Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve

"The coronation of Lord Prestor seems inevitable," the dim figure inside the green sphere said to Krasus. "He has an amazing knack for lobbying. You're not wrong, he must be a mage." Krasus sat in the middle of the chamber, his eyes fixed on the green crystal ball. "It will take a lot of evidence to convince the monarchs of us. Their distrust of the Kirin Tor is growing day by day... and it's likely that the would-be king did it." On the other side of the conversation was the older woman from the inner council, she nodded in response. "We've started watching. Trouble is, this Prestor guy is elusive. He can even come in and out of his place without us knowing."

Krasus was a little surprised by his deceit. "How is that possible?" "We don't know. Also, his castle was surrounded by some very tricky magic nets. In that accident, Dredan almost lost his life." Dredan, the bearded male mage, almost became a dead soul under the trap of Deathwing.The news made Krasus a little depressed.Despite his recklessness, Krasus respected his abilities.It would be a heavy blow to lose Delindan at this juncture. "We must proceed with caution," he said hastily, "I will contact you again soon." "What are you planning, Krasus?"

"Investigate the past of this young nobleman." "Do you think you can find any clues?" The hooded mage shrugged. "That's all we can hope for." He erased the image of her, leaned back in his chair, and mused.Krasus somewhat regretted leading his colleagues astray, even if it was for their own good.At least, their meddling in Deathwing's "trivial affairs" will definitely attract the attention of the black dragon.That would give Krasus a little more time to carry out his plan.He could only pray that no one else would risk his life the way De Redan did.The Kirin Tor will need the power of these mages if other nations turn against them.

His visit to Malygos is over, with less than satisfactory results.Malygos has agreed to consider his request.Yet Krasus suspects that even in its glorious past, the dragon did not have the confidence to take on Deathwing.He didn't seem to realize that that glorious era no longer belonged to any dragon.If Deathwing couldn't be stopped this time, it might never be possible to stop him. That left him with a choice he was very reluctant to face. "It has to be done..." He had to find other Aspects.As long as one of them is persuaded, then he may still get the full help of Malygos.

However, the Dream Queen is always the most elusive... which means that Krasus is better off going to the Lord of Time—though his servants have repeatedly refused the mage's requests. Still, did he have any choice but to try again? Krasus stood up and walked towards a shelf where some bottles of magic and chemical reagents were placed.He scrutinized the rows of bottles, his eyes darting across the chemical and magical reagents.Not only will these items make the rest of the Kirin Tor jealous, but they'll wonder how Krasus got them.They don't know how long he has been dealing with these things...

there!The vial containing a dried flower gave him pause. eternal rose.There is only one place in the world where this rose can be found.It was picked by Krasus to dedicate to his lover.When the orcs raided their lair and imprisoned her and the other dragons, Krasus kept it. That's the eternal rose.Five petals of different colors surround the golden spherical stamen in the middle.As soon as Krasus opened the bottle cap, a burst of delicate fragrance immediately passed into his nose, reminding him of his youthful youth back then.Hesitantly, he reached into the bottle and picked up the withered flower—

—However, to his surprise, the moment he touched the flower with his fingertips, it regained its legendary brilliance. Flame red.Emerald green.The whiteness of snowflakes.The blue of the sea.midnight black.Each petal exudes a beauty that all artists can only dream of.Nothing else can surpass its innate beauty, and no floral fragrance can match it. He held his breath and crushed the flower reluctantly. He let the fragments of the flower fall into the other hand.A tingling sensation spread from his palm to his fingertips, but the Red Dragon Mage ignored it.He held the shards high above his head, uttered a powerful incantation - and threw them all to the ground.

The moment those fragments hit the rocky ground, they transformed into sand.These sands spread on the floor of the secret room, filled the entire secret room, washed past in the secret room, covered everything, swallowed everything... ...and then only Krasus was left, standing in a boundless desert of flying sand and rocks... However, no desert is quite like this.As far as he could see, there were ruins, broken statues, rusty weapons, and the bones of some giant creatures that left the mage dumbfounded.The owners of these skeletons would have dwarfed dragons in their lifetime.There are also many buildings. At first glance, you might think that they belong to a large civilization like the surrounding ruins.A closer look reveals that no one building belongs to a common civilization with any other.A domed house crouched next to a tower that looked like it had been built by humans, but it must have been a dwarven structure.Farther away, a vaulted temple with a sunken top reminded him of the fallen kingdom of Azeroth.Beside him was an eerie dwelling, the home of some orc chieftain.

