Karp
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Chapter 178
🕑 Added 2025-02-25 18:51:08 +0000 UTCAfter destroying the Undead on the northern front, Varrus found himself sitting on his flying carpet with Syra by his side.
He had sent off the rest of his forces to aid the other armies in cleansing Quel'Vanar.
As for Varrus, he had decided that he would eliminate the countless Undead populating Stratholme.
For one, by taking them out now, that would prevent them from continuously swarming onto Quel'Vanar.
Whilst the numbers advantage wasn't the be all, end all disparity that Varrus had initially feared, it was still a problem. With the Scourges figurative ‘infinite respawn glitch’ in effect, then this would become a battle that lasted until one side's Demigod fell in battle.
That was something Varrus simply could not allow to happen. On the off chance that Kael did lose, Varrus would not suffer, under any circumstances, the chance for the Scourge to make a resurgence. Thus, the need to eliminate the cannon fodder.
Secondly, it seemed that all the low level minions ended up being used as fuel for grand spells. Varrus imagined that Kel’Thuzad would be duking it out with Kael, and gimping his power source was an amusing thought. He could just imagine that smug skeleton throwing Death magic around all willy-nilly, then bam his tap was cut, and he had a hundred fiery phoenixes flying down his gullet.
Whilst Varrus was a little peeved by Kael's brazen attitude, he recognized that his friend was feeling a little jealous. Now Varrus admitted, he could be petty, but if letting Kael have this win was what it took to restore his confidence, then Varrus didn't mind stepping back.
In fact, by ridding the Undead, and plagued land from the area, Varrus would be out of the way of public scrutiny, and no one would know any better. To the members of the Covenant, this act should cement Kael as a fierce leader, and epic sorcerer.
Sure, it kind of hurt knowing he would be passing up on a Legendary Soul Gem, but as much as he desired that, Varrus valued his friendship, and the stability of the nation over power. It would be the equivalent of falling out with a family member because he had stolen his brother's idea then became a millionaire.
Such stories happened in the modern era on Earth, but Varrus had too much loyalty to allow himself to stoop so low. Maybe some would call him an idiot, but for all his faults, he would never give up on his people, or those close to him.
Smiling to himself at the thought of helping out a bro, Varrus focused up on the third and final point. Soul Gems!
The secret to Quel'Thalas and to a lesser extent, the Covenant's low death toll was because of their superior gear.
Resources at the moment were significantly limited, and what Varrus saw down below was not some rotting city full of the damned, but a gold mine full of opportunity!
Oh sure, the vast majority of souls were probably only worth Petty or Lesser Soul Gems, maybe a few tens of thousands of Commons, a few hundred Greater, and perhaps a few dozen Heroic.
But with the 300% boost to any magic cast while within a few miles radius of the Sunwell would transform these ‘weak’ enchantments into something serviceable. Where 5 Lesser Soul Gems may be required to transform a weak peasant boy into a Common or even lesser Elite, now only one Lesser Soul Gem would be required to achieve the same result!
These Undead milling about down below didn't know it, but they were about to become the lifeblood of an empire.
As one of the top 5 beings within the Covenant, he couldn't be everywhere at once, and wasn't some day to day policeman.
Acting as a politician, diplomat, manufacturer, and so much more, he realistically couldn't be everywhere at once.
Hence, the need for an expansive military state to patrol and hold territory.
With the likely millions of Lesser/Petty Soul Gems he was about to acquire, he could create tens of thousands of lesser golems and automatic turrets.
His dream of populating his land with mobile defense turrets was slowly becoming a reality!
Elites could lead teams of these golems on patrols, and Heroes could oversee towns, and strongholds.
This gold mine of Soul Gems would serve as the impetus for the Covenant's glorious rise.
However, he had to go get them first.
His spell, Soul Cloak automatically collected the souls of the departed within a certain radius. Right now, that was a zone of about a mile.
That right there immediately eliminated Varrus's initial plan to nuke the fuck out of Stratholme with his Acceleration Rune x Mana Stone plan.
