Veteran

Thousands of soldiers were infected during the two werewolf attacks in Dustwallow Marsh and Theramore. Many were ended by their own comrades, but more were captured and imprisoned. The generals hoped that their soldiers, with whom they lived day and night, could be rescued, and the soldiers hoped that their comrades could be freed from the terrible curse.

Previously, Zod, the leader of the mercenary group, escorted the corpses of dead werewolves and the imprisoned mutated werewolves back to the Land of Justice, reporting the werewolf attack according to orders and handing them over to the alchemist Singed.

Singed has been summoned for more than two years. He once concocted an antidote to the plague virus, providing great help to the Alliance against the Scourge. This tank-type hero in the League of Legends has thus transformed into a chemist, forming a cutting-edge scientific research force of the Valoran Federation together with Heimerdinger, Viktor, and other scientists next door, and is no longer involved in front-line combat.

After successfully configuring the plague antidote, Singed received a secret mission arranged by Aiden and began to develop a virus specifically for killing the Scourge. However, before he could develop it successfully, Karthus put on the Helm of Domination and became the new Lich King, ruling most of the undead army, so his research value was greatly reduced. However, he later created this virus and kept it in the laboratory as a technical reserve.

After the Burning Legion arrived, Singed began to try to configure a virus against these demons who use fel energy, but this was destined to be no easy task, and he has not yet found a feasible solution.

At this time, a new research project came—the appearance of werewolves greatly stimulated Singed's research desire. You know, his master, "Warwick, the Blood Hunter" in the League of Legends, was also cursed by "Soraka, the Starchild" to transform from a human into a werewolf.

The appearance and characteristics of these werewolves are strikingly similar to Warwick's. Singed felt that he might be able to find a way to restore Warwick to his original form—of course, he didn't love his master, and even succeeded in taking his place after Warwick transformed into a werewolf. Even if he had this method to break the curse, he would not necessarily use it on Warwick. He simply felt that the werewolf curse would allow him to make more progress in the field of biochemistry.

In order to research methods to combat the werewolf curse and suppress the wild instincts of mutated werewolves as soon as possible, Singed, together with his former partner Faranell, Archmage Drenden, and Cronan, the royal physician of Gilneas, formed a scientific research team to tackle the werewolf curse.

Doctor Cronan was originally the person who researched the method to suppress the wildness of werewolves in history. After their cooperation, they quickly developed a potion to suppress the wildness of mutated werewolves, so that the mutated werewolves locked in cages no longer went berserk.

This success greatly increased everyone's confidence, and with the arrival of Broll Bearmantle, the night elf druids brought a real solution.

Thousands of years ago, High Priestess Belysra Starbreeze created the Scythe of Elune to control the wildness of werewolves. After the druids banished the werewolves, it had been well preserved. Later, the Cenarion Circle had been trying to study ways to combat the werewolf curse, but because there were no research subjects, this matter was shelved for thousands of years.

Now that Broll brought the Scythe of Elune here, the Archdruid believed that now was the time to completely solve the werewolf curse.

The Alliance army in Theramore soon discovered traces of werewolf activity at the southern end of the swamp, and more troops continued to pour in. In order to prevent the werewolves from fleeing to the Thousand Needles to the south, the goblins of Gadgetzan, after receiving the news, also sent their elite mercenaries to block the road to the south.

After the Nightmare War, these neutral goblins were also very happy to help Aiden and the Valoran Federation, and the danger of werewolves also aroused their vigilance—because some goblins in Dustwallow Marsh were also active in a place called Mudsprocket, and now after the ravages of the werewolves, the goblins of Mudsprocket had completely lost contact with Gadgetzan, and I am afraid they had already suffered misfortune.

——

Regalo is a veteran of the Stormwind Knights. He has been in the army for more than ten years and is now a paladin in the Knights. He personally experienced the disastrous defeat of the first orc invasion. At that time, he was still an ordinary soldier. After Stormwind City was breached, he followed General Anduin Lothar to Lordaeron, and later participated in the Second War, and finally defeated the orcish Horde in Blackrock Mountain, enjoying the glory of the victor, and joined the most elite Stormwind Knights for his military exploits, and finally became a glorious paladin after the baptism of the Holy Light.

In the past two years, after the wars of the Northrend Expedition against the Scourge, the fight against the Burning Legion, and the Nightmare Invasion, this veteran has been full of honors.

Every honor means bloodshed and sacrifice. Regalo is already forty years old. With the resolution of the Nightmare Crisis, he decided to retire after encircling the werewolves, return to his fief, and enjoy family happiness with his family and children forever.

This encirclement and suppression of werewolves may be his last battle. He has become extremely cautious, leading the soldiers of the reconnaissance squad carefully.

But later, they encountered an attack by a group of werewolves hidden very deeply.

Regalo was not flustered in the face of danger. There were not many werewolves ambushing them, only more than twenty, and his reconnaissance squad was full of elites from the Stormwind Knights. Although the number was small, each one could fight ten!

"Don't panic, send out a distress signal, form a circular formation to meet the enemy!"

