As the leader of the magical kingdom of Dalaran and the Speaker of the Kirin Tor Council, Anthony Dass is undoubtedly a very cautious person who only trusts his own judgment.

This is almost a common problem among most high-level mages.

So after getting the news from Zuo Si, he did not rush to make a decision, but immediately began to try to confirm the accuracy of the news.

It is obviously not an easy task to figure out whether the mysterious prophet who is elusive is the last guardian Medivh.

But scouting Icecrown Glacier is not too difficult.

At least this extremely cold land in the north of Northrend won't run away.

As long as we use the power of engineering and magic to create a flying creature, and then add the Eye of Arcane Magic, we can remotely control it to fly over this frozen mountain, and naturally we will be able to see the situation below clearly.

So, Anthony Das immediately found the best gnome engineering master in Dalaran, and worked with him to create a mechanical bird that could fly for a long time and long distances, and added a large amount of protective magic on it so that it could withstand the ultra-low temperature environment and biting cold winds of Northrend.

Finally, he personally endowed the mechanical bird with a pair of eyes filled with arcane magic energy, which could transmit the observed images across a long distance and project them onto the crystal ball in the tower.

After preparing everything, he immediately released the mechanical bird and sat in his room waiting patiently for the results.

In order to avoid missing important scenes, the great wizard even turned down all routine meetings and work, and sat in front of the crystal ball twenty-four hours a day waiting for the results.

Because this is so important, so important that it will determine the life and death of mankind, the alliance, and even the entire world.

As for Zuo Si, he was accompanied by Jaina on a tour of the city of Dalaran. He was free to enter and exit as long as it was not a top-secret place like the one where the artifact The Book of Medivh was stored. Even the great library that recorded countless arcane magical knowledge was no exception.

And these things are precisely one of the most important purposes of this trip.

So he did not take Anthony Das's neglect to heart at all. Instead, he spent all day in the library absorbing the magical knowledge of this world, and occasionally had some related discussions with Jaina.

Especially the latter's best frost and teleportation magic.

You should know that Jaina invented an improved version of large-scale group teleportation magic, which can easily mobilize troops within a certain range to launch a raid.

This made her tactics extremely unpredictable, and at the same time gave her a high degree of initiative in the war, forcing the enemy to deploy heavy troops around the commander to prevent possible decapitation attacks at any time.

For some unknown reason, the teleportation spell in this world is not classified as a conjuration spell, but as a transmutation spell.

Whether it is the human mages of Dalaran or the high elf mages, they all believe that controlling time, space, and matter should fall within the scope of some kind of change.

This point is clearly mentioned in the teaching materials compiled by the Grand Mage Anselm Ruinwivor.

In fact, the magic of Dalaran is divided into several major factions like Faerun, including protection, spells, prophecy, enchantment, illusion, necromancy, and transformation, and has been deeply studied.

Many people have the stereotype that mages can only make fireballs and cast blizzards. This is probably related to the fact that during wartime, kingdoms sent talented young people to learn magic.

This is different from the traditional Dalaran mages who learn comprehensively step by step and lay a solid foundation bit by bit.

The purpose of these guys learning magic is very simple, which is to kill the enemy faster and more efficiently in order to cope with the cruel war.

They skipped the long and difficult theoretical parts and only practiced how to use the power of fire, ice and arcane to destroy the brutal orc army.

Finally, add some life-saving spells such as mana shield, elemental armor, flash, ice barrier, invisibility, summon water element, etc., and you can almost go to the front line.

In other words, it is a standard war mage.

When Dalaran was destroyed by Archimonde and was no longer able to train mage talents for the Alliance countries, those war mages were naturally forced to take on apprentices.

But they themselves have not laid a solid foundation, and it is certainly impossible for them to impart a complete knowledge system. They can only teach the spells they have already mastered to their apprentices.

That's why war mages became the mainstream four or five years after the Battle of Mount Hyjal.

As for the hand-kneaded bread and water, it is not creation as many people think, but a summoning of the spell system, that is, summoning the existing bread and water from other places.

Since this summoning is completely random, no one knows where the water and food will come from.

Perhaps a wizard summoned a piece of fresh bread in the wild, and then there would be a lack of bread in the Stormwind store or the Elwynn Forest farmer's home. Therefore, Dalaran issued an order prohibiting the casual use of this magic to prevent ordinary people's already poor lives from getting worse.

