Throughout the entire universe, the exact number of Old Gods is likely something even they themselves can't accurately count.
They are a manifestation of the universe's self-destructive forces. Perhaps in the past and present, they are not as prominent as forces like the Pantheon and the Burning Legion, but it's certain that with the passage of time, they will inevitably become the ultimate overlords of the entire universe.
Mortals, Titans, demons... all will eventually be buried by the endless tide of Old Gods.
They call this moment "The End Time."
Each Old God believes that the moment they hold the greatest advantage is when the End Time arrives. When Aiden was in Azeroth, he faced several near-desperate situations, at which times the Old Gods and their fanatical followers firmly believed that the End Time was at hand, but ultimately, the situation was reversed.
Regardless, what happened in Azeroth was always limited to a single world, a small-scale war between a few Old Gods and their minions against mortals and Titan guardians.
The results of those wars could, at most, only affect Azeroth and the worlds connected to it.
The true End Time involves the entire universe, a war between countless Old Gods and countless resisters.
By this standard, the war now taking place in Silithus truly possesses such potential—except for the supreme leaders of the Pantheon and the Burning Legion, who have yet to join, all other forces have gathered here.
The most intense conflicts in the entire universe will truly erupt here, and the outcome, who wins and who loses, will tell them everything.
Aiden tried to analyze this confusing war from a global perspective, but the available information was still too scarce—mainly because he completely didn't understand the mirrored pathway created by Sargeras, nor could he guess what specific results would arise from the collision between this pathway and Dimensius's special abilities.
Now Dimensius has disappeared, but Aiden can almost be certain that this devourer of worlds will definitely not let it go. The real danger is probably still further ahead.
Silithus has become somewhat "calm"—not calm in the literal sense, but in terms of the overall situation—the Old Gods summoned by Dimensius have all been eliminated, and their minions are nearly wiped out. If the Burning Legion and the Pantheon no longer clash, then this place should be peaceful.
Moreover, the terrifying cries coming from underground have persisted for an entire night. Aiden and Aggramar are both well aware that this means that Thalim—the powerful "God of Mountains and Rivers" born in Silithus—is probably about to die as well.
Its cause of death will be "biting itself to death"...
That scene must be extremely tragic, Aiden guessed.
But he wouldn't be able to see it.
Just as dawn was breaking, the long-absent Moon Goddess Elune finally appeared. She didn't explain the reason for her disappearance, but instead brought Aiden a message: "Dimensius has gone to Azeroth!"
Dimensius can block teleportation energy, preventing communication between different galaxies and universes, but this cannot hinder the communication between different incarnations of the Moon Goddess.
"Azeroth?" Aiden was instantly horrified.
"Azeroth," Elune confirmed.
Aiden couldn't help but be alarmed. If Dimensius went to any other universe or galaxy outside of Azeroth, even if he summoned dozens or hundreds of Old Gods there, he wouldn't be so concerned. But Azeroth is different—within the 'World of Warcraft' system, there are countless universes, and Azeroth is just a very ordinary one among them. However, from the perspective of the game, it is always the most special one—
Because at least eighty percent of the plot of 'World of Warcraft' originated in Azeroth. The fate of this planet is, in fact, a microcosm of the entire universe.
If the End Time truly arrives, then the symbolic event will definitely be Azeroth being completely corrupted by the power of the evil gods; if the crisis of the End Time can truly be resolved, then the method of resolution will definitely first emerge in Azeroth—no other reason is needed. Just like a story needs a protagonist, Azeroth is the protagonist of 'World of Warcraft'!
So, no matter what Dimensius did in Silithus, there is still a certain buffer; but if he did these things in Azeroth, then there's a high probability that the real final battle is about to begin.
Even if Aiden was calm, he was now somewhat panicked: "What to do, what to do, I have to go back!"
"Dimensius has already left, and the residual energy he left behind that affects teleportation will soon dissipate. However, now the teleportation channels to Azeroth have been imprisoned again, and I'm afraid you can't return there through the teleportation array," Elune reminded him. "As for how exactly you should go back, I'm afraid you'll have to figure it out yourself."
Aiden patted his forehead. After Elune's reminder, he finally realized.
As long as he can leave Silithus, he will always have a way to go back.
Without delay, he sensed it and confirmed that the void energy left by Dimensius had dissipated for the most part, and teleportation would be restored in at most half a day.
He hurriedly reported this matter to Aggramar and Kil'jaeden. At this point, there was no need to say too much, and he believed that both of them should understand what the greatest threat was now.
