Xavius pondered for a long while, and in the end, he could only define Arthas's potential strength by the Lich King's level, but he didn't feel it was too difficult to handle.
Because Xavius's primary target from the beginning was Ysera, Tyrande was merely a secondary objective; if it came down to it, as long as he could successfully corrupt the Green Dragon Queen, he would take Malfurion and slip back into the Emerald Nightmare.
His presence in the real plane was merely a projection of his true self; if Arthas dared to enter the Emerald Nightmare, Xavius would not fear the Lich King.
Thinking of this, Xavius felt a little relieved. If Arthas's strength exceeded his expectations, he would only need to let the Nightmare's army surge forth and hold Arthas back.
Finally, his gaze still fell upon the moon goddess's tears beside him.
The originally brilliant azure gem had been completely eroded into a dark red by the Nightmare, and dark red Nightmare mist coiled and dissipated around the gem like breathing.
Malfurion was imprisoned nearby, watching the corrupted moon goddess's tears. His heart was quite anxious; he wasn't sure what Xavius intended to do with this artifact, but it certainly wasn't anything good.
Fortunately, the moon goddess's tears itself had no offensive capabilities, serving only as a sacrificial item in the Moon God Temple. Of course, this gem contained the blessing of Moon God Elune, but it should have been twisted by now.
However, merely using the moon goddess's tears as a source of corruption was dangerous enough.
Xavius solemnly put away the corrupted Nightmare gem. His shadow once again vanished before Malfurion's eyes. Malfurion sighed, 'Here it comes again—'
Sure enough, the thorns wrapped around him once again dragged him underground. Although the suffocating and crushing sensation wasn't fatal, it made the weakened Malfurion even more uncomfortable.
Remember in one second: m.
As Xavius disappeared, the entire Blackheart Thicket seemed to fall into an eerie silence, but before long, rustling sounds came from the dark red jungle, like dried blood.
The Nightmare, had awakened.
...
Arthas was silent for a moment, 'Lady Tyrande, we need to speed up. This forest is already becoming restless.'
Tyrande initially didn't understand what 'restless' meant, but recalling the houses, tree stumps, and even signposts that seemed to have their own thoughts and lives after being corrupted by the Nightmare, she suddenly understood Arthas's meaning.
However, the Priestess stopped after taking two steps forward. Her expression became serious, 'No, Arthas, we don't need to go any further. That fellow has already arrived.'
Arthas's five fingers holding Ashbringer tightened for an instant, and his attention immediately became focused.
Tyrande's ears twitched, seemingly catching messages carried by the wind—besides being Elune's most devout Priestess, she was also the most skilled hunter.
And in the messages from the wind, strong flapping sounds and the breathing of a giant dragon entered her ears.
It was Ysera; she was worried about their safety and had followed them here, which made Tyrande feel a little more at ease. With Ysera's help—
Wait?!
Beyond the messages, Tyrande felt a strange yet familiar fluctuation—was that... elune's tears?
But why was that power so corrupted and defiled? Had the Nightmare defiled the Moon God's sacred artifact?!
The roar of the flying dragon and the defiled aura of that gem seemed to connect, and Tyrande suddenly felt increasingly nervous and uneasy, a premonition that something was about to happen.
However, this feeling, akin to a revelation or an intuition, only vaguely surfaced in Tyrande's heart, but those blurry shadows could not give her precise information.
Tyrande knew that this was no longer the time to hesitate. Her agile figure moved through the forest until, the moment she burst out of the jungle, she saw the hideous Xavius and the elune's tears in his hand.
At this moment, Ysera had already swooped down from mid-air, with greenish-blue sparks swirling in her mouth, but Xavius showed a strange smile at this, and the elune's tears in his hand spun rapidly.
'Whoosh!'
The elune's tears, with a dark red tail glow, shot out from Xavius's hand, spinning and aiming for Ysera's chest.
Tyrande, quick as a flash, drew her bowstring, an arrow condensed from moonlight nocked on the bow. With the lingering sound of the bowstring's release, a moonlight arrow flew towards the elune's tears in mid-air.
Ysera also realized Xavius's goal. She quickly tried to stop her flight, however, her diving speed was too fast, and even if she wanted to adjust, it was not something that could be done in an instant.
