Arthas went to deal with the Burning Legion Demons sent by the Naga. For every demon he killed, he gained one experience point. Currently, it required one hundred points to level up from one to two, meaning he needed to kill one hundred Demons.
For his current basic attributes, it was somewhat difficult; he definitely couldn't win a head-on fight. Fortunately, he wasn't alone; he had team support behind him, and several wives who were already demigods. Eating this 'soft rice' was truly delightful.
These captured Demons included Felhounds, Fel Guards, and Sayaad with six arms and long legs. But in Arthas's eyes, they were all beings that could be cut down with a swift strike.
Even though the Sayaad were very alluring—these female Demons were a man's favorite, their six arms capable of many high-level tricks—
It wasn't that Arthas wasn't tempted; he could think about it, but he would never do such a thing. With power, once he eliminated the Burning Legion, these female Demons would naturally obey him and serve him as their master. Why go through all that trouble?
Although everyone was an enemy of the Void, their paths diverged. When Sargeras planned to enslave the azeroth world-soul, wiping out everything on the planet to make them his slaves, there was no room for negotiation between the two sides, only a life-and-death struggle.
Strike after strike, his arms ached from the continuous slashing.
Jaina watched from the side, a faint smile always on her pretty face. Whatever her husband did, she would support him.
Behind her, a spirited woman in military uniform approached. This was her confidante, Colonel Lorena, who had demonstrated excellent combat capabilities during the Second War and was also in charge of the most elite reconnaissance unit.
In addition to assassination, reconnaissance units also had tasks such as mapping, disrupting enemy camps, and rescue, often requiring the most elite soldiers. They not only needed to be powerful but also possess intelligent minds.
"Madam, news has arrived from Theramore that Orcs are gathering near Northwatch Hold. Scribe Christoph requests strengthened defenses."
Theramore and the Orc settlement of Durotar were not far apart, and thanks to their joint efforts in battle, their relationship remained good.
Every time Jaina met with Thrall, she would bring Uther the Lightbringer. This Paladin was not only her husband's teacher but also held considerable prestige in Lordaeron.
The benefit of an old stubborn man was absolute loyalty to the king; he would prevent anything detrimental to Lordaeron.
Another point was to prove her innocence, lest rumors spread about her and Thrall. She was Arthas's wife, the Queen of Lordaeron, and would never harbor thoughts for other men, especially an Orc.
Upon hearing this news, Jaina's brows furrowed. She was aware of the recent friction between Orcs and humans. After all, a deep-seated hatred couldn't be resolved overnight. How many humans had died during the Orc invasion, how many families had been torn apart? These weren't things that could be solved with a simple sentence.
"Tell him not to act rashly. Send Grommash with the Warsong Clan. They won't fight for now; there must be a conspiracy behind this."
"Lorena, go personally and investigate. I suspect someone is spreading rumors to incite division within the Alliance. This is what Demons love to do most."
It must be said that after becoming a wife and leading the Alliance in the Battle of Mount Hyjal, her growth was unexpected, already possessing the leadership style of a wise queen.
Just an intuition allowed her to guess what would happen next.
Currently, voices within Lordaeron were also sharp, demanding Arthas inherit the throne and restore noble fiefdoms.
The nobles, lacking military power, wanted the Lordaeron army to reclaim the lands contaminated by the Scourge Plague, so they could continue to be leeches, sucking the blood of the kingdom and the Alliance.
This was how things had always been, and how they had always been done. The ancestral laws could not be changed!
But Arthas had stated, after establishing the City of Hope, that inactive nobles, from the lowest baron to the highlord level, those who acted as vampires, must die.
Those who had been mediocre in the past were made to give up their land and become wealthy commoners.
The first negotiations always came with the best conditions. If they refused, the second time would not bring sincerity, but rather daggers and poison. Nobles who were completely wiped out would lose their lineage.
Don't be fooled by the end of the great war; there was still much conniving and scheming in the aftermath. Nobles were nobles precisely because they knelt quickly enough.
Once one became a noble, few could maintain their original integrity; they would all become vampires, sucking the blood of the kingdom.
A powerful kingdom must abandon traditional bad practices. The feudal system, in hindsight, was an extremely foolish approach, fundamentally detrimental to the king's ability to integrate the entire kingdom's strength and coordinate actions.
