Elements are ubiquitous in the universe, especially on physical planets; they are the cornerstone of matter and can even be said to be the foundation for the birth of life.
When these elemental energies acquire their primordial physical forms, they become Elemental Creatures.
These "creatures" have no concept of age and are eternal, their spirits composed of pure elemental energy, which is also the core of their bodies.
The formation of Elemental Creatures is closely related to the soul energy that is scattered throughout the universe and omnipresent.
Soul energy is the nourishment that fosters the growth of Elemental Creatures; when soul energy is too scarce, the elements become irritable, wild, and chaotic, and conversely, when large amounts of soul energy accumulate, the elements fall into slumber due to excessive nutrients, so that they can better absorb this energy.
Generally speaking, when soul energy is in a relatively balanced state, the elements will cooperate fully and get along harmoniously, like the former Draenor.
However, Azeroth, her essence is a sleeping Titan world-soul, which means she will absorb a large amount of surrounding soul energy as her nourishment.
The lack of the fifth element, soul energy, caused Azeroth's elements to fall into endless frenzy, yet because Azeroth herself is a powerful Titan world-soul, the elemental power on her planetary surface was overly concentrated.
This ebb and flow gave rise to four Elemental Lords, each with distinct personalities but equally powerful.
Ragnaros is one of these four Elemental Lords, and he is also the one most in tune with the Old Gods' way of thinking.
He likes to use direct and pure power to destroy all his enemies, turning Azeroth back into that wild world of only elements.
And after submitting to the Old Gods, he even more desired to unleash his wild power, not even needing the Old Gods to overly twist his mind, because Ragnaros himself wished to see destruction and chaos.
After being summoned from that elemental plane by the Dark Iron Dwarves, Ragnaros immediately displayed his might; he wielded flames that incinerated all things and lava that submerged mountains, transforming more than half of the originally fertile and beautiful Redridge Mountains into scorched wasteland.
Even the other side of the Redridge Mountains, though not directly impacted by Ragnaros's power, was affected by that great upheaval and became the current Redridge Mountains.
Today, when the Alliance's champions struck down the evil Black Dragon and the complicit Blackrock Orcs, driving the Dark Iron Dwarves back to their underground cities, and with the help of Water Elementals and the Guardian, breached more than half of Molten Core.
However, when the Fire Lord's power was wantonly displayed in the sight of mortals, they realized that in this world, there exist ancient and forbidden beings, whose very names are synonymous with "calamity."
Blackrock Mountain, which had been silent, had stopped erupting lava after being flooded by seawater, but when that ancient primordial force surged from the leylines, the entire mountain trembled.
The rocks that had cooled instantly turned into scorching lava, which, under the dual pressure of high pressure and heat waves, rushed frantically towards the opening at the summit of Blackrock Mountain.
The city forged by Black Iron was illuminated crimson by the fire at this moment, a scene like the end of the world visible from anywhere in Searing Gorge and Burning Steppes.
Volcanic ash that obscured the sky spewed forth, crimson lava sprayed wildly, and rocks and molten rock, enveloped in high temperatures, splattered everywhere.
The orcs who had been hiding in Blackrock Mountain were in great misfortune; they had been dodging and hiding, hoping not to be found by the Alliance army, but they never expected that the Alliance wouldn't come for them, but instead, they would be swallowed by merciless lava.
Countless small clans under Rend's command were annihilated by the lava, but this "Warchief" couldn't worry about so much now; he just fled with his most elite subordinates.
However, Rend's action aroused great dissatisfaction in the hearts of his tribesmen; although they hadn't yet voiced it, everyone's gaze towards Rend was no longer as loyal as before.
Without Nefarian's protection, they would have no foothold under the dual assault of the Alliance and the Dark Iron Dwarves, and Rend's conduct further deprived them of the chance to die "gloriously" on the battlefield; now, more orcs were dying from lava, earthquakes, and food shortages.
Not only the fleeing Blackrock Orcs, but also the Stormwind forces stationed at the very edge of Burning Steppes, still clearing out the stubbornly resisting orcs and Ogres, noticed the renewed eruption of Blackrock Mountain.
Marshal Maxwell, his arms and legs in casts, almost bandaged into a mummy, limped over to Bolvar with a crutch, looking at the rolling volcanic ash spreading across the entire plain, and asked somewhat helplessly, "Grand Duke, what happened?"
"I don't know either..." Bolvar frowned, a hint of worry appearing on his face, "But the main Alliance forces should still be inside Blackrock Mountain—"
"It's the Fire Lord."
Galinda, a Gnome mage and one of the mages sent from Dalaran to provide support, said with some helplessness; as a mage, she more clearly felt the gap between mortals and Elemental Lords.
Even though they were mages who wielded powerful magic in the eyes of ordinary people, Galinda understood that her strength and that of her colleagues were completely insufficient in the face of Ragnaros.
"We actually already have a basic understanding of the situation in Blackrock Mountain, but we haven't had a chance to send people to solve the problem here.
If it weren't for Prince Arthas, we don't know when we would have been able to spare hands to deal with the terrible enemies here.
orcs, Dark Iron Dwarves, Black Dragons, and Elementals, goodness, any one of these would be enough to cause a headache, and now they're all gathered together, right here in Blackrock Mountain?!"
Gnomes always chatter incessantly and speak incredibly fast, and Galinda clearly had this habit; Bolvar and Marshal Maxwell both had to concentrate to listen to her speak to barely keep up with her pace.
After listening to her This paragraph rant, Bolvar finally waved his hand to stop her urge to speak, genuinely with a headache, "Galinda, this Ragnaros... is he really that powerful? What about the rest of the Alliance?"
Galinda stammered upon hearing the question, then said somewhat uncertainly, "Uh... those over there are elite combat mages from Dalaran, and Lady Proudmoore is there, so there shouldn't be a big problem... I think!"
Bolvar and Marshal Maxwell exchanged glances and quickly came to a conclusion—the situation was probably much more serious than Galinda had described!