A pale sky howled with raging wind, a countless number of murky white shades drifted uncertainly in front of the towering Grim Batol fortress.
The symbolic deathly gray filled every corner of sight, as if watching an old black-and-white movie.
Familiar yet foreign, the bone-chilling cold permeated his body. Duke shivered and suddenly realized how horribly familiar this scene was.
He looked down at his translucent hands, then at the female figure in front of him with white wings, also translucent.
Duke abruptly realized!
Damn it!
I've been killed!
How long has it been? I'd almost forgotten what this feels like.
When was the last time I was killed and had to retrieve my corpse?
The only relief was that the system was still functioning, prompting: "You are dead. Would you like to instantly resurrect at the cost of extra soul power?"
"Yes/No?"
Duke decisively clicked 'Yes'.
He had no choice, that treacherous black dragon was watching him. If he was truly discovered and the Black Dragon Amulet was taken back, he'd have nowhere to cry.
In fact, Deathwing did notice. He felt a brief interruption in the faint soul connection between him and Duke.
"Hmm?" Neltharion, hiding in human form at the foot of the mountain, furrowed his brow.
But the next instant, he found the soul connection restored, without any error.
"Could the proximity to the Demon Soul be causing my perception to falter?" he wondered.
The Demon Soul was a terrible thing that repelled all dragons. That seal the four betrayers placed to keep him away was dreadful. He wasn't afraid to face those weakened beings again, but he feared touching the Demon Soul.
Back in the ice, Duke was panting heavily. Looking at the Black Dragon Amulet still in his hand, he was speechless for a long time.
"Damn it, too much, killed directly..." Duke said with a wry smile.
Without Medivh's soul power, he would have disintegrated after 14 days of agony.
"Alright... less this time." Duke used half the previous amount, mixed with water and drank it again. This time, instead of blacking out and seeing the 'angel of death', he heard soft, ethereal whispers, like wind or perhaps something from an adult film. Duke was taken aback.
He recognized the soft moans as those of Alleria, shyly suppressed when he had betrayed her!
The dream became intense.
Alleria was not a gentle and soft woman; she was independent, strong, determined, and courageous. Especially in the face of a great enemy, her vengeful passion against the Horde was a fiery one. She couldn't understand how lustful a young human male of just over 16 could be.
Even though humans and elves looked similar, racial differences were evident.
In fact, after that night, she and Duke had few intimate moments. And Duke, being a college engineering student in his previous life, had been starved of female companionship.
Engineering, where seeing a woman was rare!
A place where average-looking women became beauties!
As a result, Duke had accumulated a lot of... pressure.
Several times he almost gave in, tempted to approach the "cabbages" around him, like Vanessa or Jandice.
This led to Duke's will in this area being rather weak.
And so, under the influence of the intense hallucinogenic, Duke embarrassed himself.
In the dream, he became the protagonist of an adult film, and his partners were the beauties he had met since arriving in this world.
If it were just him talking in his sleep, that would be fine. But three miles away, Alleria's youngest sister had been eavesdropping all along.
They hid in a secluded valley, waiting for Alleria's news.
"What's happening? How's Lord Marcus?" Gavinrad asked anxiously.
Alleria's face turned red. How could she say it? Tell these brutes that their lord was dreaming about...?
What embarrassed Alleria the most was that Duke didn't just call Alleria's name; he also called, " Sylvanas, come with Alleria, you two sisters together."
This infuriated Vereesa, and she trembled, knowing Duke was dreaming about...
Vereesa gritted her teeth, stopped eavesdropping, fearing she'd go mad if she heard more.
Ronin asked, "What's happened to Lord Marcus?"
Vereesa snapped, "I hope he dies!"
The rest of the team was bewildered.
Duke failed, then failed again.
Several times, either too much or too little. Finally, on the thirteenth attempt, Duke suddenly had a feeling that this time was right.
His consciousness began to blur.
He seemed to feel the arrival of the goddess of fate.
In the confused wind, he seemed to hear the voice of destiny: "You are sliding faster and faster into your final slumber, brave Duke. Before that, is there anything you would like me to do for you? Do you want to save Alexstrasza?"
Duke's lips moved slightly, "No, I don't just want to save her... Since I, Duke, came to Azeroth, I want to make this world better."
Fate continued to whisper, "Don't you want something for yourself? Perhaps to restore your dwindling life? Or to rule supreme? Or even... eternal life?"
"People must eventually die. I have no intention of changing that fate. But if I have a personal hope, it's that since I've come here, I don't want to leave any regrets, right?"
"Regrets?"
"Yes, I have too many regrets for this world..."
There was a fleeting sense that fate sensed Duke's regrets, and even the hidden desires deep in his heart...
Fate seemed to chuckle.
Then there was darkness.
The darkness seemed to pull him in. Duke began to
feel breathless, his thoughts sluggish. He even wanted to turn around and dissolve into that comforting darkness. This thought was becoming increasingly intense.
But he forced himself to be more alert.
Yes!
Duke's clear voice resonated in the river of fate:
"You think mere darkness can make me fall!?"
"You must be joking!"
"If I'm destined to be pulled into the dark hell, then I'd rather become the light myself, turning hell into a bright paradise."
"If the end of a hero is destined to be tragic, then I shall rewrite all the scripts!"
"My life! My script! My world! Only I can write them!"