Chapter 7: Loa Spirits and High Priests

"The situation up ahead is not right!" Lor'themar noticed the trouble at the elven outpost from a kilometer or two away.

"It seems the trolls could not hold back any longer," Arthas replied. His eyesight was far superior to that of an ordinary man, even sharper than many elves. He could clearly see the trolls launching a frenzied assault against the elven defensive lines.

Weighing his warhammer, *Light's Vengeance*, in his hand, Arthas issued an order: "Sound the horns. The battle is about to begin."

The dwarves drew out metal horns as thick as their own arms and blew into them with all their might. A deep, metallic resonance echoed into the ears of every soldier.

"All forces, advance! For Lordaeron!"

Led by High Priestess Lillian, the priests bestowed the blessings of the Light upon the warriors, banishing their fatigue and fortifying their strength and defense.

Ten paladins began to glow with a dazzling golden radiance. With smooth and practiced movements, they layered various strengthening blessings and seals upon themselves. Uther pulled on his warhorse’s reins and shouted to Arthas, "I am heading to the front lines. You go find the Ranger-General."

"Understood, teacher. I shall join you soon to slaughter that troll scum."

"Ha!" The Lightbringer raised his heavy warhammer and galloped away on his steed. Long after he had left, Arthas could still hear the battle cries of the paladins.

"For the Light!"

Like a steamroller, they crashed into the tide of trolls. Under Uther’s leadership, the eleven of them carved a path of golden light through the dark green sea of enemies.

Immediately following them, the cavalry of Lordaeron charged into the trolls' formation from the flanks, while the infantry held their thick shields high to protect the elven rangers, using longswords to cut down the trolls attacking the magical barrier.

Arthas and the priests followed Lor'themar and a small squad of Farstriders, quickly making their way to the main camp where Sylvanas was stationed.

Before they had even entered the tent, both Arthas and High Priestess Lillian felt their expressions grow grave. They could both sense an aura of evil.

Pulling back the curtain, Arthas looked at Sylvanas, who was deathly pale with black veins crawling up her neck. He turned to Lillian immediately and said, "She has been cursed—a powerful one."

Lillian stepped forward. The rich, golden Light surrounding her made the elves realize she was a High Priestess, and they quickly cleared a path for her.

Lillian placed her palm against Sylvanas’s breastplate and closed her eyes, focusing on channeling the power of the Light.

A moment later, Arthas noticed the terrifying black veins on Sylvanas fading slightly, but it was nowhere near enough to cleanse them.

Lillian opened her eyes and shook her head at Arthas. "Your Highness, I cannot dispel this curse here. Even if I were to combine my strength with the entire clerical order, we could only delay its effects. A curse of this level requires either three or more High Priests to dispel it simultaneously in a cathedral, or it can only be lifted by Archbishop Faol himself."

"It’s that serious?" Arthas was shocked. Archbishop Faol was the undisputed master of the Light in these times. That it would require his intervention led Arthas to a grim conclusion.

A demigod's curse? Had a high priest serving a Loa god orchestrated this invasion?

The confusion in Arthas’s heart finally cleared. If a high priest serving a Loa was mobilizing them, it wouldn’t just be five thousand trolls—they could easily summon fifty thousand.

This meant the mission would likely shift from reinforcing the elves to covering their retreat. Together, they had only a little over two thousand troops. Even relying on the elven magical barriers, the outcome against an army of over ten thousand trolls driven by a high priest was obvious.

The mission was no longer about clearing out the invading trolls; it was about getting Sylvanas and the two thousand survivors out of the encirclement.

Arthas was a formidable warrior, but he was not powerful enough to take on fifty thousand enemies. Even an ancient dragon might struggle against such numbers, especially when backed by high priests who could channel the power of Loa gods at any moment.

The trolls could effectively be viewed as a fanatical army supported by a demigod.

Once he had analyzed the situation, Arthas decided that after repelling this wave of attacks, they would retreat immediately—if you can’t win, why not run?

Out of caution, Arthas personally examined Sylvanas’s condition. To his surprise, he discovered that he might be able to break this curse.

The Light Arthas wielded was different from that of ordinary priests or paladins. He had never truly "believed" in the Light; he simply possessed the ability to wield its power.

For priests and paladins, the power of the Light came from their pious faith and years of ascetic practice. Arthas was different—he needed neither faith nor penance; the Light was simply a part of him.