It was kind of disappointing, as he really wanted to see the power behind that attack, but it was meant to be.
Since the shields were down, and all the Scourges top level combat power were focused on Quel'Vanar, there really was no point to go overboard.
Thus, he had to get down to Stratholme on his flying carpet, and use his favorite Undead cleansing spell: Infinite Light.
Floating down towards the tragic city, Varrus lamented at what had been done to the city, and the fall of the Alliance's greatest Hero.
When this city had been infected by plagued grain, the innocent citizens were doomed to a slow, agonizing death. Once they perished, they were cursed to rise up as Undead.
The young Prince, Arthas Menethil had seen this inevitability, and took his knights to purge the city. To kill the living innocents who had no hope of a cure, and to burn the corpses so that they would not rise from the dead.
To top off this tragedy, Arthas's lover, Jaina, and his mentor, Uther, refused to join him. By turning their backs on Arthas, they tore away the young Prince's support net. As a result, when Arthas journeyed to Northrend, he took up the cursed blade, Frostmourne, with the delusion that it would hold the power to free his people.
Arthas had willingly damned his soul for all time with the belief that it would herald victory.
If only Uther and Jaina had been more insightful, or better friends, then perhaps most of this tragedy could have been avoided.
It was with these heavy thoughts that Varrus began a purge of his own on these corrupted lands.
A second ago, he had been giddy at the prospect of acquiring so many Soul Gems, but the tragedy of Arthas and the innocent, damned souls, put a damper on his mood.
Putting his hands together, Varrus grimly power washed away all the filth staining this land.
Starting from the gate, Varrus wiped away everything that stood in his path.
Over 100,000 ghouls and assorted zombies jumped up at him like dogs trying to catch a frisbee, yet it was futile. Magical creatures made out of nightmare they may be, but physics affected them all the same.
Moving at a speed of about 15mph, Varrus pivoted his hands from left to right, covering everything he could see in the bathing power of the Light.
Every sweep purged a thousand zombies, and cleaned the land, turning putrid black soil back into its loamy brown. Even the cobblestones-which didn't possess any inherent taint-became shiny and new looking.
Every 3 seconds, Varrus repeated this motion in a slow, methodical manner.
During his power washing fantasy, he came under attack from tens of thousands of arrows, and magical bolts.
Thanks to the perk, Mage Ward, and Bastian Ward, every spell that came his way disappeared before it could even test his Ebony Flesh or Protection enchantments.
Mage Ward - Casting a spell also raises a ward that increases armor rating by 100 and negates up to 100 points of spell damage and effects.
Bastion Ward - Wards reduce incoming attack damage by 40%.
Meanwhile, for any physical ranged attacks, Syra took it upon herself to act as his shield.
Flashing her brilliant black blade, Syra was like a tornado as she diced apart the never ending rain of arrows, rocks, and other missiles that aimed to take their lives.
“Hero, 2 o'clock.” Syra called out.
“I see him.”
There in an abandoned building, a necromancer was accumulating a stupid amount of energy. Based on the mana signature, whatever it was, if Varrus tanked 5 spells of that magnitude in a row, he would be in trouble.
“Haah, predictable.” Varrus sighed to himself as he witnessed 10,000 Undead fall to the ground, and turn to ash as the necromancer used them as fuel.
“Should I?”
“No, no, I got this.” Varrus suddenly Blinked several times, and appeared over the necromancers head.
“You Elves aren't the only ones with immortality anymore! The Scourge shall be your undo-”
“That's probably the 12th time I've heard something like this today. You guys must have some Elf hating seminar or something. I mean, that insecurity is just dripping from your bones.” Varrus taunted, and laughed.
“Laugh while you can Elf!” The Undead spat, and raised his glowing green hands ready to unleash his spell.
“Now have a taste of my master's ultimate spell, DEATH'S REQUIEM!!!”
“No. Don't. Stop.” Varrus said in a deadpan.
The Heroic necromancer brought his hands down, aaand nothing happened.
“H-huh?!”
Varrus chuckled at his confusion, as the Antimagic Field perk came into play.
