I traveled through time and space and became the Archbishop of Stormwind!

Chapter 644 Cursed Courtyard

"I once experienced something when I was a child."

Alvin's voice suddenly rang out.

It wasn't loud, but it was unusually clear in this silent ancient corridor, and even caused a slight echo.

He was still holding the Naaru Beacon that emitted a soft glow, walking ahead at a steady pace, and suddenly started chatting.

Stellagosa, who was following behind him, was now experiencing a rapid heartbeat due to the growing darkness and sense of unknown surroundings. The blue dragon girl's fingertips unconsciously pricked her palms.

Alvin's sudden words were like a straw thrown to a drowning man. She almost immediately seized the opportunity, forcibly suppressing the tension in her throat and asked, "What's the matter?"

She even unconsciously took another half step closer to him, close enough to feel the faint heat emanating from his body and the reassuring warmth of the holy light of the Naaru Beacon.

Alvin seemed lost in recollection, his voice growing low and slow. "It was in an ancient library in the Cathedral of Light in Stratholme. At the time, I was a priest apprentice, responsible for sorting the underground library at midnight. It was filled with parchments and ancient books that hadn't been touched for centuries. The air was filled with the smell of dust and old paper, and I was accompanied only by a dim oil lamp."

He spoke slowly, deliberately creating an atmosphere.

"That night, I was copying a document when I suddenly heard a very soft rustling sound coming from deep in the bookshelf behind me, like someone scratching the spine of a book with their fingernails."

Stella held her breath and listened intently, her blue eyes moving restlessly in the darkness, as if she was also listening to see if there was a similar scraping sound behind her.

"At first I didn't pay much attention to it, thinking it was a mouse. But the sound kept stopping and starting, and it kept getting closer and closer."

Alvin lowered his voice even more, creating a strange and mysterious feeling just right.

"I couldn't help but stop writing and raised the oil lamp to shine in that direction. The light was dim, illuminating only a small area. The passages between the bookshelves were dark and deep, and I couldn't see anything. But the rustling sound stopped abruptly when I looked over."

Stella swallowed unconsciously, and the sound of her throat rolling was faintly audible in the silence.

She clasped her hands tightly in front of her, her knuckles turning white, and leaned forward slightly, almost devoting all her attention to Alvin's story.

"I was terrified, but I summoned the courage to yell, 'Who's there?'"

Alvin continued to speak, his pace still unhurried, as if he was talking about someone else's story.

"No answer. Deathly silence. I turned around and prepared to continue my work, thinking I must have heard wrongly. But..."

He paused abruptly, creating a brief blank that made Stella's heart almost rise to her throat.

"But I just picked up the quill,"

"But the voice in my ear said,"

Alvin's voice suddenly rose. He turned around and shone the light of the Naaru Beacon into the darkness behind Stella, shouting:

“I’m here!!!”

“Aa ...

Stellagosa was so frightened that she jumped up like a cat whose tail was stepped on, and let out a sharp and long scream.

She lunged forward, directly into Alvin's arms.

He folded his arms and hugged Alvin's chest tightly. His face turned pale in an instant. His heart was beating so wildly that it seemed like it was going to burst out of his chest. He almost couldn't breathe.

"Well!"

Alvin felt the air in his chest being rapidly expelled by the huge squeezing force, and it hurt so much that his ribs seemed to be broken.

“Ah ...

Alvin cried out in pain, but seeing Stella's violent reaction, he couldn't help but burst into a hearty and joyful laugh. The tension that had been pent up in the darkness seemed to be vented with the laughter.

"Are you scared? Hahaha!"

Stella gasped in shock, and looking at Alvin laughing, she realized that she had been fooled by him!

A sense of shame and anger at being teased instantly dispelled the fear, and the fair cheeks flushed with excitement.

"You bastard!"

She stamped her feet in anger and no longer cared about maintaining Miss Blue Dragon's elegance and composure.

