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This violent explosion erupted with such sudden ferocity that it not only tore through the very fabric of the Ruby Dragon Sanctum's special plane but also sent shockwaves rippling across the Dragonblight Wilderness beyond its sacred borders!

Within the Ruby Dragon Temple, Palthiastrasz was caught off guard, hurled backward by the explosive force, tumbling uncontrollably through the air. The dragons still locked in fierce combat were likewise swept away by the whirlwind of the blast. As the sole remaining and most powerful dragon on the field, the Red Dragon Prince desperately forced his wings wide to stabilize his plummeting body, a searing pain shooting through their bases. He narrowly managed to arrest his fall just as his wings threatened to shatter.

Struggling to suppress the deafening ringing in his ears, Palthiastrasz directed his gaze towards the epicenter of the explosion: the sacred tree, the very heart of the dragonflights' dwelling! The holy tree's roots were riddled with gaping holes, yet it miraculously clung to existence. Many of its intertwined roots lay broken, and some of the remaining branches still burned with ominous black and purple flames. Dark, volatile void energy surged violently upward from the cavernous space beneath the holy tree. This underground abyss was precisely where the red dragons' precious eggs were located!

"No! Our children!" the recovering dragons cried out, rushing frantically to assess the devastation.

But just as chaos threatened to engulf them, Palthiastrasz blocked their path. "Stop! Her Majesty the Queen entered the depths of the sacred tree long ago. She will protect the children! My kin, we must first drive back the enemy! We cannot allow them to inflict further harm!"

The red dragons recognized the wisdom in their Prince's words. At Palthiastrasz's thunderous roar, the warriors of the Red Dragonflight rallied around him. Transforming their anger and grief into raw power, they launched a ferocious assault on the remaining Twilight Dragons. Soon, all the Twilight Dragons were either slain or grievously wounded; one of their commanders fell in battle, while the other was captured alive.

Palthiastrasz chose not to pursue the few fleeing Twilight Dragons. Instead, he flapped his mighty wings and soared towards the shattered base of the sacred tree!

"My love! Please, be safe!"

The closer he drew to the holy tree, the faster the Red Dragon Prince's heart pounded. He dreaded seeing a sight he could not bear!

Thousands of miles away, in the Endless Sea, Galen also witnessed the unfolding tragedy beneath the sacred tree. He saw Alexstrasza's colossal form huddled within the cavern. A shimmering, light-red protective barrier enveloped the Red Dragon Queen, but it was riddled with holes, on the verge of collapse. Through the failing barrier, Alexstrasza was visibly covered in grievous wounds.

"Her Majesty the Queen!"

"My love!"

As if drawn by Palthiastrasz's desperate cry, the severely injured Red Dragon Queen struggled to retract her wings, their bones visibly broken. Beneath her battered wings lay the dragon eggs, the very future of the red dragons, untouched and in perfect condition! At the cost of severe injuries, the Red Dragon Queen had saved all the dragon eggs from the Twilight Dragon's malevolent plot, preserving the future of the Red Dragonflight.

This news was undoubtedly a cause for relief, but the emergence of the Twilight Dragonflight had sounded a dire alarm for the Red Dragonflight. After the Red Dragon Queen, despite her severe injuries, managed to repair the magical barrier of the Ruby Dragon Sanctuary, she dispatched an urgent message, summoning the other three Dragon Kings to the Dragonblight Temple. The Twilight Dragonflight seemed to be the very antithesis of the Five-Colored Dragonflights, seemingly created solely to exterminate the Guardian Dragons. This was the most formidable challenge the dragonflights had ever faced. Therefore, a Dragonflight Council had to be convened! They had to correctly address the Twilight Dragon crisis! The very future of the dragonflights depended on it!

**********

The voyage across the sea was monotonous, and Galen felt a touch of dissatisfaction after witnessing such a grand dragon battle. While he continued to observe his followers' perspectives for new entertainment, Medivh and Illidan, far away in Draenor, had joined forces to block Galen's mental connection, preventing him from seeing the situation in Draenor. They claimed they were orchestrating a grand plan and intended to present Galen with a surprise. Galen, being their master, possessed the power to forcibly pierce their combined shield, but he was intrigued by the promised surprise, so he allowed Medivh and Illidan to proceed.

