"Huff… huff…"
Illidan moved through the forest, his breath a little heavy.
He had been targeted by Maiev and her Priestess, and they had been pursuing him for several days.
Things were a bit beyond Illidan's expectations; he had thought the Burning Legion would cause enough trouble for the Night Elves that they wouldn't have time to worry about him.
However, it seemed that apart from losing some troops and the World Tree being destroyed, the Night Elves didn't seem to have suffered too much serious damage.
This was all because the Alliance's support far exceeded Illidan's imagination.
With strong allies and the fortifications they had built in advance, the damage inflicted by the Burning Legion on Mount Hyjal and the Elven race was far from enough to shake the Night Elves' foundation.
Although the destruction of the World Tree caused the Elves to lose their immortality, this did not mean their lives were instantly taken; the Night Elves themselves possessed a long lifespan.
As far as he knew, the Night Elves had begun to leave the heavily polluted Felwood Forest and Mount Hyjal, starting to migrate west across the continent in search of new homes.
Maiev, however, chose a different task; she left the main force of her people and led elite Wardens to begin a long hunt for Illidan.
The first few days were fine; when Illidan was crossing the heavily polluted Felwood Forest, due to the perilous jungle there and its concealment of his aura, he didn't encounter too much trouble.
But these past two days, as Illidan left the fel-contaminated areas, Maiev and her hunters began to track him more quickly and precisely.
Illidan also clashed with the Wardens tracking him, defeating several pursuing squads at the cost of minor injuries.
Moreover, he deliberately only heavily injured those Wardens, not killing them, precisely to have the wounded slow down their speed.
As for the injuries inflicted by the Warden squads on Illidan, with Illidan's current half-Demon physique, he could recover completely in almost a day or two.
However, such a pursuit did make Illidan feel annoyed; he had very important things to do and could not afford to expend too much stamina on Maiev and her team.
Illidan realized one thing: as long as he remained on the continent of Kalimdor, he would be endlessly pursued by Maiev and her subordinates.
Moreover, this situation would become even more severe once the Night Elves settled down and freed up their hands.
This was unacceptable to Illidan; he had his own ideas and plans and could not abandon them because of the obstruction of his own people.
Being imprisoned in a dark cell for ten thousand years was ten thousand times more unbearable than dying directly; besides that, the sense of wasting time was what Illidan found most intolerable.
The arrival of the Burning Legion this time further illustrated this point; the Well of Eternity was destroyed, but that didn't mean everything was over, the Burning Legion seemed to covet more than just the power of the Well of Eternity, they had a grander plan.
He was absolutely certain of this, so Illidan believed that wasting more time like this on Azeroth would simply be inviting death.
The Burning Legion knew almost everything about Azeroth, yet they knew very little about the Burning Legion; much information was even still at the level of ten thousand years ago.
Illidan, having absorbed gul'dan's skull, had learned many unknown things, and coupled with Maiev's relentless pursuit, he had already made his next move...
Go east! To Azshara, once the closest location to the center of the Night Elves empire, he needed allies to take him off this continent; he had to go to the continent across the Endless Sea to open that cursed door.
— The Dark Portal!
...
"Mistress, Illidan's methods are direct, but they have also caused us a lot of trouble." Priestess Nasa reported the latest battle situation to Maiev, "Our squads were ambushed by him; he injured our people, but deliberately did not kill them."
The Demon Hunter inflicted very troublesome injuries on those Wardens; although not directly fatal, if left to fester in the forest for a period, they would rapidly worsen.
Therefore, for every injured person, Maiev had to assign one, or even more, people to protect and care for them, and ensure their safe return to Night Elves territory.
Maiev was well aware of Illidan's character and was not surprised by his methods, "Illidan's cunning doesn't surprise me, Nasa, but his doing this indicates he is eager to break free from our restraint; Illidan must have some plan.
Where do his recent tracks indicate he is?"
Nasa replied, "Scouts tell us Illidan is heading east and has entered the forests of Azshara."
Azshara… the name of this land always brought back some unpleasant memories for Maiev, though those were now just memories.
"The Demon scum there haven't been completely eradicated, Azshara is still a very dangerous place, Nasa, leave an elite unit, and have the others take the wounded back; I have a premonition that the hunt should be coming to an end."
Maiev pondered for a moment before making her decision; although she wasn't sure why Illidan was going to Azshara, there was no longer any retreat for Illidan there.
Because to the west of Azshara was the boundless sea, and for Illidan, without a ship or a route, attempting to cross this vast ocean out of thin air would undoubtedly be a fool's dream.
Even if he grew a pair of wings after turning into a Demon, trying to fly across the Endless Sea, even with Illidan's physique, would merely be a delusion.
The Wardens reacted quickly; under Maiev's command, they swiftly divided into two groups, one taking the wounded back to Night Elves territory, while Maiev herself led the other, most elite Wardens, to begin the final pursuit of Illidan.
Compared to Ashenvale and Felwood Forest, the terrain of Azshara was more complex, with intertwined ruins, desolate lands, forests, and peaks, and wild beasts and remnants of Demon camps could also cost any passerby their life.
But for Illidan and the Warden forces led by Maiev, the crises that ordinary people found difficult to handle could not slow their pace; they chased and fled, engaging in a prolonged pursuit in Azshara.
A few days later, the wounded and ordinary soldiers who returned to Elven territory relayed the news to Archdruid Malfurion and Priestess Tyrande; both of them, after reading Maiev's report, seemed hesitant to speak.
"Tyrande… I think it might be better if we went to see for ourselves; although Illidan did absorb the power of the Demon, I still don't believe he would do evil." Malfurion hesitated for a long time before finally coming up with a barely plausible excuse.
However, it seemed Tyrande had a similar thought, "I think so too, Malfurion, and if Illidan really becomes that dangerous, we can also help Lady Maiev."