' = Internal dialogue

ยจ= Normal speech

* = Sounds / Etc

-Chapter 34 Start-

For the first time in quite a while, I actually laid down in my bed to sleep, with a hydra lying at my feet; of course, Nessie's three heads were snoring loudly after the previous night of playing around with the water elementals Jaina had summoned.

I woke up feeling refreshed and stretched my arms to the side in reflex, then I laid back down for a moment to consider what could have happened overnight. With the population boost and all, there were bound to be complications.

Meanwhile, I had a feeling that something was going on. I did feel something happened under the city last night and should have gone to check, but I was body blocked by a horse-sized hydra, which strangely resembled a cat now. When I think about it, it is a very confusing creature.

So I got myself dressed in my armor and cloak and made my way down the stairs, and as I entered the first floor, I could hear two people chatting. As I finally appeared on the first floor, I saw Jaina and Lanira making breakfast in the kitchen. Lanira apparently was showing Jaina her favorite dish while tapping around on her four legs in happiness over Jaina's compliments.

With a smile, I started walking over to the dining table in the middle of the room, and both of them finally noticed my arrival, "Good morning, sleep well?" Jaina said with a smile.

"Sure, this is the first time in a month or so I have actually slept, and to be honest, I might try it out more often. How about you? Anything special happened to wake you up this early?" I replied as Lanira made her way toward me.

Jaina just looked at me with a complicated gaze until she resumed her smile, "No, I just heard Lanira over here run out to do some shopping and was curious to see what she was up to in regards to breakfast, and I got to say she's amazing at what she does." Jaina smiled while looking at Lanira, who blushed from the praise.

"T-t-thank you. I love waking up early, and walking through the city is always refreshing in the morning. Father barely eats anymore, which is worrisome! So! I asked my sisters for advice, and we figured out, *Why not make good food?*" Lanira said while looking away from us while her face turned a deeper shade of red. Then put three plates of food on the table.

Then both Lanira and Jaina sat down around the table, and we enjoyed a calm breakfast while complimenting the chef, but our peaceful morning was soon interrupted by someone knocking on the entrance door.

I rose up, walked over, opened it, and saw a ragged-looking Belmont with large bags under his eyes and his little helper coming behind him, looking just as tired.

"I need you to come with me. Your expertise is required down at the dwarven halls." Belmont said with a passive expression.

'Dwarven halls? What could be going on there that requires me of all people?' I thought briefly before his little high elf helper approached me and handed me a sheet.

This wasn't a typical paper but several magic prints on one layer of paper. We had something similar to magical newspaper but it is quite different, as the pictures and illustrations did not actually move but were under a weak illusion.

I paused when I saw what was on the paper. Several prison cells were full of figures who no longer had faces, and the other section of the illusionary pictures indicated another cell full of draconic creatures who lay on the ground unconscious while the cell around them was covered in... 'Is that... shit?' I thought before I considered the implications of all this.

'Faceless ones, rather... transformed faceless ones. I had no idea Twilight's hammer was that deep into Stormwind... It might be Onyxia's handiwork or a result of her sabotaging the kingdom the way she is, and as a result, the cult can infiltrate it that easily.' I pondered silently as Belmont and the high elf said nothing while watching me deep in thought.

'So, Onyxia already sent a force to infiltrate the city, huh? After my provocations, I would have assumed her doing something like this... But doing this so soon... Is she desperate or something? Because I never thought she was this... stupid.'

Belmont became annoyed at me standing there for several minutes and interrupted, "Medan, I want to get this over with now. Deylia and I haven't caught a wink of sleep all night, and I have had enough of the day already." He sighed, then turned around and indicated for me to follow.

I turned back toward Jaina and Lanira, "Well, I'm sorry for cutting breakfast short. I'll see you both later." I said and waved as I followed Belmont and Deylia.

"Aw, bye, father. I will make sure you can bring food with you next time!" Lanira said. Jaina just nodded with a smile and wished us good luck.

After exiting my place, we headed toward an ordinary building close to Belmont's Inn. It turned out the building was not ordinary in the least.

