Chapter 332 - Reckless

Meanwhile, the Scarlet Crusade, along with the reinforcing Quel'Thalas Rangers, attacked Stratholme.

After some consideration, Kaelthas decided to adopt Andreas' suggestion.

Stratholme was very close to Quel'Thalas. If Baron Rivendare intended to, Gargoyles could easily invade the territory of the Amani Forest from the air.

Rather than allowing the Scourge to continue growing and relying on passive defense, the more aggressive Kaelthas preferred to launch an active offense and eliminate potential future threats.

The reorganized Quel'Thalas army departed the Gate of Salas and entered the Eastern Plaguelands, meeting up with the Scarlet Crusade led by Saidan Dathohan, and together launching a fierce, unreserved assault on Stratholme.

Andreas patiently handled the domestic affairs that had piled up while quietly awaiting the latest news from Azsuna.

Finally, Prince Farondis, the local spectral leader, sent intelligence to Andreas.

Illidan and the Naga army set up a Magic Array at the former site of Nalath Academy. The Demon Hunter himself presided over the ritual, urging a green gemstone to float into the sky... "Swoosh!"

Teleporting quickly to Azsuna, Prince Farondis was already waiting in the abandoned garden.

Standing far away on top of the ruined garden building, Andreas gazed toward the remnants of Nalath Academy in the distance.

Thousands of Naga layered themselves, strictly guarding the academy ruins. A demon with fleshy wings stood atop the ruins, his body surging with Fel Energy, and a sickly green Fel Energy Gemstone slowly rotated suspended before him.

"That must be Illidan Stormrage, right?"

"Oh?"

Andreas hadn't expected Farondis to recognize Illidan, but thinking about it, it seemed quite normal.

Although Illidan never mentioned where he learned his Arcane arts, given his experience being born in Valsharah and serving at Black Rook Hold, he likely passed through Nalath Academy, which cultivated a large number of mages.

Prince Farondis shrugged, saying, "I encouraged him when he was young. Ten thousand years have passed in the blink of an eye, and that little fellow who craved power ultimately chose the road of Fel Energy, a path of no return."

"A path of no return?"

Andreas smiled noncommittally. 'For ordinary people, Fel Energy is indeed a path of no return, but for the Egg Boss, whose will is tenacious to an infuriating degree... it might not be.'

"He is draining Azsuna's Ley Line Energy," Prince Farondis said worriedly. "If you hadn't told us to stand down, the Azsuna Night Watchers would have reacted already."

"Don't rush," Andreas said calmly. "We won't let him drain Azsuna's Ley Line Energy completely. We need to wait for the right moment to intervene and stop him."

"Leticia, how are things on your end?"

Far away, atop Wyrmrest Temple, Leticia stared intently at the towering Frozen Throne in the distance.

Receiving the message from the Shadow Imp, Leticia immediately responded, "Everything is normal for now. The Lich King hasn't noticed anything. According to scout intelligence, the undead of Icecrown Glacier are moving toward the edge of Storm Peaks, where the demons and the Iron Army are fighting."

"Heh heh~"

Andreas showed a strange smile. "Ner'zhul wants to reap the Fisherman's Gain, but he doesn't realize there's an even deeper hidden old schemer lurking behind you."

Following Archimonde's death, these demons originally intended to seize the opportunity to flee, but the Scourge and the Iron Army blocked their paths both front and back. Left with no choice, they were forced to continue engaging the Iron Army.

Ner'zhul had been waiting for the demons and the Iron Army to wear each other down, intending to jump out and take everything once both sides were exhausted.

After Go'el led his army back to Dragonblight, he brought the Orc Civilians who had sought refuge there back to Borean Tundra, preparing to start developing in peace.

Ner'zhul's gaze had long been fixed on this group of high-quality Scourge recruits, having decided to eliminate the Orcs immediately after consuming the Iron Army and the demons.

Just as the Scourge seized the opportunity to enter the fray and attack both the Iron Army and the demons simultaneously, Illidan finally completed the energy accumulation.

The Eye of Sargeras, magnified countless times, rose high into the sky. After adjusting its trajectory, it fired a thick, green pillar of Fel Energy toward Northrend.

This pillar, personally controlled by Illidan, precisely bypassed Wyrmrest Temple's Defensive Barrier and directly struck the Permafrost atop the Frozen Throne where Ner'zhul resided.

The unprepared Ner'zhul was terrified. The sudden Fel Energy attack made him believe that the Burning Legion still had powerful generals left on Azeroth, and that this was punishment for his betrayal.

"Oh oh oh oh!"

The cries of pain emanating from the Permafrost caused a sharp pang in the mind of Arthas, who was fighting bravely in Andorhal.

"Ugh!"

Varian, wielding Dual Longswords, took advantage of Arthas' slowed movement. A fluid Combo Attack forced the weakened Arthas to retreat repeatedly.

"Parricidal scum, die!"

"Ugh... Get lost!"

Relying on the might of the Demonic Sword frostmourne, Arthas swung out a stream of Ice Pillars on the ground, barely forcing Varian back.

"Crack!"

Cracks appeared on the surface of the Permafrost. At the same time, the overwhelming power caused the entire continent of Northrend to shake violently.

Loken, stationed in the Temple of Wisdom, heard his master's excited whisper: "Yes! More intensely! The cage that binds me is collapsing!"

"Tremble, Azeroth!"

"I, Yogg-Saron, am about to become your nightmare! The Dark Empire will surely be rebuilt by my hands!"

"Haha!" Xal'atath, hanging from Andreas' waist, suddenly laughed mockingly. "Andreas, that Yogg-Saron fellow is spouting nonsense. He thinks he's about to escape."

Andreas took the Staff of Ganir off his back and smiled, his body hovering in mid-air, ready to depart.

"Save your sleep-talking for when you're actually asleep. You want to escape? Heh heh~"

Theoretically, if Illidan were allowed to continue bombarding the Frozen Throne, Ner'zhul would certainly be finished, but something even more troublesome would be released by him, and the gains would inevitably be outweighed by the losses.

Just how powerful the Old Gods were at their peak could be guessed from how YShaarj crushed a full contingent of Titan Keepers.

Even if Yogg-Saron's strength was slightly lower than YShaarj's, after tens of thousands of years of sealing, even if it wasn't in its prime state, it was not something a mere Lich King could compare to.

"That's enough!"

Calculating that Illidan currently lacked an air force, Andreas broke through from the air with grand poise. Several beams of highly compressed Holy Light arrows fell beside Illidan as a warning, perfectly surrounding his body.

"Enemy attack!"

It wasn't until Andreas took the initiative to reveal himself that the Naga defenders below realized there was suddenly an extra person above their heads.

Male Naga controlled heavy harpoon cannons to fire at Andreas from the ground, and Naga Sea Witches also began casting spells in an attempt to shoot down the uninvited guest in the air.

A beautiful female Naga leader at the head was clearly stunned when she saw Andreas. "Andreas? Why is he here?"

"Wait, don't att..."

Before the leader could finish her words, the first wave of Naga attacks had already been launched.

Illidan, attacked from behind, had to stop the ritual, and Ner'zhul temporarily escaped disaster.

But the Lich King's soul essence was leaking through the cracks in the eternal ice, and Ner'zhul's screams echoed continuously in Arthas' mind.

"My knight, return to Icecrown Glacier immediately; my power is draining!"

On the other side, a large portion of the undead who had actively joined the battlefield between the Iron Army and the demons suddenly stopped moving. Some of the more strong-willed undead looked up blankly, gazing left and right.

Coincidentally, an abnormality also occurred among the undead in the Eastern Kingdoms. Arthas felt his own power, derived from frostmourne, weakening rapidly, and his control over the undead army was gradually slipping.

"Kel'Thuzad!"

Arthas retreated from the front line, clutching his head in pain, and called over the Archlich who was leading Necromancers in a magical duel against Jaina and other Dalaran mages.

"King Arthas, what has happened?"

"Ugh!"

Arthas let out another muffled groan. "The Lich King is in danger. I must return to Northrend immediately. I leave the army here to you. If things cannot be done, do not force it; pull all troops back to the Capital City of Lordaeron to hold our ground."

Kel'Thuzad's soul fire flickered slightly. "I understand. The Lich King is the hope of us undead. Please depart as soon as possible to provide aid, Your Majesty."

Watching Arthas stumble onto his undead steed, Invincible, and fly toward Stratholme, Kel'Thuzad's skeletal staff supported his pale chin as he fell into deep thought.

'A large number of undead have escaped control; it seems Andorhal cannot be held. It's just as well to retreat to the Capital City of Lordaeron and wait to see how things develop.'

Looking toward the west, Kel'Thuzad's mood was somewhat complex. 'Speaker Moonshadow, is this also within your calculations?'

...The plan to kill the Lich King had failed at the final step. Illidan turned his head in anger and shouted, "Who dares ruin my great task?!"

At this time, Andreas was being besieged by the Naga on the ground, with harpoons, tridents, and lightning spells falling on him simultaneously.

