Jarod

Just as the energy orb was about to touch the edge of the black mist, Aiden finally completed his spell. Time solidified before his eyes, and the entire world turned gray.

He first swung his sword to cut off the tendrils binding him, freeing himself. He quickly thought of a plan to save as many people as possible.

Someone had to help him, to take everyone out before he lost control of time!

Kayle, Liam, Thrall, Janna, Syndra!

Kayle and Liam's weapons could effectively sever the entanglement of Havise's roots; Thrall's shamanistic spells would be very useful in this situation, perhaps able to limit the energy orb's explosion as much as possible; Janna had regained the favor of the Wind Spirit before entering the dream from the real world, and her gale would certainly be useful; and Syndra's telekinesis could also drag everyone out of the black mist's entanglement!

Aiden, enduring immense pressure, walked towards Kayle in the frozen space, cutting off the roots entwined around her and restoring her stopped time.

"Split up!" Aiden conveyed his plan telepathically.

Moving in a time-stopped space was quite difficult, and both the Nightmare King and the approaching magic orb's immense energy were trying to crush Aiden's time confinement.

He unfolded his wings of holy light and flew towards Syndra with all his might, rescuing this hero who controlled telekinesis as well. Over there, Kayle also rescued Thrall and Janna. Then, according to the plan, they each displayed their abilities. Janna used a gale to blow away the surrounding black mist; Thrall prayed to the elemental spirits, using the power of fire, water, wind, and earth to push away the energy orb, reducing the pressure on Aiden's time confinement; Syndra then threw the heroes who had been freed from the roots but whose time was stopped, one by one, to a safe place.

Aiden also wanted to restore everyone's time, but that would greatly increase the burden of resisting the time stop. The effect of time is mutual. If he only stopped the time of Havise and the incoming energy orb, then the surrounding space and the space under normal time flow would collide, making it even more difficult for him to maintain that state.

After rescuing half of the heroes, Aiden felt a strong resistance from time. He knew he couldn't hold on for much longer!

But looking around, there were still a dozen heroes tied up.

"Could it be that I have to abandon them?"

Aiden tried to speed up his actions while scanning the remaining people.

Hecarim, Lissandra, Ahri, Malzahar, Morgana, and Nautilus were still tied up. Besides these Valoran heroes, Tyrande, Illidan, Maiev, Fordring, Dathrohan, Anasterian, Hamuul, and Rexxar had also not been able to escape.

Aiden only had a few seconds left. At most, they could only save two more people!

Although the heroes would not truly die if they died here, it would inevitably lead to a great loss of strength for the Dream Alliance!

Aiden was extremely unwilling, but there was no other way now. He swung his sword to cut off the roots binding Anasterian and conveyed the message of retreat to the others.

Just then, a high-pitched dragon roar suddenly came from the front, and two enormous dragons flew over from the sky. One red dragon, one green dragon.

Alexstrasza and Ysera, the sisters, had finally arrived on the battlefield at this time!

Aiden was overjoyed. He cast Time Warp on the two Dragon Queens, allowing them to arrive at an even faster speed. In almost just a breath, they flew close.

Alexstrasza instantly assessed the situation on the field. She shouted, "I'll take care of that dangerous energy orb!"

"I'll rescue the others!" Ysera said.

The two sisters acted separately. At this time, the stopped time had returned to normal.

Malorne, Cenarius, Malfurion, and Broll quickly jumped off the dragons' backs.

Nocturne brought a string of black shadows, rushing into the black mist. He also possessed the power of the Nightmare, making it much faster for him to rescue these heroes than others.

Kayle severed the roots binding Morgana with a single strike. After the Fallen Angel regained her freedom, the Nightmare King immediately condensed a Shadow Spike and shot it at her. She instantly summoned a Dark Shield to protect herself, neutralizing the energy of the Shadow Spike, and quickly fled the black mist.

Kayle was leisurely watching her from outside.

