Arthas rolled on the ground, dodging an iceberg controlled by Ner'zhul that flew towards him, the hard ice shattering into pieces as it struck the Frozen Throne's platform.
As soon as he steadied himself, a second ice pillar was already flying over; there was no time to dodge. Arthas made a decisive move, thrusting his warhammer forward, preparing to take the blow head-on.
The sharp tip of the ice pillar violently collided with the Light-infused hammerhead, yet Arthas's right hand remained firmly gripping the warhammer, showing no signs of faltering.
"Bang!"
Debris, dust, and snow flew everywhere as the ice pillar fell. The Lich King Ner'zhul's soul, encased within the ice, watched Arthas disappear into the dust.
A sacred golden light shot up into the sky, instantly dispersing the surrounding obstacles and revealing Arthas's figure. His armor showed some signs of wear, and The Light's Vengeance was slightly damaged from the recent collision.
However, the Prince's aura and stamina showed no signs of diminishing. Among the six fundamental energies, his primary ones were Light and Death, and bearing these two opposing energies also made his body powerful.
Every flow of Light and Death brought him power, and every breath he took made his physique stronger.
Arthas feared protracted battles the least. Light could heal his injuries, while the power of Death granted his body characteristics similar to the undead, such as not having specific fatal weak points and not feeling fatigue.
This was the foundation for bearing primordial attributes; without a strong body, there was a high possibility of being consumed by the energy, existing only as an energy entity.
As for the more dangerous fel and Shadow energy, Arthas only might dabble in them when casting necromantic spells using dark magic, but he was not proficient in them himself.
After all, using these two powers could very likely directly attract the attention of Sargeras and Void creatures, which would undoubtedly expose him to danger.
And the Arcane power, representing magic, was integrated into his Death energy as a vessel for casting dark spells. This was why Arthas was not a mage yet could cast some basic magical abilities.
The more relaxed and high-spirited Arthas appeared, the more of a headache Ner'zhul had. His soul was indeed incredibly powerful, but he still needed to divert some of his attention to prevent issues within the Scourge.
Not everyone willingly joined the Scourge; most lives were "forced" to become his servants, and there were many among the undead who wished to grind Ner'zhul to dust.
Furthermore, during his previous confrontation with the illusion fabricated by Arthas, he was injured by that bizarre scene. If he continued to drag this out, he might genuinely be killed by Arthas.
While Ner'zhul pondered, he released a portion of his consciousness to once again check the progress of the battle beneath the Frozen Throne. To his disappointment, under Anub'arak's command, the undead army, whose control had been seized by Arthas, was delaying his subordinates with no regard for casualties.
At this rate, it would take at least an hour or two to deal with all the undead.
While summoning evil spirits, frost, and Shadow runes to attack Arthas, Ner'zhul considered whether to call upon the Dreadlords for help.
Although in a one-on-one situation, Ner'zhul's strength was already stronger than most of them, he had to admit that those demons were still much stronger than his high-ranking undead subordinates.
Anub'arak, the only one comparable to them, had long since sided with Arthas, and Anub'rekhan, slightly inferior, was being unilaterally schooled by a Crypt Lord.
As for the other fellows, they were useless in such a battle and would only distract him or serve as fodder for Arthas.
Ner'zhul had noticed that Arthas had not used the runeblade Frostmourne against him. Arthas knew that the sword's power was limited without devouring enough souls and that Ner'zhul, who understood its abilities, would find its weaknesses.
Unfortunately, Arthas did not give him the opportunity to exploit his "understanding of Frostmourne," consistently using his warhammer to fight Ner'zhul.
What puzzled Ner'zhul even more was that Arthas's stamina seemed boundless. A mortal body could not endure such high-intensity combat for long and would quickly become fatigued.
Yet, Arthas fought with increasing vigor, showing no signs of wearing down. Ner'zhul even noticed that the Light Arthas released grew stronger with each emission.
Exerting his soul power to the fullest was taxing even for Ner'zhul, who was undead, yet Arthas, a living being, displayed abnormal endurance.
'This human is full of peculiarities.'
Just as Ner'zhul was hesitating, Arthas seized the momentary distraction of the Lich King's thoughts. His warhammer slammed onto the ice, unleashing a shockwave of Holy Light.
A torrent of Holy Light burst forth, shattering Ner'zhul's dark rune barrier. The Lich King quickly summoned another massive ice pillar to block the Holy Light's impact.
The Holy Light struck the ice pillar used by Ner'zhul as a shield, causing the thick block of ice to explode. The energy unleashed in the collision disrupted the Lich King's soul vision to some extent.
He could no longer pinpoint Arthas's location in his perception. Arthas had previously used similar opportunities to close in on Ner'zhul.
However, Ner'zhul's cautious defense prevented him from quickly breaking through the barrier and directly attacking Ner'zhul's main body.
Ner'zhul, benefiting from the power of the soul vortex at the Frozen Throne, received a considerable boost. Even Arthas could not shatter his barrier and main body with a single blow.
And as long as Arthas attacked the rune barrier, Ner'zhul would immediately summon frost to counterattack, forcing Arthas to retreat.
But he also noticed that after Ner'zhul controlled the ice pillar to smash towards him, there was always a period of pause, which made him realize that the Lich King's vision seemed to be affected by overly intense energy impacts on the field.
So Arthas began to figure out how to create opportunities to weaken Ner'zhul's perception. Only by attacking when his perception was weakened could he potentially harm his main body before Ner'zhul constructed a new barrier.
As the energy on the field gradually subsided, the Lich King once again pinpointed Arthas's location. His soul whispered fragmented words, seemingly still not giving up on tempting Arthas to fall.
Arthas swung his warhammer, smashing several sharp ice spikes, while his left hand swept out, a semi-circular shield formed of Holy Light blocking the spell [Death Coil] entwined with vengeful spirits.
After fending off Ner'zhul's attack, Arthas exerted force from his waist, his swift warhammer almost compressing the air into a ball, fiercely shattering the obstructing ice wall.
As the scattered ice shards and bursting energy once again interfered with Ner'zhul's vision, Arthas's right hand reached for something hanging on his chest weapon belt.
"Bang!"