Silence, cold, filled with the nauseating smell of sulfur.
After Arthas regained his senses, he found himself in a place that was clearly not on Azeroth, at least not in the Azeroth he remembered.
The Twisting Nether?
Feeling the chaotic, unstable energy permeating the surrounding environment, Arthas gradually understood where he was.
Although he hadn't returned to Azeroth as planned, Arthas wasn't flustered; instead, he was curious as to why such a magical accident had occurred—this transit ritual was jointly controlled by Jaina and Nozdormu, both of whom were trustworthy in Arthas's eyes, so it certainly wasn't their fault.
Of course, magic itself has a very small probability of uncertainty, and it doesn't seem impossible for a teleportation to fail and accidentally enter an area like the Twisting Nether, because the Twisting Nether itself is a plane connecting thousands of starfields; from a magical perspective, casting a teleportation spell anywhere in the physical universe could potentially lead into the Twisting Nether.
However, Arthas didn't like to attribute things to coincidence, but to be safe, he still expanded his perception, trying to track the aura he had left on Jaina's pendant.
After a moment, Arthas opened his tightly closed eyes, slightly relieved; he at least confirmed that Jaina was not currently in the Twisting Nether, otherwise he would have been truly worried about her safety.
In that case, he could basically be certain that someone had interfered with the teleportation magic, sending him into the Twisting Nether, and the being who interfered with the magic must have been extraordinarily powerful, because even Nozdormu hadn't detected any anomaly.
Arthas casually found a rock and sat down, beginning to recall the various details of these two teleportations, but he found no difference in the activation of the time magic on either occasion, meaning that if someone had tampered with it, why hadn't such an accident occurred when they left their original world?
Doubt entanglement in Arthas's mind; if his memory wasn't mistaken, then there must have been a problem with one of the conditions in these two spells.
But just then, a large number of chilling roars and the chaotic energy that followed disturbed Arthas's thoughts, forcing him to refocus his attention on the problems he had to face in reality.
As expected, due to Arthas's appearance, his aura, which was completely different from that of the Twisting Nether, quickly attracted the native species of this barren world—demons.
Numerous Hellhounds had already surged from all directions, completely surrounding Arthas, who was sitting on the boulder in thought; the Hellhounds' small eyes glowed with an eerie green light, and their terrifying, ferocious mouths constantly dripped saliva, as they had already regarded Arthas as a meal delivered to their doorstep.
Arthas looked at the large group of Hellhounds beneath him, feeling a bit disappointed.
Although Hellhounds possess a considerable degree of intelligence, most of the time they are no different from beasts controlled by instinct; in other words, Arthas would find it difficult to obtain any valuable information from them.
Sure enough, a minute later, when Arthas burned the last Hellhound to ashes, he couldn't even figure out which world conquered by the Burning Legion he was in from these demons.
However, the souls of those Hellhounds were not worthless; at least Arthas learned from the wails of their souls that there was a demon-guarded fortress not far from here.
A few tens of minutes later, an Eredar Warlock frantically tried to crawl out of the cold fel iron gate, but was firmly gripped by the horns on his head by a large hand; amid his tragic wails, the Eredar Warlock was pulled back into the gaping black door.
Intense burning pain spread through half of his body, and the Eredar, who had always prided himself on his nobility, was nailed to the wall like a dead dog by a Spear of Light. He looked in terror at the tangible long spear of Light, condensed to a degree even more intensely burning than fel, unable to comprehend why someone could summon such a degree of Light in the depths of the chaotic Twisting Nether.
Arthas tore a piece from the robe of the Eredar in front of him, casually wiping the fel blood from his hands; behind him was a truly horrific scene—numerous demons lay scattered on the ground, some frozen into shards of ice, some burned to ashes by the Light, and many more torn into pieces, their bodily remains strewn everywhere.
Arthas said to Frostmourne, which was floating behind him, with a hint of reproach, "Don't be like Sire Denathrius's sword, can you be a bit more elegant?"
Frostmourne swayed slightly, as if it understood vaguely.
Arthas didn't expect the sword to fully grasp his meaning; compared to the sword of the Revendreth ruler, Frostmourne's sentience was only like that of a clever puppy.
The Eredar Warlock stared at Arthas in terror, rapidly muttering demon tongue that Arthas couldn't understand.
Arthas casually tossed aside the blood-stained cloth and said to the Eredar, "Speak Common—you surely know it."
The Eredar's words instantly stopped, and he tremblingly replied, "You… what exactly are you?"
Among the Burning Legion, the Eredar are also absolutely core high-ranking members; they rarely show such expressions when facing other races. Generally speaking, the only ones who can make an Eredar feel fear are more powerful Eredar.
But when this Eredar personally saw Arthas casually slaughter an entire fortress of demons, not even allowing them to send out a distress signal, this Eredar was completely overwhelmed by the fear of death.
This is the Twisting Nether; demons killed here have no chance of resurrection, and this Eredar had personally witnessed the souls of the slaughtered demons being completely torn apart by that runeblade, transforming into primal energy to be devoured.
Killed in such a way, it would probably be impossible for anything to remain, even outside the Twisting Nether.
"Answer my question, and at least you won't suffer as much when you die." Arthas's words were like an unquestionable decree, deeply etched into the Eredar's heart. "Where is this place?"
"Ni-Niskara."
Upon hearing this strange word, Arthas frowned, "Have you seen anyone from the Lightforged?"
The Eredar nodded violently up and down, "We once captured a Lightforged ranger; she is imprisoned here."
"What is her name?"
"Alleria Windrunner."
Upon hearing Alleria's name, Arthas's brow furrowed even deeper.
In the chaotic depths of the Twisting Nether, the attribute of time also becomes incredibly chaotic, just like in the Shadowlands. Spending a subjective dozen days in such a place might only correspond to a few hours in the real universe, or it could mean that more than a decade has passed in the real universe.
"Where is she now?"
The Eredar Warlock answered tremblingly, "Uh... she was rescued by the Lightforged long ago."
