Two years later, Lordaeron Royal City.
It was the Winter Veil Festival, and the pristine white snow covered Lordaeron, adding a unique charm to the ancient city.
Every household in the city was busy preparing for the Winter Veil Festival, and even with snowflakes drifting from the sky, it did not cool the enthusiasm of the people on the streets. The city's streets were adorned with lanterns and festive decorations, children played with candies and toys, and the laughter of people echoed through the streets and alleys.
Before long, the deep sound of the bronze bell, used for celebration and timekeeping, rang out from the high tower in the central promenade of the Royal City. Its melodious chime reached every corner of the city, including Arthas, who was handling official duties in the castle study. He also heard the bell.
"Is it that late already?"
The King of Lordaeron stopped writing. He had an appointment with a guest for lunch today, and by his reckoning, it was almost time for the meeting.
But before Arthas could get up, the study door was pushed open. Behind the double wooden doors, intricately carved with exquisite reliefs and patterns, a tall, curvaceous, and beautiful High Elf lady walked in and, under Arthas's strange gaze, unceremoniously sat down on the study's reclining chair.
"What are you looking at?"
The elf lady glared at Arthas, then leaned her head back and closed her eyes on the long chair, completely disregarding the supreme ruler of Lordaeron.
Not long after the elf lady lay down, another lady stormed into the room. Jaina also completely ignored Arthas, looking around until she saw the elf lying to the side.
Seeing the other party leisurely hiding here to slack off, Jaina snorted coldly and complained to Arthas, "This governor you arranged is quite leisurely, still having the nerve to run into your study? Do you know how big of a mess she caused?!"
Arthas sighed, "What happened?"
"Tonight is the Winter Veil Festival! There was supposed to be a speech segment for you, but this fellow broke the magic amplifier. Now the maintenance department is scrambling to deal with the scattered parts! And that's not all, the damage to that magical instrument also directly rendered most of the items in the venue useless, and the logistics manager fainted directly!" Jaina was on the verge of pointing a finger at the other party and questioning her. Judging by her heaving chest, she herself was quite angered.
"That's not my business, little Jaina," the elf lady calmly responded to Jaina's accusation, "That magic prop was already at its limit. I was just doing a normal sound check."
Upon hearing the elf's reply, Jaina became even more furious, "You call that normal sound checking when you nearly blew the roof off with a Mind Blast?!"
"Was anyone injured?"
Arthas wasn't concerned about the instrument's damage; he only asked Jaina about the safety of the people present at the time.
Jaina exhaled, calming herself, "Aside from the logistics manager who fainted from anger, no one was injured."
It was precisely because everyone was safe and sound that she was only angry, rather than directly using magic to blast this person in front of her, who appeared mortal but was actually something entirely unknown.
"Calm down, little Jaina," the elf lady leisurely counted her fingers, the nails on her slender digits were crystal clear, showing a healthy rosy color, "I will ensure the banquet tonight proceeds smoothly, but before that, I suggest we thoroughly investigate the people in the logistics department."
Jaina immediately frowned, "Are you sure? The logistics manager is an old-timer in the castle; he's been with Uncle Terenas since I was a child."
"I didn't say that old man had a problem," the elf lady sat up, her eyes filled with amusement as she scanned Arthas and Jaina, "But I am very sure that magic speaker was more than just going to explode."
"Xal'atath, get to the point."
Arthas was in no mood to let the person in front of him continue to beat around the bush; he wanted the answer to the problem.
"Alright, alright, Your Majesty, you're still as impatient as ever," Xal'atath smiled slightly, "All those magical artifacts were infiltrated with trace amounts of curses. For beings like you, they naturally wouldn't have any effect, but you're not the only one attending the banquet tonight. If all those people from various factions were to die mysteriously after the banquet, wouldn't you also have a headache?"
Yes, this unconventional elf lady was precisely the Void Precursor originally trapped within the dark empire blade. After a long ritual, she had obtained a genuine physical body, not a temporary borrowed one.
