It wasn't easy to sneak into the Tomb of Sargeras; no, I should say I strode in openly.
The tomb was dark and damp, having been submerged in the sea for many years, with remnants of moss and seaweed clinging to the walls.
The exquisite temple carvings had long since corroded away, and dried bloodstains with a green sulfurous smell permeated the ground.
The further in he went, the stronger and more pungent the unique sulfur smell of demons became. The runes on Illidan's body were also activated, glowing green, a unique application of Fel Energy.
Along the way, he also discovered some skeletons. These skeletons were not Night Elves; they weren't that small. With two long tusks on their lower jaws, these were Orc remains!
In the War of Mount Hyjal, many Orc warriors fell and were converted into undead. The skeletal forms, with their flesh stripped away, were exactly like these remains before him—identical!
"The Orcs came too?"
Just as he was pondering this, he suddenly remembered. This was from Gul'dan's memories. He had absorbed the energy from the Skull of Gul'dan, so some ingrained memories were also absorbed.
It was about venturing deep into the Tomb of Sargeras in search of an artifact, only to fail to find it, being toyed with by the demons inside until he collapsed in despair, and then watching himself slowly being torn apart alive.
The entire process was extremely prolonged. The demons seemed to be under some instruction, flaying Gul'dan while simultaneously using Fel Energy to sustain his life, ensuring he wouldn't die from pain before all his flesh was ripped off.
This was a command personally given by Lord Sargeras, to make the crawling insects who dared covet the artifact feel the terror of The Legion!
It was precisely because of this experience of being toyed with by demons that this resentment persisted within the skull, continuing in this manner.
Illidan shook his head slightly. Even though this wasn't his experience, the resentment made the information incredibly vivid, almost making him believe he was the protagonist.
The monsters inside did not attack Illidan, who was radiating demonic aura. Most of these monsters had been corrupted by Fel Energy and instinctively resisted any non-Fel-corrupted creatures. If he was a demon, they would only assume he was one of their own and would not attack.
He proceeded deeper, noting strange runes carved above. By injecting energy through the runes, he could perceive Gul'dan, the Orc Warlock's, journey deep into the Tomb of Sargeras. His companions had all broken down due to the terrifying nature of the tomb.
Dark and damp, it wasn't quite pitch black, but visibility was no more than three meters, and in some places, even light was swallowed.
Fear easily arises in dark, confined environments, compounded by sneak attacks from demons and numerous monsters.
The Bladewind Clan, who had accompanied Gul'dan, was now less than one in ten, and countless had gone mad. These insane Orcs either became demon feasts after exhaustion or worked themselves to death. Only a few escaped the tomb and settled in the Broken Isles.
Through his memories, Illidan only knew that the Eye of Sargeras was deep within the tomb, but whether it was still there was uncertain.
In the War of Mount Hyjal, Archimonde did not use the Eye of Sargeras, nor was it heard that Sargeras's avatar had ever used such an artifact, so the possibility of this artifact still being in the tomb was high.
As he delved deeper, even with Illidan radiating his demonic aura, he was still attacked by the mid-tier demons that appeared.
They possessed a certain level of intelligence and knew he was not one of The Burning Legion, so they struck without mercy.
The Burning Legion are certainly demons, but demons are not necessarily part of The Burning Legion. This concept must not be mistaken.
Without Arthas's intervention, Maiev would have already been trailing him with her squad, relentlessly pursuing the fugitive.
Now, with the obstruction, Illidan had fewer concerns. Following Gul'dan's memories, he arrived at the deepest secret chamber.
Inside was the sealed place where Sargeras's avatar resided. The avatar inside was awakened by Archimonde and later completely destroyed by the Chromatic Dragons, who expended all their dragon power in the process.
Even with powerful High-ranking Demons blocking his way, Illidan, relying on his Warglaives, fought his way to the avatar's chamber.
After wiping the demon blood from his blades, he had already confirmed the location behind the main door using his unique Demon Hunter sensory abilities.
Behind the door was a floating orb, about the size of an adult's upper body, emanating a strange aura. This aura was, quite unusually, not Fel Energy!
This was the artifact he was looking for—the Eye of Sargeras!
With this artifact, the power it contained would allow him to attack the Lich King remotely, without needing to go to Northrend and directly confront the undead forces under the Lich King.
