Chapter 301

Several Eternals immediately convened an emergency meeting; the eldest daughter Gelisitiya, the Winter Queen, Denaxius, the three gathered together. Why are only the three of them?

Because Zuowaer has already been sealed, and the Weapon Master has been missing for many years, now the only Eternals able to act freely in the Shadowlands are these three.

After investigation, the three powerful Eternals discovered some clues; these missing souls had been summoned to the world of the living by a very special spell.

This greatly surprised the three Eternals.

"What on earth is happening in the world of the living? Why have souls been summoned away one after another during this period?"

"Previously it was my Advance Fortress, and now it's Revendreth." Eldest daughter Gelisitiya said.

"These living people always like to do unnecessary things, researching forbidden spells; I even admire them a bit." Emperor Denaxius said.

What a miraculous spell—it can secretly summon souls away from Revendreth, even summon them away from the Advance Fortress.

Why haven't my dreadlords sent any word? With such a formidable figure, they should have sent some news.

It seems my creations have been slacking off lately.

"If it's truly the work of the living world summoning these souls, then we have no recourse; we cannot interfere in any affairs of the living world." Eldest daughter Gelisitiya shook her head helplessly.

Long ago, they once intervened in mortal world affairs, but this summoned the Holy Light Legion; these powerful Holy Light beings inflicted massive destruction on their Shadowlands and forced them not to interfere in the living world.

Although they only invaded Revendreth, and the whole thing was actually Emperor Denaxius courting his own doom.

"Don't forget, Winter Queen, you have a sister—she and the living world's Ailuen are sisters."

"Will you help us, then? Winter Queen, go gather some news from over there." Emperor Denaxius flashed a playful smile, looking at the Winter Queen.

"Their Shadowlands aren't blind either; they can see many things, for example, the dreadlords they secretly raised."

"And this Winter Queen is indeed a real sister to the living world's Ailuen."

"Even many night elf souls, after death, are sent by the moon goddess Ailuoen to the Crimson Azure Fairy Wild, where they are handed over to the Winter Queen."

"It's only three souls; normally we consume many souls just to extract anima, so for this trifle I don't want to go find my sister." The Winter Queen shook her head and said.

"Whether it's Revendreth, Mazhuokesas, or the Advance Fortress, the Crimson Azure Fairy Wild consumes a certain number of souls; losing just three souls to summoning isn't worth making a fuss over."

"After souls arrive in the world of the living, they are constantly consumed, or become this realm's currency, becoming its energy—anima."

"Only a few extraordinarily powerful mortals, upon coming to the Shadowlands, can become members here, but such people are few and far between."

"The fate of most souls is to be completely consumed and then scattered by the wind, so the Warden Zuowaer believes this is unfair, and that the rules set by the Eternals are mistaken."

"Or perhaps the rules set by the First Ones are wrong; this hardly counts as a Shadowlands at all, and there is absolutely no fairness to speak of."

"Today it's three souls; tomorrow it could be thirty, the day after three hundred. If we let this behavior go unchecked, the other side will only grow more brazen."

"In the future he could summon away all the souls of the Shadowlands entirely—that would be a major problem." Emperor Denaxius chuckled, tossing the problem back to the Winter Queen.

"This is no small matter! It concerns the very origin of the Shadowlands; although only a few souls have been summoned away now, they must find out what's going on."

"What Denaxius says is correct; the Weapon Master is missing now, and we previously suspected this matter was related to Zuowaer."

"But looking at it now, it might actually have to do with those living people; we need to investigate this clearly." Eldest daughter Gelisitiya also stood on the same front as Emperor Denaxius, beginning to pressure the Winter Queen.

"Alright, I will return to the Verdant Wilds and summon Elune again." Looking at her brothers and sisters, the Winter Queen said somewhat helplessly.

In the end, the meeting concluded unhappily, and the three Eternals each returned to their own regions.

In the Verdant Wilds, the Winter Queen first made contact with her sister Elune.

"My sister, I have something to ask you. Recently, the Shadowlands have seen some strange happenings, and I hope you can clarify them for me." The Winter Queen spoke.

"I knew you'd summon my sister. What do you want to ask? Is it about the birth of the new Wild God, or something else?"

In just a few short years, Azeroth will see the consecutive birth of two Wild Gods, and their marks will also be placed on your sister—of course, except for Luode.

Luode's life mark is bound to Azeroth over there, and furthermore, the Wild Gods have recently been resurrected collectively from the Emerald Dream.

Your sister is likely somewhat doubtful, so Elune, upon receiving her sister's summons, immediately rushed over.

"I don't want to talk about the Wild Gods; that's an affair of the living world, and I have no authority to interfere."

"But the problem is that recently, a mysterious being has, through some means, summoned away souls from the Shadowlands, and three souls have been taken away." (Here's a note: the souls of Grommash Hellscream were taken away; they don't know this because of things in the Maw, the Eternals can't intervene.) "What? My sister, you say souls have been taken from the Shadowlands, someone has snatched souls from the Shadowlands!" Elune's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Come on, what is the Shadowlands? It's a place created by the First Ones for the dead of the World of Azeroth to go to."

"If there were no Shadowlands, the souls of the World of Azeroth would also be homeless." (Actually, saying this is a bit funny; the Shadowlands is just a tiny place, managing the souls of the entire universe's birth from ancient times to now, but before the Shadowlands appeared, soul weapons and some soul-state ghost monsters were simply everywhere.) "That's right, someone summoned a soul from Bastion, a few months ago."