Using a Holy Light shield to easily block all attacks, Andreas frowned as he looked down at the relentless Naga.

"Seeking death."

With a casual wave of his hand, a large number of Holy Light spikes fell into the Naga's positions, and the resulting chorus of screams made Illidan instinctively look down from the altar.

Countless Naga pierced by the golden cones of light wailed in pain as the searing Holy Light scorched their bodies.

The leading female Naga leader waved her four arms to block the attacks aimed at her with a water-based spell barrier, stopping the Naga who still wanted to launch a second round of attacks.

Seeing that Andreas intended to continue, Illidan hurriedly swung his warglaives of azzinoth to interrupt his movements.

"Stop!"

Andreas leaned back to dodge Illidan's attack, floating in the air and meeting the green eyes behind the Demon Hunter's black blindfold.

"You... I seem to know you."

Illidan recognized something from the familiar energy signature within Andreas' body and asked with some uncertainty, "A Night Elf? Who are you?"

Ten thousand years ago, Andreas and Illidan had fought side by side, but the situation was urgent then, and Illidan's personality was aloof; he would only linger around Tyrande to talk, so the two of them had never really had any direct communication.

After the war, Illidan was quickly imprisoned for ten thousand years due to his reckless actions, and Andreas had never even spoken a full sentence to him.

Seeing the Naga stop their attack under the control of that familiar leader, Andreas did not intend to continue with lethal force.

Letting his gaze sweep meaningfully over the Naga leader's face, Andreas refocused his attention on the Demon Hunter before him.

"That's right, you know me. Ten thousand years ago, we fought together against the invasion of the Burning Legion, right beside the Well of Eternity."

Illidan was stunned for a moment, then showed a look of realization. "I remember now. You were Malfurion's apprentice, called... Andreas?"

"Yes."

Andreas smiled and performed a chest-touching salute. "Andreas, Speaker of the High Council of the Night Elf Republic. Long time no see, Demon Hunter, Illidan Stormrage."

"Speaker... I see."

Illidan's initial fury gradually dissipated. "So you are that hateful Speaker Moonshadow Tyrande mentioned. I didn't expect Malfurion's little follower back then to actually climb above him."

'Tyrande... you really don't miss any chance to badmouth me.'

"So?" Illidan raised his warglaives of azzinoth, questioning with a threatening tone, "Why stop me from killing the Lich King? Do you not want to eliminate the Scourge undead?"

"Of course I do, but at least not in this way."

Andreas held the Staff of Ganir horizontally in mid-air, crossed his legs, and sat on it, making it clear he had no intention of continuing the fight.

"Your attack has greatly weakened the Lich King's strength; at least for a long time, he won't be able to come out and cause trouble. But do you know what the consequences would be if you continued to bombard Northrend with the eye of sargeras?"

"Consequences?"

Illidan sneered. "The consequence is that the Lich King will die. At most, the Wyrmrest Temple will sink into the northern ocean from then on. The fate of those meddling lizards is not my concern."

"Wrong, completely wrong. As expected, you know nothing."

Andreas shook his head and said solemnly, "Listen well. The most important thing in Northrend is not the Wyrmrest Temple, but the Titan fortress of Ulduar located in the Storm Peaks."

"I don't know if you've heard of beings like the Old Gods, but Ulduar seals one of them named Yogg-Saron."

"Your continued bombardment of the Frozen Throne can indeed kill the Lich King, but it will also release Yogg-Saron, who is imprisoned in Ulduar."

"The Old Gods... are not something a mere Lich King or his ilk can compare to. The damage caused to Azeroth then would be far greater than that of the Lich King."

Andreas looked steadily at the somewhat wavering Illidan. "Do you... really want to help your master, Kiljaeden, destroy Azeroth?"

Illidan, deep in thought, raised an eyebrow at the words. He hadn't expected Andreas to know such a secret.

Illidan, who had always been headstrong, never bothered with others' opinions. He sneered and retorted, "I know the dangers of bombarding Northrend, but what concern is it of yours whether I obey Kiljaeden's orders?"

"I have my own plans. Don't get in my way, or else..."

Looking at the warglaives of azzinoth held to his neck, Andreas calmly spread his hands and said, "There are still a lot of things to deal with in Azeroth. I don't have time for your private matters."

"I just hope you remember your original intention and don't let Fel Energy corrupt your mind in your dealings with the Burning Legion."

"I've said what needed to be said. Next, I have important matters to attend to. Take care of yourself, Demon Hunter."

Before Illidan could continue his taunts, Andreas controlled the Staff of Ganir beneath him to move, ignoring the Naga below who were in a defensive stance, and quickly departed, riding the staff like the wizards he had seen in his previous life.

Watching Andreas gradually disappear into the distance, Illidan retracted the warglaives of azzinoth in his hand, a thoughtful expression on his face.

'How did this guy know I had a connection with Kiljaeden?'

Illidan's lifelong belief was to destroy the Burning Legion, but this was destined to be an incredibly difficult and time-consuming task. He didn't mind a brief cooperation with the Burning Legion, using each other, in the process of achieving his ultimate goal.

Outwardly, Illidan bowed his head to Kiljaeden, acknowledging him as his subordinate, but in reality, he only wanted to obtain some secrets from the deceiver, the most core secrets regarding demon resurrection.

Kiljaeden had promised Illidan that if he could eliminate the Lich King, the traitor who had betrayed the Burning Legion, he would tell Illidan the information he had always desired.

The plan to destroy the Frozen Throne failed due to Andreas' obstruction, and the eye of sargeras shattered on its own after enduring too much power. Illidan had to start making his next preparations.

Although the thwarted plan made Illidan somewhat annoyed, Andreas' explanation and reminder made him aware of the flaws in his plan.

Illidan indeed wanted to destroy the Burning Legion, but the original intention of all this was to protect Azeroth.

Just as Andreas said, if he were to release even more terrifying Old Gods in order to kill the Lich King, his plan would ultimately be a net loss.

Illidan decisively abandoned the idea of continuing to bother the Lich King. The campaign plan had completely failed. Kiljaeden would not spare a subordinate who failed a mission, so he needed to find a suitable sanctuary to develop his forces.

After absorbing the power and memories of the skull of Go'el, Illidan already had an excellent choice in mind—the shattered Draenor... Andreas had no interest in Illidan's subsequent actions, nor did he intend to hinder Illidan's next plan.

Unlike most people in the world who couldn't understand Illidan's mode of operation, Andreas had seen the Demon Hunter's ultimate goal in Warcraft 7.0, which allowed him to indulge Illidan's actions to a certain extent.

Currently, Andreas had more important things to do: reclaim Moonglade Forest and rebuild Suramar.

Due to Illidan's sudden attack, cracks appeared in the permafrost imprisoning the Lich King's soul, and Ner'zhul's soul essence was leaking. This was the Scourge's weakest moment in history.

Andreas naturally couldn't let go of the enemy's weakness. If possible, he even wanted to take this opportunity to eliminate the Lich King once and for all.

However, the Night Elves, having just experienced the great battle of Mount Hyjal, had not yet recovered their strength, and the reconstruction of Mount Hyjal was still underway. It was uncertain whether enough combat power could be mobilized within the time limit.

Moreover, before deploying the army, the Night Elves needed to first establish a frontline base.

Although Suramar City was destroyed into ruins by Archimonde's Finger of Death, the main structure of the city remained.

As long as the demons and Undead roaming Moonglade Forest were driven out, and a new World Tree was planted in the forest, Suramar City should be rebuilt quickly.

Bidding farewell to Prince Farodis, Andreas directly reached Dragonblight via a teleportation spell cast by an Azsuna Blue Dragon.

Under the protection of the Dragonkin, Dragonblight was the safest place in the chaotic Northrend.

With the expansion of the Scourge's power, the shadow of the Undead appeared in almost all areas of Northrend, including ZulDrak, Borean Tundra, and Howling Fjord.

The Drakari Trolls of ZulDrak were unprepared for the spread of the Plague, caught off guard by the Undead attacking from Moonglade Forest.

After Suramar was destroyed, Navaz led the Northrend defenders to retreat to DrakTharon Keep in western ZulDrak.

He naturally saw the Scourge pass through, but at that time, the battle of Mount Hyjal was just beginning. To avoid complications and fighting on multiple fronts, Navaz suppressed the urge to send troops for a surprise attack and continued to hide in the sturdy DrakTharon Keep, holding his ground.

After thousands of years of reinforcement, DrakTharon Keep was no longer what it once was. The reinforced concrete fortress was very strong, and the Scourge's repeated attempts to besiege it failed to achieve a breakthrough. Ner'zhul very simply shifted his target and continued to penetrate deeper into eastern ZulDrak.

The Drakari Trolls were not as well prepared against the Undead as the Night Elves. They suffered a major loss in their first engagement, and many Frost Trolls who died were pulled back by the Lich King from Bwonsamdi and reanimated.

