Andreas was somewhat speechless at the double act, sung in different tones by the same person. He couldn't be bothered to waste more words on Sargeras, who was scolding himself.
Hovering in mid-air, lifted by Shadow Power, Andreas' entire body erupted with condensed Void Power.
Seeing the urgent situation, Sargeras, controlling the right half of his body that he could still manipulate, raised his glowing green right hand. The life force of the guests and servants within Karazhan was massively drained, converging into streams of green light that gathered in Sargeras' hand.
Piercing wails emanated from the Karazhan tower. There were nearly two thousand servants and guests combined inside the tower, and their life force was all absorbed by Sargeras using Fel Energy spells.
The greatly enhanced Fel Energy caused Aegwynn and Celeste to show surprise on their faces, while Andreas' prepared spell was already complete.
"Void Burst!"
As Andreas' entire body turned a deep purple void hue, a large amount of free-floating Void Power erupted in a small area, surging towards Sargeras.
"Disgusting Void Creatures, scram!"
Waving the Fel Energy fire in his hand to block the Void Arrows coming at him, Sargeras poured all the Fel Energy he could gather in a short time into one hand, and a thick, eerie green light wave shot out towards Andreas.
The ground scorched by the Fel Energy pillar was carved with a deep gully, and the surrounding plants rapidly withered under the influence of Fel Energy.
"You want to clash beams? Fine, I'll indulge you."
Andreas, in his void form, also gathered power at the tip of the tear of Elune. A purple light pillar burst forth, unwilling to be outdone, colliding with Sargeras' Fel Energy pillar and stalemating in mid-air.
The aftermath of the energy clash completely leveled the surrounding ground, and a sunken crater appeared in front of Karazhan.
Although Andreas' power was initially bestowed by Elune, over the years he had long since controlled these gifted energies as if they were his own limbs, and his subsequent progress was entirely under his own control.
Sargeras, on the other hand, was using a body that didn't match his soul, and with Medivh's interference, the power and control he could exert were not precise enough.
This disparity ultimately manifested in the clashing energy beams; the Shadow Power gradually overwhelmed the Fel Energy, and the center of the power conflict was leaning towards the Fel Energy side.
"Damn it!"
Sargeras clearly knew that he would lose if this continued. After a moment of hesitation, he decisively abandoned control of the Fel Energy pillar, mobilizing his remaining energy to initiate a short-range spatial jump and retreat back into Karazhan.
"Boom!"
The Shadow Power pillar, having defeated the Fel Energy, ultimately struck Karazhan's outer wall. A translucent Arcane barrier rose, easily blocking the spent Shadow Power pillar.
Andreas frowned and looked up. Karazhan's defense system was fully activated, and he temporarily had no way to deal with this sturdy mage tower.
A mage tower is a mage's most important magical workshop and base, storing a mage's lifetime of wealth, savings, and important research materials. Every mage reinforces their mage tower countless times.
Karazhan was built by Aegwynn, who at the time possessed powerful Keeper power.
To withstand the continuous attacks from the Tirisial Conclave's mage hunters, this mage tower, built specifically for the Keepers, had astonishing defensive capabilities.
Andreas tried a variety of spells, even using Wrath of the Moon Goddess, but still couldn't break through the energy shield on the outside of the tower.
Aegwynn, staring blankly at Karazhan, took a while to regain her composure. Although her body hadn't suffered any harm, her demeanor appeared tired and dejected.
"It's useless. This tower was built with the power of the artifact aluneth. With Medivh presiding, no one in Azeroth can break through it from the outside, not even a demigod."
Celeste asked unwillingly, "Are we just going to let Sargeras recover? Or should we gather more high-end combat power and forcibly break through Karazhan's defenses?"
The Fallen Keeper is a ticking time bomb buried behind the Kingdom of Stormwind. If it cannot be disarmed in advance, and Sargeras were to collude with Guldan from the inside, the collapse of the Kingdom of Stormwind would definitely be faster than expected, potentially even affecting the entire situation of Azeroth.
Furthermore, the demon king personally acting as an inside man has provided the Burning Legion with a lot of intelligence on Azeroth. If he is allowed to remain, more secret intelligence will surely be dug up. If the Burning Legion were to learn of the Forge of Wills... the consequences would be unimaginable.
Andreas put his arm around Celeste's slender waist and shook his head, "Leaving aside whether it would even work, with the world in such chaos right now, where would you gather so many idle high-end combat forces to assemble at Karazhan?"
