Shadow Trails in Azeroth

"I am active in the desert, but it does not mean that I like the desert. Next time you ask me for help, it is best to find a place with pleasant scenery, okay?

This at least makes me feel happy. "

Outside the Beetle Wall, Blake collected some garbage from everywhere and made a small garbage pile, and summoned Old Garni.

As soon as the god of the slender jaw appeared, he started shouting and complaining loudly.

It showed that it hated this desolate desert, but Blake knew very well that what the coward Old Garni hated was not Silithus, but what it was afraid of were the dark things behind the Beetle Wall.

Staying here, separated by a wall from the Qiraji territory, made the God of Garbage very insecure, and naturally he became a lot more anxious.

But if you see through it, don’t say it.

After all, Old Garni is a Loa god, and he still needs face.

So Blake skipped complaining about its timidity. He took out a freshly written letter and stuffed it into the old rucksack behind Old Garni.

He patted its slender neck again and said to it:

"Send this letter to Ashenvale. The elves are in Astrana, the largest city there. Give it to a little girl named Istaria. Then you can play freely. .”

"You bastard!"

Old Garni suddenly became so angry that he waved his claws to scratch Blake's clothes.

It shouted:

"Don't think that I don't know the background of that little elf girl. This letter of yours is for Fandral Staghelm! I saw it was signed! That old bastard is a rare hawk among druids.

He only believes in the demigods of the wilderness, and he doesn't have a good look on us Loa. If I'm unlucky, I'll be caught and beaten by Old Staghelm!

You will leave this kind of beating to me, right? "

"I promise, he won't!"

Blake comforted him with his eloquent words:

"You believe me, this time Shikui will not expel you or beat you after reading the letter, he will definitely reward you, thank you, and even hug you and kiss you hard.

I have this confidence.

But you have to keep it a secret, you know?

I know you have always been good at this, but this time is different. This letter cannot be read by anyone, let alone anyone knowing that you have been in contact with Staghelm. "

"It's also very mysterious."

Old Gani rolled his eyes and said:

"Tell me honestly, what's the secret in this letter? What bad things are you planning?"

"I'm thinking about you, you idiot."

Black reached out and knocked on old Gani's forehead, and he said:

"I can't tell you the specifics, but I can reveal a little bit. This matter is related to Ardenweald, and it violates the Winter Queen's prohibition."

"Then I quit! I want to resign! I don't want the job of delivering letters anymore either!"

Old Gani was furious when he heard this.

It roared and jumped up and down, complaining to Blake:

"Ardenweald is our Loa's final destination. If I offend the Winter Queen, I will have nowhere to go. If I accidentally die in the future, I won't even have a chance to be reborn as a spirit seed.

You bastard are hurting me! "

"Be quiet."

Blake spent a lot of effort to hold Old Garni in place as he was about to escape. He said:

"The Winter Queen's spiritual seed greenhouse has been abandoned for thousands of years. Even if you turn into a spiritual seed and pass there, it will be difficult to be resurrected according to the normal process. You can't count on her in the first place.

She is currently trapped in family relationship issues and is dissatisfied with all the creatures in Azeroth.

Be good and deliver the letter quickly. If something happens in the future, I will recommend you to go to Revendreth or Maldraxxus. Wouldn't that be better than going to Ardenweald and being looked down upon by others?

The goblins in the royal court there even look down on Bwonsamdi. How can you, a weakling like you, get something good out of this? "

"Are you serious?"

Old Garni, who was holding a red turban, blinked his eyes, and the Lephignathosaurus rolling on the sand turned over and said to Blake:

"Can you really arrange it?"

"I have connections there. Don't you see that the treacherous and ghostly Bwonsamdi is also playing with me? He knows how to hedge his bets, and I have used my connections to help him take back the other world these days.

If you don’t believe it, ask it. "

Blake laughed, showed Old Garni the mark of the King of Pain on his finger, and confidently said to the God of the Slenderjaw Dragon:

"There's no need to hang yourself from a tree in Ardenweald. What's the relationship between us? As long as you do your job well, do you think I'll treat you badly?"

Take it easy and go deliver the letter.

We all have a bright future. "

Old Garni looked at the confident Black with suspicion. He hesitated and finally did not throw out the letter to Staghelm.