Everyone thinks Illidan is a reckless brute, yet he managed to gather a group of loyal servants and followers, and he's one of a kind among the Elves who dared to repeatedly switch between loyalty and betrayal to The Burning Legion without dying.
Just as Illidan reached out to grab the long-sought Eye of Sargeras, a strong gust of wind assailed him from behind. He hastily turned to block, but was still sent flying.
If not for his demonic wings that allowed him to control his flight, he would have crashed into a stone pillar, and even if not severely injured, his blood and qi would have been turbulent for a while.
"Demons must die!"
Behind him was a Titan construct corrupted by Fel Energy, with a metallic body, wielding a hammer that he swung down at Illidan.
The originally orderly construct, after being corrupted by Fel Energy, became indiscriminate, even killing many demons with its hammer.
Feeling the malevolent gazes of the surrounding demons, some were even contemplating waiting for both sides to be gravely injured before tearing Illidan apart and devouring him!
Unconcealed malice, coupled with increasingly potent Fel Energy. Behind the Fel Guard was a constantly emitting Fel Energy portal.
About five meters in size, it couldn't accommodate massive creatures like Pit Lords. The portal seemed to be supplied from the other side, continuously releasing Fel Energy to corrupt the surroundings, turning this place into a more suitable habitat for The Legion demons. Was it intended to be an outpost?
According to the agreement, he needed to provide a map of the tomb and points of interest. Then the Highborne would give him an equivalent exchange based on his performance. As for what he, an Elf wanted by the Wardens, wanted to do, they didn't care at all.
Do whatever he wanted, just don't interfere with their winemaking.
Striking a battle pose, Illidan roared and launched an attack, charging towards the Fel Guard amidst the demons' gleeful stares.
The Warglaives and hammer collided, but there were no sparks as imagined. Instead, Illidan seized the opportunity, using the force of the hammer's strike to fly towards the main door, strangling the obstructing demons, and then cast a Fel Energy seal to temporarily imprison the demons inside.
These Legion demons still didn't know what was happening, continuing to jabber in incomprehensible demonic language.
The Fel Guard behind him was approaching step by step. A Legion demon who noticed it tried to fly away but had its wings torn off directly, falling heavily to the ground, its lower body crushed into a pulp by the hammer.
Even for a demon, such injuries were fatal and excruciatingly painful. Its lower body was numb, and it could only await the gradual loss of its life force.
Demonic vitality is quite tenacious, which is a good thing. But in the face of severe injury, it's definitely a bad thing; to merely watch oneself die, what else could it be but a bad thing?
At this point, the Burning Legion demons, finally realizing what was happening, began to shriek in rage, but their only response was the out-of-control construct guard, which attacked friend and foe alike.
Before dark, Illidan finally escaped the tomb, covered in wounds.
The moment he appeared, Arcane magic circles rose around him, imprisoning him at the entrance. The energy network was very stable; even with his strength, he would need quite some time to break through the blockade, even with the Eye of Sargeras.
At this moment, a large female Elf, nearly three meters tall, emerged from the teleportation array, a circlet on her head shimmering with rings of moonlight. Compared to the Night Elves' violet skin, hers was deeper, tending towards purplish-black.
Archmage Elisande!
Illidan compared their strengths and suppressed the idea of forcing his way through.
Elisande merely glanced at the treasure in his hand, hovering in mid-air, then turned sideways to make way.
A handsome, resolute Human man stepped forward, nodding slightly at him.
"I am Arthas, the Human Prince of Lordaeron. You are Illidan, correct? I've heard much about you."
The archenemies met again. Although the turning of history's wheel meant Arthas was no longer facing Illidan as the Death Knight, there was still a mutual feeling of aversion.
It was a sense of destiny, and an inexplicable disgust. Perhaps it was because his most beloved woman, Tyrande, had been 'ruined' by the other party and even had a child, which deepened this feeling of aversion.
"Yes, but you carry a scent that I find utterly repulsive. What do you want, Human Prince?"
Illidan was truly genuine; if he didn't like something, he didn't like it, disdaining hypocrisy.
Maiev, who followed closely behind, appeared and flung a throwing knife, piercing straight through Illidan's wing.
