"What a touching scene of self-sacrifice to save one's son," the demon rasped, its gaze sweeping over Liam before settling on Genn. "But how will you save yourself? Poor 'King'!"
"Go! Liam, go!" Genn shouted at Liam, ignoring the demon. "Take your mother and sister, and flee this place! As far as you can!"
"Don't dream, I've locked down this space. None of you will escape!" the demon laughed mockingly. "You can't save anyone, Genn! I really have to thank you, otherwise I wouldn't have known that Ner'zhul harbored thoughts of betrayal. Haha, how amusing! That pathetic soul, he thought he could save the world? He's just a wretch who can't even save himself!"
"You won't succeed, demon!" Genn yelled.
"No one can stop the Burning Legion's arrival! Sadly, you won't live to see that day." The dreadlord casually snapped Genn's neck with his other hand and tossed his body aside. "Now it's your turn, Prince!" It strode towards Liam, visibly excited.
"No, no, why is this happening…" Until he saw his father killed, Liam still couldn't believe it was real—though he didn't believe Genn's crazy claims, this was still his father, and only he had the right to release Genn.
But this demon had killed him!
"You'll pay! Demon!" he shouted, charging towards the dreadlord, the sword in his hand radiating intense holy light, stabbing fiercely at the demon's abdomen!
The dreadlord merely raised a hand and released a wave of shadow energy, dissolving Liam's attack.
"Is that all you've got?" the demon mocked, flapping its wings and lunging at Liam, claws extended, ready to tear out his still-beating heart.
Liam hastily defended, blocking the dreadlord's claws with his sword. But the immense force made his arm numb, and he could barely hold onto the blade.
He roared and lunged again, bringing his sword down with all his might on the dreadlord.
The demon's massive body wasn't agile enough to dodge completely; its body took part of the blow, and the blade left a wound on its arm. However, the wound was shallow; even with the added power of the holy light, it only caused a little blood to seep out, not enough to hinder its movements.
"Is that supposed to tickle?" The wound enraged the dreadlord, who sneered loudly, then retaliated with a blow that knocked Liam's sword out of his hand.
"Weak human, I'm tired of this game. Go join your father and family!" The dreadlord walked towards the unarmed Liam, step by step.
Liam was utterly despondent. He had no chance of defeating the demon who killed his father, or even of escaping. The difference in power between them was too vast, they weren't even on the same level.
'Power, more power…'
'Holy Light, Holy Light, I beseech you, grant me the power to destroy this demon!'
He prayed for the Holy Light's response as usual. The Holy Light's power re-formed in his hand, still warm and pure—but the intensity of the energy was simply not enough to defeat this demon.
He was desperate and unwilling to give up. The Holy Light seemed to sense his emotions and began to become unstable. The more angry he became, the dimmer the Holy Light became—until it disappeared completely.
Even the Holy Light had abandoned him.
He felt only darkness before his eyes, unable to see any light. Liam was finally completely despondent.
The dreadlord saw this and let out a vicious laugh. "Hahaha, pathetic human, even the laughable Holy Light is unwilling to help you! Look, what a pitiful faith!"
"The taste of despair, so sweet and fragrant!" The dreadlord inhaled deeply, its green eyes glowing with even more sinister light. The negative emotions of other creatures were its food, and Liam's despair was its most delicious treat!
Just as it was about to completely subdue this helpless lamb, a purplish-black void gate suddenly appeared in the space that had been magically sealed. A fist-blade as clear as amethyst blocked the dreadlord's attack. The owner of the fist-blade was a human transformed by void energy. His appearance no longer resembled a human; long, bony tendrils had grown from his cheeks, and his eyes glowed with an unnatural golden light.
The Void Walker, Kassadin, had finally arrived.
The dreadlord was very surprised by this sudden appearance. Although the restrictions here were casually set, they shouldn't be so weak that someone could break through from the outside without it noticing.
"Intruder!" The dreadlord sized up the strangely-looking fellow. "You don't seem to be using pure arcane magic."
It sensed some of the Burning Legion's aura from this guy.
"But I fight for justice." Kassadin replied coldly. He stepped through the void again, appearing behind the dreadlord and thrusting the Void Blade into its nape.
The dreadlord didn't expect this guy to have such strange abilities. Caught off guard, the Void Blade cut a terrifying wound on its neck. Black-purple blood spurted out, causing it to cry out in pain.
