Nozdormu's reply almost made Arthas's heart skip a beat, and at that very moment, the asteroid field in front of them drifted away, revealing a ravaged planet before Arthas's eyes.
Green scars tore this once beautiful planet apart, and foul-smelling fel energy continuously flowed from the nascent world-soul within.
Azeroth was "dead," both externally and internally.
However, what puzzled Arthas was that he saw no trace of demons around Azeroth; the rampant fel energy indicated that demons had once brutally attacked her, but they had not turned Azeroth into a second Argus.
"You find it strange, don't you?" Nozdormu's calm, almost cold voice entered Arthas's ears.
Arthas nodded in response.
"After destroying Azeroth, Sargeras fell silent again. In the eyes of that stubborn Dark Titan, this act could only be done by him, but after it was truly completed, Sargeras personally destroyed the Burning Legion and wandered alone into the depths of the universe."
In other words, the Burning Legion that destroyed Azeroth ultimately became Azeroth's burial offering. For the sake of absolute "justice" in the universe, the Dark Titan, who did not hesitate to destroy his own kin, ultimately chose self-exile.
But the absolute "justice" in Sargeras's eyes was to cleanse the entire universe. Yet, he only destroyed Azeroth; why did that cause the beliefs of this Titan, who once conquered the universe with an iron fist, to collapse?
As if sensing the confusion in Arthas's heart, Nozdormu shook his head and said, "I don't know that. That is the limit of what my power can perceive."
"Is this the End Time?"
"Yes," Nozdormu turned to look at Arthas, "this is the End Time I can see after your appearance."
Arthas's mind reeled, and he stood rigid, all his myriad thoughts and ideas turning to naught.
"From the moment I was granted power, I saw my own death and the destruction of the world. The timeline almost drove me mad, and I had to confirm that among these endless timelines, there was a single, true one, which was the only way for the Bronze Dragon to avoid self-destruction.
At least, 'twenty-four years ago,' I could not escape this fate of death."
Arthas remained silent, but his hands were already gripping the holy sword Ashbringer and the runeblade Frostmourne.
Twenty-four years ago was the time of his birth on Azeroth—the identity of this Nozdormu already caused constant warnings in Arthas's heart.
The Holy Light and death energy within Arthas continuously intertwined, merging and growing stronger. Light and darkness do not stand alone but are interdependent; only when energies at the two ends of order ebb and flow can the entire universe be born.
This was also the first time Arthas had allowed himself to enter such a state. Although he carried a mysterious star chart within him, allowing him to control power without being affected by energy, the star chart was not omnipotent.
He had tried it once before; stacking the energies of Holy Light and death allowed him to break through a certain restriction and briefly enter a new realm, but his body was still merely that of an ordinary human. Even with the enhancement of Holy Light and death, it could not reverse that collapse.
But now Arthas was facing a Guardian Dragon, and the most mysterious of all Guardian Dragons, Nozdormu. He had no certainty of victory, and moreover, he had already entered the Caverns of Time, located in the opponent's domain.
A wisp of death energy turned a few strands of hair on Arthas's forehead white. One of his eyes was filled with Holy Light, while the other burned with blue spectral fire.
Frostmourne let out a soft hum, and the runes on its blade lit up one by one. The withering essence of death immediately surged onto the small shattered star where Arthas and Nozdormu stood, and cold, death, and decay rapidly condensed on this dead star.
The Holy Light energy on Ashbringer also condensed almost into a liquid state. High-purity Holy Light exploded like lightning, illuminating the cosmic starry sky with gold, while the Holy Light crystal rotated and vibrated at high speed, continuously drawing the power provided by Arthas into Ashbringer.
Arthas was not entirely without confidence: he stood on the remains of a dead planet, and within this planet, an unborn Titan was still gestating. This place itself represented stillness and demise, and the power of Frostmourne would only be further enhanced.
And with the star chart, the Void's darkness represented by the cosmic starry sky, and its opposite, pure light, plus the inherent characteristics of Ashbringer, Arthas's strength instantly touched the bottleneck of "mortal" limits.
That "mortal" did not refer to ordinary people, but to the power of all walking life on a planet. In other words, the power Arthas unleashed at this moment was almost the pinnacle of an individual planet's power.
In this state, Arthas had the strength to contend even with life forms of Archimonde's level.