Yeah, it only worked whilst he was within 10ft of an enemy, but it was one hell of a troll when used against overconfident spell casters.
“Sadly, I don't have any time to monologue at you. Later, chump.” Varrus finished this engagement by blasting him with a Light spell.
He then Blinked back to his original position, and resumed his slow, yet methodical purge of the land.
The elimination of this Hero was something Varrus had done over 15 times now.
Whenever Syra spotted a large build up of mana, she would point it out to him.
Smiling to himself, Varrus really did appreciate how good they were when they worked as a team.
Looking around, Varrus felt pride in his work.
Half the city had been power washed by now, and cleanliness was on the verge of overcoming the diseased.
Green, purple, and black grime sizzled and fried under his power. Elites had enough intelligence to know they were doomed, and Heroes tried to fight him in vain or flee. Yet it was all the same, as Varrus's spell, Infinite Light, was not only in the shape of a beam, but also bounced between targets like chain lightning.
Breathing in some fresh air, Varrus felt his heart swell as when he destroyed some of these grotesque monsters, pale blue ghosts would come out, and wave to him in thanks before departing for the afterlife.
Sometimes he questioned the morality of his actions, but it was times like these that let him know he was doing good.
By this point, most arrows & magic had stopped, and the Scourge commanders had all but given up, and accepted the inevitable.
Even the Heroes must have realized that they were pissing in the wind, and that their struggle only made them get wet.
At least, this was what Varrus had thought until a mass extinction event occurred. It was the very thing he had sought to prevent. In his greed for Soul Gems, Varrus had failed to avert this crisis that threatened the destruction of the Covenant!
During his latest Hero purge, someone had gone and done a ritual whilst he was distracted!
Well over 500,000 zombies, and all the remaining Heroes + Elites within Stratholme suddenly became ash as they fueled a truly monstrous spell. The poor souls of the innocent screamed in agony as they were wrenched into a dimension less forgiving than the ones Varrus slew.
Eyes going wide, Varrus felt it before he saw it.
Mana overwhelmingly exploded on Quel'Vanar, and the super structure became utterly encased in an unfathomable amount of deathly black ice.
Resembling a glacier of epic proportions, the city began to rapidly tumble out of the sky, falling.
Having no time to worry about the implications of this matter, Varrus sprang into action.
First, he spammed the spell Drop Zone, and widened it with a super charge of mana, covering the entire area with which the glacier would fall.
Whatever magic Kel’Thuzad was playing at, he had some sway over where the glacier would fall, and was redirecting it out of the Drop Zones.
‘Shit, I can't let this happen!’ Varrus thought in worry, and thought up a solution.
He started straining his telekinesis to the absolute peak!
“Come on.” Varrus said with gritted teeth.
“COME ON!!!”
Slowing its ascent, Quel'Vanar ever so slightly moved so that half of the super structure would collide with the Drop Zone, the other half would likely crack.
‘As if I'd let that happen!’ Varrus raged.
Taking the flying carpet and rapidly blinking to the other side, Varrus didn't have enough time to spam more Drop Zones, as Quel'Vanar was seconds away from falling down.
However, there was one tool in his arsenal that could knock it into the safe zone.
“Fus Roh Dah!”
Comments
Kasikan
Only issue with that is he'd no longer be Kael. He'd basically be an OC with his name.
Michael DiVelbiss
Love the cliffhanger tho. Mommy Nightsong is probably so proud.
Michael DiVelbiss
It'd be better if Kael realizes this and completes his own character arc rather than falling from grace like actual canon Janna which everyone hates.
Kasikan
Kael is always going to be jealous and always demand his ego stroked. So giving up things on his behalf is going to be a lifelong problem. He'll never be satisfied and always desire the worship other people earned while he himself has done nothing to earn the same. At some point Varrus is going to have to just accept that Kael is more trouble than he's worth. The entire scenario they're in now is because of him wanting glory. So definitely not something to just excuse away by saying they're a friend. That type of friendship is toxic and will get everyone killed.
