Apexis

Aiden stood on the towering Arayaku Mountains, watching as hundreds of thousands of demons surged in like a dark cloud. Wherever the Burning Legion passed, the Terokkar Forest began to burn. From the sky, it looked like a line of fire closing in on Skettis.

Inside Skettis, a tense pre-battle mobilization was underway, especially for the air force and anti-aircraft units. The towering Arayaku Mountains were a natural fortress. The cliffs, hundreds or even thousands of meters high, were like an insurmountable barrier to ground troops. Therefore, the command expected to only have to confront a few flying demons and possibly Archimonde in the first few days.

Several generals were also beside Aiden, observing the enemy situation.

Kurdran's eyes almost popped out. Looking out, the assembled Burning Legion was boundless. Even the flying demons blotted out the sun. He couldn't judge how many demons there were because he couldn't see the end of them.

"This is the first time in my life I've seen so many enemies," Kurdran said, swallowing hard.

"Who hasn't?" Khadgar looked up at the sky. He didn't see the red sun from his vision in Karazhan, and the scene before him didn't resemble his death in the vision.

He thought to himself, if the visions become reality, then he wouldn't die here. This also indirectly proved that these overwhelming demons wouldn't destroy them.

This conjecture gave him a strange confidence—he believed that they could escape this world on the Naaru's spaceship. As for when the scene of his death in the vision would appear—anyway, not now, not in this shattered Outland. He still had time.

Then he thought to himself mockingly: Isn't it a little foolish to infer the outcome of the current battle from the scene of my own death?

Nevertheless, Khadgar still said, "Don't worry, these demons won't succeed!"

"You seem to be full of inexplicable confidence," Kurdran teased good-naturedly.

"Of course, I won't die here!" Khadgar said jokingly. Everyone around him burst into laughter.

He felt that no one except himself knew the true meaning of this sentence. But Aiden happened to know.

When Khadgar ambushed Medivh, he saw the scene of his own death in the visions of Karazhan.

Aiden was silent and somewhat confused. Shouldn't the future be ever-changing? Why would there be a force that makes it destined to happen?

"Did you see that? The giant in the front is Archimonde!"

"That's right, it's him."

Velen also saw the great demon—over twenty thousand years ago, they were once close brothers.

"The battle is about to begin. Let's go back and prepare!"

"Notify Gruul. It's his time to shine."

"A fierce battle."

Archimonde led his army from the direction of Auchindoun, striding towards the Arayaku Mountains. He had excellent eyesight and could see the native coalition forces on the mountain, preparing for battle.

"If the Burning Legion can be stopped by such a small barrier, how can we conquer the universe?" His voice was mocking.

The stronger the civilization, the more versatile it is. If the attacking side were the same native coalition forces, the terrain of the Arayaku Mountains and the internal defense might make most commanders retreat in the face of difficulty.

But the power and civilization level of the Burning Legion far exceeded that of the natives of Azeroth and Outland. Archimonde had many ways to break through this defense.

After a little thought, he decided to use the simplest and most brutal method.

Archimonde said to Kaz'zak, "Surround this place."

"Yes, my master!" Kaz'zak accepted the order and left. He directed hundreds of thousands of troops to surround the Arayaku Mountains and sent the legion's air power to the sky, watching Skettis intently.

Although all the demons were in action, the protagonist of this war was always their legion commander—Archimonde!

He squatted down on the gray earth outside the ruins of Auchindoun, reaching out his finger to trace the shape of the Arayaku Mountains, adding some mysterious symbols to it—some arcs, stars, triangles, scrolls, books, scepters, and other mysterious things.

"Look at that great demon! What is he doing?" Queen, who was responsible for monitoring the sky, exclaimed.

She transmitted the scene she saw to the command room through the Ethereal's projection device. Aiden also saw this scene.

He gasped, while most people were puzzled.

Except for Prophet Velen and his guard, Maraad. Both Draenei saw shock in each other's eyes—they had witnessed such scenes countless times during their exile, although it was a long time ago, no Draenei who saw that scene could forget it.

"What's wrong?" Sylvanas's eyes were filled with doubt.

"I'm afraid…" Aiden's eyes were filled with deep worry, "We have to retreat to Tempest Keep immediately!"

Danath was puzzled: "But we have set up fortifications, and there are a lot of war materials in the Arayaku Mountains!"

Aiden interrupted: "But there is no time!"

He explained in his fastest speed: "Archimonde is casting a very powerful spell—he will create a model of the Arayaku Mountains. When he pushes down the model, the Arayaku Mountains under our feet will completely collapse! Staying here will only bury us in the ruins!"

Aiden shouted: "Quick, notify everyone on the mountain, transfer to the spaceship as quickly as possible! Leave the things on the ground!"

