Dathrohan almost obeyed the voice's command, but another desperate voice was still trying to call out to him: Don't do it, Dathrohan! That's your brother!
'That's Uther the Lightbringer, my brother, my leader, I can't attack him!'
Dathrohan regained his senses, thankful that he had restrained the urge to attack his comrade.
But this was just wishful thinking.
In reality, the moment that voice sounded, he had involuntarily slashed at Uther.
Fortunately, Tirion Fordring, who was nearby, reacted quickly and pounced on him, otherwise Uther, who was trusting enough to turn his back to his brother, would have died in this dark lair at the hands of someone he trusted.
Uther was fine, but Tirion was grazed by Dathrohan's blade, and a terrifying wound was cut from his left shoulder to his back.
He lost his ability to fight and needed to be treated.
If Fordring had been even a little slower, he would have become a corpse under Dathrohan's sword.
"Dathrohan! Have you lost your mind!" Uther finally reacted, his eyes burning with shock and anger. He never thought that one day he would be attacked by his own brother!
Just then, the call of Freya, the Life-Binder, came: "Everyone be careful, those around you are being mind-controlled by Yogg-Saron!"
Only then did Uther and Fordring realize why Dathrohan was acting so strangely—he really had lost his mind!
Uther said decisively: "Quick, to the Wells of Intellect!"
"I'll hold off Dathrohan!"
"Look, Mograine has also lost his mind! Holy Light above… he…" Fordring, while using Holy Light magic to heal himself, looked around at the situation. As a result, he saw Mograine not far away attacking his own subordinates.
He held the Ashbringer, directing the holy fire towards his former comrades-in-arms.
Fordring's eyes were filled with disbelief.
Could their steadfast faith in the Holy Light not stop Yogg-Saron's control?
Not only Mograine and Dathrohan, but most of the people present had fallen into madness.
Anyone who had been unknowingly dominated by emotions such as fanaticism, hatred, and the desire for destruction during the previous battle was now affected.
Not many people could remain completely unaffected by emotions in that kind of environment; most people couldn't achieve the same serenity as the angel Kayle.
Because of this, when Yogg-Saron launched its mind control, apart from the very few who had not been affected and the small number who had already received treatment at the Wells of Intellect, everyone else had become Yogg-Saron's pawns.
No matter how devout their faith was before, or how firm their will, as long as they were dominated by emotions, they would become puppets.
Even the guardians, who were robots, could be affected, let alone mortals with flesh and blood and rich emotions?
The scene before Dathrohan's eyes changed, and he regained consciousness.
He saw Uther staring at him angrily and sadly, pointing his warhammer at him. Dathrohan didn't understand why his brother would do this.
But in an instant, the scene of him attacking Uther and then Fordring's rescue flashed into his mind. He instantly understood why this was happening.
He really had launched an attack; it wasn't an illusion, because Fordring still had bloodstains.
Dathrohan was almost in despair, and he blamed himself immensely: "What, what have I done?"
"Trust is your weakness, Dathrohan." Yogg-Saron's voice was transmitted directly into the paladin's heart.
Yogg-Saron had deliberately allowed Dathrohan to regain consciousness temporarily, because it wanted to plunge him into deeper despair and guilt, so that it could control him more easily.
After absorbing Dathrohan's negative emotions, Yogg-Saron regained control of the paladin. As soon as it transmitted its voice, Dathrohan lost his mind again.
The scene before his eyes turned blood red, and the person he had just felt guilty towards instantly became his mortal enemy!
He roared and raised his two-handed greatsword, charging towards Uther.
Such scenes were happening everywhere, in every camp, every race, and every faction.
Those present were the most powerful heroes of Azeroth, each with a name, reputation, and a glorious history. Even if they had gone mad, the others who were still conscious couldn't bear to kill them. Moreover, many of them were their comrades, their brothers and sisters.
There must be a way to save them!
