The Great Thief

“Is this some sort of a cult?” the Old Paladin asked, staying close to Lu Li.

“He’s a Follower of the Twilight Hammer and he’s reciting the apocrypha. It talks about how the elements were formed. They not only worship the Old Gods, but also study about the elements,” Lu Li explained quietly.

This was nothing out of the ordinary because the Followers of the Twilight Hammer were convinced that Azeroth would one day be ruled by the Old Gods.

Only true believes would be granted eternal life after judgement day.

As the ones who were responsible for awakening the Old Gods to their former glory, they would become the royalty and rulers of the kingdom to come.

“What should we do?”

The Old Paladin clasped his sword firmly. He honored his knighthood by being devout to his religion and citizens of the nation of his birth. Anyone that would be a threat to these things would become his enemy.

“Send someone back to notify the capital. Then, we’ll go in then capture or slay him,” Lu Li suggested.

His suggestion benefited himself in multiple ways. If the reinforcements were to arrive in time, he wouldn’t have to do much to capture Samuelson and he would receive a reward for his bravery regardless.

If they were to fight head-to-head, then Lu Li was confident that he wouldn’t be killed because he had the Stormwind Knights that were protecting him.

“Come with me and we’ll ambush them. The others can stay put and guard the surroundings to make sure no one gets away. The city is too big for us to find him again if he was to hide.”

As members of the Stormwind Knights, they had to follow orders and couldn’t act on their own.

Lu Li and the Old Paladin opened the tent and rushed in.

They immediately saw a man kneeling in front of a small stone statute. When he saw Lu Li and the Old Paladin, he knew that he had been caught red-handed and immediately reached for his sword and lunged towards them.

Killing the two ambushers before him and escaping Stormwind was his only option.

Unfortunately, his plan was far from reality; the Twilight Disciple’s fate was decided when he was found.

The Old Paladin blocked all his attacks while Lu Li relentlessly attacked him on the side.

In reality, the Twilight Disciple wouldn’t even be strong enough to take on the Old Paladin if he was by himself. He was able to fully overwhelm Samuelson without casting skills.

Lu Li realised that the Old Paladin was far stronger than Commander Samuelson. He seemed inexperienced in battle, which was out of his character and was wounded badly in a few exchanges.

“Give up now and I’ll spare your life,” the Old Paladin said sternly.

“I dare you to kill me; someone will avenge me on day. You mere peasants – wshen the day of judgement comes, you’ll all be crucified on a fiery cross and condemned by the wrath of the Old Gods for eternity. You’ll…”

As the young soldier rambled on, the Old Paladin stepped forward and cut off his head in one full sweep.

However, there wasn’t an notification that the quest was completed. What was wrong?

Lu Li wasn’t angry that the Old Paladin had killed Samuelson without consulting him first. Although Samuelson was quite weak, he was still a Lv55 Boss, meaning that Lu Li stood no chance against him if he was alone.

“No! That wasn’t Samuelson!” someone shouted as they ran in soon after the young soldier was beheaded.

“Then who was he?” Lu Li was confused.

“I’ll bring someone from this campsite over,” one of the knights volunteered.

“That was Commander Samuelson’s little brother.”

Although the guard was angry that someone from his own campsite had been murdered, he still answered honestly because he was lower in the ranks.

“Then where’s Samuelson?” Lu Li asked hurriedly.

He thought that he would be able to finish the quest easily, but this was more complicated than he initially thought. He knew that something was off before because the man that they had killed was too weak. Lu Li should have known that if it was a quest given out by Garona, it wouldn’t be that easy to complete.

“Sorry, we don’t know. I’m still on patrol duty…” the mumbled as his eyes shifted in guilt.

“Speak!” the Old Paladin yelled as he held his sword against the guard’s throat, “Or… die!”

Lu Li was a bit shocked at how hot-headed he was. When the man dared the Old Paladin to kill him, he was probably trying to stall out time thinking that he would be interrogated by them. However, the Old Paladin had beheaded him cleanly without warning and hesitation.

The poor guard was minding his own business and now he was being threatened to be killed.

Lu Li was impressed yet worried about the Old Paladin’s determination and knew that he would kill the innocent guard without a second thought.

The guard felt the sharp blade against his throat. Though he wasn’t afraid of death, he wanted to die in an honorable way, so he decided to give in.

The Brotherhood of the Horses didn’t care whether you were an ally or not. Even if they were to murder an ally, they wouldn’t face any consequences because of the name ‘Sons of Lothar’. There were countless people in power that would back them up.

“He went to the palace. He said he needed to bring urgent news to the King,” the guard answered unwillingly.

“Shit…” Lu Li and the Old Paladin looked at each other and saw the terror in each other’s eyes. He didn’t plan on assassinating the King, did he!?

The more they thought about it, the more likely it seemed the Samuelson was going to do exactly that. Garona wouldn’t have requested Lu Li to investigate a random Twilight Disciple unless it was very important. There were countless Twilight Disciples spread out amongst the world of Azeroth and there were quite a number of Alliance members that still worshipped the Old Gods.

“Notify Commander Hawks. Let’s move.” The Old Paladin kicked the guard away, made sure the reinforcements were updated with the situation and ran off with Lu Li towards the King.

“Nothing will happen to the King, right?” Lu Li was nervous. Even though there were no news of King Varian being assassinated in his past life, he still couldn’t suppress the butterflies in his stomach.

Hypothetically, if someone else had accepted the quest to investigate Samuelson instead of Lu Li, and he didn’t go to Burning Steppes to commemorate Lothar, then they would’ve arrived earlier and caught Samuelson red-handed. That way, this whole ordeal that Lu Li was going through right now wouldn’t have occurred.

If Lu Li failed the quest, then the history of Dawn would be re-written.

“No, I won’t let King Wrynn’s son die at the hands of a mere Disciple!” the Old Paladin shouted in determination.

Lu Li wasn’t convinced by his words because the old man was running for his life. If he was so sure that nothing would happen to the King, then he wouldn’t be so nervous himself.