Regarding the management of vassals, only fines were imposed, exile was rare, and executions even rarer. There was even less authority over affairs within their fiefdoms, which was ridiculous.
From Arthas's perspective as a transmigrator, he couldn't for the life of him figure out why this was done.
Perhaps it could only be summed up in one sentence: the king at the time lacked the ability to manage vast lands, and to flaunt achievements and win over subordinates, such a farce was created.
Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred.
A glow emanated from him, and his previously blank attribute panel instantly improved significantly.
The improvement wasn't much, just ten points of attributes: Strength, Agility, and Intellect, all ten points.
Before the Well of Eternity exploded, he had absorbed parts of Archimonde's and Argus's world soul fragments' power, plus the blessing of frostmourne, pushing his three main stats past the ten thousand mark.
But even then, he could only barely contend with Sargeras. At that time, he was probably the strongest being on Azeroth's surface, yet he could still be sent flying and near death by a single finger. The Titans were still too strong.
As his level advanced, skills also unlocked and underwent significant changes.
Holy Light Spell used to be a single-target, anchored skill. Now it had become a circular area-of-effect skill that could restore health to creatures within a specific area.
Drunken Fist's evasion also transformed into Spell Suppression, reducing the power of incoming spells to cause less damage.
Critical Strike was as cool as ever, a one hundred percent critical hit rate. The feeling of every strike being a crit, everyone who used it praised it.
Focus Aura also received a buff, gaining an immunity to critical strikes. This meant he could critically hit others, but others couldn't critically hit him!
Seeing this, Arthas also harbored a slight doubt. The world was vast and full of wonders; perhaps there were some creatures that could also be immune to critical hits?
He didn't quite understand the principle behind critical strikes; he merely relied on the panel effect.
But now, it seemed more like a way to find an enemy's weak points. If an enemy had no weak points, did that mean they couldn't be critically hit?
The feeling of ten times increased damage was absolutely exhilarating, from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
Bash also changed. Against opponents with lower Strength than himself, it could stun for a longer duration. Against creatures with higher Strength, the stun turned into an interruption of their actions, which was also a form of compensation mechanism.
If his speed was fast enough, and he interrupted actions frequently, it gave a sense of Jeet Kune Do.
Feeling his strength return, without the weakness and powerlessness, his confidence also came back, and his spirit became extremely excited.
"Jaina, let's go to Eastweald and kill Undead."
Nothing was more invigorating than gaining experience from killing enemies. And Void Absorption was back, usable anytime, anywhere, without affecting his mind, though the acquired attribute points were lower.
Immunity to side effects meant more sustained combat, which definitely enhanced his fighting power!
"Okay, I'll go with you."
Jaina breathed a sigh of relief. Her pillar of strength was back, and she no longer had to bear such immense pressure. Dealing with the old nobles of Lordaeron was more suitable for Arthas; if she did too much, she worried it might displease her husband.
The Broken Isles, also known as the shattered islands, are composed of many large and small islands.
In the game, it wasn't considered very large, but in reality, its area was already half the size of the Eastern Kingdoms.
Thanks to the repair of The Maelstrom, many shattered lands here survived, and the climate was mild. Without the invasion of chaotic energy, the harm and corrosion to living beings were almost non-existent.
Azsuna was the library of the ancient Kaldorei Empire. Thanks to magical protection, a large number of Highborne survived here, who still worship Queen Azshara.
The person in charge was Prince Farondis. He was not a child of Azshara but was enfeoffed as a prince before Azshara came to power.
After Azshara ascended, she did not revoke the previous princely titles and continued to treat them well.
Like other Highborne, Prince Farondis, as one of them, was also a loyal follower of the Queen.
They remained here, managing the shattered library, and also undertook tasks assigned by the Queen, always striving to alleviate the symptoms of magic addiction suffered by their people due to the disappearance of the Well of Eternity.
Their numbers were not large; most could not leave the Azsuna region and did not want to, preferring to stay in their homeland.
In southern Azsuna, there was a beach where a Naga clan gathered, serving as the Queen's sentinels, monitoring their former compatriots, and relaying information.
