The fifteenth year of the Dark Portal Calendar was coming to an end. As two hundred thousand farmers and one hundred thousand soldiers successively arrived in the Blasted Lands, Galen's deployment in this area was on track. The next step was to methodically start mining and afforestation.
Galen also embarked on the road back to Stromgarde, wanting to return to his old home for the New Year.
He had been absent for eight New Years, and if he was still gallivanting outside this time, he would probably receive a loving punishment from his dear old father.
However, this time he did not use teleportation to zip back. Taking advantage of the remaining time, he prepared to pass through Loch Modan, head north to inspect the construction of the Wetlands, and finally return to Stromgarde from Thandol Span.
However, after Galen entered the Wetlands, he keenly noticed that someone was secretly watching his team.
Oh, really? Dare to monitor me?
Tired of living, huh?
Galen gave a look, and Valeera's figure disappeared into the air.
As a leader among rogues, Valeera's specialty was ambush and blitzkrieg. Coupled with the fact that she was a master poisoner, those targeted by her were already gone to the Shadowlands.
Balnazzar, a dreadlord at the peak of the legendary rank, was a capable subordinate of Tichondrius, the leader of the dreadlords. At the moment Kil'jaeden threw Ner'zhul's soul into Northrend, three members of the Nathrezim, led by Balnazzar, also sneaked into Azeroth, responsible for monitoring the Lich King and his Scourge's plans.
Ner'zhul, because of his betrayal in Draenor, was caught by Kil'jaeden in the Twisting Nether. He suffered unimaginable torture in the hands of the Burning Legion, his body torn apart inch by inch, effectively being subjected to slow slicing, losing his physical form.
The dreadlords specially crafted a suit of armor to bind his soulless soul within it, and then sealed the armor and a runeblade named "Frostmourne" in a diamond-hard block of ice.
Ner'zhul was indeed the first Lich King, but he only possessed powerful mental strength. What carried his soul was a block of ice, without the ability to move.
At this time, Balnazzar and his kindred came to the Eastern Kingdoms, setting their sights on the powerful human kingdoms, in order to select a spokesperson for the Scourge.
Balnazzar's target was the second most powerful human kingdom, Stromgarde's Prince Galen Trollbane. His compatriot Mal'Ganis was responsible for Lordaeron's Prince Arthas Menethil.
Balnazzar was full of pent-up anger. He tracked from Stromgarde to Lordaeron, then from Lordaeron back to Stromgarde, then flew from Stromgarde to Grim Batol, and then arrived at Ironforge, finally finding Galen's trail in Loch Modan, and then followed all the way to the Wetlands.
As a winged creature, Balnazzar was quite fast, but he was exhausted, wandering around the Eastern Kingdoms for three or four months!
Damn it, the dreadlord had never imagined that a human's whereabouts could be so erratic. Could it be that Azeroth's ley lines were his home, allowing him to use teleportation at will?
Blue dragons, aren't you going to manage this?
What a bunch of trash.
According to the special communication method between dreadlords, he already knew that Mal'Ganis had successfully infiltrated Arthas's side, while he had just found his target!
What a disgrace!
What a disgrace!
Balnazzar decided that he must lure Galen to fall, and then ruin his reputation, in order to avenge the hatred of being led by the nose this time.
In the dense forest, a purple bat was hanging upside down on a branch, staring at Galen, cursing this human prince hundreds of times in his heart.
Why is it so quiet all around?
Crap!
Balnazzar was shocked and immediately changed his position!
At this moment, a verdant dagger suddenly appeared, stabbing towards the bat's back at lightning speed!
Whoosh!
At the moment the dagger hit, Balnazzar's figure dispersed into dozens of small bats, dodging this fatal blow.
Valeera looked at the bat clone, only the size of a fist, left on the dagger, with a look of regret on her face.
A flash of white light, Galen teleported with his team to Valeera's side.
"Oh? A dreadlord?"
Galen's eyes flashed with golden light!
Catch him!
Lightforge him!
Dreadlords are a group of excellent schemers and excellent secret agents. Even if Memphistroth under Galen's command is shining with the power of the Holy Light, it still does not hinder their racial talent to disguise themselves as other creatures.
Galen said he really needed a team of dreadlords loyal to him.