Thorim, the Storm Lord, alone was holding back a dozen mad heroes near one of the Wells of Intellect, precisely controlling the force of his attacks to avoid directly killing these mortals. This was the request of the powerful Dragon Aspects, and he couldn't ignore it.
"Freya, is there any way to wake them up?"
He hated this almost babysitting-like action, so he asked loudly.
"It's difficult, unless Yogg-Saron voluntarily gives up control over them!" Freya's answer made everyone's heart sink.
Yogg-Saron was so crazy that it didn't hesitate to break through the limitations of the Titan prison at the cost of severely injuring itself, just to achieve its current goal—to control these mortals as much as possible to become its servants and work for it. How could it possibly voluntarily give up control of these heroes?
"Our commander is still fighting!" Kayle suddenly spoke.
Everyone was stunned and immediately realized.
Wasn't it the real Aiden who had informed them earlier, exposing Yogg-Saron's conspiracy?
He was still fighting. In the current situation, perhaps only he, who was still inside Yogg-Saron's belly, had the hope of saving those controlled heroes.
Thinking of this, people's hearts were filled with hope again. They gathered together while resisting the siege of the controlled heroes and the faceless ones.
Just then, the evil illusion struck again, and the scenes before them overlapped again: one side was the current scene in the cave, and the other was the scene they feared most.
They had experienced such a scene before. Everyone knew that this meant Yogg-Saron was launching an illusion again.
Originally, the spells cast by the archmages such as Antonidas to break the barrier were almost interrupted due to Yogg-Saron's destruction, and now the trouble of the illusion once again made them almost stagnate.
Because once the spell was wrong, they would lose all their previous efforts. In this case, it was better to be cautious and maintain the status quo.
"Hold them back, we must hold them back!"
Thrall resolutely shouted: "Give the mages time to break the barrier surrounding the center!"
Even so, Thrall's own situation was not very good. The orc heroes who entered Yogg-Saron's lair this time, apart from himself, also included Grom Hellscream and Varok Saurfang, but the other two had already been mind-controlled.
Now facing two opponents simultaneously, Grom's axe blade came cleaving over merely because he was distracted by speaking. Thrall narrowly dodged, but his shoulder was still grazed, leaving a cut. Before he could even pray to the Spirit of Life to heal the wound, Varok lunged forward fearlessly from the other side.
"Clang!" Thrall raised the Doomhammer, blocking the opponent's axe.
If he hadn't summoned the Wild Spirits in advance, and with the help of numerous shamanistic spells, he would probably have been minced into meat paste by his two subordinates by now…
The situation here instantly became extremely critical. Not only Thrall, but the heroes' attacks were also scattered and disorganized due to the double illusions and fear. Coupled with the large number of enemies, they were somewhat unable to resist for a time.
If it weren't for the protection of the four Guardians and the four Dragon Aspects, they would have been routed the moment the afterimages appeared.
Alexstrasza was responsible for one side, casting Flame Shields on anyone who couldn't hold on, while Hodir, the King of Winter, filled in the gaps, protecting the remaining people with the power of ice.
But if this dragged on, the situation would only become more and more unfavorable.
At this moment, Prince Liam, holding the Guardian of Order high, stood out and shouted: "Warriors, follow me into the dream and buy time for the Kirin Tor mages!"
The mages who were re-casting the dispelling spell were at a critical juncture. If that barrier could not be broken, the double illusions would forever plague them.
The status quo must be changed!
Everyone understood this.
"Leave the rest to us!" the Red Dragon Queen Alexstrasza shouted loudly.
"I will provide you with guidance!" Wherever Ysera's gaze reached, a portal to the dream realm immediately appeared on the magical barrier. As long as you step into it, you can attack Yogg-Saron's brain, which supports this illusion.
"I will escort you!" Malygos, the Blue Dragon Aspect, flew into the air.
As these heroes charged towards the portal, Nozdormu, the Bronze Dragon Aspect, also took action.
His divine power spread out, and the surrounding space turned gray. Everything in people's eyes appeared very hazy, as if they were completely isolated by a mysterious force.
