Shadow Trails in Azeroth

Chapter 1453 86. Listen! The ancient venerable is calling--Happy birthday, big babies【33】

"The nerubians of Azjol Nerub are one of the mysterious legends of Northrend."

In the deep passage leading to the underground, Nathanos Maris, who was carrying a war spear and holding a war bow, was observing the surroundings vigilantly. He took his hounds and fox hunting to form a formation with the smelly pirates marching behind. A covering formation all the way down.

On the hill above this dead and cold tunnel, Windrunner's mother was discussing some "salary and benefits" issues with her "temporary employer", while waiting for the arrival of the "helpers" arranged by the stinky pirates.

Black, who couldn't take any time off, and his good brother Marius took on the responsibility of "exploring the path" for His Majesty the Lich King. They walked into the underground tunnel covered by the rockfall on the hill, and went all the way deeper.

"I heard that the nerubians have established a huge empire under this frozen wasteland. It extends in all directions, from the coast of Northrend to the Icecrown Glacier in the center of this dead continent.

No one knows how long it took the nerubians to dig out such a massive project underground.

But there is no doubt that only the luckiest or the unluckiest travelers have the opportunity to enter the underground kingdom of the nerubians and see everything.

But I don’t know, when did His Majesty Lothar become interested in these insect life forms that live underground and have almost no connection with the surface world? "

Maris asked in a low voice as he walked forward.

Black behind him did not answer immediately. The stinky pirate paid attention to the strange lines carved on the side of the tunnel leading underground.

He was like a real elite explorer, holding in his hand the special dwarf camera specially issued by the Explorers Association for senior members, constantly focusing on taking pictures of the patterns.

All in all, very professional.

At least he behaved very professionally.

It wasn't until a few seconds later that Blake took a satisfied look at the clear photo he had taken.

The scarab pattern is clearly visible in the photo, and there are similar markings on ancient structures of the Qiraji Empire and Mantid in the Silithus Desert.

This also proves from the side that the nerubians living in Northrend, the frosty north, do have a very ancient and mysterious blood connection with the Qiraji and the mantid.

This photo, coupled with a lightly written research paper, would be enough for Blake to write another professional paper in the internal journal of the Explorers Association in the name of "Fenna Golden Sword".

And he can guarantee that he is definitely a professional in Azeroth's world-wide study of the civilization of the Aqir empire.

"It took tens of thousands of years for the nerubians to spread their network of underground passages throughout Northrend, but why they did so is still a mystery.

Even as an 'insect civilization expert' I can't give you a definite conclusion. "

Blake put away the photos he had taken. Like a relaxed backpacker, he followed Maris all the way deep into the underground tunnels while looking around at the small black caves full of cobwebs that led to unknown places. The voice introduced Maris to the mysterious land beneath their feet.

He said in a cold and faint tone:

"The nerubians living under the frozen soil of Northrend do not have an advantage in terms of population strength compared to their ancient brothers.

They do not have the unrivaled numerical superiority of the Qiraji, and they are not as cruel and ruthless as the Mantids, who use the teachings of the Great Reincarnation to strengthen individual combat capabilities. Among the three existing branches of the ancient Aqir Empire, the Nerubians Low profile and weak.

But the nerubians also have their own advantages.

They are naturally intelligent, can skillfully master shadow magic, and can seduce people's hearts through their mental power. Every adult spider demon is a skillful caster and sneak attacker. In the former civilization of the Insect Empire, these Nether Spider Demons were They exist as commanders, rulers and priests of high castes.

They hold the last piece of power the swarm needs to reorganize the Aqir Empire, the ability to cast spells.

this is me

Ahem, this is why His Majesty the Lich King is eyeing them. "

The smelly pirate grinned and said to Maris next to him:

"Our Majesty Lothar needs to establish the rule of the Undead Scourge across the entire continent of Northrend. He needs a transportation method that allows his soldiers to travel quickly to and from all parts of the continent.

Is there anything more convenient and readily available than the underground network established by the nerubians?

Furthermore, although the spider demons are small in number, they generally have good fighting capabilities, especially the kings and lords of the spider demons. Those who call themselves crypt lords will occasionally prey on young dragons.

Even from the perspective of the entire Azeroth, this kind of combat effectiveness is already very good.

Once the spider demons can be absorbed and driven by the undead natural disaster, His Majesty Lothar will have another ace in his hand to deal with the war. "

"Sounds reasonable."

Nathanos nodded, but then he looked at Black again and said:

"But I can be sure that this is not all the reasons, my brother. I have communicated with His Majesty Lothar before, and I know that although he has fallen into darkness, his wisdom on the level of war has not faded at all.

