"Something's wrong up ahead!" Lor'themar's keen senses picked up the immediate problem at the elven outpost from a kilometer or two away.
"It seems the trolls couldn't hold back," Arthas's eyesight was also far beyond that of ordinary people, even surpassing some Elves. He clearly saw the trolls charging madly towards the elven lines. Weighing The Power of Menethil in his hand, Arthas issued the command, "Sound the horn. Battle is about to begin."
The Dwarves, pulling out metal horns as thick as their arms, took a deep breath and blew with all their might. The low, metallic blast of the horn resonated, reaching every soldier's ears.
"All forces, attack! For Lordaeron!"
Under the leadership of High Priest Lilian, the Priests bestowed Holy Light blessings upon all the warriors, dispelling their fatigue and significantly strengthening their power and defense. Ten Paladins glowed with a dazzling golden light around them. They smoothly and skillfully applied various strengthening blessings and Holy Seals to themselves. Uther pulled the reins of his warhorse and shouted to Arthas, "I'll go to the front line; you go find that Ranger-General first."
"Alright, Teacher, I'll join you in slaying those troll scum later."
"Haha!" The Lightbringer, carrying his heavy warhammer and riding his warhorse, charged ahead. Arthas heard the Paladins' shouts from afar in the rear.
"For the Holy Light!"
They crashed into the wave of trolls like a steamroller. Under Uther's leadership, the eleven Paladins forcefully stirred up a golden light within the dark green ocean of trolls. Immediately after, Lordaeron's cavalry charged into the troll formation from the flank, while the infantry, holding heavy shields, guarded the Elven Rangers, using longswords to cut down the trolls attacking the magic barrier.
Arthas and the Priests followed Lor'themar and a small squad of Farstriders, swiftly heading towards Sylvanas's main command tent. Before even entering, Arthas and High Priest Lilian's expressions grew solemn; they both sensed an unsettling, evil aura.
Pushing aside the tent flap, Arthas looked at Sylvanas, who was pale and had horrifying black patterns crawling all over her neck. He immediately spoke to Lilian, "She's been cursed, a very strong one."
Lilian immediately stepped forward, the dense Holy Light emanating from her body signaling to the Elves that she was a High Priest. They quickly made way. Lilian placed her palm on Sylvanas's breastplate, gently closed her eyes, and focused on guiding the power of the Holy Light. A moment later, Arthas noticed that Sylvanas's horrifying black patterns had receded somewhat, but they were far from being eliminated.
Lilian opened her eyes and shook her head at Arthas. "Prince, I cannot dispel this curse here. Even if I and the Priest group work together, we can only delay its onset. This level of curse either requires three or more High Priests to dispel it simultaneously in a cathedral, or only Archpriest Faol can dispel it alone."
"That serious?" Arthas was shocked. Archpriest Faol was undoubtedly the foremost Holy Light user of today. A curse that required his immediate intervention made Arthas consider a dark possibility. A demigod's curse? Did a High Priest serving a loa organize this invasion? Arthas's confusion was finally resolved. If a High Priest serving a loa mobilized forces, let alone five thousand trolls, fifty thousand trolls could easily be summoned.
But in that case, this support mission might very well turn into a desperate evacuation for the Elves. They only had a little over two thousand people combined. Even if they held their ground with the Elves' magic barrier, facing a troll army potentially numbering over ten thousand, driven by a High Priest, the outcome was obvious. The mission was no longer to clear out the invading trolls, but to lead Sylvanas, the Ranger-General, and over two thousand people safely out of the troll encirclement.
Arthas was a strong fighter, but not strong enough to single-handedly fight fifty thousand people. Fifty thousand trolls, even an Ancient Dragon might struggle, let alone with a High Priest favored by a loa, who could potentially summon a deity at any moment. The current trolls could be seen as a fanatical army with demigod support at their beck and call.
After clearly analyzing the problem, Arthas planned to retreat immediately after dealing with this initial wave of troll attacks. If he couldn't win, couldn't he run?
Out of caution, Arthas personally re-examined Sylvanas's condition. That's when he discovered he might actually be able to solve this curse. This was because Arthas's Holy Light was somewhat different from that of ordinary Priests and Paladins. He had never truly believed in the Holy Light; he was simply able to use its power. The Holy Light power of Priests and Paladins came from their sincere faith and years of arduous training and worship. Arthas was different; he didn't need faith or arduous training; the Holy Light was simply a part of him.