A large boat that can hold more than a dozen people is leaning on the sand dunes, and the back half of the boat has been buried by sand.Armor from the reign of Stormgard's first king is scattered across another, smaller dune.A statue of an elven priest leaned forward, as if saying his last prayers for the ship and armor. Krasus was also stunned by these strange and shocking exhibits.The landscape in front of me looks like an ancient relic collected in a certain god's mansion... and this is not far from the truth. None of these relics belonged to this place in the first place.In fact, no race or civilization has ever thrived here.All of these relics have been collected from all over the world over countless centuries.Krasus couldn't believe what he was seeing. He was overwhelmed by the effort it took to collect these things.And these things are so huge or delicate...

Although the scenery in front of him was so spectacular, Krasus gradually became impatient to wait.He waited, kept waiting, but no one seemed to care about his existence at all. His patience, already worn out by recent events, had finally broken. He gazed at the stone face of a statue.It is half human, half bull, and the left hand of the statue is pushing forward, as if trying to drive away the intruder.He said to the statues, "I know you are there, Nozdormu! I know! I want to speak to you!" As soon as Master Honglong finished speaking, a gust of wind blew up, blowing sand everywhere, covering his eyes.A fully formed sandstorm swooped down on Krasus, who stood still.The wind howled in his ears so loudly that he covered his ears.The storm seemed determined to blow him up and far away; but he fought desperately against the wind, holding on with his spell and strength.He couldn't just be turned away without even saying a word!

