Norushen was a primitive Mogu. Compared to other mass-produced versions, his intelligence was higher; Andreas speculated that he must be a leader version specifically created by Ra-den.
The pure-minded Immolthar was relatively easy to fool, but the stone-headed Norushen was not so simple.
Even though Andreas repeatedly emphasized that he was there to scout ahead for Ra-den, Norushen refused to let Andreas pass until he saw his master with his own eyes.
By the time Ra-den and Celeste arrived, Andreas had already given up on arguing with this stubborn stone guard and was contentedly squatting on the ground, telling Norushen and Immolthar about the colorful world of Azeroth, with Dragon occasionally chiming in from the side.
Immolthar's eyes visibly brightened as the stories progressed, and even Norushen, who had been maintaining an impartial expression, couldn't help but get a little distracted.
Most Titan Constructs are single-minded; they will diligently perform their duties until their mission fails or is completed.
Seeing Ra-den reappear after tens of thousands of years, Immolthar and Norushen were startled and quickly stood straight, assuming a posture ready to receive orders.
"Never mind."
Ra-den waved his hand helplessly and glanced at the grinning Andreas.
"Norushen, open the sealed gates. We are here to retrieve the Heart of Y'Shaarj."
"Yes!"
Norushen's expression turned solemn. Although he had doubts about Ra-den's decision, he chose to follow orders without any hesitation.
*Clack~*
As Norushen used synchronized energy to twist the mechanism at the center of the gate, extremely complex magical patterns emerged across the entire door. After several minutes of reorganization and alignment, these magic runes finally formed a landscape map of The Jade Forest.
*Rumble!*
The heavy gates, which had been closed for ten thousand years, slowly opened. Andreas raised his hand to stop Ra-den, who was about to step inside.
"Wait a moment. Prepare for battle; we need to disperse the enemy's form as quickly as possible."
"Huh?"
Ra-den was puzzled. "Battle? What are you talking about? Inside this sealed chamber, there is only..."
"Roar!"
Before Ra-den could finish his sentence, a threatening roar suddenly echoed from within the hall.
As the gates fully opened, a hideous and ugly creature, looking as if it were composed of countless ink-wash paintings, appeared before everyone's eyes.
"Aaaah!!"
Immolthar pointed angrily at the monster perched atop the chest containing the Heart of Y'Shaarj. A look of shock and fury also appeared on Norushen's face; clearly, they were also ignorant of this monster's origin.
Andreas looked at the monster in its defensive stance with a grave expression. "One of the remnants of the seven-headed Y'Shaarj, the Sha of Pride—the incarnation of the only emotion Emperor Shaohao failed to purge from his body ten thousand years ago: Pride."
Theoretically, the seven great Sha could appear anywhere on this continent, in anyone's heart.
They were not creatures with physical bodies, but rather collective manifestations of negative emotions that appeared with the help of the negative feelings in people's hearts.
It wasn't hard to understand why the Sha of Pride chose to dwell near the sealed Heart of Y'Shaarj; it wanted to draw nourishment from the only remaining physical flesh of Y'Shaarj to strengthen itself.
Fortunately, the chest Ra-den used to seal the Heart of Y'Shaarj was very effective. Although the Sha of Pride had slipped into the hall past the surveillance of Norushen and Immolthar, it had never found a way to break the final seal.
With a heavy expression, Ra-den signaled Norushen to re-close the sealed gates from the inside. At the same time, Immolthar controlled the Purifying Waters to completely seal off the entire hall, cutting off all escape routes for the Sha of Pride.
"Vile lackeys of the Titans!"
As the Sha of Pride roared, Celeste felt the pride within her heart grow wildly.
Her deeply buried possessiveness toward Andreas was rapidly magnified. She arrogantly believed that only she was worthy of Andreas, and she subconsciously developed an intense feeling of rejection toward Shandris.
Just as Celeste was conflictedly trying to control the strange thoughts growing in her heart, Andreas reached out and pressed a finger to her temple.
"Calm your heart and clear the chaotic thoughts from your mind. Do not let these negative emotions affect you."
