Wayne had already figured out the Vending Machine's unlock mechanism back when he completed Monster Hunter G and defeated Fatalis. The rewards were generated based on the specific playstyle used to achieve victory. Furthermore, similar to the movies, each game or film typically offered only a single chance to unlock a reward.
But this reward was a bit too ridiculous...
The reward from Monster Hunter G was intended to be his secret weapon against Hogger, but this "Necromancy"... Looking at the vending machine, Wayne really wanted to swear.
It felt as though the machine was hell-bent on pushing him, a descendant of the Miller family, toward the path of the Menethils.
He only used the Cloak of the Undead King to win the game faster; he wasn't actually planning to become the Lich King. Had he known, he would have played as the Castle or Rampart faction—perhaps he could have unlocked "Archangel Control" or "Dragon Control," abilities that sounded significantly more prestigious and high-end.
While Wayne returned to the net cafe in a daze, answering gameplay questions from the patrons engaged in their 8-player matches, a storm was brewing hundreds of kilometers away in a meeting room within Stormwind Keep.
A dozen people sat around a long rectangular conference table. At the head sat High Lord Bolvar Fordragon, the Regent. Although a portrait of the young King Anduin hung on the wall behind him, the eleven-year-old monarch did not attend such classified meetings.
In fact, due to his young age, orders signed by Bolvar didn't even need to be presented to him for review.
Sitting at Bolvar's left hand, acting as the representative for the young King in many people's eyes, was Lady Katrana Prestor.
By her noble rank alone, she shouldn't have been seated ahead of several Dukes. However, she was the young King's Royal Tutor, which gave her special symbolic significance. Furthermore, the Regent trusted her advice implicitly, often consulting her even mid-meeting. Adding to this, her immense wealth—originating from unknown sources—had long since "fed" many of the nobles present, ensuring no one would challenge her position.
Marshal McBride was supposed to attend this meeting, but the Lady had denied him entry on the grounds of "disobeying orders" and even threatened to punish him.
At this moment, Duke Ebonlocke, the Mayor of Darkshire, slammed his hand on the table.
Duke Ebonlocke roared, "Do not forget! It was Marshal McBride who led the troops to clear out the Defias rebels entrenched in Eastvale, allowing the Kingdom to reclaim that vital lumber mill. Now, the people of Darkshire only ask for another army to join our militia and reclaim the southern farms and Raven's Hill to the west from the undead and ogres. Only then will we have hope for survival!"
"Once the undead of Raven's Hill are cleared, we can open the transport route to Westfall. Those Gnolls and Defias rebels won't be able to bypass our borders and ambush Goldshire like they did last time. This is for the safety of Stormwind!"
Lady Katrana Prestor interjected, "Watch your tone and the setting, Mr. Mayor."
She intentionally ignored his higher rank as a Duke, addressing him only as "Mayor" to assert her authority to criticize him in this forum.
"The Regent never granted the Northshire army permission to attack. They are in open defiance of military orders. If the rebels in Eastvale were merely a feint to lure our troops away, leaving Stormwind vulnerable to a sudden strike while Northshire's defenses are empty, it would lead to catastrophic losses."
Duke Ebonlocke countered, "So, as long as Stormwind is safe, the lives of people elsewhere can be discarded? Just like the People's Militia at Sentinel Hill, you expect the people of Darkshire to defend themselves without aid. If they die, you lose nothing; if they win, you claim the credit for yourself, Lady Prestor?"
Lady Katrana replied smoothly, "Say what you will, but the military affairs of the Kingdom of Stormwind affect the whole. We will not disrupt all our deployments for the sake of a single Darkshire."
Duke Ebonlocke shouted, "The Kingdom of Stormwind... you have the nerve to say that! I still don't understand how an Alterac noble from a fallen kingdom gained the right to dictate affairs here in Stormwind!"
Lady Katrana remained calm and composed. "Mayor, I don't mind educating you once more on the noble history of the Prestor family. We were the advisors personally chosen by King Terenas..."
Duke Ebonlocke spat on the floor. "By that logic, if the missing princess of the Menethil family is ever found, the seat of the High King of the Alliance in Stormwind Keep should be handed over to her too?"
Facing the verbal onslaught and flying spittle, Bolvar felt mentally exhausted.
Since the King's disappearance and the young King's succession, he had been thrust onto the throne of the Regent. He worked day and night, not daring to be negligent for a single moment.
