Ulduar, Observatory.
This place had been utterly devastated, with countless shattered iron giants fallen across the perimeter. These iron giants wouldn't suffer the slightest damage even if they took direct hits from the Alliance army's artillery shells; each giant was a standard combat-type creation, surpassing the craftsmanship of Gnomes and Goblins in terms of stability.
These were designed by Mimiron, the progenitor of all engineers. Even the Black Empire's army at its peak was beaten senseless by these iron constructs. Among them were Qiraji soldiers, armies of Faceless Ones, and elemental servant legions, yet all were pummeled into helplessness by these iron soldiers.
Now, the iron soldiers—one of the Titan Keepers' trump cards—had been dismembered, which was enough to prove the brutality of the war.
In the center of the disc, Algalon, shimmering with starlight, was covered in wounds. If one didn't look closely, it was impossible to notice his existence. This wasn't because he had learned invisibility, but because the energy in his body was running low, leaving him on the verge of annihilation at any moment.
"Loken, your despicable actions will eventually be known by the Pantheon. Killing me won't change the sins you've committed. You will receive your due punishment. Heh, you have no idea how powerful the Pantheon is!"
Algalon watched the iron soldiers besieging him once again. He wasn't afraid at all, nor did he worry about dying. He had long since become indifferent to the concept of death; both life and death were part of the order, things that had already been predestined.
Loken's face was ashen. He hadn't expected Algalon to hold out for so long. Furthermore, Algalon still possessed a portion of authority, allowing him to directly turn a part of Loken's own created army against him. This damned fellow had hidden his strength so deeply!
"Is that so! I think you won't live to see that day. You shouldn't have come, and you shouldn't have proposed to re-originate Azeroth. I am protecting Azeroth!"
"Stop your babbling and kill him quickly. The Master is already impatient."
A massive Faceless One appeared beside Loken. Its hands were not tentacles but a pair of giant pincers that could snap an iron soldier in half at the waist. Its face was composed entirely of dense, squirming tentacles, a sight that caused a wave of nausea.
This was General Vezax, a confidant of Yogg-Saron responsible for the security of the prison. He was among the highest rank of Faceless Overlords; even when fighting a Titan Keeper, he would not be at a disadvantage.
Algalon had already gathered his final strength, preparing for an ultimate self-destruction. Even if he died, he would drag them down into the abyss. After self-destructing, even his soul would cease to exist. Using this price to exchange for massive destructive power was how the Troll Empire had defeated the Faceless Ones and the Aqir Empire in the past, sending the once-invincible Qiraji fleeing in all directions.
At this critical juncture, a wave of spatial distortion rippled through the sky. Loken couldn't help but look up. Beneath the sky full of snowflakes, a massive, shimmering golden palace appeared. He was instantly scared out of his wits; even though tens of thousands of years had passed, he had not forgotten it.
This was a part of Ulduar and the palace of the Prime Designate, Odyn. Loken had previously turned Helya against him, utilizing Helya's unique ability to create dimensions. Just as the Elemental Lords had been sealed, he had banished Odyn to a dimension from which return was supposed to be impossible.
"How is this possible!"
General Vezax felt confused. As an intelligent creation, he could clearly sense the other's fear and unease.
"What's the matter? What is there to be so surprised about?"
Loken seemed somewhat frantic and incredulous, his entire body beginning to tremble. Despite being an iron construct, for some reason, such vivid expressions appeared on him.
"It's Odyn. This is Odyn's Hall of Valor. He's back. He's back for revenge. He is the Prime Designate and holds the highest authority over Ulduar. We're finished, we're going to be finished!"
"No, quick, go and ask the Master to intervene. Only the Master's intervention can defeat Odyn. Once Odyn is killed, we will be safe!"
He was truly terrified, showing none of his previous high spirits or the demeanor of the King of Wisdom who had the leisure to cross-dress and infiltrate various races in Northrend to stir up wars. Now, he looked more like a stray dog, tucking its tail and wagging it to beg for forgiveness and mercy.
It wasn't that he didn't dare to resist, but rather that Odyn's strength was incomparably greater than his. The Ebon Guard warriors under Odyn's command were battle-hardened Vrykul whose twisted souls were unafraid of death. They could unleash even greater combat power and possessed an intelligence that iron constructs lacked!