Afterward, he returned to Kadar Outpost, summoned all the high-ranking officers, and announced his impending return.
"Once the portal can be opened, we will first go to the Eternal Kingdom through the teleportation array, and then find a way to return to Azeroth from there."
The large teleportation array of the Eternal Kingdom simultaneously connects to many planes. As long as the interstellar coordinates of the destination are known, it can be directly reached through that teleportation array. Its function is very powerful.
Aiden chose this method, rather than entering the Twisting Nether to find a way, for another unconfirmed reason—that is, whether the 'League of Legends' system is affected by the 'World of Warcraft' system.
Now these two worlds, which were originally impossible to merge, have already merged, at least on the surface—but as for what the internal situation is, no one knows.
According to common sense, these two worlds are on the same level. The rules of the World of Warcraft should not affect Valoran. If this is the case, then Aiden is very likely to directly return to Valoran through the teleportation arrays of the Eternal Kingdom and the Institute of War, thus perfectly bypassing Dimensius's blockade.
If not, then try to break through from the Twisting Nether again.
"Are you leaving, Lord Aiden?" The wrinkles on the forehead of the elderly Moon Priestess Zagara have deepened a lot.
In fact, Aiden has only been in this world for a few dozen days. However, the things that have happened in these dozens of days have far exceeded the imagination of these native intelligent races of Silithus—from the arrival of the Burning Legion to the resurrection of the Old Gods, from the Four Suns in the Sky to the confrontation between the two ultimate forces of the universe, and the final madness of the Old Gods... any one of these disasters would be enough to shatter Silithus, turning it upside down.
Fortunately, with the arrival of Aiden, all losses have been controlled within an acceptable range, or even a surprisingly low range.
Although Aiden is not a Silithus native, the people of Silithus all hope that he can stay.
But it's just wishful thinking. Now Aiden's "hometown"—at least his second hometown—is facing the same predicament that Silithus encountered not long ago. In any case, he must go back.
Aiden nodded.
He looked at Turalyon—Silithus is also a second hometown for this paladin and military genius, not to mention that his young daughter is also here.
"I'll go back too," Turalyon said. "Alleria and Sif will stay here for the time being."
Aiden nodded.
Now Silithus is temporarily at peace because both the Burning Legion and the Pantheon have promised to withdraw.
After the meeting, Kassadin found Aiden and asked, "Commander, do you need to notify Kha'Zix and Xerath to withdraw?"
Aiden thought for a while and replied, "No, let them continue to lie dormant."
These two heroes are indeed quite strong, but even if they return to Azeroth, they won't be able to play a decisive role. On the contrary, continuing to lie dormant in the Burning Legion may bring him some surprises in the future—especially since Sargeras's situation is now very complicated. It can be said that everything that happened in Silithus, including Aiden's isekai, is inextricably linked to him.
No one knows what direction Sargeras will take.
So, in this situation, leaving some backup is definitely not wrong.
As for how much of a role it will play, who knows?
—
In fact, even before Dimensius descended on Azeroth, this world was already very restless.
The specific time was five days ago. At that time, the God of Mountains and Rivers, Thalim, had just swallowed Gorganneth, and then swallowed Aiden and Aggramar. For a time, this Old God of Silithus was infinitely glorious. How could such good news not be shared with its kind?
So, it happily announced it through telepathy, so that countless Old Gods knew that in Silithus, there was a strong man named Thalim who had eaten two Pantheon Titans and a human powerhouse whose strength even exceeded that of the Pantheon Titans.
This news greatly boosted the morale of the Old God group, which had been oppressed by the Pantheon for a long time. Countless Old Gods took the opportunity to make waves, and for a time, countless universes and planets were filled with smoke.
Including Azeroth.
N'Zoth is not an Old God who acts impulsively. It has detailed plans for everything it does, and every step must be carefully calculated.
Since the "Cataclysm," N'Zoth's originally interlocking and perfect plan has developed a fatal flaw. Not only did Deathwing fail to destroy the world, but more importantly, it lost control of the key figure to implement the next step of the plan—the hybrid Med'an.
This led to N'Zoth being unable to continue at all, and could only quietly wait for the next opportunity.
In the past year, it has been in silence, and its minions have also become extremely low-key, to the point of almost completely disappearing from the sight of mortals, and even stopped doing things like proselytizing.
But this does not mean that it has admitted defeat. N'Zoth is just waiting for another opportunity.
And with the news of Aiden being trapped being transmitted, N'Zoth felt that its opportunity had finally come!