"My goodness, what is that!" Onyxia let out a cry of surprise, seeing the most terrifying scene she had ever witnessed in her life.
Aiden and his group were on their way back from Blade's Edge Mountains to Nagrand, and the place they were passing through was full of terror for the Black Dragon Princess: she saw the corpse of an adult Black Dragon impaled on the spiky stalagmites below, and then she saw more. Looking around, there were Black Dragon corpses impaled on stalagmites everywhere, almost too many to count.
Khadgar said in a deep voice, "This place is called 'Dragon's End'. That Father of Gronn, Gruul, whom we just saw, his title of 'Dragon Slayer' comes from this."
"How... how could he do this... no, no, my goodness!" Onyxia was both grief-stricken and panicked. Although she didn't know these dead Black Dragons, as one of their kind, seeing this scene, she couldn't suppress the anger in her heart. She was afraid that she would also become a corpse on a stalagmite.
She recalled facing Gruul just now, the look in his eyes was so dangerous—so this Gronn also wanted to treat her as another trophy impaled on a stalagmite, to show off to others?
"My Master, please, don't cooperate with him! I'll help you deal with the Burning Legion, I promise to contribute! Please, don't cooperate with this monster, alright!" Onyxia looked at Aiden, pleading, she was almost on the verge of a mental breakdown.
Aiden said, "I guarantee he won't harm you." He saw the despair in the Black Dragon Princess's eyes, obviously she was extremely resistant to this decision: "He won't live much longer, believe me, Onyxia."
"You will kill him?" Onyxia asked in surprise.
"Archimonde will kill him," Aiden replied.
Onyxia was a little disappointed, but she couldn't ask for more. She thought to herself, if Archimonde couldn't kill this Gronn, she wouldn't mind secretly giving him a finishing blow.
"Hmm?" She suddenly became suspicious. Nearby, she felt a familiar aura again. "This is... Saberion's aura?"
Aiden heard this name and immediately remembered there was such a person next to the Blade's Edge Mountains arena—he called himself Baron Sablemane, but his true identity was actually an adult Black Dragon, and seemed to be one of Deathwing's Sons. He had come to Outland with Deathwing back then and hadn't gone back since.
"Should we try to win him over?" This thought flashed through Aiden's mind, but before he could try, news from the front line came from the communication device on the flying ship—the Demon army from Hellfire Citadel was pursuing the Alliance army retreating from Honor Hold, and the Demon vanguard had already engaged them!
Danath and his group were caught up to on Thorn Pass. Fortunately, it wasn't Archimonde who pursued them, but the Demons led by Abyssal Lord Magtheridon and most of the Fel Orcs. Although the enemy's combat strength was very high, after years of confrontation, this group of "Sons of Lothar" was not weak either; these Alliance elites knew very well how to deal with these enemies.
Danath personally led some elites to cover the rear. They fought and retreated simultaneously, and finally established a defense line on the mountain pass with high mountains on both sides. After receiving support from the High Elf troops led by Sylvanas, they finally stabilized the situation.
And more subsequent troops kept arriving. Magtheridon's attack was slow to break through the defense line, and the battle turned into a stalemate between the two sides.
Aiden heard the report on the battle situation when he returned. This should have been considered good news, but another piece of news brought by Evelynn, who had been monitoring Archimonde's movements, made him unable to be happy at all.
Archimonde did not advance along Magtheridon's attack route. He led a pure Demon army and directly entered Zangarmarsh from the west side of Hellfire Peninsula.
"Archimonde's subsequent actions have only two possibilities—the first is that he is preparing to go south from Zangarmarsh and launch a pincer attack with Magtheridon's army; the second is that he is preparing to go directly towards Netherstorm and merge with the Demon army summoned by Kil'jaeden."
Aiden frowned tightly. If it's the first possibility, then it's manageable. If it's the second—then they are in big trouble.
