Tricked

"You, come here." Archimonde pointed at Kael'thas, the blood elf prince. The latter immediately lowered his head and stepped forward, humbly standing at Archimonde's feet.

Archimonde stretched out his claws and emitted a green ray that connected to Kael'thas's head. The blood elf felt as if a stick was relentlessly stirring his brains, his eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness.

After a while, Archimonde retracted his hand, having read the memories of Quel'Thalas's magical network from this servant's mind. With this, the magical barrier surrounding the Sunwell would be as good as non-existent before his power.

Now, the Scourge fleet had already arrived above the Sunwell, and Archimonde would soon be able to absorb the first surge of power he craved! He walked to the gate of the Black Fortress, looking down from the outer eaves of the corridor. The exquisite and magnificent fortress protected the high elves' source of magic, and the tallest building exuded an alluring magical aura. Its periphery was entirely enveloped by a light golden magical barrier, protecting the safety of the elven sanctuary.

"It begins here." Archimonde grabbed a skeleton soldier standing guard nearby. With a casual rub, the insignificant thing turned into a pile of bone ash. The grayish-white bone ash slipped through the cracks in his palm, scattering on the stone slab. He stretched out his finger and drew mysterious traces on the layer of bone ash—arcs, stars, patterns, and imprints that ordinary people could not understand. This was the most powerful spell he had mastered to destroy barrier defenses. Those arcs, stars, and imprints represented the most important energy nodes of the magical barrier surrounding the Sunwell.

After completing this pattern, Archimonde pinched his chin and admired it for a while, satisfied. Then, he injected his own mana into the bone ash, and the bone ash immediately wriggled strangely, forming an oval cover. It was exactly the same as the magical barrier of Quel'Thalas below.

"Mortal spells," Archimonde revealed a cruel smile, reaching out his finger to poke through the bone ash cover in front of him.

Almost simultaneously, a huge hole suddenly appeared in the magical barrier on Quel'Danath Island. The high elf mages watched this scene in horror—the magical barrier that had protected them for thousands of years had been so unexpectedly damaged!

However, this was just the beginning. Archimonde was not satisfied with such slow destruction, and he impatiently overturned the entire bone ash sandbox. The bone ash flew and dissipated, just like the barrier surrounding Quel'Thalas. The golden light completely disappeared.

"...So vulnerable." Archimonde stood up. Behind him, the Scourge leaders, seeing this scene, were even more in awe of their master's power. Only the Lich King Arthas, while also lowering his head like the others, had a cold glint in his eyes—so what if he's powerful? If Archimonde goes down the old path, he will never follow him to his death.

"My servants, now is the time for you to expand the Burning Legion's territory!" Archimonde looked back at the insignificant fellows behind him, "Destroy everything you see!"

"As you command, my master!"

"The Burning Legion is about to dominate this world. You will be witnesses." Archimonde waved his hand, and the sky changed color, the twisted energy causing the clouds to swirl like a vortex, and bloom with bizarre colors of fiery red and ghostly green.

Just as the barrier was destroyed, at the Sunwell's location, Krasus beckoned to Anveena above the well, and said in a deep voice, "It's time to go, Anveena!"

"Oh, Papa." Anveena had only been alive for a few days and had no concept of good and evil. She asked in confusion, "Why was it broken?" She was referring to the magical barrier.

"Because…" Krasus cast an illusion spell, making the originally dried-up Sunwell look like its original self, with golden spring water gushing within it. "Some people are born to destroy beauty and happiness, bringing destruction and disaster. They are our enemies."

"The Burning Legion has arrived." Aiden and the other leaders saw the anomaly in the sky. He summoned his weapon and strode towards the Sunwell. "War is coming."

Valoran's heroes followed closely behind.

Azeroth's leaders recovered from the shocking scene just now.

Anasterian drew the reforged Felo'melorn, its blade burning like a raging fire. He raised the divine sword and shouted, "In the name of sunlight! Defend our home!"

