The Great Thief

Translator: Exodus Tales  Editor: Exodus Tales

As the leader of the Shattered Hand Clan and the warchief of Fel Horde, Kargath was one of the greatest Orc heroes of recent times.

That’s right, within Orc circles, his reputation well regarded.

The stronghold of the new Horde that Saar established in the Badlands had been named ‘Kargath’. This was in memory of this epic Orc and the breaking through of chains that he represented, all in the pursuit of freedom.

Kargath once had many fine moral points – he didn’t simply give in to fate, he thirsted for freedom, he was determined to put ideas into practice, he was decisive, courageous and resolute. But at the same time, he had many weaknesses. He was cruel and unpredictably violent, while being extremely fanatical and conceited. In the second half of his life he seemed to have abandoned all of his positive character traits, gave up on his self-control, and pursued power, enacting and enjoying various cruel and violent atrocities.

“Don’t be afraid of pain. As long as you can enjoy your pain, no one can contend with you.”– Kargath Bladefist.

“His demise has made all of us feel saddened, especially the Warchief Saar. No matter what happens in the last days of his life, we will never forget what type of person Kargath once was. In the same way, we will also never forget the lesson that his demise teaches us.”

Kargath wasn’t originally part of a clan. He was born as a slave to the Ogres.

The Ogres promised him that as long as he killed 100 Orc gladiators in the arena, he would be granted his freedom. Kargath finally passed this test, but he realized that not only was the promised freedom nothing but a lie, but the final prize for the championship was locked away in a dungeon of the arena and completely blocked off.

Kargath had lost his final hope, but he wasn’t willing to be locked up again. In order to escape from his chains that imprisoned him, he cut off one of his own hands.

Those fellow prisoners who followed him also followed his example. They bound their weapons

on their mutilated arms and fought, successfully toppling their masters. After escaping from the Ogres’ arena, they formed the Shattered Hand Clan, and the formerly-enslaved Kargath became this clan’s Warchief. He attached a blade for a first on his own cut-off arm, and today, people called him Kargath Bladefist.

Since he had become famous for leading his fellow arena slave Orcs to topple the cruel servants of the Gorian ogres, the Shattered Hand Clan was thus formed.

Later, Gul’dan changed Ner’zhul’s name to ‘Horde’, appealing to all Orc clans to be known under the same ‘Horde’ banner. Kargath, in leading the Shattered Hand Clan, took the lead and joined the Horde, even gaining a seat on the Shadow Council. Kargath was also the only one who wasn’t a Warlock out of the core members of the Shadow Council.

In the first Orc War, Kargath followed orders to assume personal command of Hellfire Citadel until the surviving forces of the Horde expedition escaped back to Draenor.

In the second Orc War, the Alliance expeditionary forces established Honor Hold, the frontline stronghold in the Outland. Kargath was appointed to be the main commander of the Horde attack on Honor Hold. He was at the front of all the soldiers, but he returned with injury. Those under his command retreated back to defend Hellfire Citadel.

Later, Ner’zhul considered him and his clan to be abandoned children, ordering them to block the Alliance’s expeditionary force, and sending their extra teams to Black Temple as quickly as they could.

Kargath ordered a battle, but the rear fled at the moment of danger. He went to Black Temple in

Nagrand to seek backup but to no avail. After this, he kept a low profile.

After Draenor was torn apart by Ner’zhul’s portal, the Burning Legion demons, led by the Pit Lord Magtheridon, occupied the Black Temple and assumed authority over the Outland. In order to look for more power, Kargath surrendered to Burning Legion, and after drinking Fel Blood, his skin turned crimson, he grew buckteeth and became hideous. He cut off his other hand and attached an axe for a fist. From then on, he proclaimed himself to be the Warchief of the Horde, and once again occupied Hellfire Citadel.

Later, Illidan came to the Outland and overthrew the control of Magtheridon, taking over all those under his command. When Kargath’s ‘Fel Horde’ was weaved into the ‘Illidari’, which Illidan had direct control over, their purpose didn’t change. They continued to defend Hellfire Citadel. Illidan commanded the Fel Horde to imprison Magtheridon in the bowels of the citadel, taking his blood to create more Fel Orcs, while Kargath himself was in the ‘Shattered Halls’ at the top of the citadel, ordering around his Orc commanders.

It wasn’t the first time that Lu Li had seen this Fel Horde warchief, so he didn’t feel too strongly about his strange hands.

Red skin, long black hair, a giant blade for a fist on his left arm, fanatical, cruel and fully intent on victory. This was Kargath Bladefist.

“The other clubs have already entered the Instance Dungeon, and we’re in the lead by three Bosses. If we still can’t get the First Clear like this, then I really don’t know what to say,” Lu Li said before the battle.

It wasn’t at all that he didn’t consider to simply not have Cain’s Left Hand go out and sell his unlocking abilities. If he did that, then the other clubs would be delayed even further in entering the Instance Dungeon.

But since he knew it, he had to use it. If he didn’t use it, then it would just be a waste. Lu Li wasn’t being particularly pretentious, but he also knew that this sort of one-time advantage wouldn’t always be with him.

As such, he hoped that everyone would work a little bit harder. If you had a goal, you needed to have a little pressure to achieve it.

After the battle started, Lu Li and Water Fairy Stealthed around in the Boss room to make sure there were no Laughing Skull Thieves around.

Before, near the ballista on the way to the third Boss, Lu Li and his party encountered a Laughing Skull Thief. Though it was just one, it almost killed the whole team. After that, everyone was more cautious.

When Kargath Bladefist was activated, two new Thieves would be spawned down at the Boss’ steps. Apart from the Main Tank, Lu Li had everyone stand on the steps and rush forward at the same time. The Main Tank pulled the Boss at the center and everyone else spread out from their positions.

Kargath had two skills. One summoned monsters, and the other was a Blade Whirlwind. Kargath was attacking all around his room, dealing physical damage. Although there was only one direct attack skill, this skill lasted for a long time and dealt a lot of damage too. The only way to reduce the damage was to spread out.

The most annoying monsters that had been summoned were the archers. They would shoot scattered arrows, causing the tanks to disperse and allowing the Boss to attack the others. As such, the archers had to be Polymorphed as soon as possible. The other monsters could be pulled together by the Main Tank until the Boss was finished off.

Generally speaking, this Boss wasn’t easy. It was to be expected that the whole team would have to die a few times.

Even though Ruling Sword had Lu Li, they also needed a familiar way to get through this. The first few attempts ended in a team wipe, until out of thin air one miraculous attempt allowed them to pass through the Instance Dungeon.

Achieving the First Clear really was a miracle. In the last few minutes, the Boss acted like an idiot, not even dealing a single critical hit. After the archers fired their shots, the Boss continued chasing the Main Tank, wasting a massive chance to turn the tables.

Since Ruling Sword had achieved the First Clear, those three clubs which had spent two million dollars on unlocking the Instance Dungeon felt rather gloomy.

What made them even more depressed was that their activities in Hellfire Citadel led them to encounter an army of Horde players, suffering heavy losses.