I don't exist...

As Arthas led the remnants of the Scourge back to Icecrown Glacier, the Lich King Dar'Khan asked with dissatisfaction, "Do you also have bad news to bring me, Arthas?"

"Yes. The Alliance's Northrend Expedition has already landed." Arthas frowned beneath his iron helm. He was somewhat displeased with Dar'Khan's attitude. He was the one who personally crowned him, but now this guy was putting on airs of superiority.

But he had indeed failed. The battle in Grizzly Hills was already beyond saving, and he could only retreat.

"Not just the Alliance, but also the Horde." Dar'Khan's voice carried deep worry, "Broxigar has also failed. There are traces of Orcs in Howling Fjord. They have united." His soul was dominated by Ner'zhul, and this former Orc knew very well the powerful potential and destructive force the Orcs possessed.

Arthas immediately realized that the Scourge was really in trouble this time. Just like before he was summoned by Nozdormu—at that time, the Alliance and Horde's Northrend Expedition had already stormed Icecrown Citadel, and he had even failed once against Tirion Fordring.

So when Nozdormu offered to help him travel through time and start over, he accepted the choice without hesitation. However, the start of this world was even more difficult than his original timeline. The Alliance was more united, and the Scourge's threat was greatly reduced.

Could it be that the history of being defeated by the combined forces of the Alliance and Horde would repeat itself in this timeline? Arthas was extremely unwilling to fail just like that.

The two Lich Kings were speechless. Even if they were powerful, being trapped in Northrend made it impossible to defeat the Northrend Expedition. Moreover, their main force—the Vrykul—had been surrounded by the Alliance's army. It was likely that the Scourge could no longer count on those strong and brave Vrykul to replenish their ranks.

All the forces on the entire continent of Northrend seemed to be targeting them.

Without enough corpses, the Scourge simply could not contend with the world of the living.

They had prepared plagues, but who should these plagues be spread to? The Alliance had already created an antidote to the plague, rendering it useless.

The Scourge was powerless. This was a cruel fact.

Arthas and Dar'Khan both fell into silence.

At this moment, Kel'Thuzad entered, and Dar'Khan said with annoyance, "Do you also have bad news to bring me?"

"No, good news, my master." Kel'Thuzad's skeletal face could not show a happy expression, but the soulfire flickering in his eye sockets conveyed his excitement to the two Lich Kings, "The great Demon Lord Archimonde has responded to me once again. Now we have a way to summon him to this world!"

"Quick, what way?" Dar'Khan stared intently at Kel'Thuzad. This good news immediately swept away his worries. Now only the Burning Legion's arrival could reverse the situation. He prayed that it wouldn't be anything like having to conquer Quel'Thalas or occupy the Sunwell, conditions they couldn't achieve even if they exhausted all their strength.

"The Book of Medivh, plus a tool we already have, and your mana as well as that of some servants." Kel'Thuzad took out a black crystal. It was almost the embodiment of shadow, constantly devouring the surrounding light, evil and eerie.

This condition immediately overjoyed Dar'Khan.

"This is the crystal from the corrupted Ashbringer!" Arthas recognized it at a glance. During the last battle at Icecrown Citadel, the corrupted Mograine was personally killed by the paladin Mograine, and the weapon in his hand, the "corrupted Ashbringer," was also broken into two pieces. No one paid attention to it after the end of the battle. He didn't expect Kel'Thuzad to be more mindful and collect it.

Kel'Thuzad said, "That's right, it is! Lord Archimonde has instructed that as long as we infuse enough powerful energy into this shadow crystal, we can use the Book of Medivh to open a portal to the Twisting Nether and summon him to our world!"

This would be the key to the Scourge's complete turnaround. Therefore, Dar'Khan ordered the Scourge to completely consolidate their defenses, withdrawing the undead from all other places and concentrating all their forces to defend Icecrown Glacier. As long as Archimonde arrived, he could easily eliminate these troublesome Northrend Expedition forces like crushing ants!

After the Scourge consolidated their defenses, as if destined, the Northrend Expedition army gathered like a force of nature at the Gate of Anguish—in front of the gates of Icecrown Citadel.

—

"Who is that person cosplaying? With a sword in one hand and a staff in the other, is it Gandalf?"

"At least he should put on a beard, and a pointed wizard hat."

"He's been lying there for a while, and no one's helping him up."

"Why don't you go?"

"No, no, no, I'm too poor. I can't afford to help him up."

Passersby were pointing and talking about the young man lying on the ground in the alleyway, but no one called the police, and no one came to help.

"Oh, he really is a cosplayer!"

"Maybe he was knocked out by someone?"

"Go help him up, Dan!"

