"Cough, cough!"
Illidan clapped away the dust and fel smoke in front of him, stretched his body, and stood up from the ground—taking Tichondrius's attack head-on wasn't pleasant, but he knew this was the quickest and most effective way to escape.
He didn't want to get entangled with Tichondrius. Although he was confident in his own strength, Illidan wasn't a brainless fool. In his current state, having just escaped imprisonment, defeating Tichondrius was practically a pipe dream.
Even before stepping into this fel-corrupted place, Illidan had sensed something at the center of the surging fel corruption that was drawing him in.
This made him abandon his plan of secretly causing trouble for Tichondrius, and instead, he revealed himself directly, outwardly preparing to contend with Tichondrius, but in reality, his true objective from the start was the source of the corruption.
And now, taking advantage of Tichondrius's carelessness due to his strength, Illidan finally saw what was corrupting Felwood Forest.
It was a gigantic skull. It wasn't the head of any race or creature Illidan had ever seen, and Illidan had no interest in its biological origins. What truly attracted him was the fel power continuously emanating from the skull.
"So, this is it."
Illidan grabbed the skull, which was originally more than half a person's height and floated above a corrupted fel tree stump, but it actually shrunk considerably. It seemed its original size wasn't huge, but rather it had transformed into a giant skull due to the enhancement of fel magic.
As soon as he held the skull in his hand, veins bulged on Illidan's arm, and then, the veins on his forehead also swelled. The power from the skull, having lost its outlet, began to invade Illidan's body.
This process was quite painful, but Illidan had no intention of dropping the skull. On the contrary, he displayed a look of extreme madness and joy.
"Yes… yes! This is what I've been searching for!"
Illidan not only did not resist the skull's energy, but instead tried his best to extract the power within it. Through the fel energy surging into his body, he understood that this skull was the remains of a powerful Orc Warlock, whose name was "Gul'dan."
Gul'dan was a powerful Warlock skilled in demonic magic, so even after his death, his knowledge of demonology and mastery of energy remained within his skull. This meant that the energy originating from Gul'dan's Skull also carried a massive amount of knowledge.
As Illidan frantically absorbed the power and knowledge of Gul'dan's Skull, Tichondrius swiftly appeared before Illidan. He initially wanted to immediately stop Illidan's insane actions, but his raised hand froze in mid-air.
Tichondrius watched as Illidan's body began to change due to absorbing too much fel energy. After undergoing the fel baptism, Illidan's physique became taller than that of a Night Elf. Demonic horns grew on his head, forming terrifying and grotesque curves.
His legs, enveloped in green flames, twisted into backward-bending goat legs and hooves. Eternal fel flames coiled around Illidan's feet, and with every step he took, the ground ignited, leaving behind green fire.
Illidan's body swelled like a giant. He straightened himself, almost as tall as Tichondrius. His already robust and powerful muscles, stimulated by the fel, seemed to undergo a second development, becoming even more muscular and solid.
Amidst the sound of tearing flesh and bone, two large, tattered bat wings unfurled from Illidan's back. Those wildly spreading demonic wings seemed to cheer for their master's transformation.
"This feeling…"
"It's fantastic."
The feeling of being filled with rampant power, after a ten-thousand-year absence, made Illidan exclaim from the depths of his heart… No, this was even more exhilarating than ten thousand years ago, when he tried to absorb more Arcane magic to strengthen himself.
This was not just an increase in energy level; Illidan felt that his body had also undergone a complete transformation, making him almost feel as if he could crush Tichondrius with just one hand now.
After observing Illidan's transformation, Tichondrius didn't seem to care that Gul'dan's Skull, which had accumulated a large amount of power, had been absorbed by Illidan. The forest's corruption had already reached a critical point, and an outbreak was only a matter of time.
"I didn't expect you to so readily abandon your Elven identity," Tichondrius marveled. He had seen many who accepted the Legion's power, but few were as greedy and reckless in strengthening themselves as Illidan.
This fellow was like a madman, completely disregarding whether his body could withstand it, absorbing a massive amount of fel. Any other creature would have probably exploded by now.
Illidan stood tall, meeting Tichondrius's gaze, "Race means nothing to me. The only thing of value in this world is… raw power."
His right fist clenched, his sharply defined muscles and surging fel energy indicated that this Demon Hunter was a completely different person after absorbing the power of Gul'dan's Skull.
Tichondrius tilted his head and watched Illidan for a moment, then suddenly began to clap. Illidan, however, suddenly attacked, two destructive fel rays shooting from his eyes. Unfortunately, the magic passed through Tichondrius's ethereal body, piercing a large tree behind him that would have required several people to encircle.
The Dreadlords said leisurely, "My mission is complete. However, now that you have such power, you might as well consider serving us before Lord Archimonde arrives."
With that, Tichondrius's figure transformed into a swarm of black bats and disappeared into the forest, leaving Illidan standing in the clearing, holding Gul'dan's Skull, and saying coldly, "Cunning fellow."
"Illidan?!!!"
A very familiar voice entered Illidan's ears. The Demon Hunter turned his head at the sound, and with undisguised disgust, he said, "Malfurion, I didn't expect you to be the first person I met after leaving the prison."
Malfurion's eyes were bloodshot, and he said in disbelief, "Is it really you, Illidan? Is everything in Felwood related to you?"
The Arch Druid looked at his brother's terrifying appearance, his voice trembling slightly. This wasn't out of fear, but because he couldn't believe his eyes.
Although ten thousand years ago, it was he who personally sentenced his brother to eternal imprisonment, he had always believed that Illidan's nature had not truly turned evil. But now, when he saw Illidan abandon his Elven identity and become a half-demon with his own eyes.
And precisely, the timing of Illidan's escape and the location where he was found were inextricably linked to the corruption of Felwood Forest. Even if Malfurion didn't want to suspect him, he was forced to by the reality before him!
Illidan snorted. He knew he had been tricked by Tichondrius. He had most likely spread some news, putting him in such a predicament.