Finally, it seemed that even Sandstorm knew that he would not give in.It slipped away from him and blew in a concentrated direction toward a nearby sand dune.A funnel made of sand and dust was pulled up from the ground, growing higher and higher, straight into the sky. The funnel gradually changed into a shape... the shape of a dragon.The salon was the size of Malygos, and it moved, spreading its brown wings of dust.Sand continued to be added to the colossus, and they seemed to be mixed with the gold—the dragon, which was forming before Krasus's eyes, glistened even more in the scorching sun. The wind died down.Yet not a speck of sand or gold fell from the dragon.He flapped his wings, he stretched his neck.His eyelids opened to reveal a pair of gemstones gleaming with sunlight. "Cleostrasz..." The dragon formed from the sand spat out a few words. "How dare you disturb my nap? How dare you disturb my peace here?" "I dare, because I have to! Great Lord of Time!" "Nice titles can't appease my anger...you'd better get out..." The light of the pair of gems suddenly increased. "... Get out now!" "No! I won't leave until I speak out about the threat to all dragons and creatures!" Nozdormu snorted.A cloud of sand surrounded Krasus, but his spells protected him from it.No one knows what magic lies in every inch of Nozdormu's realm.Just a grain of sand was enough to ensure that a dragon called Cleostrasz never existed.And Crassus would vanish, and even his favorite would forget him. "You say, all dragons? What do they matter to you? There's only one dragon here, and he's certainly not Krasus, the mortal mage—he's not a dragon anymore! Go away! I'm going back to tend those Collectibles, you've wasted too much of my time!" One of his great wings swept lovingly over the statue of the tauren. "I still have a lot to collect, a lot to record..." What makes Krasus angry is that as one of the five dragon guardians, time flows in him, and he doesn't care about what is happening now and in the future!Those collectibles are everything to him.He sent his minions to collect everything - just so he could live in the past, ignoring the present and the future. Like Malygos, he is ignoring the demise of his own kind in his own way. "Nozdormu!" he roared, trying to get the attention of the shining golden salon again. "Deathwing is alive!" To his surprise, Nozdormu reacted little to the dire news.The golden dragon snorted again, and once again spewed out a cloud of sand to attack the little Krasus. Krasus was forced to step back, "You already know?" "A question not worth answering at all. If you have nothing else to bother me, then it's time to say goodbye." The dragon lifted its head, its jewel-like eyes shining again. "Wait!" The mage had already let go of all his dignity, and he waved his arms wildly.Nozdormu paused, canceling the spell he was about to use to drive away the intruder.Krasus breathed a sigh of relief. "Since you know he is still alive, then you should know what he wants to do! How can you ignore it? "Because, like everything else, Deathwing will die...and he will be part of my collection..." "But if you and—" "You've finished your words." The shining golden Sharon flew higher, and the sand on the ground also flew up, continuing to join his body.Some of Nozdormu's small collections were also swept up by the wind, and along with the sand, became part of the dragon's body. "Now, then, leave me alone..." The whirlwind around Krasus grew stronger.Despite his best efforts, this time he couldn't stand still.He stepped back step by step, being squeezed by the strong wind again and again. "I'm here for all the dragons!" Krasus cried out with all his might. "You shouldn't have disturbed my peace. You shouldn't have come at all..." Those jewel-like eyes shone brightly again. "That would be the best..." A cloud of sand suddenly spurted from the ground, enveloping the helpless mage.Krasus could see nothing.He felt short of breath and couldn't breathe.He cast a spell to counter it, but his spell seemed too small in the light of the might of the Aspect and the Time Master. Unable to breathe, he finally gave up.He fell forward, gradually losing consciousness— —and then he watched in amazement as the petals of the Everose fell to the stone floor, to no avail. That spell should work.In theory he would have been teleported to the realm of Nozdormu, the Lord of the Ages.Just as Malygos is the embodiment of magic, Nozdormu represents time and eternity.As one of the most powerful of the chromatic dragons, he'll be a formidable ally, especially if Malygos is likely to remain insane.Without Nozdormu's help, Krasus's hopes are slim. He knelt down, picked up the petals, and repeated the spell.However, that only gave Krasus a splitting headache.How can this be?He didn't get any steps wrong!That spell should have worked—unless, Nozdormu knew he wanted to ask him out, and the spell prevented Krasus from entering his sand realm. He cursed.Without meeting Nozdormu in person, he had no hope of convincing the dragon to join him in his plans.That leaves the Queen of Dreams... She is the most difficult to understand among the guardian dragons, and he has never spoken a word to her in his long life.Krasus didn't even know how to find her.For many legends say that Ysera never manifests in the real world.For her, dreams are reality. Dream is reality?A desperate plan took shape in his head.If this method had been mentioned to him in the past, he would have laughed uncontrollably.What an absurd idea!There is no hope at all! However, this is the same as he went to Nozdormu, is there any other choice? He