Light's Dawn of Azeroth

Chapter 567, Section 28: Theft Warning Letter - The Supreme Thief King Returns

The third night for the vigilant lasted longer than the second.

Twelve hours later, Diakum returned to the light. He awoke in the dragon's lair, looking at the entire area that had been almost tainted by darkness into a void, and called for the sunlight to shine down and purify and dispel the filth here.

But eerie whispers and occasional hallucinations still linger here, as the physical properties of the entire dungeon have changed due to the eclipse, giving them a certain ethereal affinity.

But it's not a big problem.

This place needs to be sealed off. After several years, the strange phenomena here will dissipate. Dragon Island is the home of the dragons, and they will take great care of this place.

As Diakum stepped out of the cell gate, he saw Nellie dozing against the stone by the door. It was midnight on Dragon Island, and the moon and stars were few, making the mountains look exceptionally peaceful.

The vigilant walked over quietly and sat down next to Nellie.

The archbishop's "lover's radar" quietly activated at that moment. With a natural roll, he nestled into Dick's arms, nuzzling him gently, and then mumbled sleepily:

"They all went to the Chamber of the Heart to witness the day when the Guardian Dragon returned to Mother Earth's embrace, but they left you, the great hero, here. I couldn't bear to see it, so I stayed here to keep you company."

The guardian dragons have nothing to do with us Eredar.

But why did it take so long this time? Is the transition between light and dark so random?

"There's nothing I can do about it."

He sat on the stone steps at the entrance of this 20,000-year-old prison, holding his beloved old man in his arms, while the five little angels beside him softly hummed lullabies. He then hugged Nelly tighter and said:

"That body is merely Anser's divine transformation, maintaining a wondrous connection with the sun god's true form. Until I complete the possession, I can only follow Anser's rhythm; when He extinguishes, I must enter the night; when He blooms, I must..."
"Hmm, fell asleep? So quickly?"

Dick glanced at Nellie, who was fast asleep in his arms, shrugged helplessly, and then looked up at the bright moon in the sky. The silver moonlight shone on Nellie, a sign of Lady Elune's care.

But Dick couldn't be sure whether the old man truly possessed the talent to walk the path of the Moon Goddess's faith, or whether Lady Elune was giving the Archbishop so much favor out of consideration for him.

However, upon closer examination, Nellie obtained the anima of Cenarius, the Forest King, after the Battle of Mount Hyjal, thereby ascending to demigod status. Cenarius is the "son" of Lady Elune and Malorne the Great Stag.

If you think about it that way, Nellie is actually considered one of the Moon Goddesses' "family," so it's only right that she's given them some extra care.

"This is the third night."

Diakum kept his body still, letting Nelly lean against him, and moved his fingers to feel the connection between himself and the divine body.

The powers of the Sun God and the Black Sun Lord are awakening. Now, Diakum can blink his eyes and "jump" his consciousness into the stars of this star system. Although he can still only throw "Sun Arrows" at predetermined targets, he can now control much more stellar energy than before.

Dick estimated that after he completed the occupation, he should be able to manipulate the star's blazing light to unleash a "light burial" towards the predetermined target.

Destroying a world like Azeroth is obviously far from enough, but those asteroids or starships would definitely be swallowed up by the solar beams in an instant, which would give him another secondary god-level attack method.

But since it was the power of the sun god, Dick felt that he could temporarily use more than just the stars on Azeroth.

"Perhaps wherever I go, wherever there are stars, I can borrow their light."

He thought to himself:
"Right now, I can only mobilize the solar energy of stars. Once I've completed my 'possession' of Anser's divine transformation, perhaps I can grab a star and 'fight' it. Next time I encounter President Sa, I'll definitely make him experience what it feels like to have a sun hit him in the face!"

If one were to encounter a Void God under that level of combat power
Well, there's no need to trouble Lord Sargeras with those worthless scoundrels. Find a Void Frontier with plenty of sun, and I can watch the 'sunset' with them until the end of time.

But if even a minor god can use stars as weapons on this path, then how powerful must the true god's authority be?
Do you rub your sun with your hands?

Diakum laughed.

The thought of myself standing in a sea of ​​stars, huffing and puffing as I chuckled, conjuring up orbs of light that would eventually become the sun. It felt like a human man playing Hearthstone – the posture was undeniably pathetic.

While there was still some time, Diakum lowered his head and kissed Nellie's hair, then closed his eyes and returned to the High Heavens.

This realm of holy light is exactly the same as when Diakum first came here, desolate and barren, with only endless holy light gathering here.