A hundred miles across the beach, there was also a massive island named Watcher's Isle, which was the gathering place for the Night Elves' Warden forces.
Besides imprisoning Demons here, they also conducted training. Heavy weapons were entrusted to their compatriots across the strait for crafting, in exchange for some supplies.
This delicate situation was not very harmonious, as one side was nobility and the other was commoners.
Now that commoners held great power, the establishment of a new order inevitably led to the collapse of the old order, and many old conservatives were displeased.
A Warden warrior, hidden in a large cloak, emerged from a portal. Although she disliked her magic-using compatriots, who carried an obnoxious arrogance, she had to admit that magic was indeed very useful, especially for long-distance teleportation.
It could achieve faster travel than the Emerald Dream and allowed for teleportation anytime, anywhere, at the cost of not being sustainable and causing a severe burden on the surrounding environment.
Druids disliked Arcane, even resisted Arcane energy. As long as a place could be reached via the Emerald Dream, they would absolutely not use portals.
Using the Emerald Dream for travel and then exiting through fixed exits, while cumbersome, caused no environmental damage.
A female Huntress rode a black panther forward, dismounted, and bowed respectfully.
"Mistress, High Priestess Tyrande has sought you out. She wishes for you to cease pursuing Illidan."
The cloaked figure paused, and a sharp glint flashed in the eyes hidden beneath the helmet.
"Is she trying to use her authority to shield her friend? Heh, what reason is she giving this time?"
Maiev's voice carried a hint of a sneer. Her relationship with Tyrande was not good, to say the least, it was hostile.
Back then, when she campaigned for High Priestess to lead the Sisterhood of Elune, she made numerous preparations, but ultimately lost to Tyrande.
The reason was both absurd and realistic: Tyrande was carrying the child of a hero who saved the world and the Night Elf race.
Coupled with the favor of elune, Tyrande inexplicably became the High Priestess.
Whether one could become High Priestess, the opinion of the previous one was important, but whether elune favored them was equally important.
The sacred White Moon favored Tyrande, while Maiev was favored by the Blood Moon, becoming the executor of elune's vengeance.
In a fit of pique, Maiev declared the formation of the Warden forces to continue hunting the remnants of the Burning Legion, and left the Sisterhood of Elune.
In fact, Maiev was also one of the many elves saved back then, and she harbored affection for the demigods who saved the world, but dared not voice it, choosing instead to bury her feelings deep within her heart.
Nathsa's expression was somewhat strange. She had followed Maiev for tens of thousands of years; they were master and servant, had experienced countless battles, and were the closest comrades-in-arms, as well as deeply affectionate sisters.
"The High Priestess said it was the Queen's spouse's wish. The lord has reincarnated, and she asks, for the sake of the ancient hero, that you temporarily cease the pursuit."
"What!"
Maiev was somewhat flustered, her face visibly panicked, a shame stemming from her inner thoughts being exposed!
How could Tyrande know she secretly loved the ancient hero?
This wasn't right, it really wasn't right. It should have been impossible, so how could this be?
As a leader, Maiev quickly composed herself, stabilizing her emotions. Her voice still held a tremor that even she couldn't detect.
"Is the news confirmed to be true?"
Nathsa knew her mistress liked that ancient hero. The person was not only Queen Azshara's spouse but also Tyrande's spouse, monopolizing two great beauties, truly outrageous!
Despite this, many Night Elves still worshipped this demigod. If the news of the demigod's rebirth became known, female elves wanting to bear children for the demigod might queue from the Broken Isles to Darkshore!
Not to mention female elves, if the demigod didn't mind, those half-female elves and half-fawn Dryads would also be very willing to bear children for the demigod.
In Azeroth, there was no concept of racial segregation. The demigod Cenarius, whom the Druids worshipped, had countless spouses, including female elves and does, etc., but their offspring were strange, mostly four-legged.
If male, they were generally Keepers of the Grove, half-elf, half-deer. If female, they were Dryads, more skilled in life magic, dispelling spells, and so on.
Not to mention them, Nathsa herself thought the same way.
A hero was worthy of leaving behind a bloodline, and Tyrande was undoubtedly lucky to be able to bear a child for the demigod.
"The High Priestess said it herself. She said when you return, she asks you to speak with her once. She has something she wants to tell you."