"Codex: Freljord
The Freljord, pronounced frell-yord, is a harsh and unforgiving land. Proud and fiercely independent, its people are born warriors, with a strong raiding culture. While there are many individual tribes within the Freljord, the islanders of the Freljord were always creating a historic friction with the Fire Nation and Northern Water Tribes.
Only after the Partas Tribe relocated to the Freljord did they launch brutal campaigns to unify the warring tribes of the Freljord under the banner of the Fire Nation. In the modern age, the Partas Tribe rules the Freljord with an iron fist, and the Freljordians are an integrated part of the Fire Nation.
Freljord is also one of the most important provinces of the Fire Nation, with its capital being the Howling Abyss and the ancient Frostguard Citadel. In Azeroth, the Freljord was one of the first places attacked by the Horde during the Second War of the Dark Portal, and it was also the first time that the Fire Nation was invaded in many decades.
The Greenskins that invaded the Freljord were first met with the hostile fauna of the island, which is more than enough to kill even some of the more powerful warriors of Azeroth. The local population of the Yetis was the first one to encounter the Greenskins and managed to inflict huge losses on the Horde.
When it comes to the wildlife of the Freljord and the Fire Nation overall, the Phoenix Kingdom has one of the most hostile and dangerous flora and fauna out of all. Crag Beasts, Balestriders, Drüvasks, Freljordian Wolves, and many others are just part of the dangerous fauna that calls the Freljord home.
It was rather ironic that the biggest losses of the Greenskins during their invasion of the Freljord weren't coming from the local Army Garrison, but from the wildlife that was deadly even for the experienced hunters and powerhouses themselves."
- Records Unknown
***
Azeroth, Military Camp of Fire-Storm Army Group, Stranglethorn Vale, Zul'Gurub
Aenarion strode through the battlefield under the protection of the Crownsguard, but he wasn't just parading around; rather, he was wielding his Twilight Spear and cutting down any Jungle Troll that approached their group.
He was acting as the vanguard for the army as they entered the breached gates of Zul'Gurub, and collective forces of Fire Nation and Stormwind were pouring into the city in thousands as the Jungle Trolls were scrambling to put up some sort of resistance.
Aenarion directly led the charge into the city, as they had already breached the first outer wall within half an hour. After the barrier was destroyed and the decapitation squad of Medivh, Anduin Lothar, and Esdeath succeeded in their quest, and the Jungle Trolls felt the death of their Deity.
It was a significant loss for the primitive creatures when their Loa was banished or killed.
Now, the coalition of Fire Nation and Stormwind was technically without any obstacles in their path as they charged into the city.
In the central part of Zul'Gurub, there was intense fighting because, after the death of Loa of Blood, it seemed that the leaders of the Jungle Troll Tribal Alliance, especially the Gurubashi Tribe, went to fight the killers of Hakkar the Soulflayer.
Which was...
In Aenarion's humble opinion, it's a stupid thing to do.
Even in the severely weakened state, Demigod was still Demigod.
If someone was able to kill him or even banish him, it meant that the person was far above their capabilities, and yet, despite everything, the Jungle Trolls of the Gurubashi Tribe rushed to meet their death.
Which was, though, only a good thing, because it meant that there was strong disorganization and chaos on the battlefield. Without anyone controlling the Jungle Trolls with a strong hand, the entire battlefield became a mess.
Anearion knew that the Trolls had problems with discipline; it was something that was severely plaguing them, as only their Warlords and High Priests could command large swaths of trolls.
This micromanagement of everything was creating huge inefficiency within the army, and due to that, they could probably not even defend the critical parts of the Zul'Gurub.
"How far are we from the entrance to the Inner City?"
Anyone with half a brain could tell that the Outer City of Zul'Gurub has fallen. This much was confirmed once the Imperial Bending Legion and Stormwind Royal Magic Corps entered the city shortly after the vanguard cleared the path.
"Five hundred meters or so, Your Majesty. But it seems that we have a problem. From the Airships and Scouts, we have reports that Warlord Jok'non was seen somewhere in the Inner City rallying the troops and sealing Hakkar's Ziggurat."
This wasn't good news for them, as they were relying on the decaptitation team to not only eliminate Hakkar the Soulflayer but also divert the attention of the leaders away from them.
