Everyone exchanged glances. Accepting a lich into the alliance was clearly beyond their bottom line. They had originally thought Aiden was going to summon someone like the alchemist Singed—someone with a frightening appearance and a somewhat unstable mind—or perhaps a little more eccentric. They would have gladly accepted that, considering Singed and Aiden's past performance.
But they never expected a lich to arrive!
Dalaran could never tolerate a lich. Whether academically or ideologically, the human kingdoms would not allow such an evil existence.
"This is probably…" Antonidas was trying to find the right words to refuse politely.
Aiden, feeling somewhat unwilling, defended Karthus, who had not yet arrived: "Actually, this lich's abilities are very effective against the Scourge. He is especially skilled in the study of the soul domain. Believe me, everyone, only a lich truly understands how to defeat a lich. Moreover, he possesses an artifact specifically designed to counter the Scourge."
"What artifact?" Their attention was slightly diverted. The Scourge was currently the greatest challenge facing humanity. If such an ally could greatly increase their chances of defeating the Scourge, they might indeed accept this fact out of practical considerations.
"Mejai's Soulstealer," Kayle replied. As a firsthand witness, she was clearly more aware of the Death Singer's details. "It's an artifact that absorbs the power of dead souls to enhance its own magic power. With it, those liches' immortality will be useless."
Drendan suddenly asked, "Ms. Kayle, what do you think of that lich?" This short, stout mage asked a rather clever question. Having experienced the Stratholme blessing ceremony, he knew how righteous and benevolent this angel was, and how much she hated darkness and evil.
"Karthus, you say? He is a lich obsessed with death. If I had met him before joining the League of Legends, I would have cleansed him with holy fire." Kayle had no intention of saying anything good about the Death Singer.
Aiden sighed. It seemed his plan to summon Karthus was going to fall through. So, who to summon instead? Mordekaiser would certainly be difficult to accept—a wraith; Veigar, the Evil Little Master, would also be a long shot—researching black magic; then… Morgana? On second thought, that wouldn't work either. Leaving aside whether the Skull of Gul'dan was powerful enough to summon her, Kayle was right beside him, and he didn't want his greatest safety net to be unhappy with him. Although the Heart of Valoran guaranteed that Morgana would also obey him, he was now trying to avoid summoning heroes who had grudges with existing heroes.
After much deliberation, Aiden couldn't find a suitable answer. He had no choice but to give up using the Skull of Gul'dan. After all, he still had to get along in the League. But this feeling of not being able to make his own decisions was truly terrible.
Unbeknownst to him, ever since they had decided the fate of the Skull of Gul'dan, Gul'dan's remnant soul within it had been living in constant fear. He was extremely unwilling, thinking his end was near. He never expected that these self-proclaimed righteous people would not tolerate the power of darkness. At this moment, he was immensely grateful that he had been a warlock in life.
Gul'dan's only thought after surviving the ordeal was to quickly find someone willing to absorb the power of the Skull of Gul'dan. Even if he truly perished, he wanted someone to inherit his legacy, rather than simply being a sacrificial offering like a lamb to the slaughter in a ritual.
Just as the matter was settled, Medivh suddenly said, "Actually, he has a point." A ball of black negative energy appeared in his palm, clearly something that righteous mages should not possess: "Power itself is neither evil nor righteous. It only depends on what purpose the wielder uses it for. My body still holds the dark magic I learned when I was corrupted, but I still strive to save the people of Lordaeron."
He looked at Aiden, nodded to him, and then looked around at the others: "If you want to defeat the Scourge, you must understand the Scourge. Just like when you were dedicated to cracking the plague, didn't you also use that alchemist who was familiar with viruses and plagues?"
The Kirin Tor members fell into contemplation. They could rationally understand such a principle, but emotionally they found it difficult to accept such a notion.
Aiden didn't expect Medivh to speak up for him, but Valoran did indeed have many non-righteous heroes. He couldn't possibly seek the League's opinion every time. If the Kirin Tor Council and the others in the League couldn't accept this, Aiden would have to re-evaluate his choices in the future.
The archmages exchanged thoughts telepathically, but after only a few breaths, Antonidas said, "Then, we agree. Aiden, you can summon this lich. We are willing to trust you, just as you are willing to trust the League."
"Believe me, he won't disappoint you."
"We look forward to it." Clearly, the archmages were also well aware that Aiden didn't need their approval to summon heroes from Valoran. This time, he only sought their opinion because he needed to use the Skull of Gul'dan. Antonidas felt that they needed to respect Valoran's traditions and rules for this new ally from another world. Since the League of Legends could bring together righteous and non-righteous heroes and eliminate their prejudices and disputes, then the League naturally had to have the magnanimity to accept them.
