Qiraji

With the demise of Xavius, the Old God N'Zoth's plan to corrupt the entire world by merging dreams and reality had failed. His fanatical minions—the Faceless Ones, Naga, and Murlocs—all retreated back into the deep sea.

The nightmare crisis that affected all living beings worldwide had passed, but Azeroth had not achieved true peace.

As the most powerful and cunning of the Old Gods, N'Zoth had already formulated his next step, and even more comprehensive plans beyond that. These interconnected plans would inevitably lead to him breaking the seals and reclaiming his rule over Azeroth!

The key to the next phase of his plan was the Blue Dragonflight. Malygos, having been deceived by N'Zoth, was launching the Nexus War, a purge of all spellcasters worldwide.

This was not just a disaster for the mages of Dalaran; the unrestrained draining of magic from the ley lines by the Occulus would eventually lead to the shattering of the entire world. After the bombardment of the Focusing Iris, Azeroth could very well end up like Outland, or even worse.

Ending Malygos's madness was now a matter of utmost urgency.

However, the living beings of Azeroth had just endured the successive ravages of the Scourge, the Burning Legion, and the Nightmare armies, and were in dire need of time to recuperate.

With the Nightmare crisis resolved, the allied forces that had gathered in Azshara to fight side-by-side were preparing to return to their respective homes and rebuild their homelands. They were currently holding a final gathering in the camp before their departure.

Ysera, the Green Dragon Aspect, said, "I am deeply grateful for your contributions and sacrifices during this Nightmare crisis. The Green Dragonflight will forever remember them."

Aiden said, "This was a common crisis for the entire world; no one could stand idly by. It wasn't solely the responsibility of the Green Dragonflight. We simply did what we should have done."

Everyone nodded in agreement. The power of the Nightmare Lord was beyond imagination. If Aiden hadn't rallied the will of the entire world, it was unlikely that anyone or any army could have defeated him. The Green Dragonflight naturally couldn't have resisted alone.

Prince Arthas said, "This war will be the most unforgettable of my life; I will always remember it!"

"So, what are everyone's plans after this?"

The experience of fighting side-by-side had fostered exceptional harmony among the various races, and everyone began to eagerly discuss their plans for the future.

Malfurion said, "The scars on the land need time to heal. For a long time to come, we druids will dedicate ourselves to this task. The World Tree also withered during this crisis, and we will do our best to heal Nordrassil and restore its vitality."

At this moment, Jarod Shadowsong said, "Queen Ysera, if we heal Nordrassil, will its power—"

He asked this because of his wife Shalla'sil's previous experience. If he hadn't encountered Cenarius and Malfurion, Shalla'sil might have truly met with disaster. The loss of immortality and health had been so sudden that many night elves were caught unprepared.

All the night elves present looked at the Green Dragon Queen with anticipation in their eyes.

Ysera knew what they were hoping for. She shook her head and said, "Our blessing is gone. The immortality and health that the night elves lost will not return—especially since Nozdormu—" She paused, her expression becoming worried when she mentioned the name, but quickly stopped and said, "However, you can still access my dream, regardless of Nordrassil's state."

The hope in many night elves' eyes turned to disappointment. For ten thousand years, they had not aged or fallen ill. Coupled with the protection of many immortals, guardians, and deities, they had become arrogant and regarded all other races as mortals.

Now that they had lost such power, they too had become part of the mortal realm.

Cenarius then said, "I heard that Remulos was attacked by the 'Destroyer' Mannoroth in Felwood. That demon is still gathering a large number of demons and satyrs there. I plan to investigate this matter thoroughly."

Remulos's death had greatly saddened this father. In just a few months, he had lost a daughter and a son, especially since Remulos was the most outstanding and most like him among his sons. Fortunately, Remulos and Avrilla's souls were still in the Emerald Dream, and Cenarius believed that he would one day be able to resurrect them.

But before that, he had to avenge Mannoroth! If Mannoroth hadn't severely injured Remulos, he wouldn't have fallen into a coma, and if he hadn't been in a coma, he wouldn't have been plagued by nightmares, and he wouldn't have been controlled by the Nightmare to go mad and kill his sister. Obviously, Mannoroth was the source of all evil!

Moreover, Cenarius couldn't tolerate any demons in his eyes!

Aiden remembered something and said to Malfurion, "Your Excellency, a powerful mage named Arugal summoned werewolves sleeping in the Dream—as far as I know, these werewolves are somewhat connected to you. Could you send some people to help us resolve the werewolf threat?"

"Werewolves?" Malfurion listened as Aiden recounted the information he had obtained. As he spoke, Prince Arthas's expression became somewhat awkward and uneasy, after all, he bore some responsibility in this matter.

"I am very sorry for the great losses caused to your warriors. This was our negligence," Malfurion bowed in apology.

The leaders of several human nations plagued by the werewolf curse cast probing glances at Malfurion—how were werewolves connected to the mysterious night elves?

Malfurion slowly recounted a history that had been sealed for thousands of years:

The druids learned the ability to transform into beasts from the various wild immortals: Ursoc and Ursol, the bear demigods, taught the druids to transform into bear form; they also learned the panther form from the panther immortal, as well as other raptor forms, flight forms, and so on.