"Don't worry about any enemies. Charge forward!" Nozdormu's voice reached everyone.
He froze the enemies' time. All the minions controlled by Yogg-Saron and the heroes were frozen in place, as if they had turned into statues, only the people on their side were completely unaffected.
"Charge, charge, charge!"
"Quick, enter the portal!"
Nocturne also followed the crowd towards the portal, bringing a black phantom, and plunged in first.
As a nightmare creature, its ability will surely help people find the hiding place of Yogg-Saron's brain in the dream again.
As for the four Guardians, their task, of course, was to protect the others and resist the enemy's attack.
—
The battle on the surface was extremely fierce, and the depths of the earth were equally dangerous.
Just as Yogg-Saron's illusion was exposed, Aiden, who had successively destroyed four of Yogg-Saron's stomachs, also attacked its heart.
He used most of the seeds Jela gave him to create a huge plant army. These plants absorbed Yogg-Saron's flesh on the spot, and each one became extremely strong and full of aggression.
Thanks to their power, Aiden was able to advance here so quickly.
As long as Yogg-Saron's heart is completely destroyed, even if it doesn't die, it won't be far off!
But this heart was not as easy to deal with as he imagined.
One of Yogg-Saron's stomachs is about slightly larger than two football fields. According to normal people's guesses, its heart should be much smaller than its stomach.
But on the contrary—Aiden came to this beating heart and suddenly felt a great sense of powerlessness.
The surface of this dark purple heart is covered by a layer of film.
It was something similar to the magic barrier outside. Aiden could sense the powerful force flowing within it. As Yogg-Saron's last arrangement to protect his heart, the defense must not be too bad.
But what made Aiden even more troubled was that even if his mental power was stretched to the limit, he still couldn't sense how big this heart was.
"Boom, boom, boom," the sound of Yogg-Saron's heart pumping blood was louder than drumming. His entire chest echoed with this huge sound.
When his heart beat, Aiden felt as if he was standing on a small boat about to capsize in the waves of the sea, and he had to be very careful to stand firm.
He couldn't sense how big this heart was at all, even though his sensing range could easily cover a quarter of Dragonblight in the surface world.
Perhaps it was because the flesh and blood of this evil god blocked some of his mental power, but this was enough to show how small he was in front of such a heart.
Perhaps he was just an insignificant germ compared to Yogg-Saron's heart.
Aiden could see that the blood vessels under the membrane covering the heart were wider than the streets of Los Angeles, which were wide enough for ten carriages to run side by side, and this was likely not the aorta, but only capillaries.
Aiden realized that he had made a huge mistake. He should not have used Yogg-Saron's single stomach as a reference to imagine how big the other's heart was.
Because Yogg-Saron has a thousand mouths and a thousand stomachs. To use a reference, you have to calculate the total volume of a thousand stomachs.
Aiden looked up at the huge heart covered by the membrane and took a deep breath to calm himself down.
"At least I don't have to consider where to start." He thought to himself to comfort himself.
Faced with such a behemoth, it didn't matter where he started.
At this moment, Aiden only had a ridiculous feeling of the Foolish Old Man Removing the Mountain.
He raised the Sin's Edge in his hand. Even if this heart was made of tofu, it would probably take him at least two or three months to destroy such a big heart... But where would he have so much time!
What's more, Yogg-Saron's heart is not made of tofu, and the outer membrane will definitely not be easily broken through.
"No wonder the Titans can't deal with the Old Gods. With such a body, wouldn't it be able to tear the entire continent apart with a slight movement?"
Aiden was still thinking wildly while tentatively ordering his Bloodthirsty Vine army to attack the membrane in front of him.
The wooden thorns fired by the Thorns Spitters and the venomous thorns of the Vine Lashers pierced the membrane, but they failed to tear it apart at all and were all bounced back.
Such attack power is far from enough.
Aiden clenched the Silver Judgment, poured the power of the Holy Light into it, the sword body burned with blazing holy flames, and he stabbed fiercely at the membrane.