At this moment, Emperor Thaurissan had already broken through all obstacles and arrived at the roots of Nordrassil. The druids and sentinels who tried to block his path were no match for Thaurissan, who possessed the power of a demigod. They were either killed or wounded by the flames he summoned. The last obstacles remaining were two animals: one was a graceful and agile cheetah, and the other was a species Thaurissan had never seen before.
This unknown little animal had orange-yellow fur, a pair of large, jet-black eyes, and twitching ears. Its furry face wore a hostile expression as it bared its teeth at him.
Thaurissan noticed that this little animal, which resembled a bipedal giant squirrel, was holding a bone boomerang in its paws. He couldn't help but sneer: Could it be that the night elves were so short on manpower that they had to domesticate wild beasts to bolster their strength?
If a Valoran biologist were to see this seemingly harmless little animal, they would surely recognize it as a primitive Yordle. Its relationship to modern Yordles was like that of a caveman to a modern human. And those more familiar with the League of Legends would know its identity very well—it was Gnar, known in the League of Legends as "the Missing Link."
Don't let its cuteness fool you; when it gets angry, everyone has to run! Even its foster father, the mighty Pridestalker Rengar, would choose to stealth away when faced with a raging Gnar.
Thaurissan didn't take the cheetah or the unknown little beast seriously. He ignored them and directly summoned the power of fire, preparing to completely incinerate Nordrassil.
However, the two beasts were very dutiful. The female cheetah's growls and snarls failed to deter the enemy. Seeing the dark iron dwarf casting a spell, she transformed into a streak of yellow lightning and pounced towards Thaurissan.
She extended her claws in mid-air, aiming for the enemy's throat.
Thaurissan completely ignored her. Just as the cheetah's attack was about to land, a fiery shield suddenly erupted from his body. The claws scratched against the shield, and the terrifying heat instantly burned the cheetah, causing her to yelp in pain and fall to the side.
The cheetah rolled on the ground and, as she stood up, transformed into a woman wearing simple animal skin clothing. Her left hand was severely burned, the very paw that had just struck the fiery shield.
Ignoring the injury on her hand, she stared intently at Thaurissan and hurled the sharp javelin in her hand towards him.
Thaurissan was stunned. He hadn't realized that the cheetah was actually a druid?
She was a very beautiful human girl with a few streaks of war paint on her face and an exceptionally hot figure, both sexy and wild. But since when were there druids among humans?
However, that didn't matter. He continued casting his spell, as a single javelin couldn't hurt him. The fiery shield was still strong and would block it without a problem.
But he miscalculated. The javelin struck the shield hard, and the burning shield shattered like a bubble. Although the javelin was burned to ashes in the process, it opened up the only protective magic on Thaurissan's body.
The female druid, who could transform into a cheetah, cast a healing spell on herself while shouting to the little Gnar, "Attack him, Gnar!"
The attack on the fiery shield had burned her left arm, but the green glow of natural energy allowed the wound to heal almost instantly.
The only hero in the League of Legends who could transform into a cheetah was Nidalee, the Bestial Huntress. She and Gnar were among the Valoran heroes ordered to support Mount Hyjal. They hadn't expected to encounter Thaurissan's sneak attack just after crossing the teleportation array.
After receiving her order, Gnar didn't hesitate. He threw the boomerang in his hand at Thaurissan and pounced towards him. However, the boomerang didn't hit Thaurissan. Six huge fire elementals suddenly appeared in front of Thaurissan, rushing menacingly towards Gnar.
The small figure was almost immediately engulfed by the massive fire elementals. Emperor Thaurissan didn't even glance at it. A little thing that used toys was completely insignificant to him, let alone capable of interrupting his spellcasting.
Thaurissan was casting very quickly. The long preparation time was only to completely incinerate the World Tree in one go.
At this moment, Princess Moira Bronzebeard, wielding an elven scimitar, had already rushed forward. She wasn't stupid; how could she not see what this group of dark iron dwarves, and now Emperor Thaurissan, wanted to do? Even if she wasn't an excellent warrior, she absolutely couldn't stand by and watch Thaurissan's conspiracy succeed.
"Bastard, I'll make you stop!" Moira raised her scimitar and angrily stabbed towards Thaurissan's back.
She had prepared herself to sacrifice her own kin for the greater good, but the actual result was that she had overestimated her own strength.
The scimitar failed to pierce Thaurissan's body. Moira was struck by a strong shockwave and sent flying, rolling to a stop dozens of meters away.
Thaurissan didn't even turn his head, coldly snorting, "Overestimating yourself!"
At this time, he had completed his spellcasting preparation. He raised his arms high, flames burning brightly in his palms: "The will of the Fire Lord cannot be defied. Nordrassil will eventually be consumed in flames…"
"ROAR—"
An angry roar interrupted Thaurissan's unfinished words. Before the Fire Lord's representative could truly release the spell, he saw the high-level fire elementals that had been besieging the little animal with the boomerang suddenly fly backward, instantly turning into sparks before they even hit the ground. A giant beast, several stories high, was roaring in the center of the encirclement, its eyes, red with anger, glaring at Thaurissan.