Coincidentally, when Go'el led his army back to Northrend, preparing to lead the displaced people back to Borean Tundra, the Undead holy city of En'kilah, which stood in their way home, became a difficult obstacle.

The holy city of En'kilah originally belonged to the Ankhet Kingdom of the Nerubians. With Anub'Rekhan's voluntary retreat, the city also fell into the hands of the Scourge.

The confident Ner'zhul was not satisfied with this. While attacking the Frost Trolls and attempting to turn the Orcs into Undead, he also extended his claws to the Vrykul of Howling Fjord.

Anubarak and his Undead Nerubians bypassed Grizzly Hills and the Night Elves' defenses underground, emerging near Utgarde Keep, controlled by the Vrykul, and engaged in fierce combat with the Dragonriding Vrykul commanded by King Ymiron.

Ner'zhul had always prayed in his heart that the Burning Legion would suffer a crushing defeat in Kalimdor, and that the demons and the Azeroth Allied Forces would ideally inflict heavy losses on each other, allowing him to reap the benefits from behind the scenes.

His wish came true. Archimonde died on Mount Hyjal, and the Allied Forces also suffered significant losses.

The Night Elves' casualties were not great, but to maintain the defense line, a large number of arcane golems were scrapped during the war. Most of the discarded units were remotely detonated by Technicians, causing as much damage as possible to the Burning Legion.

After the war, due to the Well of Eternity's incapacitation, the replenishment rate of arcane golems could not keep up until recently when the production lines resumed full operation, but it was impossible to make up for the consumption in a short period.

This kind of mutually destructive situation was undoubtedly the best opportunity for the Lich King to expand. When Ner'zhul thought he had weathered the storm and was confidently spreading his Scourge forces, an unexpected event still occurred.

The continuously draining soul essence made Ner'zhul hysterically call out to Arthas, urging him to return from the Eastern Kingdoms as quickly as possible.

The Alliance army in the Eastern Kingdoms noticed the Scourge's weakness and abnormalities, seizing the opportunity to launch a fierce counterattack.

At the same time, Shandris and Navaz, who had long been eager for action, simultaneously dispatched troops from two directions, beginning to expel the remaining Scourge forces from Moonglade Forest, one from the south and one from the east.

The Lich King's weakening control over the Undead was a major event.

Ner'zhul's spiritual power came from countless Undead; the more Undead there were, the stronger his power would become.

The Scourge's rapid expansion in Lordaeron greatly amplified Ner'zhul's soul power, making him even more eager to expand the Scourge's influence and strengthen himself.

However, Illidan's sudden sneak attack ruined his plans; the heavily wounded Lich King could no longer perfectly control all the Undead under him, and a portion of the Undead with stronger wills gradually regained self-awareness.

The incomplete memories of transforming from living beings to Undead left most of the newly awakened Undead bewildered, and they wandered aimlessly across the world.

Due to the lack of a unified leader to guide these awakened Undead, they instinctively avoided the living, whom they found repulsive, and their Scourge "compatriots" who had turned them into these ghastly forms, hiding alone in deep mountains and old forests.

In the eyes of the Alliance, all Undead were the same, always enemies of the living, and defiled existences that needed to be purged.

To the Scourge Undead, these deserters who left the front lines were intolerable traitors, and they would also be hunted down.

However, some observant individuals noticed the strange behavior of these Undead and began to privately contact them, attempting to communicate with these self-aware Undead... Ever since the Lich King's power began to decline significantly, the Undead attacking various parts of Northrend showed varying degrees of weakness and a drop in combat effectiveness.

Go'el seized this opportunity to lead his army, breaking through the blockade of the holy city Enqila, and finally returned to their new homeland.

The Dragonriding Vrykul also began to counterattack, driving the Undead to the vicinity of the southern coastline.

Navaz, who had long been prepared, acted even more aggressively; the Northrend defenders, brimming with morale after the entire Battle of Mount Hyjal, charged out of DrakTharon Keep, catching the Drakari Trolls' Scourge off guard.

The Drakari Trolls noticed the change in the situation and seized the opportunity to launch a counterattack, gradually pushing the invading Undead out of ZulDrak's territory.

Meanwhile, Shandris led her army north from Dragonblight into Moonglade Forest, engaging the Scourge Undead and Legion demons scattered in the area.

The situation in Moonglade Forest was extremely chaotic; not only were there remnants of the Burning Legion's demons and the Scourge's Undead, but a portion of Loken's Iron Army also pursued the demons into this once magical forest.

After being conquered by the Burning Legion, Moonglade Forest inevitably suffered Fel Energy corruption, with a large number of lush boreal trees withering, making it appear much more desolate compared to when the Night Elves controlled it.

The massive remains of the world tree amirdrassil lay in several sections across Moonglade Forest; both the Undead and demons used these fallen giant tree trunks as temporary bases, and the three-way melee made the already dilapidated Moonglade Forest even more chaotic.

When Shandris entered Moonglade Forest, the Scourge Undead happened to be weakened and were being severely beaten by both the demons and the Iron Army.

All three warring parties were enemies, and Shandris didn't even bother to distinguish whose territory was which, launching indiscriminate attacks after her army merged with Navaz's forces.

Loken was the first to realize something was wrong; the Night Elves' return speed was too fast.

To avoid being caught in a three-way pincer, he ordered the Iron Army to withdraw to Storm Peaks from the Temple of Wisdom, adopting a stance of watching tigers fight from a mountain.

Andreas was too lazy to bother with this cowardly Keeper, instead directing Shandris and Navaz to focus all their energy on Moonglade Forest first.

The remaining demons in Northrend, caught between the Iron Army and the Undead, were few in number, and the Northrend defenders led by Navaz relentlessly pursued and attacked them.

Shandris and Leticia, on the other hand, led the Northern Expeditionary Army to charge fiercely at the Undead; the weakened Undead's reaction speed was noticeably slower than usual, suffering heavy losses in their initial engagement under the assault of the few remaining arcane golem.

Ner'zhul felt the Night Elves' counterattack in Moonglade Forest, but deeply embroiled in a crisis of dissipation, he no longer had the energy to precisely control the Scourge Undead.

He simultaneously ordered the Scourge across Northrend who could still obey commands to retreat to Icecrown Glacier and hold their ground, ensuring that enemy forces attempting to strike while the iron was hot could not breach the Frozen Throne.

If Andahsil were still present, and Moonglade Forest had an ample supply of magic, Andreas would have truly wanted to bring the Flying Fleets over and capture the Frozen Throne in one fell swoop.

However, the current situation temporarily did not allow it; the primary task was to first rebuild Suramar as a front-line base and plant a new world tree to recharge Moonglade Forest.

Ner'zhul was willing to retreat voluntarily, and Shandris did not impulsively pursue into Icecrown Glacier; instead, she turned back and, with Navaz, launched a pincer attack, annihilating the last remaining forces of the Burning Legion in Northrend.

When Andreas arrived in Moonglade Forest, everything had already been settled.

The Undead had retreated from Echo Valley to Icecrown Glacier, and Loken had also pulled his Iron Army back to the edge of Storm Peaks, maintaining a wary guard.

Advancing rashly before establishing a stable base was a major taboo; Andreas ordered Navaz to lead his army back to DrakTharon Keep to guard against surprise attacks from the Drakari Trolls, while Shandris led the Northern Expeditionary Army to temporarily station there.

Floating in the air, he observed the ruins of Suramar; although it looked terrible, the city's foundations had not suffered catastrophic damage.

"Anub'Rekhan."

"Present, please give your orders."

Andreas raised his chin and pointed into the city, "You first lead the Nerubians to infiltrate the underground of Suramar; I will have Leticia lead a portion of troops to assist you in thoroughly clearing out the Undead Nerubians beneath Moonglade Forest."

"Yes! Please leave it to me!"

Finally, with the opportunity for a counterattack, Anub'Rekhan set off with high morale, eager to reclaim Ankhet City once again.

These Qiraji were truly pitiful; not only did they suffer heavy losses in the war with the Undead, but they also lost their capital twice in just over a year.

The first time was due to underestimation and a lack of understanding of the Undead, which is excusable; the second time was indeed not a fault of war.

Fighting Archimonde in Northrend, a region with severely inadequate preparations, was not wise; the losses would undoubtedly be several, or even dozens, of times greater than at Mount Hyjal.

Zhuge Liang was cautious all his life; this phrase has both positive and negative connotations, but Andreas would rather learn from Chancellor Zhuge's cautious attitude, at least to avoid making major mistakes by recklessly showing off.

Now, he bore the fate of the entire Night Elves race; to put it grander, as the pillar of Azeroth, the success or failure of the Night Elves even concerned the survival of Azeroth, and he dared not be negligent in the slightest in this regard.

While Anub'Rekhan led his troops to clear the underground world, Shandris left Daelin to command the army guarding the Echo Valley's One-Line Sky, and walked with Andreas into the ruins of Suramar City to inspect.