Furthermore, his Light was of the purest form—so pure that if it were not diluted or tempered, it would not heal normal people; it would burn them instead.

Indeed, the Light itself has no concept of justice or injustice; it is only through the paladins' own faith and actions that their Light reflects justice.

Normal Light is more like an extension of one's own will and emotions, whereas Arthas’s "abnormal" Light was the true face of the cosmic origin of the Light. It was not merely a power to repel evil and shadow; the primordial Light would transform everything that was not of the Light into the Light itself.

Arthas did not know the specific reason, but shortly after his birth, the star chart formed by the six primordial forces of the universe had condensed within his consciousness. He felt that, through this star chart, he could bypass certain obstacles and directly connect to the most primal power.

This Light was qualitatively superior to the divine power of the Loa, but there was a catch: Sylvanas could not withstand the unbridled power of his Light unless she wanted to be burned alive or transformed into a creature of pure Light.

To erode the curse within her, Arthas needed to find a critical balance, which would take time. The trolls would clearly not grant him that time, and even an hour or two would be enough for them to be completely surrounded. Moreover, the caster would certainly be able to sense whether the curse remained.

After weighing his options, Arthas spoke to Sylvanas in Common: "Lady Windrunner, I can resolve this curse."

Sylvanas offered a satisfied smile. "That is excellent, Your Highness. Shall we begin the treatment?"

"There is one problem," Arthas continued in Common. Only Sylvanas and Lor'themar spoke the human tongue here; the other elves only spoke Thalassian.

"What problem?" Sylvanas frowned, sensing there was more to his words.

"First, dispelling this curse requires time—likely several hours."

"Then why have we not started yet?"

"That is the second reason," Arthas said, his expression grave. "The trolls will not grant us that time."

Sylvanas froze. She did not understand why he was so certain. "Why are you so sure? The magical barrier can hold for a long time, and with your reinforcements, we can continue to fight."

"I believe, my lady, you have heard of the 'Loa'."

"Those are the dark gods the trolls worship. Of course I have, but what does that—" Sylvanas stopped mid-sentence as realization dawned on her. "You mean... this curse comes from those dark gods?"

"In all likelihood, yes. Even if not directly, it is almost certainly their high priest. Otherwise, there is no explanation for why even a high priestess of the Light could not quickly remove it."

Recalling the strange scene when she fell into the trap, Sylvanas began to believe this possibility. "I never imagined that after all these years, the Amani trolls still had a living high priest."

She had thought that all the high priests serving the Loa had been killed during the great war, and the Loa themselves had been so severely crippled by the elves using the power of the Sunwell that they could no longer enter the material world.

Having been burned once before, Sylvanas did not intend to take such a risk by fighting the trolls head-on. The best-case scenario would have been to contain the invasion outside the outpost, but it seemed that was no longer possible.

Sylvanas knew well the status of high priests among the trolls; their power was far greater than that of an ordinary forest troll chieftain.

"I understand. Once we repel this wave of trolls, we will withdraw to the rear fortresses," Sylvanas finally decided.

Because the Farstriders constantly patrolled the forests and intercepted trolls, there were numerous fortresses along this border. However, those were located on the inner side of the Ban'dinoriel barrier. Given the pride of the elves, they preferred to crush their enemies completely outside the barrier.

But this time was different. If they did not choose to retreat and hold the fortresses, the Farstrider forces currently available would suffer heavy losses, and a troll army led by a high priest would likely pose a genuine threat to the elven lands protected by Ban'dinoriel.

Thinking of the residents living within Eversong Woods, Sylvanas felt no further psychological burden regarding the retreat.

Arthas felt relieved that Sylvanas was not blinded by pride and arrogance like some other elves, and that she possessed sound strategic judgment.

He switched to pure Thalassian, causing all the elves present to turn and look at him. "Then, honored lady, the armies of Lordaeron will stand with the Farstriders throughout this campaign."

Only then did Sylvanas realize that Arthas had spoken in Common earlier entirely to save face for her in front of her subordinates, giving her a graceful way to step down.

This made Sylvanas nostalgic—how long had it been since she had experienced such gentlemanly behavior? Since becoming Ranger-General, her interactions with men were mostly limited to arguing with the stubborn councilors of the Silvermoon Council.