Chapter 546: The Strategist's Ultimate Move

Indeed!

In the original history, Lothar would die. The cause of death was none other than his most trusted divine sword!

This sword was not what the Alliance widely believed, a royal sword passed down from Emperor Thoradin.

About twenty-five thousand years ago, the divine sword known as [Gorshalach the Dark Render] split into two fragments after the betrayal of the Titan war god Sargeras. They were [Taeshalach] held by Avenger Aggramar and [Gorribal] held by Destroyer Sargeras.

When Destroyer Sargeras desperately sought [Taeshalach], intending to merge it into [Gorshalach] to summon the [Dark Render] and destroy the Temple of the Titans, Father of the Titans Aman'Thul proposed forging a weapon to counter Gorshalach.

However, this would be extremely difficult.

If the Dark Render is a combination of good and evil, what should the newly forged weapon be? Pure light and goodness.

Thunderer Gugnir found the best forging material in the universe; Forgemaster Kaz'goroth began crafting this powerful weapon, a divine sword; Dreamweaver Norgannon used almost all his power to enchant it; Avenger Aggramar infused a noble soul into the sword, naming it [Eskhandar, the Punisher].

When the sword was about to be completed, an unexpected event occurred.

Destroyer Sargeras led the Burning Legion to attack the Temple of the Titans, and the Titans, using all their might, finally completed the weapon. This newly finished weapon, due to the power released when interrupted, was ejected from the Temple of the Titans, falling into the newly created Azeroth.

Though the Titans wished to find the sword, they had to deal with the immediate threat of the Burning Legion.

Time passed, and this event was gradually forgotten.

Over twenty thousand years later, three travelers discovered this weapon in a deserted cave. They were Llane Wrynn, Guardian Medivh, and Anduin Lothar.

Only the most noble could wield this sword. Fortunately, one of the three possessed this quality: Anduin Lothar.

The divergence from the history known to Duke lies here—in recognizing Lothar as its master, the sword suddenly merged with Lothar's ancestral Royal Sword, passed down from Thoradin.

In most instances, it appeared to others as a seemingly slender, exquisitely crafted one-handed sword. Yet when Lothar needed to fight or merely willed it, the sword would quickly transform into a massive two-handed broadsword in a flash of gold, carrying a divine aura that would slay evil on contact.

Guardian Medivh named this sword Quel'Zaram, High Blade of the Lion, meaning Noble Sword in Thalassian.

This sword, awakened from its twenty-five-thousand-year slumber, was later used by Anduin Lothar to storm Karazhan. Unluckily, Duke also briefly gained the sword's approval and stabbed the Sargeras-possessed Medivh with it, banishing Sargeras' soul to the bottomless abyss.

However, the sword had a fatal weakness—it couldn't fight against noble beings. When used against a noble person, it would lose its divine power.

No one had ever thought that the leader of the brutal Orcish Horde, who had caused bloodshed across the lands of Azeroth—the Orcish Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer—would be deemed noble.

Indeed, Orgrim had wrought countless slaughters, but all his actions stemmed from the desire to preserve his race. As a result, he was judged noble by Quel'Zaram, High Blade of the Lion, which refused to release its invincible divine power.

This happened at the most critical moment of Lothar's battle with Orgrim!

It was a noble victory and a noble defeat.

Lothar, due to his noble character, gained control of [Quel'Zaram, High Blade of the Lion], leading the army in the Battle of Silverpine Forest, where he was nearly invincible. Except for Grom Hellscream wielding [Gorehowl], no one could match him.

However, during the duel with Orgrim, [Quel'Zaram, High Blade of the Lion] degraded to mere iron, and was shattered by Orgrim's demigod artifact [Doomhammer].

This blow not only shattered the form of [Quel'Zaram, High Blade of the Lion] but also struck Lothar's chest.

Lothar died unjustly from this blow.

In life, eight or nine times out of ten, things do not go as planned.

The longer one lives, the more one feels the loss and regrets of missed opportunities.

After crossing over, if any familiar face beside him were to be gone forever, Duke would feel unable to bear it, let alone the great hero Anduin Lothar, whom he respected the most.

From the time Duke was unknown, to his rise to prominence, the support Llane and Anduin gave Duke was immense. They never held him back, giving all they could without reservation.

Even though, in this life, Duke's efforts saved Llane's life, and Anduin did not have to grovel before King Terenas to save his future King Varian, and there were no glorious battle records of Anduin fighting alone on the Alliance's front lines, this did not diminish Anduin's noble character.

As the commander of the Alliance, Anduin never deliberately favored any country's army in any military action.

The capable rose, the incapable fell.

Even though Terenas hinted several times, hoping that the Lordaeron army could get better tasks, Anduin never paid heed.

It was his fairness and justice that provided the entire Alliance with a good example, creating a truly equal atmosphere within the Alliance.

Thus, from any perspective, Duke had no reason to let Anduin die at Orgrim's hands.

Now the question arose.

To seize the last opportunity to weaken the Horde, the Alliance had to act now. Slaughtering the Horde was dishonorable for most knights, and would surely conflict with the honorable Anduin and others.

If that nobility were tarnished, then Anduin Lothar would no longer be Anduin Lothar.

On the other hand, if Duke chose to save Anduin's life, knowing Lothar's character, even if he saved him, when the despicable Orgrim chose to surrender for the continuation of the Orcs, Anduin would never allow Duke to kill Orgrim surreptitiously.

To let so many Orcs live off the Alliance's treasury for a decade or more, only to cry out the classic "Orcs will never be slaves!" later, would annoy Duke greatly!

What could be done to satisfy both ends?

Duke first used the people's hatred to strike at Anduin's and Llane's hearts, then lowered their psychological threshold in the name of Emperor Thoradin, and finally unveiled his ultimate move to deal with the Orcs...