"And don't forget, this is the territory of the Kingdom of Stormwind. Forcibly attacking a building within the Kingdom of Stormwind's territory could very likely trigger a serious diplomatic conflict."
Although human nations inevitably have conflicts among themselves, they are ultimately connected by blood.
They can scheme against each other and even wage war internally, but in the face of external provocation, Andreas couldn't be sure if the Six Northern Kingdoms would take the opportunity to cause trouble.
Any country and race will have ambitious aspirations. The nations of Azeroth have always been envious of the Night Elf Republic's powerful national strength, and they would certainly not hold back if given an opportunity to weaken it.
According to intelligence from Prisim's Scouts, there are many human supremacists in the human nations, from the common people to the high-ranking officials.
These people strongly reject nations established by other races, believing that humans are the true "Chosen Ones."
Celeste sighed in frustration, "So we just give up?"
"Of course not."
Andreas' lips curved into a smile, "Since it can't be broken from the outside, then... let's try to dismantle it from within."
In Andreas' early notes, Khadgar was supposed to be dispatched to Karazhan to investigate and become Medivh's apprentice only after the internal war between the two Keepers.
However, according to the latest intelligence he had, the Tirisifal Council had already sent Khadgar there long before the Dark Portal opened. He wondered if this was a butterfly effect caused by him.
Moreover, the Tirisifal Council is now a council in name only. After the Dark Portal opened, Medivh, using the pretext that he was overwhelmed and intended to pass on the Keeper's power as bait, gathered all the core members of the council at Karazhan, ready to push for their faction's elder to inherit the Keeper's mantle.
However, Medivh... or rather, Sargeras, was merely using an excuse to wipe out the Tirisifal Council, which had been hindering him. Not a single one of these core council members escaped Karazhan; they all became vengeful mage spirits forced to guard Karazhan.
Andreas gazed meaningfully at the towering Karazhan before him, 'Khadgar, although the course of events is somewhat different, I believe you can still achieve the great deeds that were meant for you. Go for it.'
...Due to the violent conflict within his soul, Medivh fainted the moment his body returned to Karazhan.
Sargeras, whose soul power was stronger, endured the pain Andreas inflicted on him and rewrote Medivh's memories concerning this battle and his own existence.
Only after completing these arrangements did Sargeras confidently allow his soul to enter Medivh's sea of consciousness to recuperate. Andreas' damage to his soul fragment was indeed not light.
Khadgar was pale as he inspected the devastation in the banquet hall and opera house. Previously, he had been secretly reading books in Karazhan's heavily defended upper secret library, which allowed him to escape harm thanks to Medivh's defensive spells solidified in the library.
Hearing the commotion from the gatehouse, Khadgar immediately teleported over to check the situation and instantly saw Medivh sprawled on the ground.
"Mentor... Ah!"
The moment he helped Medivh up, Khadgar suddenly felt an instinctive chill. He saw a faint green glow, not yet completely dissipated, on Medivh's right hand.
"This is... Fel Energy?
After Sargeras seized Medivh's body, the Fallen Titan clearly relaxed his vigilance inside the tower.
He did not believe these frail creatures could pose any threat, and after wiping out the core members of the Tirisifal Council, this contempt only grew.
Khadgar was an observant man; though he had not witnessed the Council's destruction, Medivh's erratic mood swings caused by the soul-shifts set off alarms in his mind.
When he accidentally discovered Medivh's unguarded private library, he began sneaking in to read whenever he could.
Unlike the vast but chaotic collection outside, Medivh's personal shelves held vital tomes recording every kind of hidden knowledge.
Among them Khadgar saw the Dark Portal's construction and purpose, and a detailed account of Fel Energy—the chaotic power demons loved.
Recalling the tragedy that had just unfolded in the tower, Khadgar stared at the unconscious Medivh, his face conflicted. "Master… could it be…?"
…Although he had failed to drive Sargeras out of Azeroth in one stroke, Andreas could at least be sure that the multiple heavy blows he'd landed would force Sargeras to spend considerable time repairing his wounded soul—giving Khadgar the perfect opening.
How long Khadgar would need to act, no one could say; killing one's own mentor is never an easy decision.
Now that they had reached the Eastern Kingdoms, Andreas left the shattered Aegwynn and the grievously wounded Arcanagos in care and personally headed to the front to survey the situation.
The Black Marsh was only a mountain ridge away from Redridge Mountains where Karazhan stood; after Lothar's vanguard was routed, the orcs had secured the entire region.