Regalo shouted, raising his warhammer: "The Holy Light is with us!"

He smashed the werewolf attacking him to the ground with a hammer. The heavy iron hammer smashed the werewolf's shoulder to pieces. The severely injured werewolf fell to the ground, bleeding all over the place, and let out a miserable wail. The other werewolves, stimulated by the blood, pounced with red eyes.

"Come and die, beasts!"

Regalo responded forcefully with angry attacks.

The veteran, who had been through many battles, was besieged by three werewolves, but he was not flustered at all, calmly dealing with these dangerous beasts, appearing to be at ease, and even able to launch counterattacks when the opponent's attacks had loopholes.

He had been paying attention to the situation on this small battlefield, but soon he found that two werewolves were pouncing on Ron, the youngest warrior in the reconnaissance squad.

This is a rookie who has been in the army for more than three years—perhaps in the eyes of others, more than three years of military service is enough to be called a veteran, but in front of the veteran Regalo, Ron is indeed still very young, and his age was just over twenty last month, only a few months older than his eldest son.

Ron is a cheerful and optimistic young man, and he is also improving very quickly. He only joined the Stormwind Knights half a month ago—if according to normal standards, he would have to undergo multiple assessments for at least a year or longer before he is qualified to join, but the sea monster siege of Theramore last month caused heavy losses to the Stormwind Knights who had been fighting on the front line, and warriors like Ron with slightly insufficient experience and qualifications were also urgently supplemented.

Now he is having some difficulty facing one werewolf, let alone two? The young Ron's green eyes showed despair when he saw another werewolf pouncing over.

Seeing this scene, a thought flashed in Regalo's mind: Should I save Ron?

The veteran's thinking had not yet come to a conclusion, but his body had already taken action. He threw the warhammer out with all his strength, hitting one of the werewolves pouncing on Ron hard, smashing the beast's head to pieces, and Ron was saved.

The young warrior blocked the attack of the other werewolf with his shield. Ron certainly recognized the captain's warhammer. He cast a grateful look, but when he looked at the captain, he found that Regalo, who had saved him, was in danger himself.

"Captain, be careful!" Ron shouted.

Without his reminder, Regalo was also very clear about his current situation.

After losing his main weapon, his deterrent power against the three werewolves was greatly reduced. He drew his short sword to meet the enemy, but such a weapon was fine for dealing with a single werewolf, but it seemed stretched when facing the siege of three werewolves.

Regalo survived the siege of the werewolves dangerously. In order to rescue him, Ron immediately launched an attack on the enemy in front of him desperately, trying to kill or repel the werewolf and return the warhammer to the captain.

But before he could achieve his goal, Regalo was pinned to the ground by one or two werewolves.

The old soldier roared, using holy light spells to increase his defense while grabbing a werewolf's neck with one hand, stabbing his short sword into the opponent's throat, and then headbutting another werewolf who was about to bite his neck. The iron helmet on his head, combined with the burst of strength, was enough to stun that werewolf for a while.

After knocking down two werewolves in a row, he flipped over and stood up. The third werewolf, seeing this human covered in werewolf blood, showed a human-like fear in its eyes. This beast had realized that the prey in front of it was not so easy to bully. If it wanted to eat his flesh, it had to be prepared to die.

The cunning werewolf retreated to the side, glaring fiercely at Regalo, and then let out a wolf howl. Under his call, the other werewolves abandoned the siege, dropped to all fours, and ran away from here.

Regalo was very tired. He scanned the battlefield and found that two soldiers in the reconnaissance squad had their necks bitten off by werewolves and were already dead, and two others were injured. Everyone knew what this meant—in four hours, these injured soldiers would turn into the same beasts that had just attacked them, becoming inhuman werewolves!

"Ron, Antonio, Maren," Regalo called out three soldiers' names.

"Here!"

"Immediately send Bart and Edgar back to camp. Also, take the bodies of the other two comrades with you. You know what to do with them."

"Yes, sir!"

Bart and Edgar were the two injured. Their eyes had become very desperate. No one wanted to become a werewolf. Even if the officer didn't kill them, it meant that they would be separated from human society from then on, and would become irrational beasts, living in this form—it would be worse than death!

Regalo looked at the two of them. Of course, he saw the despair in their eyes. "Don't worry. Believe that the country will definitely find a way to deal with the werewolf curse. Sooner or later, you will return to your original identities. Don't overthink it. Think more about your families, understand?"

"Sir... can we really turn back into humans?" Edgar asked miserably. Bart, who was also injured, looked at the old soldier with anticipation.

In the past few days, many injured soldiers could not bear the fear of becoming werewolves and chose to commit suicide before the transformation. They wanted to die as humans, not as rabid beasts.

After Edgar and Bart discovered that they were injured, they couldn't help but think of suicide. At least that way their families would be grateful to them, instead of being disgusted by everyone after becoming werewolves.

"Of course, you can. Believe me!" Regalo showed a confident smile.

He comforted the two wounded soldiers, stimulating their will to survive.