Only when hunger is unbearable or during wartime when the army and refugees are in urgent need of supplies will wizards use magic to summon food and water to survive the crisis.

In short, Zuo Si can be said to have gained a lot during his time in Dalaran.

Of course, he also taught the Dalaran mages, including Jaina, some magical knowledge and insights from other time and space and even the universe, as well as shadow, death and fel spells obtained from the dreadlord Mal'Ganis.

I also took the opportunity to communicate with many well-known archmages, and gained a deeper understanding of the overall magical environment of Azeroth.

There were even members of the Kirin Tor Council who invited him to stay and become a great wizard in the magical kingdom.

In just a few days, Zuo Si successfully gained praise from the upper circles of Dalaran with his vast knowledge reserves and the unique perspective that had gradually formed by blending many magic systems.

Among them is the high elf prince Kael'thas, who always appears around Jaina intentionally or unintentionally.

Unfortunately, the prince did not know that Jaina was not interested in thin and handsome elves, but preferred the tough and strong type like Arthas.

Therefore, no matter how he displays his charm, elegance, grace and knowledge, he cannot get even the slightest chance, and he is not even qualified to be a backup.

However, Kael'thas did not seem to realize this, and instead felt that his performance was not good enough.

Especially after learning that Arthas had committed the atrocities of massacre in Stratholme, he seemed to think that this was an opportunity to snatch Jaina from his rival, without realizing the dangerous situation of the high elves.

As the intersection of Azeroth's magical energy, the Sunwell can provide the necessary huge energy for the inter-universe portal, which means that as long as the Burning Legion launches an invasion of this world, it will inevitably list it as one of the highest priority targets.

Therefore, the tragic fate of the high elves is inevitable.

Even if you escape this time, there will be next time.

Even more tragic is that due to long-term enjoyment of the endless energy provided by the Sunwell, they have developed a serious dependence on high concentrations of arcane energy, and even their physical constitutions have undergone a certain degree of mutation.

Once lost, it will immediately trigger severe magic addiction symptoms and make life worse than death.

"My dear friend, what do you think the chances are that the Crown Prince of Lordaeron will return alive from his expedition to the cold Northrend?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not cursing him maliciously.

Instead, I want to analyze this issue from a neutral, objective and rational perspective.

After all, that continent is so far away and full of countless unknown risks.

Moreover, the Dreadlords and the Scourge are not easy to deal with either."

While Jaina was buying dessert, Kael'thas finally found an opportunity to ask the question that concerned him most.

"Prince Arthas will return safely."

Zuo Si resisted the urge to expose the other party's dark thoughts and gave an affirmative answer. At the same time, he added in his heart, but not in a living posture.

But Kael'thas obviously had a preconceived position on this issue, and he touched his chin and questioned, "Are you sure?

You have to know that he doesn't have many troops, and there are not enough mages and priests to accompany the army.

At best, there were only two or three thousand human soldiers and a small number of dwarf musketeers and mortar teams.

I heard that the species on the Northrend mainland are often exceptionally tall and strong, and there are countless violent and terrifying giants.

Coupled with the low temperature and wind that are enough to freeze people to death, I personally think that this expedition will inevitably end in failure."

"Failure? Maybe. Anyway, there will be results in a few months. Let's wait and see."

Zuo Si was obviously too lazy to dwell on a question whose answer was already determined. As long as the Elf Prince was happy, that was all that mattered.

Just when Kael'thas wanted to say something, Jaina came out of the dessert stand with three ice creams and gave one to each of the other two.

Since magic is popular throughout the city, Dalaran can be said to be quite developed in terms of catering.

Not only are there various kinds of delicious meals, but there are also snacks and drinks like ice cream, sparkling water, and fresh milk cakes that have only appeared on Earth since modern society.

And made with the help of magic, it tastes better and more exquisite than on Earth.

Of course, the price is also higher.

Just three servings of strawberry-flavored ice cream cost one gold coin.

Not to mention ordinary people, even the poorer mage apprentices can't afford it.

But it was obviously nothing to Jaina, whose family was wealthy.

The robe she was wearing and the staff in her hand alone were enough to equal the total fiscal revenue of a declining city like Stromgarde for two years.

