"Bang! Clang!"
Deafening explosions resounded. Thassarian waved his hand in disgust, dispersing the smoke and dust in the air, while simultaneously dissipating the Death energy protecting his ears.
"What in the world are you doing?"
Kel'Thuzad stopped his work and gazed at the scorched grassland, lost in thought.
"This place is truly strange… Arcane, Holy Light, and an extremely dark influence are intertwined…" The Archlich wiggled his finger, summoning another Arcane crystal into his palm.
"What did you say?"
The Death Knight was utterly confused. He wasn't as sensitive to energy fluctuations as a spellcaster like the Lich, so he only saw Kel'Thuzad's preparations fail repeatedly.
"Nothing, I'm saying, the trap is ready to be used."
After multiple attempts and failures, Kel'Thuzad finally succeeded in creating a Soul Convergence Array using Arcane crystals and soul fragments.
Although this forest had been uninhabited for countless years, the Dreadlords were unaware of this.
Kel'Thuzad's plan was to use undead laborers to build a "small town," one that appeared to have been recently abandoned after being plundered by orcs.
The Warsong Clan had previously hidden in the forests of Tirisfal Glades, so such an event was not unusual. Kel'Thuzad simply wanted to make the town appear as inconspicuous as possible.
Furthermore, he now understood why Arthas had him choose this location to set the trap. The nearby forest contained extremely complex energies that would greatly interfere with perception.
Even the Dreadlords could only roughly sense the traces of souls and mana flowing here, but they couldn't detect the existence of the Soul Convergence Array.
Setting up the trap wasn't a complex matter. Although he failed many times, it was because Kel'Thuzad was searching for a point that could balance with the natural energy flow here.
What truly made Kel'Thuzad ponder was the strange energy of this area itself: in all his years in Dalaran, he had no idea such a place existed within the Human Kingdom!
Such energy had already affected the ecology of this place. Kel'Thuzad hadn't found any living creatures in this forest area.
However, the undead seemed insensitive to this influence, so he also didn't know the specific consequences it would cause.
If he had time, Kel'Thuzad would certainly study it thoroughly. Unfortunately, he had to complete the task Arthas gave him first.
Under Kel'Thuzad's command, in just one day and night, a deserted small village realistically appeared deep within what was once a forest.
The Archlich issued an order to the undead laborers, instructing them to bury themselves in various parts of the small town.
"Let us test the effect." Kel'Thuzad took out a soul fragment and threw it onto the ground. The owner of this soul fragment gradually solidified into a form under the effect of the Soul Convergence Array.
Although he no longer had consciousness or intelligence, making him wander the small village by instinct was not difficult for Kel'Thuzad.
"Very—perfect," Kel'Thuzad's sharp finger bone touched the head of the soul phantom, and the entire soul exploded like a balloon, dispersing its aura into the surrounding air.
"Come, Death Knight, help me out. Smash this batch of soul crystals." Kel'Thuzad pointed to a cart full of purple crystals nearby and said, "Be careful, it's best if they shatter in various parts of the town."
"Alright."
Thassarian didn't waste any words. Although he also had questions, because as a spellcaster, Kel'Thuzad could accomplish this task in just a single spell.
But since this mission was under Kel'Thuzad's command, no matter how much he disliked this Lich who had committed many evil deeds, he had to obey, for he was now Kel'Thuzad's subordinate.
Watching Thassarian begin to scatter the soul crystal fragments in every corner of the town, Kel'Thuzad's skull gently nodded, and then a bright green magic circle appeared on the ground beneath him.
As the Archlich waved his hands, he gathered the energy of Tirisfal Glades. In just a few minutes, the energy he controlled surpassed the magical limits any Archmage could manipulate.
Originally, it would have been very difficult for Kel'Thuzad to use such a spell, requiring meticulous preparation and carrying a great risk of failure.
But having been reshaped into a Lich body, he had shed the human body's constraints on energy reception, making the control of such immense power a mere trifle.
As Thassarian's work was nearing completion, Kel'Thuzad's magic was also almost ready. His stern voice echoed through the small town.
"Death Knight, get far away, or activate your defensive barrier."
Thassarian felt the violent energy fluctuations coming from Kel'Thuzad's direction, his eyelids twitched, he crushed the last crystal fragment in his hand, summoned his undead warhorse from an Arcane rift, and galloped away from the town.
After sensing that Thassarian had moved away from the magic's range, Kel'Thuzad infused an extremely unstable surge of mana into the gathered energy.
The already complex mana, a mixture of various energies, immediately boiled like hot oil with water dropped into it. The rampant mana went from unstable to fully erupting.
Kel'Thuzad calmly raised a defensive barrier, watching the dazzling light spot explode in mid-air. The energy in the air rippled like water, causing the surrounding forest to sway erratically.
The anomaly in Tirisfal quickly spread out from the mountains, affecting various surrounding areas. However, because Kel'Thuzad chose a location deep within the Tirisfal mountains, and ordinary people are not sensitive to such energy fluctuations, it did not cause any chaos.
However, in mid-air, without anything to reduce the energy fluctuations, even Naxxramas, a thousand miles away, was affected by the mana explosion.
Naxxramas's own defensive mechanisms and stabilization measures instantly activated under the unusual tremor, restabilizing the slightly trembling floating fortress.
The shaking lasted for a very short time, but the three Dreadlords quickly became aware of this energy impact.
"What happened? Were we attacked?" Banazar wiggled his claw-like fingers a few times. He felt a craving for slaughter.
"No, we weren't," Detheroc, who controlled Naxxramas, confirmed the location of the anomaly after a thorough check. "There seems to be some large-scale magical activity in the Tirisfal mountains."
"In the mountains? What's going on?"
"Not quite sure… I'm trying to analyze the types of these magical energies… Strange, these magical energies are very complex, not like a controlled magical experiment." Detheroc intercepted a trace of the anomalous magic. He felt various powers contained within it.
"Holy Light… Arcane, and the power of the Shadow Void. Hmm, I also smell the scent of souls, but it's much fainter compared to the first three."