nashuaworldcup Chapter 267 Breakthrough
Chapter 267 Breakthrough
Two puppets were left in the shadows.
After observing outside the red house for a while, Lorraine led Eileen directly towards the top of Mount Alteran...
Before we knew it, the night of the sixteenth was approaching...
The afterglow on the distant lake surface shimmered and refracted with the ripples. Lorraine and Eileen climbed higher along the foothills through the jungle, where the temperature plummeted and an icy wind howled. The highest point near Alterac Mountains... since it became ruins, few dared to come here.
Ogres and Yetis occupy most of the royal city ruins on the mountaintop.
The Yetis in the nearby caves seem to be under the influence of some evil magic; they roam the mountains and attack any pedestrians who approach the ruins of Alterac.
Lorraine and Eileen climb to the top of Mount Alteran on foot, trying to avoid the Yeti and beware of the mountain lion.
Meanwhile, they searched for traces of the Syndicate bandits...
According to Oridon's report, several groups of bandits were stationed at the main road checkpoints leading up the mountain. They were under the command of another bandit leader in the Syndicate, Baron Vadus, awaiting the Grand Duke's orders.
.....
Following the woods along the mountainside, Lorraine indeed found many tents and campfires on the flat high ground.
The camps were about a few hundred meters apart, and there were many fully armed soldiers patrolling around them.
Lorraine observed for a while in a corner of the woods and discovered...
The masked syndicate elites, both men and women, patrolled along fixed routes. They didn't seem like soulless puppets, because they would occasionally slack off by gathering together to roast meat, chat, drink, and dance, appearing for a moment as if they were reveling nobles.
However, the numerous swords, guns, and simple cannons neatly arranged to the side clearly indicated that this was an organized mobile force.
Lorraine estimated that this group was much stronger than the militia in Hillsbrad.
There also seemed to be a magician leading the group.
......
They always carried beautiful, bright wooden staffs, and Lorraine felt a pang of envy compared to his own current tattered appearance and lack of any decent, ornate equipment. In several previous battles, his enemies had assumed he was deliberately disguised as dirty and ragged to blend into the crowd.
In fact, he was in a sorry state throughout the journey, and the tattered items he had picked up from others were badly worn out.
The staff I got in Shadowfang Keep is no longer usable and has been gathering dust in a corner of my backpack by Lorraine... The teacher said that when I return to town, I can just sell it as scrap and still get a few copper coins back.
Frugality and thrift are fine traditions...
Don't squander your family's wealth.
Lorraine has always adhered to this principle. He and his teacher are essentially the same kind of people, two souls in one body. If their personalities were too different, they would not have been able to get to where they are today.
More than half a month after leaving Deathstroke, Lorraine traveled from Brill to Undercity, then headed for Silverpine Forest... raided Ambermill, fought the final battle in Dalaran, and experienced many things, gained a lot, and faced countless dangers.
But the real battle has only just begun...
Upon arriving at Hillsbrad Foothills, a site of intense contention, Lorraine clearly sensed a change in the atmosphere.
Although the number of living people is increasing, the environment is becoming more and more dangerous.
The enemy is everywhere!
It gives off a sense of a lone hero...
The dark and gloomy Tirisfal Glades is shrouded in mist year-round, teeming with poisonous insects and wild beasts... yet it is the undead's stronghold, rarely visited and relatively safe. While the Queen may not care much about the lives of ordinary Forsaken, she will not allow others to destroy her foundation, which lies between Undercity and her logistical base in Tirisfal Glades.
Queen Sylvanas, who served as the Ranger-General in her lifetime, faced the primary threat to her territory from the Scarlet Crusade. Externally, however, she was surrounded by wolves... Aside from Silvermoon City and the Argent Dawn, Undercity truly had few allies it could rely on.
Thrall never interfered with the command of the Northern Frontier in the Horde's united army; most of the command was handled by commanders scattered in different locations.
The fact that Undercity either assists or supports each other suggests that they do not trust each other as much as they claim.
Thrall's thoughts are quite complex; he is very different from traditional orcs.
Gladiators, raised in human prisons since childhood, are constantly torn between conflicting desires: peace, revenge, and the rise of a new Horde. Thrall, the Warchief, has always wanted to abdicate... He knows the shadow of the Shadow Council lingers among the orcs, and he understands the vast differences between the troll tribes, their diverse and hostile deities, their lack of unity, and their rebellious tendencies. Yet, to bolster his own power, he still sends numerous emissaries to unite with so-called non-human races.