As for the Elf Prince Kael'thas, his wealth is beyond the imagination of most people. Any magic item he makes can trigger countless wizards to scramble for it, and even be sold at a high price of thousands or even tens of thousands of gold coins.

So when he was with these two, Zuo Si didn't need to be polite at all. He took it, said thank you, and started eating with relish.

It might be because this mortal body was in extra need of nutrition, so everything he ate now tasted especially delicious. Solid muscles were faintly forming under his clothes, but they were not as exaggerated as those of the warriors who had been exercising for a long time.

"Are you still planning on going to the library this afternoon?"

Jaina asked, smoothing her long golden hair that fell by her ears.

Her feminine action instantly attracted Kael'thas' attention.

The latter even forgot to put the ice cream into his mouth while holding the spoon. It took him more than ten seconds to realize his gaffe and he hurriedly covered it up awkwardly.

Zuo Si obviously saw this, and a hint of imperceptible amusement flashed in his eyes. He immediately shook his head and said, "No, no, I have almost finished reading all the valuable books in it. What I need to do next is to digest this knowledge and form my own theory."

“Have you finished reading all of them?!”

Jaina was momentarily startled.

Because these few days, she noticed that the other person in the library didn't seem to be reading or studying at all, but more like just picking up a book, flipping through it, and then putting it back.

Many ordinary mages need two or three years to learn this knowledge, but Zuo Si only read it for a few minutes, and his speed was so fast that it didn't even look like he had read the text carefully.

"Why, is that weird?

Don't forget, I'm not an apprentice who knows nothing about magic and is starting from scratch, but I already have a pretty good foundation.

In arcane magic, a lot of theoretical knowledge is common.

All I have to do is slightly modify the way I cast the spell according to the changing circumstances."

After saying that, Zuo Si ate up his share of ice cream at an extremely fast speed, then released fire magic to ignite the carton, followed by a shock wave of arcane energy that shot it into the air, and finally froze it with frost magic, turning it into beautiful frost and fire fragments that floated in the air until it completely disappeared.

This move undoubtedly proved that his attainments in the field of arcane magic had reached the level of the highly respected archmage in Dalaran.

If calculated according to the spellcasting level of the continent of Faerun, the mage level of this container can barely reach between LV21 and LV23.

Combined with the Nine Rings' magic, it shouldn't be a problem to deal with a bronze dragon that may appear at any time.

What's more, the bronze dragon can control the flow of time, and Zuo Si can also use time stop and time acceleration to fight back.

It is still unclear whose time magic is stronger.

The only regret is that the potential of this body has been basically exhausted.

Unless a second dangerous human body transformation is carried out, there is basically no room for growth.

"Unbelievable! This... this is..."

Jaina was so obviously shocked by the scene that she almost blurted out the word "God".

But fortunately, she quickly realized this and decisively chose to shut up.

After all, Anthony Das had personally instructed not to reveal Zuo Si's identity to the outside world for the time being to avoid causing unnecessary confusion.

Kael'thas was quite surprised and commented: "Master-level precision control! It seems that what Balinda Stoneheart said is right. You are already a true great mage.

Perhaps I should invite you to visit Quel'Thalas, to communicate with our most outstanding mages, and to experience the inexhaustible arcane magical energy of the Sunwell.

Believe me, once you experience it, you will fall in love with it deeply.”

"One day I will visit Quel'Thalas and experience the magical art of the high elves, but not now." Zuo Si responded with a smile.

"On behalf of the Sunstrider family and all the high elves, I welcome your visit at any time.

In fact, my father Anasterian took the plague and undead scourge in the north of the Kingdom of Lordaeron very seriously and was eager to learn more details and the coming of the God of the Contract.

If it does not violate ancient traditions, we are also very happy to believe in and worship this god in order to obtain those wonderful magical powers called divine arts. "

Kael'thas made the invitation solemnly.

Because just this morning he had received important news, that is, King Terenas clearly stated for the first time at the Alliance meeting that Lordaeron had suffered huge population losses in the East Wilder region, and that there were still hundreds of thousands or even millions of undead hidden in the area.

You should know that East Wilder is actually the name of the Eastern and Western Plaguelands in the future. Crossing Stratholme will lead you into the territory of the High Elf Kingdom.