The southern expanse of the marsh was being warped by the Fel Energy radiating from the Dark Portal; great stretches of wetland dried up, and cracked, infernal earth like that of Hellfire Peninsula began to appear around the gate.
The stench of Fel Energy filled the orcs' disorderly camp—thousands of reeking hide tents strewn across the parched ground encircling the Dark Portal.
Andreas kept his distance; together with Celeste he stood on a huge tree deep in the marsh thicket, gazing at the Dark Portal from afar.
"Are these the orcs you and Sister Shandris saw on the alien world of Draenor?"
"Yes—and no."
Andreas explained, "The orcs we met had brown skin. primitive and savage, they settled disputes by strength, but while they still followed the shamanic creed they were never as brutal and bloodthirsty as they are now."
Shamanic faith had been the single greatest check on the orcs' primitive nature; once respect for the elements and nature vanished, their innate savagery surged forth.
Add to that the demon blood now roaring in their veins; most orcs have forgotten their old traditions, surrendering to the mighty power granted by the fel blood.
"The orcs still cleave to the Clan system. Though united under the Horde, the Clan mindset will not vanish overnight."
"Look."
Andreas pointed to the sharply divided tent lines near the Dark Portal. "Those boundaries mark each Clan's camp. In the center, beneath the Iron Peak Banner, stands the Blackrock Clan."
"Blackrock is the mightiest Clan ruling the orcs now. According to Velen's intelligence, the Horde's first Great Chieftain, Blackhand, hails from that Clan."
…While Andreas and Celeste observed the orc encampment from afar, Gul'dan, head of the Shadow Council, listened to a female half-orc's report.
"We captured many alien caravans in this vast marsh, tortured them. They call themselves 'humans,' yet no one knows the hooded man you speak of."
"Smack!"
In his irritation Gul'dan brutally struck the half-orc across the face with the staff he used for walking and spellwork.
"Worthless! Keep searching! Our future rests on finding that mysterious man!"
Gul'dan was born deformed; mocked and shunned from childhood, his mind twisted into something grotesque.
When Kil'jaeden showed him the majesty of Fel Energy and promised to raise him to godhood, Gul'dan—just rejected by the elements for his dark intent—threw himself without hesitation to the demons.
Gul'dan felt nothing for his people; to him the orcs were mere stepping-stones on his path to divinity.
After the orcs conquered Draenor, Kil'jaeden ceased all contact. Watching his world die, Gul'dan lived in dread every day, while Blackhand's suspicions mounted.
Then Medivh appeared. Gul'dan sensed the Fel Energy on him, and, adept at reading hearts, quickly grasped why Kil'jaeden had gone silent.
The Burning Legion was disciplining him—something the warped Gul'dan found infuriating.
Yet before Medivh's overwhelming power he was like an infant against an adult, hopelessly outmatched.
After toying with him, Medivh (Sargeras) offered Gul'dan a hollow promise, revealing the existence of the Tomb of Sargeras and claiming mighty fel artifacts lay buried within.
If Gul'dan would conquer Azeroth as commanded, Sargeras would disclose the undersea tomb's location.
With Sargeras' soul wounded and dormant, Gul'dan lost contact with the mysterious man a few days earlier, plunging him back into frantic anxiety.
Godhood was Gul'dan's greatest obsession, the only thing left for a man who owned nothing.
He still remembered the human's features. Once the orcs secured The Black Marsh he sent Shadow Council–controlled Rogue scouts everywhere, with little result.
The half-orc woman knocked to the ground was Garona; compared with full-blood females her tusks were smaller, her features finer.
Half-orcs were unwelcome among the orcs, and Garona had suffered humiliation and torment since childhood; Gul'dan's blows were nothing new.
Wiping blood from her lips, Garona replied calmly, "Yes, we will continue the search."
"Huff…" Gul'dan panted in rage. "Out! Fail again and you'll learn the price of incompetence!"
"Understood."
After Garona slipped away in silence, Gul'dan's eyes gleamed with greed. "The Tomb of Sargeras—my key to godhood lies within!"
To the Burning Legion, ambitious Gul'dan was far easier to control than the indecisive, vacillating Ner'zhul; give him what he craved and his every step could be guided.
Sargeras had foreseen that Gul'dan would not obey; the Tomb was bait for a trap.
In cunning, Gul'dan was still a child against the Fallen Titan who had lived countless ages.
"Hm?"
Hidden in the tree, Andreas sensed a ripple of Shadow Energy; his eyes turned pitch-black in an instant.
