"Daydreaming in battle is not a good habit, my child," Varian said in a deep voice, his sword, Saramaine, spinning to strike down another Demon Guard.
"Fa… Father?" Anduin's hand, clutching his warhammer, trembled slightly. Although Tirion had said Varian might not have sacrificed himself, seeing his father standing perfectly fine before him still brought a lump to his throat.
"First, let's drive these demon scum out of Stormwind Keep," Varian said, seeing Anduin's expression, his stern face relaxing into a kind smile.
But when he mentioned demons, his expression became serious again.
Tirion, seeing Varian, also lowered his head and smiled: he had not put his faith in the wrong person; he was indeed still the hero of the Silver Hand.
However, what puzzled Tirion was where Arthas had gone. Although Tirion could roughly guess that Arthas did not want too many people to know of his existence, where could he go now?
Wait… A thought sparked in Tirion's mind. Could the recent Holy Light reaction in the city be related to Arthas?
The more Tirion thought about it, the more plausible the idea seemed, because currently, there were not many people in Stormwind who could unleash such Holy Light power. If the Stormwind Cathedral was under attack, Arthas might indeed have gone to assist.
With Varian commanding, the morale of the Stormwind guards soared. They easily cleared out all the demons lurking in Stormwind Keep.
Varian's return finally allowed the Alliance to regain the confidence and spirit lost from the defeat at Broken Shore. At the same time, they now harbored intense fury and hatred, seeking revenge against the Burning Legion.
Anduin was not disheartened by his transformation from "King" back to "Prince"; on the contrary, it made him even more joyful, as he had never considered himself a qualified king or a qualified hero from the start.
After dealing with the last demon, Muradin threw his helmet to the ground and shouted excitedly, "Varian, I knew you were alright—oh, now I'm just dying to hear how you fought your way out of that hellish place."
The Alliance forces had all retreated at that time; even if they wanted to go back and rescue Varian, they were powerless. The area was already completely surrounded by demons, and re-entering Broken Shore in their state would only make Varian's efforts futile.
"Heh, Muradin, I'll explain when I have time, but now is clearly not the moment," Varian stepped over the stone coffin prepared for him, without the slightest hesitation. This item had actually begun to be carved by artisans before he left, because even he himself was unsure whether he would return alive.
The outcome was as he had expected; if not for Arthas's sudden appearance, he would have died long ago on that corpse-strewn beach.
Varian resumed his seat on the throne of Stormwind. He ordered the guards around the throne, "Everyone, thoroughly investigate Stormwind Keep for any hidden demons. Genn, come here for a moment."
Greymane walked to Varian's side. After Varian whispered a few words to Greymane, a flash of shock crossed Greymane's face, and then he immediately called his Royal Grayguards and hurried out of Stormwind Keep.
Watching Greymane's hasty departure, Tyrande asked, "Your Majesty Varian, is there still trouble? Please speak freely; we Night Elves will do our best to resist the Burning Legion."
Varian pondered for a moment, then said to Prophet Velen, "Prophet, could I trouble you to cast a Holy Light barrier to ensure we are not being overheard by demons right now?"
"Of course," Velen struck his crystal staff, and a brilliant Holy Light barrier rapidly expanded from the staff's point of contact, enveloping the entire Keep's throne room.
After confirming there was no longer any threat within the throne room, Varian began to speak.
"The failure at Broken Shore cannot be entirely blamed on the Horde. When they were seizing the high ground, they were ambushed by demons, something our intelligence had not mentioned at all," Varian's voice was low. This time, it was SI:7's mistake that caused the Alliance and the Horde immense losses.
"But they shouldn't have retreated without warning!" Muradin clearly still harbored resentment about this. "At least they should have sent a messenger to communicate with us!"
"Muradin, the situation on the battlefield changes in an instant. Although the Horde's unannounced retreat did cause us heavy losses, we cannot harbor such thoughts now. Otherwise, it would play right into the Burning Legion's hands. Now we must prioritize the bigger picture; settling scores with the Horde can wait," Varian's expression was also quite helpless.
"What I need to tell you now is the reason for our ambush—Matthias Shaw of SI:7 had actually received accurate intelligence about Broken Shore.
But this master spy was ambushed while transmitting the intelligence, which resulted in us not receiving the correct information and walking right into the trap the Burning Legion had meticulously set for us.
If it weren't for… the Ashbringer saving my life, I might have died on the sands of Broken Shore long ago."
"The Ashbringer…" Everyone looked at Tirion, who was still bandaged, seemingly wanting to ask who the new Ashbringer was.
This name no longer just referred to the divine sword, but also to the cold knight who wielded it, striking fear into all things vile. To receive the acknowledgment of Tirion and the Ashbringer itself, the identity of this individual greatly intrigued the high-ranking officials of the Alliance.
Tirion merely smiled faintly at this point, not revealing the identity of the person holding the Ashbringer.
The attitude of these two left everyone else somewhat bewildered. Why wouldn't they reveal the name of this hero?
"Ahem, the focus now is to…"
Before Varian could finish speaking, a tremendous tremor echoed through Stormwind Keep, so much so that even Varian, seated on the throne, could feel a slight vibration.
Everyone grabbed their weapons, looking around vigilantly, worried that this was another precursor to a Burning Legion attack.
However, after more than ten seconds, a Royal Guard rushed into the Holy Light barrier, reporting loudly, "Your Majesty Varian, SI:7 has discovered traces of demons."
Just as the guard's words fell, an ear-splitting shriek almost entered the ears of everyone in the city. Many ordinary people instantly felt dizzy, and those with weaker constitutions even fell directly to the ground.
"The Burning Legion will not spare you! Human! We are immortal! Ah ah ah ah!"
If the first half was a threat, then the last part was the demon's agonizing scream.