Rhodes was secretly delighted. Kel'Thuzad had appeared exactly when expected, just as he had calculated.
"His goal is to take Arthas!" Sylvanas immediately shouted to Straker. She raised her longbow, a dark arrow already manifesting. "Stop him! We cannot let him take Arthas!"
If it were just her forces, she would have had to retreat by now, but Straker had a considerable number of Death Knights under his command capable of putting up a fight. If they allowed Arthas and Kel'Thuzad to escape today, the Scourge would eventually return, and as traitors, they would be the first targets marked for elimination.
"You don't need to tell me! Arthas's life is mine! Kel'Thuzad, if you want him, you'll have to go through my blade first!" Straker spurred his Bone Dragon, charging toward Kel'Thuzad in a blur of crimson light.
Kel'Thuzad snorted coldly, refusing to engage Straker in melee. As a Lich, he excelled at ranged spells and summoning. Waving his hands, he instantly conjured several rotating ice spikes in front of him, while a terrifying wave of frost energy surged toward both Sylvanas and Straker.
A large swarm of Gargoyles flew out from the portal, shrieking as they dove toward the allied forces. These were ranged attackers rather than melee units, and their arrival immediately caused significant trouble for the coalition.
"Waaaaagh!" Just then, a series of shrill screams erupted as Sylvanas and her Banshees unleashed their Banshee Wail.
A grey shockwave rippled out from the Wight-Banshees, forming a massive area-of-effect attack that struck the Gargoyles in the sky, causing them to fall like stones to the ground.
At the same time, Straker's Death Knight unit made its move. Fifty Blood Dread Death Knights, fully converted by the power of Blood, swung their massive zanbatos. They tore into Kel'Thuzad's front lines like tigers among sheep. With every sweep of their blades, large numbers of Ghouls and Skeletons were cleaved in two. Even higher-tier units like Crypt Fiends and Abominations stood no chance, falling in a single strike.
Arthas watched the scene with growing dread. What are these terrifying knights? They are stronger than my own Death Knights.
They looked like a variation of the Death Knight class, but they radiated a bone-chilling aura. Was this something Straker had developed in secret, or was Rhodes the one pulling the strings?
The Lich King had once suspected that the Titan Watchers were also researching the power of death. Death was not inherently evil; where there is life, there is death. These Watchers might have created an entirely new type of undead—beings that were never truly alive to begin with. The Lich King remarked that this was strikingly similar to the mysterious Shadowlands.
This was the origin of the undead army under Rhodes. Although Rhodes had been cautious, the fundamental reason for the internal strife between the Scourge and the Burning Legion during the Battle of Mount Hyjal was the sudden appearance of a mysterious skeleton army that attacked the Legion forces, forcing them to retaliate against the Scourge.
According to the Lich King's original plan, he would have betrayed the Legion after Archimonde's defeat. However, thanks to Rhodes's maneuvers, that betrayal was moved forward. Since then, the Lich King's focus on Rhodes had intensified, but just as he planned to strike, the mysterious attack hit the Frozen Throne, causing his power to bleed away. Out of desperation, he had summoned Kel'Thuzad and Arthas to defend him.
As Arthas was lost in thought, the Blood Dread Death Knights reached him. These massive, robust warriors clad in thick Saronite armor exerted an unimaginable pressure. Arthas found himself in a desperate struggle, his armor being struck several times. Had it not been for the protection of his Saronite plate, he would have been finished.
These guys are incredible—every one of them is at the level of an elite Death Knight. Dammit, Straker, he actually raised such a horrific army in secret.
"Protect the King! Let no one harm him!" Kel'Thuzad ordered. Dozens of massive Crypt Fiends crawled out of the portal, quickly burrowing into the ground to try and reach Arthas.
A massive wave of cannon-fodder undead began to cluster around Arthas, absorbing the attacks of the Blood Dread Death Knights. The canyon descended into total chaos. Gargoyles tangled with Banshees in the air, while Crypt Fiends clashed with Sylvanas's ground troops.