It looked like a standard home from the outside, but I saw dozens of children and young adults learning to read and write when we entered. Each room had a teacher who walked back and forth to correct the children.

While some others came from a room further into the building, which later turned out to be a ladder hatch further to the dwarven underground, this was where we were heading.

As Belmont led us through the building and greeted everyone with a tired smile, several children wearing dark cloaks asked if they could help us with anything when they saw us heading towards the so-called secret entrance to the dwarven underground, Belmont just shook his head and said he would give them tasks later and waved them off as we started to go down the ladder.

We climbed down, which took a few minutes, and I could start to hear angry voices shouting in the distance, and I asked Belmont what was really going on, but he just told me to wait until we arrived with a pensive expression on his face, which was quite rare for the man if I knew him correctly.

Just as we got around the corner after finishing our climb down the ladder, I finally saw the reason for the angry shouting, and I felt my blood boil at the sight and realization of what was in front of me.

There was blood everywhere. Corpses of humans, dwarves, and gnomes littered the ground, every corpse ripped to shreds, guts covering the narrow path toward what looked like a prison.

On the side were many gray bloated corpses alongside at least a dozen draconic forms.

The strange thing about the bloated corpses was that they had no face. After seeing the paper from before, I already knew these were the Twilight cult's infiltration specialists, but what surprised me was the number of Black dragon spawns that lay sprawled lifeless on the ground.

'Did they cooperate to get here? Why are they even down here in the first place!?' I thought while becoming gradually more furious at the sight before me.

'If I didn't provoke that black dragon prematurely, this... May not have happened...' I was shaken out of my thoughts when Belmont's hand was on my shoulder, which got my attention. He just shook his head with a sad smile and said, "I know what your thinking, but it's not your fault. These... things were after the ones imprisoned further inside, and after realizing they couldn't penetrate the defenses, they... tried to cause all kinds of havoc around them as a last resort."

Belmont took back his hand, looked ahead, and continued, "Last night, both Deylia and I received reports of an attempt of infiltration and several attempts of assassinations, which were mainly focused on Calia."

Now Belmont pulled out a large cigar and lit it up with a small fancy lighter that looked like a product of gnomish engineering. After he put it into his mouth and took a deep breath, then exhaled the smoke. Belmont turned to me and said, "Sorry about this. Old habits die hard when... Things like this happen, though I wanted your help with one. We have one man further into the cells that still haven't transformed into one of those abominations." He pointed toward the Faceless ones.

I nodded and then turned back to count the victims of this... Brutal assault on what I had come to realize was a heavily fortified prison. If we had more time, this may or may not have happened in the first place. I sighed and followed Belmont as he walked deeper into the prison.

When we finally arrived at the holding cells, I could see dragon spawns sprawled out on the floor inside the cells twitching as the walls and floor were covered with filth, "Belmont, what the hell did you do to them?" I asked all of a sudden, then Belmont turned to me with a tired smirk and said, "My mother's recipe for treating a stomach-ache mixed in with a simple disorienting rune embedded in the walls, strangely effective when it comes to making prisoners shut up or escape when dangerous individuals attempt it. This was my original idea that was declined back in Lordaeron when I asked to use it against a few noble houses that dealt with the slave trade regarding children."

I just shook my head and couldn't disagree, I doubted this world had anything like the Geneva Convention, and quite frankly, I did not care. I wished for the worst upon these currently imprisoned creatures, though I would ask why he kept this prison a secret for several months.

Just as we kept our pace and rounded a corner further into the prison, which I would say was probably one of the most fortified positions I have ever been in, too bad we hadn't been able to secure the outside entry well enough to avoid potential bloodshed among our citizens, but this would be dealt with as fast as possible.

When we finally arrived at our destination, and I looked at the human who apparently was among the Twilight cultists, I paused.

I went up to the prison cell, where a bound human was chained to the wall, head bent slightly forward while his eyes were closed. "Officer Samuelson, what an unpleasant surprise. What brings you to my humble city?" I said with a neutral tone while my blood was boiling in anger at the realization that this man right here could have been the reason my people on the outside had been killed while trying to figure a way for him to escape.