"What are you afraid of! It's just one Odyn, can he really turn the world upside down? Send the army to besiege him immediately. I'll deal with this Algalon. Hurry, if you don't do something, he'll kill you just the same!"
General Vezax was filled with undisguised contempt for Loken. It was just one Odyn; was it necessary to be scared into this state? He brandished his pair of giant pincers and moved to suppress Algalon.
When the Hall of Valor collided with Ulduar's defense mechanisms, Odyn, sitting on his throne, was jolted. Before he could fly into a rage, a familiar aura reached him. He finally felt the lack of isolation; it seemed the seal had failed?
Before he could rejoice, the Shield-maiden Captain, Kayle, approached and reported with a serious expression.
"Master, we seem to have arrived at Ulduar. The defense facilities below are launching attacks on the Hall of Valor. What should we do now?"
Whether to fight or not was up to Odyn; only he could command the armies of the Hall of Valor. This was beyond her authority as a guard captain; she only needed to report.
Hearing that he had returned to Ulduar, Odyn's expression of joy turned into a ferocious grin.
"Deploy the entire army, spread out to surround Ulduar, and attack from multiple directions. Crush all opposing enemies. I will personally command the assault at the main gate. Aim the cannons at Ulduar."
Odyn had also become boisterous, not yet realizing he had been used. When he learned that the Platinum Discs contained news of Loken's betrayal, his heart burned with anxiety, wishing he could fly back to Ulduar immediately.
However, being trapped in an otherworldly dimension meant he couldn't leave just because he wanted to; he didn't have the authority.
Now, suddenly regaining his freedom and happening to crash right above Ulduar, with old and new grudges combined, he was determined to take Ulduar no matter what. By regaining control of this massive Titan facility, he could not only use the machinery within to manufacture iron soldiers but also contact other secondary keepers through the facility to integrate them into a fighting force.
Beneath the dome of Ulduar, Odyn raised his holy light warhammer and led the Ebon Guard in a charge. The golden-white holy flames clashed with the cold iron of Loken's iron legion, sending sparks flying everywhere. The brutal slaughter instantly tore through the solemnity of the Titan temple.
The Hall of Valor warriors were clad in runic battle armor, their holy light sword energy shattering the armor of the Iron Dwarves. However, the iron army Loken drove through the Forge of Wills was endless. Iron Rune Giants swung lightning hammers, each strike shaking the ground and opening fissures. Even though the Ebon Guard warriors could return to the Hall of Valor after death, the excruciating pain of their bodies being crushed into pulp still permeated the battlefield.
The steam cannons left behind by Mimiron were controlled by Loken's rebels. Their muzzles spat out red-hot iron shells, blasting gaps in the Hall of Valor's lines. Holy light shields shattered one after another, and severed limbs and broken armor flew through the air amidst thick steam and smoke.
Odyn roared and threw his warhammer, a torrent of holy light crushing a row of Iron Vrykul. Yet, he saw more iron soldiers stepping over the remains of their comrades to fill the gaps. The runes on their cold iron blades flickered with the corrosive dark light of Old God enchantments; if struck, the light on one's body would gradually extinguish.
"Traitor, prepare to die!"
"You are the traitor! I am the righteous one! The Pantheon has already fallen. Heh, the Titans aren't coming back."
Loken spoke the terrifying truth in a crazed manner, his hands flickering with lightning to form a dense shield.
It possessed a powerful magnetic attraction, firmly catching the warhammer Odyn threw. He was indeed called the King of Wisdom, and his temple was named the Halls of Lightning; it was no empty title.
He and Odyn had worked together to seal Yogg-Saron in the past. They were old comrades-in-arms and knew each other perfectly. It was precisely because of this familiarity that he feared Odyn's return. Now, looking at Loken's eyes, a black mist began to spread—a sign that his mind had been corrupted by the power of the Old God.
When the mind is corrupted, fear naturally dissipates, giving him the courage to duel Odyn. If they truly fought, while Loken was no match, he wouldn't be defeated so quickly. He only needed to hold out until the army of Faceless Ones arrived. With the help of the high-ranking General, even Odyn wouldn't be able to take him down!
