Chapter Four: The Lich King Prepares to Assemble His Forces [New Book—Please Add to Favorites and Recommend!]

Manhattan is primarily made up of an island, surrounded by the East River, the Hudson River, and the Harlem River. It’s home to many famous corporations and is the wealthiest district in New York.

Naturally, many of Manhattan’s landmarks are world-renowned.

Among them, Hell’s Kitchen stands out.

But any true New Yorker would warn newcomers about one thing.

“Don’t go to Hell’s Kitchen, don’t go to Hell’s Kitchen, don’t go to Hell’s Kitchen!”

This warning is always repeated three times for emphasis.

This is the heart of New York’s underworld. The area boasts a rich cultural tapestry and has produced many ambitious individuals, yet where there are criminals, there inevitably appear all manner of superheroes eager to bring them to justice.

Though it’s only eight small blocks, walking alone through the streets of Hell’s Kitchen—even in broad daylight—one might at any moment feel the friendly presence of a hooded passerby who sidles up, presses something hard and cold into your back, and greets you warmly: “Hey, buddy, lend me some cash.”

Here, you’ll find addicts of every stripe, pimps running the flesh trade, gangs looking for easy marks, and sometimes, while munching on your hot dog, you might overhear pedestrians passing by greeting each other with the polite, conspiratorial phrase, “Cut off one head, two more shall take its place.”

Chaos breeds evil, and the soul essence born from wickedness is a favorite of the Scourge.

That is precisely why Roald likes this place.

In some ways, he has no particular fondness for the term “gangster.”

While rampant gangs are a fact of life in Hell’s Kitchen, to most ordinary people they are nothing but a cancer—dealing in powder, forcing the flesh trade, smuggling humans, their crimes too numerous to count…

The soul energy of these villains is enough to make Frostmourne hunger.

With Frostmourne equipped, its special property allows it to automatically absorb the surrounding soul energy, converting souls into soul crystals, which serve as the lifeblood of Roald’s deck.

Whether for strengthening or crafting cards, or maintaining the existence of his minions, soul crystals are an irreplaceable resource.

So far, no alternative energy source has been found, nor is there enough experimental material—not just due to lack of funds, but mainly because Roald currently has no other channels to obtain energy.

He mused that, perhaps one day, he might find an opportunity to capture a few energy-wielding superheroes or villains for experimentation, to charge up Frostmourne and have them contribute their strength to the mighty Scourge.

A proper Lich King must know how to exploit.

Thanks to Zazzara clearing out some of the less significant gangs around the district, Roald’s store of soul crystals is now in the double digits.

With more soul crystals and a few days’ accumulation, he now has more cards at his disposal.

In the course of dealing with the gangs, he also tested the combat data of his ghouls. Though these creatures fear no death and follow orders to the letter, without sufficiently powerful cards to support them, their combat effectiveness leaves something to be desired.

One RPG round and they’re airborne.

But Roald isn’t concerned; the Scourge’s strength lies in endless numbers. For now, there aren’t many augmenting cards, but once he amasses enough combinations to strengthen his deck, each ghoul in the army can become a super soldier.

After all, they’re just cannon fodder, meant to be expended.

They can always be recycled.

No need to feel sorry for them.

What Roald truly values are cards like “Stand in the Breach.”

[Stand in the Breach]
[Effect: Randomly summons another leader of the Frozen Throne.]
[Description: As Lich King, I never fear being outnumbered by the enemy—after all, no one can match the number of my minions.]

These “free” cards that don’t require soul expenditure are infinitely more appealing.

Although the summoned leader is random, any one of them is far stronger than the mindless ghouls—each with their own unique leader traits.

Put simply, with this card, Roald is essentially a summoner now. Of course, these summoned leaders still require soul energy to be maintained.

But as a master of souls, and with Frostmourne equipped, a stroll through Hell’s Kitchen each day is enough for the sword to automatically harvest the wandering souls of the district.

For now, with relatively few minion cards, energy isn’t an issue.

