"You, go over there and check. This is a critical moment in the war; we cannot let the Legion take advantage of the situation!"
On the city wall, the elf commander's loud shouts reached almost every corner.
As his shouts died down, the sound of tight, orderly footsteps arose, seemingly a small squad of soldiers being dispatched.
Arthas stood in the shadow of the city wall, almost blending into the darkness itself, so much so that not a single soldier discovered his presence.
Although the Undead might have eyes, their vision wasn't actually based on sight, but rather on perceiving the world through their souls, gaining a field of vision similar to seeing with eyes.
This was the principle behind the soul vision Arthas usually employed, but this type of vision had a drawback: if your soul power wasn't strong enough, it was very easy to be deceived.
And clearly, it was no difficult task for Arthas to obscure the vision of a group of Undead minions, so he had actually walked across the long bridge outside Ravencrest Fortress quite openly.
The reason he was now hiding in the shadow of the city wall was merely due to concerns about potential magical detection traps.
After a quick reconnaissance, he found that perhaps due to the fortress commander's over-reliance on the Undead's vision, there weren't many usable magical traps at all. Arthas then entered Ravencrest Fortress almost unimpeded.
"Hmm… this situation at Ravencrest Fortress reminds me that I will inevitably have contact with the Shadowlands in the future. There are many powerful individuals there who have mastered the core technologies of necromancy. It wouldn't be fun if they used the same method to enter Icecrown Citadel."
Similar to Ravencrest Fortress, Icecrown Citadel was also a place where only the Undead existed.
Although many high-ranking Undead were stationed there, as long as they were individual entities, even the tireless Undead would inevitably have moments of inattention.
As for what to use to strengthen Icecrown Citadel's defenses and the Scourge's power, Arthas already had some ideas.
The Scourge and the Undead stationed in Ravencrest Fortress were not much different; when the number of Undead was limited and there weren't enough fresh recruits to replenish them, the role of the Undead was actually restricted.
Without sweeping across most of Lordaeron and destroying several civilized legacies, the Undead Scourge itself was just a mediocre force.
However, being unable to turn living beings into skeletons does not mean that the Undead Scourge's potential for growth is locked; on the contrary, beyond the Undead horde and the tactic of fighting to sustain the fight, the Undead still have unparalleled advantages compared to regular armies.
At least Arthas didn't want his future army of the dead to be full of ugly Abominations and Ghouls; that was merely a fallen one's self-deception.
Death Knights, Liches, Bone Dragons, and Crypt Lords were merely the most superficial manifestations of necromancy in this world; even more exciting things were brewing.
The soul is the most marvelous and malleable energy.
Arthas took out Frostmourne; the runeblade, strengthened by the Guardian, had already revealed a sharpness no less than the Ashbringer, and this sword's path of evolution had finally taken its first step.
In a castle full of Undead, while the Ashbringer was the strongest weapon, Frostmourne was the silent reaper.
Without revealing himself, the runeblade could allow Arthas to quickly penetrate the Ravencrest Fortress guards' defenses and directly plunge into the demon's heart.
The core fortress of Ravencrest Fortress was on one side of the fortress, and Arthas still needed to move a certain distance within the fortress to reach the area where Lord Ravencrest was located.
However, while "strolling" through the fortress, Arthas suddenly heard a commotion.
"You guys, hurry up, send this assassin sent by the demon into the dungeon!"
An assassin sent by the demon?
Now, the Undead of Ravencrest Fortress have mostly had their minds twisted; normal people are demons in their eyes, while demons have become innocent civilians.
In other words, those Undead had not captured an assassin from the Legion.
Arthas walked to a withered tree and observed the scene not far away:
A female Night Elf had been captured by Undead guards and was being escorted, stumbling forward.
She was dressed in thin clothing, her bare feet treading on the rocky and cluttered ground of Ravencrest Fortress, her body covered in wounds, purplish-blue marks visible almost everywhere.
Ravencrest Fortress itself was near the sea, and the presence of the Undead made the temperature here much lower than outside. As the cold wind blew, the Night Elf instinctively shivered twice.
It seemed the cold made her body very stiff, but as soon as her movements slowed, the guards responsible for escorting her immediately swung their long whips, striking her back sharply.
"Maiev Shadowsong?"
Arthas naturally recognized this captured Night Elf. When he went to release Illidan, he had a brief encounter with this Warden in secret, though Maiev herself was unaware of it.
He didn't expect to run into Maiev by chance, so helping her a little without exposing himself was not a difficult task.
The runes on Frostmourne flickered a few times, and a blue light flashed in the eyes of the Undead escorting Maiev, with no other anomalies.
They continued to escort Maiev Shadowsong forward normally, as if continuing to carry out the orders of their former living superiors.
But when they rounded a corner and entered the blind spot of other Undead, this group turned into a small room.
This was likely an abandoned resting room; the Undead didn't need to rest, so a large part of Ravencrest Fortress was actually still deserted and uninhabited.
Maiev was pushed by a hand and stumbled into this room. She struggled to get up from the cold ground, glaring at the Undead soldiers behind her.