So Anasterian, the king of the high elves, immediately became alert and was eager to learn about the plague and the Scourge of the Undead.

Especially the Church of the God of the Covenant, the only organization known to be able to cure infections caused by the plague.

"Please give me some time to settle the refugees. Once the camp in Stranglethorn Vale is built, I will go to Quel'Thalas as soon as possible."

Zuo Si obviously knew how popular he was in the eyes of the various kingdoms in the Eastern Continent, so he deliberately whetted their appetite.

This strategy has proven to be quite effective.

Kael'thas even immediately added: "In this regard, our High Elf Kingdom can provide some assistance in terms of ships, supplies, and magic."

"That's great! On behalf of all the refugees, please allow me to express our heartfelt gratitude to Quel'Thalas for its generosity and kindness."

Zuo Si bowed with an expression of great surprise.

With the addition of the high elves, the plan to build a new human settlement in Stranglethorn Vale will inevitably go particularly smoothly.

And there is only one chance to get something for free like this.

A few months later, when Arthas returns from Northrend and sets off a real undead plague, humans, elves, and dwarves will all be unable to take care of themselves.

The most important thing is that the better and more complete the construction of Stranglethorn Vale is before the disaster comes, the more refugees it can save and accept, so that the creatures in the north will not be slaughtered as they were originally.

After all, for a country and civilization, sufficient population is the foundation of everything.

The reason why the Alliance and the Horde will be able to fight evenly in the future is that, on the one hand, the most powerful human kingdom of Lordaeron was almost wiped out by the Scourge, and the other forces also suffered heavy losses in the process of resisting Arthas' attack.

The Forsaken, in particular, were undoubted undead. They pulled up large numbers of corpses, created Stitched Abominations, and secretly researched a magical plague that could even kill themselves, successfully consuming the Alliance's military strength on the Eastern Continent.

Otherwise, with humanity's current population size, economic level, scientific and technological strength, military power, and mobilization capabilities, as long as they are willing to pay a certain price, there is no suspense at all in crushing Thrall and his orcs who escaped from the internment camps.

In a sense, the Third War and the years after it were a complete and drastic weakening of the Alliance, while the Horde was an epic strengthening.

The former, the strongest human kingdom of Lordaeron, was destroyed; the high elves were also slaughtered by Arthas, leaving only a few; the powerful magic kingdom of Dalaran became a ruin, with only a very small number of people surviving;

The Kingdom of Gilneas fell into turmoil due to the spread of the werewolf curse and was forced to adopt a policy of isolation;

Stromgarde was so weak that even half of the city was occupied by the enemy; Kul Tiras' invincible naval commander Daelin was betrayed by his own daughter and died at the hands of Thrall, and Jaina was therefore regarded as a traitor by her own country, so that the relationship between the two sides was very tense for a long time; Stormwind Kingdom was basically being manipulated by the black dragon princess Onyxia. Whether it was the sudden disappearance of King Varian Wrynn, the intensified conflict between the nobles and civilians, or the threat from external orcs and gnolls, this newly rebuilt human country became full of crises; more than 80% of the dwarves died in the process of the fall of their homes, and only a very small number of them escaped alive to the territory of their dwarf allies; the night elves also suffered heavy casualties when fighting the main force of the Burning Legion, and the demigod Cenarius died at the hands of Grom Hellscream and the Warsong Clan led by him; perhaps the only ones who did not suffer major losses were the dwarves of Ironforge.

Let’s look at the tribe again.

兽人成功逃离东部大陆人类的围追堵截在贫瘠之地建立了属于自己的家园，并且在萨尔的领导下迅速发展壮大，躲在奥克兰特山谷的霜狼氏族更是没有受到亡灵天灾哪怕一丁点的影响，后来还得到了来自地精的科技加持，简直就跟开了挂一样； 牛头人从半人马横行的凄凉之地来到风景如画的莫高雷，并且建立了最易守难攻的城市雷霆崖；

暗矛巨魔同样在兽人的庇护下获得了休养生息的机会； 被遗忘者的加入更是让部落在数量上不再处于劣势，并且还在东部王国站稳脚跟，可以在阿拉希高地、希尔斯布莱德丘陵等原本属于联盟的土地上争抢资源。