"Also, just a few days ago, someone summoned away two souls from Denathrius's domain." The Winter Queen told her sister the whole story in detail.

After hearing the explanation, a name instantly popped into Elune's mind—this matter definitely has something to do with him! "My sister, you first calm the other two Eternals; I'll get to the bottom of this soon." Elune said, looking at the Winter Queen.

"I'm afraid I'll have to go myself—what the heck did Luode, that bastard, do?"

"Lately, she's heard from some night elf chats that Luode created a spell that can resurrect the dead. You resurrecting Azeroth's dead is fine, but you actually snatched something from the Shadowlands' grasp."

"As for the resurrection ability of the God of Light, it's surely also tied to Luode, after all, the God of Light was created by Luode."

"I will, dear sister; over these years you've sent so many souls here, your help has been immense—I'll buy you some time."

"At the same time, I hope you can also give us a satisfactory answer." The Winter Queen said meaningfully.

She could tell that her sister seemed to be hiding something; she might know the truth of some matters.

After the two sisters finished talking, they each went their separate ways.

In the Temple of the Moon, Tyrande, whose belly had already slightly swollen, was lazily lying in bed, with two Wild Gods taking turns providing her with life energy.

She could feel her child growing strong; a few nights ago, Luode sneaked over and also learned the full truth of the matter from her.

Luode didn't blame her for concealing it; instead, he comforted her.

Now Luode also comes by from time to time, contributing a bit of life-energy essence to Tyrande, though his method of contribution is somewhat special—it is a primal life infusion.

Tyrande is very worried that this rough method might harm the newborn Wild God, but Luode says the Wild God isn't that fragile, and taking in life-essence is very beneficial for its growth.

More importantly, having lost Azeroth's vessel, Luode's second infusion of life-essence into Tyrande will convey only the most primal life energy.

To strengthen the newborn Wild God, letting it grow more robust and healthy.

Everything is for her child; Tyrande chose to accept, and Luode occasionally infuses life energy.

Furthermore, each night she clears out all the temple's clergy, awaiting the demigod's arrival.

Just then, Elune's statue glowed with a blue-white light; the immaculate statue opened its eyes and looked toward Tyrande.

"Great Elune." Tairande immediately stood up intending to pay respects, but was stopped by Elune.

"No need for this, Tairande; there's no need between us to do such things. Previously you were my Moon Priestess, but now your status has changed—you are the mortal mother of the new wilderness demigod."

"This status really makes me feel overwhelmed; I don't even know how to face Mafalao." Tairande said somewhat agitatedly.

Recently, every time infusing the demigod's life essence and life force, it has been a betrayal of him.

"Let's talk about these things later; Malfurion is still sleeping now! He might sleep for a thousand years, and besides, you two aren't even married yet!" Elune said.

This is indeed a problem, after all it involves Luode.

Malfurion's condition is very poor now, and Tairande probably won't go to save him either; otherwise just let things develop? He will likely be corrupted by the Emerald Nightmare.

By then, as long as we eliminate evil, it will be fine; Elune has come up with a little plan, sometimes some things don't even need her to lift a finger.

"That said, I also couldn't possibly become Luode's woman; let's just keep this secret relationship."

There's no helping it—who asked for a demigod's spouse to be so numerous! Even the great Azeroth is among them.

Good heavens! Why did I ever make such a crazy request back then?

"Come on, let's talk business! This time I'm looking for you for a reason, Tairande; when Luode comes next time, you ask him for me."

"Has he secretly summoned away the souls of the Shadow Realm? Now the ruler of the Shadow Realm has discovered this."

"What! Luode actually summoned souls of the Shadow Realm? No problem, Elune; when he comes next time, I'll ask him about it." Tairande nodded and said.

This kid is getting bolder and bolder, dare to meddle in Shadow Realm affairs; the combined combat strength of the several Eternals in the Shadow Realm is comparable to that of the Guardians and not much different from the Old Gods at their peak.

"Tell him, if he really did this, I can help him cover it up."

"But he had better not summon souls again, otherwise I won't be able to help him; he currently can't withstand several Eternals." Elune said.

Tairande nodded, they exchanged a few more words, and Elune's statue lost its radiance; the Moon Goddess departed.

That night, after dealing with some matters in Dark City, Luode once again came via portal to the Moon Goddess Temple in Silithus.

"Do you miss me? Tairande, you actually took the initiative to contact me; normally I'm the one who comes to find you, and this is still the first time you've contacted me!" Luode, having crossed the portal, said.

Indeed, today is the first time he's received a summons from Tairande; previously Tairande would never take the initiative to find him.

"Come on, you're at least a demigod, and soon you'll be a true god, with a bit of divine bearing; I'm looking for you this time on official business." Tairande said, slapping her own waist's salty pig hand.

"What's the matter? Is your son's life energy insufficient? I'll give him a supplement."

"No, just now the Moon Goddess Elune contacted me; he told me some things, you brat invented a new resurrection technique—did you summon souls from the Shadow Realm?"

"That's right, I indeed summoned a few souls from the Shadow Realm—what's the problem?"

"Indeed it was you doing it, and you still ask what the problem is—you summoned the souls of the dead from the Shadow Realm; this is a major affair! The balance between life and death cannot be lightly broken, and the Eternals of the Shadow Realm questioned Elune." Tairande said with a stern expression.

"So what do the people of the Shadow Realm want? The souls of the Azeroth world are also suffering torment there; do you know about the extraction of heart energy? After excessive draining of soul energy, the entire soul will dissipate." (End of chapter)