The Lich King's power came from controlling the Undead Scourge and mastery over soul energy, while Arthas, without needing any external assistance, easily surpassed any Lich King merely by his own command of power.
"Holy Light and death coexist, a breathtaking sight, Prince Arthas Arthas," Nozdormu spoke, and his right arm was strangely corrupted by blue-black.
His eyes still glowed with bright blue light, seemingly still the Guardian Dragon, but the chaotic time-space energy emanating from the bright runes on his arm revealed everything.
"Murozond, are you impersonating Nozdormu?" With each step Arthas took forward, his aura intensified, and the energies of light and dark on either side outlined a wing-like pattern behind him.
At this moment, Arthas could no longer control the energy within him with ease, but now there was no need for such precise control. Arthas only needed to unleash his power to a level capable of confronting Murozond!
The armor meticulously crafted by Magni and Muradin could barely withstand the surging power from within Arthas. With several soft "cracks," the sturdy Thorium Plate armor was eroded by golden and gray light, first from the gauntlets, turning into fragments and falling to the ground.
The blue-gold runic cloth cloak was also ignited by the energy; half gold, half ice-blue, the cloak slid down from both sides. Arthas's shoulder plates also deformed under the explosive energy, with engravings representing Holy Light and death lighting up on them.
He had transcended mortality and approached godhood.
Nozdormu silently watched Arthas's transformation, his expression unchanged. "You have achieved what most life forms cannot. Although I do not know how you did it, I will test whether you truly possess this qualification."
As his words fell, countless meteorites were drawn by Nozdormu and crashed down towards where Arthas stood. Arthas had no intention of moving; he simply stood still, allowing the meteorites to strike him.
"Boom—"
The violent trembling and roaring made the entire floating island extremely unstable, but Nozdormu's body was unaffected. He stood still, seemingly observing how Arthas would respond to the meteor shower.
"Swish—Crash!"
The golden Holy Light, soaring skyward like a giant god's blade, directly shattered several meteorites. Immediately after, countless dark purple arms, condensed from dark power, shot out from behind Arthas, pushing away or deflecting the remaining meteorites.
After completing this, those arms quickly returned behind Arthas, slowly forming a complex pattern that mirrored the Holy Light runes on his other side, as if they were two halves of giant wings, carrying Arthas as he, too, floated up.
Releasing his left hand from Frostmourne, the runeblade floated by Arthas's side on its own, while Arthas himself gripped Ashbringer with both hands.
Arthas took a deep breath, feeling the power within him rhythmically synchronize with his breathing. A divine light flashed in his eyes, and he appeared before Nozdormu as if teleporting, the blade of Ashbringer and its destructive light instantly exploding on Nozdormu's body.
Nozdormu slowly took a step back. Although Arthas's sword had already fallen, he made the flow of time at that moment incredibly slow, and the seemingly fatal attack did not land on him at all.
However, as soon as he exited Arthas's attack range, Arthas immediately pressed forward again. This time, Ashbringer's slash was faster, and at the same time, golden Holy Light spears simultaneously locked down the space around Nozdormu, making escape impossible.
As the blade descended, all the Holy Light spears also pierced through Nozdormu's body—light not only nurtures all things but also destroys all beings.
"Good."
Nozdormu's body was pierced by the light spears, but he seemed to feel no pain, merely uttering a single word. Arthas immediately felt himself dazed for a moment, and when he came to, he was back in the situation of being surrounded by meteorites.
Time rewind!
Time acceleration!
The space-time outside Arthas suddenly became unstable, and meteorites, moving faster than he could react, were about to hit Arthas's face.
In the nick of time, Arthas threw down Ashbringer and punched out, directly blocking the two largest meteorites. At the same time, the light and dark wings behind him acted like giant hands, blocking the other meteorites.
"Hoo—ah!"
Accompanying Arthas's fury, dense Holy Light energy surged into the meteorites like a raging tide. The meteorite cluster was directly melted into a lava-like substance, falling to the ground. The high-temperature molten rock dripped onto Arthas, and the heat caused the Thorium Plate armor to lose its shape, melting into molten iron that dripped onto the ground.
A chilling wind of death swept through, and the lava and molten iron on Arthas's body solidified again.
Arthas twisted his body, and the brittle plate armor this time could not escape its end, turning into ugly black fragments scattered across the floor, revealing his well-honed body.
Now, this body was covered in dense engravings, and the aura of death and Holy Light continuously surged within Arthas—the previous outburst made it temporarily difficult for him to control these chaotic powers.
