Volume 8: The Road to the Ancient Dragon Chapter 497: Falling into Shadow
The female priest seemed to have not yet calmed down from the chaos, and looked around blankly until a knight came forward and prepared to put handcuffs on her.
The female priest suddenly let out a scream, and the shadow power that had been dispelled covered her body again.
Shadow Nova!
A shadow force spread out in all directions, and several paladins hurriedly raised their shields.
The power of holy light merged into one, canceling out the energy of shadow.
"Quick, continue purifying her!"
"She's become powerful!"
"Holy Light, grant me strength!"
One after another divine spells fell towards the female priest, but she seemed to have exploded. The shadow energy turned into shock waves, and she was able to fight against an entire team by herself.
Holy light spells were often offset by the power of shadow before they could even reach her.
Hammer of Justice!
Until a golden hammer condensed from holy light hit the female priest's head heavily, finally causing her to fall down.
"What's going on?" Murphy asked in surprise as he looked at the knights who tied up the female priest and took her away.
"It's the Shadow Demon, a monster lurking in the hearts of humans. It has always been lurking in the darkness of Lordaeron, but now it has nowhere to hide under the shining of the Holy Light."
The knight explained, but his tone was not very firm.
Shadow demon? What is that? Why does it look like a priest's shadow form?
Shadow Priests are not rare among adventurers, but they seem to have never been seen among NPCs.
The carriage continued to move forward, and when it reached the King's Road, Murphy saw several carriages loaded with steel cages, which contained similar prisoners, both men and women, and were heading towards a cathedral.
"These humans possessed by the Shadow Demon will be sent to the cathedral to undergo a purification ritual. Once the purification is completed, their souls will be redeemed."
"How many of these shadow demons are there?"
"Not too many. There are probably about a dozen showing up every day lately."
"Will they become normal people after being purified?"
"Well, it's about the same. He's just a little bit dazed, but other than that, he's no different from a normal person. Ah, we're almost at the Royal City, everyone, please be prepared."
The knight deliberately changed the subject, and soon the convoy drove into the gate of the palace.
When he arrived at the reception room, Murphy actually saw Prince Kael'thas.
Now he is Grand Duke Kael'thas, and Quel'Thalas has been incorporated into the protection of Lordaeron as a vassal duchy of the Kingdom of Lordaeron.
Strictly speaking, Murphy, the Lord Protector, is on the same level as Kael'thas.
"Prince Kael'thas, ah, should be Grand Duke Kael'thas, long time no see."
Kael'thas bowed his head gracefully and said, "Hello to you too, Duke Aidan. Thank you for your assistance in the battle to conquer Silvermoon City."
Murphy was stunned for a moment before he realized that he was talking about the miracles he had performed.
"No, it's just a small reward for the believers. Why are you here?"
"I have been summoned by His Majesty Godwin to come here for an audience." Kael'thas' tone was calm, but Murphy could still hear some sadness in it.
How can I not be jealous? He was supposed to succeed to the throne and become king, but now he becomes a grand duke and has to be ordered around by others. It's so degrading.
But the situation is stronger than people.
Murphy patted Kael'thas' shoulder comfortingly. Kael'thas was a little resistant at first, but then he accepted it with a wry smile.
At this moment, Godwin was holding a kingdom meeting in the hall, listening to lords from all over the country reporting to him on various situations.
Godwin's thoughts were somewhat annoyed, but although the king was majestic, it was really boring to hold meetings and deal with kingdom affairs all day long.
His eyes were fixed on the huge emblem of Lordaeron on the floor. Historically, Arthas ascended to the throne by killing his father in this room. He didn't know where that kid had gone.
"Your Majesty, there have been more than a dozen cases of falling into the shadow in the past few days. Archbishop Fao hopes to suspend the training of Holy Light priests and hold a large-scale prayer ceremony to pray to the God of Light to find out the reason why Holy Light practitioners fell into the shadow."
Godwin was fully aware of the reasons for these events in the Shadow.
Holy light and shadow are two sides of the same coin. If a holy light practitioner releases holy light excessively, he will enter the shadow form.
The Naaru, a holy light creature, will transform into the entropy demon, a shadow creature, after releasing excessive holy light energy.
The Void Crystal used by the Ashbringer is the remains of a Naaru after his fall. Once it is bombarded and purified with sufficiently powerful holy light, it can also be transformed back to its holy light attributes.
