The Great Thief

The purple canopy of the sky was dimmer than usual, telling everyone that it was not yet dawn over the Plaguelands. However, Lu Li and those few with him knew that the time was soon coming. Therefore, Lu Li’s promised forces needed to quickly take their places in order to be prepared for the coming battle.

“Rice Ball, open the portal!” Lu Li commanded, nodding his head.

Suddenly, a portal opened in a remote corner and more and more adventurers emerged from the portal.

“500 players. Is that enough?” Lu Li sounded like he had 500 more for Solomon. This frightened Solomon, who repeatedly waved his hand. “It’s enough, it’s enough. We don’t have much time. We need to retreat as soon as we possess the box of potions. If we get discovered by Scourge’s overhead units then we won’t be able to escape.”

“Hopefully there aren’t any exceptionally powerful enemies.” Lu Li prayed. Forget about all the people he brought — there’d be trouble if they faced a boss. During event season in the Plaguelands, any boss would be as strong as the best wild bosses and there was also a time limit on top of that.

“Don’t worry, if there are any strong enemies, I would’ve already known of any yesterday. At worst, there will be a Lich. It could even be a bit more powerful than me. However, I’m not really suited to do any hands-on fighting,” Solomon said, feigning self-confidence.

Even if Solomon was a hot-blooded aristocrat who wanted to quickly achieve more accolades, Lu Li knew that his so-called scout party yesterday was actually done by himself. As a result, Lu Li relaxed a little.

Solomon thought it would be one whose power was like that of a normal boss, and even probably on the weaker side at that. With Lu Li added in, dealing with a normal Boss wouldn’t be too much of a problem. Lu Li, having brought many people with him also wouldn’t have a problem clearing up small monsters.

If there was a boss, the rewards wouldn’t just be potions; due to the seasonal event in Plaguelands, the boss might drop good loot as well.

Many players assembled together and killed some Elite Stitch-type monsters around the perimeter. There was a chance of dropping Dark Gold armour – one of the benefits of the event season. Once the ‘Spreading Plague’ event has ended, there wouldn’t be any more of good drops.

“Wait a bit, then as soon as we cross the bridge, we will engage the enemy. Deep Watersong, you will need to Taunt the Lich. Best Friend, get ready to taunt any other relatively fierce and strong enemies. Teams 1 to 20, lay low on the left side of the bridge. Teams 21 to 40, ambush from the right. Magicians and healers, station by the hill.”

Lu LI rapidly barked out orders and commanded his army, which really changed Solomon’s impression of him.

“What do I do then?” Solomon asked.

Solomon felt that with this sort of arrangement, they would pretty much be able to defeat a Lich at his level of strength.

“Um, sir, if we need you later, we will tell you. Right now, you and I can just stand by and watch.” Lu Li couldn’t really say much else. Solomon was a thief, a role which was considered relatively easy to kill. It’d be troublesome if Solomon was unlikely killed by a Lich.

A caravan leisurely rode up to the bridge. In the dim first rays of the morning sun, it looked to everyone like specks of Underlight.

That was the spirit fire of the Undead. The Undead horses were pulling the carriage with various Undead guards following them.

There were 4 vehicles in total. It felt like they were from the Hinterlands of the Plaguelands, so there weren’t many Undead with them. There was a seat installed on top of the last vehicle and someone was sitting on it, holding a magic bone staff. The staff sparkled like jade, which grabbed people’s attention.

A Lich!

During the time when Ner’zhul was the chief of the Draenor Horde, he once commanded many orcs, warlock and shamans to offer sacrifices.

Later, after the Draenor were exterminated, Kil’jaeden and his forces got hold of these evil creatures and turned them into twisted egos. They were the Lich, and they had extremely powerful magic and their immortal Undead bodies were controlled by Ner’zhul’s will.

As such, the Lich displayed unwavering loyalty to their masters, and Ner’zhul imbued in them the essence of the Cold North. With their evil and enormous power, the Lich pledged their loyalty to their masters. When their great masters were too busy, they often acted as generals and representatives to command all their caravans.

The bodies of the Lich were deeply wrapped with the cold, dark power of the grave. They could use ice and frost magic with ease, as well as their natural ability of using spirit spells.

They abandoned the frail human body of this world for an eternal, undying body.

They would crave power, treachery and evil; they liked gorgeous scenery and they crafty schemes. They often wore the clothes of kings or priests, and had their subordinates address them with a powerful name.

Sometimes, the Lich would declare that Ner’zhul himself was directly endowing on them with abnormal power. They acted as if Ner’zhul was a god, and they were god-chosen priests and prophets.

Just like the enemy in front of them, he didn’t only have a magnificent magic staff. He had clothes that were also particularly exquisite; the top was adorned with a number of gems. And on top of his head, sat a crown. If that crown were to be shown public, there would definitely be many greedy mages who would be willing to give up everything to have it.

In order to maintain this level of luxury, the Lich would often start battles against cities and towns of the living; they were like a Wyrm storing up their treasure.

Of course, not all Lich were powerful enough to cause massive destruction. The number of Lich had increased to expand the territory of the Scourge. Some might assume personal command and others may carry out special quests as their master’s representative.

If the stitched monsters of the Plaguelands were feared by all, then when a normal player saw a Lich, they’d simply run away.

The event, ‘Spreading Plague’, was a battle between NPCs. However, players would still follow the fight to pick up leftover loot.

This Lich’s name was Anglish. Lu Li didn’t know where he came from and Solomon was equally clueless.

Anglish actually used to be a magic teacher in Dalaran. When he was 30, he was a strong intermediate magic teacher, and remained as such until he was 60. The old magic teacher had seemed to have almost given up hope on achieving great power.

He knew that as he aged his physical ability, memory and other parts of himself were weakening.

The God of Death had already touched him and left behind lines of wrinkles.

Anglish was cowardly and weak but he was also addicted to the world of magic. He knew that he was facing death, but he did not resign to it. He felt like he was on a spiritual journey, standing in front of a door. All he needed to do was push open the door and there’d be another world.

After a long time searching for answers, Anglish placed his hopes on Kel’Thuzad. Kel’Thuzad was a great mage, with much greater achievements than Anglish, and provided proof for another road humans could take.

However, transforming into a Lich wasn’t an easy task. It was like a promotion for an Undead mage. If it weren’t for a powerful person like Ner’zhul, Alsace or Kel’Thuzad who could offer it, then it would be impossible to transform.

At the time, Anglish was still teaching a dozen or so students. He betrayed his own students and sold their magic and souls to Kel’Thuzad.

It was by that time, that some might consider him mentally deranged.

Kel’Thuzad placed a spell on Anglish and performed a transformation ritual, transforming Anglish into a Half Lich.