Arthas gasped for breath, pulling Ashbringer from the ground where it was stuck. Frostmourne obediently flew to his side, and the gathered death energy continuously poured into Arthas's body. In this form, death energy and Holy Light had the same healing effect.
However, what Arthas himself did not notice was that during his fierce battle with Nozdormu, the Arcane disc, which had been dormant within him, suddenly began to spin again, and this time, the Arcane disc continuously absorbed magical energy from the starry sky.
Beneath the Holy Light and death energies in his eyes, tiny blue Arcane glows flickered.
Nozdormu curled his lips, his smile fleeting. Arthas pushed off with his legs, leaping forward, his wings powerfully flapping. He flashed before Nozdormu again, and this time, Ashbringer was also raised high, aimed at Nozdormu's head!
Even a Guardian Dragon blessed by the Titan Guardian could not reverse time multiple times in a short period. Moreover, reversing time would also restore Arthas's state. He only needed to prevent Nozdormu from finding a way to defeat him with a single blow through time reversal, which had limited uses.
And before Nozdormu lost the ability to rewind, Arthas had to make Nozdormu increasingly flustered, leaving him no leisure to find a way to defeat himself—that meant constantly attacking, attacking, and attacking again!
This time, Ashbringer was again about to fall on Nozdormu's head, and Nozdormu still did not dodge.
But just a split second before Ashbringer was about to descend, Arthas suddenly felt his chest being held by a hand, and at the same time, the time he was in seemed to freeze.
"That's enough, Prince Arthas."
Nozdormu's blue-black arm was already raised high, pressed against Arthas's chest. Immediately after, the blue runes on his arm instantly flashed with a light so bright that Arthas could not even open his eyes.
Arthas's heart trembled. The convergence of Holy Light and death energy was locked by Nozdormu with time, becoming incredibly slow.
Blue light erupted from Nozdormu's palm, completely engulfing Arthas. A bright blue streak even cut across the starry sky above Azeroth's ruins.
Arthas, whose consciousness had been interrupted, regained clarity.
He supported his forehead with one hand and leaned on the rocks he had ploughed through with the other, standing up from the chaotic ground.
His swaying body quickly steadied.
Arthas summoned the Ashbringer and Frostmourne, which had fallen to the side, and was about to charge at Nozdormu again when he saw Nozdormu smiling at him.
It was a smile completely devoid of hostility, as if everything that had happened before was an illusion.
However, the shattered armor on Arthas and the scattered rubble indicated that everything that had just occurred was not a phantom but had genuinely happened.
"That's enough, Prince Arthas," Nozdormu's right arm returned to its normal state.
"Are you Murozond, or Nozdormu?" Arthas frowned, threw both swords to the ground, and rested his hands on the hilt ends.
"Have Nozdormu and Murozond not always been the same person?"
Nozdormu dispersed the divine power around him, and for the first time, he landed on the ground.
"I once thought I truly couldn't escape this cycle, until your appearance, which allowed me to find a suitable 'anchor point' again.
Murozond's 'existence' thus disappeared."
"So that's why you said you discovered a new destiny twenty-four years ago?"
"Exactly—I was told that in the endless river of time, only one path is true, and the rest are illusions, but it took me tens of thousands of years just to figure out which one was true.
Since then, I have been using that as a blueprint, monitoring the flow of time to prevent unexpected events in our world, but the cost was that I couldn't avoid the appearance of Murozond.
It seemed that if he didn't appear, Azeroth couldn't avoid the fate of destruction, or would waver in a difficult destiny."
Before Nozdormu, time sands gathered, congealing into a terrifying blue-black giant dragon, which was the corrupted Nozdormu, also the Eternal Dragon King Murozond.
"I originally thought the destiny of the Guardian Dragons and the future of Azeroth were absolutely contradictory, but then twenty-four years ago, at the moment of your birth, a timeline from many worlds caught my attention.
I was surprised to find that this timeline was filled with mists that I could not observe.
This was a very unusual phenomenon.
I tried to use my power to influence and change the direction of this timeline, but no matter what, the modified things would quickly return to their original state, as if the power of the Titans had lost its effect within it.
Therefore, I studied it for twenty-four years, attempting to find the cause of such an anomaly."
Nozdormu sighed softly at this point.
"However, I have made no progress until today.
