"What? You're saying your convoy was ambushed by orcs, but then the orcs were attacked by a group of Undead, and that's how you managed to escape?"
Danath Trollbane ran a hand over his thinning hair, a headache brewing as he listened to the surviving soldiers' report.
He, of course, believed his soldiers; they had been self-sufficiently stationed here for twenty years, and almost everyone knew each other inside out. These veterans, whose hair was as graying as his own, wouldn't lie about something like this.
The reporting soldier was somewhat dejected. Despite having witnessed countless comrades' deaths, he still grieved for his fallen friends.
Over these twenty years, countless brave soldiers had perished in this foreign land. Most of their bodies were never found; only a small portion could be buried in Honor Hold's cemetery.
Danath sighed, telling him to return to the barracks for rest, while he himself paced alone in his Honor Hold fortress room, hands behind his back.
Danath was alone in the empty room. The Alliance Expeditionary Force's numbers were dwindling. Twenty years of bitter struggle had claimed many of Danath's old friends on this land.
"Hellfire Peninsula has become increasingly unstable recently."
The battle-hardened Alliance Expeditionary Force commander gazed at the mottled walls of the fortress command room, a sense of helplessness welling up within him.
Hellfire Peninsula was already a barren land, and with the Alliance Expeditionary Force's supply depot destroyed by the enemy, the great explosion had shattered it into several pieces. Part of the supply depot now floated between the land and the Twisting Nether.
Along with the supply depot and its provisions, the Alliance Expeditionary Force soldiers within it were also annihilated, their souls even imprisoned in that cursed place, unable to rest.
Danath was truly stretched thin now. He desperately didn't want the Alliance Expeditionary Force's brave warriors to be left exposed in the wilderness, but Honor Hold could barely maintain its defenses.
When it rains, it pours. The scarcity of supplies forced Danath to dispatch personnel to search for any usable resources, though most of the time it was just a drop in the bucket. He simply thought, "Every little bit helps."
Even the Alliance Expeditionary Force's food had to be transported from a very distant location by their current allies.
This route was not only long but also extremely dangerous; even a slight misstep could lead to severe losses for the logistics team.
In Hellfire Peninsula, Honor Hold was surrounded by enemies on all sides. There were no friends on this land, only enemies.
Demons and orcs swept through Hellfire Peninsula's plains and hills, constantly launching attacks on Honor Hold. Honor Hold was like an isolated island, with only a stubborn group of people holding out.
Danath even considered abandoning this battle-scarred and unsightly fortress and moving into Terokkar Forest to rendezvous with Khadgar and the others.
But then he thought that without this "bridgehead," they would lose most of the Orc and Demon movements in Hellfire Peninsula, and most importantly, they wouldn't be able to detect the situation at the Dark Portal immediately.
Moreover, if the Alliance could reopen the Dark Portal… they could provide a solid foothold for the Alliance.
But as it seemed now, this was more like a desperate delusion of an isolated and helpless group of people.
Every day, Gryphon Riders traveled back and forth between the outpost and Honor Hold, solely to monitor the Dark Portal in real-time, lest—
"Danath!"
What now?
Danath's nerves inexplicably tightened. He was all too familiar with that voice—it was Tolan, the Gryphon Rider from the Dark Portal outpost.
He was one of the Wildhammer Gryphon Riders left at Honor Hold by Kurdran Wildhammer, responsible for relaying news from the front. If nothing had happened, he wouldn't have come directly to Danath.
Tolan's voice was anxious. He ran into the command room at top speed, and without even catching his breath, he quickly said, "The Dark… the Dark Portal opened, just this morning!"
"What?!"
Danath's eyes widened. He kicked away the wooden chair blocking his path and rushed to Tolan in three strides, "Opened? Who did it? orcs or Demons? Have they entered Azeroth again?"
"No, it wasn't orcs or Demons. It was Azeroth that opened the portal, and then a group of Naga surged into Hellfire Peninsula. They slaughtered the Demon minions near the Dark Portal and then left!"
