After Antonidas sent Aiden out of the Kirin Tor Council chamber, he originally planned to show them around Dalaran. However, his servant brought news that Prince Arthas of Lordaeron had teleported here, saying he had important matters to discuss with Aiden.
The two exchanged glances. When they left, Terenas had just rejected Aiden, but now he had hurriedly sent Arthas. Something must have changed.
Realizing this, they canceled their original plans and rushed back to the Archmage's tower.
"Great, you're finally here!" Arthas, who was pacing anxiously in the living room, greeted the three upon seeing them, disregarding etiquette.
"What happened, Your Highness?" Antonidas asked.
Arthas's face showed worry as he quickly explained the plague that had occurred in Stratholme.
"My father wants me to bring you to Lordaeron. We are willing to apologize for the previous discourtesy, but we implore you to save those innocent people." The prince's tone was almost pleading, the first time he had spoken to someone in such a way since adulthood.
"Rest assured, we will not stand idly by." Aiden comforted Arthas, then gave a disclaimer, "However, I must state that we currently have no way to cure the plague."
Antonidas added, "No, that's not the most crucial thing. We are now facing a threat that has never occurred before. Lordaeron needs guidance and someone who understands the Scourge threat. I think you are perfectly capable of this task."
"Time is of the essence, let's depart then!"
The Archmage nodded and activated the group teleportation again, teleporting everyone to Lordaeron's capital city.
It was already afternoon, and the throne room was filled with ministers at a loss about the plague. Stratholme sent griffon riders every two hours to deliver news, and they had already received the third bad message: Twenty percent of Stratholme's population had been infected, and more than half needed to be quarantined, but the number of troops was insufficient. Some people with ulterior motives were inciting trouble in the city, causing the garrison troops a great headache. The commander said in the report that if more than half of the people were infected, the city might fall. To prevent more people from being infected, Dathrohan requested that the kingdom not send reinforcements to the city until a solution was found—that would likely increase the number of infected people unnecessarily.
King Terenas was restless. The ministers who had been eloquent in this hall before had not yet offered a insightful suggestion. Some suggested sending more troops for reinforcements, some were inclined to let Stratholme fend for itself, and some even suggested, in a frenzy, setting a fire to burn down the entire Stratholme and completely eliminate all hidden dangers—this attention-seeking madman had already been dragged out by the king's guards.
As a precaution, the king sent a small team of observers to investigate the actual situation there, and now they could only wait for their reply.
At this moment, the royal guard outside the hall suddenly shouted, "Archmage Antonidas of Dalaran, Commander Aiden of Valoran, and Prince Arthas have arrived!"
Terenas immediately perked up, as if grasping at a life-saving straw. He waved for all the ministers to leave and quickly walked down the steps towards the entrance.
He first grabbed Antonidas's hand and said, "Old friend, thank you for your assistance in this time of crisis!" Then he turned to Aiden, placing this overly young ruler on a completely equal footing with himself for the first time. He bowed deeply, "I must apologize for my previous ignorance and discourtesy. Aiden, commander of Valoran, I am both ashamed and admire your magnanimity for returning here. No wonder you have gained the allegiance of so many heroes, even angels from mythology. I have too many prejudices, and I must examine myself and apologize to you!"
"Please don't say that, King Terenas. I have always admired your kindness and tolerance. As fellow humans, how can I bear to see good people suffer undeserved disasters?" Aiden quickly helped the old king up. Although he knew that the king's apology was partly for show, like the words Old King Terenas taught Arthas: This is politics.
Arthas looked at his aging father and began to understand the meaning of the word.
After taking their seats, Terenas said, "Shortly after you left, a wizard who could turn into a raven also came here to warn us. But I rudely had the soldiers drive him away. Is he the prophet, Medivh, you mentioned before?"
Aiden immediately knew from Terenas's description that it was Medivh, but it seemed that the Guardian's appearance was a bit earlier? But on second thought, Kel'Thuzad's exposure was a few months earlier. Now that the Scourge's conspiracy had surfaced, the Lich King's plan would naturally be brought forward, so it was not surprising that the Guardian Medivh appeared earlier.
Under the influence of the butterfly effect, everything that happened on this timeline began to gradually deviate from its original trajectory.
"No, it wasn't, but he is indeed a prophet. And a prophet of Azeroth. You have all heard of his name." Aiden thought that although Medivh hadn't revealed his name, he probably wouldn't mind others knowing his identity. "He is Medivh."
