"The fluctuations from the North—"
Tirion seemed to recall something, his expression turning to shock. Not long ago, one day, he was meditating when a sudden soul tremor made it difficult for him to enter a state of communion with the Light.
Although this situation only lasted for a very short time, Tirion still felt uneasy after the anomaly ended.
Arthas stared at Tirion, slowly explaining, "In Northrend, there is a Legion composed entirely of Undead Scourge."
"Its former master called it: Undead Scourge."
"Undead Scourge?" Tirion repeated the somewhat strange word several times. After muttering it a few times, he suddenly felt a chill.
Upon hearing this term, some unclear images and scenes suddenly flashed in Tirion's mind. He seemed to see the fall of the Kingdom and the tragic deaths of commoners.
There was no fighting, no war cries, only horrifying sounds of tearing, the cawing of crows, and the crackling of burning houses and corpses.
A cry and sorrow that seemed to pierce the soul brought Tirion back from his daze. Arthas and Lothar looked at Tirion's somewhat pale face, knowing that the Knight had seen some illusions.
When people are closely connected to forces like the Light and Arcane, they can often see scenes that have happened or have yet to happen in the echoes of such power.
Of course, these omens are very vague. Except for some masters proficient in prophecy, or demigods and even true Gods of extraordinary status, few can clearly foresee what will truly happen in the future.
But Tirion's reaction indicated that he had indeed seen something from the term "Undead Scourge."
"Are you alright?" Lothar had never seen a paladin's face so pale; it was like someone suffering from severe blood loss and extreme fatigue.
"I'm fine… The Light told me some things. I think I need to calm down."
Tirion took several deep breaths to somewhat calm his mind. The paladin stared at Arthas's unperturbed eyes and asked in a muffled voice, "That Legion… will it bring disaster? How many of them are there?"
"They are everywhere, endless. In Northrend, the Undead Scourge fills a quarter of the land. Their former master, Lich King Ner'zhul, under the command of the Burning Legion, intends to unleash the Undead Scourge's bloodlust upon the innocents of the Eastern Kingdoms."
Arthas picked up his coffee cup and drained the remaining liquid. The sound of the cup hitting the wooden table brought Tirion out of his contemplation.
"Endless… everywhere… Ner'zhul—I've heard that name, that pronunciation, from the mouth of an Orc prisoner of war." Tirion gripped his coffee cup, his arm trembling involuntarily, not even noticing the coffee spilling onto the table.
"Yes, that's right. This orc was once a respected Shaman in the Horde, but for some reason, he betrayed the Horde."
Lothar listened quietly to Arthas's narration. He also wanted to understand the true source of all the suffering they had endured over the years.
Death had given him some knowledge he didn't possess in life, but it wasn't clear enough, and Arthas hadn't had time to discuss these things with them before. Meeting Tirion today was a good opportunity.
"Afterward, because he failed to lead the orcs in their escape, he fell into the hands of the Burning Legion's leader, his body was destroyed, leaving only his soul, which was then imprisoned in a suit of armor."
Arthas drew Frostmourne from its scabbard and placed it on the wooden table. The aura emanating from the runeblade greatly displeased Tirion; Paladins are naturally opposed to all evil.
Pointing to the inscription on the blade, Arthas softly read, "Power resides, despair resides. This runeblade was forged by demons and locked together with Lich King Ner'zhul in his prison, serving as his weapon for spreading death and fear."
"And now it's in your hands—" Tirion realized the true origin of this sword. He looked at Arthas with a startled gaze, "You killed this Lich King?"
Prince Arthas nodded, "The soul fluctuations you felt were the last echoes of Lich King Ner'zhul's soul shattering when I destroyed him with my warhammer."
"The Lich King's soul shattering could affect all of Azeroth?!" Tirion deeply realized the kind of evil entity Arthas had faced.
Aside from anything else, Arthas's accomplishment of personally eliminating the Lich King, that menace, was enough to spread his good name for thousands of years.
But what puzzled Tirion was why Arthas hadn't announced the destruction of such an evil entity. Instead, he seemed to have inherited its power, choosing to wield Frostmourne, the runeblade?
"Ner'zhul is indeed dead, but the Lich King will not be," Arthas's answer left Tirion baffled until Arthas himself revealed the mystery.
"The resurrected Undead Scourge will not find complete rest after their master's death; they will forever wander this world, and they will become even more insane if no one restrains them."
"Not all Undead Scourge possess self-will like high-ranking Undead Scourge; most of them act on instinct…" Arthas didn't finish his sentence, but Tirion already knew what the unspoken word was.
"Therefore, there must be a Lich King," Arthas said calmly, "And there was no one there but me."
