Chương 459: Chapter 459: The Nightmare Curse
Duke suddenly remembered what was happening.
He had always thought that as long as he didn't confront him directly, Gul'dan, the super boss, wouldn't notice him. In reality, Duke was being naive. He wasn't some unknown soldier; he had risen to the rank of Deputy Marshal of the Alliance and had many impressive battle achievements. Gul'dan couldn't possibly be unaware of his name.
Duke knew that Gul'dan had once used dream manipulation, attempting to steal Medivh's power and knowledge in dreams. It was during this time that Medivh was stabbed by Duke. Gul'dan, who was in a psychic link, was affected by this, fell into a coma, and the Shadow Council was raided by Orgrim Doomhammer.
But people are like this, always harboring some hope against hope.
Now, Duke was paying a heavy price for this hope.
A curse!
Yes, it was the 'gift' left by Sargeras before he was cast into the abyss.
At that time, the curse was divided into three parts. The largest part was borne by Elan, who was completely annihilated. About a third was borne by Anduin Lothar. Duke was hit with less than a tenth.
The effect of the curse was indeed shared, but Duke forgot that he was the primary target of the curse.
The curse had never been lifted, it just seemed ineffective because no more power was injected to continue it.
Duke never expected that Gul'dan would trigger this thing during a dream, and give him a big pitfall...
At this moment, on the ship, Gul'dan opened his eyes.
"What an interesting little guy, is he really only sixteen? He actually resisted my psychic intimidation."
The two-headed ogre mage hero, Cho'gall, rubbed his two foreheads simultaneously: "Apart from Medivh, there are humans who can resist your psychic attack?"
Gul'dan stroked his short beard: "No, I've never acted against this Duke before, not because I can't, but because I didn't feel like it. In my view, to corrupt this kid's spirit and control him, it would just take some time. Of course, I could destroy his soul early, but that might benefit Orgrim Doomhammer."
Cho'gall was puzzled: "Then why act against him now?"
Gul'dan seemed furious: "The foolish Alliance actually let Orgrim Doomhammer's main force escape! If I don't control Duke and use the Alliance to weaken the Horde, Orgrim Doomhammer might catch up and disrupt my plans. I have two clans of people here, we can't move quickly. It's a pity that the control failed, otherwise I would have plenty of time to explore the Tomb of Sargeras."
In fact, Duke also realized that Gul'dan probably wanted to simply and violently intimidate him, then control his soul, manipulate him into a puppet. Having a Deputy Marshal of the Alliance as a puppet, whether for the assassination of Orgrim Doomhammer or for Gul'dan's future rule of the world, would be very convenient.
But Gul'dan didn't expect that Duke would resist his soul pressure. In fact, when breaking his created nightmare realm, Gul'dan even suffered a slight soul injury. Otherwise, how could Gul'dan be so angry that he directly triggered the curse to kill Duke?
No matter what, Duke was in a bad way.
Even though he had been very careful to exercise his body after coming to this world, now a curse was triggered, making Duke immediately weak.
No!
Duke was shouting in his heart, his mouth could no longer make a sound.
This was not the ending he expected!
Through a series of struggles, his career had been on track, stepping into the high ranks of the Alliance. After experiencing the brutal Second War of the Dark Portal, his influence in the Alliance would reach its peak.
Practicing divine skills, making his name known in heaven and hell, marrying a rich and beautiful woman, reaching the pinnacle of life, this was the ending a successful transmigrator should have!
But what was happening now? That curse was starting to absorb his life force again!?
No, I can't die here.
Duke tried to use his magic, like activating [Ice Barrier], using absolute ice elements to drive away all negative effects.
However, his once reliable instant magic could not be activated.
Not only that, he also couldn't contact the system spirit.
Duke's attempts to make any possible movements also failed.
His whole body was paralyzed, only his eyes could move. This was true for both his physical body and his soul.
He vaguely knew that this was the soul shock Gul'dan gave him before disconnecting the dream contact.