The man, now identified as Samuelson, eyes lit up in recognition of the voice, and a smile appeared on his face, "So, your, that guy, huh! What a coincidence! Would you be a dear and release me from this unjust imprisonment?" He said while staring at both Belmont and me as his smile widened.

"Belmont, can you be so kind as to secure the area so no one comes in while we're here?" I whispered to the spymaster at my side while focusing directly on the man before us.

Belmont just turned to his assistant and asked her to stop all entry, then turned back to the man and waited.

I walk forward to the cell door and open it carefully. At first, I wanted to rip the door open to get to the man, but I managed to calm myself. Inside I was extremely calm, far more than expected. It could be because of what I would do to the man grinning ear to ear inside the cell.

"Ah, that's nice of you. I was getting tired of this place, though I wonder why you have such a cold expression on your fa-!?" He said while sounding a bit disturbed until he was interrupted.

The moment the last sentence came out of his mouth, his grin was frozen on his face as his eyes shot up in fear when he realized he could no longer breathe or change his expression.

Belmont just came to stand by my side while watching the event unfolding in front of him with his trademark grin, even if it was very faked at this point.

"Belmont, do you have... anything to use to ascertain the truth from an interrogation?" I asked calmly.

He pondered this information before reaching for his jacket and reaching far into it until he pulled out a small vial with a foul green-looking liquid. Then he whispers, "I got this from a friend back in the day. I have only used it once before. The one who consumes it will be in extreme agony for a little while until the pain passes. You can question him for a minute or two before the heart fails.

I took the small vial out of his hand and studied it for a moment before putting it in my own pocket, then turned back to the cultist in front of me, my face still expressionless, which seemed to frighten the man even more; apparently Samuelson wasn't as fearless as he wanted us to believe.

Then snapping my fingers as he almost turned entirely purple, the ice melted, and the man heaved desperately for air, "W-wha-What a-are you d-doing?" he managed to say before I interrupted him, "Why are you here?" I was met with silence and a whimper, "I-I-I'm J-just a g-guard wh-who was c-curious to s-see t-t-the n-new city." Samuelson said, stuttering due to the cold sensation from the ice earlier.

I turned to Belmont, "Do you want to do the honors?" He nodded as he stretched his hands to each side, and with the gesture, one small serrated dagger appeared in each hand. Both were gleaming with a slightly yellow tint on the sharp jagged edges, obviously poisoned but considering what he was going to do, it most likely wasn't a deadly poison.

After two hours of the so-called *Guard* in front of us screaming and wailing his lungs out while Belmont was cutting thin lines of wounds all over his body, this was most likely to apply the poison he had coated his daggers with. Then he slowly but surely started tearing his nails off his fingers very slowly until none remained before he started with the toes. When he was finally done doing that, he took up his two daggers yet again.

Samuelson begged Belmont to stop while tears trailed down his face until Belmont started to slice his fingers one by one with his small daggers, very slowly, making sure he felt every single motion of the jagged edges.

"I WILL TALK! I WILL TALK PLEASE STOP!" Belmont paused and looked toward me with an emotionless gaze. I nodded, and he backed off slightly. When Samuelson had only two toes left, he finally had enough for some reason.

Panting while looking sickly, Samuelson looked towards Belmont with a heated gaze, then turned to me with the same look, "You fuckers are crazy, torturing an officer of Stormwind like this without any reason!? You fucking maniacs! Fine! Fine! I was asked to observe and report back to Captain Malagan, the one in charge of the city guards!"

I paused at this, somehow the man wasn't telling any blatant lies, but that did not explain the black-ish taint around his mana; meanwhile, Belmont was torturing the man I was observing and looking for any trace of who the man really was, and I had only seen it a few times before.