Tyrande's arrow accurately intercepted the moon goddess's tears' flight path, but a nightmare-infested, mutated owl flew out from nowhere, blocking the arrow for the moon goddess's tears.
At this moment, Tyrande no longer had time to shoot a second arrow. The moon goddess's tears had already flown nearly two-thirds of its journey and was about to hit Ysera directly.
At the crucial moment, a series of Holy Light tremors occurred beside Tyrande. She just turned her head and saw that Arthas had already transformed into a golden light and soared into the sky.
The cliff where Arthas had stood earlier was directly collapsed by half due to the force of his high leap. The golden trajectory cut across half the sky, intercepting between Ysera and the fallen sacred artifact faster than the moon goddess's tears and the moonlight arrow.
'Clang!'
With a crisp clang, Ashbringer struck the moon goddess's tears, sending the sacred artifact flying and plummeting towards the ground on the other side. At the same time, Arthas created a Holy Light cage, locking the moon goddess's tears to the ground, preventing Xavius from controlling the gem any further.
Xavius stared at Arthas in mid-air for a full two seconds. He asked Malfurion, who was tied up beside him, 'Can humans... jump that high?'
Malfurion looked up at Arthas, who had almost jumped to the same height as Ysera, his eyes wide open, 'No... normal humans can't.'
He had originally thought that by blocking Tyrande's arrow, Arthas, as a master of close combat, wouldn't be able to deal with the moon goddess's tears in mid-air. Even if he tried to block it using Holy Light or something, it could be easily intercepted by Nightmare creatures.
But Arthas's reaction completely exceeded Xavius's imagination, so much so that when Arthas sliced the moon goddess's tears away with a single sword stroke, he hadn't even reacted yet.
What bewildered everyone even more was that Arthas's figure in mid-air actually twisted its direction amidst the burst of Holy Light, descending rapidly towards where Xavius stood, like a falling star.
Xavius had just recovered from Arthas's astonishing move when Arthas's blade was almost upon his head.
Xavius was in danger!
After the dazzling, brilliant Holy Light flashed, Xavius tumbled and fell, struggling to prop himself up with his arms.
A broken horn rolled onto the ground, its fractured end still glowing with a faint Holy Light. Xavius lifted his head; one of his horns had been severed by the Ashbringer, and a gruesome wound marred his face.
The aura of the Nightmare constantly seeped from this wound, while the Holy Light remained stubbornly adhered to Xavius's injury, causing him immense damage.
Within the Holy Light, Arthas's figure was revealed, his expression holding a hint of regret: Xavius's reaction and strength were extraordinary, otherwise, the sword strike just now would have severed not his horn, but his head.
Xavius currently had no time to ponder Arthas's expression; his heart was filled with dread.
He hadn't been completely defenseless when Arthas attacked. Although he was still surprised by Arthas's actions, the Nightmare had instinctively surrounded him, protecting him.
This was the corrupted root of Shaladrassil, and also the entrance through which the Emerald Nightmare flowed into reality.
Xavius's projection here could unleash power that was almost impossible for ordinary demigods to resist, yet Arthas's Holy Light was like a sharp blade tearing through cloth, directly piercing the Nightmare's defenses.
Moreover, let alone influencing Arthas's mind, the Nightmares couldn't even get close to Arthas, who was enveloped in Holy Light.
This made him want to curse out loud: Is this power that a human can possess?! Those demigods corrupted by the Nightmare are crying!
Located in the core area of the Nightmare, Arthas's own blazing Holy Light seemed completely unaffected, effortlessly tearing through the Nightmare's protective power and almost cleaving Xavius's shadow in two.
"What kind of monster are you? Humans can't reach this level?!" Xavius struggled to his feet, and a red mist-like Nightmare surged towards him, beginning to repair the wounds on his body.
Malfurion noticed Xavius's abnormality and quickly warned Arthas, "Be careful, this guy isn't his true body, just a projection. The Nightmare is repairing his body."
Arthas also noticed that Xavius's injuries were gradually recovering. At the same time, summoned by the Nightmare, more and more Nightmare aberrants emerged from the mist.
These were not illusions created by the Nightmare, but rather the corrupted and fallen substances that had flowed into the real world, coalescing into monstrous forms under Xavius's manipulation.