A cool energy stimulated Celeste's rationality. With Andreas' help, she stabilized her emotions and felt extremely ashamed of the dark thoughts she had just harbored.
"Hmph!"
As a Keeper, Ra-den was not affected by the emotional manipulation of the Sha of Pride. A bolt of golden lightning appeared out of thin air in his right hand.
At this moment, Ra-den finally displayed his might as the Great Guardian. Under the reverent gazes of Norushen and Immolthar, Ra-den hurled the crackling, physical lightning in his hand toward the Sha of Pride.
"Dreg of Y'Shaarj, perish!"
*Zzap!*
The golden lightning crossed the vast hall almost instantly, plunging into the Sha of Pride's body without resistance. Dazzling bolts of lightning flickered throughout the sealed hall, illuminating the entire chamber in a golden glow.
As the Sha of Pride let out a desperate scream, it once again ramped up its emotional manipulation within the hall.
Unfortunately, its final struggle failed to work. With Andreas' help, Celeste guarded her mind and entered a state of deep meditation, failing to attack Ra-den as it had hoped to create an opportunity for itself.
"Curse you!"
The Sha of Pride, its Sha energy largely dispersed, was heavily damaged by the lightning. It could no longer maintain its collective form and split into countless small Sha creatures crawling erratically around the hall.
Finally waiting for this moment, Andreas drew the sword of the dark empire from his waist with his left hand. A deep purple light appeared on the blade, and the small Sha creatures in the hall screamed in despair as they were sucked into the cackling Old God sword.
Seeing this, Ra-den frowned and reminded Andreas, "Andreas, are you sure you want to continue using that sword? If one day you can no longer control it, the harm caused by a reborn Old God will definitely be far greater than that of the Sha of Pride."
Andreas accepted the advice humbly. "I know, which is why I have always remained vigilant against her. Moreover..."
Pointing a finger toward the sky, Andreas smiled mysteriously. "I have a big Boss looking out for me from above; this fellow won't be able to stir up any major trouble."
Elune snorted coldly. "Hmph~ I'm just a tool after all, only mentioned when you happen to remember me."
Andreas' lips twitched slightly. "...Don't be like that. Don't I chat with you often?"
"An average of once every few years is considered 'often'?"
"That's because there wasn't much to talk about in the previous thousands of years! Haven't I significantly increased the frequency in the last twenty years or so?"
Ra-den looked at Andreas' changing expression and shook his head. "Fine, you are also a demigod; you should be aware of the dangers of the Old Gods. I won't waste any more words."
After absorbing the residual energy of the Sha of Pride, Xal'atath let out a satisfied burp.
"Comfortable! Back then, the first one to strike and tear my body apart was Y'Shaarj. The Sha of Pride is just the beginning; I will definitely eat all Seven Sha!"
"Yes, yes~"
Andreas shrugged and sheathed the sated sword of the dark empire back into the weapon belt at his waist. "As long as the mists of Pandaria disperse, you will have your chance. For now..."
Ra-den walked cautiously to the chest containing the Heart of Y'Shaarj and carefully undid the seal on the chest, which was made of neither metal nor wood.
Even before the sealed chest was opened, the intense Sha energy within had already begun to permeate the hall.
"Andreas, I will ask one last time. Are you truly certain you want to do this?"
"Certain."
Andreas looked encouragingly at the cowardly Ra-den, patted the Old God sword at his waist, and said, "Open it. I have a way to temporarily suppress the aura emitted by the heart. This thing is a grand gift I've prepared for the Mantid Queen."
The Mantid were a splinter group from the Aqir Empire, the most loyal Relatives of the Old God YShaarj.
Even though YShaarj had perished many years ago, they still had not given up hope of resurrecting their master.
The Old Gods indeed possessed tenacious vitality, as could be seen from Xal'atath, who, despite having only a wisp of his soul left, still maintained complete logic.
Strictly speaking, YShaarj was not completely dead yet, at least his soul wasn't.
His body was torn apart by Father of the Gods Aman'thul himself, but his soul, severely wounded, merged into the land of Pandaria, splitting into the seven Sha that could stir the negative emotions of Pandaria's inhabitants.