However, considering the special relationship between the Holy Light Force and "faith," Dick speculated that the domain of the Holy Light Force might continue to expand into new territories as the power of faith converges, and he could use the power of faith to create buildings or even creatures here.

However, large-scale creation is clearly a privilege reserved for gods, so Dick did not waste time on it.

His first task was to recreate the high heaven he remembered, as the main building here. The sun god Anser had reserved this place for him, and it would be a waste of his favor if he didn't take good care of it.

Most importantly, what if someone actually comes here "because of its reputation" and is disappointed to see this barren golden plain?

As a warrior of light who brings happiness and justice, how could I let those who have expectations leave disappointed?

Anyway, I've accumulated quite a bit of faith power during this time. Holy crap!

How could there suddenly be so many?
Diakum glanced at the total amount of Faith Power on the character card and almost thought there was something wrong with it. The speed and amount of Faith Power collected in the past few days were frightening.

This is definitely not just the resources provided to him by the Lightforged Chapter and the Shadowchaser Cult, because the quantity has suddenly increased tenfold, but he did not order the Twins to recruit people on a large scale recently.

The Sun Church of Quel'Thalas is still in the planning stages, so there's only one answer!

The Arathi Empire hidden in the stormy sea!

Those human descendants who have lived alone overseas for nearly three thousand years have always believed in the sacred flame, which is full of the concepts of "light" and "fire." After I came into contact with their emperor in the guise of a sun god, it was only natural that the faith power of their entire nation would be transferred to me.

Moreover, as Diakum pondered, a continuous stream of faith power was gathering around him.

If he were a Loa, he would surely be ecstatic. Unfortunately, Dick is on the path of a "true god," and he disdains using the power of faith to gain power through crooked means.

He doesn't lack that kind of power.

“Great, great! Now that we have the ‘construction blueprints’ and the ‘Faith Brand Cement and Lime’ specially supplied by the Arathi Empire, Master Di can start applying the mortar.”

The vigilant rubbed his hands together, stretching his body, eager to manipulate these powers of faith, first to mold the gate of the High Heaven.

This is a project that's important for prestige; it has to be done first.

"Hey, wait a minute! I don't actually need to clean the dust myself."

Diakum projected his vision of the gates to the High Heavens, and as the power of faith rapidly burned, transforming the projection from illusion into reality, a flash of inspiration struck him.

“In the highest heaven there are five archangels who govern everything. Don’t I also have archangels here?”

Although they usually just flatter and fawn over powerful enemies, they should have more uses in the realm of holy light.

Besides, I'm usually so busy, how could I have time to come here and painstakingly clean up the dust?

That's so unfashionable.

So, after exhausting all his faith power and shaping the gates of the High Heaven to a "five-tenths real" form, Dick whistled and tried to summon his five little angels who showered him with compliments.

They actually came in.

As soon as they entered, they circled around Diakum and began singing hymns with practiced ease.

"Stop! We don't need you to play any instruments or sing today."

The Watcher reached out and tapped the nearest cherub on the head, causing them to line up before him. Pointing to the gates of the High Heaven behind him, he said:
“You shall remain here to build the High Heaven. The magnificent land in my memory needs to be forged with the faith of the people of light in the star sea. It is the convergence of all the world’s desire for a better future. The holy city shaped by this glittering thing will surely represent all the ‘truth, goodness and beauty’ in the star sea.”

You can't be lazy, this is where the people of light will be headed from now on.

You need to mold him properly, understand?

The five little angels looked at each other, and finally nodded in unison.

They must be intelligent; they were able to condemn the enemy's attack on Diakum in sacred language.

If someone can swear like that, how could they be mentally deficient?
Moreover, they would use holy light as their brushstrokes to record Diakum's glorious deeds. It must be said that these little angels' handwriting was much better than Diakum's calligraphy.

Anyway, handing this job over to them shouldn't be a problem.

After witnessing the wicked overseers clumsily manipulating the power of faith to "reinforce" the gates of the higher heavens, and confirming that they were capable of accomplishing the task, Dick returned to his own avatar of faith.

It was already daylight.

Nelly was stretching out in front of her, facing the sun, looking like she'd had a good night's sleep. Then, in the sunlight, she turned around, smiled at Diakum, and said:

"You seem to be having a wonderful dream; I just saw a smile on your lips."

"I didn't dream, well, you could call it a dream, since I did go to the highest heaven."

