It was only then that Arthas finally realized something was wrong.
Something had gone wrong with his soul fire.
Within it, at some unknown point, an incredibly chaotic and evil aura had emerged.
It was an aura even more chaotic than that of the undead.
While the undead merely hated all living things and sought to slaughter any living being they came across,
this aura was...
a pure hatred for the entire world.
A desire to completely devour the world and drag it into darkness.
This was...
power from the Bottomless Abyss.
Arthas suddenly realized that, at some point, he had been corrupted by the Abyss.
It was this corruptive power that had triggered his instinctive undead hatred for the living, leading to this tragic outcome.
Fortunately, after unleashing his undead nature, the remaining power was meager and could no longer influence him. With enough time, he would be able to purge it completely.
Looking at Vina's bizarre smile, Arthas finally realized where his sense of familiarity with her came from.
This was far from the first time they had met.
In fact, they had been seeing each other every single day.
Previously, she had been mingling among the refugees, coming every day to receive black bread. She had disguised herself perfectly, going so far as to make herself look even more wretched than the actual refugees, which was why she had gone unnoticed.
It was likely during that time, through day after day of subtle corruption, that led to this current result.
As a knowledgeable lich, Arthas quickly regained his composure and demanded to know what Vina wanted.
He knew very well that she wouldn't have spent so much time plotting without wanting something in return.
At the same time, Arthas swore in his heart that if she intended to harm his mother, he would take this insidious woman down with him, even if it meant risking being obliterated by divine punishment.
Vina did not beat around the bush. Seeing that Arthas had figured things out, she readily stated her demands.
However, her request caught Arthas completely off guard.
Vina wanted him to turn someone into a lich—specifically, her guard captain, Laya.
During a previous pursuit by the church, Laya had blocked an attack for her, causing her soul to slowly dissipate.
Unless she died, this process was irreversible.
Thus, Vina wanted Arthas to turn Laya into a lich, converting her soul into soul fire to cheat death and preserve most of her sense of self.
Undoubtedly, this was blatant blackmail.
Faced with such blackmail, Arthas hesitated.
He had never cared much about his own life or death, but to die before obtaining his mother's recognition...
That would fail to live up to his mother's expectations.
That was something Arthas would absolutely never allow to happen.
Left with no other choice, Arthas agreed to her demand.
Using the remaining death energy in the city, he conducted the lich transformation ritual.
With Arthas, a lich who had one foot in the Legendary Rank, presiding over it, the transformation naturally went exceptionally smoothly. Thus, another lich named Laya was born into the world. However, Arthas also placed a hidden countermeasure inside this newborn lich.
If he were to die, this newborn lich would die with him.
Their phylacteries were linked together—a connection that could not be severed.
Whether because of this countermeasure or because she had never intended to break her word, Vina took the blame for Arthas's massacre of the city through some method, just as agreed.
Thus, divine punishment did not descend upon him.
The next day's World Daily featured an explosive piece of news.
“Shocking! Vina, the former Saintess of the Holy Kingdom, actually chose to massacre a city just to turn her guard captain into a lich! Is this the depravity of humanity, or the distortion of morality?!”
Meanwhile, the true culprit, Arthas, wiped the memories of the massacre from his apprentices. He brought these fortunately surviving children back to the God-Forsaken Land and began his grand mission of spreading his faith.
This process went exceptionally smoothly.
Until today.
During his routine preaching, among the many half-beastkin and beastkin in the audience, Arthas saw the figure he had long anticipated.
His “mother,” the Queen of the Black Dragon Empire—Irene.
No one knew how thrilled Arthas was at that moment.
But to avoid losing his composure in front of his mother, he suppressed this surging emotion until the preaching ended.
He could finally hold it in no longer.
He spoke the words he had suppressed in his heart for fifty-one years.
“This was all to... obtain your recognition...”
...
“Is this the purpose behind everything you've done?” Irene's voice drifted into Arthas's ears. “In that case, I believe you have achieved your goal.”
The soul fire in Arthas's eye sockets trembled violently.
Through his cold armor, he watched as Irene walked to the church doors without looking back. Placing both hands on the heavy, solid wooden doors, she prepared to pull them open.
“You...” Arthas remained frozen in place, his voice fluctuating unevenly like a sputtering engine, while the soul fire in his chest expanded significantly.
“Have you recognized me... my... Mother?”
When he uttered the word “Mother,” Arthas's voice noticeably dropped a few decibels. He was terrified of displeasing Irene, yet the sole purpose of everything he had done was to gain her recognition so that he could call her his mother.
“What else?” With a slight exertion of force from Irene, the heavy doors creaked loudly as they were pulled open. Bright moonlight seeped through the gap bit by bit into the dark church, illuminating her face. She turned her head slightly, her brilliant golden eyes reflecting what seemed like starlight.
“Although I never asked you to do any of this, since you desire my recognition so much, I suppose I can reluctantly satisfy you.”
Having said this, Irene turned back and added in a slightly softer tone,
“...my foolish eldest son.”
With those words, she stepped forward, bathing herself in the starlight.
It was as if she were walking out of the darkness and into the light.
Rate on N.U.