If the seven Sha could be gathered and reunited within YShaarj's heart, theoretically there would be a possibility of resurrecting YShaarj.
However, this condition could no longer be met; six of the Sha were still sealed in the mists by Emperor Shaohao, and the only one that escaped, the Sha of Pride, was completely torn apart and devoured by Xal'atath.
After Loken opened the Seal Box, a strong dark aura permeated the entire sealed chamber, but because it lacked the subjective manipulation of the Sha, these pure Void Power could not stir the emotions of those present.
Pointing the sword of the dark empire at YShaarj's heart, vast Void Power surged into Andreas' body through Xal'atath's conversion.
A portion of it was intercepted by Xal'atath herself; the power she couldn't consume was fully absorbed by Andreas.
As the Void Power was extracted, although YShaarj's Dark Heart continued to generate power autonomously, the oppressive aura felt by those present significantly weakened.
"Alright."
Andreas retracted the Old God's Greatsword and directly grasped the sticky, soft heart with his hand.
"Ugh! This texture is disgusting."
After a moment of hesitation, he still placed the heart back into the Seal Box.
"Just hold onto it for now, Celeste. You and Loken continue with the plan. I'm going to Mandevilla."
Celeste said nothing more, nodding obediently, but Loken asked with some concern, "Do you need me to send someone to escort you?"
"No need."
Andreas waved his hand with a smile, "I'm infiltrating to cause trouble, not charging in to rampage. More people would just make it inconvenient."
"You all prepare your respective tasks. There should be further developments soon."
...kypa sacred tree Mandevilla, the largest settlement of the Mantid Empire, where Queen Xak'thril's palace was built inside the sacred tree.
One day, patrolling Mantid guards unexpectedly discovered a piece of flesh overflowing with Dark Power near the great tree. They immediately collected this small piece of flesh and urgently sought an audience with the Queen.
After Queen Xak'thril's identification, it was basically confirmed that this flesh came from their master, YShaarj, and the entire Mantid Empire's high-ranking officials immediately became frenzied.
The clue they had been searching for tens of thousands of years finally appeared before their eyes. The Queen, while excited, also felt wary and puzzled.
The Mantid were, after all, YShaarj's Relatives. By using spells to expand the connection between the flesh, they cautiously proceeded step by step, finally finding a Seal Box that had lost its sealing effect deep beneath the long-abandoned Isle of Thunder overseas.
After obtaining the complete YShaarj's heart, the Mantid high-ranking officials treasured it as if it were a priceless gem. Queen Xak'thril personally enshrined the heart with great care in her Bedchamber.
The dark aura emanating from the heart did not arouse anyone's suspicion; instead, it evoked a deep-seated nostalgia in the Mantid, originating from their bloodline.
Not everyone was swept away by the sudden surprise; Prime Minister Zorlok of the Mantid Empire had raised questions.
Why did the heart fragment appear so coincidentally near Mandevilla, and why was the Seal Box, which had lost its sealing effect, carelessly abandoned beneath the Throne of Thunder?
After some exploration, no anomalies were found, and Prime Minister Zorlok eventually reached a conclusion that was barely logically consistent.
YShaarj's heart had actually been transferred to Loken's palace for suppression many years ago.
As the Throne of Thunder was breached by the Pandaren several years ago, the energy supplying the Throne of Thunder completely disappeared, and the seal on YShaarj's heart gradually lifted.
Although it still couldn't perfectly explain why the heart fragment appeared near Mandevilla, multiple tests found no danger, so Zorlok could only bury his doubts deep in his heart and calmly watch the Mantid Empire descend into revelry.
The Mantid's celebrations were confined to their own territory. Although the Taunka were quite puzzled by their recent unusual behavior, they had not yet discovered the reason.
During the Mantid's period of rejoicing, through Celeste's coordination, the core combat forces of the Pandaren, led by The Shado-Pan, quietly prepared for battle.
There was no further news from the flesh Mogu introduced into the Mogushan Vaults by Loken's treasure. The remaining Mogu tribes, uneasy, repeatedly sent Scouts into the Vaults to explore, but always found nothing.
