"You look nervous."
Gandling paced idly in the Dean's study, admiring his collection, while a young woman stood in the center of the room. Her expression was calm, but her slightly trembling body betrayed her inner unease.
The young woman was tall, and her exquisite attire accentuated the perfect curves of her body. However, a slight flaw was that her beautiful face was overly pale, lacking the warmth of a normal girl.
"It's just that the basement environment is quite cold, Dark Dean," the girl did not admit her inner anxiety and panic. She tried to speak in a normal tone, but the oppressive atmosphere made it difficult for her to control her emotions.
She had heard and witnessed the wails and screams of countless living beings; terrifying ghosts roamed the Scholomance, and everyone had become abnormal, researching forbidden dark magic and conducting bizarre experiments unimaginable to ordinary people.
"Oh, is that so? Ilucia, then you should have worn more clothes before coming," Gandling's face was covered by a mask, so Ilucia could not see the Dark Dean's expression at all. "Don't catch a cold."
"Thanks to the Lich King's grace, my body is still very healthy." Ilucia desperately wanted to leave, but in front of Gandling, she knew her magical tricks were useless.
Perhaps to outsiders, the Barov Family's young lady was a noble flower possessing both beauty and strength, but in the eyes of the Undead Scourge, she was merely a somewhat useful living person.
Although she didn't know where her parents had gone, her intelligence told her that the Barov Family's fate, ever since they conspired with the Scourge and Kel'Thuzad, meant their bodies and souls no longer belonged to them.
However, Ilucia did not completely await the verdict of fate. She tried everything to pull the Barov Family out of the mire. If not for her assistance, how could her two brothers have escaped Scholomance alive?
Gandling put the dark tome in his hand back in its place. The Dark Dean turned around. Whether it was an illusion or not, Ilucia saw mockery and amusement in his narrow eyes.
He clapped his hands, and the iron gate of the Dean's study slowly rose. Two human youths, seemingly lifeless, were thrown at Ilucia's feet like dead dogs by a tall, heavily armored figure whose appearance was obscured.
As their bodies collided with the floor tiles, Ilucia trembled. She slowly turned her head, her pupils shrinking in despair.
"The great Lich King sent his capable assistant to help us retrieve these two runaway cowards." Gandling bowed slightly to the person behind Ilucia. "Thank you, Deathlord."
"If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."
This Death Knight was none other than Ogrim, who had not accompanied Arthas and Lothar to Faol's tomb. At Arthas's behest, he went to capture these two escaped Barov Family members.
In truth, Arthas didn't care about their lives or deaths, because everything the Barov Family did was self-inflicted. Their greed and madness led Alex and Janice to plan to bury all of Lordaeron along with their treasures.
The current Lich King's last act of mercy was to temporarily prevent Ogrim from killing them, but he had to ensure they remained within Scholomance and did not reveal any information about the Scourge.
A blade hidden in the shadows, once exposed, is no longer a threat, and regardless of anything else, the Undead Scourge cannot be accepted by normal populace at present.
Ilucia looked at her brothers, whose lives hung in the balance, bit her lower lip, and ruthlessly kicked them, saying coldly, "These two wastes, they thought they could betray us?"
Ogrim stopped at her words, glanced at Ilucia, let out an unreadable laugh, and then left.
"That's right, since they signed a contract with us, breaking the contract will naturally be punished," Gandling conjured two chairs with magic and then moved the two slumped youths onto the chairs to lean against. "What do you say, Ilucia?"
Gandling's words filled Ilucia with a terrible premonition, but she immediately replied, "Yes, Dark Dean, these traitors should be punished."
"Then what kind of punishment do you think would be appropriate?"
This demon!
Ilucia was filled with grief and indignation. Gandling's meaning was clear: he wanted Ilucia to decide the fate of her two relatives herself. Although Ilucia didn't have a particularly deep affection for her two brothers, making such a cruel decision with her own hands still troubled Ilucia, whose conscience was not yet completely gone.
The current head of the Barov Family remained silent for over ten seconds before making a difficult decision—she couldn't just watch what might be her only remaining relatives perish. So, the young woman chose another path!
"The punishment is… to die, demon! Even if I die, I'll make sure you go down with me!"
Ilucia slid a small bottle, disguised as a perfume bottle, containing high-concentration Stratholme Holy Water from her sleeve and threw it towards Gandling. This liquid, imbued with Holy Light energy, had a strong lethal effect on undead and demons.
Although Gandling was not yet a complete undead, due to his practice of dark magic, being doused with Holy Water would cause significant damage, at least temporarily preventing him from concentrating on casting spells.
Only then would Ilucia have a chance to inflict a fatal blow on Gandling.
However, as the Holy Water was about to touch Gandling's mask, a barrier of light, which made Ilucia's expression change drastically, rose and completely blocked the Holy Water. The fragile perfume bottle shattered as if it had hit a hard stone wall, falling to the ground.
"Ho-how is this possible?" Ilucia's subsequent movements completely froze. She couldn't believe what her eyes saw. "Holy Light… how can Holy Light protect a demon like you?!"
Gandling stood motionless behind the Holy Light barrier, but what Ilucia didn't know was that the Dark Dean's back was drenched in cold sweat. Although he knew Arthas was inside Scholomance, the intensity of this Holy Light gave Gandling the illusion that Arthas might be trying to purify him as well.
He had no doubt that the scorching Holy Light could instantly break through his defenses and completely purify his body and soul.
Fortunately… His Majesty, Arthas's control was precise. This barrier only blocked the Holy Water's attack. Against a higher concentration of Holy Light, Holy Water was no different from ordinary water.
"Th-this is impossible!" Ilucia felt her worldview about to collapse, making her completely forget her next plan.
Before she could recover from the shock, heavy footsteps sounded behind her. Ilucia felt her body lighten, and she was lifted up, suspended in mid-air.