Promoted to demigod, Andreas' command over Holy and Shadow Power had grown formidable; at a glance he pierced the stealth of a Rogue cloaked in Shadow Energy.
A female half-orc Rogue?"
Andreas rubbed his chin in realization. "So that's it—Garona. Gul'dan still hasn't found Medivh."
Eyes thoughtful, Andreas cast Shadow Veil to cloak them both and silently followed Garona north through the marsh.
According to Velen's description, ever since the Orcs defeated the Ogres and became the masters of Draenor, the relationship between the Draenei and them had been deteriorating.
Even without the Burning Legion's instigation at the time, the vast differences in culture, technology, and values made it impossible for the people of the two races to understand each other.
Velen initially held the belief of peaceful coexistence with the Orcs, trying his best to maintain a policy of non-interference. However, the Orcs clearly did not share this view.
The power-worshipping Orcs saw the Draenei's forbearance as weakness that could be exploited. The Bladewind Clan, closest to Draenei territory, was the most aggressive, and Draenei merchant caravans were frequently robbed by them.
Half-Orcs began to appear during this period. These unfortunate children could find no place for themselves in either their paternal or maternal tribes. Garona was one of them.
Regarding this Half-Orc Rogue, Andreas' memo had an entry about her.
Early versions set Garona's mother as Marlard's sister, but subsequent chronicles removed this content, downplaying the identity of Garona's mother.
The reason Marlard was filled with sorrow earlier was because his sister unfortunately got separated and died during their escape, essentially ruling out the possibility of her being Garona's mother.
It is certain that Garona's father was a powerful Orc warrior from the Bladewind Clan, but her father's identity could not provide her with sufficient protection, especially since the Bladewind Clan had been completely wiped out due to Guldan's evil instigation plan.
Although the painful experiences of her childhood left Garona with unbearable memories, it was precisely these painful past events that taught Garona how to seize every opportunity to survive.
After the destruction of the Bladewind Clan, Garona was captured by Guldan during her escape. The Orc Warlock saw great potential in her, brainwashed her with Fel Energy, and gradually cultivated her into the blade of the Shadow Council.
Although Garona knew that Guldan had tampered with her brain, she was powerless to resist the mighty Guldan and the Shadow Council, and could only temporarily endure and obey their commands.
But this did not mean Garona would always willingly follow Guldan's orders. She had been waiting for an opportunity to break free from the Shadow Council's control and regain her freedom.
As a Half-Orc, Garona had a strong talent for languages from a young age. She could speak both Draenei and Orcish, and often acted as a translator for both sides when living in the Bladewind Clan.
After entering the Dark Portal, to prove her worth, Garona quickly learned simple Human Common from captured human merchants.
Although The Black Marsh was vast, most of the area had been explored by Orc Scouts, and there was no trace of the mysterious person Guldan spoke of.
However, Garona learned some information from the human captives: people who dressed mysteriously in robes and hoods were usually only those mages who dabbled in Arcane.
This was not Garona's prejudice against mages, but the exact words of the human captives. Ordinary human civilians still maintained an attitude of both reverence and fear towards mysterious mages.
By interrogating the human captives using her newly learned language, Garona learned that there was a mage tower to the west of The Black Marsh. She decided to sneak near the mage tower to observe quietly.
"Hey, Miss Rogue over there."
Human Common with a strange accent suddenly sounded above Garona's head. Garona, who had been on high alert, felt all the hairs on her body stand on end. She hadn't noticed when someone had approached her.
Her long, shapely legs suddenly displayed powerful explosive force. Garona pushed off the ground, moved away from her original spot, and leaned against a large tree, scanning her surroundings vigilantly, two strangely shaped daggers crossed defensively over her chest.
'Above my head? Nothing.'
"Where are you looking?"
The previous voice sounded again beside Garona, and at the same time, an arm, appearing from nowhere, suddenly pressed on her shoulder.
Garona: "!!!"
Just as the Half-Orc Rogue was about to counterattack on the spot, her body suddenly froze. Several golden chains appeared out of thin air, binding her tightly.
"Clang!"
Garona did not give up easily. She used the escape techniques she had learned to struggle fiercely, but the chains showed no sign of loosening.
"Don't struggle, I mean you no harm, I just have some things I want to warn you about."
Two unknown intelligent beings with long ears suddenly appeared before Garona. The man leading them was placing his left hand on her tense shoulder muscles.