If you want to convince His Majesty Lothar to make up his mind to attack the Nerubian Empire, then in addition to the benefits mentioned above, you will also need to come up with more arguments to convince him to start a second battle while conquering the trolls. war.

Say it.

Look, I've come here with you, and I've also received temporary permission from His Majesty the Lich King to serve as his forward ranger. Is there anything else I shouldn't know? "

"Well, sometimes I think your curiosity is too strong. Isn't it enough for you to play guessing games with a mysterious Sylvanas by your side?"

Blake complained:

"If you like hearing secrets so much, why would you want to be a ranger? Wouldn't it be more promising to be an assassin with me?"

"It's fine if you don't say anything. No personal attacks are allowed."

Marris rolled her eyes and complained.

As a result, the next moment, Black walked forward with a playful smile and walked arm-in-arm with the Ranger General. He kicked towards the desolate land at his feet and asked the champion dog to quickly explore the path ahead. Then he whispered to Nasa North said:

"It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's because I'm afraid of scaring you. The reason why His Majesty Lothar and I want to target the spider demon at this time is very simple. Come on, calm down and I'll tell you something.

Don't be frightened. "

The smelly pirate stretched out his finger and touched Maris's forehead with a faint light.

With the influx of pure void power, Nathanos Maris's mental power was temporarily strengthened at this moment, spreading outward like a sonar.

Soon, an inaudible whisper sounded at the soul level of Nathanos, like a "bait" detected by sonar, so vague that Maris couldn't listen carefully at all.

He instinctively felt in the direction of the whisper, hoping to hear it more clearly, but the harder he tried, the harder it became to catch the misty and real voice.

A wave of annoyance surged into his heart, making the Ranger General want to focus all his attention on that damn whisper, and he really did.

Then, like a drowning man, he suddenly put his head out of the water. The whole blurry world became clear, and he also heard a voice like a yellow bell echoing.

"I see you"

It was a sound like thousands of people speaking at the same time, including old people, children, women, men and even beasts. The roars of the dragons were mixed together.

It was like a rough hand trying to squeeze Maris's will into pieces, then inject it with the darkness of depraved madness and then sew the fragments of will back together.

This action is like a wave of "reverse fishing" from the dark fish hidden in the abyss. It emits a faint light in the dark deep sea and drags the bold fisherman and his fishing rod into the cold, lightless sea, and then Transform this idiot who listens to the dark mysteries at will into one of those dark things that lurk beneath the ocean.

But Maris's reputation was not in vain.

As the brother of Black Shaw and Mathias Shaw, although he is low-key and has always been troubled by emotional problems, Nathanos has never failed to realize his talents and increase his strength.

The moment he realized something was wrong, Maris decisively aroused his inner beast.

The brutal wild power surged into his heart, making Maris's eyes red. At the same time, he rejected all the dark guidance and doubts from the spiritual level.

Just like using crazy animality to create an indestructible wall of will outside the weak human soul, blocking all evil whispers from the high wall.

This is how hunters and rangers deal with psychic magic.

Very crude, but very effective.

Those who try to seduce a master hunter with psychic powers are often in for a bloodthirsty surprise, with a ferocious bestiality hunter happy to "visit" those villains hiding in the darkness.

"Oh, that's good."

After Maris took a moment to calm down his animal nature, he saw the stinky pirate sitting on the stone in front of him, looking at him with a weird smile.

The latter kept giving thumbs up to Maris and said:

"I really underestimated you. I planned to pull you back from the shadow of darkness when you were defeated by Yogg-Saron's dark whisper, so that you could owe me a huge debt. favor.

But I didn’t expect that you would reject the temptation of the ancient god’s will by relying on yourself.

I apologize for underestimating you. My brother, Shore will be happy to see that you have grown into a man who can be relied upon. "

"I don't feel honored by it."

Maris shook his head. He ignored Black's pirate joke, but frowned and asked:

"Do the spider demons believe in the ancient gods sealed under the continent of Northrend?

Just like the Qiraji believe in C'Thun and the Mantids follow Y'Shaarj, does it make these insect civilizations feel uncomfortable if they don't have anything to do with the ancient gods?

Can't you live a good life? "

"That's really not possible. You are forcing yourself too hard, my brother."

Facing Maris's complaints, Blake rolled his eyes and said:

"The Aqir Empire is the 'seed' left over from the collapse of the Dark Empire. All the mutant bugs in this world are fallen beings born from the last efforts of the ancient gods who were unwilling to fail.

They are born with dark instructions engraved in their souls, and they will instinctively rely on those powerful void creatures. Only when they become a part of the power system under the command of an ancient god can the lack of their souls be satisfied.

It's like the reason why the Draenei are born with an affinity to the Holy Light.

No matter which branch they belong to, no matter what kind of insect they are, they are born to serve the ancient gods. Some special individuals among them may be able to resist this instinctive call by relying on their talents.

