"If the other Dragons heard that, they wouldn't give you a good look," Malygos sighed, finding a chair to sit down. "You really didn't need to take such a big risk. The Guardian Dragons exist to protect our world."
Arthas nodded in response, "The Guardian Dragons have indeed sacrificed a lot for Azeroth, but with all due respect, I cannot fully trust the Guardian Dragons' abilities."
Malygos's expression stiffened. Although he somewhat approved of Arthas, he couldn't pretend not to hear such words. A dangerous and heavy Dragon's Might began to compress the surrounding space inch by inch.
"I respect your strength, and I am grateful that you killed that rebel Nefarian, and brought me good news about the Blue Dragon race, calming the paranoia in my heart, but you cannot slander us like this."
Arthas ignored the pressure emanating from the Dragon King, as it couldn't shake his will. He merely said lightly, "What if we are about to face the Titan Guardians who bestowed power upon you in ancient times?"
The overwhelming Dragon's Might vanished without a trace, replaced by Malygos's even more unsightly expression. He almost questioned word by word, "What did you say?!"
This bombshell news stirred up a storm in Malygos's heart. He subconsciously glanced at Stellagosa. Fortunately, this curious Wyrmling was still focusing on the room's structure and decorations, and hadn't heard his conversation with Arthas.
Malygos, who was already regretting involving Stellagosa, could only bite the bullet and continue to verify, "Your intelligence better be true, otherwise if something goes wrong, it will be very difficult for me to protect you."
Dragons are always arrogant, but when things truly involve those guys in Ulduar, it's hard for them to remain calm.
Guardians are to Dragons what Dragons are to mortals. Without the blessings of the Guardians, the Dragon race might now just be a group of mindless beasts.
"Has the situation deteriorated to this extent?" Malygos was somewhat incredulous. Even he felt his worldview on the verge of collapse, but he had no choice but to believe Arthas, because Arthas had once communicated face-to-face with the former Earth Guardian, Archaedas.
"I once talked to you about Tyr," Arthas brought up the God of Justice from back then, Tyr of the Silver Hand. "I have a question now. Did you really not notice Tyr's demise?"
This question caused a shadow to flash across Malygos's face. Guardian Dragons rarely had friends with whom they could converse as equals, and Guardian Tyr happened to be one, their relationship even closer, having once been comrades-in-arms.
Even after many years, Malygos still felt regret and sorrow over Tyr's demise—the world lost an upright and brave Guardian, and they also lost a friend.
"We knew… but at that time, Ulduar, which had been sealed for a long time, sent us a message before we could find out the reason, saying that Tyr had been attacked by Old Gods' servants during an outing and had fallen.
Later, we also went to the place where Tyr fell to mourn, but it was indeed a battlefield there, and we also found a dead K'thir there."
Malygos's expression was calm as he spoke, but behind this calm, his thoughts were rapidly surging and colliding, "You mean… the message Ulduar gave us back then was false?"
"The message was indeed true, but Loken concealed the truth," Arthas completed the truth of the incident back then. "Loken had been corrupted by the jailer they guarded, and it was he who sent pursuers to chase down Tyr and Archaedas, who knew the truth and took the Platinum Discs."
At the same time, the ancient disc on the table in front of Arthas lit up, and an old and deep voice sighed, "This is a dark memory that is hard to forget, yet one does not want to face—long time no see, Weaver Malygos."
"Archaedas."
When the image of the Titan Guardian lit up, Malygos almost completely believed Arthas's words, "But if that's the case, why didn't you ask us for help back then?"
"If you asked the Dragon race for help, it would only harm you, my friend," Archaedas shook his head. "The Dragon Legion's strength is powerful enough to maintain order in the mortal realm, but you cannot imagine what is buried in Ulduar. Instead of letting you die in vain, it's better to preserve your strength until a power capable of fighting the Old Gods appears."
There was a hint of relief in the words of this ancient Titan Guardian, "Fortunately, we waited."
Stellagosa quietly swallowed. Although she was naive, she wasn't foolish. She had long realized that she had heard some ancient secrets that she might be better off not knowing at her age, but since she was with her elder, she could only pretend not to hear unless Malygos spoke.