This would give the invading army an advantage as the defenders would be disorganized, as there wouldn't be anyone to issue commands. Due to the tribal nature of the trolls, there were many problems with discipline and listening to orders.
Usually, most of the trolls listened only to the Warlords or some very high-ranking members of their respective tribe. Even right now, the members of the different tribes refuse to listen to each other, which is creating further confusion and chaos on the battlefield.
Basically, everyone was doing what they wanted.
"Gather the vanguard and call for the Imperial Benders. We are heading to the position of Jok'non to take his head. Any words from Azula, King Wrynn, and Lord Muradin?"
The Zul'Gurub was being attacked from the four sides, technically speaking.
Two fronts were being taken by the Fire Nation, another by the Stormwind with the air support from the Fire Nation, and the last one was being taken care of by the Dwarves of the Ironforge with the Goblin Volunteers Brigade of Gnomeregan.
The last two sent some of their forces here because they wanted to test some of their contraptions that they had constructed based on the Orbal Technological inventions or the converted technologies of Gnomes and Dwarves, adapted to Orbal Principles.
"Queen Azula has met with fierce resistance from the Jungle Trolls, and her forces are stuck in the place. King Wrynn is steadily advancing through the Southern Area of Outer City, and the same could be said about the dwarves and gnomes."
The Jungle Trolls were not fighting them only with their soldiers or warriors, as they had no real concept of a standing army or soldiery. Though due to their racial advantage, even their civilians who never fought could pose a deadly danger to professional soldiers in the army of the Fire Nation or Stormwind.
The trolls were inherently much stronger, and their regeneration factor was making them a rather terrific foe. One needed to be either a powerful Warrior, Mage, or Bender to dispose of them rather easily; otherwise, they were able to regenerate even from some grievous wounds.
This was giving the trolls a raw edge in the fight because anyone from their population could just grab a random weapon and join the fight. It was highly problematic for the invading armies, because now, the entire civilian popiulation of the Jungle Trolls has been turned into a combatant force.
And they were talking about several hundred thousand Jungle Trolls, as the Zul'Gurub was their largest city with the highest population count.
Not to mention, during the past week, as the war between Fire Nation / Stormwind and Jungle Troll Tribal Alliance raged, many of the Troll villages were depopulated as the inhabitants moved to the Zul'Gurub.
Aenarion was having a headache just by thinking about it.
Fortunately enough, with the overhelming firepower of the two Kingdoms, they were able to kill large groups of Trolls rather easily, and because they didn't need to care about the city, they could go all out.
In the end, gold and precious gems could also be fished out of the ruins of Zul'Gurub; their first and foremost priority was to ensure the security of their very own peoples. Because of that, the Imperial Bending Legion and Royal Magic Corps were destroying everything in their path.
***
Northern Area of the Outer City
Muradin Bronzebeard of the Bronzebeard Clan was the younger brother of the current king, Magni Bronzebeard. Among the three Bronzebeard brothers, Muradin was the one who was closest to the Warrior, and he often led the Dwarven Iron Legions against their enemies.
And right now, he was leading the Ironforge Expeditionary Force to support both Fire Nation and Stormwind in their war against the Jungle Trolls. The Ironforge enjoyed a very good relationship with Stormwind for many generations, and due to the development of Orbal Technology, the relationship between Ironforge and Fire Nation was also very close.
Most importantly, the Dwarves converted a lot of their contraptions to the Orbal Technology, ranging from the Tansk to their Gyrocopters. Now the dwarves were eager to give them a real experience in the war, and there was no better opportunity than the eradication of the Jungle Trolls.
Even though the Jungle Trolls lived far from Khaz-Modan and the living spaces of Dwarves and Gnomes, it didn't matter to them. The Ironforge sent out the entire Mechanized Brigade of fifty Heavy Dwarven Tanks and another twenty Siege Tanks, which were behemoths of steel on wheels.
Obviously, there were also several hundred dwarves, many piloting Goblin Pounders, which were basically mechanical armors that were around five meters high, covered in thick plates of metal and armed with heavy-duty firepower and sharp blades.
This wasn't everything, as Gnomeragan sent out the Volunteer Brigade, which consisted of thirty Spider Tanks, over a hundred Pounder Mechs, and some Gnomish Thinkins with experimental weaponry.
