As high-ranking officers of the Burning Legion, Dreadlords possessed direct combat capabilities that, while far inferior to Pit Lords, were only considered "weak" when compared to their monstrous Legion peers.
To mortals, Tichondrius was more than capable of causing immense trouble and posing a lethal threat.
The giant bat hovering outside the Lunar Domain was incredibly cunning. He had no intention of wasting effort on a brute-force assault against the barrier. Instead, having pre-judged the group's desperate need to escape, he opted for an annoying harassment tactic, stalling for time until the Legion's main forces could complete their encirclement of the woods.
Although Andreas had received Shadow power infused by the Moon Goddess Elune, he had never actually fought in a real battle before this.
The combat instincts left by his predecessor were, after all, limited. He had to figure out the forms of the unfamiliar energy flowing through his veins step by step during the heat of battle.
Based on the damage effects caused by the shadow vines and Dark Moonfire on the Moon Guard earlier, combined with his knowledge of Shadow power from games in his past life, Andreas made a preliminary judgment: this power could simultaneously erode the enemy's spirit while dealing physical damage.
Due to Sargeras' obsession with destroying the forces of the Void Lords, the Burning Legion did not lack experience in fighting races that wielded Void (Shadow) energy.
After discovering that the essence of Andreas' power differed from the rest of his kin, the wily Tichondrius deliberately increased his vigilance against him. This caused many of Andreas' sneak attack attempts to fail.
However, a person's energy is ultimately finite. By focusing part of his attention on Andreas, Tichondrius naturally relaxed his guard in other areas.
Combined with the increasingly fierce performance of Maiev—the combat priestess leader who was already showing signs of becoming a "she-vulture"—and the simultaneous attacks from numerous other priestesses, Tichondrius eventually began to feel a bit overwhelmed.
Fortunately for him, his goal wasn't to defeat this persistent group head-on. As the surviving Felguards and Infernals drew closer, a predatory and triumphant smile appeared on Tichondrius' face.
"Humph... mortals. I admit your fighting spirit is strong enough, but this is where it ends."
Transforming back into a swarm of small bats to dodge an energy moon-gladius thrown by Maiev, Tichondrius retreated a fair distance.
"Let my subordinates play the second round with you. Crush them!"
"Roar!"
The striding Felguards raised their massive two-handed weapons in rows, landing heavy, powerful cleaves against the defensive barrier set up by the priestesses.
While these physical attacks—infused with trace amounts of fel energy—couldn't breach the solid Lunar Domain in the short term, the situation for Andreas and the others would become even more desperate once the Infernals joined the fray.
Shandris' fingers were bleeding. Because she had been constantly pulling her bowstring, the leather guard protecting her fingers had worn through. Her slender fingers were cut by the string, and blood dripped onto the ground bit by bit.
Even so, she had no intention of stopping. The stubborn girl gritted her teeth and continued to draw her bow, merely switching her targets from Tichondrius to the Felguards.
Andreas noticed the blood-stained bowstring in Shandris' hand and reached out to stop her from drawing again.
"Stop for a moment. Let the nearby priestesses give you some healing."
Shandris stubbornly tried to break free from Andreas' grip. "But..."
"No buts!"
Andreas scolded sternly, "Calm down! Don't let the heat of battle cloud your judgment! Fighting with injuries is inefficient. At the very least, get your fingers treated and bandaged before you rejoin the fight!"
Shandris bit her lower lip unwillingly. "...I understand."
Silently lowering her longbow, Shandris muttered to herself with a dejected expression, "Why... I followed my mentor and underwent such rigorous training, yet I still feel so powerless on the battlefield."
Andreas sighed and gently patted her shoulder to comfort her. "Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about the battlefield?"
"In a chaotic battle involving hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of participants, do you really expect to turn the tide of war single-handedly? Thinking like that is quite disrespectful to both your enemies and your comrades, don't you think?"
"That's not what I meant! It's just..."
"I know."
Andreas gave Shandris a heavy slap on the back. "Go. The situation is still unclear. I'll talk to you more after the battle is over."
Retreating into the priestess ranks at the rear, Shandris turned to look at Andreas' back.
Andreas, you've really changed.
Though you weren't exactly antisocial before, your naturally introverted personality would never have allowed you to say such comforting words.
Shandris' eyes flickered as she watched her childhood friend summoning shadow vines to attack the demons. Can amnesia really change a person's personality? Or is this the 'growth under pressure' that Mentor talked about?
Or... is this also part of Elune's blessing?
Andreas, busy "disciplining" demons with his tentacles, was completely unaware of Shandris' stray thoughts.
As it turned out, the tyrannical shadow vines were equally effective against demons. Felguards caught by the vines were tossed through the air just the same.
However, based on the feedback from the vines, these instinctively conscious shadow vines seemed to strongly dislike fel energy. They re-injected the absorbed fel energy into the captured targets in a different manner.
Fel energy possessed immense destructive power, but it had a very distinct trait—it was extremely difficult to control.
With an excessive amount of uncontrollable fel energy surging into them all at once, the Felguards caught in the air effectively became small bombs. Andreas controlled the shadow vines to hurl them into their own ranks before they exploded.
Multi-tasking, Andreas subjected the Felguards to the "baptism of tentacles" while keeping an eye on the Moon Guards in the distance.
At this moment, a significant commotion had broken out within the Moon Guard due to Delier's declaration. Andreas didn't yet know if the outcome of this turmoil would be good or bad.
Just as he smashed another Moonfire onto an unlucky Felguard's head, the hair on Andreas' entire body suddenly stood on end. He instinctively performed a side-roll.
Sizzle!
An incredibly condensed beam of fel energy actually pierced through the protection of the Lunar Domain and landed right where he had been standing. Had he not dodged at the last possible second, Andreas feared he would have been sent back into the cycle of reincarnation.
"Humph! Lucky you."
Tichondrius calmly retracted his right index finger, which sported a sharp nail. But Andreas could see that the Dreadlord's entire finger had turned scorched black and was trembling uncontrollably even as he moved.
Archimonde's signature move, Finger of Death?
Andreas stared warily at the giant bat in the sky. This guy seemed determined to take him out first.
No, it should be a weakened version. And there must be significant restrictions for this bat-fiend to use it; it's practically impossible for him to fire it consecutively.
Even so, having drawn Tichondrius' special attention, Andreas didn't dare to cast spells into the demon ranks as recklessly as before.
Glancing out of the corner of his eye at the Moon Guards who had finally begun to move, a subtle glint flashed through Andreas' eyes.
Good. The chance for a counterattack is coming.