"Hmph! Mortal, you dare to hurt me!" Since joining the Burning Legion, the dreadlords did not know how many planets they had commanded the army to destroy, killing hundreds of millions of creatures. They naturally looked down on mortals with low strength.
"Hey, pathetic Ants, you still haven't figured out who the prey is between us." Galen was not polite to the dreadlord who called him a mortal, and directly called him Ants.
"Hmph! You angered me, mortal. Do you think you can pose a threat to me with just dozens of people? You mortals take yourselves too seriously!" Balnazzar still looked down on everything.
And he also had this capital, wasn't it just dozens of high-level soldiers, a powerful rogue, and a leading paladin prince!
In the Twisting Nether, Balnazzar had killed eight hundred of every legion warrior like Galen!
What's more, even if the dreadlord's body is killed, the soul can still exist independently, and can better invade the body of the target!
"Get him!"
Galen called Balnazzar stubborn. So he waved his hand, and ten Royal Guards directly raised their shields, followed by ten paladins, and they began to shrink the encirclement of the dreadlord.
Whoosh!
Whoosh whoosh!
Ten arrows were shot by the Trackers, heading straight for Balnazzar's limbs.
Galen's goal was to capture him alive.
I saw the dreadlord flapping his wings quickly, and ten arrows were blocked by the strong wind, and then he looked up to the sky and roared!
A mental scream, the Royal Guards were affected by the mental magic and began to tremble in place!
"Mortal, do you think you have more people than me!"
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Four huge meteorites fell from the sky!
"Infernal?"
Galen quickly drew out the Ashbringer, then jumped up and swung the artifact in mid-air.
Ashbringer Awakens!
A piece of golden fire shot out from the sword of the Ashbringer, and two of the four falling infernals in the sky were blown up!
However, the other two infernals still fell heavily on the ground, smashing out a deep pit, and at the same time disrupting the encirclement of the Royal Guards.
"You go smash those two big guys, I'll deal with the dreadlord!"
Galen carried the Ashbringer on his shoulder and slowly walked towards Balnazzar.
The Ashbringer became famous in later generations for its role in the Scourge War, where it could turn undead struck by it into ashes, hence its name.
However, this artifact is also very effective against demons!
Galen drew his sword and began to charge!
Bannazar used a Sleep spell!
Sleep ineffective!
Galen continued to rapidly approach Bannazar!
Bannazar stirred his magic again, using a Foul Bat Swarm!
A large swarm of black bats rushed towards Galen!
Galen chuckled, and a golden, semi-transparent barrier covered his body. Ashbringer's Awakening was activated again, and a large number of bats were scorched by the flames and fell to the ground.
At this moment, Galen, protected by invincibility, arrived in front of Bannazar and struck with his sword, directly breaking through his Shadow Barrier spell that protected him!
Bannazar was disemboweled!
Whoosh!
After a brief exchange of only a few seconds, Bannazar knew he was no match for this paladin and immediately decided to flee.
Bannazar transformed into a pile of small bats again, flying in all directions!
As long as one small bat escaped, his soul could re-possess it!
"Hmph! A petty trick, daring to display your axe before Lu Ban!"
"Holy Light Radiance!"
Galen condensed intense holy light on his body, emitting dazzling rays in all directions. The swarm of fleeing bats were all illuminated by the holy light, and began to sizzle and smoke!
"No!"
The remaining small bats re-assembled, turning into a smaller Dread Lord. At this moment, he was struggling on the ground, with large amounts of black smoke rising from his armor!
"Although I don't know who you are, but!"
"The second Dread Lord acquired!"
With a look of stifled indignation on the Dread Lord's face, Galen slammed the back of the Ashbringer heavily onto the Dread Lord.
The Dread Lord, severely injured, closed his eyes and fainted.
On the other side, the two red Hellhounds also turned into piles of rubble as the Dread Lord lost consciousness.
These two special Hellhounds could emit flames of sacrifice from their bodies, and the ten Royal Guards were more or less burned, and were now receiving treatment from the paladins.
It seems that it is time to prepare an extra set of equipment for the Royal Guards.
In the Arcane Sanctum, the original third Spellbreaker production sequence was not to train Spellbreakers as a unit, but to manufacture special Spellbreaker armor sets.