The same is true for humans who use the power of Holy Light. Once they overuse the power of Holy Light, they will be at risk of entering the shadow form, converting the power of Holy Light in their bodies into shadow power. This is what is called a dark priest.
Holy light can bring people positive emotions, such as justice, kindness, forgiveness, bravery, sacrifice... while shadow energy is the exact opposite and will bring completely negative emotions to the user.
Killing, cruelty, hatred, anger, greed...
Even a sane person can easily turn into an evil monster if affected by shadow energy.
Therefore, spellcasters who use shadow energy are naturally regarded as evil beings.
Although there are a large number of shadow priests among adventurers, it is nothing surprising.
However, in the plot, Shadow Priest is an absolutely taboo existence.
Once discovered, they will be hunted down as heretics.
In fact, there have been incidents of falling into darkness in the past, but they are very rare. Firstly, there are very few Holy Light practitioners, so the quality is relatively high. If you want to learn Holy Light, you must first take cultural courses for a few years and do a good job of ideological education before you can carry out practical operations.
Therefore, there are very few shadow priests, but with the birth of the golden tree, the number of Holy Light practitioners in Lordaeron has increased exponentially. Many people do not understand the methods of practicing Holy Light at all, and they are just practicing blindly.
Secondly, in the past, there was a strict education system for the cultivation of Holy Light. There were archbishops, bishops, chief priests, and great pastors who strictly supervised and taught. People had a sense of awe for the Holy Light, so there were rarely any problems.
But now it is different, because of the golden tree, it is so easy to practice Holy Light, resulting in Holy Light practitioners everywhere. Many ordinary people have a slight sense of Holy Light and often start practicing blindly.
Because Godwin wanted to promote the power of the Holy Light, but he couldn't prohibit it, more and more humans fell into darkness in Lordaeron, which was illuminated by the Holy Light.
Godwin had no other choice but to try his best to control it.
Fortunately, there are many shadow priests and even more holy light practitioners. Tens of thousands of priests and paladins can completely purify the occasional fallen ones.
Apart from causing some damage to the soul of the person being purified, the situation was under control.
Godwin (King of Lordaeron): "I know, but there is no need to waste time. Light and shadow are originally one. The only reason for falling into shadow is that the practitioners of Holy Light are not firm enough in their mentality and have too much darkness in their hearts.
Pass on my orders and issue a decree throughout the country, requiring that when using the Holy Light, everyone should try to train together, not practice privately, and that ideological education should be strengthened. Only with good intentions can one truly embrace the Holy Light.
And it is strictly forbidden to overuse the power of Holy Light. Light and darkness are twins, light and darkness are twins. I have said this many times."
The Kingdom Council finally ended.
As soon as Godwin walked out of the hall, the servant came forward to report.
"Your Majesty, Grand Duke Aidan and Grand Duke Kael'thas have arrived."
"Is Princess Jaina here?"
"Yes, she is also among the entourage."
"Very good."
When he heard that Jaina had arrived, Godwin immediately smiled.
In recent times, Godwin can be said to be in high spirits. With Quel'Thalas joining Lordaeron and becoming the autonomous region of Lordaeron, the Lordaeron Empire plan has finally taken the first step.
Next is Stromgarde. The Young Wolf Lord has rescued all the 100,000 orc prisoners in the internment camp and is about to launch an attack on Stromgarde. After Stromgarde is breached, he will then incorporate Stromgarde into the territory of Lordaeron.
He has already negotiated the purchase price for the King of Gilneas, so it will be a natural thing to do when the time comes.
Although Dalaran is called a kingdom, there is no king. Instead, it is ruled by a parliament, which can be deeply controlled through political means.
Kul Tiras is a naval power, and if we want to expand overseas territories in the future, we will need Kul Tiras’ support.
And Godwin had already thought of a plan to annex these two countries.
The key lies in Jaina. Jaina is Antonidas's direct disciple and the daughter of King Daelin. If he can marry Jaina and support her to become the Queen of Kul Tiras and the Speaker of Dalaran.
By then, the merger of the three kingdoms will be a natural process, and the Lordaeron Empire will be truly realized.
As for Alterac, by that time, I'm afraid it will be impossible not to join.
With the huge military force of the Lordaeron Empire.
Plus the power of holy light faith brought by the golden tree.
Plus the magical power of Dalaran.