No one could understand such a spell, except for Krasus, a member of the Kirin Tor Council, who had heard of it in Dalaran before. In another timeline, Dalaran was destroyed by Archimonde in this way.

And during the Battle of the Sunwell, the magic barrier covering Quel'Thalas was also destroyed by such means.

The crowd began to retreat to the spaceship in a panic. Time was tight, and most of the supplies and heavy defensive weapons were abandoned on the mountain.

Before long, Archimonde's voice reached everyone's ears:

"Despair, mortals—this mountain will not be your shelter, it will only be the tomb where you are buried!"

The magic model created by Archimonde was completed. With the sound of this voice, he grabbed a handful of gray sand and sprinkled it on the magic model, simulating the image of the Arayaku Mountains.

Archimonde reached out his finger and poked a mountain peak in the model, and the sand that made it up fell down. After a few seconds, a mountain peak on the distant Arayaku Mountains, with the same shape as it, collapsed.

Then came the second and third.

The "Polluter" quickly became tired of this game. He lost patience, stood up, and stomped **** on the model.

The earth vibrated violently under his foot, and the entire Arayaku Mountains began to collapse, and an earthquake occurred at the same time!

The survivors on the spaceship watched the towering Arayaku Mountains collapse, and everyone's heart was filled with despair—how could they fight such a powerful opponent?

Perhaps even God does not have such power!

Archimonde in the distance seemed to feel the fear of these mortals. He laughed wildly, wantonly enjoying the pleasure of destruction.

Arakkoa Priest Ishaal stared blankly at the scene of Skettis being buried by the collapsed soil. The home where their Arakkoa had lived for generations was destroyed.

Every Arakkoa was terrified and inexplicable. They let out a sharp hiss and cried loudly.

The mud and rocks attached to the Arayaku Mountains rolled down, and in just half a minute, the Arayaku Mountains, which were impossible for non-flying creatures to cross, collapsed.

Aiden's eyes were red. He could only watch this scene helplessly. He felt a deep sense of frustration. Could this be the end of his journey in Azeroth?

As the rocks peeled off, his eyes were pricked by a ray of golden light reflected by the ruins of Skettis.

Golden light?

He endured the discomfort and immediately reopened his eyes to look down, and the scene he saw in front of him shocked him again!

"Look! Look down there!" Aiden shouted.

"I… Holy Light, am I seeing things!"

"God, what is that?"

"A miracle! This is a miracle!"

The people who heard Aiden's voice looked at the ruins, and they all saw the most amazing scene in their lives.

"The legend is true, it's true!" Ishaal murmured in amazement.

As the soil and rocks receded, Skettis was gradually revealing its true face. As the dust settled, a corner of the real Skettis was revealed. Emerging from beneath the soil was the outer wall of a magnificent fortress, adorned with intricate and mysterious patterns. The material of this section of the wall appeared to be a perfect fusion of crystal, metal, and rock, exhibiting a unique aesthetic.

"This is... a fortress!" Marlade exclaimed.

As more of the soil peeled away, more of the structure was revealed. Just as Marlade said, judging by its shape, it was indeed a towering cylindrical fortress!

"By the Raven God..." Tears streamed from the eyes of Ishal, the Ravenclaw Priest. He knelt excitedly on the ramp of the Exodar, "The legends are true!"

"What legends?" Everyone was now eager to know the truth.

Ishal said tremulously, "Many years ago, the great Talon King Terokk built Skettis on the Raven's Peak, establishing a vast arakkoa empire, sheltering those of us who were not favored by Rukhmar... And the legend says that this empire was built on a fortress of the Apexis civilization!"

Ishal, reaching this point, revealed an almost fanatical excitement: "It's true! The legends are true! This fortress is a remnant of the Apexis civilization!"

The Ravenclaw Priest's explanation left even more people bewildered: Talon King Terokk? Rukhmar? Apexis civilization?

Almost no one present knew these three key names.

Quinn couldn't help but whisper, "Commander, what is he talking about?"

Aiden was also amazed by the scene before him. He recalled the plot about the arakkoa in Warlords of Draenor, organized his thoughts, and then slowly replied, "Legend has it that the skies of Draenor were once ruled by three gods: Rukhmar, Anzu, and Sethe. Later, Sethe fell, and Rukhmar and Anzu killed him. Then, Rukhmar created the flying arakkoa, and these arakkoa created the glorious Apexis civilization, which reached its peak during the reign of Talon King Terokk. But later he was plotted against, and his political enemies killed him and tainted his followers with the cursed blood of Sethe, so these arakkoa lost their ability to fly. Later, for some reason, the Apexis civilization gradually declined, and the flying arakkoa became extinct when Draenor shattered, so the arakkoa we see now are like this, unable to fly."