She didn't let go, just held Alvin tightly and strangled him hard.

"You scared me to death! How could you be so mean! I...I'll strangle you to death!"

She was both embarrassed and angry, her eyes even slightly red, and she looked really scared. At this moment, she looked more like an ordinary girl who had been bullied by a prank than the powerful blue dragon.

Alvin was almost foaming at the mouth from being strangled. He patted her back and begged for mercy: "It hurts! I was wrong, I was wrong! Stella, I'm sorry! I just wanted to liven up the atmosphere! Look, are you not so scared anymore?"

"Who, who is scared!"

Stella said stubbornly, but she stopped strangling him. She felt that her whole body was pressed against him and she was being taken advantage of. She quickly let go with a red face, turned her face away, and refused to look at him angrily.

"Yes, yes, you're not scared. It's my fault. I shouldn't have told you a ghost story to scare you."

Alvin suppressed his laughter and apologized sincerely.

"I promise I won't do this again next time, okay?"

The two of them were talking and chatting as they walked, and before they knew it, the originally thick darkness in front of them gradually faded, and a faint but real light seeped in from the end of the passage.

The two quickened their pace and soon walked out of the long and depressing downward corridor.

As soon as they stepped out of the passage, they both narrowed their eyes and covered their eyes with their hands - they were used to the long hours of darkness, so even though the light outside was not very strong, it still felt a little dazzling to them.

After a while, the vision gradually adjusted.

What appeared before them was an extremely huge circular plaza paved with white stones. It was so large that it far exceeded the entrance plaza outside.

However, inconsistent with this magnificent building, the square was filled with a confused and eerie atmosphere.

Some little tree people were patrolling the square slowly and aimlessly.

Their forms reminded Elwyn of the forest guardians summoned by the druid Fandral Staghelm in Blackfathom Deeps.

But the tree people in front of him were obviously different—their branches and trunks were inlaid with and growing many transparent crystals, like some kind of malignant tumor, emitting disturbing energy fluctuations.

The two quickly hid behind a broken low wall and peeked out carefully.

"These tree people look very strange,"

Alvin lowered his voice, frowning.

"They look less like guardians of nature and more like captives in chains."

Stellagosa observed carefully. "They've been completely corrupted by uncontrolled arcane magic. See those crystals? They're the materialization of highly concentrated arcane energy, like magical 'stones.' The ancient elves of this city indulged in dangerous magical experiments. The overflowing violent arcane energy not only distorted the local ecology but also contaminated these once-neutral Treeguards, transforming them into their current form, forever trapped and wandering this cursed city."

She raised her hand and pointed further into the square.

"Look over there, those beautiful corridors and archways and seemingly neat gardens in the distance. That was once the place where the Highborne nobles of Eldre'Thalas rested and entertained. And those pillars of light must be some kind of arcane barrier, everything shrouded in a distorted force field. If I'm not mistaken, that barrier protects the core of this area, and there must be some terrifying existence there. To enter there, we must first find a way to disable the several core arcane magic devices scattered throughout the garden."

Alvin looked in the direction she pointed, and sure enough, he saw several nodes in different parts of the garden emitting a strong purple arcane aura. They were pulsating like a beating heart, providing energy for the distorted force field in this area.

"Are those devices the key?" he asked.

"Yes,"

Stella nodded affirmatively.

"According to the Blue Dragonflight's research on the ancient Kaldorei magical civilization, arcane cages of this size typically have multiple power supply nodes. If we don't shut them down, not only will we be unable to enter the core area, but even our movements here will be subject to continuous arcane interference, potentially even activating more magical guards like those outside."

Alvin sighed, his eyes sweeping over the confused patrolling crystal treemen, and then looking at the arcane node in the distance that was emitting an ominous light.

If Gugar and his men are also targeting the core area, they are probably also trying to deal with these devices. It seems that they are finally catching up with them.

"It's great to have you here, Stella. Now it's up to me to show you how to get through this cursed garden."