Although Garona had not drunk Fel Energy blood, due to the constant Fel Energy aura emitted by her surrounding kin, her skin had changed from its original brown to grass green.
Unlike other heavily muscled Orc warriors, Garona's muscles were very well-proportioned. Although her strength couldn't compare to Orc champions charging into battle, her flexibility was superior to those muscle-bound individuals.
Years of enduring humiliation and hardship had long taught Garona to adapt to circumstances. After confirming that she couldn't easily escape, she temporarily gave up struggling.
But Andreas could feel through direct contact that the Half-Orc Rogue's muscles never relaxed, remaining in a state ready to explode at any moment.
Taking a deep breath, Garona feigned calmness and asked in broken Common, "Who are you? Why are you attacking me?"
Celeste was having her first close contact with an Orc. She curiously circled Garona, examining her physical features. The two small tusks protruding from her lips greatly interested her.
Andreas did not stop Celeste's actions; Garona couldn't move anyway.
"Who we are is not important. What's important is where you are going and what you want to do in the future."
Garona said expressionlessly, "My affairs are none of your concern. If you mean no harm, please release me."
"Don't rush."
Andreas extended his index finger and tapped Garona's forehead. As pure Shadow Power was injected, Garona's body immediately became stiff.
"Ugh!"
A painful groan escaped the strong Half-Orc's lips. She felt as if her brain was being violently stirred, suffering excruciating pain.
Vaguely, she heard the two strangers conversing in a language that was similar to, yet different from, Common.
"Indeed... control, rewrite... my command."
Before Garona could carefully discern this language, which bore many similarities to Human Common, her brain finally couldn't withstand the pain and, out of self-protection, passively cut off consciousness.
More than ten minutes later, Garona, who had been lying flat on a tree branch, suddenly awoke. She nimbly drew her weapons and flipped into a crouch on the ground, her wild eyes vigilantly scanning her surroundings.
"I... why am I in a tree?"
After confirming that there was no danger around, Garona's face showed some bewilderment, as if there was a lapse in her memory for a period of time.
"That's right..."
After careful recollection, she finally remembered the whole story.
"I was following Guldan's orders to continue searching for the mysterious person's whereabouts. I previously obtained information about 'Karazhan' from a human hunter hiding in the mountains."
Garona was a little annoyed. "I can't believe I fell asleep while resting in the tree. How careless..."
Lightly leaping down from the tree, Garona re-entered stealth mode, looking up towards the exit of The Black Marsh not far to the west.
"Guardian Medivh's mage tower, Karazhan. Could he be the mysterious person Guldan is looking for?"
As Garona set off again, the two strangers, whose memories had been temporarily sealed from her, stood on a nearby treetop, silently watching her depart.
According to the intelligence provided by "Orion," Garona arrived at the gates of Karazhan, unaware that she was under close surveillance.
Due to the previous great battle, numerous craters remained in front of the Keepers' mage tower. The manors left nearby by the nobles were riddled with holes, and the gusts of eerie wind made Garona instinctively shiver.
'The atmosphere here is so gloomy, as if the spirits of the dead are still wandering nearby.'
Having traveled far and wide with the Shadow Council, Garona was quite experienced. She had witnessed firsthand the Orc warlocks using Fel Energy to drain the life force of Draenei captives; massacre sites littered with mummified corpses usually left behind such a sinister atmosphere.
The towering Karazhan made Garona instinctively look up to observe it closely. Unlike the crude construction style of the Orcs, human buildings appeared more refined and precise, especially the high-rise structure before her known as a mage tower.
Withdrawing her gaze, Garona looked toward the gate of Karazhan. "No guards?"
...The unconscious Medivh had regained consciousness under Khadgar's care, but no matter how much he thought about it, he was unable to recall what had happened before.
His memory only went as far as his great battle with his mother, where he had forced back an infuriated Aegwynn who had come to confront him.
The intense conflict with his mother left him in very low spirits. The large number of dead guests within the tower and the delirious Moroes made it even harder for him to muster any energy.
Under the influence of Medivh's subconscious soul, the old butler Moroes, who had cared for him since childhood, did not die in the previous life force extraction. However, having witnessed the production of so many mummified corpses, Moroes had become crazed and would likely never regain his sanity.
In Medivh's life, besides his two best friends, there were only three people closest to him: his father Nielas, his mother Aegwynn, and the old butler Moroes.
This battle had caused him to hurt two of the most important people in his life at once, leaving the already listless Medivh, weakened by his fragile soul, even more despondent.