Gnomeregan and Ironforge were observing many goals in helping the Fire Nation and Stormwind to destroy the Jungle Trolls. Aside from the goodwill from the two behemoths and helping their friends, there was also another factor.
Once the Jungle Trolls were eradicated, it would make the entire Azeroth much safer, and the entire south would be open to mining operations and development, which was a priceless opportunity, especially for Ironforge.
The southern Eastern Kingdoms were very rich in resources, but due to the presence of Jungle Trolls.
"Come'n, lads! Blast them to smithereens!"
Muradin Bronzebeard shouted as he cleaved one of the unlucky Jungle Trolls in half as the creature's head rolled on the ground. The mechanized division from the Ironforge advanced through the city, demolishing buildings as they used their overwhelming firepower to blast apart everything in their path.
The rest of their forces, the dwarven and gnomish Gyrokopters that were hovering in the skies and were raining hell on the areas of the Zul'Gurub that were devoid of allied presence.
Since the Fire Lord agreed with King Wrynn's proposal, the dwarves and gnomes were not holding back even a bit and were unleashing everything that they had on the Trolls, as massive explosions of gnomish alchemical concoctions were reaping lives in thousands.
The firepower of the gnomes and dwarves was no joke even before the conversion to the Orbal Technology, but after the conversion to the Orbal, their firepower has skyrocketed.
Now, they were bulldozing through the entire area of the Zul'Gurub with a staggering pace, as the dwarves and the gnomes were just unleashing everything in their arsenal at their enemies.
Muradin Bronzebeard personally led the charge to the Inner City, which all groups that were sieging the Zul'Gurub attempted to break through. He was already notified that the Chieftain of the Gurubashi Tribe had started gathering the defenses and everything in the Inner City and was preparing the defenses.
Still, the mission was the same.
Destroy every sign of resistance within his area, kill anyone, no hostages, and prepare for the collective siege of the Inner City. Everything was being coordinated by the scouts of Stormwind's Army as King Wrynn wanted to attack the Inner City simultaneously.
It would then cause the Jok'non to defend all of the entrances and parts at the same time and draining his resources, men, and also time.
***
Area West, Zul'Gurub
Acting as the captain of the detachment of Phoenix Crownsguard for Queen Azula was a pain in the ass, like for Queen Esdeath. Both of them often disregarded the protocols and their own safety as they charged directly into the battle.
Though at the same time, one could say that Fire Lord wasn't really different, as the man was doing exactly the same thing. Captain Zhao Yun was just one of the cogs in the Phoenix Crownsguard, one of the few Earthbenders who joined the Fire Nation because he believed in their vision for a better world.
Especially that of the Fire Lord Aenarion Septim.
He was a master spearman and a very powerful Earthbender, who was also often acting as the head of the security teams for the members of the Royal Family when they were going out.
In the Crownsguard, he ranked as one of their strongest, and even Fire Lord predicted that he would be one of the Hero Level Benders in the very near future. Though right now, he was in charge of protecting Queen Azula, even though she was already powerful enough not to need direct protection.
Yet, even more powerful people could perish in the numbers.
Queen Azula was leading a few of the most powerful Elite Level Firebenders in the Firebending formation as they were burning through the ranks of the Jungle Trolls in swarms, as they couldn't withstand the power of their Fire.
The more powerful Firebenders were, the more powerful flames they could produce and control.
Once the Firebenders reached high enough mastery over the arts of Bending, they could execute the Bending as a group, which multiplied their power and potency of their flames.
Azula and the selected few Firebenders from the Crownsguard and Imperial Bending Legion worked in perfect synergy, together with two Airbenders who were controlling winds to help the flames.
Albeit on a much lower scale, as the Airbending was still developing and there were not many Airbenders in the first place in the Fire Nation.
"Secure the perimeter and target the long-ranged fighters from the Troll side."
Captain Zhao Yun ordered a few of his subordinates who were in charge of the protection of the Queen and Benders who were using the instrument in front of them to kill large groups of trolls.
It was already the seventh or eighth time that Captain Zhao Yun cursed this dammed city and this accursed race. He had to give it to the Jungle Trolls that they were fighting with everything they got, and even their civilians were joining the fight.
He could see that even their children were fighting against the invading force, which wasn't really that surprising, because even they had strong comparables to adult humans. Their racial advantages and superiority over humans allowed every single Troll to be a warrior.