After exiting the Heart of Origin, Galen glanced at his lottery system. As his strength had grown over the years, low-tier treasures no longer held his interest. Therefore, he would accumulate his lottery opportunities, drawing ten at a time, and then bestow any useful treasures upon his followers to enhance their power. There had been no major battles recently, and thus few opportunities to win the lottery, so Galen rose and left his luxurious cabin, heading to the deck.

The battleship beneath Galen's feet was not the flagship of the First Fleet, but his personal vessel. This warship, named the Flying Stromgarde, was not a mass-produced vessel from any shipyard. Instead, it had been custom-built in Kul Tiras through Drake's connections. This battleship boasted two hundred gun positions on each side and was fully crewed by a thousand sailors. Furthermore, it had been constructed and enchanted by the strongest Tidesage in Kul Tiras, and its sails were imbued with potent wind spells, making this sailing battleship the pinnacle of human naval engineering. It was well known that even when Terenas, the first leader of the Alliance, sought private customization, Kul Tiras had refused him, only selling standard warships to Lordaeron. Of course, while the Flying Stromgarde could dominate the Palatine Gulf, it was not the most powerful battleship in the Endless Sea. That honor belonged to old Daelin's Sea Sovereign.

The moment Galen stepped out of the cabin, a knight guarding the door immediately moved to closely attend His Majesty the King.

"Darion, are you accustomed to life at sea?" Galen asked the young paladin walking behind him.

"Not bad, Your Majesty. I even enjoy being with you," Darion Mograine's muffled voice came from within his helmet.

"Your father asked you to be my escort. What are your thoughts on that?" Galen continued, scanning for the captain.

"No, that's not it, Your Majesty!" Darion's voice was filled with conviction. "Father is old, and my brother has taken over the management of the territory. Brother Tyran has also managed Hearthglen exceptionally well. Although Sister Bridget did not inherit the family title, she became a general of Lordaeron, and Sister Sally became the bishop of the northern diocese of Lordaeron." Darion paused, his tone dropping to a low murmur: "I am the only one who feels stagnant. I cannot find a direction for my future."

In response, Galen could only chuckle inwardly. Given how much old Mograine doted on him and Darion's stubborn nature, if he hadn't experienced the hardships of his previous life, he would have amounted to nothing, even after the rigorous training of the Minas Tirith training camp. All Galen could conclude was that old Mograine had made the right decision by sending his son here to be trained by Galen.

"If you lack direction, then I shall give you one," Galen smiled. "Become a hero of Azeroth, Darion Mograine!" He had preemptively acquired the mysterious crystal brought by the orcs and personally forged Ashbringer. While this act averted the tragic fate of the Mograine family—father and son killing each other, brothers turning against each other—it also subtly placed them in his debt. Furthermore, Darion's innate potential was indeed remarkable, which was why Galen was willing to mentor him.

Just as Galen was about to continue his "motivational speaking" to the young man, the captain, not far off, noticed the arrival of her King and hurried to the deck to salute. Galen nodded to her, surveyed the surrounding sea, and spoke loudly:

"Captain Jetarius, please report the fleet's current location!"

"Your Majesty, we are about to cross the western coastline of Khaz Modan. Admiral Taylor informed me via flag signals not long ago that we will reach the target sea area in another three hours of sailing!" Jetarius was a young woman in her twenties, also from the Stormwind Kingdom. She and Taylor had been childhood sweethearts. After Taylor's successful promotion to a senior general in Stromgarde, he had recommended her to Galen. Galen had not doubted Jetarius's ability due to her age, nor her loyalty because she was not an Arathi, and he had immediately entrusted her with this crucial task.

"Very good. Inform Taylor and instruct him to maintain vigilance over the sea area around the fleet. Stop sailing immediately if there is any abnormality!"

