Banehollow didn't know he had been branded a traitor. He just smugly watched the death knight next to him being tormented.
When he was being tormented earlier, the other party was enjoying the show; now it was his turn to watch.
"Learned death knight basic skill -- Death Coil."
"Learned death knight basic skill -- Unholy Aura."
Only two basic skills were learned; the rest couldn't be learned because the other party simply didn't know them.
Level 1 Death Coil: Deals double strength damage to a unit with necromantic power, and restores the health of undead allies.
Level 1 Unholy Aura: Increases allied movement speed by 10% and restores health per second equal to strength.
"Alright, you can go now."
Arthas untied him and let him leave.
The death knight was somewhat skeptical, "Then I'm leaving!"
"Go on, I keep my word."
Arthas signaled Mograine.
As the death knight passed through the gate, he was struck by a Holy Light attack that depleted his last bit of health, and he vanished into thin air.
"Ah! You're breaking your word!"
Arthas sneered.
"I said I'd let you go, but I never said I wouldn't let others kill you, fool!
FOOL!"
He could do that? How shameless!
Banehollow was speechless. Was he the dreadlord or was the other party the dreadlord?
With the new aura buff, casualties were further reduced.
As dawn broke, the sound of cavalry approached from afar.
Leading them was Uther!
The last remaining undead were crushed by the Silver Hand knights, and the defense of Hearthglen was declared a success.
"For Lordaeron!"
"Prince Arthas, I've kept you waiting. I arrived late."
Uther bowed respectfully, looking at the piles of undead corpses stacked half a man high, he could only imagine what a fierce battle had taken place here.
In the original story, Arthas would have had an adverse reaction, thinking Uther was blaming him.
But the current Arthas merely shook his head, accepting the reward for the side quest, instantly leveling up from Level 5 to Level 6.
He also learned the paladin's ultimate skill -- Resurrection.
Level 1 Resurrection: Consumes 300 mana, resurrects a number of allies equal to your intelligence, 24-hour cooldown.
"No, you're not late."
Arthas walked to the open ground, raised his warhammer, and a holy light descended, vaguely revealing the form of an angel within.
"Oh, World-Soul of Azeroth, please heed the prayers of your faithful and resurrect my people!"
As the holy light descended, the fallen soldiers twitched a few times, then stood up somewhat bewildered, their fatal wounds healed.
This divine miracle stunned Uther into prolonged silence. Was this the Resurrection spell only Archbishops could use?
Why the World-Soul? Not the Holy Light!
The resurrected soldiers knelt respectfully before Arthas, all knowing that it was the prince before them who had brought them back to life.
"For prince Arthas, for Lordaeron!"
"For prince Arthas, for Lordaeron!"
"LOOOOOORDAEEEROOOOON!"
Everyone knelt, their sorrowful despair washed away, and the infinite hope of the rising sun filled their hearts.
Even Jaina and Sylvanas knelt on one knee, their eyes filled with fervent admiration for the only man standing in the field.
This was their fiancé, their future husband, the crown prince of Lordaeron, the future King!
The high elf priests and rangers they brought also knelt, their emotions stirred, and some of their own comrades who had fallen were now resurrected.
This kind of miracle was no longer just about strength; it was a fervent faith.
Grom didn't know why he knelt, perhaps because his kin were also among those resurrected.
The Human prince before him was truly a man of extreme charisma, making him feel a surge of submission, a mistaken impulse to serve him as his lord.
Orcs will never be slaves!
Unless food and lodging and payment are provided!
"Rise, clean up the battlefield, rest until noon, then head to Stratholme!"
"Yes, Prince Arthas!"
At this moment, everyone enthusiastically cleaned up the battlefield, the fear brought by the undead attack last night completely dissipated.
Although many people had not been resurrected, what did that matter?
Others handled the battlefield cleanup, Arthas returned to his room somewhat tired, sitting in a wooden tub to bathe and ponder.
Arthas: The Light of Lordaeron (Balanced All-Rounder)
Level: 6
Strength: 62 (Base 60, Books 2)
Agility: 62 (Base 60, Books 2)
Intelligence: 62 (Base 60, Books 2)
Health: 2460 (Recovers 62 per second)
Mana: 2460 (Recovers 62 per second)
Attack Power: 124 (Strength * 2, no base damage points)
Defense: 50% damage reduction
Attack Speed: 3.1 / S (Agility / 2)
Movement Speed: Fast
Skill Cooldown reduction: 6.2% (10 / Intelligence)
Active Skills: Level 3 Scourge Frenzy, Level 1 Death Coil, Carrion Swarm, Sleep, Infernal.
Passive Skills: Level 10 Devotion Aura: 50% damage reduction, immune to all control effects.
Level 10 Brilliance Aura: Restores mana per second equal to intelligence, spell damage percentage increased equal to intelligence.
Level 5 Trueshot Aura: Increases ranged attack damage by 50%
Level 6 Bash: 60% chance to stun, with 60% attack damage bonus
Level 5 Critical Strike: 50% chance to deal 5 times damage.
Level 8 Resistant Skin: reduces magic damage by 80%, immune to magic control.
Level 1 Unholy Aura: Increases allied movement speed by 10% and restores health per second equal to strength.
Level 5 Vampiric Aura: 50% of damage dealt to enemies is converted into health recovery, including melee and ranged.
Hmm?
It seems the maximum skill level is 10, and an additional new effect is unlocked when it reaches max level.
During last night's battle, any allies covered by the aura also provided experience when fighting, which is how his level was maxed out.
Arthas suddenly perked up. Now he wasn't afraid of encountering dreadlords in Stratholme.
With 50% damage reduction and 50% life steal he could stack damage and kill those undead!
The only drawback was the lack of stamina; human strength is finite, and recovery of energy also takes time.
Infantry fighting for three hours would gradually decrease their attack frequency, and their attack power would drop to its minimum.
The advantage of the undead, however, was that they didn't Sleep, eat, or get tired, always maintaining their strongest state as long as they weren't killed.
The dead are indeed much more useful than the living!
While he was thinking, Sylvanas pushed the door open and entered. The moment she saw the prince, a blush appeared on her fair face, and she cursed inwardly.
"I need to return to Silvermoon Woods. I just received a magic letter; undead have appeared there too, and a border village has been destroyed."
As the ranger-general of Quel'Thalas, her duty was to protect the border. Now that her homeland was in trouble, she couldn't just ignore it.
Of the Windrunner sisters, the eldest went to the Outlands, her fate unknown; the youngest was favored by dragons and joined the dragonflights, unreachable. Only she remained steadfast.
Arthas pondered for a moment, then slowly exhaled.
"Quel'Thalas is also a member of the Alliance, and the Alliance has a responsibility to support any member in need. Once the Stratholme incident is handled, I will personally lead troops with you. Please don't leave, okay?"
He had a premonition that if Sylvanas left, their next meeting would be a farewell forever.
Sylvanas bit her lip. She didn't want to leave either, but duty called.
"I cannot, this is an order from Silvermoon City!"
"Sorry, you cannot leave. Your king has already agreed to marry you to me. If you leave, you will be breaking the Alliance!"
"I will concentrate my forces to drive the undead towards Silvermoon Woods. Can you hold them off?"
"So stay. This is an order!"
Seeing that tenderness wasn't working, Arthas resorted to talking big. If she wouldn't take the soft approach, would she take the hard one?
Soft to eat, hard to use?
Having witnessed how that death knight was tricked to his death, Sylvanas had no doubt Arthas was capable of such things.
After a long pause, she let out a sigh.
"I hope you are right. I will stay."