Chapter 81: Your Cat Is With Me! |
Inside the Magic Inn, Jaina and Arthas’s personal guards closed in, their gazes wary and fixed on Kel'Thuzad.
Paval stepped forward first, blocking Kel'Thuzad.
“Who are you? Step back!”
Kel'Thuzad lifted his head, his hood slipping, revealing a pale, gaunt face.
A ring of arcane light gathered in his gray-blue eyes, welling up from deep within the pupils, growing brighter and more dazzling.
Outside the inn, every street-facing window exploded at the same instant. Glass shards sprayed outward like a torrential downpour, carving dozens of silver arcs in the moonlight before littering the ground.
Purple light poured from the windows, the entire inn shuddered, and pedestrians on the street screamed as they scattered.
The inn’s interior was blasted into chaos by an Arcane Explosion. Tables and chairs were overturned, plates and cups shattered.
The personal guards lay sprawled across the floor.
Arthas had shielded Jaina as well, but Paval had absorbed the greater portion of the damage. Arthas’s hair was disheveled, and several glass cuts streaked his face.
“Paval!” Jaina couldn’t cry in time. She raised her hand, and an ice-blue glow gathered in her palm.
A massive Frostbolt slammed toward Kel'Thuzad, but his frost armor manifested from the void and blocked the attack.
Kel'Thuzad raised his hand, fingers splayed. A ghastly green Blood Demon's Grasp reached out from the void, clamping tightly around Jaina’s waist.
What a beautiful face. What a graceful maiden. If I could drain her life bit by bit, watch her turn into a white-haired old woman, how beautiful that would be.
At that moment Arthas picked up a guard’s sword and took a step forward.
His heart pounded wildly.
All his life he had always felt that the Light didn’t favor him—when it responded to others it was warm and bright, but with him it always hesitated, as if separated by a layer of something.
But now, he had no time for such thoughts.
For Jaina. Please, Light, grant me strength.
Golden radiance surged from his chest.
A blazing torrent burst from his torso, pouring through his arms into the blade until the entire sword was plated in dazzling gold.
He swung the sword down, and the ghastly green Blood Demon's Grasp shattered under the impact of the golden light.
Jaina’s body fell. She hit the ground but didn’t stop; as she planted her hands on the floor she completed the next spell’s incantation.
A dozen ice spikes rose simultaneously from the ground beneath her, razor-sharp ice blades stabbing toward Kel'Thuzad from every direction.
Kel'Thuzad clenched his hand. The spikes halted less than a foot from his body, then began to twist and bend, the dozen sharp ice spikes kneading together before his palm.
“Looks like you have a fondness for frost magic,” Kel'Thuzad's voice was as calm as if critiquing a student’s homework. “Conveniently, I also enjoy manipulating ice.”
He lifted his hand.
Jaina gathered another Frostbolt, but Kel'Thuzad was faster. With a gentle push, an invisible force hurled her through the air, slamming her into an overturned table leg. She curled inward in pain.
Arthas charged with his sword. Kel'Thuzad didn't even glance his way, merely pointed a finger in his direction.
Frost crawled up from beneath Arthas’s boots, freezing his feet to the cracked wooden floor.
Kel'Thuzad walked toward Jaina with a cold sneer, staring at the blonde girl curled by the table leg. His gray-blue eyes reflected her pale face.
Tasha's Hideous Laughter!
Saving Throw: Success
“Stop!”
Allen’s voice rang out. Jaina looked up in surprise.
Allen stood across the street holding a cat, shouting loudly:
“Kel'Thuzad, your cat is with me. I advise you not to act rashly!”
When Allen noticed Jaina was in danger, he sprinted without pause, using Anywhere Door to get to the inn.
Morgan and Stella’s little short legs had long since been left far behind.
Amy barely kept up by Blink, following for a few blocks until she had to stop at a crossroads, hands on her knees, gasping, staring incredulously at the figure growing more distant.
His Blink was longer and more frequent than hers, and he showed no sign of mana shortage at all.
How deep is his magical reservoir?
As for Mr. Byggworse—Allen had found the cat under the eaves across from the inn.
Kel'Thuzad probably never guessed anyone would think that the Siamese cat under that eave was the most important thing in his life.
He could not have imagined that Allen knew Mr. Byggworse that intimately.
Kel'Thuzad stared at the cat, and something in his gray-blue eyes shattered.
Only for a moment, then he stitched the pieces back together into a cold, hard mask.
He looked at the man. Though his visage had shifted, from his movements Allen was instantly recognizable.
Ner'zhul.
A smile tugged at Kel'Thuzad’s lips. “Fine. Come on. You may kill it. I don't care.”
He paused, moving his gaze from the cat to Jaina’s pale face. “I can resurrect Mr. Byggworse. Forever and ever he will be with me. What about you? Would you have your beloved become undead, to accompany you?”
If anyone else had heard those words before, Jaina might have smirked inwardly.
But now, her golden hair was disheveled and stained with blood. She tilted her fair neck up and looked at Kel'Thuzad with nothing but hatred in her eyes.
Seeing Kel'Thuzad’s complete madness, Allen calmed the situation, “All right, all right, wait, wait. I won’t harm your cat. I have a proposition for you.”
Kel'Thuzad sneered. He raised his hand and an ice spike pressed at Jaina’s throat. Blood beaded on her skin. She was terrified, but bit her lip and stayed silent.
“Why should I listen to you?” Kel'Thuzad’s voice was very quiet.
Allen took a deep breath, his voice suddenly very calm: “Because I know what you want.”
Tasha's Hideous Laughter!
Saving Throw: Success
“Admit it, Kel'Thuzad.” Allen’s voice was soft, like stating an unimportant fact. “You’re just jealous.”
Kel'Thuzad’s eyes went cold.
“You’re jealous of me—whether as a mage or as an undead mage, I have more talent, I’m more outstanding than you. You’re jealous that Arak’ae and the others respect me more, admire me more. You’re jealous that the founder of the Cult of the Damned is me—not you.”
Kel'Thuzad’s chest heaved violently. “You’re talking nonsense.”
“Admit it.” Allen lowered his head and looked at the gray-blue Siamese cat in his arms.
Allen scratched beneath its chin. Mr. Byggworse, who had already been won over by Animal Friendship, nuzzled Allen’s palm affectionately. “See, even your cat likes me a little more.”