After the failed teleportation and the loss of contact with all the dispatched cultists, Kel'Thuzad had to admit that he and his Cult of the Damned had nowhere to escape. The task given to him by the Lich King was facing failure before it had even officially begun. Thinking of the Lich King Ner'zhul's immense power and the potential punishment for failure, Kel'Thuzad couldn't help but tremble—death was not frightening, but before the Lich King's terrifying power, he would absolutely suffer torments worse than death.
Years ago, Kel'Thuzad defected from Dalaran, and the sights and sounds he encountered on his 'pilgrimage' to Northrend filled him with both awe and terror of the Lich King. He had never seen such a powerful being in his life; the strongest mages of Dalaran would be vulnerable before the Lich King.
The specters drifting in Icecrown Citadel silently spoke of the fate of those who dared defy its will.
At such a critical juncture, Kel'Thuzad couldn't afford to worry about prematurely exposing the threat the Lich King might pose. He had to inform Ner'zhul of the situation here; his own wisdom was no longer sufficient to deal with the current circumstances.
After entering a meditative state, Kel'Thuzad easily sensed the Lich King's presence—its power was too immense, and even across thousands of miles, this tyrannical will could not be blocked.
He carefully reported the situation on his end, then waited desperately for punishment from the Lich King. What the ruler of the undead kingdom hated most were rebels and incompetents, and he didn't expect to be let off easily. He didn't even dare to have a hint of defiance, because his thoughts were completely transparent to the great Lich King.
"Fool!"
As expected, a searing pain that tore at his soul flooded his mind. Kel'Thuzad groveled on the ground, writhing in agony, but this did little to alleviate the mental trauma. He lost track of time; the pain was as long as his entire life, and as the pain gradually faded, he became even more fearful of the Lich King's power.
"My plans cannot be disrupted. I will use my power to help you, Kel'Thuzad. Do not disappoint me again!"
"Yes, my Lord!"
...
When the assembled forces in Andorhal learned of their true mission, these Alliance soldiers erupted with a fighting spirit even greater than when they were besieging the orcs—they all knew that the current orcs were just a pack of stray dogs scurrying around, incapable of overthrowing the Alliance, while the evil cult hidden on that island could destroy the entire world of the living!
Admiral Daelin Proudmoore's navy arrived first, forming an encirclement of the entire island on Darrowmere Lake. Uther the Lightbringer led his soldiers to advance into the castle from the bridge. Considering that Jaina Proudmoore was still young and lacked combat experience, her assigned task was to continue maintaining the barrier that suppressed teleportation, preventing the Cult of the Damned from escaping through the teleportation array; Prince Arthas Menethil led a group of people to protect her and the other mages' safety; Uther led the infantry, along with mages and combat priests, into the dungeon. Aiden and Kayle were also among them. Although Dathrohan had previously doubted his combat capabilities, he didn't say anything more after Aiden showed his skills.
Before entering the dungeon, Uther, as the Commander-in-chief, routinely began to speak—this was a necessary procedure before an attack; otherwise, how could Kel'Thuzad be portrayed as a major villain?
His resonant voice spread throughout Scholomance, terrifying some of the less resolute acolytes and students:
"Warriors of the Alliance, today, we gather here to crusade against an evil cult: they seek to destroy the world of all living beings, turning us into mindless, putrid corpses for them to control. We must not allow this evil power to have even a fraction of a foothold in our world!"
"Today, we fight for the Alliance!"
"Today, we fight for justice!"
"Today, we fight for the world of the living!"
"Kel'Thuzad, the Holy Light will not forgive your sins!"
"The judgment of justice has arrived!"
"Warriors of the Alliance! Follow me to eliminate the evil Cult of the Damned!"
"Charge!"
Uther let out a roar, and his warhammer burst forth with dazzling light, illuminating the gloomy and dark dungeon entrance.
The soldiers, stirred to boiling blood, followed behind Uther in an orderly manner, surging into it.
Aiden was also one of those who were stirred. However, he should be the safest of all the warriors: Tirion Fordring stood in front of him, the Judgment Angel Kayle covered his flanks, and Archmage Antonidas was behind him. In this Scholomance, no one, and no undead, could break through such tight defenses.
"The treatment of spellcasters is really good."
Aiden muttered to himself. However, Tirion would protect him not only because he was important but also to repay his defense of the isolated paladin.