The female captain saluted and replied, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

Galen waved her off, allowing the captain to return to her duties. He stood at the bow, gazing into the distance, while Darion diligently guarded him. After an indeterminate amount of time, Darion's peripheral vision caught a flash of gold! This startled the young paladin. When he focused, he realized it was the Sword of Holy Light on the Lord of the Alliance's back that was shining. The flickering sword seemed to be warning its owner that evil was approaching!

"Shh! Good boy, don't be anxious!" Galen, who had been standing quietly for half a day, turned his hands behind his back and patted Ashbringer. "You too, Strom'kar!" After patting Ashbringer, Galen then comforted Strom'kar, which he carried on his back. Strom'kar had suppressed Kraxis for thousands of years and absorbed local shadow power. The day Galen acquired it, he discovered it already possessed a faint intelligence. This discovery greatly surprised Galen. In Azeroth, there were artifacts with intelligence that could communicate with their owners, and Galen knew of five such items. Three of them were originally life forms transformed into weapons, which didn't surprise Galen; he could achieve the same effect by simply sealing the heroic spirits of the Altar of Kings into them. This type of possession wasn't particularly interesting. Instead, it was the two "living weapons" that could only be forged in Revendreth that truly made Galen salivate—weapons imbued with their own intrinsic will. How rare! He had initially believed he would need to be as powerful as a Titan before he could possess a weapon with its own spirit, but unexpectedly, Strom'kar had given him hope.

So Galen nourished Strom'kar with shadow power and nurtured Ashbringer with Holy Light. Finally, his dedication bore fruit, and he inadvertently awakened Ashbringer's spirit! While good things often came in pairs, there was a drawback: he had to feed them equally, otherwise these two artifacts, now imbued with spirits, would cause trouble at a moment's notice. Was this the burden of having a third child? Neither Legolas nor Arathor were this difficult to manage!

After calming the two artifacts, he instructed Darion to deliver the warning. They had arrived at the sea area where Ozumat, the Father or all Kraken, raged! In fact, Taylor had already slowed the fleet without Galen's explicit reminder. This sea area was a notorious death zone in Azeroth, dubbed the "Tomb of Navigators" by intelligent creatures who plied the seas. Many ships met their end here each year. The source of this disaster was the colossal sea monster Ozumat, a malevolent Abyssal God slumbering in the bottomless depths. It was N'Zoth's "pet," originally an enormous deep-sea octopus. N'Zoth had used his void power to transform the flesh and blood of this deep-sea creature, elevating its power to rival that of a demigod! Due to Ozumat's presence, this sea area had always been a nightmare that all sailors sought to avoid. Fortunately, through careful observation, navigators had discovered the pattern of the sea monster's annual appearances, preventing this vital north-south route from being completely abandoned.

The First Fleet fell into a hushed silence. The naval soldiers ceased their chatter, keeping their mouths shut and remaining at their posts, occasionally casting nervous glances at the churning sea around their ships. As the fleet ventured deeper, Galen soon noticed something unusual. In addition to his own fleet, there were other ships in the distance! Three of them!

"Lookout! Focus on the southeast!" Galen commanded. After giving the order, he also cast the shamanic spell, Vision, to conduct reconnaissance. Once the spell was cast, Galen's sight instantly extended several miles away. From a bird's-eye view, he noticed the largest warship among the three. It flew the anchor emblem of the Kingdom of Kul Tiras, and its flag was even embellished with a green ribbon, representing the royal family! Kul Tiran royalty? Old Daelin had retired and joined the Throne of Heroes, so it couldn't be him. Drake was busy quelling various domestic troubles and had no time to be out and about, so this member of the Proudmoore family had to be either Jaina or Tandred!

At this moment, the three Kul Tiras warships were oblivious to the impending danger. When they spotted the Stromgarde fleet, their flag bearers even sent out greetings. Galen watched, silently stroking his forehead.

Suddenly, the previously calm sea beneath the three ships began to surge violently, as if boiling. Then, the three warships rose and fell dramatically with the waves, shaking violently! Before the Kul Tiras sailors could react, a colossal tentacle erupted from the sea, coiling around the starboard side of one of the warships. The tentacle snatched a sailor from the railing, dragging him into the churning depths!