After Arthas's explanation, Tirion finally understood everything that had happened weeks ago. He no longer held any reservations towards Arthas; instead, a profound respect arose within him.
Prince Arthas never forgot his duty as a paladin, even sacrificing himself to control the rampant Scourge.
However, what Tirion didn't know was that while every word Arthas spoke was true, he had omitted some things. But this was enough; this wonderful misunderstanding would reduce many obstacles in future developments.
"Tirion, you know not everyone can accept the resurrection of the dead, but after gaining control of the Scourge, I found they would be a very important line of defense for us in protecting Azeroth."
"I understand, Prince Arthas, but this will be a long process before people can accept 'the dead' like Sir Lothar." Tirion voiced his inner concerns, which Arthas and Lothar had also discussed.
Arthas first nodded in agreement but then offered another opinion, "Unless some crisis can unite everyone on Azeroth."
"Crisis? With all due respect, Prince Arthas, after the Orcish Wars, the Alliance developed rapidly. I don't believe there is any difficulty left in this world that could force all races to unite."
"There will be, Tirion, and I have a premonition that day won't be too far off." Arthas also wished such a situation wouldn't arise, but clearly, neither the Burning Legion nor the Old Gods would give up until they had fully achieved their goals.
From the moment of its birth, the fate of Azeroth and all life upon it became intimately intertwined.
"The orcs' arrival was not without reason," Lothar said equally solemnly, "More than ten years ago, Khadgar and I realized that the orcs' invasion was just the beginning of a larger conspiracy—Medivh's fall is the best explanation."
At the top of Karazhan's tower back then, Lothar, as one of the people who personally faced the fallen Guardian, understood how terrifying the root of corruption hidden within Medivh's body truly was, capable of sending Medivh, who wielded the Guardian's power, irrevocably spiraling into the abyss of corruption.
Even today, even after becoming Undead Scourge, Lothar could still feel the indescribable rage of a powerful, unnameable entity when his longsword pierced Medivh's chest.
That feeling of dread, as if being watched by a God, was inexpressible. After surviving the ordeal, Khadgar mentioned that he too had felt that gaze, which solidified his resolve to uncover the true mastermind behind the Orc invasion.
Thus, when Lothar awoke from death, he heard that his former friend had already stepped through the Dark Portal, embarking on a journey from which he might never return home, and the sense of loss and emptiness made him feel somewhat disoriented.
At the same time, this also ignited Lothar's vengeful fury. Although he disliked war, he constantly yearned to avenge Stormwind and all the victims of the two great wars for the entire Alliance.
So he was very grateful to Arthas for giving him a second chance, allowing him to personally send those damned fellows to hell.
"I understand, Prince Arthas. If there's a need, please tell me. I can always answer Lordaeron's call." Although Tirion was unsure what specific threat Arthas was concerned about, he also knew that behind the Orc invasion, someone must be pulling strings.
Considering the recent plague in Lordaeron and Arthas's pursuit of demons, Tirion had actually long suspected that a greater catastrophe might be involved behind this whole affair.
And everything happening now was merely a prelude to the impending disaster.
"Hmm, I'll remember that. But we should leave today. If others discover Lothar, they won't be as easy to talk to as you are."
Stepping out of Tirion's small cottage, Lothar opened a portal to Scholomance. While this dark magic, based on runic spells, wasn't as convenient as a Mage's teleportation spell, it was sufficient for a Death Knight.
"I look forward to the day we fight side by side on the battlefield," Lothar said to Tirion.
"Me too, Sir. I look forward to seeing you again."
With that, Lothar's figure disappeared into the portal. Tirion then remembered something else and asked Arthas, "Prince Arthas, where do you think Bishop Faol went?"
"I don't know where Bishop Faol went, but I think it might be related to the threat we are about to face." Arthas didn't say everything, because he also didn't know how the changed world would unfold.
However, the only thing he knew was that since Faol had received revelations about the Light, it must be related to the Burning Legion, because the largest Light organization in the cosmos was confronting the Burning Legion.
In the endless void, in a place where the concepts of time and space are very vague, the Lightforged are fighting the Burning Legion. However, they are more like guerrilla warfare, because the Lightforged alone do not have the capital to confront the Burning Legion head-on.
Arthas speculated that the revelation Faol received might have come from an entity within the Lightforged, those pure Light beings.
However, there is still some time before Azeroth can come into contact with these entities. Arthas doesn't need to consider these things now. The hidden danger of the black dragon in Stormwind has been temporarily resolved. Only after the threat is temporarily lifted can Arthas consider searching for a certain shattered world.