The raven god Anzu's dark eyes revealed profound despair as he desperately tried to merge his body into the shadows. When the violent wave surged forth, only a few charred, azure feathers remained.
Finally, Illidan was blasted away by the shockwave, crashing heavily into the wall. Although the explosion's power had been significantly weakened by the bodies of the enormous beings in front, it was still too much for the demon hunter to withstand. Flames, carrying Archimonde's wrath and hatred, engulfed Illidan.
And under the influence of the aftershock, the light emanating from the Naaru almost completely disappeared.
Aiden felt the metal and stone wall behind him shaking violently, covered with spiderweb-like cracks. He estimated that a slightly stronger explosion would have been enough to collapse the wall entirely.
"Help me up," Aiden said.
Kael'thas came over and helped him to his feet.
"Let's go out and take a look."
He wanted to know what the situation was outside.
"Furies of the Elements…" Thrall seemed dazed, then his blue eyes filled with sorrow. "They are gone."
Aiden was silent for a moment, then said with difficulty, "I'm sorry."
He couldn't save everyone. The Wrath of the Elements, Gruul, and Anzu, their bodies were too enormous. As for Illidan… he could only choose one person between Broxigar and him.
He had made his choice.
They returned to the battlefield—though it could no longer be considered a battlefield, but rather a wasteland, as if it had been bombed by tons of explosives.
Aiden saw the traces left behind by the four Wrath of the Elements after their sacrifice, some elemental essence, and nearby, half of a shattered gauntlet. Aiden clearly remembered that it belonged to Gruul.
He had previously told Onyxia in Blade's Edge Mountains that Gruul would not survive because Archimonde would kill him.
But he had never thought of plotting against Gruul, especially not after fighting side by side. If Gruul could survive under Archimonde's hand, they might even become friends or allies.
But Gruul ultimately died in the explosion.
There were also a few charred feathers on the ground, belonging to Anzu—the raven god who had sworn allegiance to him not long ago.
He had already lost his connection to Anzu.
This guardian, tormented by endless pain, had asked Aiden to help him fight against the Old Gods to remove the curse Seth had placed on him.
But now it seemed that he had lost that opportunity.
Even more worrying was that there was no sign of Archimonde's remains on the battlefield.
Aiden felt uneasy. Could it be that the "Defiler" hadn't died?
If that were the case, wouldn't the sacrifices of Gruul, Anzu, and the Wrath of the Elements have been in vain?
Just as he was about to speak, he heard Krasus call out, "Aiden, come and take a look!"
Aiden turned his head and saw Krasus and Khadgar surrounding a nearly charred corpse.
Seeing the curved blade beside the corpse, the guilt in Aiden's heart suddenly erupted—it was Illidan, whom he had failed to save.
He strode over, squatted down beside Illidan's body, lowered his head, and almost dared not look directly at this demon hunter—this was a hero, a true hero. If he had chosen to save Illidan, this night elf would have survived.
"He's not dead yet!" Krasus suddenly said.
Aiden raised his head in surprise and said incredulously, "Not dead yet?"
"Not completely dead, but the situation is very bad," Krasus said. "I just detected a fluctuation of vitality in him, but it's very weak. I'm using the essence of life to maintain this characteristic, but his body has undergone some… worrying mutations and can no longer accept healing spells."
"Be specific."
"His body has been corroded by fel energy. He is demonizing," Krasus stated the facts that he and Prophet Velen had examined.
Aiden then saw Illidan's eyelids twitching faintly.
At this moment, the dark Naaru K'ure came closer and transmitted, "My dark energy may be able to heal him. But this transformation has already occurred, and he will become a demon."
Illidan—would he still become a demon?
Aiden hesitated. If he refused to let K'ure help, Illidan would become a hero who sacrificed himself to severely injure Archimonde and be worshiped by the world; if he agreed, Illidan might embark on the same dark path as in the original history.
The decision was in his hands. Krasus and K'ure were both waiting for his decision.
Aiden sighed, "Then let's do it!"
"What if he becomes a demon, my friend?" Thrall strode over, having overheard the conversation.
Grom also said, "A heroic death is the best ending for a warrior. As a comrade who fought alongside him, I hope Illidan will have a good outcome."
Aiden was silent for a moment before saying, "There have been enough sacrifices today."
Yes, there had been enough sacrifices today.
If Illidan really turned into a demon, he would stop him from doing evil.
And in fact, dark heroes are not necessarily evil. Broxigar was proof of that.
K'ure began to heal Illidan with his energy. Aiden also received a message from M'uru that they, the light Naaru, had just suffered unimaginable damage and almost died on the spot.
But in order to protect the other Naaru, the most powerful A'dal sacrificed himself.
The light force on his body had disappeared.
"Aiden, A'dal is dying!" This was the message M'uru conveyed through telepathy, and he also seemed very weak.
Aiden quickly rushed over. He saw that A'dal, who had originally radiated a strong holy light, was now almost lifeless and his body had become very dim. He had just witnessed this process on K'ure, the light fading and the darkness coming—this process was happening to A'dal.