Now, Duke's mind was becoming increasingly blank, he could only stand there watching Vanessa rush towards him in shock, and Gavinrad reaching out his big hand to touch his face.
The first touch brought him the first sensation since he entered the paralyzed state. Gavinrad's hand was full of the Light, but the touched area felt like it was being burned by fire, causing severe pain.
It hurt so much that his brain seemed to be melting. In his daze, Duke felt a deep wound appearing on his face.
"[Exorcism]!" Gavinrad shouted thunderously.
Duke seemed to wake up, he subconsciously raised his hand to touch his face and found that there was no wound there.
"Do you hear me? Duke! Don't move, and fully accept my [Holy Light]." Gavinrad turned his head and saw Illyria rushing out from the next room, shouting, "Notify Uther immediately! Better call Antonidas too!"
Duke opened his heart, allowing a massive amount of Light to flood into his body, into his soul.
"Inhale."
"Exhale!"
"Inhale."
Inhale, exhale, inhale again, exhale again.
The beating of the heart, the breathing of the lungs, these were absolutely ordinary things for a living person. For Duke, however, they became actions that he had to command his body to do with his own will. And each action was accompanied by pain.
Beads of sweat the size of soybeans emerged from Duke's forehead and every pore of his body, rolling down. Vanessa, who was serving by his side, couldn't wipe them off even with her agile hands.
The smart Illyria was the first to notify Antonidas, the top human mage, who quickly arrived and directly brought Uther through a portal.
Fortunately, Duke had hired Gavinrad as a bodyguard, and the key figures of the Alliance were available, so Duke's condition was quickly stabilized.
After a consultation with several big shots excluding Alonsus, a chilling conclusion was reached: if left unchecked, Duke would lose his life force within a month and die of exhaustion.
Chương 460: Chapter 460: The Last Hope
Duke might die!?
The Alliance has been hit with one shock after another these days.
The critical illness of Alonsus Faol only brought surprise to the upper echelons of the Alliance.
After all, the Church of the Holy Light's influence was mainly in Lordaeron and Stormwind, and while the church had missionaries in other countries, the majority of people still remained non-believers.
When the various kings heard about Alonsus, they merely expressed their condolences: "I'm truly sorry to hear this news."
But Duke was different.
Apart from the late King Aiden of Alterac, almost every king was a military expert. They were very clear that compared to the upright and straightforward Anduin Lothar, Duke was the glue and command tower that integrated the various countries of the Alliance.
Everyone knew that Terenas of Lordaeron was the target of public criticism, and that Terenas's motives were somewhat impure. No, it should be said that Terenas's ambition to become the second Emperor Thoradin was known to all.
If the troops were too few, it was Lordaeron's fault.
If there were too many troops and too much money, one had to worry about whether it was a plot by Lordaeron, or at the very least, it was a kind of condescending charity, which no kingdom was comfortable with.
With Duke, the kings of various countries felt much more at ease.
The support of troops, manpower, and materials was absolutely sufficient and on time. And everyone could see that the attrition strategy that Duke had always insisted on was the key to the Alliance's transition from weakness to strength.
If Anduin was the spiritual leader of the Alliance, then Duke was the brain of the Alliance, second only to Anduin in importance.
Now, just as the Alliance was about to enter the counterattack phase, news of Duke's critical illness suddenly came out. The kings of various countries were truly anxious.
Visiting the Archbishop of the Holy Light was a matter of timing for the leaders of each country, one after another to offer their condolences.
What about Duke?
A perfectly good state guesthouse almost turned into a throne meeting.
As a result, they had to move Duke directly to the Lordaeron palace, otherwise, what would it look like with six or seven kings surrounding a small state guesthouse?
Even Grand Admiral Daelin Proudmoore of Kul Tiras, who was in charge of the navy, rushed over on a gryphon, showing the importance of Duke.
Unexpectedly, everyone saw a different-looking Duke, but not a dying Duke. His short hair was slightly gray, like it was dyed, and there was a small tuft of silver at the front of his forehead.
Apart from that, there was nothing else.