As the battle reached its peak, a mind-shattering whisper echoed from the depths of Ulduar. General Vezax, the Faceless Overlord, appeared shrouded in shadow and black mist, while countless Faceless servants surged from the fissures like a tide.
After General Vezax dealt with Algalon, he had intended to observe for a while longer. But he soon saw Loken being pummeled by Odyn. Despite summoning the courage to clash with magical lightning, the gap in strength was too large. If Loken hadn't been made of a special metal-forged iron body, a flesh-and-blood body would have been destroyed long ago.
Helpless, he had to take the field personally. Furthermore, Yogg-Saron had also given him an order: to eliminate Odyn at any cost. Aside from official business, this was purely a personal grudge.
With giant claws carrying the corrosive power of the Old God, a single pincer strike cut a Ebon Guard captain in half. Wherever the black mist passed, the holy light dissolved inch by inch. Warriors' eyes bled, their minds driven frantic by the whispers, until they actually swung their swords at their own comrades.
The tentacles of the Faceless Ones ensnared the Hall of Valor warriors, dragging them into the black mist to be devoured, leaving only shrill screams echoing across the vast plaza. Seeing this, Loken activated all the steam cannons, firing dense iron shells wrapped in shadow-corrosive magic at Odyn's lines. The holy light barriers were blasted with large holes, and dozens of Ebon Guard were instantly turned into blood mist.
Odyn's eyes were blood-red, and the holy light around him surged like a scorching sun. His warhammer struck the ground, triggering a massive holy light array that burned the approaching Faceless Ones to ash. He spread his hands and channeled divine power, using the holy light attribute to resurrect the fallen Hall of Valor warriors once again.
The warriors of the Hall of Valor were undying; as long as the Hall of Valor remained and Odyn lived, there would be a continuous stream of warriors.
In the sky, the holy light cannons and giant ballistae had been loaded. At Odyn's command, holy light shells over two meters in diameter poured down, engulfing the iron soldiers surging from the halls of Ulduar.
The light beams precisely located joints to cut and dismantle them; these shells were specifically designed against created soldiers. As a Guardian himself, Odyn had long ago prepared countermeasures in case Ulduar went out of control. He had intended to keep them as a last resort, but he hadn't expected Loken to be able to use Old God servants to aid him, so he had to reveal his trump card early.
At this time, a group of people quietly infiltrated Ulduar. After the war began, Ulduar's monitoring mechanisms had been destroyed. Even if Loken could sense a breach in the defenses, he had no time to repair it. He was busy fighting Odyn and didn't dare to be distracted for even a moment; if he did, the warhammer would smash his head to pieces.
The hall was built around a massive furnace, its huge stone steps originally part of the mountains themselves, merely cut to form corridors and walkways. Everything here was sized for ten-meter-tall giants; the Titan Keepers' usual height was around ten meters, though they could grow significantly during combat as needed.
The taller they grew, the more energy they consumed. Therefore, when not in combat, maintaining a height of ten meters or lower effectively slowed energy loss. It was very difficult for them to replenish energy; they had almost no way other than relying on the Forge of Wills to absorb the energy radiating from the world soul.
Arthas and the others appeared very small here. Ordinarily, there would be iron soldiers on patrol. Patrolling was their programmed duty. Essentially, no other race could break through Ulduar's defense mechanisms.
Now, these patrolling soldiers had been summoned outside to fight the Hall of Valor, and a portion had previously been diverted to besiege Algalon. Now, the interior of the massive facility was almost in an undefended state, with only Faceless Ones stationed in the lower areas to prevent any Keepers from coming to reinforce the prison.
They couldn't be said to be completely unaware of what was happening in the upper levels, but at the very least, they were completely ignoring it.
Heading northwest from the hall led to the Conservatory of Life. This was a massive greenhouse with changes for all four seasons. It was also the temple of the only female Titan Keeper, Freya. Ever since her mind was corrupted by the Old God Yogg-Saron, she had stubbornly resisted the other's whispers.
Although she wasn't completely corrupted, she had lost her sanity. She simply wandered through the dilapidated garden, mechanically performing the work of maintaining the greenhouse.
Stepping into this area for the first time, the ground was covered in withered fallen leaves. It was unknown how much time had passed, and there was a unique scent of forest decay. In the middle was a river, originally used for irrigation, but now it had dried up due to lack of maintenance, the cracked earth of the dry riverbed emitting an air of desolation.