Morgana couldn't help but want to curse, but she held back, "Couldn't you have moved faster?"

"No."

Morgana was almost driven mad, but she could only vent her anger on the other Nightmare minions. She summoned a large area of boiling black water, submerging all the unsightly Nightmare minions. Seeing those Nightmare minions struggling in the boiling black water, she felt a little better.

Alexstrasza opened her mouth and spat out a ball of red energy, wrapping the energy orb that Aegwynn had released earlier, which had resumed its movement, preventing it from exploding immediately.

Ysera then cast a spell, summoning a large area of pure green mist, which rushed towards the Nightmare King's black mist. These two forces were opposed to each other, and she could temporarily suppress the Nightmare King's actions!

"Ysera!" the Nightmare King roared, "You can't stop me either!"

After time returned to normal, Havise also resumed his actions. The time confinement just now and the arrival of the two Dragon Queens had both shocked and angered him. Seeing Ysera and Nocturne, who was also a Nightmare incarnation, trying to hinder him, he immediately launched a counterattack, preparing to retaliate against them!

Malfurion found Tyrande trapped in the mist, and he immediately cast a spell to rescue Tyrande from the Nightmare King's clutches.

Malfurion anxiously asked, "Tyrande, how are you, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Tyrande's face was a little pale. A portion of Nightmare power had just been infused into her body. Although it wasn't enough to control her, it still made her feel cold and uncomfortable.

She suddenly remembered something and said in a panic, "Quick, Illidan, he's still inside!"

"Illidan?" Malfurion didn't have time to think about why Illidan would be here, and immediately rushed into the mist again. Tyrande, ignoring her physical discomfort, rushed in again.

As soon as she went in, she saw the scene of the Stormrage brothers facing each other in a stalemate.

Malfurion didn't expect that his twin brother would become like this, become a demon! He questioned angrily, wanting the other party to give a reasonable explanation!

Tyrande didn't have time to explain for Illidan. She urged, "Save Illidan, Malfurion!"

Recently, Aiden had told her that Illidan was a key hero in their victory over the 'Polluter' Archimonde, and his physical changes were due to this. Before meeting today, Tyrande even thought that Illidan had been injured, disfigured, or something else had happened to him. She was very worried about this, and even planned to bring Illidan back to Mount Hyjal in the future, and strive to pardon his past crimes, but she never thought that Illidan would become a demon.

But this was not his fault. He should not be treated differently because of this.

Malfurion took a deep look at his brother and severed the bonds on him. After Illidan regained his freedom, he spread his wings and rushed out of the mist.

At this time, the Nightmare King was fully dealing with Ysera and Nocturne, and had no time to care about the others.

The roots on his body turned into countless sharp spears, flying towards Ysera with despairing power, while the black mist surrounding him condensed into a ball, attacking Nocturne, who had rushed into his body.

Although Ysera was powerful, she was no match for Havise in his rage. She could only barely contend with the opponent's storm of attacks.

Seeing this, Cenarius, standing on the periphery, immediately waved his hand to summon a large area of thorns under Havise's feet. They instantly grew into a thorn jungle, binding Havise's body. Then, Cenarius poured out the fury of nature, and a large hurricane appeared above Havise's head, containing countless lightning bolts, which turned into falling thunder and struck the black mist.

"Get back!"

At this time, Alexstrasza shouted, she was about to lose control of that dangerous energy.

Seeing the opportunity, Ysera retreated. Nocturne was being attacked by the Nightmare energy transformed from the black mist. He summoned a translucent shield to protect himself and ran wildly towards the outside of the black mist.

The energy orb, freed from the Red Dragon Queen's restraint, roared and rushed towards its original direction, plunging into the black mist surrounding the Nightmare King. The immobile Havise could only take this blow head-on!

That ball of pure blue and white energy tugged at people's hearts. Whether it could severely injure or even kill Havise depended on this one move!