The wolf is a very powerful beast, especially the wolf demigod Goldrinn, who is a powerful immortal. Legend has it that even the moon goddess Elune could not tame his wildness. Naturally, some druids wanted to learn the wolf form, and thus a group of "Wolf Cult Druids" was born. But later, Malfurion discovered that the Wolf Cult Druids could not control the wildness and wolf nature in this form. After transforming, they would lose their rationality, become extremely bloodthirsty, and attack friend and foe alike.

After discovering this drawback, Malfurion forbade druids from learning and trying the wolf form. But some people were still secretly studying this power. A priestess named Belysra Starbreeze and her friends prepared to find a way to solve the hidden danger of the Wolf Cult Druids' madness. Finally, she combined Elune's essence and Goldrinn's teeth to create a divine artifact to control the Wolf Cult Druids—the Scythe of Elune.

But she did not succeed. This artifact completely transformed the Wolf Cult Druids into half-human, half-wolf creatures—that is, today's werewolves. These mutated werewolves also gained the ability to spread the werewolf curse—those bitten by them would quickly transform into the same form.

In the end, Malfurion had no choice but to unite the druids to deal with these werewolves, and finally exiled them to the roots of the G'Hanir tree in a certain layer of the Emerald Dream, hoping that this mother tree could soothe the wildness in the werewolves' hearts.

Malfurion never expected that, after thousands of years, the archmage Arugal obtained a way to summon werewolves from the notes of his predecessors, and took advantage of the opportunity of the dream merging with reality to summon the werewolves to the real world!

"This matter is our responsibility. The Cenarion Circle will definitely do its best to help you resolve this werewolf crisis!" Malfurion said in a deep voice. He turned to his disciple Broll Bearmantle and said to him, "Broll, can you take on this task?"

"I am duty-bound!" Broll puffed out his chest and promised.

Seeing that the night elves had taken the responsibility, Arthas felt much less embarrassed. At this time, he felt that he could hold his head up in front of the Valoran Federation—previously, the armies led by Garen, Darius, and Marrad, which supported Theramore, had been attacked by werewolves, plus the betrayal of the archmage Arugal, which made Arthas, who had previously advocated the use of werewolf power, feel extremely embarrassed. While reflecting on himself, he also had to admit his dereliction of duty and recklessness.

The leaders of the major forces were all talking about their plans for the future. With the disappearance of the sea monster, crossing the Endless Sea was no longer dangerous, and the tragedy of Tandred Proudmoore would not be repeated.

Admiral Daelin Proudmoore was preparing to organize another fleet to return home and try to find the whereabouts of Tandred—although no one held any expectations for his survival, the old king had a stubborn insistence on seeing the person alive or the body dead. Only by truly confirming Tandred's fate could he make the most appropriate choice for the future of Kul Tiras.

Several other countries in the Eastern Kingdoms were also preparing to return, but after the Burning Legion's devastation, it was likely that humanity would spend a great deal of effort rebuilding their homes and restoring production for a long time.

Just as everyone was looking forward to the future, the Red Dragon Queen Alexstrasza poured a bucket of cold water on everyone: "I'm afraid we can't enjoy peace so quickly."

Everyone looked at her. She explained, "I believe everyone has noticed recently that there are more blue dragons in the sky, but they have not participated in the war against the Nightmare Lord, but are planning another disaster."

Alexstrasza explained what Malygos and the Blue Dragonflight were currently doing.

The leaders, who had just enjoyed a few hours of peace, did not expect that another Dragon Aspect was launching another far-reaching war.

Malygos was trying to cleanse all spellcasters, and even races with spellcasting talents—which meant that the vast majority of intelligent races were included.

Humans and high elves were naturally included, especially the high elves, whose lives were already intertwined with magic, and it was even difficult for them to survive without magic; humans were the largest group of spellcasters in the current world.

Even the night elves, who almost forbade the use of magic, possessed strong spellcasting talents, and according to Malygos's theory, they would also be within the scope of the "Great Cleansing."

"Malygos's actions are worrying. Other things can be put aside for the time being. Currently, we must end his madness."

The words spoken by the Red Dragon Queen Alexstrasza were sonorous and carried an undeniable meaning.

She would never forget the time when Malygos indiscriminately led the Blue Dragonflight to besiege her above the Nexus. Persuasion was ineffective, and she knew that coercive measures were necessary to stop the dangerous behavior of the Blue Dragonflight.

"You're right, Queen Alexstrasza—so what should we do? Eliminate Malygos?"

"If necessary." Alexstrasza lowered her eyes, her gaze dimming.

This was a result she was extremely unwilling to see. Malygos was the elder brother of all the Dragon Aspects, and they had fought side by side for tens of thousands of years. This brother had protected her and her other siblings many times. Alexstrasza had used up almost all of her courage to say these words.

Ysera looked at her sister, and at this moment, she also felt the same way.

This was an extremely difficult decision.