He quickly took out a Transformation Stone and shouted, "Hold on, A'dal! Transform quickly!"
Only this could save A'dal now.
"I… want to die." A'dal's voice, which was originally peaceful and warm, became somewhat erratic and indifferent. He, who was being darkened, was somewhat resistant to this transformation.
"Transform quickly, A'dal! We need you!" Aiden shouted anxiously. However, when the other party resisted, the transformation was impossible to complete.
He couldn't imagine what a disaster it would be if A'dal became a dark Naaru—not only would it be emotionally unacceptable, but Aiden also didn't want to guess what kind of destructive power A'dal, who was more powerful than all other Naaru combined, would have after being shadowed.
At this moment, behind them, some strange changes began to occur on the dark Naaru D'ore, who had been brought out of Auchindoun by Anzu:
In this great battle, he once again absorbed a large number of souls. The accumulation of hundreds of years had finally turned quantitative change into qualitative change.
The dark power on his body began to dissipate, and the plates and symbols that made up his body slowly dispersed. As sunlight shone down, these plates gradually changed from deep black to light black, then to gray. Finally, the gray elements completely dissipated and began to bloom with light.
These plates re-aggregated, and an extremely strong holy light suddenly burst out from D'ore's body, soaring into the sky and covering the entire fortress. Wherever the light passed, people seemed to hear holy singing in their ears, and their souls felt so light that they wanted to float. The holy light healed all the pain, and those who had lost their hearing and sight in the fierce explosion just now regained their hearing and sight.
The Naaru suddenly became excited—they could sense that their former partner had returned!
D'ore was reborn, reborn in the form of a light Naaru! Reborn with hope and light!
People couldn't help but cheer loudly.
A'dal suddenly stopped resisting the Transformation Stone. When he became a dark black Naaru, the transformation was complete.
Aiden sensed that he had collected another dark Naaru password. But before he could check it, he saw Thorium, Sejuani, and Sylvanas walking over. Behind them, they were dragging a large prey—the corpse of Doom Lord Kazzak!
Kazzak's raid forced back the four Wrath of the Elements, attempting to buy Archimonde time to escape, but later Gruul captured Archimonde again. Seeing that the situation was not good, Kazzak wanted to escape.
However, the Thresh on the city wall had already aimed at this great demon. He threw out his hook and sickle, accurately hitting Kazak's left wing, causing the demon, who wanted to take off, to lose his balance just as he jumped. Subsequently, Sejuani rushed over, throwing out her Glacial Prison, coupled with Sylvanas's ranged support, Malzahar's spell suppression, and the help of two angels. After resisting for a while, this Doom Lord was still beheaded on the spot.
Angel Pamyel and Ophiel carried the huge Dragon King Battle Blade down from the sky, placing this divine sword, infused with the power of the Guardian Dragon, in front of Aiden, and briefly recounted the battle's progress.
Aiden smiled with relief and said, "Well done."
But he became worried again—because of Archimonde, he guessed that there was an eighty or ninety percent chance that Archimonde had escaped.
If the opponent wasn't dead, he would have a chance to make a comeback sooner or later. And when Archimonde regained his strength, where could he find four Elemental Furies plus strong helpers like Gruul and Anzu to fight against him?
Just then, Quinn flew down from the sky, bringing him the news he was most concerned about:
"Commander, Kog'Maw reported through Evelynn that Archimonde suffered extremely serious injuries and is unconscious in his own camp!"
"Unconscious? Are you sure?" Aiden immediately asked, his spirits greatly lifted.
"That's what Kog'Maw reported."
Aiden's mind became active, and he sensed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—a good opportunity to completely kill Archimonde!
—
The information provided by Kog'Maw was correct. The price Archimonde had to pay for that attack on the city wall was too heavy—after using his last strength to return to the camp, he even found it difficult to stand up.
This was a move that hurt himself before hurting the enemy. The price he paid was not only the loss of most of his power, but even if he could heal his injuries, his strength would permanently regress a lot.
From then on, he would no longer be the most powerful legion commander in the Burning Legion.
But this was also a last resort. If he didn't do this, he might even lose his life directly in this broken world, and be killed by a group of mortals and transcendents in a suffocating way.
After returning to the camp, he used his last strength to send a distress message to Kil'jaeden in the Twisting Nether, and then completely fell into a coma. At this time, as long as there was a powerful hero with the ability to destroy Archimonde's body here, he could easily kill Archimonde and complete a great achievement that people in countless worlds could not complete.
Kog'Maw did not directly participate in today's battle. He wouldn't be so stupid as to fight with his own people. Seeing Archimonde return with serious injuries, he immediately realized that this was a great opportunity, so he immediately contacted Evelynn nearby, and then Evelynn told Quinn the news, and finally it reached Aiden.
Aiden and the others didn't have time to clean up the mess and mourn the dead. He immediately ordered all combat personnel to regroup, and activated all the drivable Apex Destroyers in the fortress, preparing to rush into the Burning Legion's base camp and kill Archimonde!