The high elves responded with a roar.

Uther raised his warhammer and shouted to the assembled members of the Silver Hand: "In the name of justice!"

The frost dragons flew out of the fortress and circled in the sky; the remaining four floating fortresses began to descend, with the Scourge army inside ready to spread death to the high elves' sacred ground at any time.

The power that had been brewing above the clouds for a long time finally erupted—strange fires fell from the sky like meteors, shattering the beautiful Quel'Danath, destroying buildings, and burning forests. Amidst the roar, demons crawled out of those meteorite craters:

Those infernal demons composed of flames and boulders; those ugly, tentacled hellhounds; the huge and terrifying abyss demons; succubi... all kinds of dark and twisted creatures let out hideous roars.

A group of doom guards blotted out the sky, swooping down.

They wantonly spread fear and destruction on this burning land. At this moment, the Burning Legion truly arrived in this world!

Archimonde, the most terrifying demon lord, jumped over the railing before the Black Fortress landed on the ground, leaping towards the great hall where the Sunwell was located.

"Boom!" His huge body smashed through the roof of the hall. Archimonde let out a wanton laugh, swiping his claws to tear several high elf guards in front of him into pieces, then stomped his foot, crushing the upper floor. The solid stone was like paper paste in front of him, easily crushed to pieces.

"Who can stop me from obtaining the power of the Sunwell!" Archimonde uttered arrogant words.

The war on Quel'Danath Island was now raging like a tide.

Tristana and her artillery unit had arrived at Dawnstar Village. The straight-line distance from here to Sunwell Plateau was less than two kilometers. Seeing that Archimonde had left the floating fortress, she immediately ordered the anti-air regiment to fire at full power.

All the large-caliber anti-aircraft guns of 100 mm and above were aimed at the remaining four floating fortresses; while the medium and small calibers were aimed at the frost dragons and doom guards raging in the sky.

The 37mm anti-aircraft guns showed their might at this moment.

The artilleryman Bardeen from Piltover was originally a gunner in the Piltover army. Because of his experience in operating artillery, he was transferred to the anti-aircraft regiment now commanded by Tristana. In the previous operation to bombard Malecharris, large-caliber anti-aircraft guns shone brightly, while other medium and small-caliber guns had not fired. Now it was finally their time to show their power!

Bardeen leaned back on the seat, desperately Buckle the firing switch. The 37mm twin-barreled anti-aircraft gun sprayed deadly shells at the frost dragons and doom guards at a rate of 450 rounds per minute. The recoil from the barrel shook his whole body, but Bardeen didn't notice it at all. He let out a fanatical shout as the shells he fired constantly tore the enemies in the air to pieces.

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah!"

The strong and sturdy ammunition handlers next to him were busy filling the magazines into the gun bay.

Sixteen twin-barreled anti-aircraft guns on the position fired in unison. Tracer bullets weaved a beautiful and deadly web in the sky. The doom guards that had originally blotted out the sky were routed before this violent attack. As a result, their leader had to change the original battle plan and shift the main attack direction to the artillery position.

"Lads, protect the artillery position!" Falstad immediately shouted upon seeing this.

He and his Wildhammer gryphon riders had been fighting with the frost dragons in the sky since the start of the battle. However, more and more doom guards ran out of the rift in the sky, and he had to change his strategy, from head-on confrontation to guerrilla warfare.

But after a while, the high-altitude guns showed their power, and the pressure in the sky was greatly reduced. He even began to organize the Wildhammer riders to counterattack. When he saw a tall doom guard leading a large number of subordinates rushing towards the artillery position, he immediately issued an order to reinforce.

Corki and the armed helicopter squadron also provided support. Now more than half of the Screaming Serpents had mastered the operation of armed helicopters. After the modification, the yordle pilots fell in love with these big guys made with Earth technology. Fast speed, strong firepower, long range, what reason would a pilot have not to love it?

