"Invincible, wait for me in the rift."
Arthas dismounted Invincible, preparing to enter the real world from the rift, but found Invincible biting his cloak.
The warhorse restlessly stomped its hooves, as if worried about Arthas's safety.
Indeed, this underground cave, used as a prison, was almost entirely filled with Wardens and their mechanisms; Invincible's keen senses told it that the area below was extremely dangerous.
Therefore, it didn't want to leave its master and wanted to fight alongside Arthas.
Arthas helplessly patted the horse's head, "Just stay here. I'll summon you if I need to—it's not like I can fight on horseback inside a cave, right?"
Invincible seemed to realize this wasn't realistic. It lowered its head dejectedly, signaling to Arthas that it understood.
Arthas stepped back into the real world, and the damp air immediately hit his face. The cave floor had a certain amount of standing water, which made any silent infiltration almost impossible.
However, Arthas had never intended to enter the prison holding Illidan completely silently; he was a knight, not an assassin or a rogue.
But even with the standing water, Arthas had a way to deal with it. An icy aura condensed on his war boots, and in an instant, the chill froze the water's surface, turning it into a walkable sheet of ice.
Arthas thus did not step into the water but walked on its surface. After losing the support of his power, the magic-condensed ice would quickly melt, leaving no trace.
Of course, perhaps someone entering this flooded area later might find the water unusually cold.
The entire cave was not completely blocked by standing water; soon, the large and small puddles turned into mere trickles. In the darkness, it would still be easy to make noise and alert the Wardens. However, Arthas's vision was not affected by the light's brightness or dimness.
He walked inside the cave as if he were walking in his own home. The mechanisms and traps hidden by darkness seemed as ridiculous as light sources in his eyes.
And as for traps powered by magic, there was even less to say; under his soul sight, his perception of magic was extremely keen. At the very least, the Wardens' techniques could not completely conceal all their tells.
When the traps, mechanisms, and the cave's natural environment all became ineffective, the only things that could obstruct Arthas were the Wardens acting as guards.
Soon, Arthas encountered the first patrol of Wardens. He stopped, leaned against a stone wall, and quietly waited for the Wardens to pass him by.
His figure was concealed in the darkness, and the power of death completely masked his aura. If he made no movement and no sound, anyone would mistake him for a cold, lifeless rock wall.
However, the Wardens, possessing superb skills and having undergone rigorous training, still sensed something was amiss.
"I think... something feels strange," a Warden stopped, looking around. The Night Elves' vision allowed them excellent sight even at night.
"There's no sound of water being disturbed, no mechanisms or traps being triggered, and no breathing or heartbeats," another Warden said calmly. She looked at her companion, "Sela, have you been in the deep prison too long and become a bit jumpy?"
The Warden named Sela raised her arm, revealing the skin not covered by her arm guard. After a moment of silence, she said with conviction, "No, I don't think I'm wrong. The temperature here is lower than usual."
The temperature in the deeper parts of the dungeon was indeed lower than here, and she would subconsciously hide her hand under her wide cloak. Today, she unconsciously made the same gesture.
She never had such a reaction when moving here before, which could only mean the environment had changed.
"The temperature dropped?"
Sela's words surprised the Wardens. She herself stepped out of the group, removed her gauntlet, and dipped her finger into the standing water in a puddle on the ground.
Just as she felt the water's temperature had become much colder and was flicking the remaining water droplets from her fingertip, preparing to inform her teammates, she suddenly realized that the cave had become unusually quiet.
An ominous premonition surged in her heart. Sela slowly put her gauntlet back on and reached for the short dagger under her cloak.
The moment her hand touched the hilt, her eyes suddenly widened, then her body swayed, and she fell to the ground, splashing water.
Even more terrifying, her Warden teammates showed no reaction, as if they had been swallowed by the darkness when she wasn't looking at them.
...
Arthas glanced at Sela, who lay on the ground, then turned and walked towards the true main gate of the dungeon. Beside him were the other Wardens, pinned to the wall by soul spikes.
He had not intended to act, wanting to see how far he could go before being discovered by the Wardens. But unexpectedly, before even opening the dungeon gate, the Wardens had already sensed something was wrong.
Although they might not have detected his entry, it had aroused the Wardens' suspicion. If he didn't act to put these few into "sleep," the path ahead would be much harder.
The spikes formed by soul power, under his control, had no strong lethality; they could only temporarily seal a person's soul, causing them to fall into a coma. The duration was also not long; after the spikes disappeared, they would gradually regain consciousness.
Arthas didn't have time for a battle of skill with the Wardens. He simply used his soul power, which was far stronger than theirs, to make them all fall into a coma.
After all, no matter how much they trained their bodies and wills, when facing an attack that directly struck the soul, the Warden was no stronger than an ordinary person.
As Arthas advanced deeper into the dungeon, he found that it seemed to be more than just a prison. This cave at the foot of Mount Hyjal also contained a large number of sleeping Druids; they should also be considered an alternative form of guard, and a disguise for the dungeon.
Soon, having bypassed numerous obstacles, Arthas stood before an ancient Elven gate. This gate had stood for a full ten thousand years, and its magical patterns and locks were still pristine.
Arthas raised Frostmourne, its blade cutting across the magical seals on the gate. Under the power of the magic sword and Arthas, the gate began to rapidly "die" and decay, its magical restrictions quickly failing. Finally, the sturdy gate was pushed open by Arthas alone.
This was the betrayer's cage, and also the "cage" of that Warden, Maiev Shadowsong.