insects, except for Zeratul, who could easily escape by using his invisibility and blinking abilities, everyone else was just a group of burdens...
If this is the case, then he must make a final contribution to the opponent, hold off the Queen of Blades, and give Master Zeratul a greater chance of escaping?
"Psychic Storm!!"
After finishing speaking, without waiting for Zeratul's reaction, Karas led the last thirty or so remaining Zealot Templars and formed a thin two-line formation at the front of the road where the swarm of insects rushed down.
"Go! Master Zeratul!"
Afterwards, he immediately floated behind the array under the protection of the Templars, and began to activate the psionic power of his whole body, allowing the lightning storm to pass through those hydralisks and puppies. On the road, a large ball of psionic lightning was formed, smashing into pieces those bugs that dared to plunge into the storm area...
"Your sacrifice will last forever...my brother."
Youyou sighed. Knowing the seriousness of the matter, Zeratul tightened his backpack, then turned around and prepared to run in the other direction.
Wait...this isn't right! Why did someone teleport down again? !
Zeratul, who had just run a few steps, found something at this moment and had to stop again. Because, with his sensitive perception, he discovered that there was a strong wave of teleportation from the army on the flat land not far across the way?
Is it the new protoss force? Why is this situation happening? So many clan members have been sacrificed, but there are still people teleported down from space to die? ! Are their commanders crazy? !
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
After a series of teleported blue lights and strange sounds dissipated, both the protoss and the Queen of Blades Kerrigan, who was standing on the high ground watching the battle, discovered this group of outsiders who had recently entered the battlefield.
"This is... a human army?!"
To Zeratul's surprise, what was transmitted was not a member of their protoss clan, but three large square formations of neatly organized human marines?
Their number seemed to be more than three hundred. Except for the leading row of twenty marines in gold and red paint carrying cold weapons and a small ghost, behind them, there seemed to be a whole group of Three centurions of black-armored marines?
And look at the battle flags held by each of their phalanx flag bearers. On top of the battle flag is the head of a ferocious bear with burning flames? !
This... what kind of human force is this? What kind of trouble do they want to cause when they appear here at this time?
Moreover, why has he, Zeratul, never seen this kind of human flag after wandering around for so many years?
Which country do they belong to? Is it the Umokian Protectorate? The most powerful Tyranid Empire? Or the Kaimorian Consortium? But it doesn’t seem to be the case? Has any new force emerged among humans? !
Also, the most important thing is: when did humans master the individual teleportation technology unique to their protoss? ! Don’t they only know how to make simple jumps between battleships?
After all, when the individual psionic energy level does not meet the requirements, the technical difficulty and threshold are clearly there! How did they break through the technical difficulties and directly implement long-distance transmission on fragile human individuals? Aren't you afraid that their bodies will be torn into pieces during teleportation?