Before leaving, Regalo called out to the young Ron and said to him, "Ron, there is a box in the second drawer of my desk in my room. It contains a roll of tobacco that a dwarf friend gave me. I'm worried that it's a little damp. Can you help me take it out and dry it after you go back?"

"Ah, of course, sir!" Ron agreed. He didn't find it strange, because Regalo would definitely not be able to leave the front line before the werewolf suppression mission was completed. Only soldiers like them who escorted the wounded and corpses had the opportunity to return to Theramore.

"Well, thank you. You guys set off!"

After Regalo watched them leave, he said to the soldiers beside him, "Our reconnaissance mission today has been completed. Lead the team back!"

"Yes, sir."

Regalo walked at the back. When everyone could not see his face, his expression immediately became serious. He carefully undid his damaged hand armor, lifted his cuff, and a row of bright red, bleeding teeth marks were clearly visible on his thick arm.

When he was knocked down by the three werewolves, one of the werewolves bit him. He was also cursed by the werewolf.

If the wound was treated in time, the werewolf curse would not spread, but he was not a paladin who was good at healing spells. When he accepted the baptism, he awakened the talent of the retribution type, which was good at various offensive and defensive holy light spells, but he was not good at healing. Of course, he would receive treatment when he returned to the camp, but the reconnaissance team had already penetrated deep into the swamp, and it was difficult to find a troop with a healer in time. Moreover, healing spells were only effective if they were used immediately after the injury. If it was delayed for a long time, even if the holy light spell healed the wound, it would not be able to prevent the injured person from turning into a werewolf.

Regalo felt that the werewolf curse was making him a little manic and excited. Now he could still suppress these abnormal emotions, but this also proved that he was transforming into a werewolf.

"I can't harm these soldiers."

Regalo thought bitterly in his heart.

Passing a corner, he quietly stopped, left the team, and walked into the depths of the swamp. He was at the end of the team, and for a while, no one noticed that there was one less person in the team.

He thought of his wife and two children, and a sense of reluctance welled up in his heart. Although he had just encouraged the two soldiers in his hands with hopeful words, he himself could not face the despair of becoming a werewolf. He was a paladin full of honor and did not want to become a beast in the last battle before deciding to retire. The wildness of the werewolf would tarnish all his honor and dignity.

Regalo found a pile of dead branches and firewood that was enough to burn him to ashes, and he prepared to use fire to purify the werewolf curse on his body.

Before lighting the firewood, he undid his armor, neatly placed it and his weapons aside, and wrote a few lines on his white shirt with bloodstains:

"Sarah, meeting you is the greatest luck of my life;

Melinda and Jim, my darlings, I have always loved you;

I also deeply love my country and deeply miss the farm in Elwynn Forest.

I will watch over you in heaven;

Bless you, my lover, my children, and my comrades-in-arms.

We will surely win the final victory!"

The last line was written with his name: Regalo. Brown.

After doing all this, Regalo sighed, and then knelt in the middle of the firewood pile with one knee, and devoutly made his last prayer.

"May the Holy Light bless you."

The sacred flame began to burn.

—

"Captain, I found a fire over here!"

"Same as usual, go and scout it out!"

"Understood—my God, there's a person in that fire!"

"What are you still dawdling for? Hurry up and save him!"

In the sky above the southern Dustwallow Marsh, two helicopters from the Screaming Serpent Flying Corps were performing a reconnaissance mission here. They came from the Land of Justice and were among the first troops to arrive. As soon as they arrived here, they accepted the reconnaissance mission.

The two Yordle pilots, one is the famous air combat hero, "Valiant Grenadier", ace pilot Corki, and the other is his wingman, Air Force Captain Wallie.

More than a year ago, Wallie was only a second lieutenant when he participated in the mission to support Gilneas. After many wars, he was also promoted to captain and personally shot down Frost Bone Dragons, Doomsday Guards, and Nathrezim demons. He also gained the title of ace pilot.

Captain Wallie was fully capable of taking charge, but he knew how lucky it was to be the wingman of the hero pilot Corki, so even if he had the chance to lead other pilots independently, he would still stick around.

How could he learn more than he did by Corki's side?

Captain Wallie found Captain Regalo Brown, who was about to self-immolate, in the fire. Most people might not have a solution in this situation, but the helicopter force had always been equipped with fire extinguishers. After discovering the situation inside, he immediately approached the fire with a dive. A large amount of white smoke spewed out from the belly of the helicopter, accurately extinguishing the fire that had just been lit and had not completely burned. The white foam turned Regalo, who had just been roasted by the fire and choked by the thick smoke, into a white foam man.

Wallie found a flat place to stop the plane, jumped out of it, and quickly ran to the extinguished but still smoking fire, wanting to drag the human inside out.

For the small Yordle, this was definitely a daunting task.

Fortunately, as an Air Force pilot, his physical fitness was very good, and his strength far exceeded what his appearance showed.

Wallie dragged the unconscious Regalo out, pried open his mouth and poured half a bottle of healing potion into him, and then applied the rest to his burns. After doing all this, he saw the "will" next to the fire.

"Ah, you should be very grateful to me, Regalo. Brown, right? Haha! That was really tiring!"