The Mogu warlords who dared to contend for Loken's treasure all possessed formidable strength. To ensure they gained the upper hand over other tribes, they brought their most elite armies with them.
Having lost their respective tribal leaders and elite combat forces, the power of the flesh Mogu was greatly affected, and they gradually realized something was wrong.
The Mogushan Vaults was merely a seemingly sweet trap. After multiple fruitless searches, the Mogu no longer dared to easily approach this man-eating den of evil.
Just as Loken had predicted, although the flesh Mogu sent back to the narak'shaa engine for refurbishment retained their original memories and consciousness, they had lost their free souls.
Loken's original development of the narak'shaa engine's flesh curse reversal ability was not solely to enhance the combat power of his subordinate armies; consolidating his regime by relying on the soul reshaping function of the atavistic ability was also one of the important factors.
He used the lure of gaining powerful strength during atavism to send those meritorious and rebellious subordinates into the narak'shaa engine, eroding their will to resist.
Loken firmly controlled these Mogu in his hands through the authority he had stolen from Loken, thereby maintaining his permanent regime.
Regardless of Loken's original intention for modifying the narak'shaa engine, this function was indeed very practical.
The flesh Mogu whose will to resist had been annihilated became part of the Mogu army, and these battle-hardened flesh Mogu possessed stronger combat will and better tacit cooperation than the newly manufactured primitive Mogu.
In the internal military exercises of the Mogu, Loken could clearly distinguish the differences between the two types of Mogu; this batch of original flesh Mogu who had just completed their transformation were more valiant and skilled in battle.
The sudden discovery brought Loken to a sudden realization; he then understood that his created stone golem army lacked practical combat experience.
Coincidentally, Andreas' plan began to yield results.
Under the cumulative influence of the Sha of Pride's power emanating from the Dark Heart, Queen Xak'thril's originally mature and steady mindset gradually began to change.
This part of the Sha of Pride's power did not come from the Sha of Pride, but was a forgery simulated by Xal'atath after thoroughly understanding the principles of the Sha of Pride's power. Andreas injected it silently into YShaarj's heart.
Within several months, the Queen's behavior and demeanor visibly and gradually became arrogant.
Including Prime Minister Zorlok, who had always remained vigilant, all high-ranking Mantid officials living near the palace underwent a subtle transformation under the imperceptible influence, and they did not find the Queen's changes strange.
By the time the only awakened Klaxxi মুক্তিযোদ্ধাদের sensed that something was wrong, it was already too late.
The Sha of Pride's power seeping from the Dark Heart corrupted the entire Mantid Empire's high-ranking officials, and Queen Xak'thril's behavior became increasingly aggressive.
To establish immortal merits, the Queen, possessed by pride, arrogantly ordered the awakening of all Council of Heroes members, to gather all forces and launch an attack on The Serpents Spine, to decisively defeat the Pandaren's defenses.
"The time is ripe."
At The Serpents Spine wall section in The Jade Forest, Andreas looked into the distance at the gradually stirring Mantid, and the Council of Heroes, who maintained a rational and neutral stance, a slight smile curving at his lips.
"This is the training battle Loken has been looking forward to, Celeste. Notify the august celestials and the Pandaren; the decisive battle that will determine the future fate of Pandaria is about to begin."
The Mantid's celebrations were confined to their own territory. Although the Taunka were quite puzzled by their recent unusual behavior, they had not yet discovered the reason.
During the Mantid's period of rejoicing, through Celeste's coordination, the core combat forces of the Pandaren, led by The Shado-Pan, quietly prepared for battle.
There was no further news from the flesh Mogu introduced into the Mogushan Vaults by Loken's treasure. The remaining Mogu tribes, uneasy, repeatedly sent Scouts into the Vaults to explore, but always found nothing.
The Mogu warlords who dared to contend for Loken's treasure all possessed formidable strength. To ensure they gained the upper hand over other tribes, they brought their most elite armies with them.
Having lost their respective tribal leaders and elite combat forces, the power of the flesh Mogu was greatly affected, and they gradually realized something was wrong.
The Mogushan Vaults was merely a seemingly sweet trap. After multiple fruitless searches, the Mogu no longer dared to easily approach this man-eating den of evil.