Thanks to this body, which Arthas had specially crafted, she had escaped a portion of Dimensius's attention. At least now she could conceal the remaining traces, ensuring that the Void Lord, even after his resurgence, could not immediately track her existence.
In Dimensius's eyes, Xal'atath's existence would be as if it had been erased—provided she didn't stray too far from Arthas, at least not leaving Azeroth, otherwise she would still be located by Dimensius, and might even face endless pursuit from other Void factions due to her complete betrayal of the Void.
"Who would do this? The royal castle's inspections are very strict; any anomaly is very difficult—" Although Jaina didn't like Xal'atath, she had to admit that the other party's perception was far more acute than ordinary detection methods. Even the most top-tier master assassin couldn't hide their tracks in front of Xal'atath.
After all, this Lordaeron governor, who now exercised many powers on behalf of Arthas, was previously a genuine Void creature, and she knew all about the conspiracies hidden in the shadows.
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However, Jaina stopped mid-sentence and realized it herself—it was those seemingly insignificant magical items, used to maintain some necessary functions of the banquet, that inherently possessed magical properties, which would, of course, conceal those trace curses.
At this thought, Jaina's expression immediately turned cold. She unhesitatingly took a crest from her collar, which was her identification as a member of the Kirin Tor Council of Six.
Using special encryption methods, she sent this magical communication back to the Kirin Tor, ensuring that the other five Council members would receive the message, and after a slight hesitation, she also sent the message separately to her teacher, the old Antonidas, who had already stepped down as Speaker and was diligently studying magic and education in Dalaran.
"This batch of magical goods was imported from Dalaran, and even the transport used specialized teleportation channels. If the people in the royal palace are fine, then the problem can only be at the source."
Jaina gave her answer with a cold expression. Rats had infiltrated the city she managed, and they were attempting to harm the citizens of Lordaeron with evil methods. This was undoubtedly a provocation to the entire Alliance.
Since defeating N'Zoth, the Alliance has been developing steadily. They have worked hard to repair the wounds inflicted on Azeroth by various dark forces over the years, and they have managed everything meticulously, ensuring their homeland would not be further damaged.
The wounds left on Mount Hyjal by the Burning Legion have all recovered, and even the forest polluted by fel energy has gradually regained vitality. The natural disasters caused by Deathwing's final manipulation by N'Zoth have also been quelled. Speeding trains have connected Kaz Modan and Redridge Mountains, which were previously cut off by the Burning Steppes and Searing Gorge. Now, traveling north from Stormwind no longer requires sea or air transport. The subway and trains built with Gnome technology have completely opened up the barrier between north and south, allowing travelers to quickly reach the northern kingdoms of the Eastern Kingdoms by land without having to dimensional travel those dangerous areas.
Varian led the Stormwind army to eliminate the undead threats in Duskwood one by one. The residents displaced after the Karazhan disaster were also able to resettle in the territory of the Stormwind Kingdom, and the only remaining threat, Karazhan Tower, was also closely monitored by the Alliance.
That tower connected to the Twisting Nether, posing a rather troublesome hidden danger, but even Aegwynn, the former Guardian, was helpless against it. After all, the disturbances that once occurred in that tower had caused a part of the Twisting Nether to become completely linked to Azeroth's Arcane Web, making it impossible for even the most powerful mages to untangle the chaos there.
Even during repair work on Karazhan, a slight misstep could cause a portion of the Twisting Nether to directly collide with Azeroth, with the worst possible outcome being Azeroth's disintegration in the cataclysm of an astral impact.
Fortunately, Karazhan itself has limited capacity, and it is only connected to a vacant corner of the Twisting Nether. As long as it is strictly controlled, the influence of that tower alone makes it almost impossible for beings in the Twisting Nether to detect such a tiny passage.
At most, some accidentally stumbled Twisting Nether creatures would crash into reality, but they would all be thoroughly cleared by Alliance forces.
However, that area has already been deemed uninhabitable, and the Alliance had long since relocated all nearby residents to other places, to prevent innocent people from being harmed by the monsters entering reality.