Governor Reddick also followed, reporting with some melancholy, "Over 80% of the city's buildings have severely collapsed and must be demolished and rebuilt. According to the architects' preliminary estimates, it will take about half a year to complete all reconstruction work for Suramar."

"However, if it's just to restore it to a habitable state, it would only take a month to see initial results."

Andreas weighed his options, "Immediately send someone to inform Fandral, telling him to lead the Druids here to plant a new world tree."

"Shandris, you first lead the Civil Engineering Golems to clear the remains of Andahsil, leaving enough space for the new world tree to grow."

Shandris nodded in agreement, and Andreas continued to issue commands, "Reddick, have Suramar's Magisters sort out the chaotic Ley Line network in this area after the world tree explosion, ensuring that the city can be powered immediately after the world tree is planted."

"Hurry up, the Lich King's weakness won't last long. We need to attack Icecrown Glacier as much as possible before Arthas returns with his army."

"Yes!"

The reconstruction of Sundalar was proceeding in an orderly fashion. The engineering golems brought from Anachronos were fully deployed, clearing World Tree remnants and sweeping away large amounts of rubble and ruins within the city.

Fandral, taking the place of Malfurion who had once again entered the Emerald Dream to play hide-and-seek with Xavius, presided over the Council and was temporarily unable to leave.

However, he sent his beloved son, Vastan, to personally oversee the tree-planting efforts. Vastan also took the opportunity to summon Fandral's Valley Walker, Farodin, from Val'sharah.

Farodin was very skilled at tree planting and had always been curious about the Night Elves' World Tree. He gladly joined the tree-planting team, using the opportunity to try making beneficial micro-adjustments to the World Tree seeds.

At the same time, good news came from Anachronos: the research team had completed the preliminary analysis of the reborn Well of Eternity.

The Highborne magi excitedly reported that the charging efficiency of this re-reinforced Well of Eternity was at least five times higher than before.

Under full-power pressure testing, the existing energy-consuming projects of the Night Elves could not even reach the energy limit of the new Well of Eternity, even with the use of the Pillars of Creation.

Many Highborne researchers excitedly shouted about the revival of the ancient Well of Eternity, but in reality, those with reason knew that the well's power ceiling could not compare to the original version.

Even so, this revived Well of Eternity was enough to shoulder the future of the Night Elves. At least for a long time, the Night Elves would not be able to reach its upper limit.

During the process of planting the World Tree and reviving Sundalar City, Andreas remained in Moonglade Forest the entire time, closely monitoring Ner'zhul's movements, and dispatched the First Air Fleet to patrol near the Northrend coastline in a low-energy maritime navigation mode.

Approximately two months later, all the residents of Sundalar City who had taken refuge in Dragonblight moved back into the city, and the new World Tree gradually grew under the care of Farodin and the druids.

To embody the will of the people of Sundalar, Governor Rodrick proposed naming this World Tree "Sindar'al," which means "Crown of Blood" in Darnassian, representing the Sundalar people's belief in revenge.

The target of revenge was naturally the Burning Legion, which destroyed Sundalar, and the Scourge, as accomplices, were also on the Sundalar people's blacklist.

During these two months, Sundalar had been in a state of preparing for war. The new arcane golems produced by Anachronos, with the exception of a small number remaining in their homeland for defense, were all sent to Northrend.

With Ner'zhul's active retreat, Anub'arak's Nerubian forces swept through, recapturing Ahn''kahet and the entire underground of Moonglade Forest.

Everything was ready, just waiting for the opportune moment.

Once Sindar'al fully matured and successfully integrated into the World Tree system, the vast energy of the Well of Eternity would once again fill Moonglade Forest. That would be the moment for the Night Elf Republic to launch its all-out revenge war against the Scourge...

While Andreas patiently waited for the opportunity in Sundalar, the situation in the Eastern Kingdoms also moved towards a similar pattern as Northrend.

After Andorhal was captured by the Alliance, the remaining Scourge forces retreated to Lordaeron City and Stratholme, taking a defensive stance.

Garithos performed quite prominently in the joint attack on Andorhal. His excellent military command abilities began to be showcased before the kings of the Alliance, and even Prince Varian had to admit that Garithos' rise was mostly due to his own abilities.

However, acknowledging his military capabilities did not mean accepting his other shortcomings.

As the saying goes, no one is perfect. Compared to his excellent military abilities, Garithos' internal governance and foreign policy seemed to the kings of the Alliance member states to be at the level of a three-year-old child.

The moment this fellow joined the Alliance, he immediately gave a cold shoulder to the dwarves and gnomes who had kindly come to support, exposing his true human supremacist nature that very day.

Dwarves are hot-tempered. Even kings are, at most, a bit more composed than ordinary commoners.

Falstad Wildhammer and Magni Bronzebeard were thoroughly angered by Garithos' attitude. Neither of them was one to be pushed around, so they simply decided to have nothing to do with Garithos in the joint military camp.

The two dwarven kings would absolutely not attend any military council that Garithos was present at, nor would they send any envoys to receive cold stares.

Garithos' human supremacist approach greatly displeased Prince Varian and the Kingdom of Stormwind behind him.

The Kingdom of Stormwind took a completely different path from the old Kingdom of Lordaeron. They did not advocate for authoritarianism and forced unification but instead emphasized sincere cooperation among the Alliance's member states, with Stormwind in a leadership position to coordinate conflicts between them.

Under Varian's adept diplomacy and Niana's central coordination, the tone of the nascent Alliance had already been set. At least for now, the member states were harmonious, and even the more stubborn Thoras expressed gratitude for Stormwind's support.

Garithos' inclusion was like a foul-smelling rat dropping into a delicious stew, instantly ruining everyone at the table's good mood.

Yet, this fellow, whose political ability was virtually zero, felt good about himself, loudly boasting about his philosophy of not trusting outsiders, completely disregarding the furrowed brows of the Alliance kings present.

Setting Garithos aside, the leaders of the five human nations of the Alliance held a small private meeting.

Varian was the first to state unequivocally, "Although I have no right to make decisions for Lordaeron, I believe Garithos does not have the potential to be an excellent king. His extreme racism will sooner or later cause trouble for the Alliance."

Daelin agreed mockingly, "He might be an excellent military general, but if he were to become king, it would be a disaster for the entire Alliance."

Thoras sneered, "Terenas used to have human supremacist tendencies. He truly raised a noble worthy of him."

King Alex's face was all smiles and amicability, but there was no trace of a smile in his eyes. "I also do not support Garithos inheriting the throne of Lordaeron. That fellow isn't cut out for it."

Alterac had long coveted the territories of Andorhal and Western Plaguelands. Now that Lordaeron was finally gone, Alex wished for the Kingdom of Lordaeron to be definitively laid to rest, but he couldn't say that in the meeting.

Antonidas pondered for a moment before expressing his stance, "Gentlemen, Princess Calia has not yet been confirmed to have perished. It is still too early to speak of this. Perhaps there is still a turn of events for the throne of Lordaeron."

Antonidas' words reminded the heads of state present, and Prince Varian's eyes lit up. "Archmage, do you already have a lead?"

Antonidas smiled, stroking his beard and nodding. "While I dare not say 100% certain, Dalaran has indeed discovered traces that resemble Princess Calia."

"Currently, Archmage Rhonin of Dalaran is pursuing the trail and continuing the investigation. Let us wait and see for now."

"Rhonin?"

King Alex was stunned for a moment, then asked with a somewhat strange expression, "Is that the red-haired Rhonin known as the 'Walking Disaster'?"

"Archmage, I may be a little impolite to say this, but... are you sure he can get things done?"

Antonidas smiled wryly and shook his head. "If it were half a year ago, I would have shared your doubts."

"The Battle of Mount Hyjal seems to have stimulated Rhonin somewhat. His personality has become much more composed, and the uncontrollable vast amount of magic within him is close to being completely digested. In all aspects, he is no longer what he once was."

"I believe the current Rhonin will definitely complete the mission, and perhaps... I am even considering whether to hand over the heavy responsibility to this excellent young man after my retirement."

In the northeastern part of the Hinterlands, there is a lush highland forest that neither the Wildhammer Dwarves nor the Forest Trolls residing in the Hinterlands dare to approach rashly.

Because they know that the forest, named Seradan, is home to Azeroth's dream wardens—the Green Dragon.

At this moment, a human man was rarely seen crouching and moving forward outside the Seradan forest. His magical robe looked tattered, suggesting he had encountered quite a few troubles previously.

This red-haired human mage was named Rhonin. More than half a year ago, he earned significant merit during the Battle of Mount Hyjal and personally witnessed the death of the overwhelmingly powerful Archimonde due to a Mortal's scheme.

No, actually, he could not be considered a Mortal. Speaker Moonshadow, who set the trap, was rumored to have long broken through the limits of Mortals, becoming one of the few Demigods on Azeroth, and the only existing Mortal Demigod.

However, this was actually a misconception on Rhonin's part.

Because Queen Azshara had not appeared for ten thousand years, humans, whose civilization was only three thousand years old, did not know that the queen of the ancient Night Elf Empire was still alive.