The next second, the soulless Eredar's body fell to the ground.
Rescued by the Lightforged? Then he most likely didn't arrive in a very distant past. In other words, he should have indeed returned to his original world, but was sent into the Twisting Nether due to some unknown reason.
So, the next course of action is clear: find a way to leave the Twisting Nether and return to Azeroth.
However, this is easier said than done. The Twisting Nether connects to countless worlds in the real universe, but to accurately locate a world's coordinates in this chaotic region is something even the Burning Legion cannot achieve.
Each time the Burning Legion invaded Azeroth, it was because someone on Azeroth could provide them with precise spatial coordinates. And after the Burning Legion was defeated on Azeroth, when they were driven back to the Twisting Nether, they also lost Azeroth's location information, only able to wait for the next person who could provide these coordinates to appear.
Arthas is facing a similar situation now. He also lacks the accurate coordinates needed to travel such a vast distance, and venturing through starfields without them could very well banish him to even more distant and desolate cosmic regions.
To resolve the current predicament is also simple: find someone who knows the precise information about Azeroth, or rather, someone on Azeroth who can provide him with accurate coordinates sufficient to cross planes.
Arthas looked helplessly at Frostmourne, which was still absorbing demon souls, "But who would know that I'm currently trapped deep within the Twisting Nether?"
He began to understand why Sire Denathrius always liked to talk to his sword, Remornia. In a long and lonely life, the only one with whom this Eternals could confide was not his created Dependents, but the sharp sword that had always accompanied him.
He hadn't expected that after seizing the power of an Eternals, he would soon face such a predicament...
Arthas tried again to see if he could pinpoint the existence of the Shadowlands, but unfortunately, the souls in the chaotic Twisting Nether do not belong to that realm of the dead. The connection here to the Shadowlands is even weaker than its connection to the physical starfields; even Arthas can only vaguely sense the Shadowlands' presence.
He is different from any other Eternals; he doesn't have a closely connected realm of the underworld, and thus no anchor point that would allow him to resonate with the Shadowlands.
After a long period of contemplation, Arthas had a preliminary plan.
In the Twisting Nether, it's demons and nothing but demons. There are almost no other life forms here, with one exception: the "Lightforged" mentioned by the Eredar Warlock earlier.
The Lightforged are likely in a rather sorry state right now. Although they claim to have been constantly fighting the Burning Legion in the Twisting Nether, they are actually on the verge of running out of supplies. In the Twisting Nether, the Burning Legion's stronghold, the Lightforged are like rats scurrying across the street. They are isolated and helpless in this place, with only endless enemies in sight.
Arthas plans to first find these "resisters" located in the Twisting Nether. Although their power is negligible compared to the Burning Legion, they have made significant achievements in other areas.
-----------------
"The current situation is that we are completely at a disadvantage in naval combat."
Uther looked solemnly at the battle report in his hand. The long coastlines of Hillsbrad and Tirisfal Glades had become a severe burden for them. Naga were landing from every part of the coast, gathering troops, and building defensive fortifications there.
Lordaeron's defenders were resisting with all their might, but the area they had to defend was simply too vast. Coupled with the seemingly endless numbers of Naga and a large number of dangerous deep-sea and void constructs, Uther could only order the vast majority of his forces to withdraw from the coast and hold fast within the towns.
Fortunately, the Naga's combat effectiveness on land is greatly reduced; the front lines in areas beyond the coast were always advantageous for Lordaeron.
But for Lordaeron, precisely because they were blockaded by the Naga along the coast, they could hardly receive any help from the Alliance by sea. The nearest large port was Menethil Harbor in the Wetlands, and the Wetlands are not conducive to the movement of large armies. Alliance reinforcements would take several times longer to arrive by land than by sea.
Daelin, immediately after Lordaeron's attack, led his Invincible fleet to launch an offensive against the Naga blockade. However, Kul Tiras's strength alone found it difficult to completely break through the Naga's blockade. Often, after they tore a gap in the Naga's defenses, new sea beasts and Naga would quickly arrive from all directions, forcing Kul Tiras's ships away.
To prevent the fleet from being trapped in port like Lordaeron, Daelin could only reluctantly withdraw his fleet after each raid. Although Kul Tiras inflicted considerable losses on the Naga through this method, it did not alleviate Lordaeron's predicament.
Dalaran had already dispatched a large number of mages to the front lines of the Naga invasion. They were preparing to establish large-scale teleportation arrays to at least ensure a certain degree of logistics and personnel replenishment. However, this was only a stopgap measure; if they could not regain control of the seas, they would continue to face this dilemma.
"There's one thing I don't quite understand... the Naga's actions can't threaten Lordaeron's core areas at all."
Calia stared at the sand table. Although she did not possess the rich combat experience and war theories of Lordaeron's generals, she saw another aspect of the problem. "Look, although the Naga have surrounded most of Lordaeron's ports and coastlines, they can never affect the true core areas of the kingdom. Control of the land has also always been in our hands. In this case, although our reinforcements are slow to arrive, they will eventually reach us."
And once the Alliance's reinforcements are fully deployed, Lordaeron will have a full grasp of sending these slippery mudfish back into the sea.
Moreover, the continent of Lordaeron is not home to just Lordaeron; Gilneas, Stromgarde, Alterac, Dalaran, and Quel'Thalas are all strong backups for Lordaeron. And because the Naga's offensives are almost all concentrated on the western front, other Alliance members on the continent of Lordaeron can easily provide support and assistance.
With the Naga blockading the coast like this, Lordaeron is currently suffering, but if the situation drags on long enough, they will be the ones in trouble.
Lordaeron's generals fell silent after hearing Calia's question. This was not something only Calia was puzzled about; in fact, they hadn't figured it out either. The Naga simply couldn't gain an advantage on land, which would gradually cause them to lose the initial advantage the ocean gave them.
No one could give Calia a precise answer, and according to common sense, the best course of action now was to hold their ground and wait for reinforcements.
.....