It could be said that the entire Azeroth had ushered in the best situation it had seen in decades, but now Jaina was told that some utterly despicable scoundrels had infiltrated Dalaran, hailed as the city of wisdom and magic, and intended to destroy such a beautiful blueprint. How could she not feel enraged?
Soon, the other members of the Council of Six responded, stating they would immediately investigate the matter and first seal off the problematic magic shop.
The matter seemed to have concluded there, but Jaina began to feel uneasy, as if this wasn't just a simple murder plot, but a prelude to some kind of disaster.
She looked up at Arthas and Xal'atath, frowning as she said, "I just feel that this matter isn't that simple."
"Heh heh, I like your keenness, little Jaina," a divine light shone in Xal'atath's eyes. She leisurely rose, her feet actually hovering, floating like a ghost to Jaina's side, "Yes, you're not wrong. These curses are not the revenge of some clumsy mage, but a premeditated upheaval."
"The rampant Legion that destroys realms has finally found Azeroth's location."
Xal'atath's words struck Jaina's heart like a bolt from the blue.
Arthas, however, had long anticipated it. In fact, he already knew that these commotions were about to occur, he just wasn't sure in what form they would manifest, which was also the reason for his meeting with his guest.
"Perfect timing, my guest should be arriving soon. Jaina, Xal'atath, let's head to the reception room first. I'm sure he'll give us some useful advice."
Inside the reception room, Arthas saw a tall, robed figure with his back to him, his hair and beard completely white, staring intently at a painting of a night sky on the reception room wall.
"Good day, Prophet."
Hearing Arthas's voice, Prophet Velen seemed to come back to his senses. He turned to face Arthas and the other two, "Good day, Arthas Your Majesty."
After a brief greeting, Velen's attention shifted to Xal'atath, "This is truly a miracle… Even seeing it with my own eyes, I find it hard to believe."
As the leader of the Eredar, and now the Prophet of the Draenei, Velen, who had lived for tens of thousands of years, knew many secrets of the universe. He even understood the secrets of the Naaru race, knowing that their forms could shift between Void creatures and Holy Light Naaru. However, for the Naaru, the process of falling into the Void was almost equivalent to death.
Naaru reborn as Void creatures had completely lost their original selves. For the Naaru, this outcome was even more terrifying than complete destruction, so many Naaru preferred to self-destruct rather than transform into Entropy Lords after their life force and energy were completely exhausted.
But even the well-informed Velen found it hard to imagine how Arthas managed to transform a precursor of a Void Lord back into a mortal, even if this "mortal" had to be put in double quotes. Although Xal'atath's life essence was no longer a Void life, she was still an extraordinary existence, merely appearing in the form of an elf for now.
"This is no miracle, Prophet," Xal'atath said, showing little interest in Velen's statement, "It's merely the ultimate application of the universe's primal forces."
"Regardless, we have gained a reliable ally, rather than a minion of a Void Lord." Velen did not care about Xal'atath's attitude; he only knew that Arthas was willing to keep her by his side, which indicated that she was trustworthy enough.
"It seems you still have a great misunderstanding of the Void, Prophet," Xal'atath chuckled a few times, "Who says Void creatures cannot be partners?"
Velen calmly glanced at Xal'atath but did not respond to her words. Instead, he said to Arthas, "The construction of the new spaceship is almost complete, but we still lack the coordinates of Argus… and our engineers believe the ship's fuel situation is not optimistic."
After defeating N'Zoth, Arthas contacted Velen to build a new starship using Draenei and Naaru interstellar travel technology to counter the Burning Legion.
However, during their long exile, the Draenei had lost a large number of valuable technologies, and engineers who mastered high-end technology had always been prime targets for the Burning Legion. After several escapes and the catastrophe of Draenor, only a fraction of the Eredar Golden Age technology preserved by the Draenei remained.
If not for the support of the Alliance and the Naaru, the Draenei might not even have the ability to build a ship capable of interstellar travel.
Initially, Velen considered incorporating the Tempest Keep, Exodar, and the few remaining ships into the expedition fleet, but Arthas insisted that one battleship would be sufficient. Their goal was not to warp around like the Burning Legion using starships; as long as they could transport the vanguard to Argus, they could establish a position and create a portal that could cross interstellar space.