On one hand, he struggled to maintain external ties with the nations of the Alliance and internal stability within Stormwind. On the other, he actively deployed SI:7 and his own personal forces—the reorganized First Legion—to search for Varian. He only hoped to find the old King quickly, whether alive or dead.
He also gave King Anduin absolute respect and protection. No one doubted his loyalty to the crown.
But sometimes, Bolvar himself didn't know why he made decisions that contradicted his original intentions. Whether it was deploying troops to Eastvale, supporting Darkshire and Lakeshire, or rescuing Marshal Windsor, his heart was fully in support. Yet, whenever it came time for the final decision, he would sincerely feel that the Lady's suggestions were extremely prudent and would repeatedly order against deployment.
He didn't know the reason. Perhaps the Lady truly thought more thoroughly than he did and convinced him, or perhaps the pressure was simply too great, making him fear making any decision that might expose the army to attack.
In short, facing the argument before him, he once again fell into a state of indecision. He even felt pain because of it, as the man he once was would never have been so vacillating.
He called for silence and asked for time to make a final decision.
However, both the nobles who were paid to watch and the generals waiting for the order to march knew that if Bolvar took his time, he would eventually follow Katrana Prestor's advice completely.
They didn't know what had happened to him. It was precisely because of his bravery, integrity, and fairness that they had collectively elected Bolvar to the throne of the Regent.
"If our subjects abandon us and our allies abandon us, on that day, we will truly be left all alone."
As the Lady was about to call the guards to stop him, Bolvar waved his hand, signaling the end of the meeting.
After everyone left, he said to her, "Lady Prestor, you overstepped today."
At this moment, the Lady immediately showed her charming and gentle side. "I will have the servants prepare for you. you must take a bath and rest; your fatigue is visible to everyone."
She then dismissed the guards at the meeting room door, closed the room, and sat down beside Bolvar, who was rubbing his temples.
"Regent, danger lurks everywhere, and our enemies are omnipresent. We truly cannot deploy troops lightly."
Bolvar frowned, looking irritable.
The Lady continued, "Do you remember the person in Goldshire I mentioned to you?"
Bolvar nodded. "The young Knight who saved Goldshire."
The Lady said, "My informants tell me he is actively moving between various factions in Stormwind. Whether it's McBride, Andromath, or those Warlocks hiding underground, they have all become his allies. Even Lord Tyrosus, leader of the Argent Dawn—who maintains a neutral stance between the Alliance and Horde—is going to his strange 'net cafe' tomorrow."
"I am certain this person is plotting something detrimental to the Kingdom and the Alliance."
Bolvar replied, "You've mentioned this before. The SI:7 reports clearly state it's just a new entertainment venue, no different from the city's theaters, hunting grounds, or balls. We should focus our minds on... uh..."
At that moment, the Lady stood behind Bolvar. Her left hand reached into her collar and pulled out her necklace.
The pendant was an amulet shaped like two coiled dragons facing each other. It began to emit a faint black light, plunging Bolvar into a trance-like state.
It was not a state of relaxation. Bolvar's brow furrowed as if he were in great pain, struggling against a voice appearing in his mind.
The Lady chanted an incantation, inwardly cursing this man's stubborn willpower. Despite repeated magical attacks of mind control and her own feminine charms, she still hadn't been able to fully transform him into her puppet.
Though her status was high and she had bribed the nobles, without the support of the army and SI:7, she remained merely a Royal Advisor with influence but no ability to move a single soldier.
Furthermore, in distant Theramore on another continent, Lady Jaina Proudmoore had already discovered clues regarding the old King's kidnapping by the Defias Brotherhood with the help of some meddling adventurers. Meanwhile, the calls within the army for Bolvar to send elites to Blackrock Spire to rescue Marshal Windsor were growing louder.
Additionally, she had learned from a priestess named Jyssetta, a subordinate of the Archbishop, that a bumpkin running a net cafe in Goldshire was training officers in squads to fight black dragons—even aiming to go deep under the volcano to kill the mastermind, the King of the Black Dragons. This shocking news convinced her that her infiltration had been discovered. She believed these people were uniting to dismantle her influence, and that net cafe was a key stronghold arranged outside the city.
She had to accelerate her pace. She was already second only to one; once the Regent with all the power became a thoughtless puppet, combined with her control over the young King, the "Great Work" of her and her master could be realized.
As she thought of this, the Drakefire Amulet around her neck emitted an even deeper, darker glow under the surge of mental magic.