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Alonsus and his companions hurried to the source of the plague.
A monster that is obviously dead but still able to move, but has lost its mind.
A Stratholme resident, listless and with a high body temperature, was lying on the ground, dying.
He looked to be nearing the end of his life, but Alonsus sensed something even more terrifying from him.
"This looks like some kind of curse." Luo Bihua also noticed something strange about the plague-infected people. He expressed his opinion with some uncertainty.
"Was it those orcs who did it?" When Alonsus heard the word "curse", the first thing he thought of was the invading orcs.
They have their own wizards! They even possess some terrifying powers.
"I can't be sure. But this power is definitely evil." Luo Bihua said affirmatively as he looked at the life that turned into a ghost after death.
"Let me try, Master," Uther spoke before Alonsus could. He was covered in a rich holy light, and under Alonsus's surprised gaze, he began to heal the dying Stratholme residents in front of him.
A rich holy light enveloped the victim's body, gradually expelling the dark power within. A quarter of an hour later, after the holy light in Uther's hand dissipated, the plague victim's condition had returned to normal, and even his breathing had become stable and strong.
"Is it resolved?" Luo Bihua looked at the infected person. He knew that kind of power should be quite difficult and troublesome. But the resident in front of him, rescued from the clutches of death by Uther, left him feeling somewhat bewildered.
"No, that power is difficult to expel. Once my holy light dissipates within him, he will show symptoms again." Uther shook his head gravely. Although his treatment seemed to be working well, he knew clearly that he had not eradicated the root of the evil.
The curse of that energy has deeply infected this person's soul, or in other words, after the symptoms appeared, the infection in his soul was irreversible.
Before this, the person's condition was no different from that of a normal person.
He expressed his speculation, and everyone present, whether Alonsus or others, understood the seriousness of the matter.
This means that they have no way of determining from the number of patients how many residents in Stratholme are infected with the plague at this moment.
If this cursed plague spreads secretly on a large scale, then in the worst case scenario, many residents of Stratholme may have been infected.
Considering that Stratholme gathered most of the troops that Lordaeron could urgently support, Alonsus couldn't help but feel a chill in his bones.
Once the plague begins to break out on a large scale, the order in Stratholme will begin to collapse even without the attack of the orcs outside.
"Can you find the source of this curse and solve it?" Alonsus looked at the Grand Mage Luo Bihua and his disciple Uther.
"If we investigate, perhaps we can find the source. If there's still time, we can also seek help from the dragon elves, or even forces like Dalaran.
But now, I fear the plague won't give us time. Uther sighed. The joy of regaining his freedom and reuniting with his loved ones completely vanished from his heart. As a healer, he had learned from the Holy Light's feedback that the infection had been subtly present in the infected person's body for at least ten days.
If it is a large-scale plague, the number of people infected in Stratholme now would probably be suffocating.
He could heal one, ten, or a hundred, but facing the potentially explosive increase in infected people in the future, his individual strength was weak, unless he was the God of Holy Light.
Alonsus's face also darkened, but he still cheered up and issued a series of emergency wartime decrees.
Regional isolation, Holy Light detection, food testing, water filtration, etc. Although he knew that these actions might be a drop in the bucket, they could still reduce some losses and buy some time.
After giving the order, Alonsus had to ask the elven mage Luo Bihua to open a portal to Lordaeron and convey the bad news to King Terenas of Lordaeron.
Luo Bihua also understood the seriousness of the situation. Although elves have always been unwilling to contact the outside world, the alliance between humans and elves and the threat of invaders made him not refuse.
"Teacher, we should spread the power of the Holy Light." Uther waited until his teacher had made all the arrangements before stepping forward and saying, "Since the Holy Light can suppress the power of this plague, then if someone masters the Holy Light, or bathes in it, they can delay the outbreak and buy us more time."
"I also hope that everyone will believe in the Holy Light and master the Holy Light, but Uther, my disciple, you must understand that not everyone can feel the existence of the Holy Light and use it correctly like you do." Alonsus said helplessly.
"In fact, there is no need for people to master it." Uther pulled out a cross worn in his collar. The thick holy light lingering on it made Alonsus open his eyes wide.
"Most of those orcs do not directly control the Holy Light, but they can use the Holy Light within a certain range. Obviously, their research and understanding of the Holy Light are deeper than ours. For example, we only know about the Holy Light, but they have touched the root of the Holy Light. Or the master of the Holy Light, the God!" Uther continued.
"God?" Alonsus looked at his disciple in surprise. This seemed to be a deviation from his teachings on the Holy Light.
"The Holy Light has its own will. In the orc camp, I mastered the technique to communicate with the Holy Light. I gained a lot of knowledge about the Holy Light. Using this artifact, I can establish a realm of Holy Light in Stratholme, and the people in this realm will be protected by it." Uther held up a strange cross that was emitting warm light and was enclosed in a circular frame, and said seriously.
"Tell me what you think, child." Alonsus's gaze softened. He felt that his disciple had become different since his return, more composed and trustworthy. His leadership aura was no longer concealed.