"Ah! Enemy attack!"

Along with the terrified shouts of other sailors, several more tentacles slithered up from beneath the ships, attacking the crew. Whistles shrieked across the deck as crew members frantically grabbed their weapons. However, despite their brave efforts, their blades could not harm the massive tentacles. Screaming, the crew members were dragged one by one into the sea. Soon, the tentacles engulfed the entire ship, ravaging the fragile vessel like a devil's claw!

Everything happened with terrifying speed. Just as the ship was torn in half by the tentacles, a burst of white frost energy shot from the main ship, freezing two of Ozumat's tentacles solid!

"Quick! Throw out the rope and save them!" A female mage, clad in a white robe and carrying a blue staff, shouted loudly from the main ship. Her hair was tied high, exuding a heroic aura. It was Jaina! It truly was her; it could only be her!

After freezing the two colossal tentacles, Ozumat's other tentacles paused their assault! Seizing this opportunity, Jaina gracefully bent her slender waist, raised her right hand above her head, and placed her left hand on her thigh. As white light flashed from her palms, the crew members still alive, or even those who had fallen into the water from the broken warship, felt an irresistible pulling force!

"Group Teleport!"

With Jaina's soft incantation, the distressed crew members vanished instantly. When they reappeared, they were safely on the deck behind the female sorceress.

"We survived!"

"God of the Sea, it was Her Royal Highness the Princess who saved us!"

"Long live Kul Tiras! Long live Proudmoore!"

The crew cheered for their survival, but Jaina's intervention enraged the colossal beast lurking beneath the waves! It had finally found some meat, only for it to be snatched away just as it reached its maw? What indignity could a scholar tolerate?

"Roar!"

With a terrifying roar, the deep-sea monster shattered the ice on its tentacles and then locked onto another warship!

"Fire! Fire!" Watching the tentacles approach, the battleship's captain roared, issuing rapid orders! The battle-hardened Kul Tiran gunners swiftly opened the gunport hatches, aimed, loaded, and fired in one fluid motion!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

For a moment, the sea echoed with the thunder of artillery fire, but most of Ozumat's body remained submerged. Facing the barrage of shells, its tentacles swung with incredible speed, deftly avoiding each incoming projectile. And so, the same horrifying scene played out again. The battleship was tightly ensnared from below by a dozen massive tentacles, covered in spikes and suction cups, and was violently shaken back and forth like a child's toy.

The sailors on the warship screamed in terror, praying loudly to the Sea God for protection. Some recalled the recent rescue and pleaded for Her Royal Highness the Princess to save them as she had their comrades. Unfortunately, Jaina was only 26 years old. Though gifted, she was still a mortal. She could not perform two group teleportations in such quick succession!

In the end, Jaina could only watch helplessly as the warship was slowly dragged down by the colossal deep-sea octopus. As seawater flooded the deck, the warship was torn apart in the middle. Countless sailors plummeted into the frigid sea, and the ship's wreckage, broken in two, was dragged into the churning, dark depths by the tentacles. The seawater churned violently, but no trace of the terrifying tentacles remained on the surface!

Jaina saw that of the three warships that had set out, only two remained in such a short time, and the crew had suffered heavy losses. These were the elite troops her brother had entrusted to her! Her heart ached! But now was not the time for sorrow. Jaina knew well that her previous attack had enraged this deep-sea monster, and it would certainly not spare her last remaining ship!

Gurgle, gurgle!

Jaina carefully sensed the subtle vibrations in the seawater.

"Everyone on alert! Prepare depth charges!" As the Princess of Kul Tiras, even after many years of study in Dalaran, she was still proficient in naval warfare. Her kingdom had even compiled a comprehensive combat manual for dealing with underwater Naga! Under Jaina's command, the crew immediately sprang into action, even those who had just narrowly escaped disaster! They opened the ammunition depot in the cabin and retrieved the specially designed depth charges!

"Obey my orders!"

"Launch!"

The crew immediately grabbed the depth charges and hurled them out of the portholes!