N'Zoth had always been cautious, preferring to plan meticulously before acting. This time, however, was an exception—it launched a powerful attack with almost no warning. Overnight, the entire Endless Ocean seemed to boil, as countless naga and faceless ones surged forth. They split into two groups, one attacking Mount Hyjal from Azshara, and the other assaulting Pandaria, heading towards the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
Its goal was clear: to seize the World Tree and the Vale of Eternal Blossoms' Pools of Life, and to resurrect another Old God who hadn't completely died—Y'Shaarj. Y'Shaarj's heart was sealed within the Vale of Eternal Blossoms by the titans, and the golden Pools of Life flowing through the Vale were rich with boundless vitality, perfect for resurrecting it.
The might of N'Zoth's legions far exceeded expectations. Compared to this assault, its previous behind-the-scenes machinations were mere child's play.
In just two days, the naga armies had broken through the Alliance's defenses and stormed into the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. This rapid advance was partly due to the sudden and overwhelming naga attack, but more significantly because the army was commanded by the infamous Queen Azshara—former queen of the night elves, the Light of Lights, and summoner of the Burning Legion and Sargeras during the War of the Ancients.
Azshara's power was immense, and though her accomplishments were few, no one could deny her strength.
She became queen of the night elves not just because of her beauty. Queen Azshara didn't revere the moon goddess Elune like some of her former people—such as Tyrande—because she believed herself to be no less worthy. Countless night elves worshipped her just as fervently.
For every night elf willing to devote everything to Elune, there were even more willing to devote everything to Queen Azshara.
Mannoroth the Destructor, a notable figure in the Burning Legion, deeply felt that Queen Azshara's power might only be second to his master, Archimonde.
This was a very subjective opinion. As Archimonde's second-in-command, Mannoroth would naturally place his master in a superior position. From this perspective, Queen Azshara's power might have been comparable to Archimonde's even ten thousand years ago.
This was evident from the fact that when Azshara summoned Sargeras, she believed that only the Dark Titan was worthy to be her consort, implying that she considered herself a match for the Burning Legion's master.
After the Sundering, Queen Azshara, along with her most loyal followers and servants, sank beneath the sea with her city. Consumed by hatred, she accepted N'Zoth's power and transformed into a naga. Although she lost her captivating beauty, Queen Azshara's power grew even further.
In short, she was practically invincible in Azeroth—especially in Aiden's absence.
Recently, after the Silithus and War Academy portals were activated, many powerful heroes teleported to Silithus to support the savior Aiden, which undoubtedly gave N'Zoth an opportunity to strike.
Just as the Alliance was recovering from the Old Gods' sudden onslaught, organizing an effective resistance, and about to stabilize the situation, the Devourer of Worlds and its void legions descended from the sky, compounding the Alliance's predicament.
Worse, this void lord could continuously summon Old Gods—although limited by the planetary defense systems established by the titans, Dimensius couldn't act as freely as he did in Silithus, but two Old Gods were still summoned into the world within a single day.
Facing an Azeroth weakened from within, the Old Gods immediately displayed their overwhelming power.
With the portals Invalidation, Aiden and the heroes of Silithus couldn't return. Who could save them now?
——
A pure and intense surge of frost energy flowed across a mechanical arm. The arm's owner deftly rotated his wrist and flexed his fingers, the energy remaining stable and contained.
"Well, are you satisfied?" asked a cyborg, his left arm also mechanical, and even a third arm extending from his back.
This was the renowned "Machine Herald," Viktor, one of the top scientists in the Valoran Federation.
"Excellent, far better than I imagined," replied an elderly man with snow-white hair, his demeanor elegant and his spirit vibrant, clearly in good condition.
This was, of course, Archmage Antonidas—leader of the violet city of Dalaran.
During an exploration of Return to Karazhan some time ago, Antonidas unfortunately fell into a mirror space created by twilight dragons, where demons ambushed him and burned his arm with fel energy, forcing him to amputate his left arm.
Gestures are a crucial part of spellcasting, and even with Antonidas's great power, he could no longer cast many spells after losing his left hand. Although he was open-minded and able to accept it, he couldn't truly let it go.
After all, Azeroth was currently experiencing turbulent times, and he wanted to use his power to do as much good as possible before he died.
