The warriors and orcs retreated, and Khadgar began to gather energy. He'd used it before, but it was a real door, and this was the first time he'd tried to cast it on an invisible door. He began to imagine the door, sketching its shape in his mind, imagining how big it would be to move Morros's body a quarter of an arc, where the hinges would be, where the door frame would be, and where the locks would be placed if it was to be secured.

He conceived the general shape of the door, and then unleashed a small stream of magical energy into the invisible door frame, trying to unlock the hidden locks. To his half-surprise, the walls did move, and a crack appeared on one side. Although it is not large, it is enough to show that there is a door here that did not exist at the moment.

"Pry it open with your swords," Lothar roared, and the warriors immediately swarmed up. With the efforts of everyone, this stone gate did not last long. Eventually, with a loud rumbling mechanical noise, the door opened outward. It happened to hit Moros's body, and behind the door, there was a bottomless staircase.

"He didn't evaporate," Garona said gloomily, "he's still here, just somewhere no one knows." ”

Khadgar looked at Moros's propped up corpse: "Almost no one knows. But I doubt he'll be hiding anywhere. ”

As they descended stone stairs after stone, a feeling slowly rose in Khadgar's heart. The above-ground part of the tower is eerily abandoned, while the lower part of the tower clearly displays a tense and terrifying atmosphere, giving a sense of foreboding. The rough walls and floors were moist and pitted, like wriggling pieces of flesh in the light of the torch.

Khadgar soon realized that the staircase was spiraling downward, and that they were now facing the opposite direction of when they had first come down, and as they moved away from the surface, their surroundings became more and more like an inverted image of the above-ground part.

Indeed, the place in the tower that should have been a meeting room is a dungeon. Decorated with numerous chains, but without prisoners. The banquet hall on the ground, which has not been used for a long time, is covered with rubble and mysterious magic circles. The air around them became heavy and suffocating, just like in the towers of Stormwind. Hagra is the same as the place where Hagarin died. This must be the place where the demons that killed them were summoned.

Now they came to the mirror layer of the library, only to find that the iron general in front of them was checking, and an iron-edged butterfly door blocked the way to the library. The staircase at their feet still stretched down, but the invading forces stopped there, and the strange pattern on the door caught their attention. Mysterious symbols sink deep into the wood. Infused with dark brown blood, it looked like the wood had flowed out of itself, and the wounded butterfly door had a large iron ring on each wing.

"It's supposed to be a library inside," Khadgar said.

Lothar nodded. He had already realized the similarities between the tower and the cave: "His books should be all on it, so what will be put here? ”

"He usually does research at the observatory at the top of the tower, so if he hides here, he will probably be at the bottom. Leave it alone, we should move on. ”

But she said it too late. As soon as Khadgar touched the door, a spark immediately passed from the palm of his hand to the door, a signal. It's a magic trap. The door slammed open inward, revealing a pitch-black library, giving Khadgar only time to curse.

It's a dog cave inside. Sargeras didn't need knowledge at all, so he turned the house into his pet room. Countless monsters live in the darkness of their own creation, and the pungent smell of smoke wafts from the doorway.

There are countless pairs of eyes inside. Eyes and fiery jaws, shadows and flaming bodies, they roared and strode forward.

Khadgar drew runes through the air, pooling his will to gather energy in an attempt to reclose the gate, and the soldiers joined in. Desperately pulling the two iron rings on the door back. But neither the spell nor brute force worked.

The monsters let out a mocking roar and crouched down to pounce.

Khadgar raised his hands to cast another spell, but Lothar knocked his hands off.

"You're wasting your time and strength. "It's a trap to delay us." Go down and find Medivan. ”

"But they ......do," Khadgar had just spoken, and the demon closest to the door pounced on them.

Lothar took two steps back and raised her sword to face the monster in the air. At this moment, the runes engraved in the sword body suddenly burst out with dazzling golden light. Khadgar noticed a flash of fear in the demon's eyes.

Lothar's sword arc paused at the monster's momentum. The blade sliced deep into the monster's body, the tip of the sword protruding from its back, and then continued forward like a tofu, slicing its front half in half. The blade slashed through its skull, completing the entire arc of the sword, giving the monster only a moment to scream. The demon's scorching embers spewed shadows and flames as they fell beneath Lothar's feet.

"Hurry up!" shouted the warrior, "we'll get them done, and we'll catch up." ”

Garona grabbed Khadgar's hand tightly and pulled him down the stairs. Behind them, the warriors also drew their swords one by one, and the runes on the swords were strongly stimulated by the shadows, dancing with the glow of flames. The young mages and orcs descended the hallway, and from time to time there were cries of death behind them, both human and non-human.