Certainly, it was paying off for the Jungle Trolls as they were making it very hard for the Fire Nation's troops advancing through the city, and the losses were already gathering. Still, the losses were acceptable because everyone knew that they would suffer some degree of losses.
It was more than obvious that the Jungle Trolls won't be going down without a fight. The Jungle Trolls were a powerful race, and they were fighting with everything they had to hold their ground.
Azula, as the strongest Firebender on the site, was advancing through the battlefield like a war goddess incarnate as she was burning everyone and everything to the ground that dared to defy her.
Soon enough, the charred corpses of the Jungle Trolls started mounting up through the streets of Zul'Gurub in bunches. Captain Zhao Yun followed after Azula as he and the rest of the Crownsguard were slaughtering through the hordes of the Jungle Trolls at staggering speed.
In the end, even though the Jungle Trolls had higher physical strength than humans and could regenerate even from some really grievous injuries, they couldn't regenerate from Azula's flames that burned them to ashes.
Breaching through the defenses of the Jungle Trolls was currently a priority.
Azula was really hellbent on breaching through the Inner Gates as the first one, especially right now, when she was competing against Esdeath, who went with the decapitation team to banish or kill Hakkar the Souflayer.
The competition between the two of them was severe, as Esdeath and Azula were constantly competing against one another. Azula was already pissed off tremendously when Esdeath volunteered to go with Medivh, Prince Llane, and Anduin Lothar to infiltrate the Zul'Gurub.
Azula, meanwhile, left to deal with the offensive on the Western Part of Zul'Gurub, could only grumble in dissatisfaction about the entire ordeal, but there wasn't anything that she could do about it.
Obviously, aside from the most evident solution, which was to break through the defenses of the Jungle Trolls as soon as possible, to achieve the highest military achievements.
And as was expected, she was succeeding in that, because the vanguard forces of her troops were nearing the gates that were separating the Inner Area from the Outer Area.
And she was advancing very fast to achieve her goals to not be left behind by her sister-wife. Azula and Esdeath were especially competitive, and their competitiveness was often a source of problems and conflicts between the two women.
Azula looked at the enormous gates of the Inner Area of Zul'Gurub as she grinned and started executing a specific set of movements, as blue lightning started cracking around her body.
Executing something that was called Lightning Generation.
The power of the Lightning Generation is an advanced sub-skill within firebending that allows the user to produce electricity by separating the positive and negative energies internally, before directing it up through the arm and out the fingertips. The technique is extremely precise and deadly and is referred to by some as the "cold-blooded fire".
Generating lightning usually involves a circular motion with the arms. Mentally, it involves a complete absence of emotion and peace of mind, and physically, it requires separating the energies of yin and yang, also interpreted as positive and negative electric potential, respectively.
When the Yin and Yang collide to become whole again, lightning is created, with the Bender only guiding, rather than controlling, the lightning's direction. If one attempts to conjure lightning without the required emotional discipline, it can instead result in a huge explosion of fire.
Because of this complexity, a lightning attack usually takes much longer to initiate than standard fire attacks, though skilled Benders, like Aenarion or Iroh, have generated lightning much faster than others.
However, it is also possible to create lightning with minimal motion after long training, and Azula could generate lightning with little to no effort after long and arduous training. Lightning Generation and Lightningbending were dangerous arts, but it was also something with overwhelming firepower and something that Azula needed right now to break through the defenses of the gates.
Under the protection of the Crownsguard and Imperial Benders, Azula gathered as much power as she could in the Lightning Generation as her Chi Reserves were being depleted at a staggering rate.
And once she was ready, she shot an enormous lightning bolt toward the gates as they were blasted apart in a mere moment upon contact. The explosion was so powerful that the ground shook as several hundreds of Jungle Trolls were obliterated from existence right upon the strike.
"Advance onto the Trolls! Take no prisoners!"
Azula shouted as the troopers of Fire Nation rushed through the destroyed gates to the Inner Walls, as it seemed that Azula was the first person to fulfill the goal and managed to breach the gates to the Inner Area.
As she looked in the direction of her husband, where she could sense rather violent aftermaths of battle, it was clear that the gate where Aenarion was located, was the one that was most heavily defended and where the fiercest combat was taking place.