The Nightmare aberrants shuffled towards Arthas. He gripped the Ashbringer with both hands, and the flames of Holy Light blazed fiercely once more.
As the Ashbringer carved a perfect golden arc through the air, its golden-flamed blade severed the aberrants' torsos, and the Holy Light ignited their corrupted remains.
The vicious monsters couldn't even impede Arthas's steps; the Ashbringer ended their lives before their attacks could land on him.
Amidst the surging tide of monsters, wave after wave of Holy Light surged, halting the creatures' advance.
Tyrande had already freed the bound Malfurion. "Are you alright?"
"Nothing serious, but we can't stay here long. Those Nightmares will only increase," Malfurion frowned, looking at the swarming aberrants.
Ysera, who was in the sky, also descended. In her claws, she held a dark red gem, which was the elune's tears that Arthas had knocked down earlier. She took advantage of this lull to retrieve the gem.
"Malfurion, get on my back! I'll protect you for now!"
Ysera exhaled emerald green flames, burning away the Nightmare tentacles that constantly spread towards her.
"Wait a moment, we have to help that hero break through!" Malfurion could already stand on his own. After being freed from the Nightmare's restraint and suppression, his strength quickly recovered somewhat.
The two elves and one dragon all fixed their gaze on Arthas, but Arthas, surrounded by the Nightmare, seemed to be in no trouble at all. Instead, he was steadily approaching the location of Xavius's shadow.
"This is the best place to deal with Xavius's shadow. We can't let this guy run rampant in the outside world any longer." Tyrande's gaze was like lightning. She drew back her longbow, and moonlight once again gathered on the string.
Malfurion nodded, fully agreeing with his beloved's opinion. "Xavius's true body is still within the Nightmare. We must first eliminate this clone of his, otherwise, we won't be able to enter the Emerald Nightmare to save Cenarius and the others."
"Then we must move quickly, otherwise, if the Nightmare truly overflows, we might not be able to leave."
Ysera looked at the elune's tears in her hand, her expression becoming solemn. "Oh no... the moon goddess's tears are already resisting me. Xavius's Nightmare power has corrupted this holy artifact."
"I'll help you suppress the Nightmare's power, Tyrande. Xavius is up to you."
Malfurion immediately mobilized the portion of his recovered strength, working with Ysera to suppress the surging Nightmare power from the moon goddess's tears.
Arthas was already surrounded by the corpses of Nightmare monsters, but the number of these Nightmare creatures did not decrease at all.
With the assistance of these Nightmare aberrants, Xavius finally stalled long enough for his injuries to heal, and the power his clone could control also increased.
Xavius adjusted to his newly strengthened body and immediately attempted to mobilize a massive amount of Nightmare power, intending to keep Arthas and the others all here.
Such a spell instantly caused cracks to appear on his body, but Xavius was completely unconcerned, because what was here was merely a projection of his power, and even if it died, it wouldn't have much impact.
Moreover, his use of Nightmare power to repair this body was not without cost. The excessive power, coupled with the injuries from clashing with Arthas's Holy Light, had brought this body to the brink of collapse.
The sword in Arthas's hand paused. He gripped a small monster that leaped at him with one hand, and the burst of Holy Light instantly incinerated it into ash. He looked up at Xavius behind the monster.
Tyrande's arrow rain precisely eliminated the monsters approaching Arthas one by one. Arthas dropped the charred monster corpse in his hand, and the blade of the Ashbringer lowered, beginning to sway rhythmically.
Xavius also noticed Arthas's strange movements, but his mind and attention were mostly focused on the magic before him, leaving him no time or energy to predict Arthas's possible intentions.
Only Arthas knew that several faint blue runes lit up on his left arm, which had just crushed the monster, and a completely unnoticeable blue light flickered in Arthas's pupils.
Nightmare power is incorporeal. To materialize into real monsters in the real plane, it requires a certain medium. These monsters emerging from the mist were actually the victims from Shaladrassil's first corruption.
Although they were dead, their bodies and wills were devoured by the Nightmare, thereby creating these various creatures. They appeared very twisted and grotesque because these monsters were not naturally formed, but artificially created.
But for Arthas, no matter how much Nightmare power melded these corpses and creatures together, their essence did not change much.
That is, the flesh and blood of living beings, and the resentment of the departed souls.
And all of the above are the most lethal weapons of the one who commands death.