It didn't look like a big deal, but all the high-ranking priests and Antonidas, the most authoritative researcher on curses, told all the kings that it wasn't that simple.
"Duke now is like a bucket full of holes. His life force is leaking out every moment. In ten days, you will see a thirty-year-old Duke. In twenty days, he will be forty. In a month, he won't be fifty, but dead."
"Isn't there a way to plug those holes or something?" King Llane was the most nervous. For others, losing a Duke was just losing a commander of the Alliance. The main force of the Horde had been almost wiped out, and the upcoming battles could be won by anyone who wasn't too stupid. The difference was in how many lives were lost and how much time was spent.
But for the Kingdom of Stormwind, what was lost could be the most important cornerstone of the kingdom for the next thirty years, the pillar of the nation.
Antonidas shook his head regretfully: "A single curse is like a thread wrapped around a ball, no matter how messy, it can be unwound following the thread. But Duke's situation is like a ball of threads of the same color mixed together. I can't find a starting point. These are soul-level holes created by different methods from multiple worlds, and I am powerless. Most importantly, this is a curse cast by a demigod mage..."
The good deeds of the world guardian, could a mere mage of the Sunwell handle it?
Whether it was Llane or Anduin, their mouths were full of bitterness.
They didn't expect that after all this, it was still the fault of their deceased friend, Medivh.
The greatest irony in the world, nothing more than this.
The temperature in the air gradually sank. The atmosphere lingering in the sky was the same. Almost everyone had a feeling of suffocation.
"Damn Gul'dan!" Anduin gritted his teeth and pounded the wall.
At this time, it was Duke who spoke: "Actually, the situation may not be as serious as you think."
"Not serious? Then what is serious?" King Llane's eyes were red, and even his voice was choked with sobs.
He didn't cry when he lost the land passed down by his ancestors.
He didn't cry when Stormwind City, the symbol of the entire kingdom's sovereignty, fell.
Now that Duke was critically ill, Llane cried, from the initial redness of his eyes to crying out, it was just a matter of two seconds.
"You brat, you're about to die! I was hoping you could help Varian, to restore the glory of the Kingdom of Stormwind! I was thinking, if that doesn't work, let you be..." The last word 'king' was not spoken, as Anduin patted Llane's shoulder to stop him.
"Let's hear Duke out first."
Duke took a deep breath: "I guess the powers of this world are powerless to help me."
When Duke said this, the hearts of the kings sank.
"But fortunately, I still have one last hope - the Red Dragon Queen."
"Alexstrasza!?" Antonidas's slightly cloudy eyes suddenly brightened: "Right! Why didn't I think of her? Duke has hope, oh, at least there is hope."
"What? What?" The kings suddenly perked up.
Not every king was as learned. They might have received good education from a young age, but most of it was about governing the country, about martial arts, about the practice of chivalry.
Only an old mage as learned as Antonidas could possibly know about this.
Under Antonidas's explanation, the kings learned that Alexstrasza was so impressive.
During the War of the Ancients, to prevent Sargeras from entering this world through the portal of the Well of Eternity, the spell vortex created by the Highborne in the Well of Eternity eventually exploded. The collapse of the Well of Eternity caused a strong earthquake. This earthquake destroyed the skeleton of the world, and nearly eighty percent of the land of Azeroth was torn apart, leaving only a few fragmented continents surrounding the newly formed ocean.
The giver of life - the Red Dragon Queen Alexstrasza, threw a magic acorn into the center of the Well of Eternity. This acorn began to sprout as soon as it met the magical lake water, growing into a huge oak tree.
The roots of the tree reached deep into the bottom of the lake, and the huge canopy almost covered the entire sky. This giant oak tree was an eternal symbol of the harmonious relationship between the Night Elves and nature. The life energy it emitted could slowly spread and heal the wounds of the entire world. The Night Elves named their World Tree "Nordrassil", which means "Crown of the Heavens" in the Night Elf language.
Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần
200+ Xếp hạng
Quyền lực 
15 Đá
Quyền lực 
bình luận đoạn văn