As the gate at the bottom of the Shattered Spire Fortress, sealed for thousands of years, opened, an army of various races plus mechanical creations came out of the fortress. In the sky, the Void Elf's ships, the Naaru's ships, and other flying units were all dispatched.
The demons had just retreated, and the Outland Allied Forces couldn't wait to start their revenge!
Now that Archimonde was seriously injured and Kazak was dead, the Burning Legion was without a leader and in a state of panic. This was definitely a great opportunity to kill Archimonde and defeat the Burning Legion!
The Burning Legion had never placed itself in the position of a defender. So their hundreds of thousands of troops were all deployed outside the maximum range of the Shattered Spire's defensive weapons, only a little more than a kilometer away. So when the Outland Allied Forces were dispatched, the demons didn't even have a chance to escape.
A fierce bombardment began in the sky, and on the ground, the Gronn Legion was the first to rush into the demon horde. Among Gruul's seven sons, three still survived to this day—Devourer Durn, Dragon Eater Gorgrom, and Earthshaker Gokk.
They had just lost their father and were in immense anger and sadness. Hearing Aiden's attack order, they were the first to respond, leading the Gronn and Ogres to charge towards the demons.
Wherever the three brothers passed, they crushed a road paved with the blood and remains of demons, while the Ogres behind them waved all kinds of crude weapons to clean up other enemies. Further behind, the Apex Destroyers also joined the battlefield, as well as the Forsaken Legion, humans, dwarves, draenei, orcs, elves… countless warriors Swarm the Burning Legion's base camp.
Aiden did not participate in the ground battle. He and the few heroes from before were all on dragon back, preparing to complete this crucial decapitation operation.
Except for Illidan, who was seriously injured and unable to participate in the battle, everyone else joined this operation. Under Quinn's guidance, the Black Dragon family carried them to where Archimonde was.
In order to ensure the success of the operation, the Twilight Dragon Dralgonax also joined the decapitation operation. His body was now no less than that of the Dragon Mother Sinestra, and it could be imagined that his power would definitely not be weak. He would be a powerful boost.
Sinestra also sincerely joined this operation. Although she hated Aiden and others for forcing her, she knew that Archimonde was the most powerful enemy. This was the most intense external contradiction, higher than all other contradictions!
Archimonde's camp was in the original Auchindoun Fortress, not far from the Shattered Spire. For the speed of the Black Dragon, it was only a few minutes' journey. Soon they reached their destination.
Quinn circled in the sky, this was the end point.
"It's here! Descend! Kill Archimonde!" Aiden shouted. He could already sense Kog'Maw's aura in the fortress.
He really couldn't have imagined that every one of the heroes he had summoned in the Twisting Nether was constantly bringing him surprises.
Xerath and the others had destroyed the portal twice, Malzahar had brought important news and reinforcements, and Kog'Maw, from Azeroth to Outland, had played a crucial role as an undercover agent!
The Black Dragons folded their wings and quickly descended towards the fortress.
In fact, Kog'Maw played an even bigger role than Aiden imagined.
Sensing that the commander was approaching, he quietly summoned Evelynn to the place where Archimonde was sleeping. The two cooperated internally and externally, silently eliminating the demons guarding the fortress. Then Evelynn went to the gate to keep watch, and he himself decided to do something he wanted to do most.
"So hungry…"
Kog'Maw's several pairs of red eyes were all staring at Archimonde, who was sleeping due to serious injuries, almost emitting a green light. He had long wanted to taste what the flesh of this great demon tasted like, whether it would make him full.
Perhaps now was his only chance to do so!
A few drops of green saliva dripped from the corner of Kog'Maw's mouth, corroding several holes in the stone floor when they landed.
He greedily looked at Archimonde, thinking, "Where should I start?"
He saw the wound on Archimonde's chest that had been hit twice by Kayle, and the abdominal wound that had almost been pierced by Aiden's sword, and felt that these two places were good.
"Add some fire first."
Kog'Maw's eyeballs rolled, and he opened his mouth to spew out a large amount of viscous Void Ooze. These things were even more terrifying than glue, and it was difficult for people trapped in it to escape.
"Add some seasoning!"
Kog'Maw spewed a large amount of corrosive saliva onto Archimonde's chest and abdomen. The strong acid that could melt even stone and steel immediately penetrated through Archimonde's wounds and began to corrode his body. His originally steel-like body was softening in the strong acid.
The sudden great pain tormented Archimonde, who was trying to recover from his injuries through sleep, and woke him up.
He opened his eyes and saw a monster with several pairs of strange eyes eating the flesh of his abdomen that had been softened by acidic saliva. He roared and wanted to get up and Shoot to death this bug into meat paste, but found that his hands and feet were stuck to the ground by a disgusting vomit.
Archimonde suddenly became terrified. He remembered the illusion he and Kil'jaeden had seen when Sargeras's soul was exiled back to the Twisting Nether:
It was a monster like this that soaked himself in vomit and gnawed on his body.
Then the person he hated the most—Aiden, would break in with a group of mortals and completely kill him!