The normal procedure was to have mages wear this magic-immune armor, and then undergo special training to become Spellbreakers like those of the high elf kingdom.
After this incident, Galen planned to secretly equip a portion of the Royal Guards with this magic-immune equipment. Although doing so would cause them to lose many beneficial spells from their companions, it would inadvertently turn them into mage killers.
Most importantly, wearing Spellbreaker armor, the Royal Guards could still receive holy light healing spells.
Galen then contacted Mephistroth in Grim Batol.
The moment this Lightforged Dread Lord was teleported over, he recognized the Dread Lord who was spying on Galen.
"Balnnazar?"
Mephistroth looked at the Dread Lord, who had shrunk by a tenth, lying on the ground with sympathetic eyes.
"That's Balnnazar?"
Galen actually recognized this Dread Lord.
In the battles of later generations, Archimonde died under the World Tree, and Arthas returned to Lordaeron as the King of the Undead. The three Dread Lords responsible for monitoring the Scourge were expelled by him.
That's right, Ner'zhul, who loved freedom all his life, betrayed Kil'jaeden again after accumulating enough power.
However, later the Frozen Throne was torn apart by Illidan using the Eye of Sargeras, and the Lich King's energy began to leak. Many undead gained freedom and a clear consciousness. After discovering that Arthas' power was gradually weakening, the Dread Lords launched a rebellion in the royal city of Lordaeron. Arthas fled the royal city and was ambushed by Sylvanas. If Kel'Thuzad hadn't appeared, the future Lich King might have fallen.
Lordaeron fell into the hands of the Banshee Queen. At the end of the war, she forced Varimathras, one of the three Dread Lords, to kill Bannazar as a test of his loyalty.
Of course, Balnnazar did not die, but found an opportunity to possess Dathrohan, the first paladin, and continued to wreak havoc on the Scarlet Crusade.
"Didn't expect he's a celebrity."
Galen poked the Dread Lord's radiant face with the blade of the Ashbringer, his eyes full of Banter.
"Mephistroth, take him back to Stromgarde, Lightforge him, and then have him work under you."
"As you command, Highlord."
Mephistroth also chuckled. After being Lightforged, he was not only loyal to Galen, but his whole person... his whole heart was no longer so dark and vicious.
Mephistroth was quite willing to save and purify his compatriots.
Even if the Holy Light forces burned their home in the past?
After a small interlude, Galen continued on his way. The resources of the Wetlands had been fully developed, and Tol Barad in the northwest had become the most dazzling pearl in the area. Galen expressed his satisfaction.
However, when he returned to Stromgarde from Tol Barad by ship, he heard a lot of bad news.
Throughout the Eastern Kingdoms—Lordaeron, Dalaran, Stromgarde, Gilneas, and even Quel'Thalas—there were varying numbers of mages disappearing and defecting.
The most famous of these was Kel'Thuzad, a member of the Council of Six of Dalaran and a disciple of Antonidas, who was discovered to still be secretly researching necromantic experiments. Archmage Antonidas took action, but he still escaped capture.
Oh, this familiar plot seems to have been seen somewhere before.
However, Galen could only offer a toast to the moonlight and a toast to Kel'Thuzad for his choice.
Galen didn't care about the disappearance and defection of mages in his own country.
After all, how many famous mages could come out of the mage-barren Arathi Highlands?
Even his half-teacher, Count Davil, only advanced after studying in Dalaran.
On the point of mages, it wasn't that Galen didn't want to maintain Stromgarde's reputation, but he really couldn't. In a warrior kingdom, how much of a market could you expect mages to have?
Only Gandalf under the command of the Crusade was holding up the last bit of face, so that Thoras wouldn't be too embarrassed.
However, Galen never guessed that among these dozen or so missing mages from Stromgarde, there would actually be a Lich who would later be notorious.
The news about mages was only the first piece of bad news. The second piece of bad news was greatly related to Stromgarde!
Orgrim Doomhammer has resurfaced, and is leading the Warsong Clan and the Burning Blade Clan in a campaign to liberate the orcs, attempting to rebuild the New Horde.
After waiting for so long, this big fish has finally taken the bait!