Moreover, competing with the Burning Legion's universe-sweeping, almost infinite interstellar navy in terms of ship numbers was completely playing to their weakness against the enemy's strength. To defeat the demon army, the only way was to deliver a decisive blow to Argus, completely crushing the Burning Legion's command center.
"The coordinates of Argus are not a problem. When the time is right, the passage will naturally open for us."
Arthas still held the sargerite keystone in his hand. The power of this stone was evident; it could even disregard vast spatial distances, linking two star regions separated by countless light-years. They did not need any interstellar coordinates, because by then, Argus would be visible to the naked eye in the night sky of Azeroth.
However, when this passage opened, the Burning Legion would also precisely locate Azeroth's coordinates. It could be said that once the sargerite keystone was fully activated, it signaled that the final decisive battle was about to begin.
"Is that so…?" Velen fell into contemplation. He had always harbored hesitation, and facing Arthas, he chose to lay bare all his concerns, "Perhaps we can postpone the plan to counterattack the Burning Legion. I worry that our people need more time to prepare."
Velen's worries were not unfounded. His hatred for the Burning Legion had never faded. Holy Light represented not only mercy and forgiveness; justice and vengeance were also aspects of Holy Light. However, the biggest difference between Velen and fanatical avengers was that he would rationally deal with his anger and hatred. During the Draenei's long exile, they had become incredibly fragile, and a slight misstep could lead to utter annihilation. For his people, the Prophet had to cautiously lead his kin forward.
The Draenei's experiences on Draenor made Velen fear that their actions would bring the same disaster to Azeroth. He had witnessed the destruction of Draenor, and he did not want to see Azeroth also turn into cold dust in the universe.
"Prophet, we do need more time, but at this moment, we have no choice." Arthas, of course, understood Velen's thoughts, but his decision was not made on a whim.
At Arthas's signal, Xal'atath handed a dim magic crystal to the Prophet.
Velen took the crystal and, after a brief magical perception, his expression instantly became solemn, "This is a demon's curse. Although extremely faint, I cannot be mistaken."
"The Burning Legion's scouts have once again infiltrated our world. Before these fellows bring chaos to Azeroth, our best option is to take the initiative."
After purifying the curse from the crystal, Velen placed the now clear magic crystal on a display stand nearby. He looked at his reflection in the crystal, seemingly seeing that day tens of thousands of years ago when Argus fell into evil. He had stood by the ship's viewport then, and the window, like this crystal, reflected his own image before his hair and beard had turned white.
"Then we have no escape, Your Majesty." Velen looked at Arthas with a complex expression. His prophetic abilities could not see any information about Arthas, as if this person had never intersected with destiny.
Or perhaps… he had already transcended destiny?
"The ship can be launched at any time after the final test, but I want to warn you beforehand, Your Majesty, this war is unlike any before. We must be prepared to fight until our last drop of blood, only then can we grasp that sliver of hope."
The construction of the starship was the highest level of secrecy, even within the Alliance. Only Arthas and Velen knew about it, besides a few others. However, the construction of a starship required a large amount of materials and technicians, and logistics of this scale could not be completely hidden.
The thought that there might be an inner traitor in Dalaran, who had been lurking for who knows how long and even dared to cause chaos during the Winter Veil Festival ceremony, made Jaina's face turn ashen. Many precious magical materials originated from Dalaran or Quel'Thalas to the north, and a significant portion of the material transport was done through teleportation nodes in these two locations. This meant that the starship's construction might have already been exposed.
"This means our plan might have already been exposed to the Legion..." Jaina couldn't help but feel a sense of defeat. Even with their strict precautions, a crucial error had occurred.
"Don't worry, Jaina, this was part of the plan all along."
Arthas wasn't worried about this, because he knew from the very beginning of the project that an undertaking of this magnitude would eventually be exposed. Azeroth was too vast, and if a demon was determined to hide, no one could completely root them out. Therefore, he had already arranged all the contingency measures.
