Butterfly Effect

Seeing these intruders arrive, the Lich King Arthas stood up from the Frozen Throne and said with a sneer, "So, the 'Light's Vengeance' has finally arrived? Should I put down Frostmourne and beg for mercy, Fordring?"

Fordring shouted at Arthas, "We will grant you a swift death, Arthas, far more comfortable than the thousands of lives you have harvested!"

Then a classic dialogue unfolded. But when Tirion Fordring ordered the warriors to attack, Arthas pointed Frostmourne in his hand at him, and the extreme cold force erupted from this magic sword instantly froze Fordring in solid ice.

The cruel Lich King did not directly kill Fordring, but completely restricted his movements, allowing the old paladin to watch him kill all the warriors who attacked here.

"A classic scene," Aiden praised.

Chromie nodded indifferently. She had seen it before, and in different versions. She could even recite the lines backwards.

She was about to speak when she suddenly felt an abnormal fluctuation in the surrounding power of time.

"Not good!" Chromie exclaimed.

Anachronos appeared out of thin air again with a large group of bronze dragons.

"These guys! They're really persistent!" Chromie said resentfully. She used her fastest speed to cast a portal, pulling Aiden away and disappearing into this time and space before the Infinite Dragonflight launched an attack.

Anachronos missed his target, but without a fight, he actually felt good. That way, at least casualties were avoided.

"It seems I should create a bigger commotion before I appear next time," Anachronos muttered to himself. He glanced at the battle below, which he had seen countless times, and had long lost interest.

"Let's go! To the next timeline."

Not long after the two groups of dragons capable of traversing timelines disappeared, the battle for the Frozen Throne reached its most tragic moment.

Without Fordring, who could match the Lich King, joining the battle, Arthas was able to smoothly complete his ritual, using a "plot kill" move to instantly kill all the warriors present, and prepared to resurrect these elite warriors of Azeroth into undead, so that the Scourge could get the best supplement.

But at this time, the only living person present—Fordring, who was frozen in solid ice—summoned a strong holy light, shattering the ice prison in one fell swoop. His whole body was shrouded in dazzling holy light, as if a god had descended to earth, holding aloft the Ashbringer burning with holy fire, and slashing hard at Arthas!

"Impossible!" Arthas was at a critical moment, and this sudden change stunned him!

"Lich King, must! Die!" Fordring roared.

This battle was about to end, and the outcome was destined that Arthas would be beheaded by Fordring.

But at this moment, the third group of uninvited guests arrived here.

The Bronze Dragon King Nozdormu, whom Chromie had been searching for, appeared out of thin air. He stopped time and began to communicate with Arthas, who was on the verge of desperation.

Just like he lured Jaina, who flooded Orgrimmar, to another timeline, Arthas had no reason to refuse such an opportunity.

From then on, the real Arthas disappeared, and Uther cleaved the corpse created by Nozdormu with magic.

But no matter what, the Lich King did leave this world completely.

After the battle ended, the temporarily truce Alliance and Horde troops rushed here to express their "feelings".

Jaina Proudmoore of this world discovered that Arthas had always kept a special love souvenir from them, and recalling the sweet time they spent together in the past, she burst into tears.

Muradin Bronzebeard, who had regained his memory, also recalled the time when he taught Arthas skills and adventured with him, and sighed aside to bid farewell to the remains.

Finally, there was Sylvanas Windrunner, the Queen of the Forsaken—the Lich King brought her endless hatred and suffering, but she did not have the opportunity to avenge him personally. She came too late, and the warriors of the Silver Crusade and the Knights of the Ebon Blade had already solved the big demon king for a while.

Feeling that everything was over, Sylvanas suddenly felt disheartened and jumped from the top of Icecrown Citadel—committing suicide.

In the original history, she would be resurrected by a group of Val'kyr, but in this world, because Arthas had completely disappeared, the remaining Helm of Domination was also a useless fake. The Scourge was completely out of control, and no Val'kyr would resurrect her.

She really fell to her death…

Her death also caused the Forsaken entrenched in Undercity and the remaining Scourge to completely lose control. The Alliance, which had been engaged in gunboat battles not long ago while attacking Icecrown Citadel, unexpectedly united to clear the remaining undead, completely eliminating all undead creatures in Azeroth.

But this is actually easy to understand—because what initially caused a serious estrangement between the two sides was the "Wrathgate Incident". The most elite troops of the Alliance and the Horde were wiped out in a sneak attack by some undead who betrayed Sylvanas. High Overlord Saurfang was resurrected as a death knight of the Scourge, and Bolvar Fordragon, the Duke of Stormwind, refused to surrender and was hung on the chains of the Frozen Throne by Arthas and tortured in every possible way.

The "Wrathgate Incident" not only angered the Alliance, but also made the various forces of the Horde, who were allies of Undercity, disgusted. No one in the world dared to trust Sylvanas anymore, or trust the remaining Forsaken.

