Malfurion constantly changed his form, moving through the nightmare-tainted woodlands.
Almost half of Val'sharah's sky was covered by red and black clouds, and as he walked across the land, Malfurion could feel the nightmare trying to assimilate him at every moment.
He passed countless villages destroyed by nightmare monsters on his way, but the fury in Malfurion's heart instead settled down. He had realized that this was not an accidental act of evil by the nightmare, but a premeditated attack.
The mastermind behind it had not yet shown himself to him, but Malfurion already had a guess: only Xavius, the cancerous growth within the Emerald Dream, could cause such a large-scale nightmare invasion.
Although Malfurion had sealed Xavius in an oak tree ten thousand years ago and permanently suppressed him with the power of the dream, Xavius somehow managed to connect with the Old Gods.
From then on, Xavius became a constant, sickening cancer in the nightmare, yet they couldn't let him go, or no one would be able to restrain Xavius once he entered the real world.
But unexpectedly, even the Emerald Dream couldn't completely suppress Xavius's evil power; now, the Emerald Dream itself was suffering from his corruption, even affecting reality.
And Malfurion's mentor, as one of the demigods most deeply connected to the Emerald Dream, was the first to fall victim to Xavius's devastation.
Malfurion, in the form of a stag, landed in the center of the destroyed village, and he transformed back into his humanoid form.
This was the place he could feel most deeply affected by the nightmare, and he was confident that he could find that damned bastard Xavius here.
"Come out, Xavius! I know you're hiding here!"
Malfurion's loud roar echoed through the forest, and chilling whimpers emanated from the collapsed wooden houses.
Rustling sounds came, and writhing monsters emerged from the darkness. When Malfurion saw the hideous creatures mixed with the remains of Night Elves, his rising fury almost instantly shattered his last bit of calm.
These writhing nightmare creatures were the most terrifying nightmares in reality!
They devoured the residents and life here to fill their bodies and strengthen their power.
Malfurion's anger was almost equivalent to nature's wrath. Under the guidance of the Arch Druid's power, the surrounding trees began to sway, and the entire forest echoed Malfurion's call.
But halfway through casting the spell, Malfurion's expression changed. He immediately stopped guiding nature and ceased his movements.
The forest here was too severely corrupted by the nightmare; although he could still control the forest to unleash nature's wrath, he himself could also be corrupted.
This made Malfurion abandon the idea of using the forest's power to eliminate these nightmare creatures. He transformed into a giant bear and slapped a nightmare creature that tried to approach him to the ground.
A heavy force was attached to the bear's paw, splattering the form of the nightmare creature, but it seemed to suffer no harm, and its scattered body began to writhe along the giant bear's front claws, which Malfurion had transformed into.
Malfurion flicked his paw, throwing the twisted nightmare creature away, completely collapsing a crumbling house. However, more nightmare creatures surged from all directions.
Their numbers seemed endless, constantly crawling out from the ruins of houses, the shadows behind trees, and the tainted waters of the Moon God Temple. Malfurion's bear face also became solemn.
"Hehehehe!"
Just as Malfurion was surrounded by nightmares, a laugh he was all too familiar with appeared in his ears.
Upon hearing this sound, Malfurion, as the giant bear, roared, "Xavius?!"
"Malfurion, I'm truly glad to see you, and what makes me even happier is that I have another distinguished guest. Guess who it is?"
Xavius's sinister laughter echoed continuously through the forest. Malfurion dealt with the surrounding nightmare creatures, trying not to be affected by Xavius.
He knew that whether Xavius was a satyr or not, playing with people's minds had always been his specialty.
Unfortunately, when the familiar voice sounded, Malfurion instantly lost his composure. His eyes were bloodshot, and he let out a deafening roar, his sharp claws instantly tearing two monsters to shreds.
He furiously charged into a forest shrouded in red mist, completely disregarding that it was enemy territory.
However, after Malfurion left, the nightmare monsters slowly dissolved into the ground, and the entire town returned to its previous tranquility.
No sounds echoed here, and the houses that had collapsed earlier mysteriously restored themselves; only the indentation from Malfurion's first paw strike remained on the ground.
In the entire woodland, there was only the sound of flowing water and wind.
...
"Ysera, it's truly wonderful that you're here. The Moon God Temple is almost isolated and helpless." Priestess Tyrande was somewhat relieved, "Our allies are overwhelmed by the Burning Legion, and now we also have to face the Nightmare King and his monsters."
But as soon as she finished speaking, Tyrande looked up at the corrupt World Tree, which overshadowed everything, and let out a long sigh.
"Val'sharah and the Emerald Dream have suffered heavy losses, Shaladrassil has also fallen, and most importantly... elune's tears have also gone missing."
The priests and guards of the Moon God Temple were also somewhat downcast and sad. Val'sharah's forest had been peaceful for countless centuries, and this sudden change caught everyone off guard.
And druids had already studied the tendrils extending from Shaladrassil; the information these thorn-like roots gave them was: Shaladrassil's corruption cannot be cleansed.
Most of the druids who learned this news wept bitterly. Shaladrassil was one of the earliest World Trees planted in this world, even older than Nordrassil, and these druids had accompanied Shaladrassil for countless years.
For them, Shaladrassil had transcended the mere function and symbolism of a World Tree; druids close to nature regarded it as a child, a friend, while the younger ones even saw it as an elder.
"Tears and sorrow won't solve the predicament we face," Tyrande looked at Ysera, "We must find Malfurion and then destroy Xavius. This is the only way to remove the corruption."
This was also the first time Tyrande had faced such widespread corruption of the real world by the nightmare. She found that even the blessing of Moon Goddess Elune could not dispel the curse shrouding Val'sharah, only slow down the progress of the corruption.
The Moon God Temple was the first and last line of defense outside Shaladrassil. If they failed to end all of this before the Moon God Temple fell, the entire Val'sharah would be consumed by the nightmare.
And this meant that the Azeroth Allied Forces would be fighting both the nightmare army and the Burning Legion simultaneously; already stretched thin facing just one of them, they truly couldn't bear such a situation.
At the same time, having lost Val'sharah and elune's tears, they would be unable to seal the opened Sargeras' Tomb, and the Burning Legion could appear anywhere in Azeroth at any moment.
"We must hurry and act quickly. The longer we delay, the more dangerous Val'sharah and Malfurion's situation becomes." Ysera looked at the sky obscured by dark clouds, "I will gather information from the sky; this paladin will help you find Malfurion."
Arthas, whose face was hidden by a mask, nodded slightly. Due to the sensitivity of his identity, he had no intention of revealing himself in front of everyone.
Tyrande scrutinized Arthas, who looked unremarkable and even had his armor covered, "I trust Ysera's judgment, champion. Please come with me to find Malfurion; he is key to ending Xavius's plot."
After leaving the Moon God Temple, Tyrande, with her longbow Elun'tara on her back, hurried with Arthas into the depths of the corrupted forest. The Priestess told Arthas, "elune's tears are stored in a temple not far from Shaladrassil's roots. We should find some clues there."
Arthas shook his head upon hearing this. He took off his mask and drew Ashbringer, transforming back into his knightly attire, and the standard Lordaeron armor was revealed.
"Priestess, we don't have time to play hide-and-seek with Xavius. Every minute we delay, the Arch Druid's situation becomes more dangerous. Follow me, the Holy Light has already told me Xavius's hiding place."