Corki had heard that the commander also had a faster, higher-firepower fighter jet, but due to the lack of take-off and landing platforms, simulation training, operational and maintenance experience, etc., these jets were temporarily unusable.

"Haha, anyway, I'll definitely have the chance to be the first to fly it into the sky in the future!" Corki thought optimistically. He pulled the joystick, and the helicopter tilted as it rounded a bend, flying towards the direction of the Scourge's sudden attack. He put his hand on the rocket launcher button, gently pressed it, and the honeycomb rocket launchers on both sides of the fuselage suddenly fired violently. Dozens of high-explosive rockets, dragging long tails of flame, flew into the enemy ranks and exploded with a bang. After the smoke cleared, there was nothing left that could fly in the attacked area.

"Hmph, you want to attack my comrades? Ask my plane if it agrees first!"

The aerial combat was fierce, and the battle on the ground was even more brutal. Hellfire was almost the natural enemy of ordinary soldiers, and even ordinary mages couldn't do anything about it. Not to mention the Hellhounds, which could drain mana and were the bane of mages.

The Scourge's floating fortresses fell from the sky one after another—Talramas was shot down, but the Scourge army inside the other three floating cities, whether they were crooked or stable, didn't suffer any major losses. Tens of thousands of undead troops poured out from the open gates. They and the Burning Legion's demons wreaked havoc on this holy land of the high elves.

Aiden only brought Kael, Kassadin, and Kel'Thuzad, the three most powerful heroes at the time, to the Sunwell. The other heroes were all outside fighting the Burning Legion.

Thresh and Sion walked together. Neither of them were normal living beings, so they hit it off. Sion carried his giant axe, charging straight through the Scourge soldiers, unstoppable. Thresh leisurely followed beside him, picking up the slack and collecting souls along the way.

"The Purifier" Lucian had a grudge against Thresh. Although he couldn't do anything to this detestable wraith, he could at least choose not to walk in the same direction as him.

He chose to be a lone ranger, carrying his dual guns, constantly reaping the lives of undead and demons. In terms of efficiency, he was more effective against ordinary undead than Thresh and Sion combined. Just like Vayne's Silver Bolts restrained dark creatures, his pair of guns contained ancient power that greatly restrained undead creatures, and the Holy Light bullets fired from them could easily kill any undead blocking his path.

Every hero shone brightly on the battlefield.

The Lich King Arthas was facing the siege of several of the most powerful paladins: Uther held up the Holy Light Warhammer to contain him from the front, Mograine held up the Ashbringer, constantly launching attacks, and Fordring led the other paladins to block the support of other enemies. Prince Arthas also held up his warhammer "Light's Vengeance", attacking his other self from another timeline with bravery and fearlessness, a self that filled him with endless shame.

Even though the Lich King Arthas was powerful, he could only fight to a draw at best in front of this group of people. Especially since there was a guy with a lantern watching this side from the battlefield not far away—Thresh was still thinking about the wraiths in Frostmourne. The ones he absorbed last time had greatly increased his power. And Arthas didn't dare to use his full strength because of this.

Prince Kael'thas and his father, King Anasterian, dueled the fallen blood elf prince together. Grand Magister Rommath was also on the side. The three of them might not be as strong as this Kael'thas who had turned to the demon master individually, but their combined strength made the other party overwhelmed and miserable.

The Lich King Dar'Khan of this world was also not having a good time. The powerful mages of Dalaran were all dealing with him, including Lissandra and Veigar. Even if he used his full strength, it would be difficult to resist, and he could only constantly summon the Scourge's minions to help—in reality, they were just coming to die.

Irelia wielded the legendary sword, her beautiful figure shuttling through the enemy ranks, unstoppable.

The Weapon Master Jax held up his bronze lamppost, easily single-handedly fighting a pit lord. The opponent's huge body and terrifying power couldn't exert the slightest threat under his agile movements. That terrifying roar sounded more like helpless venting.