But as a group, the buggers have no ability to refuse when faced with the orders of the Ancient Gods.

It can be said that they are inherently part of the darkness.

How can you make them want the light?

Unfortunately, the Nerubians mistrusted their 'Dark Lord' and chose Yogg-Saron instead of the Ancient One who had united the Qiraji and the Mantid.

This shows that the nerubians are about to pay the price for their wrong choices.

As far as I know, the ancient venerable has been in a bad mood recently. "

Blake's last words made Maris roll his eyes, and the Ranger General said:

"Where did you get this 'inside' information?"

"Of course I saw it with my own eyes. You know me. I never talk nonsense about this kind of thing. Looking at you, don't you believe it?"

Okay, then please ask the Ancient One yourself how she views the rebellious spider demon. "

The pirate snorted, stood up from the stone he was sitting on, took out a delicate amber tuning fork from his arms, took out his pocket watch and looked at the time, and threw the tuning fork towards the ground.

There was a soft bang, and the amber tuning fork was accurately stuck in the hidden entrance of this tunnel to the next underground tunnel.

Under Maris's surprised gaze, as the ground shattered, an "underground tunnel" covered with white spider webs appeared in front of them.

Looking through the white curtain-like spider web to the lower dark underground, a huge underground city can be vaguely seen.

Its construction style is very similar to that of the ruins of the Qiraji Empire. Both obelisks and altar towers are used as embellishments of buildings in the city. The entire city itself shows the intersection of black and blue, as well as golden dome decorations and A light blue magic shield is wrapped around it.

The outline of the city can be seen in the dim glow of the underground.

Really huge!

"Holy light is above."

Maris squatted on the spot and carefully estimated the area of ​​the spider demon city below. After a few seconds, he said in shock:

"This city is bigger than the city of Lordaeron. And I'm sure that the nerubians are not limited to this city. Dragons rule the sky of Northrend. Now the undead are about to rule the earth, and this underground world is... Dominated by the nerubians."

"That's a thing of the past, stupid and arrogant dog-licking humans!"

A cold and arrogant voice suddenly sounded behind Maris, causing the ranger to stand up instantly and complete the full set of actions of aiming, drawing the bow and winding the arrow.

But as soon as the bowstring was pulled out, Blake reached out and pressed it down.

"Don't do anything to us."

The pirate said casually.

Beside him, the ancient venerable Ms. Xalatas, who had just sent herself to the little master through the precise transmission of magic through the positioning of the amber tuning fork, was moving her snake tail hidden in the darkness, circling Black one by one. Tangled up in circles.

This scene is like Blake summoning his "guardian spirit" in some weird way.

"What are you looking at? Impolite mortal!"

The strange appearance of Xal'atath, half human and half snake, immediately aroused Marris's curious attention, but is the Lord of Darkness something that ordinary people can directly see with the naked eye?

She glared at the bold Maris, and a terrifying impact of will exploded in Maris' soul.

This time the distance was too close and the speed was too fast, so the ranger had no time to activate his animal nature. As a result, he rolled his eyes and staggered to the ground.

"Don't bully my good-for-nothing friend. Although he's a bad guy, he's a good teammate who used to fry fish ponds with me and get bad points."

Blake stopped Xal'atath's nonsense. He helped the embarrassed Marris, and then said to Xal'atath, who had his arms folded and spit out a snake message:

"Is the snake man done?"

"I sent the two little ones back to the Broken Islands, and on the way back to Vol'dun Desert, I left an unfertilized egg for the snake people, in exchange for the snake people's obedience.

This adds another brave person to the dark empire under my command. "

Xal'atath laughed proudly, but then stared at the nerubian city below protected by spider webs and energy shields. Her eyes shone with cold light, and she stretched out the bright red snake letter and licked her lips.

explain:

"But I just laid an egg, and my body is weak and in urgent need of replenishment. Even from such a distance, I can smell that the Void Herald hiding in the city is a close confidant of Yogg-Saron.

Haha, I can have a full meal again.

The Neyou Spider Demons must also learn this lesson!

They must willingly return to the glory of the Aqir Empire and become a part of the insect civilization, otherwise their existence will be meaningless. "

The ancient venerable sneered, raised his left hand, and waved it downward fiercely.

More than a dozen void cracks burst out in an instant, tearing apart the material space.

Amidst the roaring roar of the swarm, the Qiraji swarm, commanded by the mantid heroes, rushed into the territory of the underground city from another world, bathed in the light of the ancient gods.

"Go! Execute the punishment of the swarm!"

Xal'atas took Black's arm and rubbed his head on the pirate's shoulder like a black cat. He waved again and ordered his subordinates in a lazy tone:

"Today, I want to see a river of blood."