Chapter 588: Who Is the Father?
Chapter 588: Who Is the Father?....
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The ship burning incident didn’t seem like much, and it even had the spirit of cutting off all means of retreat. From a military perspective, Arthas’s operation could even be said to be perfect. He had successfully stimulated the morale and courage of his troops.
But looking at it from the other side, this incident meant that Arthas had completely breached the path of the paladin that he had always adhered to. He had become obstinate and had already begun to become unscrupulous for vengeance.
The seed of darkness in his heart had long been planted, and now it was
growing and germinating…
Walking in the cold icy wind of Northrend, the troops led by Arthas and Magni advanced with difficulty. The place they were going to was in the southeast of Northrend. According to Magni, the earthquake had occurred there not long ago. The news sent back by the dwarven scouts said that the traces of the avalanche caused by the earthquake were still clearly visible. If they wanted to find the rumored portal, it could only be here.
After spending several days, Arthas and Magni led the troops into a valley. This place had already been buried by snow, but after entering, Arthas did sense traces of spatial fluctuations, indicating that there was indeed a portal here, but it was covered up.
The troops set up camp here, deployed defenses at the entrance of the valley, and then began to dig.
Arthas had extraordinary military talent. He observed the terrain around the valley and found that it was like a huge pocket. This was very bad. Once an enemy appeared and blocked the entrance of the valley, they would be able to trap them in the valley.
He wanted to tell Magni about this worry, but after thinking about it, he didn’t say anything. Under the continuous excavation of the soldiers, a dilapidated portal building had already revealed part of its body. If he voiced his worry, it might cause the excavation to stop…
Since Arthas didn’t say anything, Magni wouldn’t have thought of this. But it just so happened that just as they were about to completely dig out the ruins of the portal, the soldiers stationed at the entrance of the valley rang the alarm, signaling that they were under attack!
It was the undead, the undead army led by Mal’ganis!
These ugly undead monsters rushed in from the mouth of the valley like a tide and charged crazily at the campsite of the humans and dwarfs. Nimble ghouls and twisted, mutilated abominations flooded in from the ground while gargoyles continuously flew down from the sky and nerubians acted as long-range troops.
Mal’ganis also appeared. He laughed wildly and shouted, “Young prince, welcome to Northrend! This is the welcome gift I prepared for you! This place will be the end of your journey!”
Hearing Mal’ganis’s voice, Arthas clenched the holy warhammer in his hand, but he didn’t lose his mind. While commanding the soldiers to organize a counterattack using the camp’s defensive structures, he said to Magni, “We don’t have time. If the ancient artifact you mentioned really exists, then it may be our only hope of defeating the undead! ”
Magni thought the same. “Okay, follow me. The portal is usable now. The rumors are true. It’s already activated. We can find the runeblade first!”
After leaving most of their subordinates in the camp to block the undead army, Arthas and Magni rushed into the portal with only a dozen soldiers.
With a flash of light, Arthas found himself in an unknown place. He could only tell through the surrounding ice and snow that he was still in Northrend. This place wasn’t an ancient ruin, but what they were looking for was not far away.
It was a strange stone altar, and an enormous piece of solid ice was floating above it. And inside this piece of solid ice was a longsword with a fierce appearance.
When Arthas saw this sword from afar, it was as though a heavy blow had struck his heart. Not only him, but even Magni was the same. Even though this runeblade was sealed in solid ice, the powerful force contained in it was still transmitted through the ice.
An artifact was indeed an artifact, but Magni felt that something was amiss with the appearance of this longsword.
But Arthas didn’t think too much about it. Feeling the powerful force unconsciously emanating from this longsword, he was already completely enthralled. There was only one thought in his mind now: If I hold this longsword, I will definitely be able to slay Mal’ganis with my own hands!!
His desire for power drove him forward. But just as he was about to approach the altar, a group of ghosts suddenly emerged from the ground and blocked his path.
“Go… back…” the ghosts warned in chilling voices. “Do not… come close. There is only darkness and death here…”
But how could this warning stop Arthas? He raised his warhammer and slowly walked forward. As he walked, he replied to the ghosts, “I don’t think there’s anything more terrifying than what I’ve faced before. Move aside! Don’t try to stop me!”
“No matter what you think, child, you cannot pass!” All kinds of weapons appeared in the hands of the ghosts.
A battle broke out, but it ended quickly. These ghosts were not too powerful, and they melted one by one in front of Arthas’s Holy Light.
Magni came forward and stood side by side with Arthas. He whispered, “These ghosts guard this place, but it’s strange. They seem to have just awakened… The strength of their souls is too weak.”
Arthas didn’t comment. Before the last ghost completely melted under the Holy
Light, he said intermittently, “Go back… before… it is too late…” “Do you still want to protect this sword?” Arthas asked curiously.
“No… we want to… protect you…” The ghost left this last sentence before completely dissipating.
Magni grabbed his bushy beard. “Oh, damn it. I have a bad feeling…”
” Arthas was silent. He walked up to the altar and looked up at the enormous piece of ice.
His gaze had always been attracted to this longsword, but Magni’s was not. He could feel a chill run down his spine from the power emanating from this sword. He dissuaded Arthas, “Arthas, I don’t think we should touch this sword.
Its power seems to be… cursed! Let’s get out of here quickly!”
“No! I’m willing to accept any curse as long as it can save my homeland!” Arthas didn’t listen to his persuasion at all. His right palm stretched out toward the solid ice.