The vigilant stood up, gazing in the direction of the Ornhara plain, and said:
"The Holy Light Greatsword I left there should have dissipated by now. Let's go to the Charalek Cave beneath Dragon Island and eliminate the evil fortress Deathwing left behind. That will eliminate any remaining threats on the Dragon Islands. Anveena has already evolved the Saviors swarm in the Zandalari swamp to the point where they can wage war."

Since we promised the Zandalari trolls we would help them eliminate the threat of Uldir, we should do so as soon as possible.

"So, you're not planning to leave the Old Gods behind?"

Nelly squinted and said:
"After the artificial Old God G'huun is dealt with, the next one will be Ulduar, right?"

"so smart."

Dick grinned and said:
"In the past, we were worried about damaging our Void Power if we didn't eliminate them. Now that it's all down to zero, if we don't take advantage of the bad relationship to get things done quickly, we won't be in the right to act when the relationship is repaired. We've already offended them badly, so we don't care if we kill three more Old Gods."

"Is it because of those warnings?"

Nari said:
"Velen, the Twin Walker, the Troll Deathbringer, and even Lady Elune have all warned you that your fate is about to face its most perilous turning point."

Do you want to eliminate as many hidden dangers as possible in Azeroth before that turning point arrives?

"It's not just because of that."

Diakum took Nelly's hand and whispered:
"Aside from the outrageous Titans, how many lesser gods have you seen wandering around the material star system?"

"Ok?"

Nelly's eyes widened; she realized she had overlooked this.

The various Forces impose constraints on lesser gods, just as Void Lords are confined to the Sea of ​​No Light to plot their schemes. Currently, among all the gods, Sargeras has exploited a bug by using his "Titan" identity to appear in the Sea of ​​Matter.

But even Sargeras doesn't spend every day wandering in the starry sea; He also spends most of his time in the Twisting Nether.

If Diakum surpasses that life rank, wouldn't that mean...?
"Yes, I'm going to 'ascend'."

The vigilant spoke in a tone that was as lighthearted and playful as possible, without much pressure:
“I will become one of those legendary beings who sit atop the clouds, and every time I wish to enter the material world, you will need to hold a grand ceremony. Perhaps you will even need to offer 99 beautiful women from various races as sacrifices to summon me down from the highest heavens.”

"99 beautiful women, right?"

Nelly jumped up, smacked Diakum hard on the head, and roared:
"I'll find 99 female orcs as sacrifices for you tomorrow. If you dare not come down, I'll beat you up! But you'll be waiting for us there, right?"
The Eredar are all devout followers of the Holy Light; their souls will return to the High Heavens, won't they?"

"except you."

Dick shook his head and said:
"A certain follower of the moon goddess will most likely go to the moon goddess's side in the future. However, after we ignite the sun, we can ask Lady Elune for a reward and let you go to the High Heavens to accompany me."

But those who serve the Holy Light will surely be blessed, so I guess I will still have some freedom of movement before the restoration of Argus.

Don't tell anyone else yet; wait until I'm ready.

------

The area where Diakum's Holy Light Greatsword, which he had previously hurled at the Dragon Islands, was embedded was precisely in the mountainous rift valley between the Awakening Coast and the Ornhara Plains. The arrow of the sun pierced the surface but did not damage the continental shelf, instead connecting the underground region of the Dragon Islands to the surface.

It was at this time that the guardian dragons who once lived on the Dragon Islands discovered that other races actually lived underground in their homeland.

Leaving aside the stone trolls like Drogbar, they were on the battlefield during the War of the Ancients and are considered a friendly race.

But the mole people living underground on Dragon Island truly suffered an undeserved disaster.

These short, weak, and unambitious creatures have lived in the Chalarek Cave for generations. They know nothing about the surface of the earth and have no desire to know anything about it. In their worldview, this quiet underground cave is the whole world.

When the Holy Light Great Sword plunged down, it nearly scared the mole people half to death. Many of them thought the end of the world was coming, but fortunately, after the sword of light dissipated, the cave returned to peace.

The dragons sent messengers into the cave to appease the mole people and learn about the situation there. After hearing that the fire giant Jaladin, who lived more than 20,000 years ago, was hiding there, the dragons immediately reported this news to Vadraken.

Therefore, when Diakum arrived at Chalarek Cave, the dragons were fighting in droves against the Jaladins who occupied the lava lands.

Those ancient stone giants were extremely savage and violent. At the end of the War of the Scaled Ones, after their alliance with Ilydikon failed, the giants fled underground and entered a period of elemental slumber. However, Diakum's greatsword shattered the surface and awakened them.

