The Burning Legion's twisted void headquarters began to assemble once again. A large number of demons entered the giant Legion fortress, preparing to set out once more. Their destination was the Outland's spacetime, the shattered world where Archimonde had fallen.
Kil'jaeden retrieved Sargeras' soul vessel. He stared blankly at the almost completely shattered Outland model before him, a strange emotion welling up in his heart.
He had just personally torn the model apart, which also meant that Outland at this moment had become the way it looked before his eyes.
The countless creatures there must be struggling on the fragmented land, quickly dying in the void due to extreme cold, lack of oxygen, and exposure to various harmful rays.
In the Outland model, there was still one place that remained relatively intact under Kil'jaeden's destruction, a place called "Nagrand." When Draenor exploded more than a decade ago, it almost maintained its original appearance. Fel energy did not pollute this grassland, nor did the seawater flood it. It was as if a mysterious force was protecting this place.
Kil'jaeden looked at the Nagrand plate, his eyes revealing a glimmer of interest: "Finally, you can't hide anymore, can you?"
From the discovery of Draenor onwards, his decades of planning were beginning to materialize one by one.
Kil'jaeden waved his hand, scattering the entire shattered model, and then strode away from here.
"Set out! Burning Legion!" Kil'jaeden's voice echoed throughout the headquarters, "Avenge Archimonde!"
"Avenge!"
A huge portal appeared in the headquarters, large enough for a Legion fortress capable of holding tens of thousands of demons to enter.
Outland had already been shattered, and its space was collapsing. All protection mechanisms had disappeared, allowing the Burning Legion to enter that world more easily.
---
Aiden and the others returned to the Shattered Spire with the good news of Archimonde's death. This news brought a glimmer of hope to the survivors who were panicking because of the world's destruction. But the disaster continued, and people could feel that they were sliding—the Shattered Spire was strong enough not to be destroyed by the land breaking apart, but as the land subsided, it was also sliding into the abyss, perhaps soon drifting into outer space after breaking free from gravity.
Even if the survivors in the Shattered Spire could avoid the extreme cold and harmful rays, they would still suffocate to death—this fortress had no oxygen supply equipment.
"How is it? Can we initiate the warp?" Aiden strode towards Tempest Keep, where the Naaru were busy.
"The situation is not optimistic." Krasus, who had returned here earlier, spoke, "Just now, the ethereals tried to start their ship, but they failed. It is said that due to the spatial collapse, the time sequence and dimensions here have become abnormal. If we forcibly initiate the warp, we may jump into an unknown dimension."
"What about the Naaru's ship? What did M'uru and the others say?"
Krasus shook his head, his expression grave: "They were too badly injured in the previous battle, and even without the spacetime anomaly, they lack the energy to drive a spacetime warp."
His answer made everyone's hearts sink.
"In other words, both paths are blocked?" The person who asked this was Sinestra, who had just flown back here, eager to confirm the news.
Krasus did not answer, which meant agreement.
Sinestra said loudly: "Give me a large number of magic crystals, let Dralgonax eat! This is the only way out!"
"Actually, there is another way." Aiden said slowly. He frowned, unsure whether this path would work.
"The Dark Portal," he said the name.
If the Dark Portal had not been destroyed in the world's shattering, it should still be functioning normally. Even if there were some malfunctions, as long as they could find its location, they could reactivate it with the Dragon King's Blades.
At this time, the Naaru O'ros communicated: "We can let the sub-ship Exodar fly over. Plus some flying units to search for the Dark Portal. If found, we can go directly to the Exodar through the teleportation array."
"Let's do it!"
Aiden said so.
They didn't have much time. No one knew when the air in this world would become unbreathable, or when gravity would become chaotic, or even where the Dark Portal would drift. Reconnaissance in the Hellfire Peninsula area would be a dangerous undertaking.
But they had to do it.
The Wildhammer gryphon riders, the Shatar Skyguard, and most of the Valoran Federation's air force entered the Exodar, flying in the direction of the original Hellfire Peninsula.
However, not long after they left, Onyxia frantically found Aiden, bringing news: "Master... my mother... she... she..." She carefully looked at Aiden's expression, hesitating whether to say it directly.
"Speak, what bad news?" Aiden knew it wasn't good news from Onyxia's expression.
"She took Dralgonax and a lot of magic crystals... and ran away."
Aiden took a deep breath, feeling a little stuffy. After a while, he waved his hand and said, "Let her go, don't worry about it."
"Aren't you angry?"
Aiden shook his head, "Dralgonax cannot grow to a size sufficient to open a spacetime warp before we can't hold on any longer. If they want to make their own way, let them go!"