He was by no means an innocent man. No matter how good an actor he was, he could not entirely hide the hidden gleam in his eye, "Why did several others come here to rescue you by going so far as to kill whoever they found outside then? If you were just a normal fucking guard, then I doubt they would go to another region just to save your sorry ass. You attempted to steal an ID token from a random citizen for no apparent reason either, and we still can't locate the owner of it even now. Why would you do that?" I said with no emotion in my voice whatsoever.

I had been reading a report about the situation during Belmont's torture session between the deed.

He stared at me for a moment before laughing hysterically for a full minute, his smile almost splitting his head in two when he calmed down, "So they managed to get rid of the vermin fortifying this place, huh? Well, I'm sorry about that. I had to quietly remove several people from existence just to get my hands on this... so-called token of yours. Even with the power granted to me, I still had some major setbacks trying to do that unnoticed, aka you see where I am now, right? Yea, well, If only my partner wasn't such a fucking idiot, I wouldn't be here right now." He said with a remorseful tone.

"Does your attempt at subterfuge have anything to do with Lady Prestor? I wonder if you and those sent along with you could just ditch your duties in the city while everything is in shambles. I said as I considered the possibilities, concluding that this must relate to Onyxia. I just need one slip for this guy to confirm it for sure.

"The fuck-toy of the king? Hah! That bitch kept making us take up guard duty almost without pay for the last three fucking years! I did hear from my Captain that he had gotten an anonymous confirmation of a suspiciously large migration happening the next day! Apparently, the bitch didn't even think after sending us letters for years that we would be able to notice her handwriting!" Samuelson shouted as he kept spitting in the air around him. He was clearly losing his sanity as the interrogation went on.

Belmont looked at me, waiting for a confirmation. I nodded and gave him back the vial from earlier as he slowly applied it to each dagger, though he was interrupted when Samuelson sighed upon realizing he wouldn't get out of this alive. Then started huffing, then gagging, then he puked all over the floor and looked toward us with a mad grin as his face swelled and yelled, "HAHAHA! YOU WILL REGRET STANDING AGAINST THE TWILIGHT'S HAMMER! MY MASTER WILL TAKE PLEASURE IN TEARING YOU APART!"

Then he looked up at the ceiling in the cell and yelled again, "MASTER! YOUR ETERNAL SERVANT BEGS FOR YOUR SALVATION!" Now his body was visibly overflowing with that dark mana I had been studying before. However, I already had assumed it was that vile bastard Cho'gall's doing, but what I didn't presume was that he had so many agents in Stormwind ready to wreak havoc at this point in time.

Samuelson's simpering toward the Twilight hammer leader worked, as his chain was now slowly rattling and breaking under the strain while blood was spraying from his hands and feet due to the amputations Belmont had inflicted upon him.

Now with a much darker and menacing tone, the prisoner in front of us spoke again, "NONE SHALL OPPOSE THE TWILIGHT'S HA- He was interrupted when the entire cell except Belmont froze into dark purple ice. I slowly walked toward the now five-meter-tall abomination in front of me. Samuelson no longer had a face. His eyes were only now glowing sockets, they had popped out of his skull during his transformation and were lying on the cell floor under him, submerged halfway by frozen blood and viscera.

Now as I stood in front of it, I knew it was still alive because I willed the ice not to instantly freeze its brain, somehow I could feel its terror even after Samuelson's words, it soon turned to a more begging sensation, but I did not care any longer, I would make Cho'gal, Onyxia, and the Captain of the guards PAY.

I turned back to Belmont, who was wide-eyed at the display of power, but soon returned to his casual grinning self and asked, "Done? Or do you want this popsicle contained somewhere?"

I shook my head and lit up both my hands in flames, resulting in Belmont backing off slightly due to the instantaneous heat. I stretched both my hands just to touch the ice statue in front of me as it went up in black smoke and vapor due to the ice, as the creature within turned to ashes within a brief second as it let out an unholy wail of agony.

"So, what now?" Belmont asked with his trademark grin on his face.

I sighed and momentarily looked up at the ceiling, then said, "We strike back. Of course, these fuckers attacked us first. It wouldn't be fair to let them get away scot-free, no?"

-Chapter 34 End-