所以两个阵营虽然都是第三次大战的重要参与者，可在付出的伤亡、承受的代价、发挥的作用方面根本不在一个数量级上。

其中人类付出的伤亡和代价最高，暗夜精灵发挥的作用最大、最关键。

至于兽人、牛头人和暗矛巨魔充其量只是辅助。

更何况就凭格罗姆·地狱咆哮砍死塞纳留斯、杀掉了大量暗夜精灵部队这件事情，兽人的所作所为更多的应该算是赎罪。

就这还没去深究他们入侵艾泽拉斯前两次战争制造的惨烈大屠杀，以及萨尔在袭击收容所收拢族人、掠夺物资这段时间对周围村庄与城镇造成的破坏。

因此左思对这个世界的兽人从来都没有什么好感，并且十分鄙视其中某些兽人妄图把自己打扮成燃烧军团受害者的嘴脸博取同情，然后好让子孙后代可以心安理得在不属于他们的土地上繁衍生息。

他决定在扩大信仰的同时顺便强化联盟的力量，为人类种族尽可能保留更多元气。

正当凯尔萨斯王子与左思商讨如何提供援助的时候，安东尼·达斯远程操控的机械飞鸟终于抵达了诺森德的冰冠冰川上空。

当飞跃高耸入云的山峰之后，他终于看到了令自己毕生难忘的景象。

只见在一望无际覆盖着寒冰与积雪的大地上，到处都耸立着造型诡异的通灵塔，以及零星几个漂浮在天空之上的巨大魔法要塞。

数不清的亡灵生物正在日以继夜的永不停歇的劳作、建造。

尤其是那些用维库人、巨人尸体与骸骨复活而成的亡灵生物，光是看着就给人一种扑面而来的压迫感。

大法师相信，如果这样的敌人大批量出现在战场上，无论人类士兵再怎么勇敢无畏也不可能抵挡得住。

除此之外还有成千上万的地穴恶魔、地穴领主挥舞着节肢在地上爬行，时不时钻进地下的洞穴，亦或是从地下的洞穴中钻出来。

毫无疑问，仅凭这幅画面就足以证明亡灵天灾是真实存在的。

不管背后是否还有燃烧军团，都已经足以对整个东部大陆造成比兽人还要可怕的毁灭性破坏。

安东尼·达斯甚至不由自主的屏住呼吸，额头与后背在短短几秒钟之内便被汗水浸透，死死盯着那些维库人死灵法师把一具具尸体和骸骨拉起来变成天灾军团的过程。

同时脑海中浮现出克尔苏加德当初在达拉然进行的禁忌实验。

他终于明白这名弟子为何会投靠亡灵天灾创立诅咒教派在洛丹伦散播瘟疫。

相比起实验室里的那点小打小闹，冰冠冰川才真正能够体现出通灵和死灵魔法的真谛。

“该死！这简直是最糟糕的情况！我必须尽快把这个消息告知给联盟中的所有成……”

还没等大法师把话说完，立刻感觉到有一股庞大的精神力量锁定了自己。

他赶忙操控机械鸟拉升高度想要躲避，结果在拉升的瞬间看到了一个屹立在最高峰的巨大寒冰尖塔，以及位于塔顶包裹在坚冰中的头盔和头盔眼眶位置闪烁的两点深蓝色幽光。

下一秒……

巨大的精神冲击直接跨越空间上的距离，顺着机械鸟加持的魔法之眼直接涌入安东尼·达斯的大脑。

“啊啊啊啊！！！！！！！！！”