The Cult of the Damned arranged dense ranks of skeletal soldiers to resist on the front lines. These bone frames were vulnerable to the paladins' warhammers and the power of the Holy Light, only able to delay them a little. Aiden, following in the crowd, was completely just making up the numbers; the mage units and combat priests basically had no use.
However, soon, as the battle line advanced, they came to a spacious room. There were no mindless ghouls rushing up here, but a complete Scourge troop formation:
It was composed mostly of ghouls, about two hundred of them. They no longer looked human at all, their faces like melted candles, disgusting saliva constantly dripping from their sharp teeth; at the front of the formation were four massive abominations, these monsters born from the combination of corpses and necromantic magic were over two meters tall, their eyes, which were small relative to their bodies, revealed a cruel light, the two hands in front holding huge heavy cleavers and iron chains, the deformed third hand extending from the back of the neck holding a scythe. These were purely "weapons" created for killing, surrounded by clouds of green plague; a group of acolytes and necromancers seemed much weaker in this legion, they were all masked, black hoods and robes tightly wrapping themselves, as if mummies afraid of seeing the sunlight; above their heads, a dozen huge gargoyles created by vampire bats circled and soared, ready to attack.
And at the very center of this small legion was a lich.
"You've come at the right time," a lich's bony jaws constantly opened and closed, making a sound similar to bones rubbing together, "This will be your burial ground. Your corpses will be excellent research materials, and your souls will be the greatest nourishment for me—"
"I am Ras Frostwhisper. Remember the name that will destroy you, for when you die, both your souls and bodies will be at my disposal!"
Aiden muttered silently: "He speaks to much..."
However, he understood that the real battle was just beginning here. The earlier skirmishes were just a warm-up. He just didn't know what kind of power the weak BOSS, who had been pushed down countless times in the game, would possess in reality?
The Alliance soldiers also completed their formation, with shield-bearing warriors at the front. Tirion pressed forward, joining Dathrohan and Uther on the front line, preparing to take down the four seemingly terrifying abominations first. The mages and priests prepared to fight the gargoyles and necromancers. As for the seemingly most powerful lich, Ras Frostwhisper, Archmage Antonidas would naturally take care of him.
Kel'Thuzad had not yet appeared, and Aiden was prepared to just make up the numbers and get an assist.
"Kayle, this is the time for you to show your skills. You don't need to deliberately take care of me, I'm very safe," Aiden said to Kayle beside him.
Kayle glanced at him and replied: "Understood." She was confident that even if the Summoner encountered danger, she could rescue him at the first moment—a rescue faster than anyone here.
So, there was also a solution for the fourth abomination.
It was unknown who launched the attack first. Aiden saw from behind that the ghouls were running wildly on all fours like dogs, and the Silver Hand soldiers unhesitatingly raised their shields to meet them.
Uther and the three paladins each chose an abomination and battled with these monsters. Dathrohan tried to use his weapon to directly block an abomination's cleaver, but the great shock transmitted to his hands made him abandon the idea of winning with strength, and instead began to nimbly dodge the abomination's attacks, using his Holy Light-blessed warhammer to damage the evil undead creature.
Uther and Fordring also chose the same method, but it could be seen that Uther's skilled combat techniques left his opponent with no power to resist. The abomination fighting him screamed, but each attack from the opponent took away large chunks of its rotten flesh and broken bones.
But the focus of the battlefield was not on the three radiant paladins. It was the first time the people of the Alliance saw the Judgment Angel Kayle take action: she waved her snow-white wings and easily rushed to the clumsy abomination's side, the red gem on the greatsword in her hand emitting light, and then, this "Sword of Conviction" burned as if it had been dipped in kerosene. Each swing of the angel carried large swaths of scorching sparks, and the ghouls near the abomination were purified into dust like snowflakes falling into boiling water.
Even the seemingly incredibly large abomination was like melting ice cream, turning into a pool of burning flesh after the angel's third sword swing, and quickly disappearing.
This absolute crushing made the eyes of the entire battlefield turn to Kayle. She didn't care, and after resolving the abomination, she flapped her wings and directly rushed to the necromancer's side, waving the Sword of Conviction, letting the Holy Fire purify every unclean soul before her.
This immediately plunged the necromancer forces, who were originally evenly matched with the Alliance mage units, into chaos and collapse. The less resolute even knelt softly on the ground begging for forgiveness—and then were directly frozen into ice shards by the lich behind them.
Kayle vibrated her wings, came like lightning to the lich at the center of the Scourge legion, raised the holy sword, and issued a clear, cold voice:
"Receive judgment!"