Everyone held their breath.

The black mist swallowed it as always. After a breath, there was still no sound.

"Could it be that it was swallowed by the Nightmare energy?"

Even Aiden had such a thought.

Its releaser, Aegwynn, showed a chilling smile on her face. She knew the mechanism and power of this magic best. Trying to eliminate its power by forced suppression would only make it explode even more violently!

Like a firecracker laid flat on the ground, the explosion at most kicks up a puff of dust. But if you bury it in the soil, it can blast out a hole!

After another breath, a faint, pale blue light suddenly appeared in the black mist. A muffled sound came from within.

"It's been detonated," Aegwynn said with a confident smile.

The faint blue light only bloomed for a moment before being completely obscured by the black mist again. People thought that was all the power it had.

But just then, the Nightmare Lord suddenly let out a terrifying roar, scaring all the Nightmare Spawn nearby into prostrating themselves on the ground, not daring to resist.

An even more intense pale light suddenly erupted from the Nightmare Lord's body, which was so dense that no light could penetrate it. It grew rapidly, soon becoming so bright that it was blinding. Countless bolts of lightning shot out through the black mist, followed by an extremely violent explosion.

People's ears were ringing, and at the same time, they were blinded by the sudden bright light. Only a few powerful individuals could see what was happening—they saw the Nightmare Lord's body, made of bones and withered branches, being torn apart in the explosion, and most of the black mist being submerged in pure arcane energy.

This terrifying power left no living creatures within hundreds of meters of its body, and it itself almost completely disappeared, leaving only a giant pit more than ten meters deep.

His death greatly boosted the morale of the Dream Coalition, and they charged towards the remaining Nightmare Spawn, shouting slogans, until they cleared all the Nightmare Spawn from their sight.

"The Nightmare Lord… did Xavius really die like that?" Aiden found it a bit unbelievable. Although the process was difficult, if this was true, then the result was truly unexpectedly perfect!

Ysera, in her humanoid form, walked up, her eyes fixed on the deep pit. Hearing Aiden's words, her expression turned serious, and she said in a deep voice, "No, not yet."

Everyone around looked at the Green Dragon Queen, and she explained, "The Nightmare Lord is the embodiment of nightmare, a force that inherently exists in the Dream. Xavius can control these unconscious nightmare forces. As long as the Dream exists, he can invade the Dream through the real world and resurrect infinitely by relying on the nightmare forces! And if we ignore the Nightmare Lord in the Dream and only kill his main body in the real world, he can also attach his power to any other tree and resurrect infinitely."

"If that's the case, how can we defeat him?" Prince Liam, who had walked up, asked the question that everyone was most concerned about.

Ysera said, "We can only truly eliminate Xavius if the Nightmare Lord in the Dream dies at the same time as Xavius in the real world."

This answer was the same as what Aiden and Anna knew. Ysera explained the reason why it had to be done this way.

"It seems that our forces in the real world should also be mobilized."

"It's going to be another tough battle."

If Xavius's main body, clinging to the cliff in the real world, also possessed the same abilities as in the Dream, then the battle would be even more difficult than in the Dream.

Here, people were not afraid of death, because after dying, they were still alive in reality. But if they died in reality, then they were truly dead.

Moreover, Xavius's position in reality also meant that only a small portion of the forces could attack him, and the coalition would completely lose its numerical advantage.

Alexstrasza walked up and said, "I know a way to make it easier for us to kill Xavius—we need a part of his body, his real-world body."

——

As the first Battle of Mount Hyjal in the Dream ended, in the real world, Malfurion and Cenarius finally broke free from the Dream.

When he woke up in the Howling Vale, Cenarius was already waiting for him.

"Let's go. We are already late, but we cannot be absent from this war," Cenarius said.

Cenarius used magic to teleport Malfurion directly to his residence in Ashenvale, and then they set off from Ashenvale to Azshara.