他忍不住发出了痛苦的惨叫，鲜血顺着眼眶、鼻子耳朵和嘴巴流了出来，整个人直挺挺的倒在地上抽搐着昏迷过去。

而那个用来观察的水晶也在两三秒钟之后砰的一声碎裂开。

也不知道过了多久，也许是几分钟、也许是几个小时。

总之当大法师再一次醒来的时候，满脸都是迷茫跟疑惑，看着碎裂的水晶球根本想不起刚才究竟发生了什么，甚至就连记忆都出现了混乱跟模糊。

不用问也知道，巫妖王耐奥祖凭借自身强大的精神力量，强行抹去了他脑海中关于冰冠冰川的一切。

很显然，在得到阿尔萨斯、摆脱燃烧军团控制之前，这家伙并不希望自己的位置暴露。

毕竟耐奥祖现在就是个动都动不了的活靶子，虽然有无数亡灵大军在周围守卫，可是却远远算不上安全。

尤其在石像鬼、冰霜巨龙的数量不够多时，很容易遭受来自空中的攻击。

除此之外在面对伊利丹使用萨格拉斯之眼发起的超远距离魔法打击也同样毫无抵抗之力。

否则联盟和部落在推到冰冠冰川的时候看到的可就不是区区几十万的亡灵，而是数以百万计。

这其中绝大部分都在伊利丹举行魔法仪式撕裂冰封王座的时候被摧毁并埋葬在了地下深处。

随着安东尼·达斯在巫妖王的精神攻击下遗失了很多记忆，他开始变得深居简出、甚至经常出现精神恍惚的状况。

最重要的是，这位大法师的性格也开始变得古怪神秘起来，不愿意再跟左思见面商讨共同应对危机的事情，连例行会议都无一例外的缺席，每天把自己关在高塔上层的房间也不知道在捣鼓什么。

吉安娜尝试着劝了几次但都见效甚微，对此也没有太好的办法。

无奈之下，两人在达拉然逗留了差不多两个星期，终于决定先返回斯坦索姆解决难民的问题。

算算时间，第一批船队估计也差不多要抵达荆棘谷沿岸。

接下来不管是建立城市和村庄，还是清理包括鱼人、巨魔、猛兽、娜迦、海盗等潜在威胁，都需要忙活好一阵子，根本没有多余时间可以浪费。

“走吧，安东尼大法师应该不会现身了。”

左思扫了一眼身后已经彻底封闭的魔法尖塔说道。

“导师为什么会突然变成这幅样子？”

吉安娜眉头紧锁一脸不解的问。

左思微微叹了口气解释道：“具体是什么原因我也不太清楚，但无非就是两点。

第一，你的老师被冰冠冰川亡灵天灾的骇人景象吓坏了，以至于精神跟心理状态出了问题。

第二，你的老师不小心被巫妖王盯上了，正在跟后者强大的精神力量进行对抗，根本不敢跟我们有过多的交流，怕某些计划提前被对方察觉到。

我曾经警告过，去侦查冰冠冰川是需要承担巨大风险的。

无论真相是哪一个，他都一定有着自己不得已的苦衷。

所以不要再纠结这件事情，先把能做的都做了吧。”

说罢，左思开始引导奥术能量准备远距离传送。

转瞬之间，象征奥术能量的光芒便从天而降把他和身边的吉安娜笼罩起来。

大概十秒钟左右两人便彻底消失在了原地。

他们前脚刚走，后脚安东尼·达斯的身影便出现在了高塔的上层阳台，满脸都是挣扎和痛苦，用压抑着愤怒的声音咆哮道：“滚出我的意识！我对你的提议不感兴趣！”

“哦？

真的吗？ 难道你就不想要获得永恒的生命去探索无尽的魔法知识么？ 不！ 你只不过在欺骗自己而已。

看看这幅衰老的身体和遍布着皱纹的苍老面孔，你的生命已经是风烛残年，用不了多久便会走到尽头。

只要你效忠于我、为我服务，我就会慷慨的赐予你永生。

更何况你应该很清楚，达拉然抵挡不住天灾军团的进攻，联盟也同样如此。

最终所有的凡人都将死去，而我会在一片废墟之上建立起永恒的死亡国度。

来吧，放弃抗拒拥抱死亡。

唯有如此你才能从痛苦中获得解脱……”

伴随着回荡在脑海中的低语，这个声音很快便销声匿迹，就仿佛完全不存在一样。

但安东尼·达斯却很清楚这声音是真实存在的。

虽然他遗忘了关于冰冠冰川的一切记忆，可是却依稀记得在自己陷入昏迷前看到的那个头盔，以及头盔眼睛位置释放出来的寒光。

而且对方窥探到了他内心之中最恐惧的东西，即衰老与死亡。

……

At the same time, far in the north on the main road of the Kingdom of Lordaeron, a magnificently decorated royal carriage, escorted by the Knights of the Silver Hand, had just crossed a long and narrow valley and was heading towards Stratholme.

The people sitting in the two carriages were none other than Prince Arthas's sister, the only princess of the Menethil royal family - Calia.

