When Andreas opened his eyes, his gaze met nothing but an infinite realm of darkness.
Floating in this peculiar domain where time and space seemed impossible to define, Andreas' expression carried a hint of realization amidst his confusion.
In the entire dark expanse, there was only a fist-sized light source to the southwest. A warm and bright glow radiated from afar, yet these rays failed to reach Andreas' body.
As he had many times before, Andreas attempted to swim clumsily toward that distant light within this zero-gravity space.
However, no matter how much he tried to approach it, the distance between him and that light source never shortened.
Infinitely extending space; infinitely prolonged time.
In this eerie void, every law of physics Andreas understood ceased to function. He could only flail his limbs helplessly and in vain against the darkness.
...
"Phew~"
In the tranquil forest, Andreas suddenly sat up from the ground, his face pale.
Recalling the familiar dream he had experienced several times now, Andreas wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with lingering fear and instinctively turned his head toward the southwest.
"That dream again... is it trying to show me something?"
In his past life, Andreas was a materialist and an atheist; he maintained skepticism toward anything he hadn't seen with his own eyes.
But now, having experienced something as surreal as reincarnation, even his most steadfast atheistic beliefs were inevitably shaken.
Moreover, in the world of Azeroth, gods truly existed.
Setting aside the Wild Gods whose spirits were tethered to Azeroth, the Moon Goddess Elune—whom the Night Elves had worshipped for countless ages—was an unexplainable existence in herself.
Southwest... if I recall correctly, that's the direction of the Seat of the Sky, Lath'elazar?
Shandris had provided Andreas with a fair amount of useful intelligence earlier, including the region they were currently in and the approximate progress of the War of the Ancients.
After the initial chaos of the demonic surprise attack subsided, resistance forces had sprung up across the Night Elf Empire.
Driven by hatred, Andreas and Shandris had followed their respective mentors to join the resistance. However, their desperate eagerness for battle made their superiors uneasy. Consequently, they were ordered to escort the Forest Demigod Cenarius to Mount Hyjal to seek aid from the other Wild Gods.
The initial phase of the mission was very smooth. Cenarius led this elite force to cut through the swarming demons near the capital, reaching the foot of Mount Hyjal without obstruction.
Yet, convincing the proud and untamed demigods to fight side-by-side was no easy task. Had the demons of the Burning Legion not happened to launch an attack on Mount Hyjal at that moment, there was no telling how long that loosely organized group of demigods would have procrastinated.
The Demigods and the Dragon Aspects have decided to join the fray and are mobilizing near the capital, Zin-Azshari. Which means...
Andreas rubbed his chin in thought. The War of the Ancients has passed the early stage of being purely on the receiving end and has entered the mid-to-late stage. Now we're just waiting for the "heavy hitters" to assemble for a massive push into the enemy base?
If Andreas remembered correctly, several major events occurred during the assembly of the reinforcements.
For instance, a certain "younger brother" who could never get the girl betrayed his people to join the Burning Legion. There was also Deathwing, who used the immense pressure of the invasion to persuade the other Dragon Aspects to pour their power into creating the Dragon Soul.
Later, he failed to keep his promise to use the Dragon Soul to wipe out the demons. Instead, he turned this artifact of absolute power against his own brothers and sisters, leading to a catastrophe that nearly drove the Blue Dragonflight—who took the brunt of the impact—to extinction.
Andreas shook his head to clear these cluttered thoughts. Forget it, those aren't issues I should be worrying about right now.
While Cenarius was busy convincing the Wild Gods, Shandris and Andreas had received a new mission.
Their small escort team had been ordered to head to the Seat of the Sky, Lath'elazar, to assist local resistance forces in establishing contact with Black Rook Hold—the main force of the rebellion. They were also tasked with attempting to liberate the high-ranking members of the Sisterhood of Elune who were imprisoned by the Highborne.
However, it was unclear if someone had leaked the information. The demons attacking Mount Hyjal had detached a flanking force to set an ambush on the envoys' necessary path.
The original owner of Andreas' body had died during this very ambush, allowing the traveler's soul to take over.
This elite squad had suffered heavy losses in the ambush and was completely scattered by the demonic host.
Had Shandris not earned the recognition of a wild Hippogryph before leaving Mount Hyjal and arrived in time to carry him away, Andreas—who had only just reincarnated—might have met his end once again.
"Andreas?"
Sensing movement beside her, Shandris rubbed her eyes as she emerged from the makeshift tent.
"The same nightmare again?"
"Yeah..."
Andreas gave a wry smile. "Sorry for waking you."
"It's fine."
Shandris slapped her cheeks with both hands, trying to shake off the morning grogginess and wake up quickly.
"Let's talk about that dream. You said the only light in that darkness comes from the southwest? Could it be some kind of omen?"
Andreas nodded. "I think so too. Perhaps it's a warning or a hint from some supernatural power, but I can't be sure who it is or for what purpose they are using dreams to hint at me time and time again."
Shandris tied her loose blue hair back into a high ponytail. She looked toward the southwestern direction of the forest, saying thoughtfully, "To our southwest... Lath'elazar?"
Andreas watched the sun gradually setting in the sky and also stood up to pack the camp.
"Even if just to continue our mission, we must reach the Seat of the Sky as quickly as possible. I have a feeling that all the mysteries will be revealed in that temple city."
...
The lifestyle of Night Elves differed greatly from that of humans. They were accustomed to sleeping during the day and being active at night. The bright, sunny day was their time for rest, while the silver, frost-covered night was their peak period of activity.
Before his reincarnation, Andreas once thought that demons didn't need to sleep. As it turned out, he was wrong; it was just that Blizzard had been too lazy to create animations for sleeping demons.
Thanks to their racial traits, Night Elves could move even more stealthily at night, a feature reflected in the game as the "Shadowmeld" racial ability.
Andreas and Shandris did their best to avoid the demonic patrols scheduled for the night. With the help of the Hippogryph, they managed a narrow escape through the Burning Legion's blockade.
After entering the sphere of influence of the Seat of the Sky, the number of demons decreased significantly until they gradually disappeared, replaced by the Moon Guard assigned by the Highborne to maintain martial law throughout the city.
The Moon Guard were battle-mages who used arcane magic. They were the most important military force of the Highborne, typically used to defend vital areas of major cities. They possessed formidable combat abilities and extensive battle experience.
A certain "traitor" who might be blind by now was once a member of the Moon Guard.
As they reached the outskirts of the Seat of the Sky's metropolitan area, Andreas felt the mysterious calling deep within his soul becoming clearer, yet he still couldn't pierce the hazy mist to see the full picture.
However, considering that the Seat of the Sky was a temple city built by Queen Azshara to honor the Moon Goddess Elune, Andreas had a vague hypothesis in his mind.
He narrowed his golden eyes and looked up at the floating city of Lath'elazar suspended in mid-air. He muttered silently to himself:
Is it you? Moon Goddess Elune.