The imminent threat of the Burning Legion forced the Night Elves to temporarily set aside their conflict with the orcs—the death of Cenarius, rather than being attributed to the orcs, should be seen as the work of the Burning Legion.
Moreover, to be honest, even if the Night Elves were to completely annihilate the orcs, it would only cause damage to themselves with no other benefits. Aside from cutting timber in Ashenvale, which violated the Night Elves' tenets, the orcs mostly operated in the wildlands of Ashenvale and the western Barrens.
Since the orcs were now willing to fight the Burning Legion first as a 'pledge of allegiance,' the Night Elves no longer needed to relentlessly pressure them.
Their conflict could be settled after thwarting the Legion's schemes, but if the Legion's plan succeeded, then nothing else would matter, because Azeroth and everything on it would cease to exist.
However, almost everyone now, except Arthas, had forgotten the mysterious prophet who suddenly appeared, then vanished just as suddenly, timely stopping the conflict between the orcs and Elves.
It was as if he had never appeared at all.
"Medivh… what exactly is he thinking?"
If there were any important 'characters' in this world that Arthas was not fully aware of or familiar with, Medivh would certainly be one.
After he was possessed by Sargeras and killed by Lothar, losing his first life, he became like a ghost in Azeroth's history, relying on this world yet never seeming to truly exist within it.
Arthas looked down at the grass moving backward under his horse's hooves, thinking: Perhaps Medivh truly was as he said, born of legend and ultimately returning to legend.
Well, actually, Arthas was still thinking, why isn't this guy coming out to help? Even if his power wasn't as strong as when he possessed the Guardian's power, he was still much stronger than most human mages.
Although he didn't know where this 'Astral Mage' was currently monitoring the actions of various races on Kalimdor, since he was unwilling to directly resist the Burning Legion, the ultimate burden would still fall on the Alliance and the Elves.
The orcs were mostly unreliable; without the help of the Tauren, those who only formed the Horde with the Dark Spear Trolls would be fortunate to even defeat Mannoroth. In fact, Arthas was already prepared to lend them a hand if the Horde couldn't stand against Mannoroth.
Not to mention that the Horde's strength now would be weaker than the Horde in the established history, and the number of demons guarding that section of the valley might also be much greater.
However, in truth, no matter how many Burning Legion there were, it wasn't the decisive factor. What truly made Arthas feel he needed to be wary was the Burning Legion's high-end combat power.
Compared to humans, and even elves, demons had spent too long developing, conquering, and destroying in the Twisting Nether, not to mention their master was once a Titan of the Pantheon, almost a creator at the ceiling of this world's power.
Perhaps while Azeroth still had the strength to contend with high-ranking demon commanders like Mannoroth, encountering demons above Mannoroth, even demigods, would require a mountain of lives to have any hope of victory.
Not to mention Sargeras himself; if he had the space and opportunity to act, a single sword stroke would cleave the entire planet in two.
Therefore, in dealing with the Burning Legion, most of the attention must be focused on the Burning Legion's two nominal supreme commanders, the Deceiver and The Polluter.
At this time, the Deceiver should still be pursuing his former colleagues, now his enemies. He should not yet be concerned with matters on Azeroth; only The Polluter Archimonde is the greatest threat.
During the War of the Ancients, even the mightiest demigod, Malorne the White Stag, could not stop Archimonde's advance. He had his neck twisted off by Archimonde's bare hands in the fierce battle, and his attacks failed to inflict any noteworthy injuries on the Legion commander.
Archimonde was proficient in all kinds of dark knowledge and magic. Under the enhancement of magic, the strength of his body was beyond what even a demigod could achieve. Even without using those incredibly destructive dark magic, his power was beyond the reach of any mortal, and being able to strangle a demigod with his bare hands was the best proof.
Arthas was unsure to what extent Tichondrius had perfected the summoning ritual, whether it was already sufficient to accommodate Archimonde's arrival. If Archimonde could not yet enter Azeroth through the portal, then preventing him from entering Azeroth was the best option to minimize losses.
However, it was obvious that the demons would spare no expense to bring forth the power that could determine the course of the entire campaign, as they would not truly die on Azeroth, and summoning a bunch of demonic cannon fodder would not cost much.
The demons in the Twisting Nether are countless, and coupled with their unique souls, they have no fear of casualties. Even if Arthas were to wield Frostmourne and harvest demon souls one by one, it would likely burst Frostmourne, yet still be a drop in the bucket.
After all, Frostmourne was merely a tool to control the Lich King. Although due to the demons' forging techniques and its soul-devouring characteristic, it was stronger than most native weapons of Azeroth, it was still far from reaching the level Arthas envisioned.
Fortunately, if suitable materials and a forge could be found, reforging this demonic sword was not impossible, as there was no shortage of master smiths from various eras among the undead working in Icecrown Citadel.
In short, the key to winning this campaign is how to stop, or rather eliminate, the Burning Legion's highest commander sent to invade Azeroth, who is also their strongest combat force.
As it stands, the Alliance's strength is greater than it was during the Orcish Wars more than a decade ago. Thanks to Arthas's influence, the champions and heroes who should have fallen or died during this period are now active across the continent.
Even if the wars on Azeroth cannot be fought without Legion-sized armies, powerful individual strength can sway the victory of a war at critical moments. And for mortals, 'demigod-level' strength like Arthas's is an almost insurmountable chasm that cannot be overcome by numbers.
Arthas looked up at the sky—he had already sent word back to the Eastern Kingdoms, and they should be mobilizing troops at the fastest possible speed. Even if they couldn't get the help of the seven human kingdoms as before, the current situation was still far better than Jaina leading a group of Lordaeron refugees to establish a foothold in Kalimdor.
Theramore is now a war fortress and a transit point for the Alliance army. It boasts one of Kalimdor's best deep-water ports, fortress barracks meticulously constructed by The Great Architect and the master assassin Vancleef, and being nestled within a swamp forest, it is almost an undisturbed haven!