After the war, Rhonin even visited the enormous crater left by the killing blow Speaker Moonshadow used to slay Archimonde. He gained a new and clear understanding of the limits that Mortal potential could reach.

What struck Rhonin was not just the power of this high-ranking "love rival"... in fact, this was a deviation caused by Rhonin's overactive self-awareness.

He believed that Speaker Moonshadow obstructed his interactions with Vereesa out of possessiveness and jealousy, but in reality, Andreas was merely executing a request from Aurelia and Lireesa.

Vereesa's friendliness towards Rhonin was mostly due to her kind nature and curiosity. After becoming accustomed to humans, the younger Windrunner sister's interest in Rhonin quickly faded. Before leaving, Rhonin did not even manage to see his beloved once.

When it rains, it pours. Just as Rhonin was preparing to follow his mentor across the sea back to great Dalaran, Krasus suddenly revealed his true identity to him.

"Rhonin, I apologize for keeping this secret from you all this time, but I am actually not a High Elf."

Under Rhonin's bewildered gaze, Krasus reverted to his true Dragon form. Only then did Rhonin realize that the respected mentor who had been instructing him all along was actually a Red Dragon.

Furthermore, according to Krasus—or rather, Korialstrasz's—own account, he was the youngest consort of Red Dragon Queen Alexstrasza. This sudden intelligence bomb left Rhonin dizzy and stunned.

Korialstrasz revealed his identity to Rhonin because he intended to end his time in Dalaran and return to his own kind.

The Dragons suffered considerable losses during the Battle of Mount Hyjal; the Burning Legion was not an easy enemy to deal with. Many Dragons sacrificed their lives to defend Azeroth, including one of Alexstrasza's consorts.

To soothe his beloved's sorrow, Korialstrasz decided to return to the Wyrmrest Temple to stay by the Queen's side and slowly heal the wounds in her heart.

Rhonin, having been force-fed a super-Dragon version of public displays of affection, silently watched his Dragon mentor depart, and alone, he took over his work, leading the Dalaran mages back to the Eastern Kingdoms.

Rhonin, who had suffered continuous blows, became much quieter, appearing more steady and reserved as a result.

Furthermore, having exhausted his limits participating in the defense during the arduous Battle of Mount Hyjal, Rhonin finally began to master the control over his immense magical power, which far surpassed that of other mages.

In fact, Rhonin's talent was no less than Khadgar's and Jaina's; he had always been Dalaran's most underestimated genius.

Rhonin was born with an incomparable total amount of magical power, which was one of his talents.

It was just that in his earlier years, Rhonin could not control the overly powerful magic within him, often causing blunders like a child wielding a great club, which gradually made him the laughingstock of Dalaran.

Moreover, every mage companion who went on a mission with him would inexplicably encounter strange and unusual accidents, solidifying Rhonin's humiliating title of "Walking Disaster."

While everyone mocked Rhonin, only Krasus recognized his talent and took him under his wing to teach him diligently.

To this day, Rhonin remains extremely grateful for Krasus' careful guidance; even though his true form is a Red Dragon, it does not diminish Rhonin's gratitude and filial affection for him.

After returning to Dalaran, Rhonin, who was gradually displaying his talent, soon received a new mission: he was to lead a small team of mages to follow the auxiliary forces of the Bronzebeard Dwarves and Gnomes in attacking the defensive line southeast of Andorhal from the east of Sorrow Hill.

This task presented no difficulty for Rhonin; he merely needed to coordinate the mages' casting rhythm and ensure they maintained a state of unified spellcasting as much as possible.

Rhonin had performed similar work many times during the Battle of Mount Hyjal and was already highly proficient.

One night, while he was out collecting the necessary botanical ingredients for alchemy, Rhonin unexpectedly discovered a small footprint emitting a faint glow.

Yes, only one print, not a pair.

Because Sorrow Hill was close to the Undead fortress of Andorhal, fierce vengeful spirits often appeared there. Rhonin initially thought he had encountered a ghost and almost pulled out his staff to blast the spot where the footprint lay with an enhanced version of explosive magic.

However, following the gentle breeze, Rhonin caught a faint, almost imperceptible scent of fresh plants.

"Glowmoss?"

Putting away his staff, Rhonin curiously knelt down to examine the single footprint.

Using a light spell to illuminate the area, Rhonin discovered another small, paired imprint next to the glowing footprint.

This discovery left him feeling completely baffled.

Glowmoss is a unique type of moss that grows in the Eastern Wilds—now called the Eastern Plaguelands. If it sticks to someone and is not cleaned off promptly, the glowing effect will remain for over half a month afterward.

Logically, however, a normal person shouldn't fail to notice stepping on Glowmoss, as its light is quite conspicuous at night.

Carefully checking the direction of the footprints, Rhonin realized they stretched from the Eastern Plaguelands toward Andorhal, making it almost certain that their owner had stumbled south into the Hinterlands highlands.

As a talented mage, Rhonin was very clever. After some thought and logical deduction, he began to form a hypothesis.

First, based on the depth of the footprints, it was certain that the mysterious person who stepped on the Glowmoss was likely a human female with a low body weight.

Furthermore, she was in a dazed and confused state while moving forward, which was evident from the haphazard nature of the footprints.

But questions immediately arose. The southern part of the Eastern Plaguelands had long become a living hell, and Garithos had struggled immensely just to break through the encirclement and arrive.

How had this unknown woman, in a state of mental confusion, managed to pass safely through the encirclement of countless Undead and reach Sorrow Hill?

Too few clues, too many questions.

Rhonin reported the information to Archmage Antonidas. After receiving permission, he followed the footprints deep into the Hinterlands mountains, where he unexpectedly discovered an emblem within a haphazard and messy campsite.

A magnificent royal crest engraved with the sword, shield, and hammer symbol of the Lordaeron national flag.

Rhonin's latest discovery was astonishing, and after learning the details, Antonidas personally used Spatial Coordinates to teleport over and investigate.

"There's no mistake." Antonidas gravely looked at the Royal Crest in his hand. "This is the emblem Princess Calia wore; the initials of her name, C.M., are engraved on the back."

The mysterious person's identity had seen a breakthrough, but the next problem was even more severe.

Princess Calia was the only remaining royal member of the Kingdom of Lordaeron. Since Calia went missing, her whereabouts had been widely followed by all nations of the Alliance.

Garithos even used this opportunity to publicly and righteously accuse The Knights of the Silver Hand of dereliction of duty, claiming they had lost Lordaeron's last hope.

Princess Calia's movements were intriguing, but the focus now was not on the reason why the Princess fled into the Hinterlands, but on finding her whereabouts as quickly as possible.

The Hinterlands were not safe. Wild Gryphons flying in the sky were not as docile as trained mounts, and the Darkspear Troll out in the wild posed a huge threat.

This savage Forest Trolls Clan still maintained the primitive custom of cannibalism. If Princess Calia were to be captured by them... Under Antonidas' command, Rhonin led his small team to withdraw from the front lines and enter the Hinterlands to search for Princess Calia's whereabouts.

Just as Antonidas had feared, although the Darkspear Troll of the Hinterlands had recently been dealt with by the Alliance, they remained highly active in this plateau region.

Just as Andorhal was being captured, one of the Mages in Rhonin's team went out to relieve himself at night and unintentionally ran into a Darkspear Troll who was doing the same.

The two stared blankly at each other for a long time, only letting out screams to alert their companions when their streams intersected and splashed in the air.

It was unclear if Rhonin's Bane Aura had taken effect again, but the increasing number of Trolls finally scattered Rhonin's team completely. Over a dozen Mages were split into groups of two or three, leaving Rhonin separated entirely on his own.

The Hinterlands had been the territory of the Darkspear Troll since ancient times. The number of Trolls living there was enormous, and the longer one stayed in the Hinterlands, the higher the chance of encountering Trolls, and the survival rate of Princess Calia would rapidly decrease.

Although extremely worried about his scattered companions, Rhonin kept his primary mission objective in mind, offered a quick prayer for the others, and continued following the tracks northeast into the Hinterlands.

The good news was that the footprints continued. Although the effect of the Glowmoss was gradually weakening, it was at least certain that Princess Calia had not yet been harmed.

The bad news was that Rhonin was not the only one tracking the footprints.

While speeding up his journey using Blink, Rhonin successively encountered three waves of Forest Trolls. Clearly, they were also curious about these footprints.

Rhonin suppressed his inner anxiety and tried to eliminate the Trolls tracking the footprints without leaving a trace, but in the final encounter, his presence was exposed when one of the Trolls suddenly turned around.

After a fierce battle, Rhonin finally managed to eliminate this tracking squad of over a dozen individuals. By this time, he had tracked the trail all the way to the vicinity of Skull Rock.

"Just what Daughter of Destiny is Princess Calia?"

Rhonin sat down to bandage his wounds while complaining, "She consecutively crossed the Eastern and Western Plaguelands, which are overrun by the Scourge, and walked unimpeded through the Troll-infested Hinterlands. Does she have a permanently enchanted Invisibility Spell on her clothes?"