The living were originally afraid of and disgusted with those undead who were resurrected from the dead, so as soon as Sylvanas died, the Alliance and the Horde took the opportunity to completely eliminate all the undead.

Of course, there were other people whose fates were changed—Bolvar Fordragon, who was locked in chains, also failed to become the new Lich King. After completely solving the remnants of the Scourge and the Forsaken, Fordring took his old friend away from Icecrown Citadel and returned to the Plaguelands, preparing to use the rest of his life to purify this land contaminated by the Scourge.

Bolvar didn't have to worry about anyone recognizing him as the Duke of Stormwind who should have died in the Wrathgate—because Bolvar had been roasted to medium-rare by the flames of the red dragon, looking like Brand, the "Revenge Flame Soul" in League of Legends.

Bolvar Fordragon, the Duke of Stormwind in people's minds, had already died heroically at the Wrathgate, instead of becoming this inhuman and ghostly appearance. This is exactly what Bolvar hopes for now.

The history of this world has also completely changed.

—

After leaving the timeline of the attack on Icecrown Citadel, Chromie took Aiden to travel through other timelines. Several times they sensed the aura of Nozdormu, but each time they brushed shoulders with the Bronze Dragon King, or had to flee under the pursuit of the Infinite Dragonflight.

They had just experienced another chase.

"Chromie, is there an anomaly, have you noticed it?" Aiden immediately said when he came to this new world.

Chromie looked at him: "Which one are you talking about?"

"The Infinite Dragonflight chasing us." Aiden stared at Chromie with burning eyes, "You can't fail to see that no matter how many times we kill those dragons, every time we arrive in a new world, the ones chasing us are still the same group, right?"

This was discovered by Aiden after experiencing six or seven chases. He first discovered that the number of Infinite Dragonflight led by Anachronos was fixed—each time it was 17 dragons plus a human, Blackmoore.

Then he began to pay attention and observe, and found that the Infinite Dragons that had been killed before would reappear in the new timeline without any scars.

"Could it be that the ones we killed were all fake?" he asked.

"They are not fake, but you are not wrong to understand it that way, my friend." Chromie saw his questioning gaze and began to explain, "It's like this, Aiden. The Infinite Dragonflight is actually also called the Timeless Dragonflight—we bronze dragons are distributed on a timeline with fixed identities, each one is different, but the Infinite Dragons are the same. Because they violated the original rules and have been arbitrarily traveling through timelines, often invading timelines that do not belong to their original time. Their nature leads to the fact that each of them is actually the same. How many timelines there are, there are how many identical Infinite Dragons. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"That is to say, each Infinite Dragon has countless clones. If we kill one, another will replace it?"

"That's right, that's what it means!"

After receiving the other party's affirmative answer, Aiden frowned.

"The Infinite Dragonflight is a whole, but you bronze dragons are a mess, how can you fight against it?"

Chromie replied matter-of-factly, "That's why we need to find the Dragon Aspect. Only he can solve these problems."

Aiden didn't see any logical connection between this answer and his question. He knew about the relationship between Nozdormu and Murozond. From a certain perspective, there was no victor in the battle between the Eternal Dragon Aspect and the Bronze Dragon Aspect.

Whether Nozdormu was present or not, it wouldn't change the current situation where the Infinite Dragonflight was suppressing the Bronze Dragonflight. After all, Murozond hadn't even made a move yet!

"We have to change our approach. This isn't working!" Aiden was really getting tired of this endless battle with the Infinite Dragonflight. This was an unfair fight. He only had one life, while his opponents had infinite lives. There was no hope of victory at all!

"What do you suggest?"

"We have to split up!" Only in this way could they determine who the Infinite Dragonflight was really after. If they were simply looking for Chromie, Aiden could proceed with his plan smoothly. If they were coming for him, Chromie could take advantage of the situation and find Nozdormu while he led the Infinite Dragonflight away.

No matter how he looked at it, it was much better than the two of them staying together.

Chromie thought for a moment and nodded. "Alright, if you insist."

She took out an amulet and gave it to Aiden, saying, "This is the Time Amulet. Take it and find any Bronze Dragon. They will know what to do. It will also allow you to sense the presence of Bronze Dragons around you."

Aiden took the amulet and asked, "What if Nozdormu appears? How will we contact each other?"

"Crush this amulet, and I will appear before you as quickly as possible!"

Aiden nodded and put the amulet away. Chromie opened a portal for him and instructed, "Without me to guide you, you'd better find the Bronze Dragons as quickly as possible. They know what to do. Remember my words!"

"Yes, I understand."

"Also, if you accidentally get lost for any reason, or if this amulet doesn't work, go to the Caverns of Time in your world. My people will guide you on how to return."

"That would be great." Aiden nodded with a smile.

Just as Aiden was about to enter the portal, the Infinite Dragonflight appeared once again—this time, Anachronos was even more hidden and sudden than before.