Straker swung his greatsword, shattering the frost spells and undead summons Kel'Thuzad threw his way. He appeared to be approaching the Lich with unmatched ferocity, but in reality, he was carefully controlling the rhythm, never using his full strength. The performance, however, fooled everyone.
Kel'Thuzad's goal clearly wasn't a fight to the death. While using powerful frost magic to delay the advance of Straker and Sylvanas, he directed the Crypt Fiends to drag the heavily wounded Arthas to a safer zone, shielding them with a wall of disposable minions.
"Straker! Sylvanas! The Lich King's wrath shall surely find you! Just you wait!" Kel'Thuzad declared in his hollow voice. He began channeling a powerful teleportation spell, a brilliant blue light enveloping him, Arthas, and his core elite units.
"No! Straker, he's escaping! Do something!" Sylvanas turned pale with alarm. Dammit, I shouldn't have let Straker play around; I should have ended Arthas with an arrow myself.
"Shut up, woman! I'll handle it!" A blood-red light erupted from Straker. His Bone Dragon mount let out a roar and took to the skies.
He charged toward Arthas, his runeblade Soulshredder held high. It looked as though he intended to put everything into a final charge to strike Arthas down.
"Stop him! Buy me time!" Kel'Thuzad shouted in panic, ordering his airborne units to throw themselves into Straker's path regardless of the cost. He used his remaining mana to place a Frost Shield and an Arcane Shield around Arthas.
"Don't even think about running! Your life is mine, Arthas!" Straker roared, sending a massive wave of blood-red sword energy crashing against the magical barrier. The shield flickered violently but did not break.
Sylvanas fired arrow after arrow, her dark shafts exploding into clouds of black mist upon impact, yet they couldn't stop the spell's completion. In the final moment, the teleportation succeeded.
"We shall meet again, traitors... once King Arthas has dealt with the business in Northrend... it will be your day of reckoning." Kel'Thuzad's voice faded into the void.
A split second later, a burst of Arcane light illuminated the entire canyon. When it cleared, Kel'Thuzad, Arthas, and the elite Scourge were gone, leaving only the massive portal to slowly wink out of existence.
The canyon grew quiet, occupied only by Straker, Sylvanas, their troops, and the discarded remains of low-level undead and Gargoyles. The atmosphere was heavy; Arthas had been rescued, their primary goal had failed, and their carefully planned ambush had ended in an escape.
Sylvanas's face was grim. She stowed her bow and looked at Straker, her tone complex. "This is going to be trouble. The Lich King will never forgive us. What do you plan to do?"
Originally, she had planned to deal with Kel'Thuzad or even turn on Straker after Arthas was dead, but now the board had changed. She had no reason to doubt Straker's performance; the power he had unleashed at the end was no weaker than a full-strength Arthas—provided Arthas wasn't channeling the Lich King's direct power through Frostmourne.
"They can run, but they can't hide. That fool Kel'Thuzad thinks he's safe inside Naxxramas? He forgot that I have a floating fortress of my own. I'll hunt him down to Naxxramas itself, cut him down, and then finish off Arthas," Straker snorted.
"That's not a good plan. Naxxramas is far larger than your Shadowfane Bastion, and it's teeming with undead. A direct assault is suicide," Sylvanas shook her head. "Besides, the Scourge has more than just Naxxramas in the Eastern Kingdoms. Stratholme to the north is also a stronghold with hundreds of thousands of undead. We should join forces, if only to ensure our own survival."
"And who do you think should be in charge? I believe I told you—I don't take orders from you."
"And I won't take orders from you. But I have a compromise: we rule all free undead together. I am the Banshee Queen, and you are the High Deathlord. Our status shall be equal as we govern those who have reclaimed their freedom. What do you say?" Sylvanas asked.
This was the best solution she could offer. Though they were free, the Scourge wasn't the only threat; the remnants of the human forces would want them dead as well. They had to huddle together for warmth rather than fight amongst themselves.