The silence of the night was broken by the sound of horses' hooves, and a group of knights trotted across the forest path and stopped at a crossroads.

The road is flanked by dense forests, with the faint shadow of a small town looming in the distance to the east and a gloomy forest to the west.

Not far away, under the bridge, a fishman soaked in water showed half of his head, staring curiously at these uninvited guests.

"Your Royal Highness, this is Blenier, and we are about to reach the border of the Silver Pine Forest, a treacherous area known as the Dark Forest, shall we find a place to rest for the night?"

The guard said, his eyes couldn't help but look at the town to the east.

"No, let's keep going." Arthas said unwaveringly.

It had been three days since he left Lordaeron, and he had been running wild with his attendants for three days without stopping, and since he was already planning to leave, he did not hesitate in the slightest, let alone put his hope on Godwin's possible mercy, for this eldest brother, he no longer had a good opinion at this time.

Although Godwin didn't make a move at the time, he could feel that this big brother had already had murderous intent towards him, and he had to leave Lordaeron as soon as possible.

But the attendant who spoke looked embarrassed,

"Your Royal Highness, the Dark Forest is not very safe, especially at night, there have been many bad legends before, it is said that there are werewolves in the forest."

Arthas snorted, "If we do encounter werewolves, I'd rather try to see if they're as terrible as the rumors say - keep going." ”

After saying that, he kicked the war horse, and the invincible jumped out and rushed into the dark forest in front of him.

Arthas was more worried about his eldest brother, the man favored by the Light, than the werewolves in the Dark Forest.

The attendants behind him had no choice but to follow.

As King Tenaris's favorite son, Arthas still had some followers around him even after his exile, and when he decided to leave Lordaeron, a dozen knights were willing to join him in the banishment.

Now faced with the threat lurking in the dark forest, it is natural that these knights cannot stand still.

The forest was darker than outside, not even the light of the moon could penetrate the foliage of the forest, and as the horses walked through the trees, Arthas pulled out a song of ice and fire, allowing the light of the sword to illuminate the way.

Suddenly, the tip of his nose twitched, and a bloody breath filled the forest.

He jerked the reins to a halt, and the knights behind him gathered around him.

They also smelled the smell of blood, which was unusually rich and unsettling.

Is it a beast? Or something else? The knights looked around worriedly, and suddenly one of the knights exclaimed, "Your Royal Highness, there—there seems to be something?" ”

Some white fur could be faintly seen in the darkness, and Arthas dismounted and cautiously approached with his knights.

Sure enough, it's a werewolf! A dead werewolf, to be exact, the werewolf's hideous head had been cut off entirely, and the lower half of his body fell to the ground, blood still flowing, and it looked like he hadn't died for a long time.

And around, there were seven or eight werewolf corpses lying horizontally.

Their massive claws and strong bodies undoubtedly showed that the rumors were not exaggerated, that these were terrible monsters, but now they were all dead.

So what killed them? Wouldn't it be even more terrible to kill them, thinking of this, the knights were nervously on guard.

Arthas looked at the werewolf's corpse, and suddenly felt a thrill in his heart, as if something was approaching behind him.

Be careful! He turned around suddenly, and the next second, a scream suddenly came from the sudden darkness behind him.

Yes!

The body of a knight was dragged into the darkness and vanished, screams and bones breaking in the darkness, and a moment later, the body was thrown out of the darkness in two.

"No—Robert!"

"What people!"

"Prince Arthas, we need to get out of here!"

The knights let out a cry of terror, but Arthas stepped forward and slammed the song of ice and fire!

A flaming sword qi flew through the air, illuminating some wriggling unknown beings in the darkness.

In the darkness, something squirmed, converging together as if in substance, and then converging into the shape of a woman.

Black Knife Dixi played with the scimitar in his hand, and a cold smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, "Good evening, Prince Arthas, it's so late, walking in this dark forest, it's not a good boy's behavior." ”

"What people!"

"Protect the Prince!"

"She was the one who killed Robert!"

When the knights saw that it was a woman, they immediately outflanked them on both sides, preparing to besiege, but the enemy was obviously more than the one in front of them, and the darkness suddenly attacked from all directions, and the screams suddenly came one after another, and the knights were constantly engulfed by the darkness.

Arthas's eyes were cracked, and he roared and slashed away with a sword, but the black knife Dishi chuckled and took a step back into the darkness.