Just as Loken had predicted, although the flesh Mogu sent back to the narak'shaa engine for refurbishment retained their original memories and consciousness, they had lost their free souls.
Loken's original development of the narak'shaa engine's flesh curse reversal ability was not solely to enhance the combat power of his subordinate armies; consolidating his regime by relying on the soul reshaping function of the atavistic ability was also one of the important factors.
He used the lure of gaining powerful strength during atavism to send those meritorious and rebellious subordinates into the narak'shaa engine, eroding their will to resist.
Loken firmly controlled these Mogu in his hands through the authority he had stolen from Loken, thereby maintaining his permanent regime.
Regardless of Loken's original intention for modifying the narak'shaa engine, this function was indeed very practical.
The flesh Mogu whose will to resist had been annihilated became part of the Mogu army, and these battle-hardened flesh Mogu possessed stronger combat will and better tacit cooperation than the newly manufactured primitive Mogu.
In the internal military exercises of the Mogu, Loken could clearly distinguish the differences between the two types of Mogu; this batch of original flesh Mogu who had just completed their transformation were more valiant and skilled in battle.
The sudden discovery brought Loken to a sudden realization; he then understood that his created stone golem army lacked practical combat experience.
Coincidentally, Andreas' plan began to yield results.
Under the cumulative influence of the Sha of Pride's power emanating from the Dark Heart, Queen Xak'thril's originally mature and steady mindset gradually began to change.
This part of the Sha of Pride's power did not come from the Sha of Pride, but was a forgery simulated by Xal'atath after thoroughly understanding the principles of the Sha of Pride's power. Andreas injected it silently into YShaarj's heart.
Within several months, the Queen's behavior and demeanor visibly and gradually became arrogant.
Including Prime Minister Zorlok, who had always remained vigilant, all high-ranking Mantid officials living near the palace underwent a subtle transformation under the imperceptible influence, and they did not find the Queen's changes strange.
By the time the only awakened Klaxxi মুক্তিযোদ্ধাদের sensed that something was wrong, it was already too late.
The Sha of Pride's power seeping from the Dark Heart corrupted the entire Mantid Empire's high-ranking officials, and Queen Xak'thril's behavior became increasingly aggressive.
To establish immortal merits, the Queen, possessed by pride, arrogantly ordered the awakening of all Council of Heroes members, to gather all forces and launch an attack on The Serpents Spine, to decisively defeat the Pandaren's defenses.
"The time is ripe."
At The Serpents Spine wall section in The Jade Forest, Andreas looked into the distance at the gradually stirring Mantid, and the Council of Heroes, who maintained a rational and neutral stance, a slight smile curving at his lips.
"This is the training battle Loken has been looking forward to, Celeste. Notify the august celestials and the Pandaren; the decisive battle that will determine the future fate of Pandaria is about to begin."
Months in advance, Celeste had warned the pandaren to prepare. When the mantid began to mobilize, the combat-oriented pandaren, led by the Shado-Pan, had already made thorough preparations on the Serpent's Spine, awaiting Andreas' final notification.
Years had passed, and the reborn Yu'lon had long since recovered to her peak state. The Four Celestials, at Ra'den's call, gathered in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
Dense throngs of primal Mogu and stone Quilen covered the land of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, a sight that even the defending Taran Zhu on the city walls found secretly alarming.
The Mogu'shan Vaults were a secret jointly guarded by the Keepers and the Four Celestials. Although the Shado-Pan knew the inside story, Taran Zhu had not expected the fully deployed Mogu army to be so massive.
Under Andreas' unified command, the Mogu army and the pandaren temporarily held their positions, diligently guarding the Serpent's Spine city wall line.
Taran Zhu had some reservations about Andreas' decision. He believed they should launch a preemptive strike before the mantid were fully prepared, to deal an initial blow to them.
"Don't rush, the situation might still change."
Andreas' gaze never left the Klaxxi'vess. The Klaxxi paragons, forcefully awakened by Empress Shek'zeer, had been acting very low-key recently, unusually so.