In Orgrimmar's Wisdom Valley, clear springs gurgled down the cliffs, their waters converging into a pool at the valley's bottom—a most precious resource in the wild lands of Durotar.
Thrall sat by the pool, meditating. Since becoming the Horde's Warchief, he had been busy with official duties, but whenever he had free time, he would come to the pool in Wisdom Valley, entering the spirit world like the most ordinary shaman to communicate with elements and spirits.
Usually, such activities were a rare relaxation for Thrall, but today was clearly different. Not long after entering meditation, fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
Within mere tens of seconds, Thrall was forced to break from his peaceful meditation. He opened his eyes wide in terror, gasping continuously.
His old friend Vol'jin stood guard nearby. The seasoned Dark Spear Shadow Hunter keenly sensed Thrall's abnormality and quickly asked, "What's wrong, my Warchief?"
"The elements... are afraid."
Thrall gasped incessantly, breathing in large gulps like a drowning man taking his first breath upon reaching the surface, forcing fresh air into his lungs. "This is a warning to us."
Vol'jin did not doubt him; he always trusted Thrall. "What did you see?"
"The earth cracked, floods raged, and the ocean transformed into a tyrannical deity, submerging everything beneath its vast expanse," Thrall recalled the scenes he saw in his vision, his body still trembling uncontrollably.
This was a manifestation of elemental influence after delving deep into the spirit realm. His heart remained courageous, but the elements' fear, linked to his soul, caused his body to send out corresponding signals.
"This is a rather terrifying prophecy, my friend," Vol'jin's expression was solemn. The troll's witch doctor culture and experience made him firmly believe such prophecies, especially since this was a vision seen by his good friend, a powerful shaman.
Or perhaps it shouldn't be called a prophecy, but rather a signal sent by the elements upon sensing danger, and Thrall was the one who received this signal.
Gradually calming down, Thrall frowned in thought. "In the vision, the water elements' fear was the most genuine. I wonder if this implies that the crisis might be lurking beneath the ocean?"
"The sea..."
Vol'jin pondered thoughtfully. Thrall knew he must have connected some dots, so he asked, "Do you have any thoughts?"
Vol'jin nodded. "Do you remember not long ago, the Alliance warned us about threats from the sea? Our scouts in Azshara have also reported that Naga activity there is more frequent than ever before."
"Of course, I remember. But can these Naga truly cause the elements to be so afraid?"
Thrall was, after all, an Orc, and he had been exposed to human culture since childhood. In his impression, the Naga were just dangerous intelligent sea creatures. Thrall couldn't imagine how they could cause such fear among all the elements of Azeroth.
But Vol'jin was different. As the son of Sen'jin, the former chief of the Dark Spear tribe, he knew some lesser-known secrets. "Legend has it that a terrifying dark deity is hidden in the deep sea. Their apostles landed on the continent in ancient times, causing immeasurable and terrible effects on some troll tribes. You should still remember what happened on the Dark Spear Islands back then, shouldn't you?"
"Of course... I will never forget," Thrall replied firmly. He would never forget that wise old troll. "Old Sen'jin helped us a lot. Without him, the Horde wouldn't be what it is today."
"The madness and cruelty of that Murloc clan are etched in my memory," Vol'jin calmly recounted the history of the dark deity. "Their sea witches clearly worshipped a terrifying entity that was not among any Loa. Old Sen'jin and many Dark Spear tribesmen became sacrifices for their bloody rituals... Before that, I also thought the dark deity of the deep sea was just a legend."
"Anyway, let our people always be on guard against threats from the ocean... Reassign some workers to the coast, and send troops to protect their safety. We may need to build some flood control structures."
Thrall nodded. He couldn't ignore the elements' warning, and Vol'jin had also reminded him to be wary of threats from beneath the sea.
Just then, a white-haired old Orc approached, holding a letter. "Warchief."
"Eitrigg? Is something wrong?" Thrall asked.
"Something happened with the Alliance."
Eitrigg replied concisely.
Thrall's heart pounded. A bad feeling began to entangle his thoughts.
He quickly took the letter from Eitrigg's hand. After opening it, his expression immediately turned serious and grim. After reading the entire letter, he handed it to Vol'jin, whose expression after reading the letter was identical to Thrall's.
"I didn't expect this prophecy to begin to come true so quickly... The Naga have, against all odds, invaded the land, even pinning Lordaeron's troops within their towns."
Vol'jin was somewhat emotional. He knew how powerful the Alliance was, yet even such a powerful Lordaeron was at a disadvantage under the Naga's assault. If Durotar had been the first to face the Naga invasion, they would probably have quickly lost most of Durotar.
It was important to note that Durotar's coastline was much flatter than the Lordaeron continent; they had no mountains or cliffs to help them resist the Naga.
After reading the letter, Thrall did not hesitate. He found paper and a pen, wrote down the vision and warning he had seen, folded it into an envelope, sealed it with the Warchief's special mark, and handed it to Eitrigg.
"Help me deliver this to the Alliance's envoy."
As a wise leader, Thrall knew well the interdependent relationship between the Alliance and the Horde. Although they had some minor skirmishes, on such a major matter concerning the survival of the entire world, Thrall unhesitatingly chose to provide help within his capabilities.
-----------------
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
In Southshore, Highlord Dathrohan, who was in charge of defending the area, steadied the constantly shaking table and chairs beneath him. Looking at the overturned flags and pieces on the sand table, he asked the priest beside him with a solemn expression, "How many times is this this week?"
"This is the seventh earthquake this week, Highlord."
The priest's answer caused the facial features of the tall and burly paladin to almost scrunch together. His already serious face appeared even more menacing under the flickering lamplight in the room.
"What in the world are the Naga up to? Quickly have the mages contact the capital via magic communication. I need to report what's happening here."
Dathrohan, having been in constant warfare, could guess with his knees that the Naga were certainly not up to anything good. However, the First Legion defenders in Southshore were no match for the Naga on the sea. Unable to break through the blockade, they couldn't know what mischief the Naga were causing far out in the ocean.