Pushing aside the intelligence gathered from Natasha, Roald turned his attention to the three figures before him.

More precisely, three creatures synthesized from cards.

Zazzara, the Crypt Lord, is a spider-woman, not quite a humanoid, and far too large for the room; she’s currently digging out her underground kingdom beneath the nearby streets, channeling her nest-building instincts to perfection.

The three before Roald were all minions randomly synthesized from the cards he’d drawn recently.

Using cards as the foundational structure, he’d infused them with energy for a spark of personality, added a few quirky traits, sprinkled in some sorcery, perhaps a dash of adorable plague or a touch of heartwarming frost, and used recently departed souls from this world as nourishment.

The most important step is to wash one’s hands before forging a card, light some incense, or perhaps pray to God, Buddha, the Celestial Lord, and Satan alike—cover all your bases—shuffle the deck, and after soul infusion, three fresh creatures are ready for action.

Roald could almost salivate at the results.

One Death Knight card, one Mount card, and one Soul-Wailing Banshee.

In the original lore, the Death Knights serving the Lich King were warriors created by powerful undead sorcerers, but after Roald became the Lich King, their allegiance shifted to him.

The card’s Death Knight still retained his living appearance—pale skin, eyes aglow with sinister blue light, and a face that immediately marked him as trouble.

[Death Knight Vicaen]
[Effect: Hey, friend, see my forehead? Yes, right here—swing at it! What, you don’t dare? Then I’ll have to strike you instead.]
[Description: This is your most loyal hound. Every great Lich King needs subordinates with faces made for taunting to take care of life’s little problems.]

Now Roald understood why the Death Knight on the card always seemed to provoke an urge to attack—this was a minion card with the “taunt” effect.

With the Lich King’s traits, he now favored taunt cards above all.

The more, the merrier.

Blue frost glimmered from the card as Death Knight Vicaen knelt on one knee before Roald, black-bladed greatsword planted in the ground. The Lich King may have changed, but so had his loyalty.

Roald nodded to him, then shifted his focus to the Mount card he’d drawn.

[Bone Mare]
[Effect: Can ignore terrain while galloping, grants a friendly minion increased strength and the taunt effect.]
[Description: You dare kill my horse? I’m telling you, this isn’t over. I’ll remember you—don’t run, just you wait, I’m going to get backup!]

On the back of the card was a friendly reminder.

[Kel’Thuzad’s Tip: Pair minion cards with Dark Infusion spells for outstanding results.]

Roald raised an eyebrow at the description and searched the deck for the [Dark Infusion] spell card.

[Dark Infusion]
[Effect: Converts a minion’s fatal damage into vitality.]
[Description: The first thing you say climbing out of a grave is to psych yourself up. If you can’t kill me, then I’m not afraid of your attacks.]

The effect was extraordinary.

Without hesitation, Roald spent energy to craft five copies of this card—one for himself, the rest for his minions.

With this in hand, feeling a warm, comforting sensation, his confidence soared.

You can never have too many life-saving cards.

The Death Knight and Bone Mare made for the perfect pair: mounted, he was the most taunt-worthy knight; dismounted, he was still a taunting warrior. Two taunt effects together meant double the fun.

Henceforth, whenever there was a need to soak up damage and draw fire, Vicaen would be the obvious choice.

Roald could simply lie low and take it easy.

After handling the skill cards, Roald turned his attention to the Soul-Wailing Banshee he’d drawn.

[Soul-Wailing Banshee]
[Effect: Spellcaster unit. She can temporarily seize control of another being.]
[Description: Hey, darling, the night is long and sleepless; may I have just a little taste? Just a sip…]

Roald was left speechless.

He hadn’t expected the smiling, sweet, and adorable night elf on the card to conceal such darkness within.

Indeed, any character with “banshee” in the name is sure to be deadly.

Though a Lich King, and considering himself a decent man, Roald found this banshee a bit much to handle. If girls just past their teens could charm and cut down fools left and right, what must a night elf banshee with centuries to her name be capable of?

He could hardly imagine!