Later, he thought of Viktor—the fanatical mad scientist had startled him when he first arrived in Valoran. At the time, Viktor had vehemently promoted his theory of replacing the fragile parts of the human body with strong metal mechanical components, calling it "glorious evolution."
As a healthy person with all four limbs, Antonidas naturally couldn't accept it.
Viktor didn't take offense, instead saying that if he ever needed it, he could contact him at any time, and he would modify him at cost.
As fate would have it, Antonidas remembered the mad scientist after becoming disabled. After spending a month in Viktor's laboratory, the archmage finally decided to have a mechanical arm installed.
Now, everything was just completed.
"It seems I can return to the battlefield," Antonidas said, very satisfied, especially since the Alliance had suffered heavy losses in recent days, and needed a pillar of support like him to turn the tide.
"I cannot express how grateful I am, Mr. Viktor. I apologize for my previous misunderstanding of you. If I can return alive, I would be happy to discuss glorious evolution with you."
"The right things always endure," Viktor said with a laugh, sounding somewhat strange, but it showed that he was happy to be recognized.
"No need to see me off, please return to your research!" Antonidas bowed again in thanks at the laboratory door.
"Oh, I'm not seeing you off," Viktor replied bluntly, not caring about the other's high status, almost directly stating that the archmage was presumptuous.
It was this kind of personality that made Viktor only suitable for staying in the laboratory. If he were a little more tactful, he wouldn't have been framed and had his experimental results stolen back then.
He picked up his cane at the door, and said to the archmage's surprised gaze: "This is not only your battlefield, but also my battlefield."
"Aren't you a researcher?" Antonidas asked with wide eyes.
"That's just one of my identities—my path of glorious evolution is more than just repairing prosthetics!" Viktor said proudly.
"I can attest to that. This guy is actually quite good in the League of Legends," said Heimerdinger, the great scientist and inventor of the month.
The chief scientist of the Valoran Federation was also fully armed, obviously also participating in the war.
Viktor chuckled, "Heimerdinger, I don't need your flattery." After a pause, he snorted, "I'm better than you in Summoner's Rift!"
Heimerdinger was immediately enraged, and he screamed, "That's because the League restricts my ability to use weapons! Otherwise, if I placed a hundred turrets, even ten of you would be blasted to pieces!"
"Hmph, is the League only restricting you? My laser ray can turn your turrets into scrap with a single shot!"
The two top scientists arguing left Antonidas dumbfounded.
He heard the two bring out a lot of data, trying to prove that they had killed each other so many times in Summoner's Rift, and won so many duels, etc., to prove that they were stronger than the other.
At this time, Antonidas couldn't help but ask, "Then, among all the heroes, who dies the most?"
The two scientists were silent for a moment, and then looked at Antonidas with very strange eyes.
"What's wrong? Is this very confidential?" The archmage suddenly felt uneasy.
"That's a good question," Heimerdinger laughed.
"You can guess," Viktor also made a joking gesture.
"Hmm?"
Heimerdinger said, "First of all, he is a ranged hero."
Viktor said, "Secondly, he is about the same size as Heimerdinger."
Heimerdinger glared at Viktor dissatisfied: "He's poisonous!"
"Guessed it?" the two asked in unison.
"Uh..." Antonidas hesitated for a moment, "Teemo?"
The two scientists immediately revealed admiring gazes.
During this time, Antonidas had already watched the hero battles in Summoner's Rift, and he found them very interesting. If his left arm hadn't been disabled, he would have even applied to the War Academy council to participate in the battles.
This was not without precedent. In fact, a month ago, the curious mage Rhonin had already become the first Azeroth hero to fight in Summoner's Rift. At the same time, the relevant skill attributes of Paladin Lord Mograine, Orc hero Grommash Hellscream, and Death Knight Broxigar Saurfang were being adjusted.
If it hadn't been for this sudden invasion, I'm afraid that more Azeroth heroes would have appeared in "League of Legends" in the next two months.
More and more people deeply realized that Azeroth and Valoran, two worlds with originally very different cultural styles, were gradually merging, and a new civilization would be born on this spiritual land in the future.
Of course, the premise was that they could defend against the enemy's crazy attacks.