Spellcasting Gods

“But we just fought a major battle with the insectoids of Ahn’Qiraj! Most of our elite troops are on the continent of Kalimdor! On the other side of the Endless Sea!” Lordenson slammed his fist on the table, venting his anger and fear.

He simply couldn't imagine what a terrible disaster it would be if thousands upon thousands of demons rushed out of the Cursed Lands, crossed the Swamp of Sorrows, and launched a direct attack on the heart of Stormwind Kingdom. It might be even more despairing than the early days of the Orc Wars.

“Don’t worry! As far as I know, the magical kingdom of Dalaran has completed its basic reconstruction. If necessary, the Kirin Tor Council will send a large number of mages to build portals to bring back some troops. Moreover, the demons’ antics are not solely the Alliance’s responsibility; I believe the Horde will not stand idly by either.” Thasslanan knew his old friend’s concerns and gently patted him on the shoulder to comfort him.

"Sigh—I hope so. Prepare a griffin, and have my adjutant go there in half an hour. Tell him that if no reinforcements arrive within half a month, Watchtower will be razed to the ground by the swarming demon army."

In the end, Lodensen couldn't help but rub his slightly throbbing forehead and silently prayed to his faith—the Holy Light.

Because in the current situation, any action other than prayer seems so pale and powerless...

Chapter 0633 K'urei

war!

It is the most intense and destructive behavior of all intelligent life.

Under normal circumstances, no rational ruling class would easily launch a foreign war without sufficient preparation.

Interestingly, this law, which is universally observed on Earth, has absolutely no effect on Azeroth.

To be precise, ever since the opening of the Dark Portal, this seemingly cursed world has been embroiled in a brutal war almost constantly. First, the series of battles between humans and orcs for survival lasted for seven or eight years, leaving the eastern continent devastated.

Before people could even catch their breath, the Scourge of the undead, unleashed by the Lich King, once again swept through the most powerful human kingdom—Lordaeron, killing millions of its subjects and turning them into members of the undead army.

The High Elf kingdom suffered a brutal massacre, and their prized Sunwell was corrupted.

The worst off was Dalaran, which was first attacked by the undead army and then completely destroyed from the inside out by Archimonde. The losses were incalculable and left only a huge, broken ruin.

With a vast army of undead and demons, the Corruptors conquered cities and territories, easily reaching the World Tree. In the end, the Night Elves paid the price of immortality to barely escape their fate.

If you think that's all, you're sorely mistaken.

Next, in order to expand their living space, the Horde launched a war against the native inhabitants of Kalimdor, including intelligent beings such as quilboars, centaurs, and harpies, who suffered terrible massacres.

Meanwhile, the Alliance was not idle either. The remaining nobles of the Kingdom of Lordaeron were actively organizing, hoping to take the opportunity to reclaim lost territory and restore their former glory. Admiral Daelin made no attempt to hide her hatred for the orcs and personally led the fleet to attack the Horde's stronghold, only to be betrayed and killed by her own daughter.

In recent years, the Horde and the Alliance have been constantly at odds. Although no large-scale battles have broken out, small-scale conflicts have never stopped until the Second War of the Shifting Sands began, when they finally shook hands and made peace to reunite.

Even more terrifying is that they will next travel to Outland to fight Illidan and the Burning Legion, then embark on an expedition to Northrend to annihilate the Lich King, and then face the legendary Deathwing in the Cataclysm.

In short, war has never left this ancient planet.

Zhang Cheng never understood how large a population base and birth rate would be needed to ensure that civilization would not regress or even perish due to the frequent wars and the various tragic deaths.

Of course, the lives and deaths of the native inhabitants of Azeroth have absolutely nothing to do with him.

He had already silently left the Black Temple and arrived inside Mount Oshugu in Nagrand, looking up at the strange creature emitting a strong light before him—the Naaru.

To be precise, it was the Naaru K'ure who first came into contact with the Draenei prophet Velen.

However, due to the crash of its spaceship, this powerful creature is currently in a state of severe injury and near death.

"What is this?!" Hilna looked up in surprise, her face filled with shock and awe.

Through the Demon Hunter's unique perception, she could clearly sense the surging power brewing within the other party, and this power was so pure.

“A Naru who is critically injured and on the verge of death.” As he spoke, Zhang Cheng stepped forward, placed one hand on his chest, and bowed slightly. “Hello, Kure, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

"No! I'm not feeling well at all! And I feel even worse after you came." The bright, shimmering substance on Naru's body kept spinning, expressing the unease in its master's heart.

