"I've followed the map in my hand to the edge of Hellfire Peninsula. Ahead lies an endless thorn thicket, seemingly teeming with local species."
Lothar sat atop a hill, gazing at what was perhaps the only vegetation he had seen in Hellfire Peninsula for some time, and spoke to Kel'Thuzad.
Kel'Thuzad in the image nodded slowly, "Are you going to continue? These wild animals shouldn't pose an obstacle to you, right?"
"If the map is correct, passing through this thorn thicket will lead to Terokkar Forest, but that place seems quite different from Hellfire Peninsula, with many intelligent life forms active there."
Lothar hesitated for a moment, deciding not to enter Terokkar Forest for now. Based on the information provided by Arthas and what he had extracted from the souls of those orcs, Terokkar Forest still had a normal ecosystem, and the Alliance Expeditionary Force and their allies in Outland also seemed to be primarily active there.
"I won't enter Terokkar Forest for now. If my presence is discovered, it's very likely to cause a lot of unnecessary trouble."
In Hellfire Peninsula, even if Lothar didn't intentionally avoid the Alliance Expeditionary Force, he would still rarely encounter their members.
At least after rescuing that batch of logistics troops, Lothar had not encountered anyone from the Alliance Expeditionary Force again.
As for encountering orcs, there was no need to worry; he could simply deal with them directly and even extract some intelligence from their souls.
Just by casually dealing with some orcs along the way, Lothar had largely figured out the situation in Hellfire Peninsula.
It was still largely controlled by demons, as the environment of Hellfire Peninsula was extremely harsh, and the local wild animals were mostly inedible due to contamination.
Although those orcs who drank demon blood and were controlled by Pit Lord Magtheridon didn't care much about the contaminated meat, even these orcs were reluctant to operate in Hellfire Peninsula.
Moreover, through the memories of these orcs, Lothar also discovered that the Naga led by Illidan did not stay long in Hellfire Peninsula. After dealing with a group of obstructing demons and orcs, they left directly towards the west of Hellfire Peninsula.
That was a different direction from Lothar's current southwestern position, so Lothar didn't have to worry about encountering Illidan's forces.
"Then return as soon as possible. The camp is basically complete, and it's time for us to do something in this world." Kel'Thuzad nodded, "Oh, and if you have time, bring back some Pit Lord's blood for me."
"Pit Lord's blood?" Lothar frowned, "Where am I going to get that?"
The only known Pit Lord in Outland was that guy named Magtheridon. According to intelligence, he was still in the Dark Temple in Shadowmoon Valley. Lothar couldn't possibly travel all the way there just to bleed Magtheridon, could he?
"Oh… sorry, I wasn't precise enough. An Pit Lord's blood mixture will do." Kel'Thuzad rephrased his words, "I've found something interesting, but I lack materials, and you're the closest to that place right now."
"Blood mixture… Alright, I understand. I'll head a bit north."
Lothar now understood. Kel'Thuzad was referring to a canyon north of Hellfire Peninsula, where an Pit Lord had fallen, and his demonic blood and demon essence had contaminated the entire canyon.
If Kel'Thuzad only needed the blood from there, it was indeed not a big problem.
The efficiency of the undead was fully demonstrated at this moment. Lothar didn't need to rest at all, crossing the entire Hellfire Peninsula in the shortest time and appearing outside the canyon contaminated by the Pit Lord.
However, upon arriving at this place, which the locals called "Agona Pool," Lothar felt something was off.
There should have been some demon soldiers and cannon fodder wandering in the canyon, but Lothar found no signs of any demons.
The contaminated valley was a forbidden zone for ordinary creatures, but Agona's demon essence could increase the power of demons. In the scenes Lothar saw in the orc souls, Agona Pool was filled with the figures of demons.
After a brief moment of confusion, a sudden burst of Holy Light energy amidst the chaotic fel energy surprised Lothar for a moment. He rode his undead warhorse, quickly galloping forward.
Along the way, he finally understood why there were no wandering demons outside the canyon: the valley was full of demon corpses, most of which bore scorched wounds, which perfectly matched the Holy Light energy bursting forth in the canyon.
—Someone entered the canyon? And clashed with the demons here?
Because he was unclear about the other party's intentions, Lothar, for caution's sake, chose to bypass the valley by taking the mountain paths on both sides to the top of the valley, preparing to see what was happening below.
Along the way, demon corpses became more and more numerous, and at the same time, Lothar also discovered some "non-demon" corpses.
"Draenei…"
Lothar's expression was solemn. Although he had "seen" this intelligent species before, it was only in the data given by Arthas and in the souls of orcs. This was his first time seeing a real Draenei.
Even though they were just corpses, it made Lothar understand who was currently fighting the demons in the canyon.
Following the traces left by the battle, Lothar quickly saw a small Draenei squad surrounded by demons.
They were using Holy Light to erect a barrier, struggling to hold on under the demon siege. But this was, after all, where an Pit Lord had fallen, a place where fel energy was extremely active, greatly increasing the consumption of Holy Light here.
Moreover, they were standing beneath Agona's shattered corpse, and the slime-like contaminants generated by the Pit Lord's corrupted blood under the catalysis of fel energy were constantly eroding the Draenei's Holy Light barrier.
Inside the Holy Light barrier, many Draenei were fighting demons, but their numbers were simply too few. Even with the protection of Holy Light, people were constantly getting injured and falling in the tide of demons.
"These Draenei won't last ten minutes."
Observing the rate of Draenei casualties and the demon offensive, Lothar quickly deduced how long these Draenei could hold out.
At the same time, he also noticed that among those protected by the Draenei guards, several robed Draenei were gathering the power of Holy Light and casting Holy Light spells at Agona's corpse.
"They want to purify Agona's remains?"
Lothar didn't understand the purpose of these Draenei doing this. He only knew that, given the rate at which Agona's corpse was dissolving and the rate at which these Draenei were falling, they simply wouldn't last until the purification was complete.
There were two choices before Lothar now: one, help these Draenei succeed in purifying Agona's corpse; two, watch them be overwhelmed by demons, collect his items, and leave.