Thaurissan didn't react for a moment, wondering where this giant monster had come from. Then he saw the monster holding a neatly cut rectangular metal block in its front paws. With a wave of its arm, the metal block hurtled towards Thaurissan.
"BOOM!"
The metal block slammed into Thaurissan, and he felt as if he had been hit head-on by a giant siege vehicle moving at high speed. The protective magic he had hastily cast on himself was as useless as if it didn't exist, unable to block this seemingly ordinary metal block at all.
—But Thaurissan didn't know that it wasn't an ordinary metal block at all. It was the hammerhead part of the warhammer used by the undead titan inside Yogg-Saron's belly before his death.
At that time, Aiden disassembled it, giving the hammer handle to Sun Wukong. No one could use the hammerhead at the time. Later, when he summoned the other Valoran heroes, he thought that Gnar might be able to use it. So the hammerhead ended up in little Gnar's hands.
This was a Titan's artifact—how could ordinary things compare?
Thaurissan was unlucky and became the first person to personally test the power of the hammerhead.
He never had the chance to release that spell again.
"Good job, Gnar!" Nidalee saw Thaurissan being knocked backward by the hammerhead, his chest caved in. A normal person would clearly be unable to survive such an injury. The Bestial Huntress was so excited that she almost jumped up.
However, Narl, transformed into a giant beast, couldn't hear those words. It charged towards Sorcerer Thaurissan, the earth trembling with each step. As an apex predator, Narl, having hunted countless times, could sense that the dwarf was still alive.
Sorcerer Thaurissan wasn't dead yet, but he would be soon, because Narl had no intention of letting him go.
Moira wasn't badly injured. Perhaps Sorcerer Thaurissan still retained some memories from the past, or perhaps he simply didn't have time to bother with this woman who posed no threat to him. She felt unwell for a short while, then found the strength to get up. It was also at this moment that Narl suddenly transformed, shattering the fire elementals in one fell swoop, and then hurled its hammer, sending Sorcerer Thaurissan flying.
Moira, supporting herself on her upper body, witnessed this scene. Then, the giant beast pounced again, its massive claws slamming down on Sorcerer Thaurissan, who was trying to crawl away. The demigod mustered all his strength to resist, but he was like an ant before the giant beast, with no power to fight back. The pair of giant claws completely crushed his lower body, and the essence of fire flowing within Sorcerer Thaurissan spewed out along with the wound, turning into scorching flames that charred the surrounding grassland.
This time, Sorcerer Thaurissan was truly on the verge of death.
Narl, confirming that its prey no longer resisted, lifted him by his arms and slammed him down hard, tossing Sorcerer Thaurissan like a rag doll dozens of meters away.
It had finally vented its anger. After exhaling two heavy breaths, it quickly shrunk, transforming back into its original adorable little animal form, and hopped over to Nidalee, leaping into her arms.
The huntress affectionately rubbed its ears and praised it profusely.
No one had expected that a powerful demigod would meet such a miserable end. If it weren't for Narl, he probably could have crushed everything on his own, and the reborn World Tree would have been completely incinerated.
It was just that this "hero" who had saved everyone seemed to have such a stark contrast before and after, leaving everyone dumbfounded. Tyrande was like this, and so was Broll Bearmantle, who arrived later.
He had witnessed that scene in the sky, and it was clear that his support wasn't needed at all.
Although Sorcerer Thaurissan no longer resembled a complete human after being thrown out by Narl, he wasn't dead yet. A demigod's body had long surpassed the limits of mortals. A collapsed chest and abdomen, a broken neck, and a shattered lower body - any one of these injuries would be absolutely fatal to ordinary people. However, Sorcerer Thaurissan's body had been modified by the essence of fire, and to some extent, he had become semi-elemental, not purely flesh and blood.
But this didn't mean he could live.
Broll had already arrived, and Tyrande was gradually recovering. The strong of the night elves were constantly gathering here. He had neither the possibility of escape nor the ability to escape. Unless Ragnaros himself appeared before him, death would be his only path.
However, Sorcerer Thaurissan didn't expect that Moira, the queen of the Dark Iron dwarves, Sorcerer Thaurissan's wife, would be the one to send him on his final journey.
Moira, enduring the pain that made her feel like her whole body was about to fall apart, retrieved the elven curved blade and slowly walked up to Sorcerer Thaurissan.
She looked down at him, her eyes burning with anger, and questioned, "Dagran, why did you do this! Where is the upright and indomitable Dark Iron Emperor I knew, who would rather sacrifice himself to protect his people? He would never kneel to Ragnaros and become a traitor to his people! Tell me, you are not Dagran Thaurissan, you are just an evil warlock who has taken his form!"