Earthquakes of this magnitude couldn't cause any damage to sturdy defensive structures. Dathrohan had reviewed the reports, and only a few dilapidated civilian buildings were at risk of collapse. Yet, Dathrohan knew that the Naga wouldn't expend so much effort using magic to cause such widespread earthquakes just to demolish some houses that were already due for demolition.
"I hope it's not what I'm thinking..."
Dathrohan walked to the window and looked out at the boundless sea beyond Southshore. The calm surface of the ocean, in his eyes, seemed to harbor terrifying monsters, ready to devour them at any moment.
An earthquake? Hillsbrad isn't an earthquake-prone area.
Rhonin, who had been sent by Dalaran as a magical consultant during the war, immediately became restless upon hearing this news. "It's 100% the Naga's doing."
"We all know this isn't a geological issue; we just want you to think of a way to find out what the Naga are trying to do."
Uther's request truly put Rhonin in a difficult position. He grabbed the defense map around Hillsbrad, which clearly marked the positions occupied by the Naga.
Rhonin pointed to the map and said to Uther, "Look at this defense map. The Naga have almost blocked all of our sea exits, and they can hide in the ocean and use magic unscrupulously—even if we control the initiative at sea right now, we'd still be helpless if they hide in the water."
Uther thought for a moment and asked, "What if we also use magical detection?"
Rhonin shook his head, "It's difficult. Not to mention whether the Naga will set up anti-magic detection spells, just overcoming the ocean's own influence is already strenuous enough."
The water element in the sea was too dense. The difficulty for Arcane magic to penetrate deep into the ocean would increase geometrically; the deeper it went, the harder it would be. Yet, the Naga could move freely in the seawater. Rhonin couldn't think of any magic that could meet Uther's request for the time being.
"Then what should we do now?"
Uther was not discouraged. As an experienced commander, he deeply understood the importance of listening to the advice of war mages—ever since humans learned magic from the High Elves, magic had become a crucial factor influencing the course of war.
Rhonin offered his suggestion, "While it's unlikely we can figure out exactly what the Naga are doing, I can have the mage corps monitor for abnormal spell sources. That way, we can at least confirm the origin of these unusual earthquakes and make some degree of prediction, which should allow our troops to prepare countermeasures in advance."
After saying this, Rhonin also saw from Uther's expression that the paladin was not very satisfied with the answer, so he continued, "As for further investigation... I will have Dalaran come up with a countermeasure plan as soon as possible, please—"
A knock on the door interrupted Rhonin's words. Their gazes turned towards the door. Calia had already pushed open the door, holding two letters in her hand. "Gentlemen, I apologize for interrupting your discussion, but before we take action, I think it's best for everyone to see this."
Calia handed the letters to Uther. Uther and Rhonin exchanged glances before beginning to read the contents on the paper.
After a while, Uther placed the letters on the table and asked, "This was written by the Horde's Warchief? I remember he... is a powerful Shaman. Many orcs call him a prophet."
In fact, the Alliance initially did not understand the Shaman, an ancient and sacred profession among the orcs, because in the previous two great wars, the orcs, then under the leadership of Gul'dan, had almost completely abandoned the path of the Shaman. Some young orcs no longer even knew the meaning of a Shaman.
But later, the Tauren and Draenei joining the Alliance made them more deeply realize the power of the Shaman. Although to mages, these Shamans seemed like primitive and rustic spellcasters, their magical techniques could be described as crude, completely destroying the aesthetics of spellcasting.
But mages also had to admit that when communicating with the four elements, Shamans possessed abilities beyond the understanding of ordinary mages. They bypassed the process of using Arcane magic to drive elements, instead directly connecting with the elements themselves. The elemental spirits could thus become their eyes and ears.
Rhonin kept staring at the letters on the table. The Warchief's warning lingered in his mind. He seemed to have grasped some key points.
A moment later, like lightning piercing through clouds, Rhonin finally understood something. Amidst Uther and Calia's puzzled gazes, he began to rummage through a pile of documents.
"This is it!"
Rhonin held a scroll and eagerly motioned for Uther and Calia to come closer. "Listen to me, I understand what the Naga might be planning!"
Rhonin unrolled the scroll. It was just an ordinary topographical map of the continent of Lordaeron, not even a military version. It was a commercial version usually sold to adventurers keen on adventure and exploration. Its only advantage was that the map covered a sufficiently wide area, almost encompassing the basic topography of the entire Lordaeron continent north of Wetlands.
But what Rhonin needed was such a general but comprehensive map. He decisively pointed to several major lakes and rivers within the Kingdom of Lordaeron, "Lake Lordamere, Darrowmere Lake, and their branching large rivers... these are all passages the Naga can utilize. They are indeed not good at fighting on land, but in water, their marching speed and threat will greatly increase!"
"Wait, Rhonin, forget about Darrowmere Lake for a moment. The tributaries of Lordamere don't flow into the sea at all. The Naga would have to cross the complex terrain of Silverpine Forest or break through the Hillsbrad defenses to enter Lordamere."
Rhonin quickly shook his head, "Defenses? That's probably just wishful thinking on our part! The Naga don't care about these so-called defenses, which is why they've been passive on the front lines. They're waiting for the ocean to carry them into these inland waters!"
Uther was puzzled for a moment, but quickly understanding the meaning of Rhonin's words, his pupils began to tremble violently. "You mean... those earthquakes... are to create tsunamis?"
"Exactly! Damn it, why didn't I think of this sooner? I was so focused on the earthquakes that I forgot about the tsunamis they could cause..."
Rhonin regretfully slammed the table. If they had considered this point when the Naga first used such a geological-affecting spell, then they would have had more time to respond now!
Calia was also shocked by Rhonin's speculation. She quickly observed the terrain carefully, seemingly still holding a glimmer of hope, "Perhaps it's not as bad as we think? Not all of Hillsbrad's coastline is low-lying; the hills should minimize the damage from a tsunami."