As Malfurion approached the Ragefire River, a member of their race ahead caught his attention. It was a white-haired night elf, walking with his head down, holding a woman in his arms. Malfurion guessed that it might be his wife.

He seemed very downcast, his steps were heavy, and he must have been preoccupied, so he didn't even notice Cenarius and Malfurion approaching.

However, his direction was not towards Azshara, but towards Mount Hyjal.

Malfurion felt that this figure seemed somewhat familiar, but he couldn't quickly connect him with anyone in his memory. It wasn't until Malfurion noticed the uniquely styled curved blade at the white-haired elf's waist that he remembered the person's name, and he couldn't help but blurt out, "Jarod!"

The white-haired elf suddenly raised his head, and only then did he notice the Lord of the Forest and the Archdruid walking towards him. He was somewhat moved, and then became extremely surprised:

"Cenarius! Malfurion!"

"It really is you, Jarod!" Malfurion didn't expect to see him in this place.

Jarod Shadowsong, this was a legendary name, a name that would forever shine in the history of the night elves!

Ten thousand years ago, the War of the Ancients broke out, and the two military commanders of the night elves died one after another. It was he who took over the heavy responsibility of commanding all the resistance forces at the most difficult moment of the war. He seemed to be a born genius commander. As more and more resisters willing to fight against the Burning Legion's invasion joined, he led these troops to gradually reverse the declining war situation.

At that time, even the "Lord of the Forest" Cenarius had led a group of immortal demigods to join them, willingly kneeling down and swearing allegiance to his command and leadership.

That war ultimately achieved victory, and Jarod himself almost died at the hands of Archimonde. Later, after everything subsided, he disbanded the army and chose to retire with his beloved, disappearing from everyone's sight.

The clansmen had various speculations about his disappearance. Many people said that he had died because he had suffered fatal injuries twice in that war, which had almost become the consensus of most night elves. Even Malfurion didn't expect to see this hero of the night elves at this time, in this place.

After approaching, Malfurion saw the woman in Jarod's arms clearly. Her face was haggard, her eyes were tightly closed, and her lips were chapped, and she seemed to be very ill.

He and Tyrande both knew this woman. She was Jarod's lover, named Shara'thil, and was once a priestess of the Sisterhood of Elune.

Before returning from the Dream, Malfurion had already learned from Tyrande about the recent events within the night elf clan.

The withering of Nordrassil caused them to lose their eternal life and health, and disease and aging began to re-enter the night elf life cycle.

The druids were able to accept this change. Birth, old age, sickness, and death were originally the normal laws of nature. They had already received ten thousand years and should not ask for more. Malfurion believed that they could also persuade other clansmen to eliminate their fear of death and aging and accept this fact.

However, precisely because of the withering of Nordrassil, Jarod's already weak wife was unfortunately swallowed by the Nightmare and had been in a deep sleep for many days.

Jarod had been doing his best to take care of her and had used every method he could think of to try to wake his wife, but the result was predictable—this was not a slumber that could be cured by healing spells and herbs.

Desperate, in order to save his wife's life, Jarod had no choice but to come out of his seclusion, preparing to return to Mount Hyjal to find Elune's priests or druids to treat Shara'thil, at least to maintain her life.

After seeing Malfurion, Jarod rekindled the fire of hope. Malfurion was the most outstanding druid, and Cenarius was even more of a demigod who was proficient in all natural magic. He could no longer find two better healers than the two in front of him!

"Please, please save her! I am willing to do anything!" Jarod pleaded in a low voice. Only at this moment would he reveal his fragile side.

"Don't worry, we will," Malfurion gave him an encouraging smile.

If Jarod had not chosen to live in seclusion, with his prestige, coupled with the support of his sister Maiev Shadowsong, he would definitely have become the most powerful person in the night elf clan. Why would he have to beg others for help in such a humble manner? As long as he gave an order, countless people would serve him.