Moreover, his Holy Light was of the purest kind, so pure that if it wasn't weakened and diluted, it would have no healing effect on normal people; instead, it would burn them. That's right, Holy Light itself has no inherent good or evil. Paladins' Holy Light only manifests justice because of their faith in justice and their righteous words and deeds. Normal Holy Light power is more like an extension of one's will and emotions, while Arthas's abnormal Holy Light power is the true manifestation of the cosmic primordial Holy Light. That is not just the power to expel evil and shadows; primordial Holy Light will transform everything that is not Holy Light into Holy Light!
Arthas didn't know the specific reason. Not long after he came into the world, a star map—etched by the hands of six ancient cosmic forces—took shape deep in his mind. Under its guiding pull, he sensed he could slip past barriers and tap straight into the raw, untamed power at the dawn of creation.
Such Holy Light already surpassed the divine power of a loa in quality, but here was the problem: Sylvanas could not withstand Arthas's unreserved Holy Light power, unless she wished to be burned to death or become a Holy Light Elf. So, to eradicate the curse within her, Arthas needed to find a critical point, which would take time, and the trolls clearly wouldn't give him that time. Even an hour or two would be enough for the trolls to completely surround them. Not to mention, at this level of curse, the caster would definitely be able to sense the presence or absence of the curse.
So Arthas deliberated for a moment and said to Sylvanas in the Common Tongue, "Lady Windrunner , I can dispel this curse."
Sylvanas showed a satisfied smile. "That's wonderful, Prince Arthas. Shall we begin the treatment then?"
"But there's a problem now," Arthas still used the Common Tongue. Only Sylvanas and Lor'themar here knew human language; the other Elves only spoke their own Thalassian.
"What problem?" Sylvanas frowned slightly, sensing that Arthas had something more to say.
"First, dispelling this curse will take time, possibly several hours."
"Then why not start?"
"That's the second reason," Arthas's expression was very serious. "The trolls won't give us that time."
Sylvanas was stunned for a moment. She didn't know why Arthas was so certain. "Why are you so sure? The magic barrier can hold for a long time, and with your reinforcements, we can continue fighting."
"I think, Lady, you must have heard of 'loa'."
"They are the evil gods the trolls worship, of course I know, but what does that…" Sylvanas reacted halfway through her sentence. "Are you saying… this curse of mine comes from those evil gods?"
"Nine times out of ten, it is. Even if not them, it's highly likely their High Priests. Otherwise, it cannot explain why even a High Priest cannot quickly remove this curse." Recalling the strange scene when she fell into the trap, Sylvanas began to believe this possibility. "I didn't expect that after so many years, there are still living High Priests among the Amani trolls?" She had thought that all the High Priests of the Amani who served the loa had been killed in that great war, and the loa themselves had been severely wounded by the Elves using the power of the Sunwell, to the point where they could no longer enter the material world for a time.
Having suffered a loss once, Sylvanas did not intend to take such a great risk and clash head-on with the trolls again. Originally, the best outcome was to suppress the troll invasion outside this outpost, but now it seemed highly unlikely to be achieved. Sylvanas was well aware of the High Priests' status among the trolls; their power was far greater than that of ordinary Forest troll chieftains.
"I understand. After we repel this wave of trolls, we will retreat to the fortress in the rear." Sylvanas finally made her decision. The Farstriders, due to their constant patrolling of the forest and engagement with trolls, had many fortresses along this border with the Amani trolls. However, those were all inside the Banthinoreil Barrier, and with the Elves' arrogance, they were more accustomed to utterly defeating their enemies outside the barrier.
However, this time was different. If they did not choose to retreat to the fortress and hold their ground, leading to heavy losses for this currently available Farstriders Ranger Corps, a troll army with High Priests present could very likely pose a real threat to the Elven territory protected by the Banthinoreil. Thinking of the residents living in Eversong Woods, Sylvanas no longer had any psychological burden about retreating.
Arthas, on the other hand, was relieved that Sylvanas was not like some Elves who were blinded by pride and arrogance, and still possessed correct strategic insight. This time, he switched to pure Thalassian, making all the Elves present look at him with surprise, "Then, honored Lady, Lordaeron's army will be with the Farstriders in this battle."
Only then did Sylvanas understand that Arthas's use of the Common Tongue earlier was entirely to save her face in front of her subordinates, making it easier for her to back down gracefully. This made Sylvanas feel a bit nostalgic—how long had it been since she experienced such gentlemanly behavior? Ever since becoming Ranger-General, her most frequent interactions with men involved tearing face with the Silvermoon Council members and arguing fiercely.