"That's true... But Southshore is right on the coast, and there's a large river flowing into the sea nearby. The Naga wouldn't even need to expend much effort to have the seawater destroy the entire city. Then they could go upstream along the river, and once they completely occupy Darrowmere Lake and the Thandol Span..."
Rhonin glanced at Uther. He didn't need to explain everything; the wise paladin already understood the consequences. "Then we will also lose our land connection with Alliance members. Lordaeron will completely become a true island, both by sea and by land..."
.....
Rhonin's analysis presented Calia with an extremely terrifying consequence; if things truly developed according to Rhonin's line of thought, then Lordaeron would undoubtedly suffer a heavy blow.
The only good news was that this kind of continent-wide magic was by no means a trivial trick that could be used at will. Rhonin believed that if the enemy wanted to expand the magic's influence as much as possible to the point of changing the entire battle situation, then they still had enough time to prepare countermeasures.
"However, it's not very realistic to resist through defensive means; no level of defensive magic can withstand a tsunami of this magnitude."
Rhonin poured another bucket of cold water, stating a very realistic but cruel truth, "All we can do is evacuate our troops and civilians from the coast as much as possible, moving them to safer inland areas. Then, we need to find a way to hold either Weld or Hillsbrad. That way, we can at least ensure we won't completely lose the Alliance's support."
"Is there really no way to resolve this disaster, Master Rhonin?"
Calia could not quite accept such a result. Relocating the entire Southshore garrison and civilians, or even the residents of most of the Hillsbrad area, was easy to say but as difficult as ascending to heaven in practice.
Not to mention the immense losses that the towns, farmlands, and mines potentially submerged and destroyed by the tsunami would inflict on Hillsbrad and even the entire kingdom, just the issue of housing refugees was a problem that would give all kingdom officials a terrible headache.
Regarding Calia's question, Rhonin first shook his head regretfully, but after a moment, he said with some hesitation, "Actually, it's not without a solution… To use such magic, it not only requires a large ritual, but also the assistance of powerful artifacts. If we can find the Naga's ritual site, then perhaps we can stop them before the disaster strikes."
However, after stating this idea, Rhonin himself felt it was somewhat unrealistic. "We currently have no idea where the Naga are holding this ritual. When we went to Grim Batol to stop Deathwing's conspiracy back then, at least we knew where Grim Batol was."
"I understand."
Calia let out a long breath. Rhonin had made things very clear. Now it was her turn, as Lordaeron's current regent, to make a decision.
"Sir Uther, inform Highlord Dathrohan to lead the soldiers and civilians to evacuate Southshore, retreating to the northern hills. Their primary mission will be to guard Taren Mill and settle the civilians. Additionally, send people ahead to reinforce the defenses of Dun Morogh Castle. Even if the Naga want to cut off our communication network, we need to plant a nail in eastern Hillsbrad."
"Finally, Master Rhonin, I hope we can still do our best to find the Naga's ritual location. This concerns the safety and future of all Hillsbrad civilians."
"Your command will be obeyed, Princess Calia."
-----------------
In the distant Twisting Nether, Arthas was still unaware of the danger his kingdom was about to face. He was currently clearing out demons on Niskara and trying to find a way to leave this chaotic space.
However, Niskara itself, as a prison planet, contained nothing but endless wasteland and the demons who served as jailers on this planet. Arthas consecutively took down several demon strongholds, but found nothing of value.
The only useful item was a longbow found when destroying the prison that the Eredar had mentioned once held Alleria.
If Arthas was not mistaken, this longbow should be Thas'dorah, the ancestral bow of the Windrunner family. At least, it looked exactly like the longbow Alleria held in the paintings that had been passed down.
The material for this longbow originated from the High Elves' sacred tree—Thas'alah, which stood at the southern end of Eversong Woods.
Craftsmen selected branches from Thas'alah and soaked them in the waters of the Sunwell to forge this legendary longbow for the first Ranger-General of the Windrunner family.
At least the Eredar Warlock, who was terrified by the power of death, did not lie; Alleria should indeed have been captured by them, and this longbow was the "trophy" the demons had seized.
Although Alleria was rescued, she probably had no time to attend to this weapon, which had been stored by the demons, when she was rescued. After many twists and turns, this bow ended up in Arthas's hands.
Casually conjuring a Holy Light arrow, nocking it to the string, and aiming at a Hellhounds that was fleeing in disarray, Arthas lightly released his grip on the bowstring. A golden stream of light cut through Niskara's dim sky, striking the Hellhounds squarely on its back. The scorching Holy Light instantly incinerated the demon into ashes.
"The feel isn't bad."
After looking at his achievement, Arthas slung the longbow over his shoulder. Thas'dorah did not reject Arthas either; compared to the demons running rampant on Niskara, this longbow clearly preferred the aura Arthas exuded.
That Hellhounds was the last remaining demon at this demon stronghold. Next, as per usual, Arthas decided to check the "prison" here.
However, Arthas himself held no expectations. The demons' prisons, though called prisons, were essentially large-scale Soul Engines. Prisoners thrown in, after being drained of their last intelligence value by demons like inquisitors, would have their souls extracted and turned into war material for the Burning Legion.
Therefore, the several demon prisons Arthas had searched were mostly empty; let alone prisoners, there wasn't even much soul residue left.
In Arthas's view, these demon jailers remaining on Niskara seemed more like prisoners themselves. The Burning Legion's iron-fisted rule was not only directed at conquered worlds; the demons conscripted by the Burning Legion would also experience a more brutal survival of the fittest than in the Twisting Nether's own ecosystem.
Those weak and disobedient demons were not even considered cannon fodder in the eyes of the Burning Legion; at most, they were merely "fuel" for the Legion's ravaging and conquering of countless worlds.
Yes, demons could certainly be thrown into a Soul Engine as well.
Scanning the empty cells, Arthas felt no disappointment. Just as he was about to leave, a faint Holy Light fluctuation caught his attention.
However, all the cells before him were empty. Arthas began to carefully sense the source of that Holy Light aura—this was not easy in the chaotic Twisting Nether. Large amounts of chaotic energy could easily disrupt the effectiveness of perception, and this Holy Light reaction was extremely faint.