The greenhouse was vast, with towering mountains visible in the distance. At the foot of the mountains, a massive female creation was moving slowly, followed by three withered ancient trees. These ancient trees were very similar to the Treants of the Night Elf race; perhaps it was the technology Freya taught them that allowed them to cultivate various living ancient trees.
"That should be Freya. Her mind is currently corrupted by Yogg-Saron. We need to block Yogg-Saron's mental detection and then control Freya to restore her sanity."
Arthas finally saw this legendary Titan Keeper, who was also particularly unique.
In his memory, Ulduar had four Titan Keepers who could be awakened; they could help greedy adventurers fight against the final boss, Yogg-Saron.
They were Freya, the Keeper of Life; Hodir, the Keeper of Ice; Thorim, the Keeper of Storms; and Mimiron, the Keeper of Invention. Currently, only Freya and Mimiron were in the temple. The other two were still outside, not yet lured in by Loken's deception.
As soon as they began to move, the corrupted Freya in the distance spotted the intruders. A rare crimson bloodlust surged in her clouded eyes as she roared loudly.
"Get out of my temple, intruders! Damn you!"
"Activate Level One Defense Protocols! Crush these insects!"
The Red Dragon Queen hadn't come because of her pregnancy; only the Green Dragon Queen Ysera was by his side. Her eyes held a complex gaze; back then, it was Freya who had familiarized them with their powers, guiding and teaching them how to wield the power of the Aspects.
Now, less than twenty thousand years later, everything had changed. The wise and kind Keeper of Life, who disliked using force to solve problems, had become mad and bloodthirsty, ready to destroy everything at a moment's notice.
"Can we avoid killing her?"
"Didn't I say I wouldn't kill her? If I really intended to kill her, I wouldn't have brought you along—just as I haven't had any improper thoughts despite you dressing so revealingly in front of me every day."
With a great enemy before them, Arthas still had the mind to crack jokes. It was hard to tell if this was teasing or a flirtatious probe. If there was a chance, he'd take a step further; if she was repulsed, he'd treat it as a joke. Anyway, as long as he wasn't embarrassed, the embarrassment belonged to others.
The advantage is mine!
Ysera never knew the meaning of shyness. She charged more fiercely than anyone in battle; though she looked quiet, she was actually violent. She didn't know what embarrassment was either; that word didn't exist in her dictionary.
"If you want it, I won't refuse."
This instead left Arthas a bit speechless. He rubbed his nose and turned his head away.
"You're joking, right?"
"I never joke. I simply trust Alexstrasza's judgment, and I also want to know what it feels like for a human woman to be pregnant. What would be the difference between the child born and a dragon? You are a demigod, sufficient to be my mate."
Ysera's expression was dead serious; such matters held not a hint of bashfulness for her. She was the Green Dragon Queen, a supreme being worshipped and humored by her subordinates—how could she be embarrassed?
"Alright, let's discuss this slowly when we get back. We need to solve Freya's problem first."
Arthas reined in his racing thoughts. He was quite interested in Ysera's proposal; he also really wanted to see what Ysera would look like with a large belly—that would surely be interesting.
Though the Temple of Life was dilapidated, its defense mechanisms remained; all passages to the outside were sealed. Aside from that, the artillery support that should have been there didn't appear; it had been destroyed long ago in the war with Loken. Furthermore, since Mimiron had also been sabotaged, it had remained in a state of disrepair.
"Jandice, it's up to you. If you fight this battle well, I'll reward you with a child."
Arthas drew frostmourne in preparation. If he were to act, he would kill Freya; even if it wasn't an instant kill, she wouldn't last long against him.
One's own strength is the foundation of rule, but having strong people around also makes ruling much more worry-free.
Jandice was overjoyed. She had long wanted to bear a child belonging to her and her master. The Barov Family had fallen and their titles had been confiscated, but their fiefdom remained, reserved for her.
And what was the best way? Naturally, it was to have a child with the bloodline of the King of Lordaeron to inherit it; that status would be a natural shield.
"Master, please watch my performance."
Jandice had been continuously blessed; she possessed the authority of a Divine Envoy and was infused with the energy leaking from the world soul.