It seemed that her husband had the bad luck to meet with the fiercest resistance among the Jungle Trolls, which were creating havoc in the city. Not to mention, what was worse, it seemed that the area where Aenarion was located was the district of the city which had the highest popiulation of the Jungle Trolls.
Most of their civilians were living up there.
The Eastern Area of the Zul'Gurub was most populous, and the Warlord Jok'non was rather powerful, a Half-Step Legendary Level Warrior, which was probably the maximum that the Jungle Trolls could achieve, and it was an extraordinary feat.
***
Eastern Area of the Zul'Gurub
Aenarion gripped his Twilight Spear tightly as he engaged in moves with the Warlord Jok'non, who was the Chieftain of the Gurbashi Troll Tribe and also the leader of the Jungle Troll Tribal Coalition, which was right now fighting against the Fire Nation and Stormwind.
He was using just his own power, but he and Warlord Jok'non were equally matched, and the fight between them was hard. Around them, the members of the Phoenix Crownsguard and Imperial Bneders were fighting against Jungle Trolls.
Obviously, the ones that were fighting against the Jungle TGrolls on the side of the Fire Nation were elites among the elites. These were not the common troops of the Fire Nation, but the most elite soldiers the Fire Nation ever produced.
After the Crownsguard and Imperial Benders, the Fire Nation also deployed the Sardaukar, the sharpest sword of the Fire Nation, that was slaughtering everything in their path.
The Sardaukar were especially merciless in their advance, because there was no hesitation in them, there was no waste of movements or no waste of time. Every single time they swung their swords, a life was reaped, and one of the Jungle Trolls was killed.
Aenarion then activated the Hellblaze as purple flames burst out of the Twilight Spear and, with renewed vigor, started clashing against the Warlord Jok'non.
"Hellblaze Ultimate Art: Domain Expansion: Inferno Regnum!"
Decided that it was time to end the fight and also perhaps to take as many Jungle Trolls down with the Warlord Jok'non.
Hellblaze Ultimate Art: Domain Expansion: Inferno Regnum creates a Domain of the Hellblaze, pinnacle art of the Hellblaze, as it created a Domain of the Hellblaze that was under Aenarion's absolute control.
At the same time, the other Firebenders could draw out fire from the Hellblaze Ultimate Art: Domain Expansion: Inferno Regnum and boost up their prowess because fire was one of the ultimate components of the Inferno Regnum.
Obviously, they wouldn't be able to draw out the Hellblaze and use it in the combat, because that was far above their capabilities, but even being able to draw out the ordinary fire from the Dominion Expansion: Inferno Regnum was already something that was visibly giving the Firebenders of the Fire Nation tremendous power up.
When it comes to the Firebending, like every other Bender, the Firebenders needed to have a source of fire so they could Bend. Being able to create fire out of nothing was rather tedious, especially on the Chi Reserves.
Only advanced Benders on the Elite Level could achieve something like that, but now, everyone was getting a tremendous boost in their power due to Aenarion's Hellblaze Ultimate Art: Domain Expansion: Inferno Regnum.
In a split second, the Firebenders started pushing against Jungle Trolls much more aggressively and brutally, as they were drawing out enormous amounts of fire from the Dominion Expansion of their Fire Lord and burning down everything in their path.
Within the Hellblaze Ultimate Art: Domain Expansion: Inferno Regnum, Aenarion faced against the Warlord of the Gurubashi Troll Tribe, Jok'nan, as he pointed the Twilight Spear at the Jungle Troll, and in a split second, the entire Inferno Regnum answered the command of its king.
The purplish-black flames of the Hellblaze came to life as they attacked the Warlord of the Gurubashi Tribe like a divine punishment from the heavens, as they all shot themselves at the Warlord and burned him until not even his ashes remained.
Aenarion wasn't giving the wretched creatures any opportunities to escape or to do anything that could jeopardize their death that was to come. He was rather paranoid about the Trolls, especially due to their Loas...
He wasn't taking any possibility that some random Loa would appear out of nowhere and save that dammed Troll, so he burned it entirely. Not even the soul of the Troll remained intact, as it was incarnated due to the Void properties within the Hellblaze.
After the initial resistance was breached, even though the Jungle Trolls were still heavily outnumbered by the Fire Nation, in the end, it didn't matter. The monument of the Fire Nation couldn't be stopped as they advanced further and further into the city, which was starting to turn into an inferno.