Just like they saw, Aiden's team had both righteous heroes like Kayle and Lux, as well as dark assassins like Vayne, and even mad alchemists like Singed. They could all coexist peacefully under Aiden's command. Obviously, the Kirin Tor didn't need to worry too much about the issues of good and evil.
Gul'dan, on the other hand, fell into complete despair. He roared hysterically, but unfortunately, his thoughts were blocked by Medivh's magic, and no one could hear him at all.
The situation took a surprising turn, and Aiden was extremely grateful. It seemed that the Kirin Tor's mages were still very reasonable—and now he was one of them.
This summoning went very smoothly. The Skull of Gul'dan gradually melted away along with its master's lingering thoughts, and finally disappeared with the magic circle. Then, Karthus, the Deathsinger, appeared in the room. He wore a deep red, blood-colored robe and a tall wizard's hat. Under the brim of the hat, his eyes shone with light, and the skin on his face was completely dry and stuck to his bones, looking even more terrifying than a skeleton. Just like in the game, his feet were suspended in the air, and his body floated as if weightless.
"So quickly it's my turn to play, I really didn't expect it, Summoner!" Karthus greeted Aiden, then he turned to Kayle, "Angel, also a messenger of death. Kayle, long time no see."
"Did you think I would look forward to your arrival, Lich?" Kayle coldly mocked.
Karthus didn't care. He looked around: "Many powerful souls." Then he looked at Medivh: "You are one of the most powerful mages I have ever seen, but your soul tells me that you have been resurrected—not long ago. Am I right, mage?"
Medivh had to admit that this lich was indeed extraordinary.
Aiden said, "Karthus, can you change your attire? You should know that the concept of the League of Legends has not yet spread in this world, and we should try to keep a low profile."
Karthus mocked: "Worldly prejudice? Death is the inevitable end of every life, even the universe will die. But the end is also the beginning, death is the new beginning. It's a pity they can't see through this at all."
Kayle said coldly, "Don't spread your theories in front of me, Karthus. No one here wants to hear your nonsense."
Aiden quickly smoothed things over: "Let the academic problems be discussed academically. Karthus, can you change into an image that is more easily accepted by ordinary people? You know the reason."
"Understood." Karthus readily agreed. Then, with a transformation, he became the image from the League of Legends skin 'Phantom Karthus', his clothes turned black and gray, a mask appeared on his face, and the light from his eyes turned red.
"How about this, others won't see my mouth." Karthus asked.
Aiden was covered in black lines: "This is not much different from your original image."
"Alright." Karthus then transformed into 'Grim Reaper', but obviously he knew that this image could not be accepted, so he transformed into the Statue of Liberty skin: "Is this one good?" In this outfit, Karthus really didn't look so terrifying. At least people couldn't see his face, and the appearance wouldn't make people feel evil at first glance. Just like the angels in Diablo, they also have no faces.
Seeing Karthus constantly changing into various racial images, Aiden's thoughts wandered a little: if Kayle would also obediently change into other images, such as 'Iron Inquisitor' or 'Archangel Michael' without a helmet, that would be great?
The female mage Modera couldn't help but say: "Can you just turn into a normal person?"
The originally quite pleased Karthus couldn't help but look at Aiden, who nodded in agreement: "That's what I mean too. It's best to look like a flesh-and-blood mage. Trust me, when our League of Legends is widely accepted by the public in the future, you can become whatever you want."
"Alas…" Karthus sighed. But he still followed Aiden's meaning, and with a transformation, he became the image of a human mage wearing a gorgeous red robe. He moved his body and sighed: "This is my body when I was still human, a truly shameful regression."
But obviously this image of Karthus was easily accepted by everyone. Although everyone understood that this was actually a complete lich.
Antonidas said: "Aiden, since you have clues about Kel'Thuzad, then it seems that this lich will soon come in handy. I hope he won't let us down."
"Capture a lich? Ah, this is my favorite thing. I am the last lich of Valoran, and I have always wanted to find a lich other than myself to study. I didn't expect that as soon as I came to this world, the opportunity would come. I can't wait!" After understanding the whole story, Karthus became excited. For some reason, Aiden thought of the scene of Karthus disassembling Kel'Thuzad's bones one by one…
He patted Karthus on the shoulder: "Don't worry, in this world, you will have many opportunities."