The Arcane glow in Malygos's eyes grew even brighter, and his entire body was enveloped in violent Arcane energy.
The magic Valastrasz had cast on Nefarian's corpse to keep him in human form for easier transport was instantly shattered.
Nefarian's massive Black Dragon corpse suddenly floated outside the Dragonshrine, almost blocking an entire side of the blowing snow.
From the enraged Malygos's hands, one beautiful yet extremely dangerous magical ray after another was unleashed, instantly slicing Nefarian's tough body into several pieces, his enormous dragon head detaching from his corpse without any resistance.
Next were his wings, four legs, tail, and internal organs, and finally, even Nefarian's skeleton was peeled away.
After destroying all of Nefarian's internal organs except his heart, Malygos did not damage the Black Dragon Prince's other body parts; in a burst of blue light, all of Nefarian's other components were swallowed into a strange space, leaving only that dark, unsettling heart.
Valastrasz, who had watched all of this from the side, looked unwell; Malygos's movements were too fast, and he had no time to stop him.
Although he understood Malygos's rage, dismantling a fellow dragon's corpse like a toy in front of the other Guardian Dragons made Valastrasz wonder if the Weaver, the King of Blue Dragons, was... somewhat deranged.
Alexstrasza also frowned slightly, but upon seeing Nefarian's dark heart, her expression suddenly froze.
"You see it too, Alexstrasza?" Malygos's originally despondent tone suddenly became a bit neurotic. "This power does not belong to the Guardian Dragons at all."
"Old Gods..." Alexstrasza's delicate face showed some disgust and discomfort, which was not because she saw Nefarian's heart, but because she felt the power surging within Nefarian's heart.
"I thought those guys were all properly locked in cages, but I'm afraid we were all wrong, they were all wrong!"
Malygos's voice carried a hint of madness, "They are also wrong, that group of Guardians who claim to be righteous, if it weren't for them, my child, my wife would not have—"
"Malygos, calm down!"
Alexstrasza realized Malygos's abnormality; the magic around him was even causing space to ripple and distort.
The Life-Binder did not hesitate to use her authority, attempting to soothe Malygos's emotions with her power over living beings.
Perhaps he had not yet truly fallen into despair and madness, or perhaps he still held a trace of affection for his sister, Malygos slowly emerged from that intimidating state.
This made Alexstrasza breathe a sigh of relief—her power was not the best choice for soothing the mind; her sister, the Green Dragon Queen Ysera's dream power, was the best choice.
But there was no time to awaken Ysera now; Alexstrasza worried that if Malygos were allowed to continue like this, his obsession and madness would eventually destroy him.
Just like Neltharion.
"Malygos, calm down? Anger and hatred cannot solve any problems? They will only make you equally susceptible to the Old Gods' corruption."
"I know, I know."
Malygos's expression kept changing; eventually, he returned to that indifferent face.
"I must return to the Nexus immediately to find out where the mistake occurred—if Neltharion's fall was also due to those ancient evil gods, then they have probably been active for longer than we imagined."
"Wait—" Valastrasz saw that Malygos intended to leave and quickly stopped the Weaver. "Weaver, sir? I have something else to say."
"Speak quickly. On account of you bringing me Nefarian's corpse, I can pretend I didn't hear what you said before."
Malygos halted his teleportation magic and coldly gazed at the Red Dragon.
"A friend of mine asked me to tell you that there is another Blue Dragon tribe still alive in this world."
Malygos listened to this sentence and remained silent for a long while before finally speaking, "Continue."
"You should know the name Senegos."
"Senegos," Alexstrasza repeated the name, searching through her tens of thousands of years of memories. "Is that Blue Dragon? He's still alive?"
"Senegos..." Malygos's expression showed a rare hint of emotion, which also made Valastrasz breathe a sigh of relief.
At least Arthas didn't just make up a name to tell him; otherwise, Valastrasz felt he might be in serious trouble today.
"Who is your friend? How does he know this name?"
Malygos actively asked a question, and Valastrasz immediately replied, "He is the warrior who single-handedly slew Nefarian, the Prince of the Human Kingdom of Lordaeron, Arthas Menethil."
"A mortal?"
A hint of confusion appeared on Malygos's face; he clearly had not heard this name before.
Alexstrasza added from the side, "Valastrasz is not lying; it was indeed this Human Prince who killed Nefarian, and he also has someone you know with him."
Malygos looked at Alexstrasza in confusion.
"Archaedas, the Earth Guardian before Neltharion."
The Weaver's expression stiffened, as if he recalled something unpleasant, but unexpectedly, he suppressed his emotions this time and slowly said, "A Guardian... by a mortal's side. This is simply the most absurd thing I've heard in ten thousand years."
"But that's the truth, Malygos. I suspect something bad has happened; the reappearance of the Guardians explains this very well."
Malygos lowered his head in thought for a moment, then turned to Valastrasz, "Continue with what you know."
"Okay," Valastrasz nodded, "Archaedas is currently..."
"No, not about the Guardian. It's about Senegos. How is that old Blue Dragon doing now?"
"Uh..."
Valastrasz stammered awkwardly a few times. Seeing him like this, Malygos said unhappily, "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
"That Prince only told me the name of this Blue Dragon, and that there are other Blue Dragons living normally in this world. As for other things..."
"That Prince said he hoped to discuss them in detail with you in person."
"What does he want? Wealth, power, or magical treasures?"