Khadgar's care had only mended his body, which wasn't injured to begin with, but the weakness of his soul could only be recovered slowly over time.
Fortunately, because Sargeras' soul had also fallen into a slumber, the dazed Medivh was at least no longer being influenced by the Fallen Titan.
After waving Khadgar away, he returned to his room alone with a depressed expression, always feeling as though he had forgotten something important.
"I'll leave the management of Karazhan to you for now. Don't let anyone disturb me."
Watching Medivh teleport back to his room, Khadgar's expression was very complex.
'The Dark Portal, the alien invasion, and the tragic fate of countless living beings within Karazhan... could all of this really have been caused by my mentor?'
While both Khadgar and Medivh were preoccupied with their own thoughts, Medivh, who had just returned to his room, suddenly had a change in expression.
"Someone has broken into Karazhan?"
Since almost all living creatures in the tower had been drained of their life force, there were no longer any porters guarding the entrance. Garona easily entered the tower through the gates, whose protective barriers had dissipated.
Witnessing Garona enter the tower, Andreas, who was hiding in the distance and watching, curled his lips.
"Alright, let's head back first. I don't know how the other fronts are doing."
...In Uldum, the former vast desert was now covered with a significant amount of greenery. Centered around the long, narrow oasis in the middle, the golden sands were slowly receding under the reshaping function of the Forge of Wills.
However, blood was now splattered everywhere in this rainforest that had been reclaimed by tropical plants.
A massive number of Naga pouring in from the southern beaches of Uldum crowded the coastline. The Naga, swimming rapidly in the sea, were resisting the attack of an Iron Fleet with the assistance of the ghost ship Naglfar.
A Night Elf officer dressed in a snow-white naval uniform sat in the bridge of the largest warship in the center of the fleet and shouted orders, "All batteries turn left 15 degrees, volley fire!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The main battery groups of the warships in the fleet began to roar simultaneously. Wood splinters flew from the Naglfar, which was receiving focused attention, and the Naga in the sea were left dazed and disoriented by the concussive force of the shelling.
If not for Hela's power protecting this ghost ship, it would have been blown to bits long ago by the arcane cannonss of the Night Elf Republic's Second Fleet.
"Secondary batteries and Mana Machine Gun teams, maintain continuous fire! Don't let the Naga get close to our warships! Prepare the sea mines and torpedoes! Release!"
"Glug!"
As the long metal projectiles sent from beneath the hulls surged toward the Naga in the water, the fleet began to slowly retreat under the naval commander's lead. Several Destroyers covering the rear simultaneously dropped a large number of floating sea mines to blockade the area.
The Naga had never seen these strange metal objects and instinctively attacked them with the tridents and warblades in their hands.
"Boom!"
Underwater explosions sent massive columns of water soaring into the sky. One muffled underwater blast after another took the lives of many Naga, and a small area of the sea was turned completely red by the blood of their mangled corpses.
At the same time, the Chimeras traveling with the ships took off from the decks and began to soar. Unknown objects emitting a faint blue-purple light were thrown into the sea by the knights on the Chimeras' backs.
This new round of explosions dealt another devastating blow to the stragglers who had luckily escaped before.
Against steel warships, mortal strength was incredibly fragile. Even if the Naga could get close to the Night Elf fleet, their weapons striking the hulls would only produce streaks of sparks.
The Naga spellcasters tried to use their spells to stir up the clouds and rain, attempting to control the ocean and submerge the Night Elf fleet.
But the prepared navy would not give them that chance. The spellcasters from both sides fought for control over the nearby Water Elementals. Although the Naga held an advantage due to the home-field terrain, it was impossible for them to stir up a tidal wave.
Haboron, the helmsman of the Naglfar, could finally no longer endure this one-sided battle and ordered the captain to let the Naglfar dive into the sea to withdraw from the battlefield.
This ghost ship still had the important task of transporting souls for Hela and could not be allowed to sink in waters far from Stormheim.
The still-massive number of Naga were terrified by the previous slaughter. They were not afraid of death or battle, but no one wanted to die so pointlessly; the previous vanguard had been wiped out without even scratching the opponent's surface.
The retreat of the Naglfar and the Naga determined the course of the battle. The morale of the originally imposing coalition was broken by this naval engagement, and many Naga took advantage of their commanders being too busy to control them to secretly dive into the sea and flee.
Anyone could see that this naval battle had caused the Naga and the Helagar to lose their initiative to move freely. With the sea blockaded, they no longer had a steady stream of reinforcements, and the situation would eventually reverse.