"No, no, Kate, I'm really poor. What if I get scammed?"

"We'll use our phones to take pictures to prove it!"

Several young and beautiful men and women also happened to pass by here and saw this scene. They all encouraged the tallest young man to help him up. Everyone was smiling and joking, not taking it seriously.

"Dan, AJ, you two go see what's wrong with that person?" The leader was a beauty with black-rimmed glasses, and she pointed to the only two boys in the group, asking them to help.

The big Dan said, "Kate, shouldn't we mind our own business? What if he's trying to scam us?"

"How could a cosplayer be a bad person? We're all cosplayers. Bad people don't do this!" Kate's words were unreasonably affirmative, leaving them speechless.

"Alright, then, you guys use your phones to record us, just in case, right?"

"Go, go, don't dawdle!"

The two boys only went over after confirming that the girls had really turned on their phone cameras. Dan went over and turned the person lying on the ground over. The two looked at him. He was a man of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. He seemed to really be a cosplayer from somewhere, wearing a mage robe, just lying on the ground and getting a little dusty. The person looked unconscious, but other than a slightly swollen bump on his forehead, there were no other external injuries.

"It's not a big deal,Kate, let's just call 911for him!" AJ checked him over and said to their leader, Kate.

"Really nothing wrong?"

"Really, either he was knocked unconscious by someone, or something else happened!"

Kate walked over in her high heels, clicking as she went. She took a closer look and saw that even unconscious, he was still holding the prop sword and prop staff tightly in his hands. For some reason, her heart softened, and she said to the two of them, "Anyway, we're almost at the studio, so please help him there to rest for a while, and put some ice on his forehead or something."

"This, this, isn't that a bit much?" Dan hesitated. "He's just a stranger."

Kate glared at him: "If you don't do it, I'll deduct three days' pay!"

"alright, alright, we'll take him, we'll take him, alright? Kate, please don't!" The two quickly begged for mercy.

Dan and AJ supported the person, one on each side. AJ noticed that the weapon in the person's hand was still not released, and couldn't help but say, "This person is really dedicated!"

"Hey, this person is really a bit heavy! Kate, take the sword out of his hand, it's getting in my way!"

"Alright, alright, such a big guy, you could carry him back. You're really useless!" The most beautiful girl in the group complained a few words, and then came up to pry open the unconscious person's right hand fingers. With a "clang," the strangely shaped greatsword fell to the ground, making a crisp metallic sound. Kate reached out and took it, and her face changed, "Kate, this seems to be the real deal! It's so heavy!"

Kate also just took off the staff in the person's left hand, and seeing its exquisite shape, she couldn't help but praise, "This prop is really well made. Someone really put their heart into it. Look, doesn't it look like the Staff of the Sands from the game?"

Kate struggled to hold the sword, complaining, "Mine looks like the sword from Kayle's 'Silverwing' skin, the blue gem is just like the real thing! It's just too heavy! Who could use such a heavy prop to perform? Wouldn't they be exhausted? I guess it's more suitable to put it at home for collection."

"This person looks very unfamiliar. If he were really from the League of Legends cosplayer circle, we should recognize him, right?"

"It's pretty strange, I don't remember him, I've never seen him before."

They were all members of Kate's studio, and some of them were official League of Legends cosplayers, with a high reputation in this circle. They usually had some performances, and also made some costumes and props for rent or sale. With the popularity of League of Legends, their income was also pretty good.

The studio was just over a hundred meters ahead. They had just come out to eat. They happened to encounter this strange cosplayer who had fallen outside the alleyway on their way back.

In fact, Aiden had already regained consciousness when Kate pried open his hand and took off the Staff of the Sands. His head was dizzy. All kinds of images were rolling in his mind, and his eyelids were as heavy as if they were filled with lead. He heard their voices and didn't know if it was a hallucination. But the sound of cars coming and going, the loudspeakers on the street, and the crisp collision of leather shoes, high heels, and the floor all told him that this was Earth.

'Could it be that I have traveled back?'

Such a thought flashed through his mind. He didn't know whether to cry or laugh in his heart. He didn't want to travel when he traveled. And after working hard in Azeroth, shouldering the expectations of countless people, and concerning the life and death of countless people, he had traveled back again.

Aiden's heart was extremely conflicted. On one side was the excitement of truly returning home, and on the other side was the millions of creatures in the Heart of Valoran who might face destruction.

"What should I do…"

He immersed his mind into the Heart of Valoran. It was empty inside. He wanted to summon Zilean, but the other party did not appear. Just like what the old man Zilean said in the battle of Icecrown Citadel, they might never see each other again.