But at that moment, those fellows abandoned their control over Maiev. The last Undead soldier even turned and closed the door to the resting room, and the entire room immediately plunged into darkness.
Maiev's night vision was extremely strong; such darkness could not obstruct her sight. After a brief adaptation, Maiev suddenly realized that those Undead were all surrounding her.
They formed a circle, encircling the Warden in the very center.
What were these Undead doing?
Maiev was a little confused; the Undead shouldn't disobey their superiors' orders, but what they were doing now was clearly different from sending her to the prison.
But no matter what, being unarmed and stared at by so many Undead was by no means a good thing. If there was a problem with their acceptance of orders, it wasn't impossible for them to kill her right now.
While thinking about how to escape, Maiev curled up, trying to break free from the shackles.
The next scene, however, completely stunned the Warden.
The soldiers drew their longswords, aimed them at the core where their soul fire was preserved, and mercilessly plunged the swords in, as clean and swift as when they killed other creatures.
A squad of Undead committed suicide right before Maiev's eyes. The dead guards knelt on the ground. This eerie atmosphere was like some kind of terrifying ritual, and Maiev was the sacrifice.
A drop of cold sweat slid down her forehead. Maiev sat up; she confirmed once again that these Undead had indeed committed suicide and were not playing any tricks.
After Frostmourne devoured the souls of those undead, Arthas quickly departed; he had already helped Maiev eliminate the most troublesome soldiers, and with her skill, it was impossible for her to miss such an opportunity.
Moreover, Maiev's escape could also divert some of the Legion's attention, allowing him to enter Ravencrest Fortress more easily.
After squatting in a hidden corner for some time, the previously silent fortress finally stirred again—the undead had discovered Maiev's disappearance and were tracking the Warden's whereabouts.
Large numbers of Black Rook guards were searching and patrolling the courtyard, and several officers were gathered around the forge where Maiev's armor and weapons had been confiscated, trying to find any traces she might have left.
However, the first time Maiev was captured, it was because she had no prior preparation and fell into their encirclement while tracking Gul'dan's whereabouts.
Now that Maiev was back in the shadows, her goal had shifted to escaping the fortress, and these Black Rook guards would have to put in much more effort to find the Warden's whereabouts.
And Maiev did not disappoint Arthas; in just a few tens of minutes, a significant portion of Ravencrest Fortress's defensive forces were diverted.
For the Legion, having a dangerous opponent like Maiev Shadowsong within their territory was quite terrifying.
But what the Legion did not know was that while their schemes were soaring, another, even more dangerous individual had already passed through their confident undead defense line and entered the interior of Ravencrest Fortress.
Upon entering the main hall, several souls, more potent than ordinary elves yet constantly emitting echoes of pain, caught his attention; the Burning Legion seemed to be twisting them.
Eerie wails and whimpers echoed through the spacious halls inside Ravencrest Fortress, as the Burning Legion's clutches twisted the minds of these specters.
Arthas, however, was deaf to the cries of these specters: if it came to tragic undead, he had seen far more in Northrend, and now was not the time for sympathy.
Besides, to truly free these undead from their suffering, it was necessary to fundamentally help them break free from the Burning Legion's control.
This was precisely what Arthas intended to do next.
The interior of Ravencrest Fortress was also extremely complex; compared to the spacious courtyard, the silent interior of Ravencrest Fortress had very few undead stationed there.
Resurrecting and twisting the will of the deceased elven warriors could not be accomplished in a single day; it seemed the Burning Legion's warlocks had first focused their attention on the fortress's exterior.
Arthas moved silently and swiftly within the fortress, obscuring the vision and perception of the few existing undead, who completely failed to notice that a living person had infiltrated the fortress.
His steel-clad boots stepped on the hard metal floor inside the fortress without making a sound, as Arthas was accomplishing a task that could make even the most renowned rogues and assassins gape in astonishment.
However, Arthas's forward progress halted upon reaching the ascending stairs of the fortress.
The lower floors had loose undead guards and mages for defense, but going up led to the core area controlled by the Legion.
Attempting to move in the same way as on the lower levels there would be absolutely inadvisable; the Legion not only possessed acute sensory abilities, but their vision also did not require the burning of soul fire.
Blue light glowed in Arthas's eyes, and his Soul Sight immediately revealed the situation on the upper level.
Compared to the lower level, which had little undead defense, the upper level was practically swarming with various demons, and some imps were looting the treasures left behind in Ravencrest Fortress.
There were too many; even for Arthas, a direct charge was definitely not a good idea.
Even if there were no Greater Demons that could threaten him inside, such a vast number, combined with the complex terrain of Ravencrest Fortress, would be enough to delay him for a very long time.
Arthas's true target was the Dreadlords Dantal'inax, who was attempting to twist Ravencrest's judgment—speaking of which, most of his hunting targets were Dreadlords.
Perhaps someday he could also earn the title of Nathrezim Hunter.
After all, the demons dispatched by the Burning Legion to infiltrate civilizations and act alone were generally Dreadlords, so these fellows naturally became Arthas's best choice of targets.