This pure, vast energy merely raised her mana capacity and spell power without changing her form. This gave her a stronger ability to create even more realistic illusions. This had been verified countless times before; the final test was now the Titan Keeper before her.
As one of the known top-tier combatants, if she could confuse and defeat Freya, she would truly be the number one illusionist in Azeroth, bar none.
Mana diffused to form a unique magic circle according to a specific trajectory, and with a wave of her jade-like hand, a cloud of magical dust appeared. This dust drifted onto Freya and several withered Ancients beside her, quickly replicating their scent and form.
Densely packed red dots appeared before Freya's eyes, each representing an enemy. There were too many, yet she felt no fear.
Maintaining a size of ten meters, her massive fist smashed down, crushing a red dot into meat paste. In her eyes, these intruders had merged with the soil; their corpses would make the earth more fertile, nourishing the plants in her garden.
In reality, however, she had smashed her own follower to death. That giant Lasher didn't even have time to react, never expecting its own master to strike it down.
A strange phenomenon occurred: the intruder who should have died stood up again before her, transforming into a massive tentacle monster. Root-like vines tightly coiled around her calves, and sharp fangs snapped at her. Though they posed no threat to her metallic body,
the fact that a tiny weakling dared to resist her instead of dying quietly enraged her corrupted mind once more. Roaring, she grabbed the tentacle monster's head and, with a shout, tore it in half!
In reality, she was tearing a nearby Ancient protector in half. Before even making contact with the enemy, she had begun slaughtering her own creations from a great distance.
As even the Keeper was deluded, the Ancient protectors below also took Freya for an intruder, launching fearless attacks against her. In their perception, an intruder had taken on the form of a giant. They felt no fear; even as their companions were trampled, dying, or torn apart before them, they showed no emotional fluctuation.
They were originally lifeless objects, operating mechanically based on infused commands. Their core directive was to defend the Temple of Life; they were no different from robots.
Arthas watched from a distance, even ceremoniously bringing out a bottle of red wine and pouring several glasses for Ysera, Vereesa, Tyrande, and Thalyssra. He hadn't brought many people this time, not even the archaeology team.
Few came, but they were all elites. As a Ranger, Vereesa was very skilled at scouting intelligence; she had been here before and was familiar with the place. Most importantly, she had to come because Sylvanas was absent due to pregnancy, so she had to step up to fill the void.
Thalyssra was the same; the Archmage had gone to Kul Tiras to support Jaina. She could only reluctantly fill in. In this timeline, Elisande had not defected to the Burning Legion, so there was no need for her to lead a Nightborne uprising; she remained content as a deputy. She wouldn't even get to know the Blood Elves, and thus wouldn't marry Lorthemar.
As for Tyrande, she was purely there for companionship; her combat power was a mystery. She was an archer, a priestess of the goddess, and could even transform into the Night Warrior—a truly versatile form. Since she hadn't seen her husband in a long time, she came along to accompany him.
She wasn't good at expressing her feelings, so she claimed she came following the Moon Goddess's guidance, but it was actually just an excuse. Arthas didn't expose her lie; he hadn't expected the grand High Priestess of Elune to be so shy.
The group enjoyed their afternoon tea, watching how the illusionist Jandice used spells to play Freya like a fiddle.
If not for the need to redeem her, the result would have been Arthas going up and solving it with two punches.
As a Titan Keeper leaning towards a support and healing role, she was exceptionally fierce in actual combat, showing no sign of being a support. Every exchange with her own creations was a trade of wounds, and her cracked body would be quickly repaired. Such a character, who feared no death and had extreme recovery, was practically a tank on the battlefield!
Arthas fell into deep thought. While resting his hand on Tyrande's shoulder, he asked about the doubt in his heart.
"They should all be made of special metal. The power of life shouldn't affect steel and metal, so how can they be repaired?"
In Warcraft, there was a distinction between biological and mechanical units. Biological units could recover health through various healing methods like Holy Light or healing totems. But mechanical units like siege engines, tanks, and planes couldn't; they needed peons for repairs, and each repair cost extra gold.
Therefore, in his view, the advantage of a steel body was its durability, but once broken, it was difficult to fix. A faster way was to replace damaged parts, which could also achieve a repair effect, but conventional healing shouldn't work.