They circled down in the darkness, Garona holding a torch and her dagger in the other. Now Khadgar noticed a dim phosphorescence from the surrounding walls, a reddish hue like the fluorescent mushrooms in the forest. The ambient temperature also began to rise, and sweat was already oozing from his forehead.

As soon as they arrived at the restaurant, Khadgar's stomach felt a pang of cramping—the environment around them suddenly changed. The illusion happened so suddenly, like a rainstorm in the summer.

They were now at the top of a tall tower in Stormwind, and as far as the eye could see, many parts of the city were in flames. The rising plumes of smoke gathered into a black and oppressive cloud, obscuring the sky and the sun. Outside the city walls was also a black oppression, which was the army of orcs besieging the city. From Khadgar's and Garona's perspective, the tribal soldiers scurried around the fields like beetles on carrion. Said to be farmland, it was actually covered with siege turrets and heavily armed orc infantry, and their battle flags were patterned with a sickly rainbow.

Gone were the forests of the past, replaced by catapults that rained down on the city. Most of the lower town outside the fortress has been caught in flames. As Khadgar looked there, a section of the exterior wall collapsed, and the green and blue figures scuffled among the rubble beneath the wall.

"What's going on......?" asked Garona.

"Vision. Khadgar said briefly, but he didn't know if it was a fortuitous attack or a carefully planned next move by the astral mage.

"I told the king, but he wouldn't listen. Garona muttered. She turned to Khadgar, "This must be a vision of the future, right? How are we going to get out of here?"

The young mage shook his head: "No, at least not yet. In my experience, they come and go irregularly. Occasionally, though, it will be interrupted by some kind of stimulus. ”

A flaming debris, a fire bomb from a catapult, fell within arrow range of the tower they were in. Khadgar could even feel the heat from it as it hit the ground and shattered.

Garona looked around. "At least they're just orc armies. She said with a wry smile.

"Is that good news?" a column of smoke drifted into the tower, and Khadgar was forced to squint.

"There are no demons in the orc army," the orc emphasized, "and if Medivan had really sided with them at the time, we could have seen that the situation would have been much worse." Maybe we finally persuaded him to come back to us. ”

"But I haven't seen Madison in our troops. Khadgar said, forgetting for a moment how the other person felt, "Is he dead?" or did he run away?"

"What is the future of us?" asked Garona.

There was a commotion behind them. The two turned from the railing of the window and found themselves in a royal reception room, which had been temporarily converted into a dispatch room for the attack. Miniature models of Stormwind were on tables in the room, and humanoid and orc-shaped toy soldiers were scattered throughout. King Lane stood at the table. Listen to the successive battle reports. And his advisory group gathered around the table.

"The walls of the trade zone have been shelled!"

"The fire in the lower city is spreading further!"

"Another large force was assembled at the main gate of the city. It seems to be composed of spellcasters!"

Khadgar noticed that none of the courtiers he had met were present, replaced by blue-faced men in Stormwind uniforms (similar to those on his body). There was no sign of Lothar at the table, and Khadgar hoped that he was only on the front line, leading the army against the enemy.

Ryan's hand moved deftly, and the uninformed would think that his city was under some sort of regular attack: "Let the fourth and fifth companies go to the trade zone." The militia was organized into a fire brigade - fetching water from public baths. Arrange for two more squads of spearmen to reinforce the gate and surprise the orcs when they are about to attack. So that the attack will unravel. Transfer two mages from Goldsmith Street, it's okay over there for the time being, right?"

"The attack has been dismantled," the news quickly returned, "the mages are exhausted. ”

Ryan nodded: "Let them come down and rest for an hour." Those new mages who changed the research institute were temporarily replaced. But the number of people should be doubled, so they must be careful. Commander Burton. I want your troops to go to the East Wall. If I were them, I would launch the next offensive there. ”

Ryan assigned duties to each commander in turn. There were no objections, no discussions, and no suggestions throughout the process. Each warrior nodded and walked away in turn. In the end, the whole room was left with Ryan himself and his model city, and the body of the model was burning outside his window.

Ryan leaned forward. One hand rested on the table for a while, and his face looked tired and pale. He looked up at the empty room and said, "You can come out and report." ”

Garona stepped out from behind the roller blinds on the opposite side. To the surprise of the real orcs and Khadgar.

The future Garona wore her usual black trousers and black silk shirt, but behind her was a cloak emblazoned with the head of the lion of Azeroth, and her eyes showed a wild look. Now Garona tugged at Khadgar's arm, and he could feel her nails digging deep into his flesh.