“Don’t touch it, Arthas!” Magni hurriedly rushed forward to stop Arthas. “Forget about this. Leave this place. We can break out of the encirclement and bring your people back!”
But Arthas shook off Magni and growled, “No one can stop my vengeance, including you, old friend!”
With that, Arthas didn’t delay any longer. He stretched out his hand and touched the solid ice with a slightly infatuated expression. “I summon the soul inside, if you have one… I’m willing to pay any price as long as you can help me save my people!”
The enormous floating piece of ice suddenly shook violently, and then a powerful force suddenly erupted from within. The ice shattered into several pieces from the impact and shot out at an unimaginable speed!
One of the pieces of solid ice flew toward Magni Bronzebeard. Caught off guard, he was hit by the solid ice and sent him flying tens of meters away with a loud scream.
After being hit, Magni fell to the ground unconscious. But his old friend Arthas didn’t come to check on his safety at all. Instead, he stared infatuatedly at the runeblade slowly descending from the air.
After Frostmouse escaped from the ice, the cold power emanating from it became stronger and stronger. It slowly descended from the air and stabbed into the ground in front of Arthas. The evil eyes on the sword’s hilt were radiating an icy blue light, as though it was breathing.
As though he felt a summons, he casually threw down the holy warhammer in his hand, stepped forward, and held Frostmourne’s hilt with his right hand.
With a buzz, Arthas pulled out Frostmourne. Then an unparalleled and powerful force poured into his body through the hilt. This powerful force activated his muscles, blood, and bones, causing his body to produce an inexplicable joy. At this moment, he felt as powerful as a god!
“Haha… Hahahaha!” Arthas held Frostmourne and laughed wildly. He knew that with the support of this powerful force, he would definitely be able to complete his vengeance!
Arthas turned around and ran toward the Dortal without looking back. As for Magni, who was lying on the ground in the distance, Arthas didn’t even look at him.
After he returned to the valley through the portal, the soldiers waiting in front of the portal welcomed Arthas happily. “Prince Arthas! We are so glad that you’ve returned safely. We can’t hold on much longer… Where is Magni?”
“Magni is dead…” Arthas pretended to sigh sadly before continuing, “But don’t worry. In front of Frostmourne, no enemy will be our opponent!”
Arthas, who had returned to the battlefield, was simply invincible. No matter how powerful the undead monsters were, they were no match for his sword. He led his troops, smashed his way through the undead army, and finally arrived in front of Mal’ganis.
“So… you have picked up Frostmourne at the expense of your comrades…” Unexpectedly, Mal’ganis looked at Arthas happily, as though he didn’t see an enemy at all. “Just as the Lich King said, you’re stronger than I thought… Young prince, it seems that you have already heard the Lich King’s voice. He communicated with you through this sword. What did… Ner’zhul say to you?”
Arthas raised his head gloomily and looked at Mal’ganis. He gritted his teeth and said, “He told me… that the time for my vengeance has arrived!”
“What?!” Mal’ganis felt that something was wrong and immediately understood. “He doesn’t dare…
But before he could finish speaking, Arthas was already rushing over. He raised Frostmourne with a cold expression and slashed at Mal’ganis!
The sharp blade easily tore through the tough skin of the dreadlord. As the blade cut in, the powerful frost power and curse power contained in Frostmourne erupted at the same time. Mal’ganis’s body was frozen into a huge block of ice. Through the ice, the large and ferocious wound on his chest cut open by the sword could be seen. Under Frostmourne’s characteristics, Mal’ganis was frozen at the moment of his death.
Arthas raised his left hand and smashed his fist against the block of ice. The next second, the ice shattered into pieces, and even Mal’ganis’s corpse exploded, turning into minced meat flying in the air.
“It’s all over…” After exacting his revenge, Arthas looked at the ground full of pieces of Mal’ganis with a look of pleasure on his face. The joy of vengeance was so sweet and intoxicating that it hit his body wave after wave, making him unable to stop.
Arthas raised his right hand, looked at Frostmourne in his hand, and listened to the continuous whispers coming from the sword. He left the valley without looking back, leaving behind the soldiers who were still fighting the undead…
As for Roy, who was far away in Outland, his eyes were empty, as though he was looking at the distant sky.
The scenes from Frostmourne allowed him to witness the entire process of Arthas killing Malganis. No, it should be said that he had seen the entire process from the moment Arthas picked up Frostmourne.
Although the Frostmourne that Arthas obtained was Roy’s weapon, he had said before that it had been reforged. In the reforged version of Frostmourne, apart from adding a bit of the power of the Abyss, the greatest change might be the change in authority.
Roy had defined the original version of Frostmourne to be only usable by him, so others couldn’t use it at all. Perhaps it was because of this inconvenience that Frostmourne had been reforged. After this reforging, the authority of Frostmourne had changed. Although Roy still had the highest authority over this sword, others could also use it to a limited extent with secondary authority.
For example, Ner’zhul and Arthas. But when they picked up this sword, Roy, as the person with the highest authority, could see the scenes transmitted through Frostmourne as long as he wanted to…
Ner’zhul didn’t know this, and neither did Arthas. Ner’zhul thought that he was the current master of Frostmourne, and Arthas thought that Ner’zhul had bestowed Frostmourne to him.. But they didn’t know that behind the scenes, the true master of Frostmourne was watching their every move…