CXnovel Chapter 60 [Kael'thas] 2
Chapter 60 [Kael'thas] 2
It lay almost prostrate on its knees beneath the cold, bony steps, its shrill, piercing voice distorted and broken by extreme fear, barely forming a coherent sentence:
"Lord...Lord of the City, please calm your anger! Great Dark Eclipse Overlord...please...please calm your anger!"
It struggled to raise its head, revealing a hideous face distorted and shrunken with terror, its voice trembling like a broken string:
"It's...it's those 'Heart Slaves'! Celia...that despicable thief, traitor! She used some method to make those last few high-level Abyssal Flame Demons she controlled...they...they've completely gone mad! They didn't hesitate to burn their soul essence and Abyssal core, unleashing power far exceeding their usual strength, forcibly attacking the thirty-seventh [Filthy Rift] entrance to the Prime Material Plane!"
Kael'thas's dark, deep eyes narrowed slightly, and his icy killing intent almost solidified into black ice crystals that floated and collided around the throne, making a soft "crackling" sound.
The goblin monster was so terrified it was almost as if its soul had left its body, and it spoke so fast it sounded like it was about to bite its own tongue off:
"The third rank of the Demon Prison Legion guarding the entrance was caught off guard! Those crazed fire demons fought to the death, and their self-destruction before their demise severely damaged the defenses... Lord Barrot received the alarm and immediately led his most elite [Shadow Hunter] squad to the scene..."
"But...but when Lord Balot and the others quelled the internal turmoil and defeated those crazed mind slaves (they themselves were also seriously injured), and chased after them out of the rift...there was already a powerful human legion waiting in full force outside the entrance! Those were...those were the elite of humanity! Leading the group were at least three high-ranking human elites!"
The goblin's voice trembled with despair: "The moment those heart slaves, who had been burned to ashes, showed their faces, they were engulfed by countless holy lights and arcane spells... Lord Barrot and the others had just rushed out of the rift, and before they even had a chance to see the sky of the prime material plane, they were caught in the deadly trap and legion-level combined attack array that the humans had already set up!"
They had already endured a fierce battle, were greatly exhausted, and were wounded. Under the combined attack of the well-rested and prepared human warriors... they were outnumbered... and in the end... in the end..."
It closed its eyes in despair, and with its last ounce of strength screamed:
"Lord Balot and the soul imprints of his entire squad... in the [Demon Soul Palace]... all... all extinguished! They... they died heroically!"
As the words fell, the entire throne room fell into a silence a billion times more deathly still than the River Styx at the deepest level of the abyss. Even the wailing of the soul crystals on the walls seemed to be completely swallowed up.
Kael'thas remained silent.
He slowly, extremely slowly, leaned back into the throne supported by countless tormented souls, his pale, slender, bony fingers unconsciously stroking the skull on the armrest that emitted a constant, faint shriek, as if it were filled with endless resentment.
His expression was calm and composed, as if he had just heard something insignificant.
But the temperature in the entire palace seemed to drop to absolute zero in an instant!
The light emitted by the [Wailing Soul Crystals] on the wall became extremely unstable, flickering wildly, and the wailing sounds became incredibly shrill and piercing, as if they would collapse completely at the next second due to some kind of pressure!
All the monsters below, including the goblin who brought the message, were like amber frozen in an instant, unable to even tremble slightly. Only endless cold and despair overwhelmed their consciousness like a tide.
"completely annihilated……"
Kael'thas repeated those four words softly, his voice as light as a lover's murmur, or a sigh from the depths of hell, yet it caused the core of every demon soul that heard it to shatter under the unbearable pressure.
His dark, unreflective gaze slowly swept over the group of people below, who stood like stone sculptures:
"In other words, you not only allowed that despicable thief to drive my precious 'property' (referring to those mind slaves) to open the rift and deplete my legion's strength... but also caused my most capable hunting general to perish in a gravely wounded state at the hands of those lowly humans due to your incompetence, delays, and misjudgments?"
He suddenly chuckled softly, the laughter initially gentle and carrying a strange sense of pleasure, gradually becoming clearer and echoing in the deathly silent hall.
The laughter was icy cold, devoid of any warmth, yet more chilling than any hysterical roar, as if billions of vengeful spirits were laughing simultaneously.
"Interesting...this is getting more and more interesting."
The laughter stopped abruptly, as if it had been cut off by a sharp blade.
His gaze instantly focused, like two poisoned dark daggers, fixed firmly on the goblin rogue below the steps, who was almost completely melted into a pool of fear.
"So, to sum it up: you lost my crucial 'key'; you lost my precious legion soldiers; you caused me to lose my loyal General Balot and his valuable Hunter squad; and finally—"
His voice suddenly rose, still cold, but now carrying an earth-shattering rage:
"—You can't even tell me whether that bitch Celia is dead or alive? Was she just killed by those humans, or did she take my things and hide again like a rat in a sewer, in some corner you can't even find?!"
The goblin stalker opened its mouth, making a strange "clucking" sound in its throat, but it couldn't utter a single clear syllable. Extreme fear had completely destroyed its ability to speak; only the frantic "clattering" of its teeth sounded particularly jarring in the silent hall.
The last vestige of feigned patience in Kael'thas's eyes vanished completely, replaced by pure, destructive coldness.
He slowly raised his right hand, which was as perfect as a work of art, and gently clenched his fingers around the dirty and humble body below the steps.
*Pfft!*
Without any warning, and without even the slightest energy fluctuation, the space where the goblin stalker was located suddenly collapsed and caved inward!
It couldn't even let out a final, short scream. Its entire body—along with its robes, the odds and ends it carried, and even the small patch of space around it—was precisely molded into a ball of the most basic particles by an invisible giant hand that existed only at the conceptual level!
There was no flying blood or the sound of bones breaking, only a faint sound, like a bubble bursting.
Only a small, absolutely empty area of darkness remained, along with a lingering, strange, burnt smell that quickly dissipated. All traces of its existence were completely erased.
A thick, nauseating aura of destruction permeated the air, mixed with the chilling wails of the soul crystals, bringing the remaining monsters' fear to its peak.