"Oh? Can you tell me why?" Zhang Cheng pursed his lips, a playful smile appearing on his face.

"Because of you! I sense darkness, evil, cruelty, and madness within you! Without a doubt, you are an enemy of the Holy Light, a monster fallen into darkness."

As he spoke these words, the light emanating from Kouré suddenly dimmed, foreshadowing his future and destiny.

"Hahahaha! Interesting! This is truly fascinating! You actually saw through my disguise? Tell me, is this an ability possessed by every Naaru? What is its principle? Mind detection? Soul detection? Or some kind of detection spell? Furthermore, can you explain how Naaru are born? Why do you possess near-immortal life? Even in death, you merely transform, drawing energy from the void, and then resurrecting again and again?"

Zhang Cheng made no attempt to hide his true feelings, laughing as he asked countless questions.

It should be noted that in his eyes, the Naruko is something whose research value is second only to the Titans.

After all, even incredibly powerful beings like Kil'jaeden, Archimonde, Deathwing, and the Old Gods cannot be resurrected, but for the Naaru, it is an innate instinct.

Kouré seemed enraged and warned in a stern voice, “Mortal! Cease your dangerous actions! I assure you, this will do no good for you, for me, or for the world.”

Hearing such childish remarks, Zhang Cheng couldn't help but laugh and wave his hand: "No, no, no, I think you've got one thing wrong, which is that I don't care at all what the world will become."

In my opinion, whether it's the Burning Legion, the Titans of the Pantheon, or you so-called messengers of the Light, there's not much difference in essence, and it doesn't even matter if the entire universe is swallowed by the Void.

Because light and darkness, life and death, creation and destruction are inherently a cycle that is both opposing and interdependent.

Even the vast universe eventually comes to an end, let alone a few planets and the insignificant life and civilizations that inhabit them.

Most importantly, why fear the Burning Legion and the forces from the Twisted Spacetime?

Holy Light, Shadow, Fel Energy, Arcane, Nature, Necromancer...

All of this magical energy is part of the primordial universe, and no one can destroy it forever, not even the Titans of the Pantheon.

Therefore, my principle is that all forces, regardless of their nature, exist objectively. They are like swords and armor, which are neither good nor evil, but depend on what one wants to do with them.

Furthermore, do you think that you, who are on the verge of death, have any room for negotiation with me?

Do not!

You are just a prisoner!

An experimental subject that I am about to study!

Oh, by the way, I hope Naru's pain nerves aren't too sensitive, because you might be going through some rather rough treatments in the coming period.

After all, I'm just so curious about why you and your kind came into being, and why you can keep transforming between two extreme life forms..."

Chapter 634 The Death of the Naaru (Part 1)

Without a doubt, the Naaru are advanced life forms in the universe where Azeroth is located. In their prime, they were comparable to wild demigods like Cenarius. Even the powerful demon lords of the Burning Legion had to be prepared to die when they encountered them.

Unfortunately, Kouré is currently in a state that is not even a tenth of what it was during his prime, let alone his peak condition; to be precise, he is on the verge of death.

Even if no one attacks him, it won't be long before his core exhausts its last bit of holy light power and transforms into a dark naaru or an entropy demon.

In this situation, let alone fighting back, he had already exhausted all his energy just to maintain his own life form and prevent his death from causing terrible damage to the surrounding environment and creatures. He was completely powerless against the arrogant human in front of him.

All they could do was watch helplessly as the other party recklessly did whatever they wanted, even resorting to violence to cut off fragments of that body that shimmered with divine light.

In just a few days, poor K'urei had exhausted the power he had drawn from the pool of the orc shamanic holy land over hundreds of years. The shadow energy symbolizing the distortion of the void was constantly leaking out from the core, and he was only one step away from becoming a life form completely opposite to the Holy Light.

Just when he thought he was doomed, Zhang Cheng, his eyes gleaming with a fervent desire to explore, suddenly stopped what he was doing, stroking his chin without any hesitation and muttering to himself, "This is so interesting! You Naru are less a kind of life form and more a kind of cosmic phenomenon with independent thought. Your dazzling outer shells are merely energy storage devices and conductors. Your true core originates from the singularity created by the violent conflict between light and darkness. As long as the singularity is not destroyed, the Naru will never truly die. Am I right?"

