Fireplace Valley, this town is always full of tranquility and harmony.

In the history of Warcraft, Hearthvale was the subordinate territory of Paladin Tirio Ferdin, and there were indeed many embarrassing stories happening here.

Today, however, as a town that has not yet been conquered by the undead, the Valley of the Hearth provides a natural refuge for the entire Sidaron Mill.

Eleven months ago, the Scourge Corps suddenly broke out, starting from the capital city of Lordaeron like a plague, infecting nearby towns one by one, such as Andorhal, Tarenmere, Firestone Farm, Stratholme, the once beautiful and peaceful towns, and the brilliant and prosperous city-states, all of which inevitably became purgatory on earth for the walking dead to cross the border.

In the entire territory ruled by Lordaeron, only two places have survived, one is the Scarlet Monastery, and the second, the Valley of the Hearth, with Paladin Tirio Fordin as its lord.

As a paladin who participated in the second orc war, Tirio Fording has a sixth-order level, and there are nearly 10,000 soldiers stationed in the Fireplace Valley under his command.

And it turns out that in addition to his own top-notch strength, Tirio's command level is also extraordinary.

Just 10,000 people.

With only 10,000 men and the special terrain of the Hearthvale, Tirio managed to hold the only entrance tightly, and just like that, he stayed on for help.

In the midst of the crisis, Tirio's prestige as a lord also played a crucial role.

The townspeople also volunteered to act as self-defense soldiers, all men over the age of sixteen participated in the task of guarding the Hearthvale, and the young women also sent their treasured food to the barracks to serve as military rations.

In this way, under the leadership of Tirio, the entire Fireplace Valley was united, and it was actually held on to the Fireplace Valley for more than a month, until the arrival of Arthas.

The original person in charge of leading the undead scourge to contain Tirio was Xue Huan's recruited Lordaeron rebel, Renaud Mograini, the notorious "father killer" in history, who showed unusually brave after taking the initiative to defect to Xue Huan's command.

Renault's father is Alexandros Mograini, a well-known general of Lordaeron, which also made Renault familiar with it since he was a child, and after becoming a death knight, Renault organized the undead troops temporarily sent to him by Xue Huan, and rushed to the Valley of the Hearth.

Whether it is leading an army in battle or fighting in personal strength, Renault, who has become a death knight, is not inferior to Tirio at all, and even with the blessing of the continuous resurrection of the undead natural disaster, Renault has a faint advantage.

If God gave him another half a month, or even ten days, Renault believed that he would be able to break through Tirio's defense and take the Valley of the Hearths directly, but unfortunately, the arrival of Arthas changed the original stalemate of the battle.

The arrival of Prince Arthas was a boost to the Hearthvale, relieving the sores caused by the undead and bringing hope to the people of Hearthvae on the edge of the cliffs.

Arthas and Bridget Abydis led nearly 10,000 Scarlet Crusaders from the south of Firestone Farm into the battlefield of Fireplace Valley, and instantly formed a siege with Tirio, under the devastating offensive of both sides, Renault had no choice but to abandon the plan to besiege Firehand Valley and return to the base camp of Lordaeron.

However, for Xue Huan, the whole month of Renault's delay has laid the foundation for his follow-up plan, and for Arthas, who hopes to recover Lordaeron, the pace has just begun.

Standing on the hillside south of the Valley of the Hearth, Arthas was dressed in golden paladin armor, the blue cloak behind him was flying in the wind, coupled with his handsome appearance and tall and straight posture, the whole person looked heroic.

He made his hand into an umbrella shape and looked ahead, which was the direction of Andohar, but at this moment, Andohar had gathered about 60,000 undead natural disasters, and with his current strength, there was no way to clean up these guys.

Fortunately, for nearly half a year, he put up the banner of Lordaeron, collected and rectified the old army that used to serve his father Terenus, and at the same time pacified people's hearts, hoarded supplies and trained soldiers.

After Arthas issued a call on the name of Prince Lordaeron, the humans who had taken refuge in the Tirisfarh Glades and the Daron Mill region had not yet been killed or infected by the Scourge Corps responded.

Facts have proved that although the former Lordaeron Empire existed in name only, its national strength was still there, and a steady stream of stragglers joined, which made the number of the Scarlet Crusaders swell from more than 10,000 at the beginning to nearly 150,000, and this number is still rising.

Arthas, after galloping to the aid of Tirio, divided his forces to protect the Valley of the Hearth and opened a mountain passage with the Scarlet Abbey, grafting the connection between the two together.

