Volume 10: Doomsday Storm Chapter 591: The Shadow of Lordaeron
Ner'zhul sat in a dark corner of the tavern, his pitch-black cloak draped over his body, covering his bloated and deformed body as well as his orc face. He tried hard to calm the void energy running rampant in his body so that it would not completely get out of control.
For a long time, he was concentrating all his attention on the inside of his body, and the huge shadow energy of the Ancient God became a burden to him.
Fortunately, the energy in his body today was not too agitated, which gave him some time to catch his breath.
Phew, finally suppressed it.
Ner'zhul gasped, his heart full of resentment. Damn it, damn the Old Gods, damn Deathwing!
For the first time, he felt how hateful an overly powerful force could be. With his strong control over energy, if he had absorbed less essence of the Ancient God, he would not be in such a miserable state now.
The body under the black robe began to wriggle violently again.
Bang, bang, bang, the table in front of him couldn't help but shake.
The guests in the tavern all looked at him in surprise, but when the sound died down, their gazes quickly shifted away.
This is the Bloody Hand Inn, an underground black market located in Booty Bay. Those who come here are either assassins, thieves, information dealers, or even cultists. They are of all races and forces, with no concept of camp, let alone moral ethics.
In this chaotic place where good and bad people mix together, people can only speak with strength.
It is also because of this that everyone instinctively does not interfere with Ner'zhul's abnormal situation.
Even though Ner'zhul was so suspicious and so disturbing, no one was willing to ask any questions.
Ner'zhul took a sip of the bad wine in the cup, and the spicy wine helped him regain a little bit of sanity.
A dark shadow walked into the tavern silently, wearing neat black leather armor, a black hood, a dagger hanging from his waist, and one of his eyes emitting a faint blue light.
The famous 'Night Walker' Duke.
He came to Ner'zhul and said, "I'm sorry, 'sir', we were unable to find the information you wanted."
Duke said, absentmindedly playing with the dagger in his hand.
"Humph, as expected, you useless bunch of rubbish have never disappointed me before."
There was a hint of murderous intent in the assassin's eyes, daring to be so arrogant to the Shadow Brotherhood... However, when he saw the purple pupils under the hood of Ner'zhul, the murderous intent instantly turned into trembling.
The assassin's instinct made him sense the opponent's strength, and the curse on his lips turned into: "Yes, sir, I'm sorry, sir, I'm very sorry, we have tried our best, but the information you need is too old, so..."
The assassin left in disgrace, not even daring to ask for the balance.
Ner'zhul's body was restless again, and the restlessness in his heart made him want to start a killing spree - why not just kill them all.
He glanced at the crowd in the tavern as if he were looking at a group of dead people.
(No, we can’t indulge those guys’ will any longer.)
Ner'zhul did not care about the lives of these mortals, but every time he slaughtered, devoured, and digested them wantonly, he could feel that the remaining will of the Old Gods in his body was becoming stronger and stronger.
It was becoming increasingly difficult to control. He originally thought that he had completely absorbed and transformed these powers, but as his body absorbed more and more essence of the Ancient Gods, he gradually discovered that these ancient gods of the past could not be destroyed at all. As long as he could not achieve a balance between them, he would have to endure this painful torture.
Perhaps one day the essence of these ancient gods will burst out of my body, tearing me apart, or directly splitting into several different individuals...
The Heart of Xal'atath must be found, and the final ritual must be completed! This was the only thought left in Ner'zhul's mind at this moment.
"I heard that you were looking for the Heart of Xal'atath. Haha, that thing is not easy to find." A light voice suddenly came from beside him.
"Who!" Ner'zhul turned his head suddenly and looked with some surprise at the mysterious man in black robe who suddenly appeared on the seat next to him.
He clearly remembered that the seat was empty before, and with his aura, no one dared to join in the fun.
However, the person in front of him just appeared out of nowhere, and even looked like an old acquaintance, holding a wine glass and raising it to him.
Is it because the outburst of energy in my body just now distracted me?
The stealth ability of the assassin and the thief was like child's play in front of Ner'zhul, who mastered the power of the shadow law. The mage's invisibility was meaningless to his Eye of the Void. The man in front of him appeared silently, and he didn't even notice it.
This surprised Ner'zhul, but also gave him a hint of anticipation.
Ner'zhul: "Who are you, human?"
Mysterious man: "It doesn't matter who I am. What matters is that I brought you the information you wanted."
"You know where the Heart of Xal'atath is? How is that possible?" Ner'zhul said in disbelief.