Because their original plan was to take Tempest Keep to Netherstorm and then make a jump from the Void. Once Archimonde blocks this place, then they would have to abandon this plan and would have to look for a jump point elsewhere.
"What should we do then?" Danath looked at Aiden, the highest-ranking Commander present. "Stick to the original plan or devise a new way out?"
Kurdran said loudly, "I think we should try the first method—at least see how strong Archimonde really is. Perhaps we can break through his defense line!"
Prophet Velen said with a bitter face, "I hold the opposite opinion. We have fought with Archimonde many times; a head-on confrontation is a very bad choice."
"Then the only option left is to try the second method, look for another jump channel?" Danath asked.
Draenei Guardian Marrad said, "For this, I think we should ask the Naru. A'dal will definitely guide us."
Just as he said this, A'dal's thoughts were conveyed to everyone's minds:
"Except for Netherstorm, the spatial structure in other areas is very stable. Our spaceship might fly for two or three years and still not find a suitable jump point."
Khadgar suddenly had an idea and asked, "Is there any way to artificially create an environment suitable for jumping?"
"If there is a power that can transform reality into the Void," A'dal replied.
"Transforming reality into the Void," a flash of inspiration suddenly struck Aiden's mind; he remembered that such a power seemed to truly exist.
What could it be?
He thought hard.
The others were still discussing this topic but didn't find any results, until everyone finally put the decision-making power back into his hands, waiting for his decision. However, everyone else noticed that Aiden had fallen into deep thought.
Onyxia couldn't help but quietly nudge Aiden, waking him up.
"Hey, Master, they're asking for your opinion!" the Black Dragon Princess said softly.
"Opinion?" Aiden looked at Onyxia, feeling a bit annoyed that this Black Dragon had disturbed him—Black Dragon?
His heart skipped a beat, and he immediately remembered what the flash of inspiration just now was—"I've got it! There is indeed a creature that possesses such power!"
"What?" Everyone was puzzled. The power that the Naru mentioned earlier, which can transform reality and the Void, can create a suitable jump environment, but everyone didn't think of anything that could do it, so they had all given up on the topic.
"Twilight Dragon!" Aiden was ecstatic. "Twilight Dragons possess the power to convert reality and the Void!"
"Twilight Dragon?" This was another new term that no one had heard of.
"Yes, Twilight Dragon!" Aiden explained the origin of this type of dragon:
This is related to Onyxia's mother, Sinestra. After this Black Dragon came to Outland, she discovered that the Onyx Dragons hatched from mutated Black Dragon eggs had the characteristic of absorbing Void energy to grow rapidly. Therefore, she began to study this type of Onyx Dragon and tried to combine the essence of true Black Dragons with the characteristics of Onyx Dragons to create a dragon species that could both grow rapidly and possess the powerful strength of Black Dragons.
And this research ultimately led to the birth of the Twilight Dragons—a type of dragon even more powerful than Sinestra had anticipated!
Twilight Dragons possess the special ability to convert reality and the Void, and some of them are even more terrifying—Aiden remembered that Deathwing had created a Twilight Dragon named Aozhuokexiong; its Twilight Judgment could even destroy all of Azeroth, its power was completely comparable to Deathwing's Cataclysm.
"So, are we going to cooperate with the Black Dragon Queen?" Khadgar was a bit speechless. He originally thought he was already quite an unconventional person; he had even cooperated with Gruul against Deathwing back then, but after meeting Aiden, he felt he was still a very well-behaved good child—look at this Lord Commander, he subdued the Black Dragon Princess, deceived the King of Gronn, and now he was going to cooperate with the Black Dragon Queen.
Who knows what other crazy actions beyond ordinary people's comprehension he will have in the future?
Khadgar even started to feel a bit of anticipation. He liked people who, like him, didn't follow the rules.
Archimonde, who was marching towards Zangarmarsh, learned that the Demon army in Netherstorm needed a powerful Legion Commander to fight against a native demigod, so he sent Doom Lord Kazak there.