Plus the powerful navy of Kul Tiras.
He will become an unrivaled overlord and completely control the alliance.
By then, he will defeat all the tribal scourges and the Burning Legion, and he will become the greatest emperor in the world!
The more you think about it, the more beautiful it becomes. However, there is still a long way to go to achieve all this.
Today's meeting is particularly important.
Trying to calm himself, Godwin walked towards the reception room.
Godwin (King of Lordaeron): "Haha, long time no see, Aidan. You are still as charming as ever."
As he said that, he gave me a hug.
Mo Fei wondered why this boy was suddenly so enthusiastic.
But since you can’t hit someone who smiles at you, I could only hug him.
"I heard that you are being targeted by those dragons. Don't worry, brother Aidan. No matter how arrogant the guardian dragons are, they dare not come to Lordaeron to act wildly. Under the shining of the golden tree, you will always be safe."
Godwin (King of Lordaeron): "Prince Kael'thas, I am glad you are here. I hope I did not neglect you."
Kael'thas bowed gracefully, "As your subject, I have an obligation to respond to the monarch's call - Your Majesty."
"Ha, don't take it personally. Just call me Godwin in private. Those red tapes are just to shut up those pedantic nobles. I hope we can still be friends."
"Princess Jaina, long time no see. You are much more beautiful than the last time we met."
"And to you, too, Your Majesty Godwin."
Jaina knelt down like a lady.
After the greetings, Godwin quickly got to the point.
"I have summoned you all here for a big event. There is an ancient dragon hidden in Lordaeron. Who knows what conspiracy these cunning creatures are hiding? For the people who believe in the Holy Light, this is an absolute threat and must be eliminated.
Considering the powerful strength of this ancient dragon, I have specially sought out Prince Aidan. You are a professional dragon slayer and are indispensable for this operation.
Prince Kael'thas, your magic will also be helpful in slaying this evil dragon. Of course, I have some selfish motives as well. Although Quel'Thalas has joined Lordaeron, we still lack understanding of each other. Letting the heroes of the high elves and the warriors of Lordaeron fight side by side is the best way to improve team awareness.
Princess Jaina, if you are interested, you are also welcome to join us..."
Godwin talked incessantly.
Murphy was a little surprised. When he met Godwin several times in the past, he always felt that this guy had a gloomy feeling. But this time he met him, he seemed like a different person. He was warm and cheerful, and his words became more pleasant. It was really strange.
He suddenly felt a warm and comfortable feeling on his body. When he looked at his condition, he found that he had unknowingly been given several layers of halo effects.
[Holy Light: You are illuminated by Godwin, the incarnation of light, and all your attributes are temporarily increased by 5%.]
[Light Healing: Under the illumination of the power of light, you recover 5 health points per second.]
[Sunshine Healing: Dispel one disease, bleeding, or curse effect on you every 30 seconds.]
[Light of Exorcism: All undead, demons, and shadow creatures within the range will receive 5 points of holy damage per second when illuminated by holy light.]
These aura effects obviously all come from Godwin. I don't know what heroic expertise or special skills he has selected, but he actually has so many aura skills.
Even Murphy, the quasi-ally, can enjoy it.
His mind suddenly moved, and he had some vague guesses about the change in Godwin's attitude.
There are only two possibilities.
The first one is the same as the Morpheus in his mind. Because Godwin has been playing the role of Godwin of the Holy Light for a long time, a hidden personality called "Godwin" has emerged in his heart.
The second one is related to the belief in Holy Light. When I first gained the faith of the Storm Dragon, my emotions were obviously affected. Later, I revised the doctrine and it returned to normal. In other words, the power of faith will affect the believer.
Could this kid be affected by the Holy Light? Holy Light is an energy that can bring positive emotions, so it is not impossible.
"I will follow the orders of His Majesty the King." Prince Kael'thas said consciously.
"Haha, that's great. You must be very tired after coming from Quel'Thalas. Go down and rest first. I 'll send someone to notify you when everyone else has arrived."
"Princess Jaina, Jia Liya missed you very much after you left last time. Maybe you can go and talk to her. I think she will be very happy."
Wait until both of them leave.
Godwin smiled and gestured to Murphy to come in.
Godwin (King of Lordaeron): "Aidan, there is no one else here now, let's have a good chat. There are some things I want to talk to you about. This matter is very important, and I think maybe only you can understand it."