The Heart of Xal'atath is hidden in the Sky City. Even if it was taken away, it is most likely related to an ancient dragon. How could a mortal know such information?
His coming here to issue a bounty was just a desperate struggle.
"Of course I know, otherwise why would I come to you? As for the source of the information, you don't have to worry about it. Anyway, are you interested in making a deal?"
"Tell me about it."
"I will tell you where the Heart of Xal'atath is, and you have to do something for me."
"Yes." Ner'zhul said without hesitation.
The mysterious man smiled and said, "You haven't asked me what I want you to do yet. What if it's something you can't do? Your answer seems very insincere."
Ner'zhul snorted coldly, "There is nothing I can't do."
"Besides finding the Heart of Xal'atath?"
Ner'zhul's face suddenly turned dark - in fact, his face was dark to begin with, and it became even darker now. Although they had only talked for a few words, for some reason, he had an inexplicable urge to fight with the human in front of him.
"…Do you still want to trade?"
"Hahaha, don't get excited, I was just joking with you. Of course you can do what I ask you to do, otherwise I wouldn't look for you. I'll tell you the whereabouts of the Heart of Xal'atath right now.
The Heart of Xal'atath is within the Golden Tree, within the body of the Lightforged Beast Eldon."
"Are you kidding me!" Ner'zhul was furious, and the power of the void on his body spread out like a substance, and even the light in the entire tavern became dim.
The walls and roof of the tavern creaked and twisted, and the guests in the tavern stood up in fear one by one, and the brave ones had already fled.
Of course, Ner'zhul had reason to be angry. Although he had little communication with the countries in the Alliance, he still knew about the Golden Tree. It was a world tree infused with holy light. It was located in the city of Lordaeron and was the core of the Golden Dynasty. The golden tree element contained extremely powerful holy light power, and the sacred light it emitted could be sensed even by Ner'zhul who was thousands of miles away.
The Light and the Shadow are mortal enemies, so Ner'zhul also pays a lot of attention to the golden tree.
He had already planned it out. Once he transformed into the Will of the Void and prepared to corrupt the world, the golden tree would undoubtedly be his biggest enemy. Going there would be like a volcano hitting an iceberg, and the outcome would inevitably be the collapse of the sky and the earth.
If he had already transformed into the Will of the Void, Ner'zhul would certainly not be afraid of a mere golden tree, but in his current state, it would be a bit dangerous for him to go to the golden tree.
What's more, the name of the Lightforged Beast Eldon tells us that it is some kind of powerful holy light creature. The Heart of Xal'atath is the heart of the Old Gods, so how could it be in that thing's body?
This lie is simply too outrageous.
"Hehehe, don't get excited. Do I have to make up such an obvious lie? You have served the Ancient Gods for so long, and absorbed a large amount of shadow power and void knowledge. Don't you understand the principle of light and shadow?
Shadow is holy light, and holy light is shadow. Light and shadow are two sides of the same coin. Where there is light, there must be shadow. The greater the light, the greater the shadow. The reason why you can't see it is that the light is too dazzling. Once the light fades, what remains is unfathomable darkness.
I have said everything I need to say. It is up to you whether you want to go or not."
The mysterious man said this, picked up the wine glass, drank it all, then turned and walked outside.
"Wait a minute, you haven't told me what you want me to do for you."
The mysterious man waved his hand and said, "It's not too late to talk about it after you get the Heart of Shadow."
Ner'zhul looked at the mysterious man's disappearing back with a solemn expression.
The shadow power in his body began to stir again, reminding him that time was running out.
It seems that I must take a trip to Lordaeron.
…
Back home, Murphy entered the game again.
I haven't been online for seven days, but I still have to fulfill my duties as the Dragon God.
But the promise to Morpheus may have to be put on hold for the time being.
Murphy knew very well that although Wang Xuan's words were polite, the warning in them was very obvious. This was not difficult to understand. Even for the most superficial reasons, a game GM would not allow a gamer who exceeded the system restrictions to act recklessly in the game.
If a god really goes crazy, it's enough to turn the game upside down.
Wang Xuan's warning to him was exactly what was implied in the question.
Although Murphy cared about his promise to Morpheus, he was not willing to risk his life for it.
It would be fine if it was an ordinary opponent, but when facing a gaming company that holds controlling power, he has to think more about it.
Sorry, Morpheus, it looks like our agreement will have to wait.
Before entering the game, Murphy quickly learned about the recent developments in the game.