"Naga?!" Danath felt his mind reel. He couldn't understand why the Naga could open the Dark Portal, nor did he know why they would pass through it, but he had a more pressing question, "Is the Dark Portal still open?"
"The portal was only open for a very short time before it dissipated. It seems only these Naga entered the Outland." Tolan shook his head.
Dissipated?
Danath breathed a sigh of relief, but then felt a bit dejected. Hearing that Azeroth had opened the portal, he had thought it was an Alliance operation, believing the Alliance Expeditionary Force soldiers had a chance to go home.
"Don't be so down, Danath. You mustn't lose heart. Everyone is counting on you." Tolan adjusted his slightly damaged helmet and chuckled twice, "Since the Naga can open the portal, we still have a chance to go home."
"I know… I know, I just," Danath ran his fingers through his beard, tugging hard, "Whew… Thank you, Tolan. Continue your mission, and remember to be careful. Don't provoke those Demons."
"Understood, sir. If there's any new movement, we'll relay it back immediately." Tolan saluted Danath and then left the command room.
Danath pressed his index and middle fingers to his forehead, his thumb against his cheek, and took a deep breath. Twenty years, and his emotions had never fluctuated like this day. The news of the Dark Portal reopening was like a bomb, dropping into the calm depths of his heart, instantly stirring up waves.
But sometimes, hope comes quickly and goes just as quickly. This wasn't the Alliance Expeditionary Force's chance to go home after all. Danath pulled up a chair and sat dejectedly at the table.
Twenty years of vigilance. Danath had thought he was accustomed to parting, death, and great storms, but he hadn't expected that when there were signs of the Dark Portal reopening, he still couldn't control his emotions.
"I need to tell Khadgar this news—he understands Naga better than I do. It's very strange for them to pass through the Dark Portal without reason."
Finally, Danath composed himself, picked up a pen, and wrote down the message Tolan had brought, preparing to send this letter to Khadgar in Shattrath.
At the same time, he held a glimmer of hope. Perhaps Khadgar could figure out how the Dark Portal was opened, and perhaps they really did have a chance to go home.
He just didn't know how long this letter would take to deliver.
…
"Your Majesty, we have successfully established a camp in Hellfire Peninsula. I must say, it is a 'propitious land' for us."
In the projection, Kel'Thuzad humbly reported their current situation to Arthas, "Countless orcs and Draenei are buried here, and countless souls are wailing in torment—it's a pity that the great explosion completely annihilated many souls, and a significant portion of the remains could only be turned into the lowest-grade Skeletons."
Arthas listened to Kel'Thuzad's report, his fingers rhythmically tapping on the iron chair, "For the Draenei dead, screen them carefully, just don't overdo it. As for the orcs, as long as Ogrim and Grommash don't turn on you, do as you please."
"As you command."
Kel'Thuzad bowed respectfully to Arthas, like an old minister who had served the king for years.
Interstellar communication consumed many precious materials, and even Kel'Thuzad and Arthas would not make unnecessary waste. The Scourge's plan in Outland had been set long ago; as long as they followed the plan, there would be no major problems.
Arthas closed his eyes, carefully considering what was worth excavating in Outland.
Auchindoun, the former graveyard of the Draenei, was now a terrifying cursed place in Terokkar Forest. Innumerable vengeful spirits and undead roamed the crypts, forever imprisoned there by their living obsessions and Auchindoun's energy. Without external help, they could not escape this curse.
The Gronn and Black Dragons of Blade's Edge Mountains. A great battle between Deathwing and Gruul, the Dragon Killer, had left countless Black Dragons dead on the cliffs of Blade's Edge. The Gronn and Ogres didn't know how to utilize these Dragon corpses and bones, treating them only as food or exhibits, but the Scourge knew how to "make them shine."
Furthermore, Arthas was very interested in Gruul. A creature that could exchange blows with Deathwing was enough to capture Arthas's attention.
With a little "guidance" and "modification," Gronn were natural war machines. Even Dragons and Demons wouldn't dare to provoke such creatures.