turned back to the reagents and utensils, this time looking for a black bottle.He found it quickly, even though he hadn't touched it in over a hundred years.The last time he used the contents of this bottle, he killed that seemingly immortal existence.Now, he only hopes to use one of the characteristics of this thing, and prays that he will not make a mistake in the amount. Just three drops of this venom on the tip of the arrow killed Manta, the king of the abyss.Just three drops killed an existence that was ten times the size and strength of a giant dragon.Like Deathwing, almost everyone once thought Manta was undefeated. Now Crassus was to take some of this poison. "The deepest sleep is the deepest dream..." He said to himself as he took down the bottle, "She should be there...she must be there." He took a glass and a small bottle of pure water from another shelf.Then he poured just enough water into the glass to drink in one gulp, and opened the small black bottle.He carefully lifted the opened bottle over the glass. Three drops of poison killed Manta in seconds.How many drops did Krasus himself need? Sleep and death... the gap between their essences is far smaller than most people imagine.He must find Ysera there. The tiniest drop of poison he could pour fell silently into the glass of water.Krasus replaced the cap on the vial, then picked up the cup. "A chair," he said, "and a bench better." An upholstered bench appeared behind him.Even the king of Lordaeron would happily fall asleep in such a chair.And now Krasus plans to sleep on it too...perhaps forever. He sat down in the chair and raised the glass to his lips.However, before drinking what could be his last sip, the dragon-incarnate mage spoke his last words of blessing. "For you, my dear Alexstrasza, always for you." "Someone has indeed been here," Vereesa muttered, surveying the ground. "One of them is human... the other... I'm too unsure." "Okay, can you tell me how you figured that out?" Falstad asked, also looking at the ground.He could not tell the difference between the two footprints.In fact, he didn't see half as much as the elf saw. "Look here. This shoe print." She pointed to a depression in the dirt. "These are human-style shoes, tight and uncomfortable." "I see. What about the other one, the one you're not sure about?" The Ranger stood up. "Obviously there are no traces of dragons passing by here, but there are some imprints here that I don't know what left." She knew that Falstad still didn't see the obvious strange marks.But the dwarf did his best, and he looked at the strange stripes that were stamped on the ground. "Is that what you mean, Miss Elf?" Those traces went all the way to the place where the human - it must have been Rhonin - had stood.But they are not footprints, not even paw prints.It seemed to her that something was floating on it, dragging something else down. "Follow this, and you'll be back to the first place that the green-skinned monster showed us!" Falstad grabbed Creel by the back of the collar.The goblin had his hands tied behind his back, and a rope was tied around his waist, and the other end of the rope was wrapped around the neck of the griffin.Still, neither Vereesa nor the dwarf believed that their barely leading companions would not be waiting for an opportunity to escape.Falstad watched very closely. "Well, now I think it's obvious that this guy is leading us around! I wonder if you really saw that mage!" "I've seen it! Really, I've really seen it!" Creel put on a smile on his face, hoping to please his master.But this kind of smile with big teeth has no effect on races other than goblins. "Didn't I describe him? You know I've seen him, don't you?" Vereesa noticed that the griffin seemed to smell something in the bushes.She drew her sword, stabbed there, and picked out the thing. On the tip of her sword, hung a small empty wineskin.The elf put it in front of his nose, and a burst of rich fragrance was sent over.She closed her eyes. Falstad would be wrong. "It tastes bad, right? It must be the wine made by those dwarves!" "No, this legendary wine is not even found on the table of the lord of Quel'Thalas! The wine in it is ten thousand times better than those in his collection!" "That means--?" Vereesa threw away the wine bag and shook her head. "I don't know what that means. I just can't help but think that maybe Rhonin has been here and stayed for a while." Her partner looked at her questioningly. "Miss Elf, that might just be your wishful thinking." "Then tell me, who else has come here and drank the wine that only kings can drink?" "Ha! It must be Deathwing. After he sucked all the marrow out of your mage..." This sentence made the elf tremble, but her belief in her heart was still firm. "No. If Deathwing took him this far, it certainly wasn't just to eat him!" "Well, it's possible." Falstad, still clinging to the goblin, looked up at the darkening sky. "If you want to get some extra time before dark, you'd better get on the road now." Vereesa pointed the point of her sword at Creel's throat. "We need to solve this problem first." "How to solve it? Either take him and continue walking, or do a good thing for this world and reduce the number of annoying goblins!" "No, I said I would let him go." The dwarf's thick brows furrowed. "I think that's very unwise." "No matter what, I said I must do it." She returned him with sharp eyes.She knew that if Falstad knew about the elves, he wouldn't continue to argue with her. Sure enough, the Griffon Knight nodded—although he nodded very reluctantly. "Okay, just do as you said. You made a promise, and I won't be the