At the same time, the Helagar who had attacked the Hall of Origin also fell into a predicament.
After Thorim reclaimed the Hall of Origin, he restarted the Forge of Wills, and the Titan Constructs guarding this important hall were activated from their slumber one after another.
Although the Helagar could be somewhat immune to physical attacks due to their special soul-body structure, the Lights Power used by the Titan Constructs, led by Watcher Rajh, could cause them immense damage.
Misfortunes never come singly; the Night Elf Republic's Southern Legion, led by Shandris and Leticia, arrived just at this moment.
Their fierce long-distance raid caught the enemy off guard, severing the connection between the forces inside and outside the Hall of Origin. Under the pincer attack, the enemy was quickly trapped like turtles in a jar.
"Whoosh!"
Shandris' ultra-long-range cold arrow locked onto one of the male armored Naga giving orders. The arrow, with its incredible piercing power, shot through the Naga commander's armor, blowing away most of his upper body.
Putting down the Kadorithia Warbow in her hand, Shandris gave orders amidst the surrounding cheers, "Don't slack off! Drive the Naga back to the beach and completely blockade the enemy's retreat!"
"Yes!"
The situation in Uldum rapidly reversed with the arrival of the Night Elves' reinforcements. Having failed to take the Hall of Origin in one wave while its defenses were at their weakest, the combined forces of Helagar and the Naga had essentially lost their chance at victory.
The cunning N'Zoth quickly recognized the situation. Unwilling to waste his valuable troops in a meaningless defeat, he ordered the Naga to retreat into the deep sea during the daytime when the Night Elves were temporarily resting.
Since the Naga could move freely in the deep sea, they were unlikely to be pursued. Shandris could only watch helplessly as the Naga slipped away.
"Hmph!"
The incomplete victory displeased Shandris. "In the future, the Magitek Department must develop the newest equipment allowing soldiers to operate flexibly in the sea."
N'Zoth was hiding deep in the ocean. To kill him, they would inevitably have to dive into the deep sea and engage in fierce combat with the Naga, servants of The Thousand-Fathomed.
Currently, the Night Elves' underwater combat capability was clearly insufficient. Research in this area would have to be put on the agenda sooner or later.
Without the Naga's reinforcement, Helagar could not stand alone. Their forces were struggling desperately in the pincer attack from the Tol'vir, the Titan Construct, and the Night Elves.
Habron had already arranged for the Naglfar to transport the most elite Helagar warriors away. He could no longer care for the others and could only leave them to fend for themselves.
Coincidentally, Navaz, who had once again been transferred to Northrend, repelled the invading Dragonriding Vrykul attack at YShaarj, the former sleeping ground of the Vrykul, with the reluctant cooperation of the Drakari Trolls.
Since the Night Elves pushed the front line north of Skorn Fortress, YShaarj, which had been destroyed by Magitek bombs used by Night Elf Scouts, was rebuilt, becoming a bridgehead for the Suramar army to pressure Howling Fjord.
Loken wanted to use the opportunity of the Night Elves fighting on multiple fronts to let the Dragonriding Vrykul reclaim the lost territory of Howling Fjord. The Vrykul, lacking a unified leader, fought bravely but were tactically crushed by Navaz.
In his frustration, Loken finally decided to awaken Ymiron, the ancient king of the Dragonriding Vrykul, to lead the Vrykul in battle.
Ymiron, the most powerful and leadership-rich king of the Dragonriding Vrykul, had sealed himself in the King's Throne at the top of Utgarde Keep long before the flesh curse began to spread.
He attempted to avoid the spread of the flesh curse by sleeping, but facts proved that this method was completely useless.
Ymiron, upon awakening from his sleep, was deeply dissatisfied with his now fragile Mortal body. All his subjects had degenerated from powerful Iron Vrykul into creatures of flesh and blood.
Ymiron began to harbor doubts about their master, Loken, but he did not act on them immediately, enduring the feeling and continuing to obey Loken's command to lead the army in battle.
With Ymiron personally commanding them, the overall combat effectiveness of the Dragonriding Vrykul greatly increased. The two sides are now locked in a back-and-forth struggle on the northern plains of Howling Fjord.
Due to insufficient troop strength from fighting on multiple fronts, the Night Elves were temporarily at a disadvantage, and counting on the Drakari Trolls to cooperate wholeheartedly was inherently unreliable.