"Illidan, you are a fugitive now. You should be more polite to His Highness. How can you speak with such an attitude in front of the hero who saved the world? You are utterly lawless!"
Illidan, having been thoroughly scolded, was somewhat bewildered. Where had he ended up? Was this Broken Shore?
"Wait, he's the hero who saved the world? Don't make me laugh, Maiev, this is no time for jokes. Tell me, what exactly do you want?"
"Don't tell me you're here to arrest me. If you wanted to catch me, you could have done it long ago. Why wait until now?
Speak quickly, I'm in a hurry to do something and don't have time to waste with you here."
Who said Illidan was a fool? Isn't he quite clever?
Arthas's strength hasn't fully recovered, but it's not bad either; he's capable of fighting anyone. Compared to the War of the Ancients era, it might be less than one percent.
"You want to use the Eye of Sargeras against the Lich King? Did Kil'jaeden tell you to do this?"
"That's right."
Illidan did not deny it; he was a man of his word and disdained lying.
Unexpectedly, Arthas shook his head, a pitiful expression on his face—not feigned pity, but the sympathetic gaze one gives a fool, pitying the other person.
"How pitiful!"
Although Illidan was blind, his Fel Energy-enhanced perception was clearer than seeing with eyes. Eyes might suffer from nearsightedness or astigmatism, but perception wouldn't; it was what it was, unfeigned and unchanging.
"What did you say!"
Enraged!
How dare a weakling say he was pitiful?
Fuck, I'll show you what pitiful means! What true pitifulness is!
"You should have demanded benefits from Kil'jaeden first. If you only do work without asking for benefits, what will you do if The Burning Legion defaults on their debt?"
"If you attack the Lich King, I can represent the Alliance in not pursuing your past transgressions, as long as you complete your attack on the Lich King. It's best if he dies, but if not, you must shatter the Frozen Throne that protects him."
"As an exchange of benefits, I can arrange a place for you, where there are still many demon remnants and it's also an ownerless land. You will definitely be interested. There, you can build an army, and I can guarantee on behalf of the Alliance that as long as you don't enter Azeroth, you will be safe.
Was this a plan to exile him?
Illidan was very interested in this proposal. He now only wanted to accomplish something great, to completely crush The Burning Legion and prove that everything he had done all along was correct!
"Is this place you speak of the Twisting Nether? Do you have a way to enter the Twisting Nether?"
If that were true, then the counterattack plan could be put on the agenda!
Arthas, however, chuckled and wagged his right index finger.
"Wrong, it's not the Twisting Nether, but Outland! It used to be called Draenor, but it was shattered by a great explosion and became a place called Outland. That's the Orcs' old home; you can develop there."
Outland holds little value for the current Alliance; it is barren and its ecosystem has been destroyed.
The ecosystem is extremely fragile, likely making even a normal food chain cycle difficult. A large force going there would only increase the burden, turning Outland into a completely desolate place.
The so-called food chain is a natural cycle: rain nourishes plants, plants are eaten by animals, animal corpses decompose to nourish the earth, and the earth stores rainwater, forming a self-sustaining cycle.
Outland's ecosystem has long been destroyed; it's difficult to survive there, and it's not suitable for survival.
Sending Illidan there might be exile, or perhaps a blessing, who knows.
Illidan had clearly never heard of Outland, but that didn't stop him from wanting to learn more. Actually, Azeroth would be a better choice; he could recruit more ambitious individuals there.
However, with Maiev and the Warden Force present, his status as a fugitive clearly wouldn't allow him to roam free.
He was Illidan, not the outlaw Zhang San.
"I can cooperate with you. Do you have any suggestions regarding the Lich King?"
Illidan finished speaking, holding up the Eye of Sargeras in his right hand. His fingernails were long and slender, already indistinguishable from a demon's.
"Although this magical item is powerful, it's still lacking something. I need a place where demon lords gather to enhance the item's power, thereby achieving long-distance destruction of the Lich King's Frozen Throne."
This plan was exactly like in the original story. Even with Naga assistance, Illidan still used the most conservative method of attack.
It showed that even though the Lich King was in decline, the undead forces he had amassed, after retreating to the continent of Northrend, still gave Illidan a headache and proved troublesome.
If there's an opportunity for a shortcut, take it. The cost of a direct frontal assault is simply too great!