***
Central Ziggurat of Zul'Gurub
As Zul'Gurub burned, literally, within the central ziggurat, which served as the Temple of Hakkar the Soulflier, another kind of brutal fight was taking place. Esdeath and Anduin Lothar were both holding the entrance to the uppermost chamber of the temple as Medivh was out.
Prince Llane Wrynn was behind the two of them and killing any Jungle Troll that managed to slip by and survive their onslaught. Their mission to deal with the Hakkar, the Soulfather, went rather well and without much problem.
They managed to ambush the Loa of Blood, and after a spectacular fight, Medivh managed to banish or kill Hakkar the Soulflayer. Even though they didn't know what exactly had happened, aside from the fact that the Loa of Blood was out.
The bad news was that Medivh was totally out and was unconscious as he oversued his power, and he was unresponsive. Meanwhile, the Jungle Trolls all felt that their Loa wasn't answering them, so right now, there were hundreds of priests and warriors heading toward the central chamber of the temple.
Esdeath was slashing and hacking with her rapier, as the Trolls were being frozen to the icicles, and Anduin Lothar was doing the same thing. Two of them were absolute killing machines in this regard.
Both of them were fighting with everything that they had so they could stop the relentless assault of the Jungle Trolls in the corridor. Fortunately enough for their team, the corridor that was under the assault of Jungle Trolls was the only one that led to their location.
Which was both good and bad.
It was good because they couldn't be ambushed, and they didn't need to divide their already low forces. On the other hand, it was also bad, because as there was only one path to the chambers, it wasn't that hard to swarm it with numbers like the Jungle Trolls were doing it right now.
"Another wave incoming!"
Esdeath shouted as she sensed another wave of the Jungle Trolls coming to the chambers. Esdeath, as Chi Master, was capable of perfectly sensing someone's Chi or the Life Force, so she was an expert Sensor.
"It's larger than the previous one?"
Anduin Lothar already had the entire armor covered in troll blood, and the man was already beginning to showcase some initial signs of fatigue, which wasn't really the best case scenario.
"Actually smaller... it seems that the army is already near the Ziggurat, or they have other pressing problems."
All of them knew that within the Zul'Gurub, a fierce fight was taking place as the forces of Fire Nation, Stormwind, and Ironforge Expeditionary Forces were advancing against the Jungle Trolls, and they were advancing rather fast.
Every bit of the Jungle Troll residence was destroyed in the spot, which greatly lessened the pressure on them, as the Jungle Trolls didn't have that much manpower to send them to the chambers and deal with the three people that were holed up within the uppermost chamber of Hakkar's Ziggurat.
"Then we can hopefully await rescue..."
If not for Medivh, who lost consciousness, they wouldn't be trapped in here.
He was also their ticked off, as he could just simply teleport them to another location, but due to the dangers and number of Jungle Trolls, they could just take one unconscious person and try to escape in their own.
One person would need to carry Medivh, and that person would obviously not be capable of any combat. Considering their already low numbers, this was not an option, so in the end, they decided to wait here.
Esdeath knew that her husband would head toward the central ziggurat as soon as he reached the Inner Area of Zul'Gurub. She was sure of that, and considering the power of the Fire Nation, there was no way that this number of lowly Jungle Trolls would be able to stop the thunderous advance of the Fire Nation.
Unfortunately, due to their own ground troops being deployed in the city, the Airships of the Fire Nation stopped firing at the Zul'Gurub and instead found a location in the city where they could land and started dropping soldiers around the city for the faster subjugation of Zul'Gurub.
Still, the efficiency with which the forces of the Fire Nation were taking the parts of Zul'Gurub was staggering. Compared to the Jungle Trolls, which had zero discipline and acted as they wanted, the situation for the Stormwindians and Fire Nation was different.
Esdeath once again froze the entrance to the chambers, letting the Jungle Trolls work for it; they would need to break through the entrance while she and Anduin Lothar had more than enough time to prepare some more traps.
Right now, there were several tens of Jungle Trolls heading their way, which was way less than the previous number that was attacking them. Which was good, but at the same time, both she and Lord Lothar were rather tired.
Esdeath's Chi was already running out, and she could barely Bend as she was saving the remaining Chi for the stronger opponents, while Anduin Lothar was in the same situation as her.
Fortunately enough...
The victory was already near.