Complaints aside, what needed to be done still had to be done.

When Rhonin spotted the Green Dragon flying high above Seradane Forest from afar, his own complexion began to match the Green Dragon's.

Dragonflight were Dragonflight after all. Although they behaved kindly towards Mortals they approved of, that did not mean they would extend that kindness to all Mortals, especially rude Mortals who trespassed into their lair.

Rhonin prepared himself mentally to leverage his connection to Krasus to communicate with the Green Dragon and quietly infiltrated Seradane Forest.

Upon entering the depths of Seradane, where he could clearly see the Dream Tree and a green portal, Rhonin rubbed his eyes, utterly bewildered.

A blonde woman draped in a ragged cloak was sitting on a tree stump in the clearing, surrounded by Green Dragons and Drakonid of varying sizes whose expressions changed intermittently, seemingly listening to her tell a story.

"...What the heck?"

Just as Rhonin was utterly puzzled, a deep male voice suddenly came from the air behind him.

"Mortal, who are you? Why are you sneaking into Seradane, the territory of the Green Dragon?"

"Gasp~"

Rhonin gasped, not daring to turn his head rashly for a moment.

'Damn it, I was too focused on Princess Calia and neglected my vigilance toward the rear.'

This sudden interrogation startled the large group of Green Dragons sitting in rows. Everyone turned their gaze toward Rhonin's direction, except for the human woman, who continued muttering to herself.

"Uh~ Please don't attack yet."

Rhonin weighed his options and finally chose to forgo resistance, trying his best to demonstrate his friendliness.

He set down his staff, raised his hands, and slowly turned around. Sure enough, an adult Green Dragon was hovering in mid-air before him.

However, judging by the Green Dragon's eyes and demeanor, it seemed he had no immediate intention to attack, which finally allowed Rhonin to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Mr. Green Dragon..."

"Call me Taerar."

"Alright, Mr. Taerar." Rhonin readily changed his address. "I am the apprentice of the Red Dragon Korialstrasz. My abrupt intrusion into your territory this time is to retrieve Princess Calia Menethil of Lordaeron... the lady sitting in the clearing."

"Oh~" Ignoring Rhonin's attempts to leverage connections, Taerar said with a look of realization, "So that child is named Calia."

Flapping his wings to descend to the ground, Taerar extended a foreclaw and beckoned Rhonin over. "Come with me. We were just wondering how to deal with this young lass."

"Let me warn you first: try to move gently when you approach her, and don't disturb her ravings. This child's mental state is very unstable right now."

Rhonin nodded obediently, but his mood suddenly sank. He could tell from Taerar's words that Princess Calia was not in good shape.

"...Arthas' Cross-dressing appearance was very tempting, but unfortunately, as she gradually grew older, her physique started to develop, and she was no longer suited to dressing up as a girl."

Rhonin, who had been full of worries, nearly burst out laughing upon hearing this.

When Andorhal was previously attacked, he had seen Prince Arthas from afar.

At that time, Prince Arthas' face was cold, his former golden long hair had turned completely pale, he was clad entirely in thick Froststeel Armor, and his emotionless eyes instinctively instilled fear in anyone who met his gaze.

It was hard to imagine that Prince Arthas, the patricide who destroyed his own kingdom, would ever wear female attire. Rhonin's expression was extremely strange at this moment.

Taerar shifted into the form of a Night Elves male with a full beard, gestured for Rhonin to remain silent, and led him around the tree stump to face Calia.

Her sapphire blue eyes, like lake water, were devoid of spirit, and Calia's complexion appeared somewhat pale. However, her demeanor and appearance were still delicate and captivating, easily causing people to instinctively feel pity and a desire to protect this frail beauty.

"Shh~"

Taerar pulled Rhonin down to sit in the clearing, allowing him to observe Calia's condition.

"A Young Dragon accidentally discovered her near the border of the Hinterlands and the Western Plaguelands. After repeated questioning failed to elicit a response, we escorted the child all the way here to Seradane, but we haven't been able to obtain much important information from her."

Looking pityingly at Calia, who was still rambling, Taerar sighed, "Her mind has suffered severe trauma. We allowed her to vent her inner distress in a semi-dream state."

"She hasn't stopped talking for a whole day, constantly repeating childhood anecdotes. She seems instinctively unwilling to recall recent events."

"However... the dream must eventually end."

"Snap~"

Taerar walked up to Calia and snapped his fingers. As if under Mental Suggestion, Calia's previously vacant eyes gradually focused, and the nonsensical words coming from her mouth ceased.

Lifting her head and looking around blankly, Calia's gaze finally fixed on Rhonin, the only human present. She parted her slightly cracked lips and softly asked, "Are you the Prince who has come to save me?"

Rhonin: "???"

"...Huh?"

"Princess Jaina?"

Andreas, who was in Suramar, asked with some surprise after hearing the information Prisim recounted, "Is she still alive?"

"Yes," Little Red Riding Hood reported calmly. "Under Miss Niana's instructions, we conducted a series of tracking investigations and basically pieced together the full story behind Princess Jaina's disappearance."

There was nothing much to say about Jaina's disappearance; she simply took advantage of the internal strife within The Knights of the Silver Hand to quietly slip out of Tyrs Hand, which felt like a prison.

The key was her subsequent whereabouts.

Princess Jaina was not devoured by the undead in the wilderness as most people expected; instead, she was "fortunately" picked up by a Lordaeron noble.

This noble was Baron Osmar Garithos, whose territory was located in Blackwood Town.

"Garithos..."

Andreas mused, recalling, "I remember Garithos once righteously accused the Silver Hand of being preoccupied with power struggles and losing Princess Jaina, didn't he?"

"Yes," Prisim replied without any emotional fluctuation. "According to subsequent investigations, this was a deliberate deception orchestrated by Garithos. First, he shifted the blame to others, so no one would suspect him."

"I see."

Andreas understood Garithos' thoughts after a brief analysis, a cold smile playing on his lips. "This fellow harbored rebellious intentions from the start; otherwise, he should have immediately raised her banner after finding Princess Jaina."

Garithos didn't want to be a loyal subject; he was ambitious and wanted to become king himself, which is why he deliberately kept Princess Jaina hidden.

However, Jaina was, after all, the last bloodline of the Menethil royal family, so to be safe, Garithos temporarily did not silence her.

Moreover, Princess Jaina had been acting disoriented ever since escaping Tyrs Hand, seemingly suffering from mental instability due to the shock of Arthas' patricide and the destruction of her kingdom, appearing to pose no threat.

At that time, Garithos was preparing to raise an army to head to the Western Plaguelands to rendezvous with the Alliance. Leaving Princess Jaina in his territory made him uneasy, so he simply brought the mentally unstable Jaina with him into the army.

During the battle to attack Andorhal, Garithos desperately rallied the soldiers he had gathered to fight bravely in order to demonstrate his capabilities and value.

He succeeded in one aspect, but failed in another.

Garithos' excellent military command capabilities were indeed recognized by the kings of the Alliance, but Princess Jaina once again took advantage of the empty rear of the military camp, where there was insufficient defense against her, a poor mentally unstable princess, and slipped out. She entered the Regretful Ridge, guarded by Rhonin and others, from the eastern half of Andorhal that Garithos had initially recaptured.

Her subsequent journey became even more interesting. After Jaina entered the Hinterlands, she was soon discovered by a Young Dragon out for a stroll.

Because Jaina was disoriented, her steps were very unsteady. Out of curiosity, the young female Green Dragon landed to ask Jaina where she was going, but received no direct answer.

The kind Miss Green Dragon brought Jaina, who was clearly traumatized, back to Seradane for treatment. Rhonin, who had been tracking down clues about the princess, finally found Jaina near the Dream Portal in the Hinterlands.

"After the Green Dragon's dream therapy, Princess Jaina regained her sanity, but..."

Prisim paused. "She lost a part of her memory; memories related to Arthas were completely erased."

"In her current perception, she has no younger brother, and it was she herself who received the crown prince's education since childhood."

Andreas nodded knowingly. "It should be the body's self-protection mechanism. Her brain instinctively blocked the unbearable memory fragments, completed logical self-consistency within her mind, and re-integrated Arthas' role with her own experiences."

Prisim was not interested in Jaina's emotional journey. She still asked calmly, "Speaker, what should we do next? Do we need to publicly support Princess Jaina's restoration?"

"Hmm..."

Andreas stroked his chin, pondering for a moment. This question concerned the future geopolitical landscape of the northern Eastern Kingdoms.

It was foreseeable that Garithos would absolutely not acknowledge the authenticity of Jaina's identity, nor would he admit to having briefly imprisoned the princess.

The ambitious Garithos had no retreat; even if he knew he was lying, he had to maintain the falsehood.

"Actually, our stance isn't important; what matters is the attitude of the Alliance nations."

Andreas leaned back in his chair in Suramar's temporary office, looking out at the bustling construction of Suramar City through the window. "The situation in the northern Eastern Kingdoms is actually quite clear."