However, there was some trouble at hand; the lesser demons blocked Arthas's path, and bypassing them would be much more difficult than bypassing the undead at the entrance.
He was also unsure if the Dreadlords had received the news, as he had already slain more than one or two Nathrezim, and the Burning Legion should have realized that someone was hunting down isolated high-ranking demons.
Things were pretty much as Arthas had guessed; just as he was trying to bypass the demons' senses and enter the top floor of the fortress, the Dreadlords, disguised as Ravencrest's advisor Latosius, was conversing with Gul'dan at Night Hold.
Gul'dan easily contacted Dantal'inax using the abundant magical energy of Night Hold.
The Dreadlords used a sleeping spell to put Ravencrest's soul into slumber. He spoke to Gul'dan with some displeasure, "Such a sudden contact could very likely cause Ravencrest to break free from my control."
The Orc Warlock in the image, whose right arm gripping his staff was entirely formed from fel fire, stroked his arm. "Dantal'inax, I am merely reminding you not to be too careless. Detheroc and Balnazzar have both died at the hands of that human; that fellow is still constantly seeking out Burning Legion generals.
This arm of mine was utterly destroyed by his Holy Light, and I could only create a substitute with fel; his power is immense, and he is not someone we can deal with alone.
Not long ago, the Vrykul we sent to find the aegis of aggramar were also eliminated by a suspected paladin; it's very likely he was the one who did it."
While recounting Arthas's recent actions, Gul'dan spoke cautiously, "Although you are in Ravencrest Fortress, there are no other powerful demons to assist you. He is very likely to target you."
The Orc Warlock had never imagined that someone could turn the tables and hunt down high-ranking demons of the Burning Legion; powerful demons like the Nathrezim sometimes required several Archmages to confront head-on.
Yet, that human paladin had repeatedly defeated Burning Legion generals head-on, and he did so with remarkable ease. Gul'dan suspected that unless Archimonde and Kil'jaeden personally intervened, the Burning Legion would probably need to prepare a meticulous ambush to kill Arthas.
High-ranking demons are not something mortals can defeat alone; even with the cooperation of ordinary Burning Legion soldiers, they can easily defeat the demigods of Azeroth.
But Arthas was an anomaly; he displayed a power that one or two high-ranking demons simply could not match. Gul'dan, even under the cover of the demon army, had one of his arms destroyed by him.
To this day, he could still feel the searing pain brought by the Holy Light at that time, a feeling more agonizing than having an entire arm directly severed.
Dantal'inax pondered Gul'dan's words, and the expression on his elven face, which he had transformed into, involuntarily froze for a moment.
He had, of course, heard about the demon-hunting knight, but the Burning Legion had focused its attention on how to quickly crush Azeroth's resistance, paying little attention to localized battle outcomes.
The missions undertaken by Balnazzar, Detheroc, and Skovald themselves had a very high risk factor, and losing their lives was not unbearable.
But his own location, Val'sharah, was suffering from a nightmare invasion, coupled with the rampaging undead in Ravencrest Fortress; he was merely a commander sitting steadily in the command room.
Although he was also performing a solo mission, his safety margin was much higher than those few before him. If even under these circumstances the mysterious knight could find an opportunity, then the Burning Legion might need to re-evaluate the threat level of their opponent.
Solving a Dreadlords single-handedly and single-handedly infiltrating a heavily guarded fortress to assassinate the enemy's commander are two completely different levels of difficulty.
Furthermore, Dantal'inax's mission was extremely secretive; although Gul'dan had once been here to twist the undead of Ravencrest Fortress with fel, after taking over the command here, Dantal'inax had always appeared as the advisor Latosius.
In terms of secrecy, safety, and reliability, he was much more secure than Detheroc, who was lurking alone in Stormwind.
Gul'dan once again reminded Dantal'inax to be vigilant about any infiltration into Ravencrest Fortress, after which he cut off the magical communication and went back to studying how to use the power of the eye of aman'thul.
Dantal'inax frowned, deep in thought, with Ravencrest still in a deep slumber beside him. Suddenly, Latosius, transformed from the Dreadlords, twisted his body sharply, dodging Ravencrest's sneak attack.
"Ravencrest?! Are you mad?!"
As a qualified actor, Dantal'inax would certainly not self-destruct, but instead immediately shifted the blame to Ravencrest.
Ravencrest steadily held his longsword, adopting a posture for continued attack. "Latosius... Ten thousand years ago, your movements were not this agile."
Dantal'inax's words faltered, and he still tried to feign ignorance, "What are you saying, Ravencrest? Has the Legion beguiled you?"
At the same time, he began to examine the soul control he had placed on Ravencrest. It was then that he discovered that the soul spell on Ravencrest had been broken by someone without his knowledge, and Ravencrest had thus regained his free will!
But this was not what truly horrified Dantal'inax; Ravencrest himself was nothing, controlling him was not difficult. It was the person who secretly removed the spell from Ravencrest that truly shocked Dantal'inax.
Who was it? After the Lich King's fall, where else on Azeroth could such a master of necromancy exist?!