The fighting in the Broken Isles has been quite smooth so far. Although the Iron Army sent by Loken possessed strong combat power, they could not gain an overwhelming advantage under the pincer attack and the tenacious resistance of the local flesh Vrykul.
Archmage Elisande personally led the army to the front line. Even without the power of the eye of amanthul, her strength was outstanding among Mortals.
Forces from multiple factions are now confronting each other near Aggramar's Treasury. The longer the delay, the more disadvantageous it is for the Iron Army, which lacks support for cross-sea operations.
Loken's surprise attack tactics could only be used once. It was now impossible to rely on the Dragonriding tribes to transport the Iron Army by ship to Stormheim, as the Night Elf Republic's Third Naval Fleet had blockaded the sea route from Northrend to Stormheim.
However, since Stormheim was Helya's home ground, the high-level leaders of the coalition, including Garrosh, Elisande, and Ulan Highmountain, dared not relax their vigilance. No one knew when this capricious Goddess of Death would personally descend and join the battle...
This global turmoil clearly could not be Quel'led in a short time. Even in Uldum, where the fighting was going smoothly, it would still take a while to completely annihilate the expeditionary Helagar forces.
While fighting erupted everywhere, the human kingdoms in the northern Eastern Kingdoms maintained a posture of detached observation.
Except for the Kingdom of Gilneas and Kul Tiras, which continued to pay attention to the southern part of the continent, the other kings were uninterested in the war facing the Kingdom of Stormwind.
Kul Tiras, from a commercial and trade perspective, did not want the Kingdom of Stormwind, a key trading partner, to be destroyed by a group of invaders of unknown origin.
As a maritime kingdom, Kul Tiras was unmatched in naval warfare, but their performance in land battles was rather mediocre.
The Orcs had no navy, so it was not yet Kul Tiras' turn to intervene.
Although Brunhilde was willing to send reinforcements to the Kingdom of Stormwind, the pressure from Lordaeron, the strongest kingdom in the north, prevented her from acting rashly.
Under the deliberate interference of the Old Gods and the internal conflicts of the human kingdoms, the Kingdom of Stormwind could only rely on its own army to fight the Orcs.
During the first year of the Orc invasion, contact between the two sides was still relatively restrained.
The Kingdom of Stormwind was extremely wary of these powerful enemies that suddenly appeared in The Black Marsh. While having Lothar set up defensive lines in the Redridge Mountains to buy time, they routinely requested aid from the northern kingdoms.
The responses to the request for aid made King Llane look grim, and the complete loss of contact with Karazhan worried him even more.
After completely occupying The Black Marsh, the Orcs waited for successive reinforcements from the other side of the Dark Portal while beginning to attempt an advance toward the Redridge Mountains.
At this time, the Kingdom of Stormwind was still a feudal aristocratic state. The military forces controlled by the King were only a fraction of the total; launching a full-scale war inevitably required the support of the Vassal Army held by the nobles.
However, Lothar's process of conscripting troops from the nobles was extremely difficult. Before personally witnessing the Orcs' brutality, most nobles were unwilling to hand over their forces, fearing the King would seize the opportunity to confiscate their military power and move against them.
Lothar, severely lacking in troops, failed to hold the Redridge Mountains. With the constant replenishment of the Horde's adequate reserve forces, Lothar could only lead his army in fighting retreats, crossing the river north of Duskwood and withdrawing to the heartland of the Kingdom of Stormwind: Elwynn Forest.
Large tracts of fertile land in Duskwood were lost. The Orcs' burning, killing, and looting created a bloodbath within the nobles' fiefdoms. Only then did the careless noble lords realize the severity of the situation, rushing to Stormwind City to request military aid.
However, it was too late. Having basically gauged the combat strength of the Kingdom of Stormwind, the Orcs were no longer restrained, spreading rapidly across the southern continent like locusts.
They occupied large territories in Duskwood, bypassed the heavily defended Elwynn Forest, and advanced through Duskwood toward Westfall and Stranglethorn Vale in the south.
As time entered the end of Dark Portal Year 2, just as the Orcs were fighting the Gurubashi Trolls and the Kingdom of Stormwind on two fronts, Prisim finally delivered the latest news from Karazhan.
Medivh was killed in a joint raid by Garona, Khadgar, and Lothar. The last of the Keepers of the Tirisifal Council had fallen. Before his death, he finally broke free from Sargeras' influence and recovered his sealed memories.
Coincidentally, at this time, the Night Elves had basically completed the suppression of conflicts in various regions, and Andreas, who had been short on troops, could finally free up his hands.