guy who stops you from keeping your promise." After a pause, he continued, "I only have one life~" Vereesa was satisfied.She deftly cut the rope that bound Creel's wrist, and then loosened the noose around his waist.Once freed, the goblin jumped up and down, seemingly delighted to be freed "Thank you, kind lady, thank you very much!" The ranger brought the edge of the blade to the goblin's throat again. "Before I let you go, I have a few more questions. Do you know how to get Grim Batol?" Falstad didn't seem to like the question very much.His brows furrowed again, "What do you want?" She pretended not to hear his question. "Yep?" Creel's eyes widened.His face was pale--or rather, turned a lighter green. "No goblin goes to Grim Batol, good lady! There are orcs there, and dragons! Dragons will eat goblins!" "answer my question." He swallowed, before shaking his big head up and down. "Yeah, ma'am, I know the way—do you think the mage is there?" "You can't be serious, Vereesa." Falstad said in a deep voice.He was in such a bad mood that he called the ranger by his name for the first time. "If your Ronin is in Grim Batol, then we have nothing to do!" "Maybe...but maybe not. Falstad, I think he insisted on going there all along, and it was definitely not just to spy on the orcs. I think he had other motives...but that has nothing to do with death. What is the relationship between the wings, but I can't say." "Ha! Maybe he intends to release the Red Dragon Queen by himself!" The Griffin Knight responded with a sneer. "He's a mage after all! Everyone knows they're crazy!" That was a ridiculous idea—but it made Vereesa hesitate for a while. "No...it won't be like that." At this moment, Krell seemed to be thinking hard about something that made him unhappy.Finally, he raised his bitter face and asked, "Ma'am, do you really want to go to Grim Batol?" The Ranger weighed the offer.Although that was far beyond her obligations under the oath, she still had to go on. "Well, I really want to go." "Then take a look at this side, I—" "If you don't want to continue, you don't have to follow me, Falstad. Thank you very much for accompanying me this far. From here on, I can do it alone." The dwarf shook his head vigorously. "Should I leave you in this orc-controlled area with this suspicious little bastard? That won't work, lady elf! Falstad will never leave a beautiful lady, even though she's good at fighting~ we Let's go together!" She is really grateful for this partner. "You know, you can go back any time." "Unless you go back with me." She stared at Creel again. "Huh? Can you tell me how to get there now?" "Can't tell you, ma'am." The little man's face turned from bad to worse. "It's better... I'll take you there..." This surprised her a little. "I've let you go, Krell—" "So the little bastard will always be grateful to the lady...but there is only one way to go smoothly to Grim Batol, if you don't take me," he suddenly showed a proud expression, "whether it is an elf or No dwarf can find that way." "I have a flying mount, you scum! We can fly—" "In this place where there are many dragons?" The goblin smirked, looking a little crazy. "Better fly into their mouths and die... Ah, no, we're going to Grim Batol—then you'll have to follow me." Falstad ignored it and immediately protested.But Vereesa felt that they had no better choice than the goblin's suggestion.Creel had taken them so far, and while she certainly wouldn't trust the guy completely, she felt that if he tried to lead them astray, she'd find out.Besides, the goblin obviously didn't want to go to Grim Batol, or they wouldn't have caught him.All the goblins who work for the orcs stay inside the fort instead of wandering the dangerous wilds of Khaz Modan. And now he is willing to take her to find Luo Ning... Confident that she had made the right choice, she turned to the dwarf and said, "I've decided to follow him, Falstad. That's the best—and the only choice. Falstad shrugged his broad shoulders helplessly, and sighed, "That's not the same as my judgment~ However, I will still be with you—as long as I keep a close eye on this guy, I will tell you if there is any change. Cut off the head of this rebellious boy!" "Krill, do we have to keep walking?" The poor little guy thought for a while before replying, "No. There are places where you can ride a griffin." He grinned at Vereesa. "Just know where to land!" Despite his obvious concern, Falstad made his way to his griffin. "Tell us where to go, you bastard. The sooner we get there, the quicker you can go your own way..." The weight of the goblin did not bring too much additional burden to the griffin, so they quickly flew into the air.Falstad, because he had to drive his mount, sat in the front.Krell sat behind him, with Vereesa at the back.The elf had put the sword back into its sheath.She was just holding a dagger, just to prevent that annoying traveling companion from making trouble. Not all the paths the goblin pointed out were the safest, but Vereesa didn't see the slightest sign that he was trying to play tricks.He kept them flying close to the ground, and he also made them follow paths that didn't pass through open areas.In the distance, the peaks of Grim Batol drew closer.Thinking that he was about to reach his destination, Ranger began to feel a little nervous.Fortunately they hadn't seen a sign of Rhonin or Deathwing yet.This relieved her.If such a giant dragon appeared here, there would definitely be orcs in the nearby cottages who would find it. As soon as I thought of the dragon, one of them appeared.Falstad pointed to the east, where a huge figure just