Somewhere in an upper-floor room of Gale's Tower.
Gale lay on the bed, while Maiev, Metri, and others examined his condition.
"This curse is too strange; I've never even heard of it. It makes one fall asleep without harming the body, yet it can erode the soul—it's truly bizarre," Metri said, shaking his head.
The other attendant Mages exchanged glances. If even the most knowledgeable Metri didn't know what was going on, they were even more clueless.
Maiev also sighed, "I prayed to Elune, but Elune did not respond. She seems unwilling to heal Gale."
Nasa pushed the door open and walked in, "Sister Maiev, that book constantly emits an evil aura. We should..."
Maiev knew what she meant. The devourer of gods had consumed the souls of four loa, and one was cursed. If not dealt with, the souls of other loa could very likely be corroded by the curse. At that point, the curse might erupt in Gale's Tower, turning it into a dead zone.
"Gale is already in this state; we cannot let it harm anyone else. Gather the Sisterhood and seal it away."
Metri opened his mouth, then closed it. Sealing an artifact seemed a bit rash, didn't it? And it was Lord Gale's spellbook...
Looking at Gale's current state, Metri closed his mouth.
Perhaps sealing it was a good choice.
Maiev and Nasa arrived at the room where the devourer of gods was kept, followed by Priests from the Sisterhood. They drew runes around the pedestal where the devourer of gods rested, then stood around it to cast spells.
Thanks to Gale's reminder, Maiev and the Priests could now omit prayers and directly cast divine spells. They discovered that divine spells were simply spells imbued with divine power, and their prayers were a way of borrowing divine power from Elune.
After casting divine spells for a long time, they already had residual divine power within them, though it was still very weak. But no matter how weak, divine power was still divine power.
Therefore, the Priests' strength was generally very high.
The runes on the ground lit up, gradually forming a sealing barrier that slowly enveloped the book.
Sensing the threat, the devourer of gods floated up, its soul power attempting to break free from the book's constraints.
Maiev and the others on the periphery immediately cast purifying divine spells, suppressing the restless soul power.
Soon, the sealing barrier was complete, freezing everything within it. The devourer of gods floated motionless in mid-air, falling into a deathly silence.
The young women breathed a sigh of relief. Although they knew this was created by Gale to deal with the loa, they still felt uneasy. Such an evil spellbook should not exist in this world. If not for the fear that destroying it would release the evil souls within, they would have wanted to destroy it.
Maiev sighed softly, "Let's go!"
She also didn't understand why Gale would create the devourer of gods, but she still supported Gale, knowing he was not an evil person.
The devourer of gods was dealt with, but when would Gale wake up?
She didn't know that the moment the devourer of gods was sealed, Gale's rapid breathing became normal. Metri and the others quickly examined him, finding that the power tormenting Gale's soul was gone, but Gale was still in a deep sleep.
They reported this to Maiev, who immediately rushed over. But after several days, Gale still showed no signs of waking.
Metri placed the eternal holy grail on the bedside table, allowing Gale to be bathed in Arcane Energy.
Maiev had Metri open a portal to the Mage Tower in Dalaran to send the Priest Corps away. Then she called all the attendant Mages and questioned them, "What's going on with the Well of Eternity water in the basement?"
Metri and the others, seeing that Maiev had discovered the secret of the basement, immediately looked at Sethonis. Sethonis was speechless; these guys were disloyal, pushing everything onto him.
Maiev also looked at Sethonis. She wasn't very familiar with the others; besides frequently seeing Metri, Sethonis was the most familiar. Metri had joined the Mage Tower later, so he certainly didn't know as much as Sethonis, the veteran.
Sethonis, helpless, could only say, "This is a strategic reserve created by Gale."
"What do you mean? Is Gale creating a strategic reserve for the empire?" Maiev asked, puzzled.
Sethonis shook his head, "No, it's for himself. Gale believes that Azshara is too engrossed in her beauty and lacks the talent for imperial governance, leaving many affairs in Savis's hands. Savis clearly wants to win her favor, but Azshara gives him no opportunity. Such emotional conduct from the Queen and the Grand Vizier will only lead to the collapse of the empire. So Gale prepared strategic materials, so that if the situation he fears arises, many Kaldorei can be saved from sacrifice."
Maiev found it absurd, "How could Gale think that? As long as the empire maintains its strength, who could threaten its security?"
"Gale often says: 'Born in sorrow, die in comfort.' One must have a sense of crisis to survive. The empire has been too stable for too long; everyone believes nothing can go wrong. Once something does, everyone will be unprepared, leading to additional losses."
Metri said, "Madam, you should know Lord Gale better than us. He never fights a battle he's not confident in, which is why he dedicates himself to researching weaponry and equipment. Think about it, without these weapons and equipment, how many Kaldorei would have died in our war with the Trolls?"
Maiev fell silent. Without the weapons and equipment Gale created, the expeditionary force would likely have needed an entirely new batch of soldiers. Putting aside the epic weapons, the Sanction Sword alone saved the lives of many ordinary soldiers.
Many people secretly called Gale a warmonger, only profiting from war. However, Gale didn't start the war; he merely carried out Queen Azshara's orders.
On the contrary, without Gale's armaments, how could they comfortably stay in the city and enjoy the fruits of victory?
Sethonis continued, "Maiev, Gale has never been a troublemaker. You should know about his creation of the artifact crown for the Queen. Such a great merit could have easily earned him a noble title. However, the Queen merely rewarded him with a Mage Tower, which all Royal Mages have, meaning Gale received no reward at all. Furthermore, Gale is still a Baron to this day. There are many things I don't know about this, but someone is definitely interfering, even trying to harm Gale."
Maiev immediately thought of the incident where the logistics troops were ambushed during the Heda'shal campaign. The traitor was never caught, and the matter was left unresolved.
"I support Gale in doing this, because this is how he can protect himself."
Metri and the others also said, "We also support Lord Gale."
Maiev glared at them, "Do I not support Gale?"
Everyone chuckled awkwardly.
"It's just that you all are too bold. With just a little disguise, do you think others won't see through it?" Maiev said, "Immediately, under the pretext of Gale's injury, extend the Mage Tower's protective shield beyond the mine, so that the mine remains undiscovered."
Everyone quickly agreed and went to carry out the order.
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