Besides, they had only built one starship. The Burning Legion wouldn't take too much risk to specifically target such an insignificant vessel. If they truly wanted to destroy Azeroth's potential for interstellar travel, they would rather attack large ships like the Exodar or the Tempest Keep.
However, Velen's visit wasn't solely to update Arthas on the starship's completion; he also had a more important matter that required Arthas's help.
"We have re-anchored the temple's location. Archmage Faol and I have gathered a reliable group of members, but Faol and I both believe that with your help, we can ensure its success."
Velen sincerely invited Arthas. They now needed Arthas's power.
"It would be my pleasure."
Arthas had known about this for a long time and was very willing to help Azeroth gather new strength. He did not hesitate at all and accepted Velen's request.
Although Velen had already anticipated all of this, he couldn't help but feel relieved when Arthas personally agreed. "Please extend your hand, Your Majesty."
Arthas extended his right hand. Velen wove a rune containing a large amount of information with Holy Light and carefully handed the rune to Arthas. "This rune is inscribed with the specific location of the temple and information related to it."
Arthas briefly scanned the records in the rune and quickly grasped most of the information. The records were quite detailed; Velen had practically given all the temple's information to Arthas without reservation.
He closed his right hand, concealing the rune. "After I handle matters here, I will arrive on time."
"We await your arrival at any time."
After seeing Velen off, Xal'atath gracefully floated to the side of the reception room, picked up the bottle of expensive Dalaran wine from the small round table, and poured herself half a glass. She sniffed the fragrant grapes in the goblet and sighed, "Transform Saraka back into a Naaru? Those Draenei really dare to dream... Even more incredible is that they actually found a way."
Xal'atath, of course, knew what Velen's "temple" referred to. Rather than a temple, it was a prison, a dungeon specifically used to imprison the Void God, Devourer of Light, Saraka.
The Devourer of Light, Saraka, was once a noble Naaru named Thrall. She had exhausted her Holy Light to save lives, and when her last trace of Holy Light dissipated, endless darkness surged from within her, causing her to collapse and transform into a Void God.
The Draenei paid a huge price to imprison this deceased Naaru, and based on the traditional Eredar temple architecture, they built this Void-Light Temple, which served as both a prison and a research institute.
Velen and his compatriots hid this temple deep within the Twisting Nether, and the Burning Legion had been searching for its whereabouts, but Velen had always guarded against the Legion's gaze and kept it well hidden until today.
Xal'atath sipped the red wine in her glass, the mellow liquid moistening her red lips, making them appear more charming and lustrous under the light. "How boring... It's always the same old thing, light and dark, life and death, like a giant wheel constantly being pushed."
"Weren't you also transformed into a Void creature and then reverted to this flesh-and-blood body?" Jaina didn't quite understand the hint of disgust in Xal'atath's words.
"Me? Heh heh, you'll have to ask your dear Majesty about that—" Xal'atath's laughter was like the swaying of wind chimes, "Naaru and Void creatures themselves have a great connection. This transformation is reversible, just like the undead can be resurrected by powerful resurrection spells, giving their decaying bodies new life. But you should have never heard of Void creatures being turned into undead or reshaped into mortals."
As she spoke, a hint of apprehension flashed in Xal'atath's eyes. Although she acted flippant with Arthas on the surface, having experienced that ritual, she knew Arthas's terror better than anyone.
This fellow had transcended reality and was walking the path to the universe's primal origin, the ultimate mystery countless powerful beings yearned for, even her former superior, Dimensius, craved it immensely.
Jaina looked at Arthas in confusion. She knew Arthas was formidable, but to be honest, she had never had a clear standard, only knowing that Arthas should be far more powerful than them. Yet, she couldn't understand why Arthas, a human who seemed no different from ordinary people in daily life, could command such awe from so many powerful beings.
"I'm not as formidable as she implies," Arthas flatly denied Xal'atath's flattery. "That ritual was just a coincidence, and in the end, it didn't even reshape you into your original race as planned, but instead turned you into this High Elf appearance."
