The Great Thief

Gar’rok did not lie.

Lu Li watched with his own eyes as he put all the materials into the offering place of the altar. He also took out a pile of various gems and…

Blood?

It seemed that most of it was demon blood. Although Lu Li felt disgusted, he remembered that Remulos once instructed him to use Demon’s blood to strengthen the ring, so this was to be expected.

He just didn’t expect that such an old Orc would have this much stuff.

When all the materials were put together, Lu Li realized with shame that the materials he had brought did not amount to much. The materials that Gar’rok had provided were not that much less than Lu Li.

However, this made the overall situation even stranger.

Why would the Orc himself pay such a great price to help Lu Li level up his ring?

At this point, Lu Li’s ring was once again released from him. It was attracted to the energy being produced and floated just above the elemental altar.

The energy rushed into the ring, causing the runes on it to start distorting. Eventually, the ring began to look different.

Lightning flashed and the whole Throne of Elements went berserk.

There were countless roars, cries and all sorts of strange sounds. The Demon blood not only contained energy, but also the Demons’ immortal souls. If the Demon blood had been brought into the void, they could have been reborn.

But now, this opportunity had been lost.

The Throne of Elements and Supreme Ring had reserved the undead nature of these demons, and they were all going to die.

The levelling up process didn’t take very long.

After everything calmed down, only a grey ring remained.

Based on Lu Li’s previous experiences, he expected the ring to fly back to him.

Lu Li was the owner of the ring which, according to the rules of the System, meant that it was bound to him. No amount of strength could separate the ring from Lu Li.

But in that moment, there was an unforeseen incident.

A hand reached out from the void, and it was reaching for Lu Li’s ring.

The hand was huge, and it appeared to be moving slowly, but it had almost reached its target. With Lu Li’s current ability, there was no way for him to snatch it back.

Just as this hand was about to grab the ring and pull it into the void, another unforeseen incident occurred. A hoof extended to trample on this hand.

Was it Remulos?

Lu Li’s heart was filled with joy. If Remulos had come, then there was hope.

He now understood that Gar’rok had already been corrupted. This was the reason he promised to help Lu Li upgrade his ring and was willing to pay so many materials to do it. It also explained why he had so much Demon blood. After all, there was no shortage of powerful Demon Lords.

Lu Li just didn’t know who his master was.

“It’s not him, it’s not him! He’s already dead!”

The hand’s master seemed frightened at first, but soon calmed down.

“Son from the Stormrage family, why are you trying to take things that don’t belong to you?”

The hoof trampled on the hand once again, completely pushing it back and gradually exposing itself.

“Zaetar, I see you’re still alive!”

It turned out not to be Remulos, but Remulos’ younger brother, Zaetar. It was said that Zaetar was also the son of Demi-God Cenarius. This same Cenarius had produced the Centaurs with Princess Theradras. Eventually, Zaetar was killed by the Centaurs and Princess Theradras sealed away his soul.

That was the story that Lu Li learned from the Maraudon Instance Dungeon Strategy guide.

“Dead? You underestimate the Demi-God’s strength. I am heir to the Force of Nature – therefore, I am immortal.”

Lu Li remembered that when the game officials introduced the Maraudon Instance Dungeon, it stated that Maraudon was a temple dedicated to the Zaetar, one of the immortal sons of Demi-God Cenarius.

It turned out that the word ‘immortal’ was not an exaggeration.

“Even he is dead, so what does that say about your immortality?” the hand’s master boomed as he started tearing through the void. He had to appear in person too, otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to defeat the Demi-God’s son, who appeared to be quite powerful.

“Illidan, you don’t understand, nor do you need to understand what kind of existence my father currently is!” Zaetar cried out, raising his hoof once again.

This time, instead of attacking Illidan, who was approaching him, he unexpectedly attacked the ring.

“No!” Illidan growled.

The ring had been attacked by the Demi-God’s son. Lu Li was certain that it would be broken, but this didn’t happen. Instead, it was released from the altar and was shot away like a meteor.

The direction was at…

Lu Li!

Lu Li grabbed the ring and quickly put it on his hand. He had no time to look at its Attributes as he was kicked to death by Zaetar’s next attack.

Kicked to death…

He was dead…

There were no words that could be used to describe the situation he just faced.

After Lu Li vanished, Illidan finally appeared in Nagrand. He had come from the real Black Temple (not the Instance Dungeon), which had to take some time no matter how strong he was.

Zaetar had taken advantage of this delay. He kicked the ring to Lu Li and one-shot him to completely eliminate the possibility of Illidan taking the ring.

“I thought you would want to take the Lord Ring?”

Since there was no longer any hope of getting it, Illidan had no reason to be anxious.

“Haha, as long as neither you or he has it, I don’t really care who has the Lord Ring,” Zaetar said laughed. He was obviously referring to his brother Remulos in that sentence.

“The Lord Ring belongs to me,” Illidan said seriously.

“Yes, it used to belong to you, until you chose a different path and lost it to the endless abyss. Illidan, your heart is not resolute,” Zaetar said.

“You wouldn’t understand what a resolute heart is Zaetar. You are just jealous, jealous of everything you can’t have! After so many years, you are still like a child,” Illidan’s chided, his voice carrying a trace of indignation.

“I am the son of a Demi-God, the heir of the Force of Nature. When my father returned, I will be his proudest being,” Zaetar declared loudly.

It was generally believed that Cenarius was dead and had been killed by Grom Hellscream.

Grom Hellscream found a fountain of life that exuded powerful magic. He quickly succumbed to Mannoroth’s temptation and thought that the Strength would help him defeat the Demi-God Cenarius.

As such, the Orc tribe led by Grom Hellscream drank the infected waters in the fountain and became addicted to the strength given to them by the Demon.

With extraordinary aggression, Grom and his warriors counterattacked Cenarius and his allies. In the end, the Orcs successfully killed the Demi-God. The Night Elves and many other creatures mourned this terrible death.

Although Cenarius was dead, many believed that he would be reborn in another form.

The powerful Demi-God could not be killed as his revival mechanism was not like the Demon’s Twisted Void or the Emerald Dream – it was not dependent on a certain plane. Their souls contained the essence of life that could only be corrupted or purified, but not destroyed. The death of the flesh was just a short rest for them, and they would return to this world when necessary. It was only a matter of time.

For a Demi-God, there was no concept of death.

At the very least, Zaetar was convinced of this.

“Haha, oh Zaetar, this is a tragedy. Your father is most proud of those devoted to him. He is most proud of my great brother, the brother who took everything from me.”