Arthas had a very happy vacation. He went all the way north from Stormwind City to Ironforge to meet his old friend Muradin, and got a brand new set of armor. He also spent a happy winter with Jaina in Dalaran. After the festival, he finally returned to Lordaeron.
Arthas, who returned to the capital of Lordaeron, put away his relaxed mood and began to deal with the piled up documents and instructions.
Train the Knights, participate in some Silver Hand missions, and provide instructions and advice to the Privy Council on operations in Kalimdor and Northrend.
Amidst the heavy plans and tasks, Alsace did not forget to enrich his own strength and knowledge. Apart from all kinds of arrangements and back-ups, his own strength was the foundation for him to stay in this crisis-ridden world.
But despite his steady improvement in strength, when the Silver Hand's mentor, Archbishop of the Holy Light, Alonsos Faol finally returned to the Holy Light, Arthas, who attended the funeral, still felt the ruthlessness and brevity of time.
The Holy Knights of the Silver Hand had long known that this day was coming. They were not too sad, but sent the Archbishop off for the last time with solemn and solemn expressions.
"Nothing in this world is eternal. Royal power, holy light, magic, and even death will eventually disappear."
Arthas stood at the forefront of the funeral, watching silently as the Archbishop's coffin was buried in the cemetery outside the great monastery in the northeastern part of Tirisfal Glades.
When the stone door of the tomb was closed, the spokesperson of the Holy Light, the mentor of justice and light, Archbishop Alonsos Faol, and his identity as a human being fell asleep forever.
Three years passed in a hurry, and Arthas went from a young paladin to one of the great knights of the Silver Hand, and he had initially established outposts in Kalimdor and Northrend. Not long ago, Van Cleef sent him good news.
His father, King Tenaris, is very old and plans to officially pass the crown of Lordaeron to his son within the next two years.
However, during this period of time, Tenaris received several bad news. For this reason, he also had a quarrel with representatives of several other countries at the regular meeting of the alliance.
Among them, there were two things that troubled the old king the most. One was the territory in the southern part of the kingdom. Orcs appeared again in the Hillsbrad Hills. They plundered some villages, breached a fortress, and rescued many people. The orcs imprisoned there.
But this thing was not bad. The orcs quickly ran into the mountains and forests after rescuing some of their compatriots. Tenaris had sent the light envoy Uther with a group of troops to Hill. Sblad defended tightly.
Originally, Alsace should also go with Uther, but there was another thing that Alsace needed to do.
According to news from the governors of various towns, a strange plague seems to have occurred in Lordaeron. Tenaris has sent Arthas to solve the problem, and Dalaran has also sent a Advisors from the Kirin Tor came to assist Arthas.
Alsace led a team of Privy Knights and rushed to the small town of Brill where there was news of the plague with a solemn expression.
He knew very well that Kel'Thuzad's Cult of the Curse was behind this. Assassins from the Privy Council had already eliminated many people who secretly believed in the Cult of the Curse. There were also agents from the Privy Council in the East and West Weld to strictly guard the food transportation routes.
Unexpectedly, under such tight defense, Kel'Thuzad and his Cult of the Damned could still accomplish so many things. He was worthy of being the former Archmage of Dalaran.
Under Arthas' strict control, the possibility of the plague spreading through the two important food-producing areas of Andorhal and Stratholme has been eliminated, but the Lich King and his men did what Arthas expected. , did not give up easily.
Kel'Thuzad specifically chose the time when the orcs were active again in Lordaeron to start his own plan in Lordaeron, just so that Lordaeron would have no time to take care of both ends and make mistakes.
The undead plague appeared much earlier than Arthas knew. He couldn't help but feel even more surprised. If his previous events had not caused huge changes to the timeline, the plague event that was almost a year in advance had not yet happened. Didn't it attract the bronze dragon's attention?
At this time, Arthas began to determine that there must be something wrong with the Bronze Dragon, and it was unable to come or interfere with the timeline where he was.