At this time, Gruul had received a message from Khadgar, telling him that the Burning Legion was attacking Blade's Edge Mountains from two sides and that he should retreat early. However, this demigod was unwilling to give up his territory just like that, so when Kazak led his army to attack, he did not retreat. Instead, he led his Sons and servant armies to resist resolutely.
Kazak, holding the Dragon King Blade, could fight against the Gronn King alone without falling into a disadvantage. This Doom Lord was very flexible and had powerful spells, completely incomparable to the weak Demons Gruul had encountered before.
"Are you Archimonde!" Gruul roared.
His thick forearms pressed against the ground, supporting his body, and his angry single eye was almost spitting fire. He stared at Kazak, wanting to get a positive answer from the other party—because from the result of their clash, he could fully contend with this Demon!
"So you also know the name of our Burning Legion's great Master!" Kazak said with disdain. He was still unharmed, while this Gronn demigod had several large bleeding wounds on his body. He believed that given enough time, he could deal with this native demigod.
Kazak's answer completely dispelled Gruul's idea of holding his ground and not retreating—a minion under that great Demon could contend with him. He now believed what Aiden had said: Archimonde was a formidable opponent, no less powerful than, or perhaps even more powerful than, Deathwing.
Even if Gruul was strong, he could not face such an opponent alone.
Because he failed to gain an advantage, the Ogre army on the battlefield had suffered heavy losses. Three of his seven Sons had already died in continuous battles, and nearly half of the Ogres and other Gronns had been killed or wounded. If he did not retreat, there was only one outcome for the Ogre army—total annihilation!
—
Now Archimonde was strictly following Kil'jaeden's plan, leading the elite Demon army towards Netherstorm, preparing to rendezvous with the Demons who had been teleported to Outland. He knew that Aiden was not near his marching route, but he believed that as long as Kil'jaeden continued to seal space, preventing the other party from escaping, eliminating him was only a matter of time.
Such a cautious Archimonde offered no opportunity to exploit, and the situation in Outland became increasingly grim. At this point, Aiden actually thought that the destruction of the Dark Portal was a good thing—if the armies of Azeroth entered now, it would be difficult to change the balance of power between the enemy and themselves; it would be better to stay in their homeland.
But things did not go as planned. Aiden did not want the other party to come for support, but the New Alliance was not prepared to stand idly by.
Anna and Antonidas planned to find the person who originally created the Dark Portal to reopen it.
Who created the Dark Portal originally?
They were both very clear that the darkened Medivh had created it.
Medivh had not appeared again for a long time, and no one knew where he was or what he was busy with. This Guardian always appeared and disappeared unpredictably, but Anna believed there was one person who should be able to find him—Aegwynn, Medivh's mother, the one who personally resurrected him!
Anna followed her memory to find Aegwynn's reclusive dwelling and, as expected, found the former Guardian.
"Your intrusion is a bit impolite, Mage!" Aegwynn was very displeased with the uninvited Anna.
She had resurrected Medivh using the power of eternal youth, and now the traces of time had returned to her. Her skin had become loose, and wrinkles had appeared at the corners of her eyes. The years that had been stopped were now accelerating their passage, and this was only after a year; she had already aged ten years more than when she resurrected Medivh. Aegwynn now looked to be over thirty years old, older than Anna's current appearance.
"I'm very sorry," Anna said, "but I have something very important."
Aegwynn said impatiently, "I don't accommodate guests here, nor will I provide you with food and water. I believe you have the ability to create them."
Anna shook her head, "That's not my purpose. What I want to say is much more important than that."
"Then you absolutely shouldn't come looking for me, Ms., I can't help much. As you can see, I'm just an ordinary woman!" Aegwynn's tone was somewhat sharp and sarcastic, enough to make a true stranger turn and leave.