"Because the Lich King is weakened, the combat effectiveness of the Scourge has been greatly reduced, forcing them to hold out in the strongholds of Lordaeron and Stratholme."

"Stratholme aside, after the Alliance recaptured Silverpine Forest, the ownership of Capital City of Lordaeron is no longer in doubt. Only one question remains."

"Whether to call upon member states in the name of the Alliance to crowdfund resources to support Lordaeron's restoration, and who will serve as king after the restoration."

Among the Alliance member states, the Bronzebeard Dwarves, Wildhammer Dwarves, and Gnomes are foreign races and will not express an opinion on this matter.

Alterac, adjacent to Lordaeron, will certainly object for its own interests, at least not easily concede until sufficient benefits are promised.

Stromgarde and Kul Tiras do not directly border Lordaeron. Although there were intense quarrels with Terenas years ago, Terenas is dead, and continuing to quibble with Lordaeron would seem petty.

Dalaran is merely an independent city-state. From a national security perspective, they naturally hope that Lordaeron can continue to stand before Dalaran, shielding it from wind and rain.

"One vote for, one vote against, two abstentions. The most important vote is held by the Kingdom of Stormwind."

Andreas said with a chuckle, "The subsequent developments will depend on what the Kingdom of Stormwind thinks. First, it's certain that Garithos is probably out of the picture."

"With Princess Jaina as a rallying flag, he, a mere former Lordaeron baron, won't be able to achieve anything significant."

"Once the undead are successfully driven out of Lordaeron, if Garithos dares to show even a hint of defiance, he will face unanimous punishment from all Alliance nations."

Although Garithos' ambition had nothing to do with other human kingdoms, all human nations had nobles within their borders. If a negative example like Garithos succeeded in usurping power, there was no guarantee that their own nobles wouldn't harbor inappropriate ideas.

"There's another matter."

Prisim hesitated before saying, "Because of her confused memories, the first person Princess Jaina saw after regaining her sanity was Archmage Rhonin, whom she mistook for her fiancé. She's been holding onto Rhonin, not letting him leave."

Andreas was a bit bewildered upon hearing this. "...There's such a good thing?"

'Rhonin and Jaina? This combination is a bit strange.'

Rhonin, gradually entering his mature phase, would inevitably become an important member of Dalaran in the future. Even if he didn't succeed Antonidas as Speaker, a council seat was almost certain.

And Jaina is the only surviving legitimate heir of the Kingdom of Lordaeron. If nothing unexpected happens, she will certainly become the first queen in Lordaeron's history. If these two were to marry... Andreas frowned, considering. "Continue to monitor this matter. Deliver any intelligence gathered to Niana first; she understands the internal situation of the Alliance better than I do."

Looking at the soon-to-be-mature Teldrassil outside the window, Andreas sneered, "It's almost time for us to settle scores with Ner'zhul. Unless there's a major decision Niana finds difficult to make, the issues of the Eastern Kingdoms will be left entirely to her."

The foundation of the Night Elves was not in the Eastern Kingdoms, and the games played within the human nations had little to do with Andreas. He entrusted the follow-up developments to Niana, who was more familiar with the situation.

Under the day-and-night efforts of the druids, Shandaral approached maturity at a speed far exceeding other World Trees, and now it was only one final step away.

Under Andreas' orders, Farodin, Vastann, and others carefully integrated Shandaral into the World Tree system.

After all, Northrend held Yogg-Saron's prison, so the planting and training of Shandaral required extreme caution. Andreas was already very satisfied with such rapid progress.

In October of the 19th year of the Dark Portal, after a warm summer and an almost non-existent autumn, the temperature in Moonglade Forest began to drop sharply.

As winter approached, Shandaral was finally officially connected to the World Tree system, and surging mana entered Moonglade Forest through the energy conduits output by Nordrassil.

As Shandaral began to take on its role as a relay station for the Well of Eternity's energy, the defensive barrier above the city of Suramar finally lit up again, and cheers echoed throughout the city.

Andreas did not join the people in celebration; he immediately issued orders to Shandris, Navaz, and others.

"First Flying Fleet, take flight! Rush to Moonglade Forest at maximum speed to rendezvous with the main army."

"Shandris, you will command this war. Do your best to breach the Frozen Throne!"

"Navaz, after the Northrend Expeditionary Force leaves, you will take over the defense of Suramar and the area around DrakTharon Keep. Ensure that Loken and the Drakari Trolls cannot harass our rear."

"Yes!"

...When mana supply was restored to Moonglade Forest and the Night Elf army was air-dropped directly onto Icecrown Glacier via Flying Warships, the Scourge reinforcements led by Arthas finally landed on the eastern shore of Howling Fjord.

Arthas' sea voyage was not easy; Daelin's Kul Tiras fleet had been trying to intercept and block them along the way.

In terms of naval warfare, the Undead Scourge was no match for the maritime kingdom of Kul Tiras. If the Necromancers hadn't created a death mist to shroud the Ghost Ships' movements, Arthas' army would have been sent to the bottom of the sea to feed the fish and shrimp long ago.

Even so, to evade Daelin's pursuit, Arthas had to take many detours, which caused him to return to Northrend much later than expected.

Having just landed on the eastern coast of Northrend, Anubarak, who had been waiting for a long time, appeared before Arthas and guided the Death Knight to lead his army quickly back to Icecrown Glacier through underground tunnels.

Andreas had long been prepared for the Undead Nerubians who were skilled at digging holes. When Arthas and Anubarak emerged from underground in the Grizzly Hills area, Anub'Rekhan, who had been lying in wait for a long time, led a mixed army of Nerubians and Night Elves to strike from the side of the tunnel.

"Traitor! Die!"

Sharp Ground Spikes burst from beneath the earth. Although Arthas and Anubarak dodged as quickly as possible, the spikes separated them.

Anub'Rekhan had waited a long time for this chance at revenge. Finally facing the once-wise Nerubian king, Anubarak, his eyes turned red as he charged toward the Undead Nerubian.

"Hah!"

Arthas endured his discomfort and swung frostmourne. Leticia had already been warned that this dangerous demon blade could drain souls, so she didn't dare take it head-on. She nimbly dodged Arthas' attack and threw her moon wheel, striking the blade of Arthas' sword.

"Ugh!"

To Leticia's surprise, Arthas was knocked back several steps by this strike, and frostmourne emitted a faint, whimpering wail.

A sharp glint flashed in Leticia's eyes. 'Has he actually weakened to this extent?'

If Northrend weren't so close to the Lich King's eternal ice, with Arthas' original strength, Leticia's attack might have sent him flying entirely.

Arthas had indeed been a world-renowned genius in life, but being a genius only meant he had a bright future, not that he could realize his talent instantly.

To seek revenge against the Dreadlords, Leticia had worked hard over ten thousand years—though perhaps not every single moment—and the strength accumulated over that time was far beyond what a young lad like Arthas, not even thirty years old, could compare to.

Previously, with the Lich King channeling death energy into him through frostmourne, he could rely on this external power to defeat and slay his mentor, Uther. But once he lost the Lich King's support, Arthas' true colors were revealed.

The two giant beetles collided, biting each other mercilessly, their past friendship long gone.

After becoming undead, Anubarak lacked negative perceptions and emotions like pain and fear, but the undead also lacked positive emotions like high morale.

Anub'Rekhan, pumped up with adrenaline and fueled by emotion, was in a berserk state, performing beyond his usual limits. The difference in strength between the two large beetles, who were originally close in power, became clear in their first encounter.

"Boom!"

Anubarak was knocked back several steps by the enraged Anub'Rekhan. Before he could even adjust his posture, his enemy seemed to have no intention of catching his breath and closed in for melee combat again.

"Traitor! You destroyed everything in the Kingdom of Ankhet! I will use your filthy soul to pay for the lives of the hundreds of thousands of Ankhet citizens who died tragically!"

Because of the intelligence Anubarak provided to Ner'zhul after his death, the city of Ankhet was breached by the undead. If not for the Night Elves' assistance, the Nerubians would likely have neared extinction.

Anubarak was one of the generals most valued by the Lich King. Even when he was so weak he could barely maintain the undead army, Ner'zhul still kept a tight grip on his soul.

Anubarak was fully aware of everything Anub'Rekhan accused him of; he hadn't lost his memory, but his soul was not under his own control, and he felt no guilt for what had happened in the past.

"Bang!"

After steadying himself, he delivered a forceful counter-charge, pushing Anub'Rekhan back slightly. At the same time, his two front claws dug into the ground, and a series of Ground Spikes erupted from beneath the area where Arthas and Leticia were fighting.

Leticia, who had forced Arthas into a clumsy retreat, suddenly felt a warning of danger in her mind. She nimbly leaped back to dodge the sneak attack from the Ground Spikes.

Anubarak adopted a dual-threaded approach, temporarily holding off both Anub'Rekhan and Leticia, while calmly saying to Arthas, "Arthas, keep moving. I will hold them back."

