Arthas was also enraged; this giant bat truly didn't know its place, provoking him right to his face.
He had already decided to capture this giant bat alive and send it to his territory so the kobolds could breed stronger miners!
'Main Quest Updated: Purge Race'
Quest Objective: Personally kill one thousand converted zombies before dawn, and prevent Tichondrius from converting one thousand zombies.
Quest Failure: Lordaeron falls, all civilians become undead.
Quest Rewards: 1. Attack type converted to Chaos Damage (ignores armor damage reduction, deals full damage; unavoidable by hard damage reductions like auras).
2. Randomly draw a skill from all heroes.
3. All skills increase by one level.
In-game, armor has many types. Some provide excellent protection against certain attack types but will suffer additional damage when hit by others.
Slashing can easily cut through light armor but only deals moderate damage to heavy armor.
Blunt attacks can shock heavy armor but can be partially blocked by medium armor, especially dealing less than 30% damage to structures.
Chaos Damage is a type unique to demons, dealing full damage to any armor and structures.
Arthas wasn't concerned about the rewards; instead, his brow furrowed when he saw "Purge Race."
This reminded him of an unpleasant memory from playing this campaign mission: to win, he had to constantly slaughter the plague-infected civilians who hadn't yet been converted.
The dreadlord wouldn't just watch him do this; he would join in, converting those infected civilians into zombies and moving them elsewhere.
Moreover, he wasn't facing Mal'Ganis now, but the more formidable Tichondrius, and if he hadn't mistaken what he saw, the other party was holding Frostmourne, the weapon that devours souls and caused his downfall!
"Arthas, that demon is definitely not being kind with his warning; he has a scheme, he wants to provoke you!"
Jaina keenly sensed a conspiracy. She didn't know the calculations behind it, only that it was a clear provocation.
"Your Royal Highness, I have already been provoked by him; I wish I could rush in and kill him!"
"Damn demon, how dare he act so wantonly on the land of Lordaeron! Uther, Fordring, can you tolerate this?"
"Take up your weapons, just as we vowed when we became paladins, to purify all evil!"
Mograine roared furiously at the city gate, as the converted soldiers staggered towards them.
"Purifying the undead is my duty, but slaughtering civilians who haven't become undead goes against the teachings of the Holy Light; I cannot do it."
"Don't forget, every civilian has the right to live. We have no right to decide their life or death, Prince Arthas, you must be cautious."
"If you insist on the decision to slaughter civilians, I will resign as commander of the Silver Hand and report back to King Terenas."
Uther was still so rigid, unable to come up with a solution.
Clearly, abandoning the residents of Stratholme could save most of Lordaeron's civilians, yet he couldn't bring himself to do it.
But his words weren't wrong; if they were slaves, their deaths would be their deaths, and executing slaves was the right of the master.
However, most of the city's inhabitants were civilians, and regarding civilians, neither a lord, a grand lord, nor even the King had the right to execute them.
Baroness Anastari didn't understand these intricacies, nor was she interested.
"Prince Arthas, whatever decision you make, I will support you."
Fordring said nothing, simply standing with Uther, indicating his stance was the same as his.
To be honest, Fordring, who pursued justice, was just waiting for Arthas to announce the decision to purge the city so he could knock him out and bring him back to Lordaeron.
The crown prince could not take this risk. Even if Stratholme fell and Eastweald lost control, Arthas must absolutely not purge the city.
This would twist the prince's mind. If it had to be done, it should be Mograine or Dathrohan, as these two paladins would be happy to carry out such a decision.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have become commanders of the Scarlet Crusade later.
The portal opened, and Sinestra arrived just in time, bowing slightly to Arthas.
"Prince Arthas, all is well in the territory. The purchased food will arrive in seven days, capable of accommodating over a hundred thousand civilians."
Arthas nodded slightly; he had been thinking about how to complete the quest.
It was the first time there was a "quest failed" condition, which reminded him of the cinematic that played when he intentionally lost the campaign.
In the cinematic, the dreadlord would lead a massive army of undead to overwhelm him and his forces. Despite fighting valiantly, he would ultimately become just another corpse.
No wonder the rewards were so generous; this looked incredibly difficult to complete.
"Wait, Mograine, what did you just say?"
He seemed to have caught a flash of an idea.
Mograine, asked like that, was also flustered by his raging temper.
"Which sentence did Prince Arthas ask about? Was it about killing the infected?"
"No, the one before that."
"Uther not doing his job and then shirking responsibility?"
At this, Uther even felt angry at Mograine; wasn't this just being obnoxious!
Was saying that too hurtful to him?
"Not that one either."
Arthas shook his head.
"Charge into the city and kill that demon?"
Mograine tentatively asked; this was getting a bit difficult.
"Yes, that's the one! Kill that demon!"
Arthas' eyes lit up; that was it.
If the goal was to prevent the dreadlord from converting residents, then just kill him!
Even if he could resurrect, they could use that time to find and destroy the altar used for his resurrection.
Kill him every time he resurrects, until he can no longer revive at all.
Then, during this period, gather the infected together to prevent them from scattering after becoming undead, and also to make it easier for himself to complete the quest.
With a clear plan, the current situation became clear.
"I am the crown prince of Lordaeron. Regardless of whether they are infected, before they turn into undead, they are my people."
"Uther, Fordring, I order you to lead the Silver Hand knights into the city to kill all undead you see. Gather the infected into houses under strict guard, and await the development of a plague antidote."
"Separate the uninfected and restrain them from running around. If they run around and cause panic, knock them out."
Upon hearing this command, both Uther and Fordring finally breathed a sigh of relief; knocking them out was better than killing them.
"As you command, Prince Arthas."
They both bowed simultaneously.
Arthas looked at the black dragon Aspect.
"Sinestra, you are responsible for scouting out the demon's whereabouts and reporting them to me. Be careful."
The black dragon Aspect bowed very gracefully, her red lips curving into a charming smile. As she curtsied, her posture was just right to give the prince a full view of her alluring, snow-white peaks.
"As you wish, my prince."
The previously angry Arthas' eyes cleared considerably. Anger makes one lose reason, and for that, he had to thank her.
"Taelan, you go assist your father."
"I will personally lead the guard to pursue the demon, cut off the source, and destroy all grain encountered along the way."
"Jaina, Sylvanas, Liadrin, Mograine, Grom, you are responsible for assisting me."
"For Lordaeron, for the Alliance, for Azeroth!"