And the Ogres in Auchindoun were also a very good "bonus."
Besides that, Blade's Edge Mountains also had a miraculous resource called "Apexis." Its history was extremely ancient, and this ore contained many mysteries.
As for Void Dragons, Fel Orcs, vast numbers of Demons, and the most mysterious Naru and their "remains," they were all just a negligible part of Outland's legacy.
Even after its shattering, Draenor remained a land hiding countless secrets. Arthas wouldn't forget that this planet had also been "visited" by the Titans.
Compared to the Titan ruins left on Azeroth, which were mostly for maintaining Azeroth's stability, Draenor's Titan ruins were very simple and brutal, all of them the sole masterpiece of Aggramar.
Although it was highly probable that no traces of the Titans could be found in the current Outland, Arthas still wanted to see if he could unearth anything from it.
He had a premonition that some things in Outland, or rather, Draenor, could allow him to see the ultimate answers to questions still hidden in the mist. That was very likely the key to comprehending the true operation of the entire universe.
However, thinking about these things was still too far off. The Scourge was still secretly developing in Hellfire Peninsula, and he himself was still tied up with Ragnaros's matter, but it wouldn't be for much longer.
The Alliance soldiers had already driven the Dark Iron Dwarves to desperation. The gates of Darkforge City were about to be breached, and Ragnaros's Elemental army had begun to gradually join the battle.
However, perhaps Ragnaros looked down too much on mortal conflicts. Even as the Alliance was about to penetrate deep into Darkforge City, he only dispatched a portion of his Elemental army, led by Salfuron Harbinger, along with Fire Elementals, Molten Hounds, and other Elemental Creatures, to launch a counterattack against the Alliance.
The Alliance was well prepared for this. After the Elementals joined the battle, their offensive immediately became more conservative.
Ordinary weapons had limited lethality against Elemental Creatures. Although physical blows could damage the forms of Fire Elements, thereby disrupting their stable state and forcing them back to the elemental plane.
However, such an approach would result in too great a loss for the army. The Alliance, which had seized some of the Dark Iron Dwarves' mineral sources and armory, began to attack the Elemental army with ranged firepower.
The effect was not significant, but it did make the Elemental army hesitant to act rashly. Salfuron Harbinger, this powerful Fire Element, was extremely enraged by this and personally led troops to launch multiple attacks on the Alliance's front lines, but was jointly blocked by the frontline Mage units.
A single Mage might not be a match for this Fire Element, but a group of Mages was completely unafraid of the Fire Element and his subordinates. Coupled with the Alliance's cover and assistance, if Salfuron Harbinger had been more aggressive, he might have been permanently left on the front lines.
Realizing that the Alliance was difficult to deal with, Salfuron Harbinger finally chose to temporarily halt his offensive. Judging by his stance, he was likely waiting for Ragnaros to send more reinforcements.
Delaying the battle was originally very disadvantageous for the Alliance, but after resolving the hidden dangers of the Black Dragons and Blackrock Orcs, the cost of dragging it out was relatively less severe. Compared to that, the Dark Iron Dwarves, caught between the Alliance and the Elementals, were suffering more.
After the stalemate lasted for a considerable period, the Dark Iron Dwarves and Elemental Creatures finally couldn't sit still. They summoned another of Ragnaros's lieutenants, intending to destroy the Alliance forces in one fell swoop.
The figure of Baron Geddon appeared from the boundless flames. His body, larger and more incandescent than ordinary Fire Elements, descended onto the front lines of Darkforge City.
His appearance immediately caused an extreme firestorm. Aside from the Elementals, even the Dark Iron Dwarves could not remain in his domain for too long; the hellish flames would consume all flesh and blood creatures.
The Alliance also felt the pressure for the first time. The firestorm unleashed by Baron Geddon's mere appearance nearly burned through the Mages' barrier. The soldiers behind the magical barrier could almost feel the suffocating heat and pressure.
From this point on, the scales of war seemed to tip. Creatures far exceeding mortal power entered the direct battlefield for the first time.