"You can help, Guardian Aegwynn," Anna spoke the other party's name. She was not angered by Aegwynn's rudeness; she knew the true identity of this woman who claimed to be ordinary, and this woman had mocked her many times in the past, so she had long since stopped caring about her tone.
Anna revealing Aegwynn's identity made her become wary and angry. "Who are you? Hmm?" She pointed a finger, breaking through Anna's magical disguise and revealing the true appearance of the white-haired Mage.
"My name is Jaina Proudmoore, and now my name is Anna—time is short, so I'll get straight to the point. Aegwynn, I convinced you once, and now I don't mind repeating that action."
Anna recounted the entire situation and even personally demonstrated some of Aegwynn's unique magic, then waited for Aegwynn's answer.
In the original timeline, she had spent a long time with Aegwynn. At that time, Aegwynn was already old and served as her personal consultant in Theramore—in reality, she was finding fault with her work to help her improve, and when she was in a good mood, she would also teach her some powerful magic and they would confide in each other.
They had a relationship of both teacher and friend, and later Aegwynn's sacrifice saddened her for a long time.
Now that Anna had come to this timeline, she wanted to protect everything better.
Just as Anna was convincing Aegwynn, the Night Elves were also not peaceful.
The elite troops led by Fandral Staghelm suffered heavy losses under Mannoroth's attack. Many Night Elf warriors were sacrificed or captured, and the Grove Guardian Remulos was also severely wounded.
After Fandral Staghelm brought him to Moonlight Grove, despite their best efforts to save him, Remulos remained unconscious. Even when Tyrande prayed for Elune's power to cast healing spells, it failed to wake him, only healing his external injuries.
This battle dealt a heavy blow to the Night Elves. The only good news was that the Sentinels led by Illidan had cleared the Demons from Black Shore.
However, upon learning that Illidan had escaped from prison, the Watcher Maiev Shadowsong, without bothering to clear the Demons from Ashenvale, took her Watcher sisters to pursue this dangerous fugitive whom she had personally guarded for ten thousand years—she didn't care if Illidan was useful to the Night Elves. In her opinion, the crimes Illidan committed back then were more than deserving of the death penalty. Once this fellow escaped, he was bound to cause greater trouble!
Tyrande was truly worried sick about this. She learned from intelligence that Maiev had been obstructed by the Naga during her pursuit, and these Naga had ignored Illidan's escape. Therefore, Maiev believed that Illidan must have colluded with the evil Naga.
The High Priestess was troubled by the feud between these two. She had personally released Illidan, and if Maiev pursued the matter, she could not escape blame. Moreover, Illidan had completed his mission exceptionally well, and Tyrande believed that her decision to release him was correct.
So she decided to help Illidan—and there was a great opportunity right before her eyes.
Learning that Archimonde had gone to Outland and that the Alliance was recruiting soldiers to support the Lord Commander there, Tyrande believed that if she sent Illidan, it would not only allow Illidan to temporarily escape Maiev's pursuit but also prove to the Alliance that the Night Elves were also contributing.
—
Aegwynn had resurrected Medivh with her own power, so she naturally knew his whereabouts. She was not an unyielding person; Anna had convinced her. She found Anna quite pleasing to the eye, so she decided to help this female Mage who also had a difficult Destiny.
And Medivh's location was indeed beyond everyone's expectation—he was in Tanaris, specifically, in the Caverns of Time.
Ever since Aiden used his ability to intrude upon Azeroth's timeline, preventing others from using special abilities to glimpse the future, Medivh found that the future had become blurred. He didn't know how to guide the races of Azeroth to fight against Archimonde.
The changes didn't stop there; now Archimonde had actually suppressed the temptation of the World Tree and taken the Legion to Outland!
This turn of events made him anxious and worried, so he could only hope to use the power of the Bronze Dragons to penetrate the mists of the future and find a way for Azeroth to survive.
As Nozdormu, the Eternal, gradually recovered, he felt that he was getting closer to that goal.