There were still many energies generated by the distorted timeline remaining in the Heart of Valoran, but none of them could be used. It was now just a simple storage space. It contained many messy things: piles of gold coins, emergency survival supplies, weapons, armor, and the Eye of Sargeras… Each and every one of them reminded him that this was not a hallucination.

Aiden withdrew his will, put aside all kinds of chaotic thoughts, and finally summed up what he needed to do now:

Determine the current era; return home; and find the Heart of Sargeras, which may have been lost in some corner of the Earth.

As for whether I will have the courage to find the way back to Azeroth after returning home… we'll talk about that when the time comes!

—

"Search over there!"

"You, come with me over here!"

The voices of the forest trolls from the Zul'Aman patrol echoed above Faerlina and Heigan's heads. The two of them were the last surviving leaders of Naxxramas. They hid in the lake water under the bridge piers, huddled together, not daring to make the slightest sound.

Faerlina's seventh husband, "Naxxramas Plaguebringer" Noth, was also dead, just like her previous six. With the Lich King above, this time she did not use her vicious heart to frame him; Noth really died to protect her, during the pursuit by the Zul'Aman trolls.

These days had been really terrible for them.

After Naxxramas was bombed, it crashed from the sky into Zul'Aman, the territory of the forest troll empire. The Scourge within the fortress had already died in the crash. Among the survivors, only a lucky few were able to find a way out of the collapsing ruins of Naxxramas. But as soon as they came out, they faced an encirclement from the forest trolls appearing from all directions. There was also indiscriminate bombing by the Alliance forces in the sky: anyway, both the trolls and the Scourge were enemies. They didn't worry about friendly fire at all.

Especially the high elves, their magic towers aimed most of their attacks at the trolls, and they also sent dragonhawk riders to harass them from the air.

Those were truly nightmarish three days, Faerlina couldn't even bear to recall them. The Scourge leaders died one by one. The most timid spider Maexxna thought he escaped the fastest, but was torn to pieces deep in Zul'Aman by the animal spirits summoned by the trolls.

The others also died one after another in the trolls' encirclement and interception.

"What should we do?" After confirming that the trolls were gone, Faerlina asked softly. She was completely at a loss. Her usual vicious ideas were useless in this absolute disadvantage.

Heigan wore a gloomy, deathly face, "Preserve ourselves first. Then take revenge on them! Let these trolls taste the power of my plague!"

After the Alliance forces confirmed that the Scourge had been completely defeated, they did not send any more ground troops into Zul'Aman. Although the trolls inside had also suffered a considerable blow, now was not the time to start a war against the trolls.

After completing the attack mission, Ziggs returned to the Los Angeles. The "Skybreaker Cannon" performed well in actual combat, but there were still areas for improvement. If it could be mass-produced, it would definitely change the shape of future warfare. Now Ziggs had many ideas to share with the other two inventors.

However, upon returning, he noticed another thing—the arena-turned-square was under lockdown again. The heroes who remained in the City of Pearl had gathered here. Before Ziggs left, Kayle, Karthus, and Veigar were all here creating a summoning circle, trying to summon back Commander Aiden, who was trapped in the temporal turbulence.

"Are you planning to try this magic circle today?" Ziggs's gaze swept over Kayle, Karthus, and Veigar, somewhat in disbelief, "Kayle, do you really think three people can activate it?"

Karthus and Veigar were both expressionless, obviously not holding much hope for it.

"At least it can allow the Summoner to receive a message, to know that we are summoning him." Kayle replied, she looked at the other two mages, "Alright, activate it!"

"Yes, yes, yes." The lich and the black mage poured their mana into the magic circle. Its runes gradually lit up. And Kayle stood in the very center, holding up the Judgment Blade, summoning an unparalleled holy power from the Eternal Kingdom, and pouring it into the magic circle. The vast power drove it to truly operate immediately.

In the darkness, a force crossed endless time and space through this magic circle, spreading towards an unknown space. It contained Kayle's intention:

"Summoner, please answer our call—Valoran and Azeroth both need you…"

And on the other side of time and space, Aiden had just woken up in Kate's studio. This beautiful and capable girl was handing him a cup of warm water.

"Thank you!" Aiden took the paper cup and said gratefully.

"You're welcome. It's good that you're awake. How did you faint before?"

Aiden was about to answer when he suddenly felt a dizziness, and seemed to hear something in his ear.

'The power of the timeline,' Aiden sensitively discovered that this was very similar to the power released from Nozdormu's Sands of Time.

He listened carefully, "...both need you," this was not an illusion, because he had heard this voice countless times, it was Kayle's voice.

"What's wrong?" Kate noticed his abnormality and couldn't help but ask with concern.

"It's nothing, just a little dizzy." Aiden shook his head.

