Chapter 423: The First Defense of Quel'Thalas (Part 1)

It took Arthas six days to reach the land of the high elves. Arthas was not in a hurry at first, but after the vanguard reported to him that the armies of Quel'Thalas and Kozan Island had built a solid defense line there, he was no longer in a hurry and simply marched slowly. During this period, Arthas and Kel'Thuzad's soul had a deep conversation. Both knew that they would face Richard, who had helped him before, and he would definitely not let them easily step into Silvermoon City to resurrect Kel'Thuzad, so they had to gather a very, very large army...

In order to deal with Quel'Thalas's second long line of defense, Arthas and his team built many meat grinders, which followed him from Andorhal to the east, passing through small villages and towns such as Fellstone Farm, Dalson Orchard and Garron Farm, and crossed the Soldori River into the east of Lordaeron. Everywhere were resurrected plague dead, and a simple mental command would make them follow like loyal dogs. It is also easy to take care of them. They feed on dead bodies, and there are so many of them now.

Many corpses that cannot be resurrected are made into various strangely stitched abominations. There are also many ghosts of the dead, who are generally used for reconnaissance or possession. After receiving Arthas's request for help, Northrend immediately responded. A new batch of reinforcements came to the battlefield. This batch of new reinforcements first surprised Arthas, and then made him happy.

These distant troops saw them halfway when Arthas was heading to Quel'Thalas. From a distance, it seemed that there were some dark shadows on the ground moving by themselves. In fact, it was some kind of animal. They were not cows and sheep that had escaped from their pens when their masters turned into zombies, nor were they bears and wolves that had come out to look for corpses to eat, but creatures that had never been seen before.

They did not move like quadrupeds, but quickly swept across hills and grasslands like spiders.

"Spiders," he murmured.

Seeing Arthas, they swarmed down the hillside, their purple and black bodies were terrifying, and their many long legs swung quickly as they crawled towards Arthas.

"These are new troops sent by the Lich King to his favorite generals." Kel'Thuzad's voice rang out. This apparition seemed to be seen and heard only by Arthas, and he had spoken much to Arthas in recent days, and had succeeded in sowing seeds of doubt in the mind of the death knight. No, not about Kel'Thuzad himself, but about Tichondrius, and the other demons.

"The dread lords cannot be trusted," he told Arthas. "They are jailers watching over the Lich King. I will tell you all about this, and I will keep no secrets from you when I return to this world."

Arthas wondered if Kel'Thuzad was dangling this as bait to ensure Arthas would be motivated to complete this mission. He asked, "He sent these things to me? What are they?"

"They were once the Nerubians," said Kel'Thuzad, "descendants of the ancient and proud Aqir. They were very smart in their lifetime, and were dedicated to exterminating all creatures that were not of their kind."

Arthas had been to Northrend, but had been active on the ground and had never seen these underground kings. Arthas looked at these spider-like creatures and shuddered in disgust. "So cute. And then what?"

"They died in the war against my lord, and were resurrected as undead by him, including their king, Anub'arak. Now they are sent to aid you, Prince Arthas. Fight for the glory of the Lich King, for your glory."

"Use undead spiders to fight the elves of Quel'Thalas?" Arthas said to himself. They are huge, terrifying in appearance, fierce and deadly. With a rustling sound, they quickly joined the army of zombies, ghosts and abominations.

"Haha. Not just spiders, their bodies are stronger than human bodies, and their abilities are stronger. They can spray spider webs to imprison our enemies, whether they are in the sky or underground."

Arthas nodded. No matter who the Lich King is, this guy is really talented.

They gathered the new troops and moved forward immediately. With such a large force, Arthas's arrival could not go unnoticed. The elf scouts are already famous, and with the addition of the dragon, nothing in the forest can escape their sight. By the time Arthas noticed them, the message had already been sent far away. Despite Kel'Thuzad's uneasiness and warnings, it didn't matter. Arthas had assembled a massive army, and he had no doubt that he could break into this eternal and perfect kingdom and advance quickly to the Well of the Sun. Even Richard's troops could not stop him.

Moreover, Quel'Thalas was not a monolith. The elven scouts, though very capable, were captured. All of them refused to cooperate, but they could not stop the ghosts from invading them. The ghosts directly invaded their minds and obtained intelligence directly. In addition, many people were frightened, and many were willing to betray their people and country in order to obtain the power or safety promised by Arthas and the Lich King.

What surprised Arthas the most was that an elven wizard of high status would take the initiative to join him excitedly. He was not only surprised, but also a little uneasy, wondering if this was a conspiracy of Richard and his men. Arthas was loved by his people, just like his deceased father. He liked to be recognized enthusiastically by people of lower status than him, and was willing to take the time to remember their names and listen to their family stories. He wanted them to love him, and they did, and followed him loyally, just as Captain Faric did, willing to go anywhere with him and do anything for him, whether before or after his death.

Now Arthas can only assume that the elven rulers also love their people, and assume that their people are also equally loyal to the king and the country. And this wizard betrayed his people just because he was promised power, for the simple temptation. Mortals can be corrupted, swayed, or bought. Otherwise, he would be a time bomb that could explode at any time.

But... he looked at the army under his command, and then laughed. Yes, with them here, things will be much easier, there are more of them, and they are not afraid of death. They have unquestionable loyalty and will only obey his orders. With them, what kind of stronghold can't be taken? The one in front of you is the first one! This stronghold will become the first funeral bell of Quel'Thalas!