Chapter Forty-Nine: The Confrontation

Arthas rolled on the ground, narrowly dodging the iceberg controlled by Ner’zhul that flew straight toward him. The solid, icy mass shattered into fragments upon crashing onto the platform of the Frozen Throne.

Just as he regained his balance, a second icy pillar hurtled at him. There was no time to evade this one. Without hesitation, Arthas thrust his war hammer forward, preparing to meet the blow head-on.

The sharp tip of the ice pillar violently collided with the hammerhead imbued with holy light. Yet Arthas’ right hand held the war hammer firmly, showing no sign of faltering.

“Bang!”

Stones, dust, and snow exploded into the air as the icy pillar shattered. The Lich King Ner’zhul, whose soul resided within the ice, watched Arthas disappear into the cloud of debris.

A beam of sacred golden light soared into the sky, instantly dispersing the surrounding obstacles and revealing Arthas’ silhouette. His armor bore signs of wear, and the holy light of vengeance adorning him showed slight damage from the recent clash.

Yet the prince’s spirit and stamina remained undiminished. Among the six fundamental energies, his primary forces were Holy Light and Death. Bearing these two opposing energies made his body incredibly resilient.

With every flow of Holy Light and Death, he gained strength; each breath fortified his physique.

Arthas feared endurance battles the least. Holy Light healed his wounds, while the power of Death endowed his body with undead-like traits—no precise weak points, no fatigue.

This foundation of primal attributes gave him a strong body; without it, he might suffer energy backlash and exist only as an energy form.

As for the more perilous fel and shadow energies, Arthas only encountered them when wielding dark magic necromancy, which he was not adept at.

Using these forces risked drawing the attention of Sargeras and void entities, a danger he was unwilling to court.

Arcane magic, representing magical power, was merged into his Death energy, serving as a vessel for casting dark spells. This explained why Arthas, though no mage, could perform basic magical feats.

The more effortlessly and fiercely Arthas fought, the more frustrated Ner’zhul grew. His soul was immensely powerful, but he still had to divert attention to prevent chaos within the Scourge.

Not all had willingly joined the Scourge; most were forced servants. Many undead harbored a deep hatred, eager to crush Ner’zhul’s bones to dust.

Earlier, when locked in a confrontation with illusions devised by Arthas, Ner’zhul had sustained injuries from those eerie visions. If the battle dragged on, he feared Arthas might actually defeat him.

As Ner’zhul pondered, he sent out part of his consciousness to survey the ongoing fight beneath the Frozen Throne. To his disappointment, under Anub’arak’s command, the undead army—though stripped of control by Arthas—was stubbornly delaying his forces, disregarding casualties.

At this rate, it would take hours to quell all the undead.

While summoning wraiths, frost, and shadow runes to assault Arthas, Ner’zhul considered whether to call upon the dreadlords for aid.

Though his power now surpassed most of them one-on-one, he had to admit that those demons were far stronger than his high-ranking undead.

The only one comparable, Anub’arak, had already sided with Arthas; the slightly weaker Anub’Rekhan was currently held at bay and taught a lesson by the Crypt Lords.

The others were useless in this battle, only serving to distract or deliver easy kills to Arthas.

Ner’zhul noticed that Arthas had not wielded the rune blade Frostmourne against him. Arthas understood that without devouring enough souls, Frostmourne’s power was limited and that Ner’zhul, who knew its capabilities, could find weaknesses.

Unfortunately, Arthas never gave him the chance to exploit this knowledge, instead wielding his war hammer continuously against Ner’zhul.

What puzzled Ner’zhul most was Arthas’ seemingly limitless stamina. Such high-intensity combat would exhaust an ordinary body quickly, yet Arthas grew only stronger, never showing signs of fatigue. Ner’zhul even noticed the increasing intensity of the holy light Arthas emitted.

Exerting his soul’s power to its limits, Ner’zhul—an undead—felt strained, while Arthas, as a living being, displayed extraordinary endurance.

This human was full of oddities.

Just as Ner’zhul hesitated, Arthas seized the moment of the Lich King’s distracted thoughts. His war hammer slammed onto the ice with a thunderous crash, unleashing a shockwave of holy light.

Like a tidal wave, the radiant energy burst forth, shattering Ner’zhul’s dark rune barrier. The Lich King hastily summoned a colossal ice pillar to shield himself from the assault.

The holy light struck the ice shield Ner’zhul wielded as a barrier, causing the thick pillar to explode. The energy released disrupted Ner’zhul’s soul vision to some extent.

He could no longer detect Arthas’ position. Previously, Arthas had exploited this moment to close the distance.

But Ner’zhul’s cautious defense prevented quick destruction of the barrier and direct attacks on his essence.

Empowered by the swirling souls beneath the Frozen Throne, Ner’zhul enjoyed considerable strength boosts. Even Arthas could not shatter both his shield and core with a single strike.

Whenever Arthas attacked the rune shield, Ner’zhul countered immediately with frost magic, forcing Arthas to retreat.

Nonetheless, Arthas noticed that after Ner’zhul hurled an ice pillar at him, there was always a brief pause. He realized the Lich King’s vision was affected by the violent energy surges on the battlefield.

Arthas began devising ways to create openings and weaken Ner’zhul’s perception. Only by striking when Ner’zhul’s senses faltered could he hope to damage the Lich King’s core before a new shield was erected.

As the energy on the field gradually settled, Ner’zhul regained sight of Arthas’ location. His soul whispered fragmented words, as if still attempting to tempt Arthas into corruption.

Arthas swung his war hammer, shattering several sharp ice spikes. With a gesture of his left hand, a semicircular shield of holy light formed, blocking a spell of torment bound with vengeful souls—Death Coil.

Having withstood Ner’zhul’s assault, Arthas engaged his waist, driving his hammer forward so forcefully it compressed the air itself, shattering the obstructing ice wall.

As the scattered ice shards and the erupting energy interfered with Ner’zhul’s vision once more, Arthas’ right hand reached toward something hanging on his chest weapon strap.

“Bang!”