If it were anyone else, they might not have noticed this anomaly amidst the jumbled energy reactions.
Following the source of that Holy Light fluctuation, Arthas's gaze fell upon a completely sealed steel wall. He was now certain that the Holy Light fluctuation was emanating little by little through this wall.
Frostmourne's sharp edge easily tore through the hard steel wall. Arthas completely removed this wall made of fel alloy, finding that there was indeed something else behind it.
Carefully examining the wall he had removed, Arthas found that demons had carved a perception-blocking spell on it. The presence of this magic was clearly intended to conceal what was behind the wall.
The space behind the wall was also a huge prison cell, filled with a large number of cages and torture instruments. In the corner of the cell, a large amount of white bones and remains of victims were left.
Few people tortured to death by demons could leave a complete corpse. The fact that their remains were left in a demon-occupied world indicated that their deaths were not long ago, and being specifically held in such a secret prison suggested that the identity of the prisoner was also extraordinary, definitely not an ordinary captive.
As Arthas expected, in the depths of the prison cell, he saw a dying living being. She had been tortured beyond recognition, and the Light Arthas had sensed earlier was emanating from her.
Her chest faintly rose and fell as she lay unconscious, clearly having only one breath left. The reason she survived was simple: she was a Lightforged, and a Lightforged Draenei at that.
As a champion of the Lightforged, every Lightforged is a battle-hardened elite. To demons, the value of a Lightforged far exceeds hundreds of mortals.
However, it is almost impossible for a Lightforged to be captured alive. When facing true desperation, most Lightforged who can retain their self-will before death will choose to perish with the demon in front of them. They will release the Light energy within their bodies, using their lives as a final strike.
Even if they lose consciousness, at the moment a Lightforged's life ends, their body will not fall like a mortal's. The Light within them will violently explode due to loss of control, especially in chaotic energy environments like the Twisting Nether.
Presumably, the Legion must have put a lot of effort into capturing this Lightforged Draenei. Before this Lightforged Draenei dies, the Legion will certainly try every possible way to extract information about the Lightforged from her.
In addition, the inherent powerful vitality of a Lightforged allowed this Lightforged Draenei to barely survive the Legion's torture—but if Arthas hadn't coincidentally arrived at Niskara and discovered her faint life signs, it's likely that this Lightforged Draenei's life would have gradually faded away within a short time.
The injuries on the Lightforged Draenei were truly shocking. If she hadn't been purified by the Light and her physique had already surpassed that of ordinary mortals, it would have been almost impossible for her to survive such injuries.
It was also fortunate that she was a Lightforged; as long as Light energy was infused, healing her injuries would not be difficult.
Arthas healed her injuries with the Light in a very short time, but this Lightforged Draenei still did not wake up. However, this was not surprising; the Legion's torture methods were not limited to physical pain; they were also proficient in techniques targeting the soul and mental aspects.
The Legion must have used various methods to try to break this Lightforged's will, but the fact that she was still alive indicated that she had not succumbed in this mental confrontation either.
-----------------
Warm, bright.
Kania hadn't felt this way in a long time.
Ever since her squad fell into a demon trap, she had been struck by a demon inquisitor's mental spell while covering her teammates' retreat during the ambush, causing her to fall into a coma.
Since then, her consciousness had been muddled, almost constantly oscillating between lucidity and unconsciousness amidst pain and torment. In the illusions woven for her by the Legion, she witnessed the destruction of her homeland, Argus, and the brutal slaughter of her family and friends by the Legion, while she could only watch it all happen helplessly.
During the breaks in the illusions, the dark, cold void seemed to swallow everything, while the scorching, chaotic fel constantly burned her will and body.
Kania couldn't even commit suicide. The Legion had made thorough preparations this time, eliminating any possibility of her taking her own life. They intended to use various methods to break her will and extract information about the Lightforged from her.
By using nauseatingly evil magic to keep Kania alive, to prevent her from self-destructing upon death and yielding no information, Kania was plunged into despair. Her only option was to firmly hold onto her will and prevent the Legion's schemes from succeeding before her body could no longer withstand the Legion's magic and perished.
The already chaotic time in the Twisting Nether seemed to stretch infinitely during this period. Kania herself was almost unable to distinguish whether her body was reaching its limit or her willpower was, when a ray of Light, like that of the most sacred Naru, pulled her back from the endless abyss.
When she opened her eyes, her golden pupils no longer saw a gloomy and terrifying demon prison, but a slowly flickering yellowish-green campfire. Although the flames still emitted a faint sulfurous smell, it was much more comforting than the demon prison she had been in before.
Kania propped herself up and surprisingly examined her palms. The scars in her memory had all disappeared for some reason. Her body was as perfect and strong as it had been right after receiving the Light infusion.
"Your soul is much more resilient than I imagined."
A strange voice sounded in front of Kania. This Lightforged Draenei priest instinctively reached for the warhammer she usually carried at her waist, but this time her hand found nothing.
Right, she had already been disarmed by the Legion. Her weapons and armor couldn't possibly still be with her.
But this small interlude also allowed Kania to collect herself. She realized that she should have escaped the Legion's imprisonment, but years of combat experience made her instinctively remain vigilant. She turned to look at Arthas across the campfire, but was momentarily stunned by Arthas's human appearance.
After a brief moment of surprise, Kania stared at Arthas warily. She wasn't sure if this was reality or another illusion the Legion had prepared for her.
"Who are you?"
"Arthas Menethil, merely a fellow lost in the Twisting Nether."
As he spoke, Arthas threw a piece of fuel into the fire in front of him—something he had found in the Legion's supply room. Although he didn't know exactly what it was for, Arthas found that it could be ignited, and the smoke produced when it burned was not toxic, so he simply picked some up to use as fuel.
He had carried Kania out of the Legion's stronghold, found a secluded cave, and waited for Kania to wake up.
Originally, he thought Kania would probably take a few days to regain consciousness, but unexpectedly, Kania woke up from her coma just a few hours after her physical injuries had healed.