But before leaving, Old Garni shook his head and threw out a bunch of various tombstones. He said to Blake:

"The Brotherhood of Masons has just completed the reconstruction of Stormwind City and is worried about running out of business. They have taken your big order and are very motivated. They have made so many styles of tombstones as samples and asked me to bring them to you. have a look.

If they think there is no problem, they will mass-produce it. "

"Well, the spirit of craftsmanship, I like it."

The pirate complained as he knelt down and picked up a gray-white tombstone. This thing was made very light according to his requirements and was smaller than ordinary tombstones.

The most important thing is that chains are specially installed on the left and right sides of the tombstone, so that people can carry it behind their back, just like carrying a "shield".

Blake tried it himself.

Wrap three chains around his chest and carry the tombstone behind his back.

He jumped up and down and performed a difficult mid-air split. The chains rattled when he landed, but the sin monument was very stable and there was no chance of it falling.

"Yes, I'm very satisfied! Let's do it this way."

The smelly pirate snapped his fingers, took off the tombstone with satisfaction, and said to Old Garni:

"You don't need to worry about this matter. The Uncrowned One will take over the stronghold in Stormwind City. This is a long-term business, and Van Cleef will make a lot of money from it.

However, after they finished building the city for the child king, didn't they encounter malicious wage arrears? Those nobles are very stingy and have no lower limit. They will definitely deduct wages. "

"Uh, it doesn't seem to be available."

Old Garni shook his head and said:

"Isn't the child king of the Kingdom of Stormwind a paladin? How could he do such a thing that violates the oath of fairness? I heard that the salaries of the stonemasons are personally paid by the royal family.

The city is about to be built, but there are still many stonemasons who are reluctant to leave. "

"That's okay."

Blake rubbed his chin sadly and said:

"There will no longer be brotherhoods in Elwynn Forest and Westfall. It's really boring to think about it. Go and do your work. The materials for the Sin Monument have just been delivered, and I have to go back and do something."

The pirate packed the pile of tombstones in front of him into his backpack, waved to Old Garni, and stopped crossing the desert with his slow hell horse.

He took one last look at the Beetle Wall under the moonlight. A team of blue wings spread out behind him, carrying the pirates straight into the sky and flying back towards Cenarion Fortress.

A few hours later, he flapped his wings and landed on the highest tower of the fortress. He turned over flexibly and happened to see the lich Merry sitting by the tower reading an elf history book.

The old lich is an undead, and he no longer needs rest.

Blake's eyes lit up when he saw Merry's back reading in the moonlight. He rummaged through his bag and took out an elegant tombstone. He walked over to Merry and put the thing next to the Lich's hand with a bang.

He said:

"I have a gift for you, my dear friend, see if you like it."

The Lich glanced at the tombstone at hand, then raised his head and looked at Black, and said:

"This tombstone is very beautiful. It must be the craftsmanship of the stonemasons in Storm City, right? They will write the names of the craftsmen in the lower left corner of their works. It is such a lovely tradition.

But what about gifts?

Where is the gift? "

"That's it!"

The pirate touched the tombstone in his hand, which was handmade by the master craftsman of the Brotherhood of Masons, and said to Old Merry emotionally:

“Look how beautiful it is.

I can't help but think about its majestic posture when you carry it on your back. I know you like white. Look, I have specially prepared a matching white chain for you.

Are you impressed? "

"I think you deserve a beating."

A trace of anger twitched on Meri's dull face, and he said;

"Who did you learn your etiquette from? Who taught you to give gifts like this? It's a miracle that you survived for so long without being beaten to death."

"What you say doesn't make sense."

Blake looked around, took out the stupid Fenner's sin tablet from his bag, handed it to the Lich, and said:

"I really want to give gifts, and you are the first one. I also want to give them to Fao and his paladins. Don't say that I don't take care of you."

Meri didn't answer.

He took Fenner's Sin Monument and looked at it carefully. Although there was nothing on the Sin Monument, the Lich could feel some strange power lingering around it.

After several minutes, he stroked the cold stone of sin in his hand and said:

"Is this... Anima?"

"You really know!"

The smelly pirate's eyes lit up and he said:

"The death knowledge you and Dean Blue Moon obtained from Maldraxxus must contain knowledge about anima. Since you know it, why didn't you tell me before?"

"Just because I know it doesn't mean I will use it."