Tyrande wasn't very clear on this either. She didn't know Freya, only Aspects like Ysera. She shook her head and admitted it frankly.
"I don't really understand; I haven't studied it. Hearing you say it, it is indeed a bit strange. Unless this Keeper's body isn't metal, but a metal-like lifeform. Among the Night Elves, we have many allies, one of which is the Mountain Giant. They are natural lifeforms hatched from rock, their entire bodies formed of solid stone, yet they can still be healed by our Moon Wells after being injured."
If she hadn't seen it, she hadn't seen it, but there were many similar cases.
Mountain Giants were a special unit of the Night Elves, each over five meters tall—definitively combat-type giants. They also appeared in the Battle of Mount Hyjal, serving as the primary element of the Night Elf defensive line. It was precisely because of this that they were nearly wiped out by Archimonde.
Azeroth was truly a magical place. It had clear classifications like biological, undead, and mechanical, yet these classifications could combine with each other.
At the very least, Cenarius's offspring, the Grove Wardens, could produce flesh-and-blood Centaur descendants with an Earth Elemental princess made of primordial rock. This was truly bizarre; thinking with the logic of a carbon-based lifeform, one could huff two tanks of gas and still not figure out how that could be born.
"She does not have a metal body, but rather a plant-based one. Plants can also be very solid, just appearing like metal. Except for her, the other Keepers are forged from metal; they are not indestructible and can be destroyed. Galakrond once bit off Keeper Tyr's arm; they are not invincible."
"When I met Freya, she already had this transformation. I don't know if it was the influence of the power of life or a special evolution."
Ysera stepped forward to explain the reason. She was the most authoritative witness; though she wasn't sure why, the result was obvious.
The followers ahead had been eliminated by Freya, yet her health bar had decreased by less than a fifth and was slowly recovering. Killing her wouldn't be easy, and it was unknown if she had any fail-safe mechanisms.
In the illusion created by Jandice, Freya continued to destroy. In her eyes, enemies were everywhere. Her hands repeatedly pounded the mountains, treating them as foes. Every time her fist collided with the mountains, it caused a violent tremor, and she herself would take reflected damage, lowering her health.
However, the attrition couldn't keep up with her recovery. If they wanted to defeat her by wearing her down this way, who knew how much time it would take? What they lacked most now was time. Time is money, my friend.
"It seems we'll have to take the field ourselves."
Seeing this, Ysera was eager to try. Her hands were itching for a fight, craving a fierce battle to vent her excess energy.
"No, let's hear the expert's opinion."
Arthas opened a void portal, and a moment later, a woman wrapped in plants stepped out. This was Freya's avatar. She was the only Keeper who could create an avatar to guard the ecological garden in her stead; such an avatar possessed the Keeper's thoughts, will, and a portion of her authority.
"Lady Freya, it seems your true self is facing difficulties. We need your help."
The avatar nodded expressionlessly. She had been guarding the Sholazar Basin, an ecological garden constructed by the Titans to observe and simulate the evolution of Azeroth's creatures—essentially a giant biological laboratory.
In the game, if one went to the Sholazar Basin, they could see her fighting against the Scourge, working hard to expel the invading undead. The avatar wasn't very strong and was relatively rational; completing her quests would even yield a decent weapon.
"I need you to suppress my true body, ideally beating her until she has no strength left to resist. I will then merge with the true body to awaken her will. She has merely been corrupted by the power of the Old God."
As soon as she finished speaking, Arthas patted Ysera and gestured with his chin for her to go up.
"I'll support you from behind. Go ahead."
"Fine."
Without hesitation, Ysera rushed out, transforming back into her Green Dragon form in mid-air and pouncing with a roar.
She used no offensive spells, only buffing herself with some defensive magic and mage-assisted attack power. The woman and the dragon grappled together. Biting, tail-swiping, clawing—it was a primitive brawl to the extreme, every blow dealing true damage.
Arthas placed a healing totem behind her. This was a skill originating from Orc Shamans and Troll Witch Doctors, which he had now learned. One only needed to place one down to slowly recover a percentage of health, and its advantage was being effective on a group.
Unlike the skills cast by those Shamans, Arthas's skills were improved versions blessed by the world soul. Such group skills would have an additional bonus when facing a single target.