This was undoubtedly good news, because with a Holy Light Legion of the Lightforged here, he at least wouldn't have to wander around aimlessly like a headless chicken.
Kania did not fully trust Arthas's words; after all, someone who suddenly appeared in a demon-occupied world and remained calm as if nothing had happened was certainly not to be underestimated.
After detecting herself with holy magic and confirming that her mind had not been affected by magic, Kania still kept a slight distance from Arthas. "Thank you for saving me, but I have nothing to repay you with now. All my equipment and supplies were lost after I was captured by the demons."
Kania's caution did not surprise Arthas. For a Lightforged warrior capable of fighting the Burning Legion in the Twisting Nether, having such a mindset was key to their survival in the brutal war.
But Arthas was equally certain that Kania would not simply wait idly in the desolate land of Niskara after regaining her freedom. She would definitely find a way to contact the Lightforged and rejoin the fight against the demons.
Kania sat up, and the two maintained a silent understanding in the demon-infested world. Arthas occasionally poked the campfire with the staff he had snatched from an Eredar Warlock.
Finally, in this silence, Kania had thought out her words. She could not confirm Arthas's identity, and she was also worried that if Arthas was a high-ranking demon in disguise, her abilities would not be enough to see through his deception.
"I am Kania, a combat priest of the Lightforged. I was captured by demons during a previous raid on Niskara. Perhaps we can help each other now and escape this shattered world controlled by demons."
She did not want to contact the Lightforged immediately. Niskara was, after all, a demon-occupied world. With Arthas's identity in question, rashly contacting the Lightforged could lead to extremely serious consequences.
But as long as they could leave Niskara and head to more desolate worlds, or even strongholds controlled by the Lightforged, there would be no need to ensure safety during the rendezvous.
Even if he was a high-ranking demon, he alone could not cause much trouble under the Lightforged's control.
"Do you have a way to leave here?"
Arthas was very curious about how Kania planned to navigate the chaotic space of the Twisting Nether.
Kania nodded affirmingly, "Soldiers of the Lightforged have a way to make short-distance movements in the Twisting Nether, but I need some essential equipment to do so."
"But you also said all your equipment was lost, right?"
"During the previous raid on Niskara, a batch of supply crates landed with our squad. We hid those supplies before setting out, intending to use them during our subsequent evacuation."
As she spoke, the light in Kania's eyes dimmed for a moment. She was unsure of her squadmates' final fate, but given the circumstances at the time, they were most likely doomed.
After she fell, the squad lacked means to counter demon spellcasters, and with the vast disparity in numbers, it would have been very difficult for them to escape the demons' pursuit.
Death and sacrifice were a common occurrence in the war against the demons. Over the long years, Kania had witnessed countless comrades make the ultimate sacrifice, but she still grieved for every life lost. It was precisely because of this that they would not become as ruthless as the demons in the endless war.
"In that case, can you lead the way?"
"Of course."
Kania stood up, but when she tried to move, she found her tattered robe somewhat hindered her movement. Without hesitation, she decisively tore off the ragged parts of the robe and used the torn strips of cloth to tie the hanging parts of the robe to her body, ensuring smooth movement.
But even after doing all this, she was still somewhat dissatisfied until Arthas handed her a short dagger.
"Take it. I don't have a spare weapon here. This thing is a bit short, but it should be handy."
"Thanks."
Kania took the dagger, swung it twice to get a feel for it, and then secured it to a strap on her thigh so she could draw it at any time.
Although it wasn't as handy as her usual war hammer, it was at least a practical weapon, and she herself was a combat priest, so even without a weapon, she could use holy magic for ranged support.
"No time to lose, let's depart as soon as possible. I can feel the beacon from the supply cache, it should still be some distance from here."
Traveling in a world surrounded by demons was inherently a very dangerous act. Kania could only hope they wouldn't encounter too many demons along the way, but to Kania's surprise, on the way to find the supply cache, they didn't even encounter a single Hellhounds.
This was not common. When Kania's squad landed on Niskara previously, the place was crawling with imps and Hellhounds. Although these demons were very weak when fighting alone, they often appeared in groups, and when their numbers increased, they became very troublesome.
This was also what Kania had been wary of. She led Arthas, trying her best to avoid the demon outposts she knew of, which could prevent encountering patrol teams composed of Demon Guard, but could not avoid encountering those undisciplined, low-level demons scurrying everywhere.
As for why they didn't encounter these low-level demons, it was, of course, because when Arthas was sweeping the nearby demon strongholds, he conveniently burned all the imps and Hellhounds he encountered along the way to ashes. Even though the number of low-level demons was vast, when Arthas harvested them in swathes like cutting wheat, large vacuum zones were created.
At first, Kania was quite wary, but gradually, when she realized that along the way, let alone demons, she couldn't even see the shadow of a fel cockroach, this Lightforged also became somewhat puzzled.
"What's going on…? Is the Burning Legion gathering forces again to invade a new world?"
Kania completely couldn't understand why the demon defenses were so sparse. They traversed large demon-occupied areas as if strolling through a park. Aside from the physical exertion of crossing mountains, Kania didn't even get a chance to cut down an imp.
With unimaginable smoothness, Kania and Arthas found the "supplies" left behind by the Lightforged squad—a nearly intact Lightforged Mech.
As for why it was nearly intact, it was because the Lightforged Mech's power system seemed to have a minor malfunction. Kania explained, "Our mission was to scout the situation on Niskara, to provide intelligence for our prisoner rescue operation. This Lightforged Mech's power system was damaged in a previous Legion war, and the engineers couldn't fix it, so they gave it to our squad to be used as a fixed firing point."
Unfortunately, they hadn't had a chance to use this mech before the squad members were wiped out. Unexpectedly, this mech now became their hope of leaving Niskara.
Kania skillfully jumped onto the mech and opened its self-diagnostic program on the control panel. "The mech's condition is good… but the power system can't support us for multiple long-distance movements. We only have one chance. I'll use the mech to confirm the coordinates and perform a single jump."