These guys are eagerly preparing to attack the palace left behind by Deathwing.

According to the local mole-man elders, it is said that a long, long time ago, a terrible black dragon captured some of the Jaradin elders.

"They should be referring to the biological experiments Deathwing conducted in 'Abelus,' and these Jaladin giants were clearly also used as test subjects by Deathwing."

Blackhorn gathered information throughout the mole-man town of Jamu, and because there were also Drogbar tribes in the Broken Isles, Blackhorn quickly formed a friendship with the local Drogbar slave owners.

The big black bull shared the message with the watchman, then pointed north and said:
"The Dragonshills came by yesterday. They went mysteriously to a temple in the north, which must also be a place left by Deathwing."

I suspect those scaled creatures found something.

They wouldn't let the black dragon follow them, and this morning they sneaked away, leaving behind only an empty temple.

"Oathbearer!"

Diakum explained:
"They are replicas of the Titan artifacts that Deathwing used to control Dragonshill. I mentioned them once before, and the Dragonshill clearly do not want to fall into the same situation of being controlled again."

This is their racial matter; we shouldn't get involved.

"I see."

Blackhorn nodded, and the kind-hearted black dragon couldn't help but sigh:
"Why is it that everything related to Deathwing is always associated with 'binding,' 'manipulation,' and 'corruption'? You are a master of Void power, is this all the Void can do?"

"Well, you'd better not expect to see any more tricks from the Void, Blackhorn."

Dick shrugged and advised against it:

"Never get interested in those dark things. Alright, let's get down to business. I'm here to deal with the threat posed by Abelus. That palace left behind by Deathwing is filled with too much filth; it needs to be cleansed."

"That place is protected by Shadowflame."

Blackhorn wagged its tail and said with some worry:
"That is the Shadowflame Barrier created by Deathwing himself, which contains a terrifying amount of Void Corruption. The local Jaradin dares not approach it at all."

The black dragons have also been purified and lost their ability to manipulate the shadow flames, so they are unable to break through that barrier.

I was just about to try out the Hammer of Khaz'goroth when you showed up.

"There's no need to make such a big show of it. Let your Titan artifacts rest for a while. I have a use for those Shadowflames."

Diakum thwarted Blackhorn's plan.

He had no liking for these Titan artifacts, and while they were talking, the mole-men of Jaum were also drawn to Diakum, this “super big guy.”

These mole-men, shorter than dwarfs, had to hold their heads high to see Diakum's face. Although this long-tailed giant was much gentler than the terrifying Jaradin, the mole-men still had to worry that Diakum might accidentally step on one of their unfortunate souls and kill him.

But these mole-men were quite bold. As Diakum sat down to chat with them, a large group of mole-men soon surrounded him, chattering about various legends of the Chalarek Cave.

So when the Twins and the Lightforged escorted the reforged Darkheart over, they were surprised to see several little mole-men sitting on Diakum's broad shoulders humming local songs, while their Vigilant was vividly telling the mole-men the story of the "Battle of Argus".

Judging from the expressions of those mole-men, they were basically listening to this as a "ghost story".

"Alright, that's the end of today's story. Now go home. The cave might be a bit bumpy, but don't worry, Blackhorn will protect you."

When Diakum saw the twins, he clapped his hands to the molemen. As they bid him a reluctant farewell, he carefully stepped forward, afraid that he might accidentally step on and kill a moleman, which would be difficult to explain.

"Sir, the Dark Heart has been reforged. The craftsmanship of those goblin masters is truly exceptional. This thing would be a top-tier relic even within the Holy Light Legion."

Saloras handed the lavishly decorated purple disc to Dick, but the watcher quickly noticed something was amiss.

He took the Dark Heart out of the box, rummaged through the cushion below, and finally pulled out a magic card under the astonished gazes of the twins.

The vigilant opened it before his eyes.

The dim, shadowy characters danced before my eyes, forming a pulsating, ethereal phrase:
“Big guy, sit down and listen to what I have to say; Rafam is going to give you a break. Just don’t make any noise or fight. I’ll borrow your precious thing for a bit, and then I’ll send it home after I’m done.”

"boom"

The characters coalesced into a purple firework that exploded, piecing together a grotesque sketch before Dick's eyes.

The vigilant toyed with the Dark Heart in his hand, and waved his hand, saying:
"Notify Aegwynn to bring his men over to 'catch the thief'! I want to see what this Supreme Thief King is up to!"

(End of this chapter)