At the same time, she curiously peeked at Arthas, wanting to see from his handsome face why both the ancient Guardian and the Guardian Dragons were so polite to this human.
The way he faced Malygos directly, unafraid of his might, and spoke and behaved calmly and composedly, truly made one feel… longing.
"Is Ulduar really that dangerous?" Malygos finally understood the seriousness of the situation. It turned out that they were not only kept in the dark, but the former Guardian was also worried that they didn't even have the ability to protect themselves.
"It is very dangerous," Arthas corrected. "Although Yogg-Saron has not yet fully escaped his prison, his tentacles have long extended outside the cage. Loken, due to his duty, guarded this jailer for the longest time and was closest, having already fallen countless eons ago.
Now, Ulduar not only has the iron army left after the eradication of the Dark Empire, but also the minions created by Yogg-Saron lurking in the depths of the prison. Do you think the Guardian Dragons alone can withstand the encirclement of both sides in that epic war?"
"If you say that, I think we might as well just surrender."
Malygos joked helplessly, "I know you want to stir up the Dragon Legion's resolve, but don't fool me like an idiot. If Yogg-Saron truly wields such power now, he could directly transform Azeroth into whatever he desires. Why would he still be playing tricks there?"
"You've become much more cautious, Malygos. That's truly gratifying." Archaedas recalled the past, when Malygos was still a reckless hothead who was carefree all day long.
Malygos's face darkened. He felt that if he didn't stop him, Archaedas would probably reveal his dark past. "Alright, let's talk about something useful to us. After returning from here, I will immediately convene a Dragon King meeting."
Archaedas also looked at Arthas. Since this meeting was initiated by him, it meant that Arthas should have some understanding of the current situation in Ulduar.
"According to my scout's intelligence, the gates of the Hall of Lightning and the Halls of Stone have opened. The Hall of Lightning can be said to be the barracks and armory of the iron constructs, and Loken's throne is also in that magnificent hall. The awakened iron constructs are continuously pouring out, beginning to awaken the legacy left by the Creators in the Storm Peaks. Once they succeed, the difficulty for us to enter the Storm Peaks and besiege Ulduar will increase by several levels.
As for the Halls of Stone, although it contains an astonishing number of iron constructs like the Hall of Lightning, hidden within it are two Titan constructs that could directly affect the course of the war—the Ancient Court and the Forge of Wills!"
When Malygos emerged from Icecrown Citadel, the composure and tranquility he had displayed earlier were gone, the information Arthas had given him pressing down on his heart like a massive boulder.
"Lord Malygos, are we returning now?" Stellagosa looked back at Icecrown Citadel with a hint of reluctance; she was full of curiosity about the place, but they hadn't stayed there long.
"No, Stellagosa, I'm going directly to Dragonshrine. You can come with me; it would be good to see my other siblings."
True emergencies don't allow for lengthy, public discussions. Malygos knew very well that if Ulduar continued to be corrupted by the Old Gods, the Dragon Legion would be the first to suffer.
Arthas had already explained the stakes to him, and as Arthas had said, the Scourge had already begun war mobilization.
Several newly constructed naxxanar were being loaded with various war machines and personnel, ready to ascend at any moment.
Originally, Arthas had planned for Anub'arak to lead the Nerubian to open a tunnel large enough for a massive army to pass through, but the elevation on the eastern side of Icecrown Glacier was significantly lower than Storm Peaks.
Finding a suitable exit would mean almost traversing the entire mountain range that separated Icecrown Glacier and Storm Peaks.
Coupled with the possibility of Titan-left facilities blocking the path along the way, the tunnel plan was ultimately canceled.
All Scourge elites would instead use naxxanar to directly air-drop into Storm Peaks; as long as these commanding elites existed, they could raise an entire undead army in the special environment of the far north at any time.
However, Arthas was still somewhat worried because, when facing an army of Steel Soldiers, the Scourge's greatest advantage was almost completely nullified.
They couldn't use the enemy's corpses to replenish their forces, and the quality of the Steel Soldiers would be much stronger than Ghouls and skeletons summoned through Necromancy.
Worse still, according to the number of troops stationed in Ulduar, the Scourge would likely have no numerical advantage in this battle.