The members of the Paragons' Council were all heroes and champions who were absolute in their active years, and their unruly nature was precisely what they should possess.
Before the Empress grandly prepared to launch the invasion, the Paragons' Council had consistently remained silent. This situation was clearly not normal.
According to intelligence provided by the Shado-Pan, apart from sending scouts to remotely investigate the situation in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, the Klaxxi'vess had made no targeted moves.
"Master Zhu, don't you find it strange?"
Andreas crossed his arms over his chest, a playful smile on his lips. "The Klaxxi paragons conducted a remote reconnaissance of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms out of caution."
"Even if they couldn't see through the Mogu army shrouded by the barrier, they should have known that the pandaren had long since prepared for the confrontation. Why would the paragons, marked as the highest threat by the Shado-Pan, do nothing?"
"Logically, they should send their most excellent military strategists to the palace to discuss suitable attack strategies with the Empress, shouldn't they?"
Taran Zhu was appointed as the leader of the Shado-Pan, so his intelligence was certainly not low. He was just stuck in a blind spot due to the information blockade and habitual thinking.
After Andreas' reminder, Taran Zhu's mind raced, and he finally understood Andreas' meaning.
"Are you saying that the Klaxxi Paragons' Council might resist Empress Shek'zeer's rash decisions?"
Andreas smiled and added, "Not 'might,' but 'will.' And not just resist orders. These mantid heroes from various eras, once they discover the Empress' abnormality, are very likely to make even more radical decisions."
"Don't forget the privileges the Paragons' Council possesses. Empress Shek'zeer's current state is clearly problematic. If not now, when?"
...Just as Andreas had predicted, while the pandaren anxiously waited, the Mantid'vess, which was making its final preparations for battle, was suddenly attacked by its own kind.
Led by Kil'ruk the Wind-Reaver, the Klaxxi Paragons' Council gathered most of its combat power and came to the Mantid'vess palace under the pretext of an audience with the Empress.
Although Vizier Zor'lok's judgment was affected by arrogance, his inherent intelligence had not diminished.
Every generation of mantid emperors held both vigilance and reliance towards the Klaxxi paragons. An existence that transcended imperial power would inevitably be seen as a thorn in the king's side.
Zor'lok sensed an ominous atmosphere from the abnormal behavior of the entire Paragons' Council mobilizing. He immediately ordered the Mantid'vess defenders to heighten their alert and urgently recalled several elite generals stationed outside.
Sure enough, the recently awakened paragons discovered Zor'lok's precaution and brazenly launched an attack on the palace. A fierce military conflict erupted between the two sides near the Heart of Y'Shaarj, Mantid'vess.
Zor'lok had never relaxed his guard against the Paragons' Council. With his pre-prepared massive forces, he blocked the paragons' first wave of surprise attacks.
Empress Shek'zeer was furious upon learning of the Paragons' Council's rebellious actions. She issued a nationwide warrant, denouncing the Klaxxi Paragons' Council for betraying their kin and attempting treason.
Failing in their sneak attack, the Paragons' Council dispersed. Leveraging the paragons' faith and worship within mantid society, each raised an army, openly going to war with Empress Shek'zeer's regular army...
On the Serpent's Spine city wall, Taran Zhu stared dumbfounded at the mantid fighting each other fiercely in the distance.
"...Did a civil war really break out?"
Andreas patted Taran Zhu's sturdy shoulder. "As expected. Get your army ready; we're going to attack too."
Taran Zhu's expression sharpened. Realizing the opportune moment, he wasted no words, immediately turned, and descended the city wall to begin mustering his troops.
The Azure Serpent Yu'lon coiled below the city wall, gazing intently at Andreas' retreating figure. After a long moment, she sighed and said, "It's a good thing Andreas is a guardian who cares for Azeroth. If he were an enemy... the consequences would be unimaginable."
Xuen the White Tiger bared his teeth, snorting a puff of white air from his nostrils. "Hmph! I don't particularly like this kid's sneaky methods."
Niuzao the Black Ox, in his honest way, laughed heartily. "Never mind if it's sneaky or not, as long as it works against the enemy."