Alexstrasza said, "I will rush back to Northrend. I need several mages to go to the Dragonblight with the Red Dragonflight to open the teleportation array there, so that the army that will crusade against Malygos can directly reach Northrend."

"No problem, we will fully support this action!" Archmage Antonidas took the lead in expressing his position.

The "Nexus War" would be the first to bear the brunt of the mages, and Dalaran would never allow Malygos to launch such a crazy act.

Just then, a commotion came from outside, and a guard came in and said to Aiden, "Chief, someone calling himself Kalec claims to have important matters to discuss."

"Kalec?" Aiden looked at Anna, and Anna looked over as well. Obviously, they both had the same guess.

"Yes, Chief."

"Let him in."

The person who came in was a handsome blue-haired young man, the very same Kalecgos who had intercepted Anna in Azshara to seize the Focusing Iris.

As soon as he came in, he bowed to everyone and apologized. His gaze swept over the people around him, and he said, "Queen Alexstrasza, Queen Ysera, and leaders. My true identity is Kalecgos of the Blue Dragonflight—please don't be agitated, please hear me out—I am well aware that what the Blue Dragonflight is currently doing has brought great trouble to you, and I also understand that stopping Dragon Aspect Malygos is imperative."

When he had just revealed his identity, the people who had just heard about the Blue Dragonflight's mad actions immediately glared at him, and some even couldn't help but want to attack. Fortunately, he quickly changed the subject and immediately placed himself on the side of opposing Malygos and sympathizing with and supporting human actions.

In fact, this was also a last resort.

Previously, Kalecgos had secretly invited two of his good friends, Tyrygosa and Mathergos, to jointly investigate the reason for Dragon Aspect Malygos's madness.

Heaven seemed to be helping them as well, and soon the three people's investigations made gratifying progress: Tyrygosa, through indirect inquiries and careful investigation, speculated that the cause of the matter seemed to be related to the Bronze Dragon Aspect Nozdormu; and when Mathergos was looking for the key figure, Eregos, she also accidentally tracked the place where this blue dragon last disappeared near the cave of the blue dragon prince Arygos.

All of this news intertwined to reveal a terrifying fact: there must be a terrible conspiracy hidden behind Malygos's launch of the Nexus War!

After hearing this, Anna was the first to ask, "Are you saying that my Focusing Iris may have been given to Arygos by Eregos?"

In her words, she emphasized her ownership of that Focusing Iris—obviously, she still held a grudge against the blue dragon's sneak attack.

Kalecgos said, "According to Mathergos's observation, Eregos should have received Arygos's protection. Your guess is very likely."

He felt somewhat embarrassed and apologetic when facing Anna—after all, he also had an inescapable responsibility for this matter. If he had thrown the Focusing Iris to Eregos in the end, or if he had simply brought it back, or if he had not launched the sneak attack on Anna at all, perhaps everything would have been different.

Kalecgos did not know that he, Eregos, Arygos, and even the entire Blue Dragonflight, as well as Nozdormu's visit, were all the work of the Old God N'Zoth, who had been carefully planning this long and precise conspiracy. It was interlocked, without the slightest mistake, and had been moving towards the ending set by N'Zoth.

Anna was expressionless. She looked at Aiden and conveyed her thoughts: "Then could this matter also be related to Deathwing?"

She was referring to what had happened in her timeline.

Before crossing over to this timeline, Anna had also experienced the Nexus War and was relatively clear about the various reasons and processes involved. The blue dragon prince Arygos had quietly fallen, secretly colluding with Deathwing, preparing to help Deathwing complete his plan to destroy the world. Because he was also corrupted by the Old Gods, he had become the same camp as Deathwing.

In that case, it was very likely that Arygos in this timeline had also fallen—perhaps Malygos's Nexus War was also related to Deathwing?

"Arygos," Aiden muttered the name. He always felt that something seemed wrong—he recalled the information about this blue dragon prince, and he first heard this name in…

The War of the Shifting Sands!

In the original history, Arygos, in the War of the Shifting Sands more than a thousand years ago, along with two other dragons—the green dragon Merithra and the red dragon Caelestrasz—chose to sacrifice themselves at the last moment, creating the Scarab Wall to seal the Qiraji. However, he did not die in the end. In the later Second War of the Shifting Sands, this blue dragon prince returned to the Blue Dragonflight as a hero.

Then the question came—the Second War of the Shifting Sands had not happened at all, so where did Arygos come from?

Aiden suddenly realized that things had become complicated. He quietly passed this message to Anna through telepathy, and Anna immediately understood.

Obviously, the history of this world was not the same as the history on the past timeline they knew!

Aiden immediately turned to Kalecgos, "Regarding this blue dragon prince, what is his origin?"

Kalecgos did not know about the telepathic communication between the two, and thought they simply wanted to understand the past of this blue dragon prince. So he said, "Prince Arygos is one of the dragon eggs that survived Deathwing's attack during the War of the Ancients. He hatched not long after the end of the War of the Ancients, but he has always been very low-key, overshadowed by his heroic sister, Krygosa—the latter is our Blue Dragonflight's princess. However, she sacrificed herself in the War of the Shifting Sands a thousand years ago to seal the Qiraji."