"We can use the Cathedral of Holy Light in Stratholme as our domain. It will be a holy place for residents who believe in the Holy Light to come and pray, which can greatly soothe their fearful hearts and bring them courage and tranquility. We only need to arrange for people from different areas to come and pray for a certain period of time every day and receive the baptism of the Holy Light, so that we can prolong the time of the plague outbreak as much as possible. As long as we can find a solution before the plague breaks out on a large scale, we will be able to achieve ultimate victory." Uther said with great determination.
Alonsus nodded in affirmation of his disciple's suggestion, but then asked with some concern, "Are you sure this cross can hold out until we find a solution? Although it is a holy light artifact, the power of the holy light contained within is so rich that even I am surprised, but..."
"It can replenish the Holy Light! As long as people who believe in the Holy Light pray in the church every day, it can replenish its power. If we promote it well, and people's faith in the Holy Light becomes more devout and stronger, perhaps there will be no loss at all?
"If someone's sincere prayer is answered by the Holy Light, granting it its power, it would represent another believer among us. If a large number of Knights of the Holy Light could be formed, the power of both Lordaeron and the Human Alliance would increase." Uther said.
Alonsus smiled inwardly at his apprentice's somewhat fanciful words. He had once made a similar promise in Dalaran. Looking at Uther, he suddenly saw his former self.
"Priests and paladins are not easy to train. In addition to having firm beliefs, they also need to adhere to and implement those rules in their daily lives." Alonsus patted his disciple's shoulder.
"That's a true knight who truly practices the Way of the Holy Light. But if you have a Holy Cross, through some techniques, all soldiers within its coverage who believe in the Holy Light will receive its protection. It's more like a kind of enhanced magic." Uther stroked the Holy Cross. From the Holy Light, he gained a lot of knowledge and skills related to it, including techniques similar to creating orc totems.
Uther reproduced it, but not necessarily as a totem, but also as a flag, using it as a reserve of holy light and a mobile field of holy light to create his own Knights of the Holy Light.
Like orcs, they are not staunch believers in the Holy Light, but they can still use the power of the Holy Light with permission.
As long as he can grasp the source and recruit some staunch believers of the Holy Light, Uther believes that under the guidance of the Holy Light, this power will become the strongest shield and spear for humans when facing invaders.
…
Time passes quickly.
Although rumors of the plague in Stratholme have spread, due to Alonsus's measures, the order in Stratholme has not collapsed for the time being.
Especially after Alonsus announced that as long as people believed in the Holy Light and came to the church to pray every day, they could suppress the outbreak of the plague, the faith and piety of all the people of Stratholme in the Holy Light were elevated to an incredible level in a short period of time.
The Cathedral of Light in Stratholme underwent some renovation. According to Uther's request, with the help of court mages, some fine patterns and a tall six-winged statue were added to the church.
Before Alonsus and his men could breathe a sigh of relief, bad news arrived. Luo Bihua brought back even worse news: the plague had also begun to spread in Lordaeron. Although King Terenas had dealt with it promptly, there was no doubt that a huge hidden danger was already brewing.
According to King Terenas' request, Alonsus hoped that he could delegate one of his disciples who possessed the power of Holy Light to deal with the plague in Lordaeron.
Alonsus pondered for a long time and then sent his apprentice Tirion to the mission. When Tirion set off, he also took away a thick stack of knowledge and skills about the Holy Light that Uther had given him.
What Alonsus and the others didn't know was that Dalaran, the human magic holy land, was also in great panic and chaos at this moment.
The magic didn't work!
In other words, something had happened to the advanced and profound magic, and it was no longer controlled and released by the mages. During this period, some mages even encountered strong backlash when they were researching and releasing certain advanced magic.
Under such circumstances, the Council of Tirisfal had no intention of paying attention to Lordaeron's request for help. If this sudden big trouble could not be resolved, the entire Dalaran would probably be unable to take care of itself.
After verification by the great wizards, many low-level magics can be used as smoothly as before, but once some advanced magics are used, various problems will always arise.
It was as if someone had tampered with the casting spells of those high magics.
But the entire mage community was unwilling to believe this kind of thing. That meant there was something fundamentally wrong!
If magic is rigorous, it's like mathematics. Mages use certain magical theories (mathematical formulas) to channel energy and then perform corresponding magic.
Through studying the arcane and magic, the Elven Kingdom and Dalaran have summarized and mastered its regular characteristics, and regard these experiences and laws as an unbreakable foundation.
But now the foundations have been shaken.
The spells were fine, the magic was fine, but the experience and research they held as their guiding principles seemed to have been replaced by a more accurate and correct formula.
The mages preferred to believe that someone had tampered with the very essence of mages, the magical energy. And they already had their suspects.
Aegwynn!
The former guardian wizard who is currently the most knowledgeable and most likely to be able to do such a thing!
After resigning as the guardian, he did not return to Dalaran, but built his own mage tower in an unknown place. It is said that the magic books in it are even more than the library in Dalaran, and the recorded advanced magic skills and magic knowledge far surpass Dalaran, the so-called holy land of human magic.
The other party has been in seclusion until now, and it is said that he has been studying more profound magical knowledge.
The mages of Dalaran believed that if someone could accomplish such a feat, it must be related to Aegwynn. Even if it wasn't him, Aegwynn would likely have the relevant information.
Moreover, if it wasn't the other party who did it, then she could also join the investigation. She believed that the other party would not be able to ignore it.