In a secret underground chamber beneath Stratholme, two dreadlords revealed their true forms, meeting in secret.
"Balnazzar, Naxxramas just sent word that Kel'thuzad, that idiot, has safely escaped the humans' pursuit." The one speaking was the dreadlord who had previously impersonated Arthas during the siege of Scholomance and slaughtered the mage camp.
The other dreadlord, named Balnazzar, possessed an identical appearance. If there was any difference, it was that this demon had some hair on the back of his head, while Balnazzar was completely bald.
"So, are you saying we can withdraw from here, Mal'Ganis?" Balnazzar asked.
"No need to be so hasty, my friend. Our task of delaying the humans is complete; now it's time for entertainment. Don't you find humans to be a rather delicious food?" Mal'Ganis revealed a look of ecstasy, coupled with his green eyes, making him appear both evil and lustful.
Balnazzar said, "Indeed, they are filled with all sorts of desires, selfish and cowardly, making them far too easily tempted! That fool of a paladin named Gavinrad—I thought he would be so steadfast, but the desire to be healed was enough to induce him to drink the poison! I even meticulously designed many plans for what I would do after he refused!"
"Yes, indeed, my friend. Naxxramas's chosen target is the same—biased and arrogant, and a perfectionist to boot. His attributes are the easiest to tempt!"
"It seems this prince cannot escape Naxxramas's grasp."
"I will personally lead him down this path of corruption—ah, just thinking about it excites me!" Mal'Ganis revealed an ecstatic expression.
Balnazzar reminded him, "However, we should be wary of that winged woman; she seems like a threat."
"Yes, she displays unwavering willpower, almost invulnerable, reminding me of our former great leader, Sargeras. I heard he fell on this world, killed by a woman." Mal'Ganis revealed a disdainful expression. "No one is truly invulnerable. Wasn't Sargeras once the most steadfast warrior of the Pantheon? In the end, he couldn't escape the temptation of us, the Nathrezim."
"Such a great being will not truly die; Archimonde will surely resurrect him," Balnazzar said.
"Resurrect?" Mal'Ganis mocked dismissively, "Resurrect Sargeras, then let him take Archimonde's current position as leader of the Burning Legion, letting him continue to be second-in-command for millennia? He has already tasted what it's like to be a leader; how could he willingly be a subordinate? I don't think he's that foolish!"
Balnazzar nodded in agreement, "You have a point; he seems like a clever man."
"I think Kil'jaeden is the truly clever one."
"Indeed, he fully deserves his title of 'The Deceiver.' The concept of the Scourge is truly magnificent; I think it might usher in a new era for the Burning Legion since Sargeras's departure!" Balnazzar's tone was filled with undisguised amazement and admiration.
Mal'Ganis mocked, "Those foolish humans still attempt to decipher it; how naive they are. How could these little insects, with lifespans of only a hundred years, possibly understand the knowledge that Kil'jaeden possesses from his tens of thousands of years of life?"
"My subordinates report that the winged woman is gathering the living in this city for a blessing ritual; let's go add fuel to the fire!"
"It is decided then! Let's send her a great gift!"
"I want to devour her soul; it must be an exquisite delicacy."
"With Tichondrius not here, we have the perfect opportunity."
The two dreadlords laughed in unison.
… …
Arthas returned to the headquarters of the Silver Hand with his anger still simmering. He had been ashamed of being deceived by a demon in the mage camp, so he sought to do something to wash away his humiliation. Arriving in Stratholme, he learned that members of the Cult of the Damned were active in the sewers. He braved the difficult and complex environment to pursue them, but just as he was about to catch up, a blunderer bumped into him.
Moreover, this blunderer was Barthilas—the Hearthglen proxy lord who had, under the orders of the fake Prince Arthas, led people to slaughter a group of almost defenseless mages. Of course, he was no longer the proxy lord.
Arthas was very reluctant to see this person, because this person always reminded him of his failure. It also made him resent that this fellow had not distinguished between the real and fake prince before, and was so easily deceived by the demon.
And when he thought of Dathrohan investigating the traitor, the image of this person he hated immediately jumped out—if this fellow was the traitor, he would have had the opportunity to inform the Cult of the Damned of the Knights' itinerary.
It was also Barthilas' fate to be unlucky, because of his rash pursuit, the paladin members of his squad were ambushed by many enemies, all of whom disappeared or were killed.
Eager to make amends, Barthilas not only did not return with honor, but was instead placed in shackles.
Dathrohan immediately invited Vayne over to use her ability to discern whether this person had fallen.
Vayne scrutinized this young and impulsive paladin, who kept loudly protesting his innocence and passionately expressing his innocence.