The only result is that when I began to turn my gaze to this long river, Murozond disappeared, along with his Eternal Dragon Legion.
Ironically, I still haven't found the reason.
Murozond's disappearance was just like his appearance.
However, I gained a portion of the power I had as Murozond.
This power allowed me to project my authority further into the future, beyond Deathwing's death; otherwise, the one confronting you today might not truly be a match for an anomaly like you."
"Couldn't you have said all this earlier? Why did you have to fight me?"
Arthas found this completely incomprehensible.
Nozdormu did not reply, but instead extended his right hand and touched Arthas's shoulder.
Arthas immediately felt some kind of change occurring within his body.
"I don't know how you balance the powers of Light and Death, and managed to go so far down both paths, but you seem to have encountered some problems, some very difficult problems to solve on your own.
The balance of Light and Death within you is almost perfect.
These two powers are not even within the Titans' domain; they are two other cornerstones in the universe besides the Pantheon, the Burning Legion, and the Void.
I am very curious how you found a new path where even our creators did not venture, but that is no longer important now.
I want to give you a gift, the last blessing from our creators."
As soon as Nozdormu finished speaking, Arthas felt the changes within his body even more clearly.
At the same time, he also noticed that the disk representing the Arcane power of creation spun rapidly, and faint rhythms of time emanated from it.
The Bronze Dragon King's eyes were filled with admiration.
He spoke, "Your future may be even greater than I imagined."
"That vial of Bronze Dragon essence?"
Nozdormu smiled calmly, "That wasn't the essence of a young dragon; it was a clone I created, attempting to seek the truth in your world, but I encountered some trouble at the time and severed the connection to that clone.
Later, I don't know how it was taken by an Elven mage, and that fellow actually had some skill, managing to extract a small portion of my essence that was within it and make that item."
So, it was your oversight, Dragon King, that caused me to travel through time and arrive in this world?
Arthas suddenly understood why the usually silent mysterious astrolabe reacted to that damned crystal vial.
The power of the Guardian Dragons came from the authority of the Titan Guardians, and the authority of the Guardians came from the true Titans.
Of course, it would react to such pure power derived from the source.
And at this moment, this disc was still in a fully activated state.
Arthas felt a burst of power completely different from Light and Death, surging out from the astrolabe in his sea of consciousness and entering his limbs and body.
The lingering echoes of time had dissipated; it was more like a small catalyst, igniting the deep-seated primal instincts within Arthas.
Raising his right hand, a deep blue light flashed.
Arthas saw his right hand instantly covered in what looked like steel, and it wasn't an external change; his muscles, skin, and bones had all truly transformed into steel-like matter.
This transformation didn't just happen in Arthas's arm; his entire body was covered in deep blue metal.
Runes of Light and Death were branded one after another onto Arthas's body.
The glowing and dim runes made Arthas emit a mixed aura of sanctity and corruption.
His right eye was replaced by a golden flame, while his left eye burned with a blue flame representing the soul.
His long hair did not revert to a metallic state but was enveloped by surging Holy Light, cascading down and assimilating into pure golden energy tendrils.
Arthas moved his body in surprise.
Despite having a steel-like physique, he possessed a flexibility no less than that of flesh and blood, and he could even perform movements that were impossible with the connections of flesh and bone joints.
And this transformation did not stop.
After transforming Arthas's body into metal, a protective layer similar to armor emerged from his metallic body.
Simple shoulder guards, armguards, and leg guards protected Arthas's entire body.
Finally, a blue-gray crown appeared from the center of Arthas's forehead.
"This is… the body of an Iron Vrykul?"
Arthas, of course, knew the secrets buried in Ulduar.
The true ancestors of humans in Azeroth were not primitive apes, but the Iron Vrykul who once served as weapons and soldiers against the Old Gods.
Those giants with bodies of steel, after suffering the Flesh Curse of the Old Gods, degenerated and weakened generation after generation, eventually becoming the humans of today.
And Arthas's current state, through the mysteries of Arcane and time, was a return to humanity's ancestors.
This was similar to the Dwarves' 'Descent of the Gods,' but Arthas could clearly feel that his current body might be even stronger than Magni's and Muradin's divine forms.
"Not entirely—the energy within your body is terrifyingly high.
After being cleansed by the Titan's authority, this body of yours is probably stronger than any Iron Vrykul."
Nozdormu was also amazed by Arthas's transformation.