Chi-Ji the Red Crane held his head high, looking at the stone Mogu behind him, who were emerging from their dormant state and beginning to revive.
"It seems the long war with the mantid will finally conclude perfectly this time."
Ra'den, enveloped in crackling electricity, looked incredibly imposing. The Grand Keeper's aura made everyone present listen intently to his pre-battle mobilization speech with solemn expressions.
Ra'den, accustomed to being a slacker, was now forced into action, reading from the script Andreas had prepared for him in advance.
"Creatures of Pandaria, please raise your heads. I am Ra, the Grand Keeper dispatched by the Titans to Azeroth."
"Throughout the long years, the mantid have inflicted countless sufferings upon the lives residing in Pandaria."
"Countless happy families have been torn apart by the mantid invasion. Brave guardians have shed their blood on the Serpent's Spine for generations, using their precious lives to build strong walls for the people behind them."
"Today! We shall end the mantid's tens of thousands of years of nightmare upon Pandaria. Seizing this excellent opportunity of enemy infighting, we will sweep away the remnants of Y'Shaarj in one fell swoop!"
The clear sky above the Vale of Eternal Blossoms suddenly became overcast. The lightning on Ra'den's body seemed to connect with heaven and earth, his golden lightning-flashing eyes boosting the morale of all the pandaren present.
"The time for counterattack has come! All forces! Charge with me!"
"Oh!!!"
As soon as Ra'den finished speaking, his figure instantly transformed into a flash of lightning, streaking past the city wall and into the Dread Wastes. The long-accumulated thunder in the sky crashed down.
Large numbers of mantid, from an unknown faction, were flying in the sky, guarding against the Serpent's Spine. The sudden, violent lightning ignited countless fireballs of all sizes in the air, and charred mantid corpses rained down from the sky.
Pandaren monks nimbly leaped from the city wall, landing steadily with their agile movements, and plunged into the ground mantid army, wielding their staves and fists.
As the western city wall of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms opened, the Mogu army surged out like a flood, relying on their hard bodies to engage in head-on combat with the mantid attempting to counterattack, meeting force with force.
"We should set off too. Come on."
Celeste, cradling the water spirit Immersius, jumped onto the back of Andreas, who had transformed into a gryphon. The gryphon, flapping its wings, rapidly accelerated, causing a sonic boom as it charged towards the nearest Heart of Y'Shaarj, Zahr.
"Divide and conquer. Let's start with this guy."
Kaz'tik the Manipulator, a member of the Klaxxi Paragons' Council, who was commanding his army in battle, suddenly felt a chill run through him. A sense of deadly threat, from an unknown source, precisely locked onto him.
Sidestepping the counter-charging Mantid squad, Andreas swept his hand and traced a flame of Holy Light, setting every one of these Shadow-empowered Mantid ablaze.
When power forms clash, the side with the higher tier almost always steamrolls the other.
Kaz'tik the Manipulator can indeed use his abilities to strengthen elite Mantid squads, but so-called elites are nothing special in front of a demi-god.
"Holy Fire."
Golden fire that seemed to pierce sky and earth effortlessly burned through Kaz'tik's shadow barrier, reducing him to a heap of black ash amid the insect's hoarse screams.
"Done. Next."
Andreas wasn't fixated on the Klaxxi paragons alone. The next Mantid general to die belonged to Empress Shek'zeer's faction; by his own introduction he was called Blade Lord Ta'yak.
But the Blade Lord never got anywhere near his enemies; Celeste kept him locked down from start to finish.
The moment he stepped out of the Ring of Fire he was blasted away.
If he somehow rushed to Celeste's side she simply Blinked away, leaving him to face a fully-buffed instant Pyroblast delivered with Presence of Mind.
While trimming both sides' health, Andreas' group advanced behind Loken's main army.
By the time the Mantid fighting inside the palace sensed the deadlier external threat, it was already too late.
A few Klaxxi paragons had once "had the honor" to spar with Lei Shen and lived; the lightning Loken commanded was even more refined, its destructiveness on another level entirely.
Add to that a larger force of Mogu than Lei Shen had led back then, plus Pandaren support, and the divided Council paragons and Empress' forces couldn't stop the stone army's charge.