Merry glanced at Blake, who was a little dissatisfied, and he explained:

“That’s the knowledge of the dead!

Although Ms. Blue Moon and I are lichs, we are in the material world, and Maldraxxus has not opened that kind of knowledge to us, unless we return to the Shadow Realm now.

Anima is forbidden knowledge that should not appear in the physical world.

But by the look of you, you've mastered it?

Is this tombstone you want to give me a strange object related to anima?

What is its effect? "

Blake no longer concealed anything and told Merry exactly what the Sin Monument was about. The latter frowned more and more as he listened, until after the pirate finished speaking, he coughed and said:

“So, it can help us resist the spiritual corruption of the ancient gods, give us the ability to face the fallen gods, and give us the possibility to defeat it.

But in exchange, we have to willingly hand over our sins to you, and from now on we have to be like puppets, under your control? "

"Oh, your summary is so malicious! Listening to what you said, I seem to be a heinous bastard."

Blake puffed his beard and stared:

"Obviously I gave you the power to defeat the evil creatures of the void and save the world. What you have to pay is only a trivial thing. How come you are here and I become the evil person who brings trouble to the world?

Yes, the Sin Monument can be used to manipulate you.

But I wouldn't do that.

After the sin tablets are inscribed, I will leave them to you to keep for yourselves.

This is the weakness of the soul and must be controlled by oneself. Look, you are holding the monument of your own sins. Even if I have all kinds of abilities, how can I control you to do bad things? "

The Lich was silent for a few seconds.

He said quietly:

"You mean, we have to hide the sin monument that he personally carved for us in front of the most powerful thief in the world to avoid falling into the hell controlled by him?"

"Well, don't say this to others."

Black quickly covered the old lich's mouth and said:

"Indeed, stealing the Sin Monument from you is no more difficult than grabbing a lollipop from a child. But I promise, I won't do that unless necessary.

You have to trust my character and my oath. "

"I believe in oaths and character. The only question is, do you have that?"

Merry sighed.

He returned Finna's sin monument to Black, and then touched the tombstone at hand that was about to be given to him. Finally, he raised his head and looked at the end of the yellow sand under the quiet night of Silithus Desert.

After half a minute of silence, the Lich said:

“Come and carve a monument of sin for me right here.

I want to see the whole process of making it and finally experience its effect myself.

If it is, as you said, able to give me the highest level of resistance to the power of the void and allow me to maintain the strength to fight despite the interference of the will of the void, then I will help you convince others. "

Old Merry's words made Blake blink.

The pirate asked softly:

"Are you surrendering so simply? I thought you would resist, for example, negotiate a few conditions with me, stipulate a few contracts, etc."

"Does it make sense? Even if a contract is made, will you abide by it? Your flexible moral bottom line prevents any contract from taking effect on you.

In this case, why should I waste my time? "

The old lich said calmly:

"The devil is about to enter the material world, the ancient gods are plotting to devour reality in the darkness, and all kinds of bad news coming from the distance are confirming the arrival of an era of chaos.

The ancient war of 10,000 years ago will be repeated, and we are not ready yet.

If we lose, all the reality we are familiar with will cease to exist, so we cannot lose, and we need to give everything to win.

If just the risk of being manipulated could give me the power to fight the void and demons, then I'd be willing to risk it.

I believe that those real warriors and heroes will make the same choice as me.

victory

But it is never something that can be obtained casually. "

"Insightful! He sees thoroughly. He is worthy of being the leader of the Tirisfal Council and a high-quality human mage!"

Blake gave a thumbs up in front of Merry, and he said with sincere emotion:

"Even a bastard like me is impressed."

After saying this, he picked up his notebook, pretended to be a recorder, and looked at the lich under the moonlight.

He coughed, put on a solemn expression, and said in a longer voice:

"Then, Your Excellency Merry Dongfeng, who is determined to maintain world order and peace, has made a noble choice in order to gain the power to defeat the ancient evil god.

You will give and you will receive.

Secrets cannot be hidden in your heart, as they will make you toss and turn every night.

Sin cannot be hidden in the heart. It is a highly poisonous thing that will only corrode your soul. I will give you the goodness of the Sin Monument to protect you through every night that is invaded by nightmares.

Come, confess your sins to me.

I'm listening. "