Ishal looked at Aiden in surprise. Although they, the arakkoa of Arak, had temporarily submitted to this human and were fighting the Burning Legion together with them, he did not expect that this human would know many secrets that even the arakkoa did not know.

Dranosh couldn't help but whisper to his father, "Is this true?"

Varok Saurfang shook his head: "I don't know... Our orcish recorded history only goes back a few hundred years. I'm afraid only the ogre scholars know about those ancient times."

He was right. The orcish civilization made great progress because of the arrival of the draenei, or rather, because of the Oshu'gun Holy Mountain.

However, there happened to be an ogre here who knew something—they were a group of ogres from Ogri'la in Blade's Edge Mountains. This group of ogres had greatly increased their intelligence by studying the remnants of the Apexis civilization—the Apexis crystals, and they became a group of ogre scholars. They were unwilling to be ruled by the ignorant gronn, so they broke away from Gruul and continued to quietly study more knowledge about the Apexis civilization.

After the Burning Legion launched a large-scale attack on Blade's Edge Mountains, they had no choice but to accept the aid of the Expeditionary Force together with the mok'nathal half-ogres, joining them to resist the Burning Legion. Then they came here.

"This information answers many of our previous doubts (it should be right, our research has a direction!)." The two heads of Mogordog, a two-headed ogre who represented this group of Ogri'la ogres, said together.

Seeing that the topic was about to turn into an exploration of the ancient civilization of the arakkoa, Aiden had to interrupt: "Let's immediately enter this Skettis fortress now! It can withstand Archimonde's strongest spell, and now I am full of confidence in our defense!"

His confidence also infected others. A few minutes ago, everyone was almost despairing because of the collapse of Raven's Peak, but now they were even more confident than before the battle.

This change in mentality was all due to the solid and magnificent Apexis fortress below.

They were already eager to enter it!

Of course, the joy of the Alliance represented the anger of Archimonde.

He was originally immersed in the fear and despair of these mortals, but then a hidden fortress suddenly appeared under Raven's Peak—and it was a fortress that had survived his strongest spell—Archimonde completely could not understand the scene before him, it was simply a challenge to him!

"Attack! Launch an attack immediately!" Archimonde roared.

He was not only seeking revenge, but also because these natives had not yet become familiar with the fortress, and most of them had not even landed. If his demon troops rushed in first, they might be able to seize control of this Apexis fortress from the natives. As long as the gate of the fortress was opened, his land army could rush in and fight the natives!

That would avoid a lot of trouble.

Under his command, demons in the sky and on the ground surged towards the Apexis fortress like a tide.

But at this moment, a tall, pale blue elemental creature suddenly rushed out of the direction of Auchindoun. No one knew where this thing came from, nor did they know what its name was. Anyway, as soon as it came out, it frantically absorbed the surrounding energy and let out an excited scream.

A huge sonic boom spread out with the elemental creature's scream. Wherever the sound waves passed, everything turned into dust—whether it was rocks, trees, or demons, none were spared.

Archimonde was furious. He did not expect these natives to have secretly buried such an ambush!

Seeing that the elemental creature was still raging, Archimonde strode towards it. He couldn't ignore it. No one knew how many of his troops this elemental creature would kill with its sonic boom if he let it go!

But Archimonde didn't know that this sound elemental lord was not reinforcements invited by Aiden—in fact, it was an elemental lord named Murmur summoned from another world by the orc warlocks of the Shadow Council.

As a sound elemental lord, Murmur possessed more terrifying destructive power than other elements—many intelligent creatures in other worlds had sensed its existence, and some of them had tried to summon or enslave it, and all of these worlds were destroyed in Murmur's whispers.

For it, destroying the world only required it to make a sound.

The Shadow Council originally wanted to do the same, so they summoned Murmur. However, after this element came to Draenor, they realized that its power exceeded the warlocks' control. In order to prevent it from backfiring, the warlocks had to find a way to temporarily restrict its power and imprison it in the Shadow Labyrinth of Auchindoun.

And this restriction became weaker and weaker as time passed.

Originally, at a normal speed, Murmur would have needed several years to break the restrictions, but today, when Archimonde used his most powerful spell, the strong earthquake and energy fluctuations swept away the imprisonment on Murmur.

Murmur, who had escaped from the Shadow Labyrinth, immediately launched its revenge—it was preparing to destroy this world!

In fact, Archimonde and Murmur had the same goal. If he hadn't regarded the other party as a helper invited by Aiden and had chosen to join forces with Murmur, I'm afraid even if the Alliance hid in the Apexis fortress, it would have been useless.

Because there were almost no means to block the invisible sonic attacks in the real world.

But misunderstandings were so wonderful. From the moment Archimonde used his most powerful spell, even the heavens were helping Aiden and the Outland Alliance around him.