And this single jump would be enough for them to reach the nearest Lightforged stronghold.
Arthas had questioned the clearly malfunctioning Lightforged Mech, but Kania adamantly stated that for a single jump, there was no need to worry about accidents, even if the power system was damaged.
The result was that when they exited the teleportation process, they found themselves several thousand meters off their intended target.
This shouldn't have been a big problem, but the biggest issue was that this deviation of several thousand meters was not a horizontal deviation, but a vertical distance!
Even worse, after this slightly erroneous teleportation, the Lightforged Mech's power system seemed to be completely defunct, and the mech they were riding began a free fall from several thousand meters in the air.
Kania frantically tried to restart the Lightforged Mech's power source, but no matter how she tried, the Lightforged Mech's thrusters remained dead. At this point, she was out of options; after all, she was just a priest, not a mech engineer, and couldn't repair such a sudden problem.
"Slow Fall won't rapidly stop an object the weight of a Lightforged Mech. I'll cast Slow Fall on us; we need to leave the cockpit immediately!"
Fortunately, Kania remained calm enough in the face of the emergency to react immediately. After reminding Arthas, she quickly cast a Slow Fall spell on both of them and simultaneously opened the mech's cockpit.
Without the confines of the cockpit, they quickly separated from the still rapidly falling mech while under the effect of Slow Fall. Kania watched the Lightforged Mech plummet to the ground like a meteor, fulfilling its final mission.
"A mech isn't cheap to build," Kania said helplessly.
Arthas glanced at the trail left by the falling mech. "At least it successfully brought you back from the demon's territory."
"That's true—welcome to the Lightforged's stronghold."
Arthas and Kania, slowly landing like feathers, quickly saw the Lightforged soldiers who had been drawn by the mech's crash. Several fully armed Lightforged Draenei were initially on high alert, but when they recognized Kania, the Lightforged Captain leading them immediately showed a look of surprise.
"Kania, you're back?! By the Light, this is a miracle!"
Kania and her squad had been out of contact in Niskara for a long time, and during that period, the Lightforged had sent out scouts to search for them, but they had all returned empty-handed.
They had originally thought Kania and her group had fallen victim to the demons and had given up hope of their survival.
"Thanks to this brave warrior, I was able to escape the demons' captivity."
Kania introduced Arthas to everyone, and Arthas's appearance immediately caught the attention of the Lightforged.
"You're from Azeroth?"
The Lightforged Captain looked at Arthas in shock. He had, of course, seen intelligent races with similar appearances to Arthas, and that person was now the Lightforged's Archmage Turalyon.
And coincidentally, this Archmage, who usually spent years on the front lines, happened to be at their stronghold right now.
The news of someone from Azeroth appearing in the Twisting Nether, and specifically at the Lightforged's stronghold, quickly reached Turalyon's ears. The battle-worn Archmage, whose face was covered in scars, slowly shifted his gaze from the sand table to the soldier who had brought the news.
"Where is he now?"
Turalyon had initially thought that this individual who had stumbled into the Twisting Nether must be an adventurous mage, because in his memory, Khadgar often mentioned that many mages in Dalaran yearned for the "Astral Realm," and another name for the Astral Realm was the Twisting Nether.
However, these memories had become blurred due to the passage of time. Turalyon had almost forgotten how many generations he had been fighting in the depths of the Twisting Nether. The bizarre worlds within the Twisting Nether and the endless war with the Burning Legion constantly overshadowed his memories of Azeroth.
But he still always thought of his homeland, so when he learned that someone from Azeroth had arrived at the Lightforged's stronghold, the Archmage chose to meet him immediately.
However, when he saw Arthas's face, even Turalyon, who had faced countless demons without flinching, found it difficult to control his expression.
"Prince... Your Highness?!"
Arthas stared at Turalyon with a meaningful gaze and corrected him, "It should be His Majesty the King—long time no see, Turalyon."
Realizing what the words "His Majesty the King" represented, Turalyon was momentarily dazed. The Arthas he remembered as a child was now a tall, robust man, and had even taken over his father's authority.
"His Majesty, Terenas..."
"Father passed away a few years ago."
Arthas's own words confirmed Turalyon's guess. Turalyon said wistfully, "Has it... been that long already?"
"By Azeroth's time, it's been almost twenty years since you left our world," Arthas said, looking at Turalyon's weathered face, "but from your appearance, I fear the time in the Twisting Nether is not the same as in our world."
Turalyon smiled, though the smile was somewhat bitter. "I don't know exactly how long it's been. Hundreds of years? Or a thousand years? In the depths of the Twisting Nether, time itself is twisted. If I hadn't been blessed by the Light, I would have long since faded with time."
Arthas nodded and took out Thas'dorah, the longbow he always carried.
Turalyon's pupils constricted slightly the moment he saw Thas'dorah. "This is Alleria's bow? You found it on Niskara?"
He carefully touched the bow, feeling the patterns and carvings on its body. "I thought we had lost it forever..."
Every item brought from Azeroth was incredibly precious, for they all held memories of their distant homeland. Turalyon's sword was like this; these weapons that had always been by their side had long transcended the concept of ordinary items, becoming more like companions and comrades to them.
And Thas'dorah was especially significant to Alleria. When this bow was lost, Alleria had regretted it for a long time.
"Lady Alleria should be well, I hope?"
Arthas's question made Turalyon's breath hitch, but the Light Archmage quickly composed himself. "Of course, but she's currently on the mothership and not with me."
Understanding that Turalyon had something he couldn't speak about, Arthas didn't ask further. After confirming Alleria's safety, he told Turalyon, "Then this bow is yours. It's only right that it returns to its owner."
"Thank you, your Majesty Arthas."
Although he was a member of the Lightforged, Turalyon had no intention of abandoning his identity as a citizen of Lordaeron. And after they finished reminiscing, Turalyon also voiced the doubt in his heart.
"Why are you in the Twisting Nether? A king's disappearance is a very serious matter for Lordaeron."