After the Holy War of Mount Hyjal ended, all the players who participated in the battle received huge rewards, especially those who held on until the last moment and ultimately helped attack and kill Archimonde. Those who upgraded their ranks upgraded their ranks, those who got promoted upgraded their positions, and those who got equipment got equipment. It can be said that everyone who survived gained a lot.
The one who benefited the most was the Emperor Shenwu. The video of him transforming into a Centaur giant and fighting Archimonde on the battlefield was reposted on major websites, which greatly boosted his popularity. Even the stock price of Haotian Group rose.
However, those dead players were in trouble. Most of them couldn’t even get back the drops from their corpses, so they lost all their money.
Many people found that the equipment they dropped later mysteriously appeared in the auction house. It was obvious that someone had made a fortune from the dead.
Among them, Jian Wuhen is considered the most suspicious. During the battle against Archimonde, he did not show up again except for being marked with the Mark of Death. It is very likely that he went to pick up equipment from corpses.
Some people even jointly reported it, but the official response from the game was that Jian Wuhen did not violate the rules of the game at all, so they would not intervene.
Jian Wuhen is therefore very likely to become the second biggest winner of this plot event.
After the Battle of Mount Hyjal, although the Burning Legion was defeated, the demons were not completely destroyed. Many demon lords used various methods to escape the battlefield and took away a large number of surviving demons.
Among them are Dia Pineapple and the three brothers Mephisto and Baal.
Today, these demon lords have established many demon-themed dungeons on various continents throughout the world of Azeroth.
What are the Evil Fire Abyss, the Devil Canyon, the Hell Temple...
Since the coalition forces also suffered losses in the battle, and these demon lords usually hid in dangerous dungeons, the army was unable to play a role, so the coalition forces had to temporarily stop the pursuit.
Instead, they each recruited adventurers to hunt down these demon lords.
Nowadays, these dungeons have become popular areas for leveling up and obtaining equipment, which makes adventurers very happy.
The biggest losers in this battle were undoubtedly Godwin and Badao Wuqing. The two left the battlefield on the eve of the final battle, which caused a huge impact on their reputation. Coupled with the increase in the number of participants, the rise and fall made them suffer huge losses.
However, Godwin also found a suitable reason to explain his retreat - because the tribal chief Badaoruqing suddenly left, Godwin was worried that this was a conspiracy by the tribe to attack the Alliance, so he had to withdraw from the battlefield to prevent the Alliance from being backstabbed by the tribe.
Badao Wuqing also found a similar reason. Because of the sudden departure of King Godwin of the Alliance, Badao Wuqing was worried that the Alliance would stab the tribe in the back, so he had to leave.
Both accused the other of leaving the battlefield first, and used this as an excuse to convince their subordinates within the faction, thus temporarily stabilizing the internal situation.
Murphy strongly suspected that the two had discussed this beforehand.
However, the biggest news in the game is undoubtedly the emergence of god template players.
Murphy transformed into a dragon god and defeated Archimonde, which had already caused a huge stir in the game. Players could actually become gods? Who had ever seen such a game?
This is a god, and although he is a god in the game, because this game is extremely realistic, the experience of becoming a god is probably not much worse than in reality.
This immediately made the players excited.
There are all kinds of reactions.
Some people cursed the game company for operating behind closed doors, saying that the templates of the gods must have been secretly sold to internal players, and that the Dragon God Aidan Delon was a proxy for the game company and an internal employee of the game company - this speculation almost came true.
Some people began to look for ways to become gods, digging out Murphy's past gaming experiences, and even finding the underground caves of Tongtian Peak. Unfortunately, they were destined to be unable to replicate Murphy's successful experience.
Some players tried every possible way to contact the company, and even petitioned collectively to open up the god template to players - they were probably wealthy people with plenty of money.
Others collectively requested the game company to block Long Shen’s account, because it destroyed the balance of the game.
There are even many live broadcast platforms and advertising companies that have started contacting Murfei, wanting to work with him to be a host or a spokesperson for advertising companies.
This made Murphy a little annoyed.
Murphy was not surprised by this result, but he did not intend to respond.
After learning about the game consultation during this period, Murphy entered the game.
As soon as I came online, I found that the private message channel was flooded with private messages.
Murphy deleted all the messages from people he didn't know and only kept the messages from those he knew. The first one was from Godwin.
Godwin: Damn, Brother Aidan, I heard you became a god? Is that true?
Godwin: Brother Aidan, if it is convenient, let's get together and discuss our gaming experience.
Godwin: Brother Aidan, why haven’t you been online recently? I have something to ask you, please come online and reply to me.
Godwin: Hey, Brother Aidan, you are finally online. If you are free, come to Lordaeron and visit us.