They could no longer conquer enemies like Gronn and Ogre, rapidly destroying enemy lines and morale in a snowballing manner; moreover, plagues, diseases, and some Necromancy spells that only affected flesh-and-blood life were also severely restricted.
Even if Loken couldn't mobilize all the Steel Soldiers simultaneously, it was still enough to give Arthas a headache.
In fact, Malygos was not wrong about one thing: if Yogg-Saron could truly mobilize all the Guardians and Steel Soldiers, even if he hadn't yet escaped his prison, the consequences for Azeroth would be devastating.
But the situation was still under control; at least, even with Loken's authority, he couldn't instantly awaken all the slumbering Steel Soldiers.
That's why he and his master wanted to rely on the Forge of Wills to complete their dark plan.
"Steel... Steel army... Hmm?" Arthas muttered the name of the enemy he was about to face repeatedly.
Suddenly, he remembered something, something he had almost forgotten.
He immediately used magic to summon one of his servants, the alchemist Noth.
"My esteemed master, your humble servant offers you his sincerest greetings." Although Noth was obsessed with Scourge potions and dark witches, in front of others—at least in front of Arthas—he was no different from an old-fashioned, gentle gentleman.
"How far along are your studies on that Primal Thornbeast seed?"
In truth, the main researchers responsible for the Primal Thornbeast were the dark witch Farina and the Necromancer Shilgai, but those two were a bit eccentric, far less approachable than Noth.
"Uh," Noth, who had initially been pleased by the Lich King's summons, found himself somewhat flustered by this question.
"We haven't been able to fully restore the Primal Thornbeast's activity, but some plant spores extracted from it can be stimulated to exhibit vitality."
"Specific results?"
"Here's the data on the plant life we've cultivated." Noth provided two sets of data and one living specimen.
"From our translation of some Ogre documents, we learned that this low-level plant life is called a Podling.
It has a certain communal consciousness and strong reproductive capabilities, but overall, it's not much smarter than a beast."
Arthas examined the data and specimen provided by Noth, feeling somewhat disappointed.
While Podlings were fierce, sending them to confront Steel Soldiers in the environment of Storm Peaks would likely result in them freezing to death before even encountering the enemy forces.
But at least the Scourge research team had developed something, even if its utility was limited in the current situation.
"Put the Podling project aside for now. There should be spore-like life forms among Draenor's native plant life.
They can even infiltrate mechanical structures and seize control of them. Have Shilgai see if they can be isolated.
If you encounter technical problems, ask the elven ghosts of Shandalar; they should have unique insights into natural magic."
"I understand, Your Majesty." Upon receiving the order, Noth immediately went to inform his colleagues.
Their abilities had been of limited use in this war, but to discover they could serve another purpose was an unexpected bonus.
Arthas looked at the data Noth had left behind and rubbed his brow.
Now, with the war against the Titan Guardian imminent, if there was any way to counter the Steel Soldiers left by the Titans, it could only be those ancient species from the savage era, untransformed by the "Titan Order."
The Old Gods would naturally be good candidates for dealing with the Steel Soldiers, but unfortunately, they were disobedient.
So Arthas could only settle for the next best thing: using Draenor's native creatures to combat the black technology left by the Titans.
However, he didn't hold too much hope, because Azeroth's Steel Soldiers were "proxies" collectively created by all the Titans of the Pantheon, while the ancestors of the Primal Thornbeast, those three colossal plant life forms, only dealt with giants created by Aggramar on a whim.
Furthermore, Arthas was deeply skeptical of Noth and his team's research speed.
After all this time, they had only managed to isolate a Podling?
If they could produce some Botanis, Arthas wouldn't be having such a headache right now.
As for controlling Botanis, that was no difficult task for him at all.
Although plant life had unique life forms and social groups, the existence of any life could not be separated from the soul.
Plant life, in particular, had more stringent demands for souls.
Arthas could easily engrave his mark on their fragile souls and was not worried about the Botanis rebelling.
The mobilization of the Scourge did not require Arthas to personally exert himself; the unique command structure among the undead ensured that their various ranks would act with an efficiency unimaginable to mortal armies.
In fact, before the great war began, Arthas had nothing particularly special to do.
He was now focused on contemplating the battle, considering what else he could do to tip the scales.