soared into the air. "Big!" he exclaimed. "Big and red! Like blood! Must be a Grim Batol scout!" Creel reacted quickly. "Land down there!" He pointed to a small valley. "There's a lot of hiding places there - a griffin that big can fit in there!" The dwarf had no choice but to obey him, and let his mount fly to the ground.The dragon's figure was getting bigger and bigger, but Vereesa could tell that it was flying in a relatively northerly direction, and it should be flying towards the northern border of Khaz Modan.There the last remnants of the Horde were dying, fighting off the Alliance onslaught.She wondered now how things were going over there.Has humanity started its final push?Maybe they're marching on Grim Batol. Even so, it would be too late for them to accomplish her purpose.The approach of the Alliance forces would have helped a little, though, as the orcs would have been busy with other things and ignored their infiltration. After the griffin landed in the valley, it instinctively looked for a place to hide.It is not a timid animal, but it can judge when it is necessary to fight. Vereesa and the other two jumped off the griffin and found their own hiding places.Creel clings to a stone wall with an expression of extreme fear.Ranger even felt that he felt a little sympathetic to him. They waited for a while, but did not see the dragon fly by.After another long time, the impatient ranger decided to come out to see if it had changed its flight direction.She grabbed a rock and climbed up. The elf saw nothing in the dim sky, not a single speck.In fact, Vereesa thought that if they had dared to come out and see just now, they would have left long ago. "No?" Falstad asked quietly.He also climbed up and stood beside her.As a dwarf, being able to climb up already shows that he is really agile. "Obviously not." "Great! I'm not like my relatives in those mountains. I don't like staying in a hole at all!" He began to climb down. "It's okay, Creel! There is no danger anymore! You can come out—" His voice stopped suddenly.Vereesa turned her head sharply. "What's wrong?" "The damn frog-skinned ghost is gone!" He half rolled and half crawled down the stone wall. "He vanished like a hope, oh no, a puff of smoke!" Vereesa stepped off the stone cautiously.She and Falstad began to search the surrounding area.In theory, no matter which direction the goblin fled, they should be able to see it, but now they can't even see his shadow.Even the griffin became dull like a goose, as if it didn't notice that the little guy had run away. "How could he just disappear like that?" "I wish I knew, too, my elf lady! He's a master of the trick!" "Can your griffin find him?" "Isn't it good to let him run away? It's better without that guy!" "but I--" The soil under her feet suddenly loosened and cracked.The elf's boot sank in the blink of an eye. She thought she had stepped into the mud, so she struggled to get out.But instead she sank deeper and faster, as if she was being pulled down. "In the name of the Eagle's Nest, this—?" Falstad also sank suddenly, but for the dwarf, that meant not even knees in the dirt.He also struggled like a ranger, but failed. Vereesa reached out and grabbed the nearest rock, trying to steady herself.At first it worked, slowing her descent.Then something strong seemed to grab her ankles and pull her down.She could no longer hold onto the stone. She heard a scream in the sky.The griffin, unlike them, flew up in time without being pulled into the dirt.It flapped over Falstad's head, trying to grab hold of his master.However, when it fell to a certain height, several mud pillars shot out from the ground to knock it down.The griffin was almost shot, and now it had to fly high and couldn't help. Vereesa couldn't think of any way to escape. The dirt had risen to her waist.The thought of being buried alive made her anxious.Yet her situation is less urgent than Falstad's.The dwarf's size made it difficult for him to keep his head out of the dirt now.Although he tried his best, it was still useless.He grabbed the soft soil and dug it down, but it was just a waste of effort. Desperately, the Ranger held out his hand. "Falstad! Grab my hand!" He did his best.Both of them did their best.However, the distance between them is too great.Vereesa could only watch in horror as her companion struggled to be pulled into the dirt. "My—" were the last words he said before sinking into the dirt. Now it's up to her boobs.She stared blankly at the small mound in front of him, from where he was pulled down.There was no movement on the ground there.There is no hand sticking out from below, and there is no sign of struggle underneath. "Falstad..." The thing that had grabbed her ankle started pulling her down again.Just like the dwarf just now, Vereesa also dug some big holes in the soil around her, but this didn't help her situation one bit.Her shoulders sank in too.She looked up, but the griffin was no longer in sight.She saw another familiar face, however, poking its head out of a crack in the stone wall.The elf didn't pay attention there just now. The light had become very faint, but she could still see it, it was Creel's smile with a large set of teeth. "Forgive me, ma'am. But Deathwing wanted his plans to remain undisturbed, so he sent me to witness your deaths! Such a menial job, and I'm an overqualified man. Still, my master has Very long teeth, and very sharp claws! I can't refuse him~ right?" His mouth widened. "I hope you will understand..." "You bloody-" The ground swallowed her up.Dirt filled her mouth.In the end, her lungs also seemed to be stuffed. She finally passed out.