"Give me back!" He kept slashing at the darkness, and the sword qi of the flames slashed into the darkness in vain, but the black sword Di Xi was as ghostly as a shadow, and there was no intention of fighting.

By the time Arthas finally calmed down, the knight's corpses were already lying around.

The darkness was coming around him.

Arthas slammed his blade into the ground - boom!

The flames spread out in all directions like a halo, igniting several oak trees and lighting up the dark night, and four strange assassins covered in darkness surrounded Arthas.

Black Knife Assassin (Shadow Servant of Black Knife Dishee): Elite. Level 60.

Alsace could not see the names of these monsters, only their faceless faces, which resembled black matter, and their limbs, which resembled abstract human shapes.

It was the first time Arthas had seen such an evil monster, and he could not have imagined that such an ugly darkness could be hidden behind the dazzling light of the Holy Light.

"Did the eldest brother send you? Sending you to kill me? You disgusting monsters. ”

Arthas roared and unleashed a flaming sword aura - Flame Breaking Sky Slash!

The dazzling light of the fire lit up the night, and the flaming sword qi roared and slashed, igniting the branches and leaves of the trees in its pass.

However, the black knife Dixi dissipated into the darkness one step ahead.

She disappeared with the shadow minions, the shadows of the ghosts of the trees reflected in the jump of the firelight around her.

"A little strength, Prince Alsace, but it's a pity that you're just a child after all." The voice of the Black Knife Dishi came from the darkness, her figure jumping and weaving in the shadows of the firelight, and Arthas looked around warily.

Suddenly, a dark shadow suddenly struck behind him.

"Die!"

Puff puff, two scimitars left deep scars on him.

It hurts! Arthas swung his sword, but it only slashed into the air, and the black knife Dishi disappeared again.

"Come out for me!"

"Don't be in a hurry, we have time to play slowly."

Black Knife Dixi is not in a hurry to kill the killer, and constantly launches surprise attacks as if playing with prey.

Her four shadow minions also cooperated with her in the attack.

Wound after wound on Arthas.

Whenever Arthas tried to fight back, the black knife Deshi would disappear early.

I have to say that this kind of ghostly assassin hidden in the dark completely makes Arthas not know how to deal with it.

What's even worse is that as there are more and more wounds on his body, he feels that a cold feeling seems to appear on his body.

The dark attack seemed to corrode his body and mind.

Another surprise attack, Arthas barely blocked the attack of the black knife Dixie, but was caught twice by two shadow minions on the back.

The bodies of these monsters seem to be able to switch between entities and phantoms, and they are unguardable.

Arthas staggered and fell weakly, looking at the darkness in front of him with his sword, secretly accumulating strength.

The Black Knife Dee Xi condensed once more, along with her four shadow minions.

"Is that all you can do? What a disappointment. ”

Arthas clenched the hilt of his sword, and he had one last chance to explode.

In the next second, the black knife Dixi and the four shadow minions attacked from all directions at the same time.

Now is the time!

Arthas roared and swung his sword, but the cold feeling on his body made his limbs stiffen, and his movements were noticeably slower by half a beat, and the sword swung again into the air, and the figure of the black knife Dixi disappeared and reappeared, and the corners of his mouth showed a smile that was bound to win.

"I even hid a hand, hehe, it's a pity that such a trick is useless to me, goodbye Prince Arthas."

At the moment when the blade swung down—

Dazzling light suddenly bloomed in the darkness, dispelling the wriggling shadows, and in the light a burly warrior struck out.

He held aloft the emblem of the God of Light, releasing a dazzling holy light, and in his other hand held a heavy sword with a radiant blade.

"Disperse, monsters in the dark! Withdraw before the light. The man roared, his voice low and impassioned.

The Shadow Servant dissipated in the light like melting snow, and the Black Knife Dixi slashed away with a roar.

Clang! The swords intersected, and the power of the holy light surged again, and the power of the shadow on the woman's body faded like a tide, revealing the true face of the black sword Dixi.

Black Knife Dixi was taken aback, without the cover of the shadow, she could not disappear in an instant like before, and hurriedly retreated.

She glanced hatefully at the man, then at Arthas, who was still half blooded, and then turned and disappeared into the darkness.