“Mortal! You are stepping into a dangerous territory! There are things you should not know or study at all!” Kourei warned once again in a tired and weak voice.

To be precise, in just a few days, he had issued countless warnings and threats, but none of them had any real effect.

Because, according to a certain strict definition, Zhang Cheng is no longer an ordinary person.

While on the continent of Faerûn, he went on a killing spree, slaughtering the gods who had been cast down to the material world and were now walking in saintly form. He seized a great deal of divine power and divinity from them, and the seed within him, bestowed by the creator of the magical Earth, began to take root and sprout, gradually extending into a powerful force of creation.

Of course, unlike many demigods or heroes in myths and legends, he did not constantly strengthen his body to make it more and more solid and harder to kill.

On the contrary, he chose to strengthen the most essential thing in his life—his soul.

In his view, the body is merely a container, a vessel for the soul, just like clothes and shoes, something that can be replaced.

But the soul is different; the soul carries memories, personality, thoughts, and knowledge...

When a life form's soul is powerful enough, it no longer needs a physical body. It can interfere with the material world with the power of its soul alone. Just like the Titans of the Pantheon were destroyed by Sargeras, but they could still do many things even when they existed only as souls.

Looking at the strange creature that was about to transform into a Dark Naaru or an Entropy Demon, Zhang Cheng shrugged nonchalantly: "Sorry, dear Kurei, curiosity and the thirst for knowledge are human nature. Although this nature often leads to extremely terrible and disastrous consequences, it also gives us courage—the courage to challenge and explore the power of the gods."

“No! Your motive is not courage at all! It is greed! Greed from the depths of your heart!” Kouré retorted loudly.

"Heh, what's the difference? Every intelligent being is a collection of desires. To obtain food and living space, we will not hesitate to kill other life forms, even slaughtering them all. Although the Naaru do not need food, each death causes enormous destruction, and I'm afraid the number of lives you've taken is not much less than mine. I'm very curious, how exactly do you maintain this superior attitude, as if you are pure and flawless, representing the supreme justice of the universe?" Zhang Cheng's tone was filled with disdain and sarcasm.

Does Naru represent Holy Light?

Representing justice?

Only brainwashed paladins and holy priests would believe that!

Although he was not entirely sure about the exact circumstances of the Naaru's birth and death, one thing was certain: these strange life forms had ulterior motives and their actions were very similar to those of the Void forces that corrupted the Star Soul with the Old Gods, except that one was light and the other was darkness.

Hearing this blatant accusation, the faint light emanating from Kouré dimmed further, and he replied in a slightly sorrowful tone, "You have no idea how many secrets this universe holds! You don't understand the meaning of our existence!"

"Why should I understand? You've got one thing wrong. My study of you isn't about figuring out what the Naaru's existence means for the entire universe. I'm just trying to find ways you can be used. Finally, I'm very sorry, but this time you probably won't be able to pull off the resurrection trick again. Because I will seal the most crucial part of the Naaru, the singularity, within your core, using it to strengthen my supreme authority."

As the last word escaped his lips, Zhang Cheng raised his finger and unleashed a blinding beam of arcane energy.

next second...

boom!

The last glimmer of light from the core of the Kourei disappeared, replaced by an entrance that links to distorted spacetime.

A large amount of shadow energy, like a white tide, spread outwards from its center.

Within seconds, the sacred mountain in the eyes of the orc shamans—Woshugu—was completely swallowed by darkness, and even the lush green grass was twisted and severely damaged.

silence!

cold!

dark!

death!

The dead Naru demonstrated through their actions just how terrible they could become after falling into the other side.

But Zhang Cheng was not affected by the violent energy impact at all. He took two steps forward, raised his staff high, and chanted a spell loudly. He used the power of magic to firmly fix Kourei in place and slowly tore apart his thin body.

The entire process was both dangerous and lengthy, lasting more than an hour. Finally, the most important core part of the Naru's body, which resembled a tangram puzzle, was forcibly separated.

Sensing the singularity formed by the intense interplay of holy light and shadow within the fragment, a faint smile quickly appeared on Zhang Cheng's tense face: "Excellent! The next step is to merge and devour! Supreme Authority, are you ready?"

hum!hum!

The crystal at the tip of the staff vibrated and flickered incessantly, as if urging its master to hurry up and act; it was already impatient...

Chapter 635 The Death of the Naaru (Part 2)

"You're always so eager! Be patient! After all, this is as important to you as a heart transplant."