"Bad news. His Majesty," Garona approached the king, "several clans were involved in the attack, united under the leadership of the Black Hand of the Miè Destroyer. Unless Stormwind falls this time, they probably won't betray each other again. The Warlocks of Gul'dan will assemble at dusk, when the Blackstone Clan will launch their next assault on the Eastern Wall. Khadgar heard a tremor in her voice.

Ryan let out a long sigh and said, "It's all expected. We'll repel this wave, just like the previous waves. When we hold out until reinforcements arrive, it's time to strike back. As I said - 'As long as the people have brave hearts.' The walls and thrones will never fall,' and Stormwind will stand forever. ”

The future Garona nodded, and Khadgar noticed tears welling up in her big eyes. "The leaders of the orcs thought the same thing," she said, reaching into her boots.

The real Khadgar and Garona screamed in unison. The future Garona drew her long-bladed dagger and stabbed it into the king's left chest. This qiē was done so quickly and elegantly, and the expression on King Lane's face was only surprise and confusion. For a moment, time seemed to stand still, until Ryan's body softened. Hung on the blade of her sword.

"That's what the leaders of the orcs think too," she continued, tears streaming down her face, "so they hired an assassin to get rid of that 'heart', to get rid of that brave heart on the throne. And that assassin must be someone you trust completely, someone you will meet alone without warning. ”

Lane, the King of Azeroth, the Lord of Stormwind, the warriors and mages' most loyal friends, collapsed to the floor.

"I'm sorry. Garona said.

"No!" Garona screamed, now Calona, who collapsed on the floor.

They're suddenly back in the mirror dining room. The King's corpse vanished along with the burning Stormwind. The orc's tears remained. Left on the face of the real Garona.

"I'm going to kill him," her voice was inaudible, "I'm going to kill him." He treats me well and is willing to listen to what I say, and I will kill him. No. ”

Khadgar knelt beside her on one knee: "It's okay. Maybe that's not true. Maybe that won't happen. After all, it was just an illusion. ”

"It's true," she said, "I've seen it with my own eyes, and I know it's true." ”

Khadgar was silent for a moment, recalling his vision of the future. "We have to go," he said. But Garona shook her head: "After so many changes. I thought I had found a better place to be, and I didn't think I had to go back to the orc camp. But now fate has told me that I will destroy that destination with my own hands. ”

Khadgar looked at the stairway that stretched up and down. I don't know how the battle between the people of Lothar and the demons above is, and I don't know what they will face next. His face was gloomy. Took a deep breath.

Then he shook Garona hard in the mouth.

Blood was left from his palms as they rubbed against his fangs, but Garona's reaction was more intense. Her eyes widened with tears and an angry expression appeared on her face.

"Idiot!" she shouted and lunged at Khadgar, knocking him to the ground, "Don't do that again!

Khadgar was on all fours, and Garona rode on top of him. He didn't even see when her dagger was drawn. But it was already around his neck after all.

"You can't kill me," he tried to put on a sarcastic smile, "I've seen my own future in an illusion. I also believe that it is true. In that case, you won't be able to kill me now. The same goes for you. ”

Garona stood up blankly, and quickly thought of the point: "If I say that I will assassinate the king......"

"That means you're going to get out of here alive," Khadgar said, "and so will I." ”

"But what if we think wrong," said Garona, "if the illusion turns out to be wrong......

Khadgar stood up from the ground with his hands in his hands, "Then you can die in peace, knowing that you will never be able to kill the King of Azeroth. ”

Garona sat on the ground, stunned for a moment, thinking about possibilities. Finally she said, "Give me a hand." We've got to move on. ”

They continued to spiral down, through layers of mirrors, until they finally reached the top of the tower, reaching Medivan's observatory and lair. Instead of descending downwards, the hallway stretches horizontally into a reddish floor, covered with cool obsidian tiles, dark and reflecting the enigmatic flames floating beneath the floor beneath your feet. Khadgar instinctively jumped back, but his feet seemed to be pinned. The flames did have a temperature, but they didn't feel stuffy.

In the center of this massive cavern are simple pieces of iron furniture. A workbench with stools, a couple of chairs, a row of cabinets. Giving a strange sense of familiarity, Khadgar immediately realized that it was an original copy of Medivan's workshop.

Among the iron furniture stood the tall figure of the Astral Mage. Khadgar stared nervously at the man, paying attention to his demeanor, his spirit, hoping to find a trace in it that would convince him that this was not the real Medivan, not the Medivan he knew, not the Medivan he knew, not the old man who would always be honest with him and always inspire him. Khadgar tried to find anything that would prove that the man in front of him was an impostor.

But no. It was the same Medivan he knew.

"Hello, young trust," said the Astral Mage with a smile, his beard burning with flames.

"Hello, Miss Ambassador. I've been waiting for you for a long time. (To be continued.) )