"Do you want to go to the hospital to see, lest you leave any sequelae."

"No need, thank you." Aiden put down the water cup, stood up and said, "Thank you for your help! I have something urgent, I have to go first."

"Ah, are you leaving now?" The beautiful Coco next to her said dissatisfied, "We haven't even said a few words yet."

"Yeah, leave a phone number!" The beautiful cosplayers on the side chimed in.

Aiden didn't have any phone number, so he could only shake his head.

"You must have WhatsApp, right?" Coco thought she had been robbed.

"I used to, but I haven't used it for a long time." Aiden could only answer truthfully, "I don't have any identification on me now, and I have to go back to my hometown. I'll come back to thank you specially after I'm done, alright?"

The beauties' faces all fell, thinking he was making excuses. They all cursed him inwardly for being heartless.

Kate dismissed them, took out one of her business cards and handed it to Aiden: "I think you are also a cosplayer, right? This is my business card. Contact me when you have time!"

Aiden put away the business card and replied solemnly: "I will." He saw that Kate's studio was doing League of Legends, and thinking of his identity, he asked: "Kate, which hero do you like the most?"

"Miss Fortune and Irelia! What's wrong?"

Aiden took out a cowboy hat from the Heart of Valoran and gave it to Kate: "This is the cowboy hat from Miss Fortune's 'Cowgirl' skin, I hope you like it! She likes to collect all kinds of hats and give them away."

"Ah, you're saying it like it's real. Have you met her, handsome?" Coco laughed non-stop, she took the hat first and looked at it, "It's been aged too, you really put your heart into it. Hey, I say, handsome, which studio are you from? If you really can't make it, come to our place, Sister Kate will definitely take you in. Right, Sister Kate?"

"Mind your own business!" Kate snatched the cowboy hat and glared at Coco. But she also thought that Aiden was a cosplayer, and this hat should have been made by him or someone from his studio, so she smiled: "It's very good, I like it very much."

Aiden thought for a while, then took out a handful of Demacian gold coins and handed them to Coco: "These are also handicrafts made by us, you can take them and share them, consider them a small souvenir."

"They're very exquisite, these gold coins! Handsome, where did you take them out from? I didn't see you carrying so many things on you, it's like a magic trick."

Kate sent Aiden out, and the two said goodbye to each other. Just as she was about to turn around, she suddenly remembered that Aiden said he had been robbed, so she called out to him again and asked: "Do you have money to take the bus?"

"My home is not far, I'll walk back." Aiden smiled. He really didn't have cash on him, and his home wasn't particularly close. But he had many valuable things on him, so this wasn't a difficult problem.

"Come on, I'll be a good person to the end!" Kate took out two hundred yuan from her wallet and handed it to Aiden, "Take it, don't refuse. You just said you would come back specially to thank me, pay me back then! You keep your word, right?"

"I do!" Aiden had no choice but to accept it, revealing a smile, "Thank you, Kate!"

"You're welcome, if you have something urgent, go first! Bye bye!"

—

After Aiden walked around the corner, he put away his weapons. He had to go home first.

He left in 2014. And now it's already 2018.

Aiden spent a total of two years in the Emerald Dream and Azeroth, but four years have passed on Earth. He eagerly wanted to go home and see if his home was still the same. What had his parents become in these four years of his disappearance?

Following his most familiar memory, he returned to his parents' original home. There were still some old faces in the neighborhood, they were a little curious about Aiden's attire, but no one was surprised by his appearance. Aiden didn't think so much, he just wanted to go back quickly, to see his parents quickly.

"It's here!" He walked to the front of the door of his home, which was so familiar in his memory, everything was still the same!

"I'm back!" Aiden took a deep breath, still unable to hide the excitement in his heart, he raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Coming, coming!" He heard his mother's extremely familiar voice, his nose twinged, and tears almost flowed out.

The one who opened the door was his mother, whom he had been thinking about day and night. He was about to open his mouth and call out "Mom", but the way she looked at him was very unfamiliar.

"Young man, who are you looking for?"

"I…" Aiden's "Mom" was swallowed back from his throat, he carefully looked at the middle-aged woman in front of him, she was kind and amiable, her temples were slightly white, and wrinkles had already climbed onto her forehead and the corners of her eyes. She was no different from his mother in his memory.

But why was her gaze so unfamiliar when she looked at him?

"I… I'm looking for Aiden." His voice was extremely bitter.

"You're looking for my son, right? You remembered the name wrong, he's called Aiden Williams!"

"Oh, I called the wrong name." Aiden only felt as if he was chewing something sour, extremely bitter, and his mother's words made him feel as if he had been struck by lightning.

'I… don't exist in this world…'