Like the former, she also has beautiful long golden hair, giving the overall image of a mature and gentle older sister. Moreover, because she has been married and has children in private, her figure is particularly curvy and full of the unique charm of a young woman.

It is not difficult to judge from the sorrow and sadness on her face that the princess did not appear here voluntarily, but was forced by her father, King Terenas.

The latter threatened her that if she did not obey the arrangement obediently, she would execute her commoner husband and his family for blasphemy against the royal family.

After all, from the legal perspective of the Kingdom of Lordaeron, someone like this who kidnaps a princess to marry and have children without the king's permission is definitely worthy of the death penalty.

So Jialiya had no choice at all and could only obey, and she couldn't even go to see her husband and daughter before leaving.

More importantly, her impression of Stranglethorn Vale was only endless rainforest, mosquitoes, wild beasts, and trolls, and she had no idea how to lead a group of refugees to survive in such a harsh environment.

Maybe what a father needs is just his identity, bloodline and fertility rather than his talent?

As Jialiya looked at the scenery outside the window, this thought popped up in her mind.

Based on what she had learned so far, she already knew that the Church of the God of the Contract had a huge influence in the East Wilde region that was enough to make King Terenas feel apprehensive. She felt that she was being sent out as a gift rather than leading the people.

Similarly, she thought of her brother, Prince Arthas, who was destined from birth to become the ruler of Lordaeron, and the atrocities he committed in Stratholme.

Although Uther did not describe the situation in detail along the way, it was easy to tell how tragic the result was from the expression of responsibility, guilt and pain on his face.

The refugees who traveled to Stratholme with their families along the way were enough to illustrate the severe negative impact of this incident.

"How long will it take us to reach our destination?"

Jia Liya interrupted her thoughts and asked a paladin who was accompanying her.

The latter looked into the distance and quickly replied, "It's very close, about two or three hours, Your Highness."

Just as the two were talking, a rapid sound of horse hooves suddenly came from afar.

At the end of the road, a group of about fifty cavalrymen appeared.

When the leading captain saw the carriage engraved with the royal seal of Lordaeron, he immediately tightened the reins to stop his horse, his face full of shock and disbelief.

Before he could ask who was in the carriage, Uther asked first: "Are you going somewhere?"

"Ah! We just received a mission and are planning to protect a convoy carrying food. You know, the situation around Stratholme is not peaceful recently. Those damn trolls often ambush on the roadside and attack the supply convoys along the way."

The cavalry captain apparently saw the princess's beautiful face through the car window, and he shuddered subconsciously and responded quickly.

He was not an idiot and of course he knew that there were only four people in Lordaeron who could be called royal members.

The king and queen were both quite old, and the Prince of Alsace was the male heir, so the identity of the young woman in the carriage was obvious.

"Troll?"

Uther was obviously very surprised.

The cavalry captain nodded vigorously: "Yes, it's the troll.

No one knows where these guys came from, and they have been quite active recently.

We also found that many of these trolls showed signs of being infected with the plague.

The church leaders think that the trolls must have been attacked by the undead, so they came out of the forest to rob food. They hope that if it is convenient for us, we can capture a few living captives and interrogate them. "

"I see! Why didn't I think of this? Compared to humans, trolls are the race that knows the wilderness and forest best."

Uther's eyes lit up instantly and he became excited.

You know, he was originally worried about how to find the hidden undead army, but now this problem has been solved at once.

Thinking of this, the powerful first-generation Paladin immediately said to the cavalry captain: "Count me in, I'll go with you."

“I couldn’t ask for more.”

The cavalry captain agreed without even thinking about it.

After all, the Lightbringer is famous, and with his help it should be easy to capture a few living trolls.

And so, Uther explained the situation to the princess and left with the cavalry.

The caravan continued along the road towards Stratholme.

When it was almost sunset, we finally passed through the city gate that was blackened by thick smoke and entered the city streets that were like purgatory.

Although the church had organized people to clean up and dragged a large number of bodies out of the city for burial, there were still some places with piles of charred bones, many of which were babies and children of a few years old.

As a young mother, Jialiya suffered a mental blow after seeing this scene, and tears could not stop flowing.

Only at this moment did she finally understand what Arthas had done and the ugly expressions on her father and mother's faces when they mentioned this matter.

(End of this chapter)