"It wasn't him," Vayne concluded. "This person has the scent of dark magic, but it was only a short-acting spell, and it's already worn off."
The huntress's words immediately made Barthilas feel enlightened, and he felt that he had been cleared of suspicion.
"But his will is too weak, which is the weakness that demons love to exploit the most," Vayne shook her head.
Barthilas immediately deflated, a fire also burning in his heart. He wanted to prove to everyone that he was not as "weak-willed" as this heroine said.
After dismissing these people, Dathrohan asked, "So, Miss Vayne, how was your investigation today?" He was referring to the investigation of the traitor.
Vayne said, "Only one or two small fries confessed on the spot. They're from the city guard and secretly in contact with the Cult of the Damned. However, they have no superiors and aren't enough to reveal more information. The real big traitor hasn't been found yet."
"It doesn't matter, he will eventually expose himself. Lord Uther said that Lady Kayle and her two deputies will hold a blessing ceremony for all the remaining survivors, so we don't have to worry about the plague continuing to spread to innocent people. When the time comes, we'll send them out of the city, and we can focus all our efforts on dealing with the remnants of the Cult of the Damned."
On the way back, Vayne ran into Aiden again. After he summoned Singed, the mad alchemist immediately threw himself into his new work. It seemed that he and Faranell were working well together and had already made some encouraging progress.
Then Aiden realized that he was idle again.
So he decided to see if he could help elsewhere, and happened to run into Vayne.
"Searching blindly like this isn't the way. Let me help you," Aiden said when he heard Vayne say that she was looking for them one by one according to the roster, immediately indicating that he could help with the matter of catching the mole.
Aiden took Vayne to Dathrohan: "Lord Dathrohan, do you have any memos of the Silver Hand's actions these days?"
"Of course, sir."
"That's easy to handle," Aiden said as he followed him into the office, explaining his method. "Let's follow the memos to track them down. Specifically, starting from which day and which time, which teams failed to carry out their tasks, and then collect the list of people who knew about these failed tasks. Then, check out the part of the people with the most overlap. The person who leaked the information must be among these people."
Dathrohan thought for a moment and felt that this method was indeed very reasonable, and immediately said, "Alright, then we'll follow this method!"
This kind of purely statistical work that involves manipulating paperwork was obviously not to Vayne's taste. She said to her commander, "I sense that there are indeed some evil things hidden in this city. Should I go do my job?"
"Alright, you follow the paladin teams. The alchemy laboratory needs some plague virus/toxin stock solution, so pay attention to this kind of thing during your actions. Be careful."
"Yes, Commander."
After Vayne left, Aiden checked the memos while recording the insiders on the form. This was a tedious job that didn't require much thought. So, while he was counting, he chatted with Dathrohan: "Lord Dathrohan, the past few days must have been very difficult, right?"
"Yes, in the beginning, I even made up my mind to coexist with Stratholme. Fortunately, things have calmed down now."
"Now is a time of trouble, and the Silver Hand will inevitably undergo many trials," Aiden's words were meaningful, but Dathrohan obviously didn't understand his subtext. After all, many things haven't happened yet, and may not even happen in the future.
So, Dathrohan thought of the current situation, and said worriedly, "Yes, this period of time is really a test for us. The orcs' sabotage almost made us expel our good brother Fordring, and then Gavinrad almost died. I almost lost two good friends at the same time. But our teacher, Archbishop Faol… alas, he is no longer young, but he is still so overworked. I'm really worried about his health."
Aiden felt that he was also inseparable from Gavinrad's injury, and asked with a guilty conscience, "How is Gavinrad doing? When we were in Andorhal before, the messenger sent almost asked Lord Uther to prepare for the funeral."
Thinking of Gavinrad, the gloomy expression on Dathrohan's face disappeared a lot. He said with a smile, "Fortunately, he has a hard life. He was in danger many times during the battle with the orcs, but he came back to life. But this time was indeed really thrilling. The doctor said that when they arrived, taking off the axe that was chopped on his shoulder could directly see the internal organs. Later, they said that his left arm might be crippled, but unexpectedly, he improved greatly in the past two days. Not only is his left arm gradually recovering, but he also can't stay idle and helps me share official duties. Thanks to his help, otherwise I would be overwhelmed… Thank the Holy Light, his recovery must be a miracle bestowed by the Holy Light!"
Unlike Dathrohan's optimism, as an onlooker, Aiden's intuition told him: Something must be wrong when things go wrong. How could an injury that was judged by the doctor to be crippled recover without the help of external forces? You must know that neither medicine nor the Holy Light had achieved such an effect before.
However, before everything was verified, he was not in a hurry to express his meaning.