"I don't dislike this body. Anyway, for me, it means a new beginning, and there's nothing wrong with being an Elf." Although Xal'atath had been a Void creature for many years, it didn't mean her aesthetic sense was as distorted as those naturally born Void creatures. At least, she genuinely felt that the forms of the Old Gods were not elegant, and Void creatures existing as energy bodies were more pleasing to the eye.
As for why she transformed into a High Elf, Arthas speculated that it was likely inextricably linked to Azeroth. Although not all the materials he used came from Azeroth itself, a significant portion was imbued with Azeroth's essence, especially that bottle of Well of Eternity water, whose surging Arcane essence could be said to be the manifestation of Azeroth's power.
Arthas even suspected that if Azeroth were to truly coalesce into a physical body one day in the future, its appearance would likely bear very distinct elven features, such as a tall stature, beautiful face, and slender pointed ears.
This speculation was not unfounded, as the birth of the elven race was inextricably linked to Azeroth's essence.
Why, after being influenced by the Well of Eternity and Azeroth's power, did they evolve into their current highly characteristic appearance and form? And perhaps the High Elves, who further utilized the power of the Sunwell, were a concrete manifestation of life forms being further influenced by Azeroth.
So when Xal'atath appeared in an elven form, Arthas was only surprised for a moment, but upon further thought, he found it incredibly logical. Compared to races like humans and dwarves, who were transformed from Titan constructs, the major branches of elves might be the groups more deeply influenced by Azeroth.
This kind of research into cosmic primal forces brought Arthas some enjoyment. Although his main energy was currently focused on how to deal with the Burning Legion, in his leisure time, he would still summon Xal'atath to observe the specific changes in her body.
As a mage, Jaina was also quite curious about such ultimate cosmic mysteries, and years of magical research had made her mind extremely sharp. After carefully considering Xal'atath's words, she raised a question, "Speaking of which, why do those Void Lords always want to ascend to the real plane? Their own plane should, logically, be more suitable for their survival, right?"
Every life form has an environment most suitable for its survival. Even a Void Lord as powerful as Dimensius would be weakened by leaving the Void realm.
Xal'atath patted her forehead and said somewhat speechlessly, "Of course they want to devour the vast energy in the real plane, not to mention the special existence of a Star Soul here. If they could devour a complete Star Soul, you cannot imagine how much benefit they would gain."
But once a Star Soul fully awakens, those who were originally defenseless immediately become extremely dangerous opponents. Void Lords cannot assert that they can easily defeat an awakened Star Soul, so they have always been dedicated to devouring those dormant Star Souls that have not yet awakened.
However, this answer did not satisfy Jaina. She frowned slightly, seemingly deep in thought. "But the primal forces of the universe should maintain a balance, right? If the Void endlessly devours the real plane, then according to the model we've deduced, our entire universe would be on the verge of collapse. At that point, even the Void realm and other planes might dissipate along with the destruction of the real universe."
Was such a meaningless outcome what the Void Lords pursued? It's worth noting that although Sargeras was mad, he only sought to destroy all planets that could birth Star Souls, to prevent the Void Lords from seizing enough power from reality and thus causing the universe's destruction. Compared to the two, powerful beings like the Void Lords seemed to become beasts driven by instinct, while the Fallen Titan's mad but clear objective instead aligned more with the logic of intelligent life.
This question made Xal'atath pause. She shook her head, "I haven't considered this question either... Perhaps even after devouring the real plane, the Void realm wouldn't completely collapse? After all, the models you mortal mages deduce aren't necessarily accurate."
It was precisely because of Jaina's question that Xal'atath began to ponder this issue. In her long time as a Void life form, she had once grown tired of her role as a precursor and even wanted to replace Dimensius, but because she had never truly gained power superior to Dimensius, she had never considered the answer to this question.
She couldn't help but laugh self-deprecatingly: how could she be perplexed by mortal thoughts? In this world, besides these mortals, no one else would have the inclination to ponder answers to questions far beyond their own capabilities.
In other words, even if they knew the answer, what then? Could they stop the darkness hidden behind this ultimate cosmic mystery?