Chapter 690

Chapter 690: The Traitor of the Future

Dar’Khan. Jesse could never forget that guy.

In Quel’Thalas, he was a Magus who’d always felt unfulfilled. His research into the Twisting Nether and Black Magic grew increasingly extreme over the years. More than a decade later, when the Scourge Legion invaded Quel’Thalas, he sided with the Lich King to gain powerful necromantic powers. He helped the Death Knight Arthas, who led the undead army, break through Quel’Thalas’s defenses, leading to the fall of the Sunwell and the elven kingdom.

Jesse hesitated for a moment, watching Dar’Khan’s retreating back. Vereesa asked, “Had you heard of him?”

“A high-ranking Magus… probably heard the name, but I don’t recall,” Jesse said. “Well then, Jesse, I’ll go look around elsewhere,” Vereesa said.

Jesse nodded and walked into the corridors of the Grand Library’s inner section.

He simply couldn’t ignore Dar’Khan. Without him, the elven defenses wouldn’t have been breached so easily by the Scourge Legion’s undead army. Remember, during the Orc War, even the Red Dragonflight couldn’t fully break Ban’dinoriel’s magic preventing the Horde from entering Silvermoon City.

So, what was Dar’Khan here to look up?

And he’d been in such a rush, coming and going quickly, like he’d found what he needed and was hurrying to the next step.

Knowing this guy’s constant ties to the Twisting Nether or Shadow Magic, Jesse even felt like he’d been outpaced. But right now, he had no good way to figure out what the other was doing.

Compared to the outer areas of the Grand Library, this section was darker, narrower, and far less crowded. After all, not everyone had the right to access the knowledge and records left by the Council of Tirisfal.

Jesse glanced at books on a few random shelves and cabinets, realizing most contained knowledge and records the Council of Tirisfal had gathered from across the world, even the Twisting Nether, concerning demons, the Burning Legion, or shadow creatures. There was nothing on actual Dark Magic, including spells… casting methods, and such.

Of course, such things couldn’t be here. If this section’s contents were restricted, those spellbooks and magic would be absolute taboos.

It was also possible the Council of Tirisfal simply hadn’t managed to preserve such things properly.

Jesse wandered around and found the section on demonic languages. The records here on demonic tongues were far more detailed than those in the Wizard’s Sanctum. He might actually uncover something valuable.

However, after searching for records related to the Ered’ruin demons, his initial optimism faded. He only found a few books describing the linguistic features of Doomguards. There were no proper dictionaries or translations, just fragments – even less than the records on the ancient Nathrezim language.

This meant even the Council of Tirisfal… knew very little about the Ered’ruin language.

Jesse guessed this was because most Ered’ruin the Council encountered communicated in Demonic – Eredun – and rarely used their original tongue. Probably only higher-ranking Ered’ruin demons used their nearly forgotten language when speaking amongst themselves.

If he was right, that so-called Burning Legion superior officer communicating with Dethmoora must also have been an Ered’ruin Doomguard. That explained why the spells Dethmoora recorded were covered in Ered’ruin script.

In that case, those scrolls he found with Dethmoora were incredibly valuable. This was vital linguistic material even the Council of Tirisfal lacked… no wonder the Reliquary was willing to pay such a high price.

The Reliquary…

Jesse suddenly thought: Doesn’t Vereesa know how to trace magic?

Could she track Dar’Khan, see what he’d been looking at in this library?

After circling around for a while, he checked his pocket watch. It was nearly noon, time to get some food. Vereesa must be starving by now.

Exiting the corridor, he saw the elf sitting at a nearby table reading.

“Vereesa,” he said, sitting beside her. “If I asked you to trace that Magus’s magical residue from earlier, could you do it?”

“Trace a Magus’s magical residue in Dalaran?” Vereesa shook her head. “I’m not a mage, Jesse. That’s very hard to do. Why the sudden interest in him? Did his attitude bother you? Many Magi are like that; they treat Farstriders the same way they treat you.”

Jesse said, “You said he studies the Twisting Nether. I’m just curious what he wanted to research. If it’s not possible, forget it.”

Vereesa raised an eyebrow. “Tracing magic here in Dalaran, where Arcane energy is so concentrated, takes specific conditions, Jesse. First, you need something touched by that Magus’s magic, like his magic wand. Then, the object you want to trace – say, a book he read – needs something he focused on intensely for a long time to leave a detectable residue.”

“Second, you need a gifted, well-trained mage. Clearly, I’m not one. Remember in Eldre’Thalas? Once magic gets chaotic, I can’t find anything, let alone the faint traces left by Magi compared to demons.”

“Finally, tracing a Magus without cause is illegal in both Quel’Thalas and Dalaran. So whoever helps you must be trustworthy, ensuring they won’t report you.”

A gifted, well-trained mage, Jesse thought. And trustworthy.

Damn it. Wasn’t there one in Dalaran? Amy Malin!

Jesse scratched his head, almost unable to believe he’d only just remembered Amy. He was supposed to visit her in Dalaran.

Maybe he’d been overthinking things because of the Violet Citadel and Krasus, plus running into Vereesa so early.

“Do you know any professors in Dalaran right now? Preferably Evokers? I think a Frost Mage… I need to find a Kirin Tor Mage’s residence. Amy Malin. You should know her.”

Vereesa said, “Of course I remember her. I’ll ask around in the Quel’Thalas embassy district. It’s noon already; we’ll need to hurry if we’re going, Jesse.”