Malygos clearly took this as a signal of a request. He quickly said, "Alright, a mortal wants to see me, so I'll go see him and find out what this warrior, who can 'single-handedly' defeat Nefarian, has in mind. You don't have anything else to say, do you?"
Valastrasz shook his head. Malygos snorted coldly and said to Alexstrasza, "You heard it too, a mortal wants me to find him. We'll talk about the Guardian next time."
Alexstrasza nodded somewhat helplessly, and at the same time, she was very curious how Arthas had managed to figure out Malygos's temperament—he seemed to know very well that Malygos currently didn't care much about anything other than the propagation of the Blue Dragon race.
It seemed, just as Valastrasz said, that Human Prince seemed to know many unusual things.
Malygos finally asked, "Where is that Human now?"
"Blackrock Mountain, currently fighting Ragnaros's elemental minions."
After hearing Valastrasz's answer, Malygos's body was instantly enveloped in blue-purple Arcane light. In the blink of an eye, Malygos's body disappeared from the top floor of the Dragonshrine, leaving only Nefarian's dark heart still bound by Arcane chains in mid-air.
Alexstrasza looked at the heart radiating ominous power and waved her hand, releasing a red flame. However, that flame could not ignite Nefarian's heart, which had stopped beating long ago.
"The Old Gods are reawakening... But why, in these ten thousand years, have they been silent, except for Neltharion?"
Alexstrasza looked up at the heart, a series of questions surging in her mind. In fact, Nefarian's remains had explained many things, but when these things were connected, Alexstrasza still had not found the most important link, which was the logic behind the entire event.
There were too many questions, such as how Neltharion was driven mad by the imprisoned Old Gods, and what state the Guardians were currently in.
Thinking of this, Alexstrasza remembered her son, a Red Dragon warrior named Kaylesta, who had disappeared in the Sands of Time a thousand years ago and had not been heard from since.
Behind the high walls of Silithus, behind the rampant Qiraji, something must be hidden, but none of the Guardian Dragons who knew what happened in that ancient kingdom had returned alive.
Valastrasz looked at the Red Dragon Queen lost in thought and did not disturb her. Instead, he quietly left the top floor of the Dragonshrine and, in a building on a lower level, established communication with Arthas using magic.
As soon as the magic connection was complete, Arthas chuckled.
"It seems you've already met the Weaver."
"That's right, I can responsibly tell you, it was by no means a good experience," Valastrasz said somewhat dejectedly, but then, thinking that Arthas would be the next person to meet the Blue Dragon King, he brightened up again. "Let me tell you some 'good news,' the Weaver has gone to find you."
"That truly is 'good news,' little Red Dragon," Arthas was not surprised, but rather teased Valastrasz. "You must be thinking right now: 'Ah, this cunning Human is about to suffer the Blue Dragon King's retribution.' Right?"
"That's not true at all! And don't call me little Red Dragon!"
Valastrasz, exposed, angrily refuted Arthas's assumption, but after calming down, he seriously warned, "Regardless of anything else, when you meet him, don't treat him the way you treat me... his mental state is a bit unstable—hello? Hello, Arthas, can you hear me?"
Arthas seemed to be dazed for a few seconds, which puzzled Valastrasz for a moment, but the next second, Arthas cut off the magical communication, followed by a sentence that made Valastrasz very worried about the Prince's situation.
"Ah, sorry, we probably can't chat anymore. The 'Lord' has arrived."
Looking at the closed magical communication, Valastrasz stood rooted to the spot, a bad premonition suddenly rising in his heart—had that Human really taken his advice to heart?
As soon as he cut off magical communication with Valastrasz, Arthas felt a surge of energy, extremely similar to Nozdormu's, yet more real and violent, rapidly approaching the terrace where he was.
For a moment, the astrolabe within Arthas flickered, and he noticed that the entire Arcane network around him seemed to have been momentarily disrupted. Amidst this chaos, a powerful Blue-haired middle-aged man walked out of nothingness.
"Arthas Menethil?" Malygos looked at the young Human before him and said in a calm tone, "You should feel honored, for you have received my personal audience."
"Weaver, Guardian of Magic, King of Blue Dragons, Malygos, which title do you find more comfortable?"
"Whatever you like, mortal," Malygos stared at Arthas with some curiosity, sizing him up. He had seen mortals before, but this was the first time he had seen a mortal who remained so calm and composed when facing a Dragon King.
"Very well, Weaver, sir, I've heard many stories about you." Arthas chuckled twice.
Malygos said, "I haven't heard my siblings mention you."
"The Lord of Time, Nozdormu."
Arthas's answer silenced Malygos for a few seconds. "Alright, let's skip that question for now—Valastrasz told me you wanted to see me, and now I'm here. Since you killed Nefarian and obtained information about Senegos, I can fulfill your requests, as long as they don't violate my responsibilities and principles."
"Then, may I ask a question?"
Malygos did not speak, but extended a hand in a 'please' gesture. He was confident he could resolve any of Arthas's doubts, whether about ancient secrets or magical treasures.
But Arthas's question had nothing to do with any of those.
"Why haven't you gone to Azurewing Repose to find your kin? You must have known about their existence for a long time, right? Blue Dragons cannot thrive without the Arcane network, and in this world, which Arcane node could escape your perception, Weaver, sir?"
Arthas's tone suddenly became urgent and sharp, and this question made Malygos's expression freeze, completely beyond his expectations.
This suffocating silence lasted for a considerable period. Arthas remained silent, staring intently at Malygos, awaiting the Blue Dragon King's answer.