Chapter 135: Will You Accept Karazhan?

"Medivh?!" Lothar's voice suddenly rose an octave, and anyone could hear the excitement in his voice. Lothar cautiously asked, "Medivh, are you yourself or Sargeras? Alright, the passphrase: when you were 15, you went to spy on Marquis Berlaynes' eldest daughter bathing at his mansion. How were you punished after you got caught?"

Duke: ""

Medivh: ""

After a brief two-second silence, just as Lothar was about to start worrying, Medivh coughed and scolded with a seemingly weaker voice, "You bastard, it was clearly you who spied, and if it wasn't for Llane taking the blame, the late king would have forced you to marry into the Marquis' family."

"Cough, cough! Ah! I can't believe that happened! No, no, no, you must be remembering it wrong! It was Llane who was spying!" Lothar began to lie, shift the blame, and refuse to take responsibility, but a second later, Lothar suddenly laughed.

"Medivh, welcome back."

While it was interesting to hear these two legendary figures' dark history, Duke had no intention of joining the conversation, because he had seen Medivh's status through the system.

"Hmm, I'm back, but I might have to leave again soon."

"Oh! Wait a minute! Duke's sword strike!" Lothar, who had been somewhat relaxed, let out a scream like a doomed animal. He dragged his battered body and crawled in the direction of the sound, finally reaching Medivh's side.

As the dust settled, Lothar saw Medivh, disheveled and lying on his back.

This old friend, who had known him since childhood, was clearly on the verge of death. Blood bubbles kept oozing from the corner of his mouth, and the chest that should have been pierced by the Sword of Kings was now sealed with a large piece of ice over the wound. Without that ice, perhaps Medivh would have died even faster from blood loss.

Medivh was indeed the strongest mage of his time, and having inherited the Guardian's power from Aegwynn, he might have lived for hundreds or even thousands of years like his mother. However, most people forgot that he was still a mortal.

Injuries hurt, and severe injuries could kill.

"Oh no, I brought a priest with me this time. I'll go find him right away." Despite knowing that the chances were slim, Lothar was unwilling to give up.

Apart from his strong sense of justice, Lothar was also very loyal. As soon as he confirmed that Medivh was no longer the demon that plagued the world, he quickly regarded Medivh as his closest companion again.

All the evil deeds committed by Medivh during his possession were pushed to the back of Lothar's mind.

"No need!" Medivh suddenly reached out with his left hand and grabbed Lothar's arm. "My most significant injury lies in the collapse of my magical circuit. At this point, even the Titans cannot save me."

The surrounding air suddenly became deathly silent.

With a weak voice, Medivh continued to speak slowly, "Anduin, remember to thank Duke. If it wasn't for his fatal blow, I would never have found the opportunity to reclaim my body. If Duke hadn't held back at the crucial moment, I wouldn't have been able to protect you all after banishing Sargeras to the abyss, let alone have this little time to reminisce."

Lothar choked up, quietly sobbing as he held Medivh's emaciated hand tightly. At this moment, there was no Lion of Azeroth, no High Commander of Stormwind, and no Guardian of the world—only two close friends who were about to part ways forever.

"Idiot, do you think I'm the type to be irrational and emotional?"

"Alright then, let me handle some matters first." Medivh waved his relatively intact right hand in the air, "Duke, come here."

Stepping over the rubble, Duke appeared before Medivh and Lothar.

Duke's emotions were complicated.

As a player, this was undoubtedly the time to take down the boss and receive rewards.

However, as someone who had traveled to another world, he knew there was a high probability that his secret of not dying had been seen through by Medivh. After all, he had resurrected directly behind Medivh while he was under the control of Sargeras. The disappearance of his corpse, the mysterious flow of light beyond magical power, and the sudden appearance of his intact body were impossible to conceal from Medivh as long as he retained his memory.

What if Medivh bit back at him?

He might never be able to set foot in the human world of Azeroth again.

A freak! A mysterious lifeform similar to demons!

Thinking of all the possibilities, Duke felt uneasy. The problem was, he had no chance to turn the tables by killing Medivh and silencing him. When he checked the battle records earlier, he saw the name Aegwynn.

Now, the previous Guardian Aegwynn, along with the Red Dragon Queen Alexstrasza, and the priestess who was actually one of the Night Elf leaders Tyrande Whisperwind, were all outside of Karazhan. He wouldn't dare to turn the tables.

Duke was apprehensive.

Seeing through Duke's unease, Medivh smiled, a kindly smile of an elder: "There's no need to be uneasy, my child. Everyone has their own secrets. The fact that you gained the approval of ancient kings like Thoradin and pierced the possessed me with that sword proves your heart. Trust me, Lothar and I will take your secret to our graves, not even the torment of the soul will extract a word. If anyone discovers it later, you can claim it was a little trick I taught you."

As Medivh spoke, Lothar suddenly looked up and nodded at Duke with determination.

Duke secretly let out a sigh of relief.

Medivh's smile remained brilliant, and no one could tell that his heart had been completely crushed, and he was barely maintaining his life through small magical circuits. "From the moment I saw you, I knew you weren't from the Kingdom of Stormwind. I initially thought that if not for you, I would have had Khadgar. Unfortunately, Khadgar has become like this."

Medivh handed Duke a white bead.

Duke asked, "What is this?"

"Sargeras killed Khadgar, and this is his soul," Medivh coughed violently, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Lothar said nothing, removed his gauntlets, and used his sleeve to wipe the blood from Medivh's mouth.

Medivh continued, "Reviving the dead is a forbidden domain. But within Karazhan, Khadgar's soul should be able to help you."

"Uh..."

"What I mean is, if you agree to protect the humans of Azeroth for me, I will give you the entirety of Karazhan. Besides Karazhan, there's also this."

When Duke saw the piece of wood that looked like a broken chicken leg, carved into the shape of the staff of the legendary artifact, Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian, his pupils shrank suddenly.

"Hehe, of course, I have a selfish motive. Karazhan is a place of opportunity, but also danger. There are rifts in the Twisting Nether everywhere, and I'm afraid the Burning Legion will use it to invade Azeroth. So, as the owner of 1,280,000 magical books in Karazhan and the price for the path to the strongest mage, your soul will forever be connected to Karazhan. Do you accept Karazhan?"