Arthas, who was supposed to be able to let go, was actually not very happy, because although the bronze dragons were a bit rigid, they did play a major role in many critical moments of life and death in Azeroth.
On one side of the road leading to Brill, Arthas and his knights set up a simple camp there, waiting for the "advisors" sent by Dalaran.
When the sun's position in the sky changed a lot, Alsace's adjutant, Captain Farric of the Privy Knights, said to the prince, "Your Highness, we have been waiting here for almost a morning. Brier's situation is urgent. , do we still have to wait?”
"Be patient, Farric, Jaina is often a little late." Arthas already knew who the Kirin Tor sent, so he didn't seem impatient. He is currently holding a piece of information and sitting on a stone reading it.
Farric nodded. His Highness the Prince's words were the orders he needed to execute. At this moment, several roars came from the forest not far away.
The knights prepared for battle, and Farric said to Arthas, "Your Highness, the voice sounds like an ogre."
As soon as the adjutant's voice fell, a tall figure with half of its body frozen fell down from the high slope on one side, wailed a few times and then lost movement. At the same time, the water element, which was a head taller than the ogre, slipped out of the forest. The female mage stood on top of the water element, with purple-blue magic runes rising from her palms.
Two more ogres chased out of the woods with thick wooden sticks. The female mage showed no signs of panic. The magic she had prepared was released from her hands, and the ice quickly froze the feet of one of the ogres. , the water element raised its fist and waved it, and the high-pressure water instantly penetrated the ogre's chest.
"Your Highness, do we want to go up and help?"
"No need, it's just two ogres." Arthas believed in Jaina's strength. "Give me the order, pack your things, and get ready to go."
Sure enough, as Arthas said, Jaina didn't spend much effort to kill the last ogre. She waved her hand to dissolve the huge water element. She looked at Arthas, who was leading a group of knights, and crossed her arms. Yao asked, "Don't you even know how to help me?"
"I'm here right now, but it's a pity that you moved too fast, so they are not easy to beat." Alsaceti said innocently, taking off his war hammer.
Jaina rolled her eyes at Arthas angrily.
"Come, gentlemen, let me introduce you. This is the Kirin Tor's envoy and our mage advisor for this operation, Lady Jaina Proudmoore."
The knights saluted Jaina one after another. Most of them had heard of this name and knew her relationship with the prince.
"Okay, no need to be polite, let's start the mission quickly." Jaina turned over and mounted the horse that Alsace left for her, and walked to Alsace's side, "We have to hurry, my teacher said this time Plague is unusual.”
"My spies have obtained information. There is no doubt that Kel'Thuzad is one of the troublemakers."
"Kel'Thuzad?" The surprise on the female mage's face flashed, and then turned into worry, "What the teacher was worried about did indeed happen... Maybe it was a wrong decision to just expel him."
"Then now is the time to correct this mistake." Arthas said calmly. No matter what the outcome of the plague was, Kel'Thuzad would definitely die. This was the starting point of all conspiracies.
It's a pity that I originally regarded Kel'Thuzad's death as the end of the matter, thus ignoring the darkness growing in Lordaeron.
Kel'Thuzad is just a spokesperson. His life or death has no impact on the Cult of the Damned. The real master of the Cult of the Cursed is the Lich King far away in Northrend. He is not even the real mastermind behind this plague. Not really.
The person who is driving the progress of the plague is one of the jailers guarding the Lich King, the Nathrezim from the Twisting Nether. They are demons known for their cunning and scheming.
In human records, there is another name for their race: the Dread Lord.
The real driving force behind the plague in Lordaeron was the Dreadlord Mal'Ganis, and Arthas was already tracking the exact location of the Dreadlord. Once Kel'Thuzad was taken care of, it would be his turn.
"What follows is a race against time."
Alsace's expression was grim, and the curtain of the era was slowly opening.