Dralgonax would need at least a week to grow to the size they needed without exploding. However, Aiden believed they had at most two or three days. After that, the environment of outer space would kill them. He had just specifically asked, and there was no oxygen supply equipment on Tempest Keep. Because the Naaru didn't need to breathe. The ethereals' ships didn't have any either. As energy beings, the ethereals didn't need to breathe.
Aiden felt a little emotional. Carbon-based creatures really had too many weaknesses—no wonder the Titans created silicon-based and metal-based creatures.
"Titans?" Aiden suddenly thought of something: Hadn't Ansu said that the Shattered Spire was built on top of a Titan's laboratory?
Could there be a way for them to escape there?
---
Sinestra, who had absconded with a large number of magic crystals, chose to flee west, which was in the direction of Nagrand. As for why she chose this place, the Dragon Mother couldn't think of a specific reason. She just had a strong hint in her heart—flee to Nagrand, and she would be protected!
She flew west with Dralgonax. In the high sky, Sinestra could see many broken landmasses on the ground drifting chaotically under the control of some terrifying force, some floating up, some sinking down. The Earth's core magma broke free from its restraints and flowed chaotically across the shattered land, turning everything into scorched earth wherever it passed.
This was an extremely terrifying scene, and Sinestra felt terrified in her heart.
But soon after, she broke free from the fear, because she had already flown to Nagrand—this place mostly remained intact when the world shattered. The power that tore Outland apart seemed to have failed here. It was still a green grassland, the rivers were still clear, only the various animals sensed the disaster of the earth and seemed a little panicked.
"This is it, I came to the right place! Haha, those idiots, they didn't expect this to be the sanctuary, did they? Still running to find the Dark Portal. How foolish!" Sinestra felt extremely comfortable. Now she didn't have to take revenge on those humans who tried to enslave her and her son, because those poor guys would definitely be swallowed by the void!
And her idiot daughter—what a pity that Onyxia would rather stay than go with her!
The Dragon Mother found a place to land. She took out a large handful of magic crystals and gestured to Dralgonax: "Come here, my son!"
When Dralgonax saw the delicious crystals, his eyes lit up. He immediately strode over, stuck out his tongue, and swept away the large handful of crystals in Sinestra's claws, then chewed happily.
The Dragon Mother rarely showed a gentle and doting expression, even when facing her own children, Onyxia and Nefarian, she rarely showed such an expression.
She really pinned her future hopes on Dralgonax. And Onyxia and her brother? No matter how much they grew, they could not reach the height of their father, but Dralgonax was very likely to, even surpass it!
At that time, she would be the Dragon Mother of the entire Dragon race, the supreme Dragon Mother!
Just as Sinestra was immersed in the fantasy of all five-colored dragons submitting to her in the future, spatial anomalies suddenly appeared not far away.
She was immediately awakened.
"This is... the energy fluctuation of teleportation!" Sinestra suddenly became extremely frightened, "But how could this energy be so vast?"
In her perception, large areas of space nearby began to surge with powerful arcane energy, among which there were also some unique auras that she was very familiar with—the aura of the Burning Legion.
Sinestra became terrified.
The Burning Legion, weren't they completely annihilated?
How could there be demons coming in again?
"It's Kil'jaeden! It must be!" Sinestra immediately thought of this possibility, "Is he here to avenge Archimonde?
Isn't destroying Outland enough?
That bastard!"
She cursed in a low voice.
"Dralgonax, hurry, take me into the void!" Sinestra hurriedly said to the Twilight Dragon.
Dralgonax hesitated for a moment, but quickly did as she asked.
He unleashed his unique ability, and the mother and son disappeared from this dimension.
In the next instant, a huge portal appeared in the sky, and a legion fortress carrying tens of thousands of demons flew out of the portal, followed by a second, a third... a total of ten huge legion fortresses teleported over.
Finally, the leader of the Burning Legion, the Deceiver Kil'jaeden, walked out!
More than six hundred thousand elite demons entered this shattered world aboard large legion fortresses, and countless flying demons flew out of the opened fortresses, quickly obscuring the entire sky.
This time, no force could stop the Burning Legion!
Kil'jaeden flapped his wings and slowly landed on the ground.
The flames burning from his hooves scorched the ground, and the fel energy caused the nearby grass to wither quickly.
"How long are you going to hide?" Kil'jaeden's voice was mocking, "Old God!"
Kil'jaeden ignited eerie green fel flames between his hands.
As he cast the spell, the fel flames continuously spread outward from him, and wherever the fel energy passed, all plants withered and burned rapidly.
The land of Nagrand seemed to feel the pain of the plants and began to tremble slightly, like a small earthquake.
"Destroy this place, warriors of the Legion," Kil'jaeden shouted, "Invite our 'old friend' to show himself!"
Under his command, countless demons scattered to every corner of Nagrand, beginning to contaminate this last remaining green land with fel energy.