Antonidas frowned, "Isn't he dead? Khadgar told me that they killed him with their own hands."
"His mother, the Guardian Aegwynn, resurrected him. Now he is truly himself and has begun to fulfill his duties as a Guardian."
Terenas thought of Medivh's words, "The Dark Tide is coming again, and the continent is on the verge of war," "The only hope is to go to Kalimdor," "Staying will only lead to destruction with this place," and couldn't help but ask in horror, "Then are those things he said true?"
Is it true?
Aiden wasn't sure either. Because the world was already different.
He answered truthfully, "That remains to be seen. But according to the current state of affairs, yes."
"The Scourge has been planning for a long time. They have now mastered the means to destroy humans and expand their own ranks. All that's missing is a suitable opportunity; the Lich King of Northrend has also secretly accumulated enough power and will not be easily killed; more importantly, they are only the vanguard of the Burning Legion. The real disaster comes from the Burning Legion. Frankly speaking, with the current strength of humanity, it is impossible to contend with their leader, the Defiler Archimonde. To put it bluntly, all of us combined are not enough for him to kill."
Everyone listened as if they were hearing a heavenly book. They couldn't imagine such a powerful being. Kayle, next to Aiden, coldly snorted in dissatisfaction. If her power was fully restored, she was confident that she could fight Archimonde!
Terenas felt dizzy and weakly asked, "Is there no other way besides leaving?"
Aiden looked at the helpless old king and the young prince beside him, and pondered, "It's not entirely without a solution." Then he began to bring out 'prophet' Blizzard : "In the timeline seen by the prophet, Archimonde can be summoned because the Scourge obtained a very powerful magical item—" He looked at the Archmage: "The Book of Medivh hidden in Dalaran!"
Antonidas's white eyebrows twitched: "Then if we destroy the Book of Medivh, can we avoid Archimonde being summoned?"
"Possibly. I don't know much about its power. It is said to be a magical artifact that can open the barriers of different dimensions and summon creatures from other worlds. I'm not sure if there are any other items that can replace it."
The Archmage smiled self-deprecatingly, "If the Book of Medivh is taken away, then Dalaran will be destroyed."
Aiden was silent.
Terenas slumped back on the throne and asked, despondently, "Then what should we do now? Call on the people to go to Kalimdor?"
Aiden said, "I think we can prepare in two ways. On the one hand, send a fleet across the Great Sea to Kalimdor to find a suitable place to live and formulate the safest route. On the other hand, do everything possible to contain the development of the Scourge forces, first find Kel'Thuzad, research a way to curb the plague, and then launch a northern expedition to eliminate the Lich King from the root. If the foundation of the Scourge no longer exists, then no matter how powerful Archimonde is, he will not be able to come to this world."
"Lordaeron is my homeland, and we don't have the ability to transport three million people across the sea to survive in an unfamiliar environment. We cannot abandon this place unless absolutely necessary. And that continent is not necessarily safe." Arthas's eyes revealed a fighting spirit, "Father, I think we should re-call the Alliance to unite and prepare for war with all our strength, mobilizing a large force to eliminate the Lich King of Northrend and solve this problem once and for all!"
After the meeting, Terenas immediately sent envoys to various countries to discuss the Alliance. Grand Admiral Daelin Proudmoore, ruler of Kul Tiras, was in Lordaeron at this time, and he immediately agreed to the Alliance's plan. Antonidas also joined on behalf of Dalaran. Then, Terenas, as the former leader of the Alliance, invited Valoran, represented by Aiden, to join the Alliance, and Aiden immediately expressed his willingness to fight for the Alliance.
When Terenas learned that Dalaran would transfer the ownership of Tarren Mill to Valoran, he immediately realized that he also had a means to win them over, so he promised to transfer the ownership of Durnholde Keep to Aiden as well.
This castle was previously captured by Thrall and the orcs and is now basically abandoned, but its territory is larger than Tarren Mill. This largest orc prisoner of war camp can no longer fulfill its duties, and Terenas gave it to Aiden as a favor without any heartache.
In the room arranged for them by the king, Aiden said, "I really didn't expect that now the entire Valoran, including me, has only three people, and we already have two connected territories."
"It seems that your idea of going to Hinterlands to make technology, farm, and mass produce troops cannot be realized." Kayle, who was always strict and serious, rarely joked.