The Tauren tribe joined the Horde in gratitude to Thrall, who helped them drive away the centaurs' harassment. In reality, the Tauren didn't love war. They lived peacefully in Mulgore, but were drawn into the war by outsiders, and ultimately, they were forced to become the backbone of the Horde.
The truly warlike ones are some of the orcs and the Forsaken...
They all want revenge...
The orcish hawks dominate the Horde, especially after Thrall brought back Grom Hellscream's son from Outland. The orcs' warlike banners were planted all over the gates of Orgrimmar.
Orc tradition holds an exceptionally strong aversion to magic... and they disdain ambushes or poisons... considering them dishonorable, preferring head-on, mindless close-quarters combat...
It was a belief in primal power.
The undead are driven by revenge: revenge against the Lich King of the Scourge, revenge against the Scarlet Crusade who forbid the existence of the undead, and revenge against all the living... The specific acts of revenge are not important; they are merely the slogan and goal of the Queen in rallying her kind.
The situation of the forgotten is not good...
The Frostwolf Clan and the Defiler Legion each fought their enemies on two fronts.
In Alterac Valley, the main battleground is between Frostwolf Orcs and Stormpike Dwarves, while in Arathi Basin, the Undercity Undead fight against the Arathorian Alliance. Only in Warsong Gulch, far away on the continent of Kalimdor, is the main battleground a capture-the-flag contest between Warsong Orcs and Night Elves.
The war between the Horde and the Alliance was raging, but their common enemy and other troublemakers were not quiet either.
Syndicates are just a relatively high-profile group of bandits.
......
"Looks like a mage! He seems a bit different..."
Lorraine discovered that all the paths leading up the mountain were within the Syndicate's surveillance and patrol network, and the main entrances were all blocked. This place was indeed the base's front line. As long as no one discovered them by the lake, Dren Manor was truly an excellent hiding place. In the past, most of the Syndicate's bandit families had hidden here.
Of course, most of their so-called "family members" were women or livestock they had abducted...
“Those are shadow mages. The magic they practice is mainly shadow elemental... which belongs to the dark magic category. In the past, under the laws of Dalaran, these mages were considered to have violated taboos and would be tried and imprisoned in the Violet Jail.”
"Shadow Mage? What exactly is the power of shadow?"
Eileen's health has improved a lot. After drinking Lorraine's healing potion and climbing mountains with Lorraine, her complexion is much rosier and her blood and energy have recovered somewhat.
"They are more powerful than ordinary mages, and they use some evil spells... Be careful..."
She is already a novice mage, and her magic recovery speed is quite good. A novice mage can handle one or two ordinary armed bandits.
The shadow mage in the center of the camp seemed rather troublesome. Eileen said that the shadow mage's spells were somewhere between those of a warlock and a mage, somewhat similar to a shadow priest, with the main method of damage being casting shadow bolts.
There are also some bizarre curse spells, with astonishing power.
In the past, battle mages of the Violet Enforcement Team would be killed if they encountered them carelessly. Shadow mages, apart from not being able to summon demons to fight, are proficient in most of the skills of shadow priests and demon warlocks.
After observing for a while, Lorraine felt that the Shadow Mage's appearance was quite intimidating, but his perceived magical power level was only average.
The glasses were a great help again.
"Don't worry, just stay close to me..."
Lorraine gave a few instructions and then walked straight towards the center of the camp...
Night had fallen, and the campfires illuminated a short distance before a sentry suddenly appeared before Lorraine, raising his knife and demanding, "Who are you? I've never seen you before!"
“I am Lord Oridon’s steward. He asked me to escort Miss Elisa to Northford Farm... He’s in a bit of a hurry.”
The sentry sized up Lorraine. Lorraine looked like a member of the Syndicate. She was masked and had human eyes that were somewhat lifeless, though this wasn't obvious in the darkness.
Syndicate members are relatively easy to impersonate; most wear masks, and rank is indicated by headscarves and armbands. They always carry the Syndicate mark and the Fire Lotus as tokens. Before his death, Oridon revealed everything about the Syndicate's inner workings; out of fear of death, he said everything he could...
The sentry looked Lorraine up and down, then glanced back and forth at Eileen, whose hands were bound behind her...
He was somewhat undecided; he seemed to have heard that Lord Oridon had a mistress named Elisa...