The uncle looked at the place where the black knife Dixi disappeared for a long time, and shook his head, "It seems that you have provoked a terrible enemy, Prince Arthas." ”

"You know me?" Arthas was taken aback, but at the same time a little wary, because of Godwin's relationship, he was now somewhat less interested in the Holy Light, and he had no trust in the past for those who practiced the Holy Light.

He looked at the person in front of him, burly, with a gray beard, forty or fifty years old, looking very kind, wearing a somewhat old knight's armor, looking a bit like a vassal knight in the countryside.

The uncle didn't care, "Of course I know you, I hugged you at the last Lordaeron annual meeting, I didn't expect you to be able to draw your sword and fight after not seeing you for a few years, I'm Tirio Ferdin, the lord of the Valley of the Hearth, is King Tenaris okay?" ”

Arthas was taken aback, he had heard the name, Godwin seemed to value this man, and arranged for someone to invite him to join the Knights of the Silver Hand.

I didn't expect the appearance to be so unpretentious, and I didn't expect the two to meet in this situation.

"Speaking of which, how did you end up alone in this dark forest? How could King Tenaris allow such a thing to happen? ”

"Father is dead."

What!? Tirio Ferdin's surprise was visibly that he had just received the message.

"You don't know?"

Tirioferdin shook his head, "I received a summons order a few days ago, and I've been on the road for the past few days, what the hell is going on. ”

Arthas recounted what had happened.

Tirio Ferdin's surprise grew, but unlike the other lords' exaggerated reactions when they heard the news, Tirio Ferdin's appearance was calm.

"It's a pity that such a thing would happen—ah, you're injured, let me treat you, I've recently cultivated the Holy Light and learned some healing techniques or something, although I haven't used it yet, but it's very easy to treat my horse."

Arthas hesitated, this person and the eldest brother can't be in the same group, right? Tirio seemed to understand his thoughts.

"Don't be nervous about Prince Arthas, maybe there is a scum or two among those who use the Light, but power is power, and power will not deteriorate because of the evil of the user, don't let hatred blind your eyes."

Power is power? This view surprised Arthas, in the eyes of all the Holy Light believers he had seen, the Holy Light was synonymous with justice, cultivating the Holy Light was natural justice, and as for the shadow spell, it was naturally inherently evil.

In the past, he thought so too, until his eldest brother Godwin taught him a good lesson.

Who would have thought that the eldest brother would have assassins under his command who wielded pure shadow power.

"The most sacred power can also be used to do evil, and the most evil power can also be used to do good, and it is the man who is righteous and evil, not the power itself."

Tirio Ferdin, as he spoke, brushed his hand lightly over Arthas's wounds, and the healing of the Holy Light was small, and the wounds on Arthas's body healed quickly.

Even the cold feeling on his body dissipated.

"Look, that's a lot better."

Alsace was impressed.

Indeed, as long as it is used well, what kind of power does it matter? As long as the power of the Holy Light is used properly, it doesn't seem to be so annoying.

Not only the Holy Light, but even the power of the Shadows, if used well, can it also be used well? That Shadow Assassin was so elusive, and if he could wield such power, perhaps it would be much easier to understand the feud with Godwin in the future.

Light and Shadow, two powers, left a deep impression on Arthas's heart at this moment.

The next day, when the dawn sun shone into the forest.

Arthas and Tirioferdine stood in front of a row of graves, silent.

Arthas had buried all the knights, but was at a loss again.

"Let's go Arthas, it's time for us to hit the road."

"You want to come with me?" Alsace was somewhat surprised.

"Of course, what happened last night is probably not the right time for me to report on Lordaeron, and besides, I have sworn allegiance to King Tenaris, and it is obviously my duty to protect his children."

"But if you do this, I'm afraid my big brother will be angry."

"Ha, what does that have to do with me, let's go, those shadow assassins are likely to appear again, I'll escort you to a safe place first."

At the mention of the Black Knife Dixi, Arthas was still a little frightened, he had never encountered such a ghostly enemy.

The point is that the ability is too restrained.

The two of them got on their horses and galloped away.

As he galloped in the dawn sun, Arthas couldn't help but ask, "Can I learn the power of the Light from you?" I think the next time I encounter those enemies, I should be able to use them. ”

"Of course you can, but the Holy Light is not that easy to learn, you have to be mentally prepared."

As they spoke, they gradually disappeared into the depths of the forest.

(End of chapter)