I have to say, it's a very smart thing to do.

After recuperating for more than half a year, Arthas, who had been hovering in the abyss of hatred, finally felt a little solace, and he set his sights on the nearest Andorhar, where the 60,000 undead natural disasters would become the testing stone of his Scarlet Crusade.

"That guy is back. ”

Behind the Prince, a powerful voice rang out, and Tirio Fortin, dressed in military uniform, stepped up.

After several baptisms of war, the former paladin Tirio also looked a little tired, but the application was still in good spirits, and the confidence and firmness in his eyes could be easily felt.

That guy?

Needless to ask, Arthas also knew that Tirio was referring to Xue Huan, the demon he wanted to tear him to pieces.

"So that means our plan to attack Andohar is going to be put on hold again, isn't it?" Arthas didn't look back, his gaze always firmly fixed in the direction of Andorhar.

"That's right, Your Highness the Prince. ”

Tirio said with certainty: "We planned Andohar before because that guy was still fighting those High Elves in Quel'Thallas in the north, but now, according to the latest information from the scouts around Lordaeron, that guy is back with nearly 300,000 Scourge soldiers under his command. ”

Arthas frowned.

It was undeniable that the Scarlet Crusaders under his control were growing at an alarming rate, but the growth rate and spread of the undead forces were even more suffocating to him.

More than 300,000...

This is simply an insurmountable gap for him now.

He didn't care, though.

"Tirio, I'll give you three days to gather the soldiers of Hearthvale and tell them that the time has come to avenge Lordaeron!"

Arthas's tone was irrefutable, which made Tirio sound particularly harsh.

That's not the old paladin's focus, though.

"Revenge, with all due respect, Your Highness the Prince, with our forces now, if we go to fight that guy hard, it will be tantamount to killing ourselves. ”

As a veteran of the battlefield for a long time, Tirio Fording is very confident in his control of the war situation, and even a new soldier who is new to war cannot do so... Uh, stupid order.

Tirio couldn't believe it, he couldn't believe that this was the Prince of Arthas, who was once known as the Child of Light, the Prince of Arthas who brought them hope, and he couldn't even believe that this was his former best friend, the most proud disciple Uther had ever trained.

It is undeniable that when they heard that the person who destroyed Lordaeron and transformed ordinary humans into walking corpses through plague means was Xue Huan, who had fought alongside them, the old paladin and Arthas were equally shocked and angry.

But none of this is a reason to lose his mind, and as the sole descendant of the kingdom of Lordaeron and leader of the Scarlet Crusaders, Tirio is unable to associate these titles with what is now Arthas.

He preferred Alsace to be a wise and decisive leader who put his personal feelings behind and was as wise and decisive as his father.

Tirio's hesitation clearly upset Arthas.

"What's the matter? is there a problem, Lord Tirio?" the prince didn't look back, but his voice was cold.

Tirio glanced at Arthas's back, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke: "I'm sorry, Your Highness, I can't agree with your opinion, I think..."

"Enough is enough!!"

Tirio's voice was rudely interrupted, and the paladin was stunned for a moment, his expression slightly distorted, as if he was suppressing something.

However, it was clear that Arthas didn't care too much about Tirio's opinion and mood, he turned around and looked angry: "You are my respected predecessor, the Paladin of Glory Lordaeron, and I, now the only crown prince of Lordaeron, the leader of the entire Scarlet Crusade, here, I want to remind you that do not forget who destroyed our country, those innocent people who are homeless, displaced, and even infected by the plague and become undead, I don't think they want to hear from you now." ”

This was like a basin of cold water, extinguishing all of Tirio Fortin's illusions about Lordaeron's future, and when Arthas led the elite men who had served in Lordaeron to rescue the Hearthvale, Tirio had believed that Lordaeron's hopes had not been destroyed.

Even with the death of King Terenus, the disappearance of Princess Galea, and the death of his best friend Uther, Tirio remained determined to guard Hearthvale until the arrival of the Prince.

He firmly believes that as long as Alsace remains, there is still hope for the recovery of Lordaeron!

However, now it seems that their Royal Highness the prince has been completely pulled into the vortex by the desire for revenge, and this so-called Scarlet Crusader formed by the combination of the Knights of the Silver Hand and the old Lordaeron is just a puppet occupied by revenge.

But even if you understand all of this, what can you do?

The disheartened paladin clenched his right hand into a fist and gave a standard Lordaeron military salute.

"Yes, Your Highness the Prince. ”

(End of chapter)