(T/N Trundle and Jax are both trolls)

"Syndra, the Dark Sovereign" performed even more terrifyingly on the battlefield—she used telekinesis to grab two pit lords, using these terrifying demons, each two stories high, as balls to smash back and forth in the enemy ranks. Countless ghouls, skeleton soldiers, and even abominations were smashed into mincemeat, and even succubi and hellhounds were no exception. The former tried to charm her, but who could compare to her in telekinesis and willpower? The latter tried to drain her mana, but before those tentacles could even reach over, they were torn apart by invisible forces, entangled with friendly forces or their own bodies.

If Aiden saw this scene, he would definitely feel that his choice of her was incredibly wise.

But he had more important things to do now.

Archimonde had broken through the last layer of the floor, falling from the air into the Sunwell's main hall. He walked step by step towards the magical well that emitted golden light, his green eyes glowing with intense desire.

"So easy, so simple." Archimonde said with contempt. He reached out to the mouth of the well, emitting a ghostly green ray, absorbing the power within—but there was no energy feedback from the Sunwell, and all he drew back was emptiness.

Archimonde's expression changed. However, at this moment, all kinds of explosives buried in the well and around the hall immediately exploded. Landmines, Hextech demolition explosives, high-explosive bombs, mana bombs… almost everything that could trigger an explosion suddenly detonated.

A deafening explosion erupted from the Sunwell's main hall. The earth trembled incessantly. A mushroom cloud shot straight into the sky. The magnificent fortress collapsed with a roar. A strong heat wave swept from the explosion point, blowing away the nearby objects. The strong shock wave threw rubble and a large amount of dust into the air, then fell like raindrops.

Aiden, Kael, Kassadin, Kel'Thuzad, Krasus, Anveena, and Anna were all near the entrance. They opened magic shields to resist the aftermath of the explosion. In their hearts, they were all praying that Archimonde would be shattered to pieces in this explosion—or at least be seriously injured.

Because if it were them, they would definitely not be able to withstand such an explosion, and would definitely be reduced to ashes.

However, a few seconds later, an extremely angry voice came from the original location near the Sunwell: "Who! Who dares to provoke me like this! I will tear you to pieces!"

It was Archimonde's voice. It still sounded so full of energy.

At this time, he looked very embarrassed, his huge body covered in wounds and scorch marks, with blue-green blood flowing from the wounds. Dripping on the ground, even the stones were corroded, and then green flames burned, just like the body of a hellfire demon.

But after only a few breaths, these wounds began to heal, the damaged muscles nearby wriggling and quickly closing, and the contaminated blood no longer flowed out.

This little flesh wound posed almost no threat to him.

Aiden looked at Krasus, whose expression was extremely solemn. Obviously, the power of this demon exceeded expectations.

"We'll go hold him back for a while. Krasus, go notify the troops to retreat according to the original plan! Ordinary soldiers can't do anything in front of Archimonde, don't make unnecessary sacrifices."

"Alright!" Krasus nodded, taking Anveena away.

All the troops on Quel'Danath Island saw the scene of the Sunwell's main hall exploding, and they all heard Archimonde's exasperated voice. This should be enough to make the leaders of the Alliance realize the power of the Burning Legion's master.

Aiden took a deep breath and stood up, saying: "Remember, we only need to hold Archimonde back. No need to fight him head-on!"

Everyone else nodded, indicating they understood.

Archimonde was furious, he was actually schemed against by a group of ants! The Sunwell was gone!

"Your world will burn!" Archimonde pushed away the leaning ruins in the explosion and strode towards the battlefield. He wanted to vent! At this moment, a familiar voice rang in his ears:

"Archimonde, do you remember me?"

Archimonde immediately recalled the identity of the owner of this voice, and then he instantly took out the Scepter of Sargeras, his expression extremely vigilant.

Didn't Dar'Khan say that this guy had already been banished?