As the dreadlord was about to counterattack, Kassadin jumped away again, appearing on the other side, out of sight, and stabbed its thigh with another blade.
The dreadlord didn't believe it. Mages could also use Blink to teleport short distances. But after using it continuously in a short period of time, the body would not be able to withstand the pressure of space. It attacked frantically, but Kassadin easily dodged every time. The other party seemed to shuttle through space without any scruples.
Ever since Kassadin's body was eroded by void energy, he had gained this ability to almost infinitely shuttle through space. Each time he appeared, the unstable spatial rifts around him would also cause damage to the enemy. The more fragile a person's body was, the more unable they were to resist the damage from the void rifts.
By the time the dreadlord realized this, it was already covered in wounds. Although none of them were fatal, they were definitely not pleasant. It had to retreat to a corner of the room, so it wouldn't have to guard against attacks from the back and sides.
It was already somewhat wary of this fellow with strange abilities.
After Kassadin forced back the dreadlord, he stopped attacking and appeared next to Liam, saying in a deep voice, "Come with me!"
The dreadlord noticed his intention and laughed triumphantly. "Run, run, my little darling. You've wasted so much time here. Surely there's no one alive left in this manor. Liam, your father now has family to accompany him! You must be happy for him, right?"
Liam's expression changed drastically, and he shouted in disbelief, "No, impossible!" He lunged towards the door, but the space here was still under the dreadlord's blockade, and he couldn't open it at all. He had to turn to this "weirdo" who had suddenly appeared and saved him for help.
Kassadin grabbed his arm and took Liam through space, leaving. The imprisonment formation here was useless to him.
When the dreadlord saw them leave, it finally breathed a sigh of relief. Enduring the pain all over its body, it walked over and kicked King Genn's corpse on the ground with its hoof, roaring irritably: "Varimathras, aren't you getting up yet?"
"King Genn" stood up, his neck still twisted at an angle that no normal person could achieve. But in the blink of an eye, he turned into a dreadlord just like the demon in front of him—it was Varimathras.
It twisted its neck and asked, "Is it straight now, Grand General?"
"Let me help you, Varimathras!" Dreadlord Grand General Tichondrius reached out and snapped the neck of this subordinate again.
With a snap, the dreadlord Varimathras, disguised as King Genn, screamed. Its head finally returned to its normal position.
It adjusted for a moment and asked with a smirk, "Grand General, how was my acting?"
"Barely passable," Tichondrius replied.
Varimathras moved his body and asked for instructions: "Grand General, shouldn't we leave?"
"Set a fire first!" Tichondrius revealed a cruel smile, "Otherwise, how can we be worthy of the name of the Burning Legion?"
"Understood!" Varimathras immediately went to work, and his fel flames quickly ignited the surroundings. Smoke and fire filled the air, and the two dreadlords let out joyful and cruel laughter.
"Grand General, do you think Ner'zhul really has such thoughts?" Varimathras asked curiously. This good show for others to watch was already in their script. Those half-true words had been carefully crafted by the dreadlords, and their actions had been "rehearsed" many times. All for one purpose—to guide Liam down that path.
The Nathrezim demons were a strange race. One Nathrezim demon was almost completely unable to kill another of its kind. So in this great drama, Varimathras played the role of Genn. Although Tichondrius snapped his neck, it was not fatal at all.
The real Genn was still useful; they were not willing to sacrifice the King of Gilneas just yet.
"Him?" Tichondrius, hearing his subordinate's question, thought of that wretch Ner'zhul, who was imprisoned in ice by their master, and couldn't help but sneer, "Let alone whether he has the courage to do so, even if he did, what does he have to fight against our master? These ignorant fellows can't even enter the universe. How would they know what true power is!"
Varimathras nodded in agreement. Indeed, as a dreadlord who had followed the Burning Legion in countless plane wars, he deeply knew the powerful strength of the Legion's master. How could these natives of Azeroth resist his power?
As for the failure in ancient times, it was just a small accident!
This time, the Burning Legion was prepared. This world would surely be destroyed in the flames!
"Let's go, Mal'Ganis should have completed his mission as well. Next is the time to wait for the results."
But not always do actors perform strictly according to the script; some people will always improvise.