Chromie cursed under her breath. Just as she was about to jump into the portal with Aiden, Anachronos suddenly shouted, "You won't escape this time!"

He opened his mouth and spat out an Hourglass of Time filled with silver sand, and turned it upside down. The surrounding time was immediately frozen. Anachronos looked mockingly at Aiden and Chromie, whose movements were frozen in front of the portal, with only their thoughts still active.

"I specially brought the Hourglass of Time to deal with you. How about it, surprised?"

"Ah, I forgot you can't speak now—I'm so sorry. Goodbye, you two!"

He puffed out his huge dragon mouth and spewed out deadly flames, preparing to burn the two of them to death. Blackmore, on the other hand, raised his giant sword and struggled forward from the gray space, launching a charge towards Aiden!

Chromie was extremely anxious. Her time powers were completely controlled in front of the Hourglass of Time, and she couldn't use them at all. She never expected Anachronos to bring this artifact that Murozond had always personally controlled.

"What to do, what to do? Are we really going to die?"

Chromie couldn't resist the power of the Hourglass of Time, but Aiden could!

During the Battle for Icecrown Citadel, this Bronze Dragon artifact had caused fatal trouble for the hero squad that had ventured to Northrend and raided Icecrown Citadel. In a sense, all of them, including Aiden, had died once because of it.

Facing this power again, how could Aiden still be restricted?

His mind was working, and as he controlled his will, he began to slowly free himself from the frozen time. The first things that could move were his fingers. When he could move again, the power of the Staff of Time in his hand completely burst forth.

A surge of time power from the same source spread around his body, and the layer of spacetime membrane that tightly wrapped him and Chromie was pushed away. They immediately regained their freedom!

But at this moment, several deadly attacks had already arrived.

Blackmore's giant sword slashed mercilessly at Aiden. He almost instantly summoned Wings of Holy Light and used the power of time to slow down his opponent, barely escaping from under the sword and avoiding the fate of being split in two.

"Go!"

Aiden shouted. He saw that Chromie had dodged Anachronos's dragon breath but was standing still, so he spoke out to remind her.

Chromie plunged into the portal. Her last thought entered Aiden's mind: Remember what I said!

Aiden didn't have time to think about it. He also jumped in before Blackmore's attack arrived.

Anachronos put away the Hourglass of Time and said to Blackmore, "That's enough. Our mission is complete. Let's withdraw!"

After more than a dozen chases, Anachronos had finally completed the task his father had given him. But even though everything was done, he still couldn't understand why he had to do it.

To make Aiden appear in these worlds, and then have Nozdormu dig up some people to go back to a certain timeline to be his thugs?

Anachronos didn't know what the point of doing this was.

For him, or for anyone, there was only one true timeline. All the others were just illusions. For example, the timelines he experienced chasing Aiden and Chromie were all illusions—of course, for the people of those worlds, they were the illusions.

Anachronos didn't understand. What was the point of making such a big fuss for these things that had no meaning, and even using an artifact like the Hourglass of Time?

He was only slightly suspicious, but he didn't dare to question his father directly—he knew very well that he was just one of countless sons to Murozond. Any Anachronos from other timelines could replace him.

For the controller of the secrets of time, all timelines are illusions. Because he and the Bronze Dragon Aspect Nozdormu are beings that are not controlled by the timeline.

Truth and illusion always have only a relative boundary. Murozond understood that even a creature like him, who transcended the control of the timeline, was just an illusion to certain beings. This was why he chose to cooperate with Aiden. Anachronos could not access such secrets, and naturally could not understand Murozond's actions.

Zilean once told Aiden that his crossing was the result of a joint collaboration between Zilean and Murozond. Crossing was just the beginning. Murozond had been watching Aiden's actions, and he was now only interested in this one thing. He had been observing everything about Aiden, everything from when he crossed over to Azeroth. The Eternal Dragon Aspect had a feeling that this person would indeed bring him true liberation.

—

This time, Aiden and Chromie originally entered the same portal, and should have arrived at a certain point in the same world, but when Aiden experienced the familiar feeling of dizziness and entered the real world, he found himself alone.

Chromie, who entered the portal first, was not here at all.

In fact, they were still on the same timeline after crossing the portal, but only a half-second difference in entering the spacetime gate resulted in a difference of several years in the time of their appearance.

Chromie was so surprised that her mouth dropped open when she learned this fact through the timeline.

"It must be the power of the Hourglass of Time that affected the portal. It must be so." She found a reason for this anomaly. She knew that Aiden would not appear for several years, so she might as well try her luck in other timelines first.

"May you be safe, my friend. Haha, don't be at a loss because the Time Amulet is broken!" Chromie thought with a mischievous smile.

She was not a Bronze Dragon of this world and could not directly travel from this world to find Aiden, who would arrive several years later. She could only contact the Bronze Dragons of this world and make some entrustments.

After that, she opened the spacetime gate and disappeared without a trace.