Archaedas preserved the core of the Ashbringer, and he would need some time to gather materials and forge the weapon.
The Guardian also decided to fight the Black Dragonflight and the Fire Lord alongside the Alliance, but he would need time to restore Uldaman's basic functions.
At the same time, Arthas also stated that he would stand with the Guardian to purify the corruption in Ulduar, but the time was not yet right.
After obtaining the exact location of the trogg, Arthas and Magni naturally had no time to continue staying in Uldaman.
Gnomeregan was still constantly facing another invasion from the trogg; although the Scourge's forces had already penetrated deep underground, it did not mean that there would be no stragglers digging new tunnels into Gnomeregan.
Gnomes were precious and important allies; they had sacrificed a lot for the Alliance, and Arthas naturally would not let them bleed in vain.
The threat of the trogg must be eliminated as soon as possible, otherwise, the activities of the Dark Iron Dwarves and the Black Dragonflight would definitely increase daily.
When the attention of Ironforge and Lordaeron to the north was drawn by these monsters, they would definitely seize this opportunity to continue exerting their influence on Ironforge and Stormwind.
Nefarian and Ragnaros's fragile alliance was also built on this basis; if they wanted to conquer Azeroth, they would definitely not be able to bypass the Alliance's obstruction.
Otherwise, it would be like now, caught between the Alliance; although the Alliance temporarily had no way to deal with them, their reach could not extend too far.
Deathwing's defeat served as a reminder to Nefarian that humans and dwarves were not objects he could bully at will, and the power the Alliance assembled when faced with a threat was not to be underestimated.
The Blackrock Orcs had repeatedly harassed Redridge Mountains, but only with Onyxia's inside help did they manage to take a Stonewatch Keep, and they were still unable to advance further.
Not to mention the Dark Iron Dwarves who were constantly tripping them up.
While it was true that both of them were avoiding large-scale conflicts, the Dark Iron Dwarves would not forgive the Black Dragonflight for occupying their city.
Whenever there was an opportunity, these Dark Iron Dwarves would harass and retaliate against the forces of the Blackrock Orcs and the Black Dragonflight.
Both sides suffered casualties in the conflicts, and because Nefarian and Ragnaros were always wary of each other's actions, the Dark Iron Dwarves and Blackrock Orcs never engaged in major battles without explicit orders from these two true masters.
This was also why the Dark Iron Dwarves still had the energy to send people to the Badlands, because it was an important springboard for them to enter Ironforge's sphere of influence.
The attack on the Uldaman expedition team was merely an unexpected gain.
Facing the repeated harassment from the Dark Iron Dwarves, Magni, though annoyed, was forced by the situation within his kingdom and unable to completely expel the Dark Iron Dwarves.
Or rather, the resources and time required to truly drive the Dark Iron Dwarves out of Kaz Modan were completely disproportionate.
The Badlands was not the central area of the Dark Iron Dwarves' power; even if the Dark Iron Dwarves were driven out and the Badlands was gained as a buffer zone, this land was too desolate and difficult to establish long-term outposts.
Before long, once the Dark Iron Dwarves regrouped, Ironforge would be locked in a prolonged tug-of-war with the Dark Iron Dwarves.
Magni hoped his nation and people could recuperate during this rare period of peace, because Arthas had clearly told him that their world had bigger troubles.
The Dark Iron Dwarves were merely puppets manipulated by the Fire Lord; eliminating them was meaningless; only by truly dealing with Ragnaros could Ironforge enjoy peace.
And the trogg was just the beginning of this series of events.
...
"Miss Ilucia, can we really rebuild Alterac?"
In Strahnbrad, these citizens of the former Alterac Kingdom looked at the lady before them with hope.
"Of course we can. I have persuaded Lordaeron to dispatch the First Legion to help us drive out the Ogres and bandits occupying our homeland. They are currently launching an offensive against the Ogres."
Ilucia continuously publicized the signal that they were about to retake the ruins of Alterac to the citizens of Alterac, and in fact, Lordaeron's progress in retaking Alterac was quite rapid.
After the First Legion's army assembled in Taren Mill in Hillsbrad, it took only two days to completely clear out the Ogres and bandits wandering in the Alterac Mountains.
Their efficiency exceeded the expectations of the old Alterac nobles, and even Ilucia herself.
Now, only three days had passed, and the Ogres in Alterac could only make a last stand in the ruins. The First Legion's high-ground combat units were easily destroying the makeshift fortifications built by the Ogres with siege weapons.
Ilucia estimated that, if nothing unexpected happened, by dawn the day after tomorrow at the latest, the Ogres in Alterac City would be demoralized by the First Legion and directly abandon the city and flee.
There was no other way; facing the strong, well-equipped, and well-trained soldiers of the First Legion, the Ogres were simply unable to resist. And those Ogre leaders, infamous among the local residents, were all, without exception, beheaded and impaled outside Alterac City.
The temperament of creatures like Ogres was easy to grasp; when they had the upper hand, they were synonymous with brutality and ferocity, but once their leader died in battle, the leaderless Ogres' morale would plummet, and they would fall into chaos themselves without needing much more of a blow.
Arthas was very clear about this, so the First Legion he sent to retake Alterac also included many Knights of the Conclave and elites of the Silver Hand.
The leader was none other than Highlord Mograine, who had just achieved great military exploits in the Third War with a divine sword.
This powerful paladin was leading the soldiers of the First Legion to quickly dismantle the remaining Ogre forces.
As for the subordinates gathered by those old Alterac nobles, they could not even withstand the charge of regular troops; they collapsed faster than anyone imagined under the might of the First Legion.
The Syndicate and the Alterac nobles, having lost their trump cards, could only swallow their anger and continuously shrink their scope of activities. Now they no longer dared to appear in Alterac.
Of course, as old nobles who always dreamed of retaking Alterac, they would certainly not give up. After losing their stronghold in Alterac, they shifted their focus to Stromgarde, the former center of the Arathor Empire.
In their view, trying to stop Lordaeron from retaking Alterac with their own strength was completely absurd, so they tried to find new allies to thwart Lordaeron's plan.