This was a job the demons were very familiar with.
Led by their respective captains, they acted separately, spreading throughout the wilderness.
For a time, the land was filled with walking demons and burning flames.
This was no longer the pure land left over from the shattering of the world, but a burning hell!
"Roar—"
A huge wail suddenly came from the depths of the earth, as if a huge monster was lurking there.
This was not an illusion.
Countless thick tentacles and vines suddenly emerged from the ground, binding the unprepared demons and dragging them into the suddenly emerging rifts.
In just a few breaths, countless demons were swallowed by the earth.
Nagrand seemed to come alive.
Or rather, it was a living thing to begin with!
Many tentacles and vines also spread towards Kil'jaeden, but the fel energy burning around his body scorched them all.
The tentacles seemed to sense the pain and quickly retracted.
Kil'jaeden sneered, "You finally couldn't resist anymore.
Then, it's time to end this all!"
He waved his hand to signal.
On the legion fortresses in the sky, countless mana cannons began to charge up.
Soon, the muzzles aimed at the earth fired.
Mana shells exploded on the ground, blasting countless deep pits.
Soil and rocks were carried away by the violent shock waves, and the entire Nagrand was blasted with potholes.
After a few rounds of shelling, there were no more large and small floating lands in the air, and no living plants, trees, or animals could be seen.
The entire ground had sunk a lot.
The huge wailing sound that had just appeared rang out again.
Kil'jaeden could already see the immense monster entrenched beneath Nagrand, an Old God that controlled plants, vines, and tentacles.
"Why, why do you have to come and destroy my world!"
The Old God's thoughts were conveyed.
"Because you are an Old God, a spawn of the Void" was Kil'jaeden's answer.
The Old God screamed and angrily questioned, "But I have no intention of being your enemy!
Why won't you let me go!
Titans, and demons, you are all crazy!"
"You are half right.
The Titans are crazy, a group of lunatics who try to correct mistakes on the wrong path.
And we, the Burning Legion, are responsible for eliminating errors," Kil'jaeden looked down at the Old God parasitizing under the land of Nagrand, "And you, you Old Gods, are the error! A threat to the universe!"
The Old God under the ruins of Nagrand began to resist fiercely.
It roared, twisted, and shook off the soil and rocks covering it.
The earth began to truly shatter, and then its true face was revealed:
This was a monster too huge to imagine—its size was even larger than the original Nagrand.
Even the legion fortresses that could carry tens of thousands of demons were just a drop in the bucket to it.
Its strong hooves were as powerful as pillars supporting the earth, and its broad back originally supported the entire Outland.
Its body structure was similar to that of a centaur, with a pair of strong arms on its upper body and a pair of downward-curving horns on its head.
Some ancient tomes of Draenor contain illustrations of monsters similar to this form.
They are called "Genesaur," a creature that has been at odds with the Gronn's ancestors—the Magnaron—for generations.
Their birth predates even the Arakkoa, and no one knows exactly when they originated, because they already existed in the world of Draenor—or the world of Arak, as Anzu called it—before any civilization appeared.
But perhaps even the most terrifying descriptions could not place the Genesaur's height above a hundred meters.
Compared to the Old God before Kil'jaeden, who could carry an entire continent on its back, it was simply insignificant.
The thick tentacles and vines that had just emerged from the ground and grabbed the demons were actually just the slender root hairs of this Old God.
Faced with such a huge opponent, Kil'jaeden was not very nervous.
He had conquered countless worlds and destroyed countless Old Gods.
He had long known how to deal with such things.
"A plant-based Old God, very rare," he leisurely commented on the ancestor of this Genesaur.
The Old God roared angrily, "I was the first to find this place and transform this planet, turning it from barren to thriving!
I never thought of harming anything, I only wanted to create life!
Why, why do the Titans and demons have to stop me!"
What the Old God said was true.
Its name was "The Immortal" Vanaar, a rare plant-based Old God.
Billions of years ago, Vanaar drifted from the void to Draenor, which had no trace of life, and then settled in the ground, slowly using its innate abilities to transform it into a green planet, and created the Genesaur to maintain this world.
But later the Titans found this place.
After discovering the Old God, the Titans fought fiercely with it.
Just as the Burning Legion knew how to deal with Old Gods, the Titans also had their own set of methods.
However, for this kind of Old God that had long been parasitic inside the planet, and even the planet itself depended on its existence, the Titans could not directly destroy it, but could only seal it.
Because destroying Vanaar would also mean the death of the planet Draenor.
After sealing Vanaar, the Titans also created the stone giant "Magnaron" to specifically fight against its minions—the Genesaur—and left several guardians to monitor whether the seal was complete.
These were the gods who ruled the skies of Arak, such as Rukhmar, Anzu, and Sethe.