"Tsk!"

Arthas was used to standing high above others and slaying enemies like a god. Now, being forced into such a pathetic state by an unknown Night Elf, his immature mind bred an irritability that an undead should not have.

"I'm counting on you, Anubarak. Resolve the crisis at the Frozen Throne, and I will urge the Lich King to send reinforcements to support you as soon as possible."

Anubarak responded with a calm smile, "I hope so."

"Where do you think you're going!"

Seeing Arthas retreating deeper into the underground tunnel, Leticia gathered her strength and threw her moon wheel, shrouded in black light, at his back.

SQuel'ch!

The sound of a blade slicing through flesh rang out. While dealing with Anub'Rekhan's attacks, Anubarak used his massive body to block Arthas' path of retreat.

"This path is closed. If you want to catch up to Arthas, you'll have to get through me first."

Leticia recalled her moon wheel with an unfriendly expression. "Since you're looking for death, I'll grant it to you!"

Anub'Rekhan voluntarily took the enemy's attacks with his massive body, creating the best opening for Leticia to deal damage.

"Today is the day of your final death, traitor!"

As Andreas, aboard the flagship Enterprise of the First Aerial Fleet, entered Icecrown Glacier from the sky, the desperate Ner'zhul deployed all his remaining forces.

Massive numbers of ghouls surged out from within the Frozen Throne, followed by relatively clumsy abominations, their corpulent bodies twisting as they brandished different weapons with their four deformed hands.

The dark mass of Gargoyles even obscured the sky. Andreas was surprised to discover a few Undead Bone Dragons behind these Gargoyles.

Shandris Feathermoon frowned and asked, "Where did Ner'zhul dig up these dragon bones?"

Andreas pondered for a moment before replying, "They should be Blue Dragons shot down into Icecrown Glacier during the War of the Ancients. I didn't expect him to be able to find them under such thick ice. Only the Undead, who are impervious to cold and heat, could accomplish such a feat."

Ten thousand years ago, Deathwing's betrayal was too sudden, and the other Dragonflights were completely unprepared.

Including Malygos' most important consort, Sindragosa, a large number of Blue Dragons were shot down by the newly unleashed dragon soul. Some of them were pushed by the immense impact into Icecrown Glacier, smashing deep into the ice.

Sindragosa had already been excavated by the Dragonflight and brought back to Dragonblight for burial, but the other Blue Dragons could not be helped.

The extreme cold of Icecrown Glacier made long-term operations unsuitable, and no one knew where these Blue Dragons were buried. Andreas only knew Sindragosa's location by cheating.

Andreas mused for a moment and then said, "Inform the Wyrmrest Temple about the Undead Bone Dragons. I believe the Dragonflight will not tolerate Ner'zhul's desecration of dragon bones."

After the Battle of Mount Hyjal, most of the Dragonflight returned to their respective lairs to lick their wounds, having suffered considerable losses in the fight against the Burning Legion.

The ancient Blue Dragon Arygos perished at the hands of Archimonde, and the Red Dragon Queen also lost a consort who had accompanied her for many years on the main battlefield.

After the war, the Bronze Dragon King Nozdormu led a large number of Bronze Dragons into the timestream. After Andreas's persuasion, he finally made up his mind to settle things with the Infinite Dragonflight.

Xavius' shapeshifting trick forced the Green Dragonflight to dispatch a large number of personnel into the Emerald Dream for defense. Coupled with the Red Dragon Queen's depression, the entire Red Dragonflight was trying to alleviate the Queen's sorrow. Currently, only the Blue Dragonflight and Black Dragonflight could be immediately deployed from the Wyrmrest Temple.

Coincidentally, both of these Dragonflights are examples of sparse populations; the Blue Dragonflight's losses from the War of the Ancients have yet to be replenished.

The Black Dragonflight, due to Deathwing's influence, saw a large portion of its members corrupted and suffered heavy losses in the siege by the Wyrmrest Temple's allied forces during the Battle of Blackwing Lair.

Although Sinestra recalled many uncorrupted scattered Black Dragons, it was merely a drop in the ocean compared to the Black Dragonflight in its prime.

Malygos had lost his loyal subordinate, Arygos, who had assisted him for many years. Although he was very angry at the Undead's sacrilegious act of resurrecting Blue Dragon bones, the still somewhat depressed Malygos did not personally take action, instead entrusting this task to Kalecgos.

On the Black Dragonflight side, Onyxia had sustained some minor injuries in the Battle of Mount Hyjal. Using her recovery as an excuse, she went to Quel'Thalas to play with Aurora.

Nefarian... that fellow is unreliable unless pushed to his limits. Sinestra, left with no choice, could only have Ebysian lead a dozen Black Dragons to assist.

"...Is that all?"

Andreas looked speechlessly at the Dragons, totaling less than fifty, with many young dragons even making up the numbers in the Blue Dragonflight's contingent.

Kalecgos and the honest Ebysian both looked a bit embarrassed. Clearly, they hadn't expected the combined lineup of their two races to be so meager.

"Never mind..."

Andreas was well aware of the Blue Dragonflight and Black Dragonflight's situation and did not criticize them excessively.

"Those Undead Bone Dragons are yours to handle. Don't let them break into the Aerial Fleet's formations and wreak havoc."

"No problem."

The defensive capabilities of the Undead Bone Dragons were quite a headache for the Night Elves. Relying on their massive bodies, the combined bone dragons could pose a significant obstacle to the Aerial Fleet.

Within the first few days of the battle, several small escort destroyers had already been shot down by the bone dragons' frost breath, and the Gargoyles, under the bone dragons' cover, were also thriving.

The Battle of Mount Hyjal had given Ner'zhul a no-holds-barred opportunity to snowball.

The Kingdom of Lordaeron originally had millions of people. After a Scourge rampage, even counting the Lordaeron citizens hiding in various places, there are now less than a million people left. All those who died were resurrected by Arthas and brought into his fold.

With a numerical advantage, the Scourge began to streamline low-tier Undead, throwing useless zombies into slaughterhouses for reprocessing and reassembling them into abominations with powerful combat capabilities.

In terms of raw strength, the Night Elves could not contend with abominations. They could only have the Nordrassil Wall, specialized in defense, stand at the very front, withstanding the impact of the massive numbers of Undead.

The intensity of the Undead horde's assault somewhat exceeded Andreas's expectations. He hadn't thought that even a weakened Lich King could still control such a vast number of Scourge. This goes to show how much Ner'zhul had exploited the Eastern Kingdoms while the Burning Legion ravaged Kalimdor.

Compared to the distant Eastern Kingdoms, the combat power of the Undead in Northrend, the Scourge's main base, had not significantly weakened. The closer to the Frozen Throne, the fiercer the Scourge's combat power became.

Shandris Feathermoon did not rush due to the fierce resistance of the Undead, instead steadily commanding the army to advance slowly.

As the Blue Dragons and Black Dragons joined the aerial battlefield to block the harassment of the Frost Bone Dragons, the Aerial Fleet finally unleashed its powerful artillery support capabilities.

Even thick-skinned abominations would lose their combat ability if hit directly by a magic-tech cannon, and ghouls were obliterated in large swathes with a single blast.

Andreas had already learned of Arthas' escape from intelligence gathered from underground.

While it was somewhat regrettable that they couldn't stop the Death Knight, Anubarak, who had voluntarily covered Arthas' retreat, was not so lucky.

The Undead Nerubian general, whom the Lich King relied upon, was personally torn into countless pieces by Anub'Rekhan. The Nerubians had finally avenged a part of their destroyed nation.

Now, Leticia and Anub'Rekhan are leading their forces to encircle and annihilate the remaining Undead Nerubians, completely eliminating the threat from the underground world.

Before Arthas could return to reinforce, Shandris Feathermoon advanced the army to the front of the Frozen Throne. The top of the great ice pillar, with its defense barrier fully activated, was emitting a faint, hazy gray light.

"It's the second time, huh."

On the bridge of the air-sea carrier Enterprise, Andreas looked with some emotion at the eternally frozen ice at the top of the ice pillar, which was cracked in the middle.

Shandris Feathermoon's voice came through the bridge's communication device, "Andreas, should we attack immediately?"

"Yes."

Andreas said decisively, "We must break through the Frozen Throne's defenses before Arthas can return with reinforcements."

"Understood."

"Fire!"

The ground-based artillery-type self-propelled arcane golems and the air-sea battleships fired simultaneously. Ripples surged across the Frozen Throne's defense barrier, which seemed unlikely to be easily breached in a short time, this final barrier.

"Don't stop, keep up the bombardment! Ships with insufficient energy should replace their reserve crystals promptly!"

Just as Andreas was overseeing the command from the flagship, a bulge suddenly appeared on the ice in front of the Frozen Throne.

"Boom!"

The exploding ice chunk sent nearby ghouls flying, and a gleaming cold sword was the first to emerge from the ice.

Andreas's eyes narrowed slightly. "So, it's finally here..."