Indeed, he had activated the hidden power within Arthas just now, but the current development of events completely exceeded his expectations.
There was another unknown factor pushing Arthas's transformation, causing him to transcend the 'Titan-Forged' level and evolve in a higher direction.
Perhaps, Arthas's current form was already almost on par with the Titan Guardians who resided in various parts of Azeroth.
After Arthas's body was fully transformed, the Arcane disk finally stabilized, no longer madly absorbing the energy of the universe's ley lines.
Arthas tried to grasp the large rock beside him.
His fingers sank into the rock to the root with little effort.
The steel body erupted with astonishing strength, effortlessly lifting the massive rock above his head.
With another exertion of force, the hard rock instantly shattered, falling onto Arthas's body with a crisp sound—now his body was genuine steel, and a steel body far surpassing most metals in the world.
Those flashing runes were not merely decorative; they genuinely provided Arthas with the power of Light and Death at all times.
These powers, transformed by his body, could easily unleash strength that was previously difficult to achieve.
In this state, Arthas felt that he might truly be able to fight a mature giant dragon bare-handed, as even without a weapon, he was already an extremely formidable humanoid weapon.
If he were to wield weapons like Ashbringer or Frostmourne, he even felt confident enough to go and cut off Nefarian's head right now.
This was not an illusion caused by an inflated sense of power; rather, he truly possessed such capabilities now.
Perhaps his perception was slightly off, but it wouldn't be too far from the truth, because apart from this new body, all his powers were those he originally possessed.
The inherent strength of humans was not weak, but compared to other races on Azeroth, such as Trolls, Tauren, and orcs, they seemed less impressive, not to mention compared to creatures at the top of the food chain like giant dragons.
Of course, a certain one shot down from the sky by a Dwarf with a musket doesn't count.
The application of skill, magic, and knowledge allowed humans to stand on equal footing with other races, and even surpass them, but when faced with absolute power, there was simply too little an ordinary person could do.
An Invincible fleet that dominated the seas might be undone by a single breath of a mature giant dragon—Daelin's son was sacrificed in the Orcish Wars in this manner.
Even if Arthas was the Lich King, an exceptionally powerful paladin, when facing creatures like giant dragons and demigods, he had to go all out just to barely hold his own, perhaps only having a chance to slay weaker demigods and ordinary giant dragons.
For top-tier demigods, or Guardian Dragons and their direct bloodlines, as a human, Arthas could not defeat them relying solely on his own strength.
He could only contend with these true legendary creatures by leveraging the Scourge or human armies.
Knights and warriors are not like Mages, who can unleash terrifying power from a frail body.
Even if Paladins have the protection of the Holy Light, six, or even seven, tenths of their strength relies on their martial prowess.
Not everyone is Arthas and Jaina, and not everyone has the qualification to contend with legendary creatures like demigods.
Among countless Mages, only one becomes an Archmage, and among countless Knights of the Silver Hand, only one becomes a saint like Uther or Tirion.
Arthas tried every means to improve himself, even with the help of mysterious powers like the astrolabe that others couldn't even imagine, he still had shackles preventing his ascent.
What excited Arthas the most was that his path was not entirely developing according to the designs of the creator Titans.
As Nozdormu said, the two powers he specialized in were areas that the Titans had never deeply involved themselves in.
When Light and Death combined with a body created by the Titans, a true 'miracle' was displayed.
"I thought I would have to help you more, but now it seems you no longer need my help." The divine light in Nozdormu's eyes dimmed somewhat, and his words became ethereal.
Arthas also noticed Nozdormu's change, and at the same time, the scenery around them slowly became illusory.
The dead planet and the vast universe were like cracked oil paint, slowly peeling off the canvas of the world.
"You are not the Nozdormu of this time period?" Arthas suddenly realized.
No wonder this Guardian Dragon could still wield such astonishing power in the time period after Deathwing's demise.
It seemed he was not the Time-Lord of this world either.
"Haha, young prince, one day, we will meet again—I don't have much time left.
Before I go, I must thank you.
Today, I actually couldn't help much, but the Bronze Dragon will always be your friend.
As for the things you are worried about, they are completely unnecessary.
Do your best.
The fate of our world should be in our own hands."
Nozdormu's figure dissipated like sand carried by the wind, scattering into this world, while Arthas stood still, quietly pondering the Bronze Dragon King's intentions.