When the two civil-war factions finally agreed to set aside ideology and face the outsider together, the scattered Klaxxi paragons and Empress generals had already suffered heavy losses.
"Boom!"
Loken raised his hand and called down endless thunder, clearing all the trash in front of Mandevilla Palace in one go.
Andreas looked up at the cloud-piercing Mandevilla, pondered for a moment, then asked Celeste, "Celeste, can you set this giant tree on fire?"
"Hah?" Celeste rolled her eyes. "Impossible. It's no Nordrassil, but this kypa sacred tree is still enormous."
"Unless we had a hundred fire Magisters blasting it non-stop, ordinary sparks wouldn't do much."
While plants usually fear fire, that's only true for common trees.
The Mantid make their home around the kypa sacred tree because it produces a special amber sap.
Once cooled, this amber becomes incredibly hard; the energy sealed inside can keep a creature alive for eons. The Klaxxi paragons use it to hibernate.
As the Mantid capital, Mandevilla is coated in twilight-hued amber. It turns blades and resists magic; treating it like any other plant simply won't work.
As the Mantid cradle, Mandevilla's importance and symbolism are self-evident; its defenses outclass every other kypa tree.
Conversely, destroying this holy site would crush their will and open a straight path into the palace, making the rest of the battle far easier.
Empress Shek'zeer's palace lies inside Mandevilla. Unless absolutely necessary Andreas didn't want to crawl through tree tunnels—cramped spaces would negate their numerical advantage.
'Might as well try.'
While fighting Kiljaeden, Andreas stumbled on a discovery when switching Holy Light and Shadow between his hands.
Out of habit he'd always assumed Light and Shadow would violently repel and cancel each other.
Before, he used gentle nature power as a buffer to keep the two forces from touching inside his body.
But under Kiljaeden's life-threatening pressure he lost control for an instant and the two energies intertwined.
To his surprise, Light and Shadow didn't erupt in massive conflict.
Repulsion did occur, yet stayed confined within limits—barely controllable.
The mutual cancellation produced a shockwave stronger than either energy alone; the strange phenomenon gave Andreas an idea.
'If a tiny controlled clash inside me can unleash such power, what if I let them collide outside?'
Acting as a temporary lumberjack, Loken hurled lightning at Mandevilla's crown, shaking the sacred tree but not dealing fatal damage any time soon.
Seeing Andreas suddenly lost in thought, Celeste assumed he was still pondering the earlier plan and reluctantly tried to ignite the colossal tree herself.
"Ahhh!"
The sudden spike in Celeste's body temperature made Immolthar on her shoulder shriek; the little guy darted onto Andreas' head, waving his tiny fists in protest at the blazing Celeste.
As a water sprite, Immolthar naturally dislikes fire and promptly fled her side the moment she went all-out.
The Sunstrider's Ultra-hot Phoenix Flames were pushed to the limit. Whether anyone would surpass her later was unknown, but after ten-thousand years of training Celeste had already outdone Dath'Remar at his peak—unprecedented.
A gold-crimson firebird spread its wings and slammed into Mandevilla's mid-section; the amber coating the kypa sacred tree began to melt under the intense heat.
But it was a drop in the bucket. The Mantid had slathered Mandevilla with layer upon layer of amber sap; burn one section and fresh resin soon replaced it.
"Whew… no good."
Celeste exhaled, glancing at the small scorched patch on Mandevilla's trunk, and shrugged.
"Andreas, using this method really—huh?"
When she turned, orbs of Shadow and Holy Light floated above Andreas' palms. Her blockhead husband was about to press the mutually repelling energies together, apparently still searching for the right moment.
"What are you doing! They'll explode!"
Ignoring her warning, Andreas tried to re-capture the feeling he'd had while fighting Kiljaeden.
"Like this?"
Carefully balancing the energies in each hand, and after several painful rebounds, he finally grasped the knack.
Under Celeste's wide-eyed stare, the fused Shadow and Light turned a hazy gray for an instant before splitting apart again.
A flash of insight struck Andreas: "That's the gray light that killed Mannoroth during the War of the Ancients!"